#{ another one i've been debating for a while tbh }

[tvintedspvrkmoving]

adding : peyton ketteridge , twenty two , fandomless songwriter / performer , olivia rodrigo

[barblaz-arts]

Hello!

I would like to start with the fact that your art style is amazing, same goes for the design of the characters. (They look yummy tbh)

I have been wondering if you ever got some kind of art block, if yes what did you do?

If you see this, I hope you have a great day.

Thank you!

Most of the time, when I wanna draw but cant quite know WHAT i wanna draw, I redraw stuff. Like, screenshots. Or old drawings. Or even memes. Those are especially fun for drawing expressions I might not usually draw. Or I take scenes from fics I like or fics I've written and draw them. It helps that I get to move my pen with only half the brain power needed to picture what I want drawn.

But sometimes when I really cant overcome it, I usually just wait it out. Do my other hobbies like read or write or churn up another meta analysis. You cant force yourself to overcome that block sometimes and that's ok.

Oh but sometimes tho! Something that works unintentionally is when I'm like really really upset. I dont like to show it much, bcuz I understand that I'm getting old and I have a significant amount of followers that I dont wanna be a bad example to... But I can have quite a temper on me and can get really petty. But instead of exploding, I try to draw with those feelings.

Like, a while ago, I got really upset about stuff with an AI art fraud. And im just like, you know what this person can claim they're an "artist" all they want, but they still havent even shown a paper drawing as concrete proof. all just excuses and shit. The next moment I drew this, just to reassure myself that I'm an artist and I know what being a real artist is. That unlike AI frauds, I can show I dont need a computer to draw. All I need is a pencil and paper and I'm good.

(Then I proceeded to draw more than I usually do on paper because of that lmao)

And then when Youtooz came with an announcement that they're gonna release four figurines, half of which was 2 versions of Alastor and NO sign of Vaggie, I drew four Vaggies. Yes. I drew all this angry. Until yunno. I got so happy over how nice this ended up looking instead.

And then the last art I posted with the Harem Hotel AU? That's been in my drafts since november but I only got to finish it recently because I got upset over all the people in my notifs leaving hate comments about Vaggie lmao. Just told myself that they can claim to be objective critics who arent misogynistic, but at the end of the day all they could do is leave mean comments on twitter. Meanwhile, I can create! It's borderline horny gay shit, but hey! At least I'm doin' something productive! I can show female characters like her are are worth so much love to the point of making art!

Just. Idk. Maybe next time you feel negative feelings and shit, use art as the outlet for that negativity. Make something out of it. It doesnt have to be pretty, but hopefully it could make you feel good.

Or you know. Like I said, just wait it out.

[mischiefmaker615]

Hello, I am not sure if you are currently taking requests for your music based one-shots, but I would like to request one for either "Heart" by The Pretty Reckless or "You" by The Pretty Reckless please and thank you! 💜

Song Request: "You" by The Pretty Reckless 

Requester: @stilleobjection

Rating: PG14 (hints of being dark tbh?) 

Summary: "I long for you to want me the way i've wanted you..''

Note: I listened to both and picked "You" but if you squint, i suppose the one shot could work with both songs Lol

''Loki?... Loki... Loki!''

Frigga's sharp voice startled the second prince of Asgard, causing him to jump and move his eyes away from the open window to find his mother's arms crossed and brow raised.

"I suppose we should continue this perhaps another day..'' she sighed, shutting the book and rising from the couch in the study, making her son quickly shake his head and reach out.

''no no- I'm sorry I'm just.. a little distracted today.. we can continue, mind spells.. right?" he asked sheepishly, feeling the pull of his eyes to try to look back out the window while his hands clenched at his sides, looking down at his lap on the couch.

Frigga raised a brow, clearly finding that not to be the right answer while she goes over towards the window. ''my son, what has you so distracted tod-''

''nothing mother-'' he says quickly and got to his feet to step in front of her, arms spread as if to help block her ''it was merely a snake-''

Her eyes gave him a cross look before sneaking a glance around him quick enough forward her eyes met his, finding them guilty while hers filled with amusement. ''..have you spoken to her before?"

''who?" he asked a little to quickly before the look in his mother's eyes had him sigh and look down, arms dropping to his sides. ''of course not.. we are not to speak to the maid's that don't involve orders...''

''you follow your father's rules to much, they are people just like us and value connection.'' Frigga shook her head while Loki straightened a bit to his full height, just barely looking down his nose at her.

''following father's rules will get me much closer to gaining the thro-''

''showing compassion and connection to the people of Asgard is of much importance to be a good king Loki.'' She spoke gentle, his eyes trailing off to the books in the study in thought before he felt her hand begin to carefully adjust the clasp of his cape upon his shoulder. ''..a king also will need a queen..''

Loki couldn't help but snort while his mind seemed elsewhere ''it is also forbidden to court outside of royal lines..''

Frigga couldn't help but smile as she placed her hands on his chest at last and looked up at him gentle. ''well, rules can always be adjusted by their ruler. That will be all my son, we will continue our lesson tomorrow.'' She said before she left with the door gently closing with his eyes following her.

His fingertips seemed to tingle, shifting in place while he resisted the urge to continue is distracted behavior earlier, but with a short-lived debate, he sat himself by the window once more with his eyes gazing out towards the gardens.

She was beautiful.. how her hair seemed to sway in rhythm of her hips when she walked. how her dress hugged her body in all the right ways, it might as well have been a ball gown than a maiden's uniform. How her laugh seemed to make others smile and how she seemed to always finish her tasks fast enough to be able to help others. She was smart, held conversation and shy at the best of times. At least.. from what he's seen..

Loki's chin rested on his palm while his elbow supported him with his eyes watching her. right now she was picking flowers- for the banquet table no doubt. Her eyes seemed to be in full concentration, searching for the right ones in a very few patches. The fluttering feeling in his chest returned, hesitation in his actions while he practically glanced behind him to make sure he was alone. Drawing a deep breath, his eyes closed for just a moment before his fingers flexed and lightly dug into his palm, a shimmer of green flashing amongst the grass before exotic flowers bloomed just beside her.

He made sure she would never notice.. father would have his head if he heard of the second prince of Asgard helping with the chores. Who knows what punishment would be bestowed upon her.. they'd believe she had asked him for assistance rather than the truth.. it was better this way..

Her eyes lit up once she turned, finding the new batch in which to pick with the slightest hesitation in his eyes as if to remember if it had been there just a moment ago. Loki felt a smile tug at his lips at her happiness. He barely heard the servant behind him before he quickly snapped out of it and stood, seriousness coming over him with his usual intimidating attitude, making the male servant take a hesitant step back with eyes to the ground while he spoke.

Another court meeting to attend. Loki sighed and waved him off, stealing one more glass at lady Y/N before he turned to leave, having missed the small sneeze that over came her while his swept off into the halls.

~

Y/N lay in bed, her body taken over with exhaustion by her daily work yet sleep would not be coming for her soon. She was within the in-between, kept up by her mind yet just barely at the door to slumber.

Her bed almost felt huge, despite it being in the servant's quarters. She stayed in the one closest to the window, having it opened a smidge where the morning sun may warm her when it came time. Her skin was gently illuminated by the moonlight, highlighting ever curve and limb while she turned onto her back with a sigh.

She was beautiful.. her simple nightgown teasing just enough of her intimate areas where it might as well have taken just a simple breeze to uncover the rest. Her lips were parted while her breathing stayed even. Her eyes closed while they fluttered every now and again with a particular thought that threatened to wake her.

Still, she remained still.

Her arms were resting above her head, the sheets draping just over her mid-section while her silky hair lay just surrounding her face. Beautiful..

Beautiful how the goosebumps seemed to spread while his fingertips just ghosted over her skin, having started at her palms and made a path towards her shoulders. On instinct, he would have pulled her straps back up, while they had fallen just down her arms mid-way, by the best of them left them alone.

The mattress had dipped where his knees were placed, just on either side of her hips while he hovered his weight to barely touch her. he remained still in his straddling position, looking down with his soft eyes while he hunched over her, his arms having stretched out to have ghosted over her arms in their beginning trail.

He wondered how her dainty wrists would feel if he would just enclose them in his slender hands, how much her strength would show if she were to try to pull them free in her perfect position right now. His palm then left her shoulder to rest above it onto the mattress, allowing his weight to rest while his other hand continued to explore.

Of course.. this wasn't the first time. He had practically memorized everything she had to show, but only what she had shown. Not once had he found her with her skirt bunched up, nor the sheet below her hips. His eyes would flicker down any time she would shift in her sleep, grateful for what he had but begging for more of her.

his fingertips trailed now along her collarbone, every now and again his eyes would look up into hers in which they would still be remaining shut before he would follow his own hand again. His favorite spots was where it would hold the perfect place to sink his teeth into, the area just between the neck and the shoulder. Oh how she'd squirm if he decided to follow through, perhaps even tease with his tongue with whatever he felt like that day. She always seemed so ticklish when his fingertips would brush against her there, or the tip of his nose and lips, but he did not kiss her yet.

No.. her lips would be the first he planned on pressing down on with his own when the time came close.

She let out a sigh then, her face turning to look towards the window yet her eyes remained closed while she exposed more of her neck to him. he had half the mind to press his thighs together, feeling the strain in his pants as he watched her but had to remind himself to keep his body still, not at all wishing to wake her.

What would she do? Finding the second prince of Asgard hovering over her like this.. would she scream? Fight? Freeze? Perhaps she wouldn't do anything at all.. after all, in her position she had no right to refuse him as a royal. One wouldn't believe her anyway.. but the mere thought of fear in her eyes, hate, disgust maybe, had in chest tighten and his fingers curling into the sheet below him.

She perhaps couldn't want him the way he wanted her.. steal her the way she had stolen him.. need him the way he needed her..

His lips parted in a soft sigh, the feeling of longing filling his eyes as he gazed at the very creature he watched whenever he got the chance. In the gardens at noon, in the hall ways in the morning- despite the brief passings. Beside the corners of the banquet hall at dusk while she waited to fill yet another glass of wine. In the night was the only real time he could truly look upon her, closer, ensure she was comfortable and safe, despite her many questions in the morning towards her work mates.

She'd wonder how the flowers had sprouted so fast. How she enquired another blanket in the night. How her chores seemed to be less tedious as if someone had done them just a moment before her. her meals would be fulfilling and her sleep was restful. He couldn't help but feel the tug at his lips when she had even mentioned perhaps an angel from Valhalla was watching over her, granting her luck and protection.

Her breath hitched, his hand stilling until she regulated her breathing much more before he continued to glide his fingertips within her cleavage; the in and out motion matching the rhythm he's countless times imagined his cock filling her perfect cunt.

Ohh how he longed to see it.. to kiss it.. taste it.. fill it.. he'd ask for nothing else in this lifetime if only she'd grant him the promise and privilege..

What she offered in her sleep, was what he would accept. Perhaps Frigga was right.. a king may have the power to change the rules in which it would involve royals and lower class. Would she want to be with him? truly? Overlooking the privileges and want him for him?

His eyes looked over her face as if she would answer, read his mind while he lowered himself ever so slightly, pausing in which his clothed cock brushed up against her below him before he moved slower to just lower his mouth. A hand gently swept a lock behind her ear, the smile tugging at his lips while he just barely pressed his lips against her cheek and tightened his fingers against the sheets for self-control once more.

''until tomorrow once more, my Flower..''

~

Y/N bit her lip as she stood just outside Loki's door, nervousness growing by the second while the guards seemed to take their time fetching him inside. She had never seen his room- his chambermaids telling her countless stories of how scary or how grand it was.. the tales were different with each replacement..

Why her? why had she requested to see her? they've never even spoken before.. had she made a mistake? Forget to bow when he had passed the last time? Her mind ran through so many possibilities of what she may have messed up on, the sound of the door had her jumping in freight.

''you may enter now.'' The guard told her, stepping back to his post just beside the door while he held it open for her.

''thank you-'' she said quietly, her fingers gripping her dress at her sides nervously while she stepped in.

Loki stared out the window, his body tall and cape moving ever so slightly at the gentle breeze that came in. he knew she was there, every ounce in his body screamed for him to turn, to smile, to embrace, to follow his instinct, but the logical half knew this would be a delicate process while he remained still. His silence was crucial, knowing she was nervous right now because.. she didn't know of their history.

The door was heard closing behind her and she remained where she was while she bowed low in respect, eyes to the ground with a careful breath. ''you wished for my presence, my prince?"

''my prince, you deem me as yours, Flower?" he smirked, his eyes closing as he listened and imagined how red her cheeks must be right now while he dared give her the nickname he'd called her so many times before in his mind.

''I'm- sorry.. I did not mean-''

''it is of no offense darling, I do hope you plan on relaxing here once you've found yourself comfortable.'' He tutted, finally turning himself to face her while his fingers remained clasped behind his back. His eyes were gentle, hiding the longing in his eyes with authority and a mask. She had no idea how he felt for her.. not yet..

''..i do not think I understand..'' she said quietly, raising herself from her bow while she stayed with her fingers grasping the fabric at her sides. Her eyes shyly rose to his own, her heart racing faster with each step he took towards her. it was difficult to pinpoint his mood, his expression.. his intention. So many stories came from all maidens who encountered him- it was impossible to know what was true or not.. what would be hers?

''you are to replace my chambermaid. She has fallen ill and proposed perfect timing to find a new replacement anyway. Your things shall be moved to the guest room just along the way here, your duties will start immediately.'' He said carefully, his heart racing just as much as hers while he stared down at her.

Oh how happy he was.. to have her finally close to him.. she will be safe, in his sights and care at all times- though needless did she know or not. In time, perhaps she'll learn his endearment towards her, maybe even return them as well..

She had too..

Loki didn't know he had been holding his breath until he had realized she hadn't spoken. ''I expect gratitude has left you speechless.'' He chuckled, exhaling while his shoulders threatened to dip down with relief. All morning he had looked forward to believing the news, and by this, he granted himself the pleasure to dip his eyes down just below her collarbone- a privilege and expectance towards one who held his position.

She shifted a little, her arm muscles flexing to stop herself while she fought the urge to cover her chest by his wandering eye. He looked upon her with lust- no.. something more hidden behind his eyes.. what intentions did he hold? She couldn't help but flinch when he suddenly reached out to grasp her hands, earning a small chuckle from him while he leaned down to be more nose to nose with her.

''and yet I still expect an answer, Flower.''

''thank you my prince- I am nothing but grateful..'' she put on a smile, a strange sensation washing over her at the feeling of his hands.. like a familiar feeling like his touch was not new..

''I expect nothing but the very best darling, I do tend to always get what I want..'' he smirked, his thumbs brushing over her skin while she looked up at him, something.. strange in his eyes seeming to cloud over to what seemed like a man hungry.. lustful.. possessive.. his grip tightening ever so slightly at the small feeling of her trying to return her hands back to herself, not at all ready to let go.

''and I promise to take very good care of you..''

Note: LOL sorry.. not sure why my writing tends to turn dark *sweats*

~DM a song for your own Loki Musical Mischief one shot :D

Tag List: @foxherder13 @asgards-princess-of-mischief @fire-in-her-veinz @nervouseden @kathren1sky-blog @eleniblue @lokiswife-dark-fox-queen @queenofstarsign85 @slytherinqueen4life @soulpiercing

[wombywoo]

I think you mentioned werewolves some time ago. Are they treated about the same as vampires ? Or do they face more/less bigotry? Are they the kind that can control their transformations or only can transform during a full moon? In your universe are they born as werewolves or turned ? (Big werewolf and quinncent universe fan…)

Waaahhhh I can't believe I've neglected werewolves for this long 😩 Apologies! Tbh, I've spent so much of my time daydreaming about my main 2 dudes, so I feel like I haven't given as much attention to other stuff in the lore ✨

But yes! Werewolves exist! In this universe, lycanthropy is contracted by being bitten by a bigass mutated supernatural wolf thing (™️) or by another werewolf. The mutated wolves are extremely feral and used to be rare enough that they only caused isolated problems throughout history, but a recent influx has seen a rise in attacks on the public (yikes). It's not a guarantee that someone bitten will turn either; sometimes they come out unscathed, sometimes they just die 💀

The appearance of a werewolf is pretty standard--giant dog-like beast. Fur color can vary; browns, grays, reds, etc. There are also variations in the body type--some are bipedal, others quadrupedal. For the most part, they're all extremely fast runners. They have big, glowing, completely white eyes, reminiscent of the moon. Claws, teeth, the usual. It is an extremely painful process to transform, but once you've endured the first year, it gets a bit easier.

Now that werewolves have been acknowledged under new abhuman recognition laws, there are several methods of 'treating' the condition. During a full moon, a registered werewolf is required to either--a. take a neutralizing pill (this won't stop the transformation, but it causes the patient to be rendered docile and nonaggressive during their cycle) or option b. visit a secure 'werewolf transformation center' (a fortified facility where patients can safely transform amongst other werewolves while under observation). A transformation is unavoidable for every full moon, but werewolves can also transform from various circumstances at any given time--under duress, anger, fear, as well as dog-like triggers--bursts of running, having an object thrown at them (frisbees have been banned in public places, sadly 😔) There's a separate pill that exists to limit these kinds of involuntary transformations (results vary).

Another aspect of werewolf documentation is the requirement that they have a 'handler'. As you can imagine, this sparks a lot of 'dog and master' debate, so it's not entirely well received--but a werewolf is required to have someone supervise them in their day-to-day life (in order to be on standby if a random transformation were to occur). This is usually a relative, but can also be an assigned service worker if there's no other option.

There is a fair amount of prejudice stacked against them--I think people are even more blatant in their bigotry against werewolves because of all the dog comparisons 😞They're viewed as 'feral and disgusting', and a lot of people attempt to conceal their conditions because of this. Vampires also face backlash, but there's more of a public fear for them, whereas werewolves are usually the butt of a joke, despite being equally dangerous 🥲

For protective measures against rogue werewolves, or even ones unaware they have the condition yet, a tranquilizing dart has been implemented that will sedate and incapacitate someone in the midst of a violent transformation. (This is why a handler is needed--to carry this tranquilizer and use it in case of emergency.) A rabies-like vaccine has also been developed to inject into a recently-bitten individual to prevent the lycanthropy from spreading.

I do have a werewolf character in mind for my little imaginary military task force--her name is Sheila; snarky, Irish, butch lesbian ✊ She was bitten as a teen (by one of the aforementioned mutant dogs) and so far, she has not disclosed her condition to the rest of the squad 😤 She's also ditched her government issued handler for a while (crusty old dude who she hates), and instead has been assigned a temporary new one--the enigmatic witch 'consultant' of the team known as Birdie....

More on that later (at some point) muahaha🙆‍♀️

[dinogoofymutated]

Hey hey! I've just been lurking for a while in your blog and just wanted to ask, any chance to get a small WIP for the upcoming wolverine fic ? or maybe even just an update on how the chapters are going? no pressure, just extremely excited! And just so you know lover your work, i think you're tge only person that has made me this excited when they post something lol💫

Hi!! ahhh I'm trying so hard to get some proper work done on this fic, and I have bascically all of ch1 done, I'm just debating on whether or not I should tack on another scene onto ch1 or move it to chapter 2. It's about 3.6k words right now, but for some reason I feel like my ending of this chapter needs a little something. TBH I think I'm thinking about it too hard and worrying about what others think too hard and It's stalling me. Here's a super short WIP while I try to finish up that ending today though!

“I just think I’d remember if I had seen a pretty nurse like you before.”  The words make you gape for a moment, that smile still showing as you shake your head at him and try not to laugh. He was a flirt- a rather smooth one too. 

    “Do you use that line on all the ladies?” You tease as you pull out your stethoscope to listen to his heart. You listen, and besides the fact that his heart rate is a little faster than the regular average, you don’t seem to notice anything too strange.

    “Only the ones as pretty as you.”

[flanzee]

what did u think of the anime ?? thoughts on wallace’s characterization ? seems to be heavily debated. love ur art !!

hello!!! :] thanks for liking my art EEEEEEEE

for a long time i saved my opinion about the anime because the first few days it came out it was a war zone out there and people with a different opnion would've be jumped on hahaaaaaa.... but ANYWAYS To this day I'm still neutral about it. Not what I personally expected. After my first watch I felt so devasted tbh LOL I took me a while to even get closer to it again and watch some of it for a second time. BUT with time, i slowly started to appreciate what I did liked about the show: the amazing animation!!!!! it's one of the things i praise of, alongside side the music (which i still listen time to time) Now everthing else... is something... I don't like how Scott was handled in this show nor The whole plot for the last 3 episodes ifykyk 😭😭😭 like at ALL. And something that people always praise about the show is how the Exes now had more depth and and were fun too watch but imo the only one who stands out was roxie and matthew...everything else felt half cooked... todd just being part of a Gag and istg i feel ike the Twins talked/did more in the comic than the anime 😭?!?! they didnt gaf about them even here LMAOO

I feel like this show could've been so good if the people behind it weren't thinking about "doing everything we can do in 8 episodes and conclude it because we are sure we wont get a season two!" you know?? and these last episodes are the prove of it and that they were running out of time

About Wallace's characterization, back then I've mentioned to my friends once that i felt like he was OOC at first. Him pretending that didn't cared about Scott did hurted a little ahaha. But after Bryan mentioned that he wasn't OOC, wasn't being a dick like everyone else was saying-including me lol-and that we should've be looking at his actions rather than his words[?]I stepped back and think "well Alright if he say hes not I guess i'll go with it. I guess. thats just his way to cope with scott's disappearance. I think. .... Ah. ... I get it now........... I see.......!!!!!!!" and understood that perhaps he's not the kind of person to admmit his real feelings, But Being with Another Scott the day after hes gone, Being in a Movie about Scott's life, Tell the director that there should've be a scene of him and Scott making out just to later have sex with the actor that played Scott and was also only interested on him while he was on his Scott custome WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's true that actions says more than words!!!!!!!! wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[babacontainsmultitudes]

always always thinking about your post that was like “normal has a very high threshold for being loved that is nearly impossible to meet and he will do *anything* to feel validated” and then today in the discord during the part where willy reveals it could’ve been either normal or scary, will said “willy fucked up normal would burn the entire world down for the tiniest crumb of validation” and just. screaming screaming forever about this boy’s inability to ever feel loved enough, he is every webweaving post about always devouring and never feeling full from love, this boy is RAVENOUS and it’s hard to understand how the oak good-boy morality can even supersede that, he has every trait imaginable to become a villain and it feels like the only thing preventing that is the desire to be good, bc tbh I don’t think he wants to be good more than he wants to be loved

SORRY FOR TAKING ALMOST TWO FUCKING WEEKS TO ANSWER THIS ANON!

Eheh, firstly *thank you* because this message is very sweet and made me extremely happy. The post you’re talking about took a good while to write and came with a lot of anxiety so it’s very nice to hear that you’ve kept fragments of it with you, I really do appreciate that!!! 💜

I’d debated for a bit on answering this privately to be honest with you, as not every fire I’ve sparked is one whose flames I wish to fan, so to speak, but everything you wrote is just so on-point and well-articulated that I couldn’t resist. Otherwise. *Ahem*. I know it's very very silly to respond to a response about an essay with what is essentially another essay, but you see, in thinking of how to answer your message, I got a little caught amongst many other things that have been on my mind... And I've seen some takes that have annoyed me for one reason or another and couldn't decide how to address those and. Well. Ultimately I decided that the stuff I wanted to talk about was connected *enough* to the stuff brought up in your message (as well as in my original post) that I could put it all together, soooooooo if you'll entertain me rambling once more~

Let's start by saying that, I recently saw a take going around stating that “Scary’s internal issues caused her external issues while Normal’s external issues caused his internal issues” (among a number of other statements that I frankly found pretty questionable), and I must say, for reasons that I hope to explain, I disagree with this assertion on both accounts!

In Scary’s case, this statement completely erases and undermines the trauma of her dad walking out, and what that does not only to her confidence and sense of self-worth, but to her relationship with her mother as well. And the degree of the impact of this external trauma on her internal view towards and treatment of herself is clear as day just by looking at the stark contrast between Terri and Scary. Scary (Terri) is someone who once had confidence in herself and could find validation and motivation internally, most recently evidenced by Terri's words of encouragement to Scary whilst under beacon of hope:

But then her dad leaves, and things get harder at home, and Scary starts to fight with her mom (her mom who she once called her best friend!!!), and she starts to feel worthless and unlovable- something that only gets worse with time as Willy alienates her from the rest of the group, case in point with this revealing exchange:  

No one’s told her they’re proud of her in a long time (sound familiar??),

her teachers at school shut her down when she tries to speak her mind or otherwise dismiss her behavior as “acting out” seemingly without any sort of intervention or attempt to actually check in with her,

[the above teen fact is from episode 31]

Only then, in response to her diminished sense of self-worth does she begin to cut herself off from the rest of the world and from her former self, most importantly quitting soccer (which we know matters a lot to her!),

and those things leave her even more vulnerable and supportless and ashamed. Not to mention all the mixed emotions she must feel when Terry walks into the picture, between actually liking him but not being able to see his love as genuine due to her relationship with her bio dad and all the frustration and shame she must feel as a result.

This is not to claim that Scary’s internal struggles do not inform a lot of what happens to her and the people around her over the run of the season- of course they do! (In fact some of the later things mentioned above are examples of that- I guess I got a bit carried away). But Scary’s major internal struggles that affect her throughout the course of the adventure are preceded by a slew of important external events that negatively affect her psyche and are in many cases out of her control. Scary’s internal struggles did not originate in a vacuum, and I absolutely would not say that they “caused” the bulk of what she has been through.

Unlike Scary, Norm’s excessive dependency on external validation to feel like he’s worth anything begins when he is very young. [Emphasis on “excessive” here, since obviously everyone requires validation from others to some degree, the point being just that this trait is so very pronounced in Normal and, as I argued a bit in the post anon is referring to, usually the most important factor informing his courses of action, superseding (but not implying the absence of) any desire to be good and help those around him. Will’s statement (the one which anon quotes) seems to corroborate this.] We know that things go so far back from Sparrow’s account in episode 17:

It’s important that this is about Normal’s kindergarten experiences too, because it tells us that Normal’s predominant internal issues go back farther than this and hence were not caused in and of themselves by his peers- instead being perhaps more fundamental to who he is as a person.

This is not to say that external events do not exacerbate the state of Normal’s psyche. In his youth most notably, we can infer that he interpreted Hero’s treatment (which of course he did not understand at the time to be her training) as favoritism, and I think it’s pretty clear by this point that his resentment of her is tied to the degradation of self-esteem that he experienced as a result.

Then of course there is the dance. Sparrow’s words to Normal during the dance obviously consist of a very pivotal moment for Norm within the context of the season, but I think it’s important to remember and not erase the fact that Normal’s internal issues with validation do not begin at the dance, as established in the kindergarten case but also further exemplified by Norm’s primary motive in becoming the school’s mascot in the first place (to get everybody to like him). I think it’s important to remember this in part since it informs so much of Normal’s reaction to what his father has to say, immediately afterwards but also throughout the whole rest of the season. No kid wants to hear that their parent isn’t proud of them, but the severity of the response to this sort of statement is going to vary drastically depending on the person, and in Norm’s case, given his natural disposition, it’s devastating. [and I swear there’s a teen talk moment where Will says basically this but I can’t find it for the life of me rn damn it lol maybe I’ll edit in the clip later if I do]

Of course in this specific case, one can still mostly say that the problem stems from outside of Normal, and that his preexisting issues exacerbate his response but are definitely not the cause of it. Outside of this instance, however, this is not always true! In fact, Normal’s excessive dependency on external validation and related rejection sensitivity (negatively) inform a large amount of his interactions with those around him, particularly Lincoln and Taylor (imagine me underlining “Taylor” several times as I say this). Truthfully that’s a whole ramble on its own, but with respect to more recent events, I have to admit that I was genuinely quite irked to find a lot of people blaming Taylor and Lincoln for Norm’s response to their uh. mech shenanigans in episode 37, choosing to frame this as an act of moral failing or even malice on their part, rather than a reflection of Normal’s own issues and room for growth. Lincoln and Taylor were simply focused on the mission at hand, and there was no good reason realistically speaking to have expected them to be aware of Normal’s emotional state at that point in time (or in general, to be aware of the jealousy their bonding moments evoke within Norm- particularly when Normal consistently fails to communicate and address those emotions with them in a manner that is direct and not passive-aggressive). Lincoln in particular is very clearly stated as not even having fun in that moment, very understandably being focused instead on the fact that his friend Scary is around his father, who he just witnessed, you know, murder someone. This is not an instance of the world going against Norm for no good reason other than to put him through it, this is a very clear example of Normal’s internal issues affecting the way he perceives external events in a manner that is not actually very reflective of the reality of the situation, and which of course feeds in further to his cycle of self-loathing (and I won’t go into it here since I sort of did in the post anon is responding to- but Normal’s negative reaction to Lincoln breaking the pick to gain Scary’s trust is another important example of this [tbh all the more so now coupled with the hypocrisy of how he handles the anchor in Goofs but that’s a tangent]). As aforementioned, Norm also struggles a good chunk of the time to actually explain his feelings in a manner that is direct and does not rely on blaming others for not picking up on his dejection, as exemplified in how this discussion goes with Lincoln in the most recent episode:

The treatment from fandom of this whole instance being reflective of a reoccurring issue I tend to have with a large chunk of the fandom, wherein the collective memory of canon tends towards getting warped to account for Norm’s mental state. Sometimes that’s hailing him as some morally-perfect, emotional reincarnate of Henry (as though the pride layer didn’t happen, as though Goofs didn’t happen, as though all of Norm’s relationship with Taylor isn’t what it is- …I feel like I should stop implying stuff about the significance Taylor and Norm’s relationship and not elaborating but it really is an essay in and of itself LOL), other times it’s just downright turning everyone around Normal into a villain, a persistent phenomenon which I sort of illustrated in the above example but also touched upon in an earlier essay (arguing that despite the fandom’s quick jump to villainize him- Lincoln breaking the guitar pick would prove to be an act of love). Sparrow also takes a good brunt of the damage from this. Sparrow saying he’s not proud of Normal gets turned into Sparrow not loving Normal (despite an abundance of proof in canon to the contrary), his apology for what he said and the support he shows for Norm in light of his alternative plan on dealing with the Doodler are completely ignored by most of the fandom, as are any other demonstrations of emotional availability and shows of growth that he displays throughout the course of the season, and the true motives behind Sparrow’s insistence on Normal living a “normal” life- to protect him from the childhood that he but also that Hero had to undergo- is somehow framed as Sparrow actually holding some kind of favoritism for Hero. It’s as though there is a complete inability on a larger scale within the fandom to see Sparrow as separate character outside of the filter of Norm’s emotions, and the other teens (including Hermie) get a similar if less pronounced treatment.

[Actually, I would argue that to some degree all of the kiddads except Terry (and Lark since he’s not officially a dad) tend to be perceived and criticized predominantly through the noise of their respective child’s emotions/behavior. In Grant’s case, Lincoln 1. spends a good part of the earlier half of the season asserting that his dads are the best dads in the world despite everything going on and 2. has a very unfortunate tendency to compartmentalize and push down his negative emotions as much as possible- in typical Wilson fashion- so the complexity and severity of Lincoln’s issues with his dad generally go understated, and only now that Lincoln has begun to be more vocal and upfront about his issues has some of Grant’s parenting finally begun to come under fire, and even then mostly only his more recent transgressions. In Taylor’s case, Taylor’s emotional security/stability and general fondness for his dad mean that Nicky is being hailed by many people as “the best dad” where in fact Nicky- while certainly helping the teens out in many ways and perhaps even acting as a friend to them- has done just about jack shit for Taylor as a *father*, and really if Taylor has anyone to thank for being as well-adjusted as he is now, it’s definitely his mom! But I digress.]

Normal and Scary are very similar, but the way fandom treats them is very different. People (mostly) seem to be able to acknowledge that Scary, in spite of her mistakes and flaws, is a scared, tired kid with a good heart who is capable and deserving of love. In Normal’s case, I just can’t seem to shake the impression that the fandom (in general) would rather strip Norm of all the things that make his character complex, and nuanced, and flawed, reducing him to an utterly uninteresting husk of a character before depicting him as anything other than a perfect goody-two-shoes who has never hurt anybody in his entire life or daring to acknowledge the fact that “Normal has been through a lot, is hurt, and deserves a good support system and emotional validation” and “Normal can at many times be his own worst enemy, sometimes makes mistakes that affect those around him, and has room to grow emotionally” are notions that can and should coexist. Or at least, that's my two cents on the matter.

[thesilverlady]

Judging by how Ryan love to show his feminist ideals by making female characters go through unspeakable amount of non-canon abuse and violence. And the only way for Rhaenyra's story to be a progressive/feminist tale is by making her get abused by the men around her. I am going to assume it's wouldn't be that far for Ryan to change Rhae's death and makes her gets raped in 4k scene by aegon (who should be disabled but we know Ryan loves to ignore source material) like show Rhaenyra's got zero respect from the writers. Like even her relationship with Daemon which wasn't healthy in the book to begin with , is now not really about her but because Daemon got the hots for Viserys (some leaks implies it for Aemma) he started projecting into her and entered a relationship with her bc it's the closest he can get to Visussy 🤓 f&b was already bad for me personally but Ryan is such a talented mf he managed to come up with much worse

*sorry for the rant I don't really ship daemrya but I really hate watching a female character get non-canon abuse just for the writers to prove a point about a male character *

Edit: My answer became very negative so for the pookies who want to avoid discourse and negativity pls scroll past ♥

it's alright! no need to apologize! 🫶

tbh with you I do enjoy daemyra very much in the book but I fully acknowledge their dynamic has its toxicity (tbf it's super rare to find a wholesome, sweet, "healthy" asoiaf couple and I probably wouldn't even get that hooked compared to how I get with the dark ones)

That being said, the couple lost me already by s1 ep4, so it terms of shipping I've given up waiting anything from them

Now about the writing, hotd has been misogynistic from the start so I'm not exactly waiting for a transformation to happen in s2.

in s1 Alicent’s character was rewritten - in such a way that the new version of her doesn't even experience a moment of happiness or a second of having autonomy or power. She's always someone's punching bag while also her being hypocritical and nasty to Rhaenyra

Laena's way of death was completely unnecessary and brutal, similiar to Aemma's. And the fact they made getting burnt alive being "a dragon rider's death" already gave a hint about how Rhaenyra's death will be seen if it follows canon.

asoiaf established how brutal dragon fire is when Rhaegal bathed Quentyn after he tried to tame Viserion. It's not "honorable" as hotd tries to make it be, it's torturous. And my concern with Rhaenyra's death is that it won't be seen for its brutality.

To continue Baela & Rhaena were barely given any lines, their role as kids was getting dismissed but their dad and as adults they were just standing silently - you'd think they were background characters.

Mysaria's character was brushed off by erasing the child loss she went through due to Viserys - which debatably worked as a trigger for the events she also did in the plot.

Rhaenys was downright written as an idiot who was envious of Rhaenyra and instead of supporting her, she was trying to "humble" her by being an asshole. When she got the opportunity to destroy the greens during the coronation she walked away because.... *check notes" she made eye contact with alicent and the power of motherhood won? her granddaughters being engaged wasn't enough for her to act I guess.

Then there's Helaena, who while she did have an extremely tiny role in the book, it doesn't justify making her extra passive. I've talked about this before but making her having "dragon dreams" is useless and a waste of time and it's also a great excuse to have her be dismissed and ignored.

Helaena in the book was said to be pleasant, motherly, patient and calm. I won't mention the leaks I've read about b&c but if they're true they paint her in a very weird light.

Rhaenyra deserves an entire post of her own. If alicent was the punching bad Rhaenyra is the bing bong boll being tosses from one person to another each second.

So yeah, the issue isn't about shipping or even which teams anyone sides with. The writing is atrocious to all the female characters, and what's the cherry on top is the showrunners constantly patting themselves in the back for being "feminist" and GA falls for it!

I'm so burnt out 😩 This is why I've decided to attempt turn off the media analysis for the show 'cause it's like kicking a dead horse. My goal for this season is to try to vent less and enjoy whatever I can put of context without thinking too hard about it.

[spicybylerpolls]

I mean... people act differently in the bedroom. Just point blank, if you look at your friend and go "she would never do that nah." Its possible, she could be a closet freak. No one acts like themselves in the bedroom. So nothing is really out of character unless there is canon material for how they act in such situations.

i just found this on a reddit thread that complains about smut being out of character in fandom in general and it seems like these debates we have re: byler (esp top and bottom, sub and dom) happen everywhere, and tbh, that fact alone speaks volumes? the above argument has been used for byler on this very blog! while it is technically true, it also seems to me to be a bit too obvious and a crutch/excuse for bad writing. for example, the duffers could have said 'mike has never been in a mall before s3, who knows how he'll react?' and then he's opening s3 just twerking on the mall fountain while waving his top around cos he's so excited about all the new shops and the free cinema trips and ice cream. i mean, technically its possible, but is that really mike?

thats a very infantile example because sexuality is complex. but my point is: I KNOW people do act differently in the bedroom, because it brings out another side of people, but the point stands about what 'out of character' actually means, and in writing you need a set of rules decreeing the boundaries of a fictional character - a personality outline - because otherwise their edges blur and they become everyone and no one. and i think this is the problem with lots of smut, as this user wrote:

It's sex scenes where characters stop being themselves and just start being people who are having sex. The sex scenes that feel very could-be-in-any-fandom. Like, for example, when people stop talking like themselves, and not because it's dirty talk or kink or whatever.

THIS! the amount of smut i've read where mike and will could suddenly be interchangeable with any character from any story anywhere, because theyre just two bodies doing sex acts. there are carbon copy phrases and buzzwords (apparently there's even a famous essay on this, says one user: 'you may enjoy ariaste's one finger/two fingers/three fingers/cock rant...')

this is what i mean when i say bad writing. someone on the thread explained that 'A lot of fanfiction is wish-fulfillment, and many of us want to believe the characters we're attracted to are sex gods, even if there's no canonical evidence of it.' the idea of mike and will being sex gods made me laugh and i think very few people who discuss byler seriously here believe they would be, but the operative phrase here is 'characters we are attracted to.' i think this is an unspoken part of fandom, and what divides fans who create fanworks, and original creators. the argument 'the duffers aren't creeps for writing teen sex so why are we?' does hold much water, not because writing smutfic makes you a creep, but because fans are infatuated with characters in a way that original creators usually aren't.

but why not? i dont think it's weird or bad to fall in love with a character. but this still doesnt answer the question of why many writers choose to lean towards this tried-and-typical smut style rather than aiming to emulate the characterisation or writing style of the original creators. so....

why do people think this might be? here are some of my suggestions, and i would love if some of the people who respond are also people who have written/thought about writing their own smut and answer honestly about their thought processes! choose the best that applies to you. thanks to all who partake!

A) the only access to erotic literature i've had in general is via fanfiction, so i can't see any other way of writing it.

B) i've read published erotic fiction and i end up emulating that rather than fanfiction, so i dont think my work is tropey or fanfic-typical.

C) i've read published novels that include sex written in a way i like, so i try to take inspiration from that instead.

D) i write sex the way I have sex/think about sex i've had in real life.

E) i write sex the way I imagine/want to have sex in real life, and this is mostly influenced by porn/fanfiction fantasies.

F) i write sex the way i imagine/want to have it in real life, and this is mostly influenced by my own individual imagination/life experience rather than porn/fanfiction.

G) i prefer the writing style in much of smut fanfiction (e.g. tropes and well-used phrases) because i find them genuinely realistic to character.

H) i prefer the writing style in much of smut fanfiction (e.g. tropes and well-used phrases) because i find them hottest and i typically prioritise this over realistic characterisation.

I) i worry that if my smut is too personal or doesnt read as familiar, people won't like it and i typically (but not always) prioritise audience response over artistic expression or experimentation. i want to add to the canon of byler smut in a familiar way.

J) i try to prioritise what i genuinely think the characters would do during sex rather than my own fantasies/projections/aspirations for either the characters or for myself.

K) i don't usually think this hard about smut.

L) i believe that smut fanfiction, including tropes and well-used buzzwords, does make genuinely compelling and wonderful reading, and i'm happy with the state of smut in general.

Please note that the purpose of this blog is not to be creepy or to make anyone uncomfortable. That's why I created the #spicy byler tag (I will tag all polls with this). If you don't want to see this blog or anything related to it on your feed, please block that tag. Not everyone is comfortable with this sorta stuff, and that's okay.

[smallblueandloud]

i've been SUPER blocked, fic-wise, this month. but i'd really like to write a bit and get another story out in time for june! so i'm gonna think out loud for a little while

here are the fics i've got ongoing, and why i'm stuck on them:

éponine de bergerac: the next scene is a complex one, with éponine meeting cosette's dad. i don't really trust my ability to write jean valjean, nor do i really know what purpose this scene has to fulfill, other than jean approving of éponine. this isn't really based on a scene in cyrano itself or roxanne (1987), so i kinda don't have a road map. maybe i just write a little bit of the dinner and then move on? but then i have to solve my overall plot problems. oh shit the balcony scene can happen over text can't it. okay. i'm gonna investigate that later.

universal translator malfunction: unfortunately the dark side of writing casefic is that you need a case underneath it all. i don't know what's causing the malfunction in the first place. i've written every scene that got me to start this fic in the first place so now i have no idea how to resolve it

natlaura soulmates installment: i realized a few days ago that clint has to get kidnapped and now i'm procrastinating writing this casefic, too. it needs to happen, we need JUSTIFICATION for clint and nat hiding laura away, that's the whole emotional tension of the fic. unfortunately i don't feel like writing a kidnapping, especially trying to figure out how to convey natasha's competence from a civilian (laura's) perspective :/ maybe i'll figure out how to include melinda may somehow, that might make it more fun to work on

quarrel (13 meets mickey/martha rewrite): tbh i've been vaguely thinking that i should rewatch s11 before i go back to writing 13. which... i don't think is necessary, to be honest, given how superficially 13 is characterized in s11. i think most of the problem here is just procrastination and a bit of boredom.

and then some other vague ideas i could try to flesh out...

now that s14 is over i want to write something for doctor who. i'm really debating what. i kinda want ruby to hang out at the temple-noble house but the existence of tenthree makes that feel sour to me -- i don't like that there's a doctor chilling on earth who's presumeably ignoring every former companion who's within driving distance. but maybe tenthree is just conveniently off-world or something. maybe the family is hiding tenthree's existence from ruby? or maybe ruby meets tenthree and realizes he's fundamentally the doctor but Still Not Really Her Friend.

oh. relatedly. the memory TARDIS reminded me about all of my TARDIS feels. i would love to write a fic related to the TARDIS, esp the TARDIS kitchen (kitchens are my favorite space in basically any universe). hmm. maybe this could tie into my ruby sendoff.

oh as always also the ever-classic: the fam meets jack harkness but instead of realizing he's a friend, they hear the way he talks about the doctor and assume he's the master.

okay i'm gonna try to talk about non-doctor who ideas now.

leverage ot3 getting-together fic that my good friend basically outlined into my dms and now i really want to write because it's so good. i'm not sure i have faith in my ability to keep ahold of the relevant emotional threads but hey it's probably worth a shot.

i literally have no idea what but i want to write something for the fast and furious series. definitely something featuring mia and/or letty. maybe about hispanidad. and also queerness.

luke and leia force dyad? five times they shared something? quantum entanglement from beru's perspective? han figuring out about the force bond at some point, possibly before the twins themselves?

...a scene set in the fullmetal alchemist version of the xmen. mostly i just want to talk about jean grey, flame alchemist, and her longsuffering assistant lieutenant summers.

that fic i keep talking about where yelena and natasha meet clint and yelena cannot fathom how deeply natasha trusts this guy. unfortunately this one would be super noncompliant with the black widow movie but, like, not in obvious ways, so i'd have to MAKE that obvious, and it would get clumsy pretty quickly

...so i'm clearly not DOOMED, okay, i have a BILLION ideas. i just have to sit down and write them!

maybe tomorrow i'll go the library after my nice fancy brunch that i've already planned out. that would be a lovely saturday treat

[elliesglock]

okay while I do think they had a rough patch in their amicable split (that comes naturally tbh, they’re heartbroken teenagers!!!! being away from the one they love most for the first time in a long time), they definitely had some sorta attachment even tho they were broken up. enough for azzi (and paige sometimes) to be leaving flirty comments on TikToks (“I officially miss you come back 💗”), and don’t forget we also had azzi surprising paige on her birthday to say she’s committing! and we also got the little “after dinner was fun…😏😊🙃” moment from their slam interview. yeah something was definitely going on even then, and it wasn’t platonic. and whenever they reunited during those times I see the resolve breaking and them just, yk…not platonic.

I see little cracks starting appear a little after that, up until azzi gets to CT. interactions are more mellow, p was seen with other girls etc. what happened in my opinion too, is that azzi comes to uconn they try their best to stay “best friends” and fail. I mean paige’s longing in the slam interview actually makes me tear up, azzi seemed more reserved but if you look close enough princess was yearning too. they just wanted (needed) each other so bad. they definitely had a few weak moments and got with each other during this time. now we’ve heard azzi was in a very lose relationship/situationship with someone else from late ‘21 to early spring ‘22. p was not seen with other girls during this time/since azzi got to school, even. she never really was with anyone in the first place, just multiple hookups with one girl at the most, so pleaseeeee drop the player p allegations, my girl went through a phase when her heart was broken but she has been so in love with her azzi since she was 15 :(

anywho, azzi ends her super casual relationship around march ‘22, and that’s when p&a start their exclusive/only seeing each other situationship. now there’s debates as to when they officially start being girlfriends again, and I see all these of the most popular opinions tbh: around P’s injury, early 2023, or mid-late 2023. but anon on another blog said something along the lines of they might as well have been officially dating regardless. whatever theory you believe, they have only been with each other and LOCKED IN since early spring of ‘22, so what they called themselves doesn’t really matter at all if you think about it. now I feel they’re way more open, private but not a secret/iykyk kinda thing. they, nor their friends/family/teammates are hiding it at all. they’re not rubbing it in everyone’s faces either. which is why they remind me SO MUCH of tomdaya. those two dated 2016- mid 2019, broke up and got back together around august of 2020 (so pazzi I coded ijbol). they resolved the issues of their relationship/the problems they had hiding it and took a much more mature approach the second time around. look at them now ENGAGED GONNA BE MARRIED!!!! which is what we’re seeing with paige and azzi now, they’re so much more relaxed and open, and I assume this will only grow once p gets drafted. they’re not gonna be making out in everyone’s faces, posting each other constantly? but like tom and z, they will let it be known they love each other. cute public appearances and posts every now and again.

holy shit this is long, but in conclusion they’re both so in love with each other and have been since they were in their sophomore and junior years of hs and it makes me so emotional pass me a napkin I need to wipe my tears :(

p.s - I’ll try to compose this into a little timeline in another post so it’s easier to decipher! sorry for the long ass read lmao

oh i've always thought this. there was definitely a dependency there even though they tried to act nonchalant as hell. especially paige. from what she was doing with her playlists and how she was on social media, she was struggling bad with being without azzi. possibly from being with her for so long or just having a soul tie. like she was tied to a and it was painful to be apart from her. same thing with az. your timeline is chefs kiss. it's exactly how i feel. the slipping up WAS DEF a big thing that was happening with them. i mean they're soulmates. you tell me if your soulmate was at school with you, around you all the time, and you already had a confusing, strained relationship you wouldn't want to jump their bones all the time? well it's the same with pazzi to me. just them going to school together definitely opened a lot of wounds and made the emotion turn to intimacy. it could also be a lot of angsty, angry energy around them. having soul ties to your situationship is just something else. poor paige and azzi. also, they were very love very young. that's a different type of feeling. especially if they're your first everything. i think there was a lot of emotions and feelings surrounding that aspect of whatever weird ish they had going on. the tomdaya similarities to pazzi just scratches my brain absolutely so good. i was a huge tomdaya stan and watching them progress over the last few years has been so surreal. i see pazzi doing the exact thing. private but not a secret but like locked the fuck in and married. they truly are so lucky. they've loved each other for almost 8 years. finding your soulmate at 15 years old is sooooo romantic novel coded. like i'm about to make a book about them because they are truly the perfect story.

[one-winged-dreams]

Different anon, and tbh idc what characters you like. You don't have to agree with the beliefs the characters have to enjoy the characters. The Sternritters have very strong parallels to N*zis. But people have to also understand, Tite Kubo is a history and culture nut. The Thousand Year Blood War is an anime parallel to WW2.

But Bleach is also fictional, and these characters are their own people. While there are very strong parallels, sometimes people like these characters for idk... physical appearance or coping mechanisms? So, just because an anon, who couldn't be bothered to say it off anon, comes at you, that doesn't mean you have to drop a F/O for their pleasure. I know it comes across as icky to like characters who have Nazi parallels. I had a temporary crush on Giselle. But sometimes, people find comfort in the characters themselves, not the ideals the characters follow.

If you feel comfort in Äs Nödt, that's your right to. It's not the anon's right to dictate who you find comfort in.

This is the link where I looked up more info. Like I said, just because the ideals are very similar, and there's strong parallels, doesn't mean you can't like the character. I've been following you for a while, and I know you don't support those types of ideals. But given how each Sternritter has their own past before becoming Sternritter means they didn't always have those ideals.

https://armandoanimegaming.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-nazi-and-german-symbolism-in-tite.html?m=1

Euughhh, I appreciate the support and the benefit of the doubt (because i know there are an amount of people on this site willing to label someone a na/z/i apologist for any little thing, even though i feel like i've made it abundantly clear what my views on fascists and bigots are) but I can't say I feel comfortable shipping with him if people are gonna insist that's what he is.

For one thing; I'm tired. I don't want to have to spend my time on my feel good blog debating people at every turn.

Another thing; I have no idea what the fandom's current consensus is on the matter, and if it's a 'majority rules' sort of thing then it wouldn't be a good look for me to keep shipping with him. Like yeah I can use my own judgment but if it's like, agreed upon that it's not safe to touch then I'm not gonna touch it.

It sucks because I DID have something mapped out but it's really honest to god not worth the hassle, so as of now it's leaning towards a 'no' from me.

I still personally do not equate the quincies as being inherently na/z/i coded, but if other people do then I'm gonna just let it go.

[toddandersonn]

Okay, so I've been doing the "re-listen and rate all the 11 albums" thing. I did Debut on Wednesday, so today it's Fearless's turn!

1. Fearless. What an opening!! Easily in her top 3 opening tracks. Seeing this in the Eras and doing the 🫶 was one of my fave moments of 2023. Rating: 10/10

2. Fifteen. While I don't revist this song super often, I still think it's great and quite touching. My favorite lyric is, "But I found time can heal most anything, and you might just find who you're supposed to be". Rating: 9/10

3. Love Story. This is the first Taylor song I ever heard in 2010, so I'll always have a soft spot for it. But it's also genuinely a perfect song. Rating: 10/10.

4. Hey Stephen. Super cute and iconic. "All those girls, well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?", you'll always be famous. Rating: 8.5/10

5. White Horse. You guys give this song too much hate. It's s not her worst track 5 by any means. You guys just don't get her like I do. My favorite lyric is "Maybe I was naive, got lost in your eyes and never really had a chance.My mistake, I didn't know to be in love you had to fight to have the upper hand.". Rating: 8.5/10.

6. You Belong With Me. Banger of all time! Been there, too, Nerdy Taylor in the mv. Rating: 10/10.

7. Breathe. One of my fave deep cuts. There aren't a lot of friendship breakup songs out there, so I'm glad she exists. My favorite lyric is, "Nothing we say is gonna save us from the fall out". Rating: 10/10

8. Tell Me Why. The fiddles here give me life. It has a lot of good lyrics, my favorite one is "You could write a book on how to ruin someone's perfect day". Rating: 8/10.

9. You're Not Sorry. Gonna piss a lot of people off, but I genuinely don't like this song much aside from a few lines and the production. I just find it rather boring, and it's really similar to White Horse because both songs are about not forgiving an ex and going your own way after finding out they were cheating on you. I do like the first few verses. My favorite lyric is "And it's taken me this long baby, but I figured you out" and I love the guitars and violins, but yes, I don't have a lot of positive things to say about this song. Rating: 6/10.

10. The Way I Loved You. What a banger!! The guitars, the banjo, everything!! Chorus of all time, which also has my fave lyrics in this song. My favorite lyric is Rating: 10/10.

11. Forever & Always. Another perfect song! And late 2022 me really related to this (fun fact F&A was written on the same day I went through a friendship breakup that had me blasting this the rest of that day). My favorite lyric is, "Was I out of line? Did I say something way too honest, made you run and hide like a scared little boy?". Rating: 10/10

12. The Best Day. I get why some people may not like it, but I love it. Favorite lyrics are, "I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean. I come home crying, and you hold me tight and grab the keys, and we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away, and we talk and window shop till I've forgotten all their names", because yeahh... anyways. Rating: 9/10.

13. Change. Love the production, but lyrically, it is weak. I don't 100% agree this is Long Live 1.0, because Change feels more like a rousing speech, while Long Live feels more like a celebration of their achievements, declaring that in case everything goes wrong she hopes everyone will look back fondly on their times together. My favorite lyric is, "Because these things will change. Can you feel it now? These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down". Rating: 6.5/10.

14. Jump Then Fall. This song is cute and all, but I just think Hey Stephen is better tbh. My favorite lyric is, "The time is gonna come when you're so mad you could cry, but I'll hold you through the night until you smile." Rating: 7/10.

15. Untouchable. I've debated whether rating this song or not since it's just a cover, but since it's on both the 2009 Platinum version and on Fearless TV, I'm rating it. I think her vocals here are quite good, and I love the country rearrangement. My favorite lyric is, "In the middle of the night, we can form this dream, I wanna feel you by my side, standing next to me. You gotta come on, come on, say that we'll be together." Rating: 8.5/10.

16. Forever and Always (Piano Version). Since this is genuinely another version of the song with different vocals and production, and not just a remix, I'm rating it. While it's not my preferred version of the song, I think it's a nice rendition. Rating: 8/10.

17. Come In With The Rain. Soo underrated, her vocals are quite nice, and the production is really good. Rating: 8/10

18. Superstar. I don't get why you all hate this song. Is it the best platinum track? No, but it's not the worst one when Jump Then Fall is right there. Rating: 7.5/10.

19. The Other Side of The Door. Another banger of the century. One of her best outros!! Rating: 10/10.

20. Today Was A Fairytale. Sooo cute, you are mean for hating on this one. Rating: 8/10.

21. You All Over Me. I'm gonna be honest, I'm not big on the Fearless vault tracks, because I feel like most of the truly great material made in either in the standard edition or the platinum edition, so what was left off was overall just alright imo. I don't dislike this song by any means, but I prefer production on the 2005 demo over the one on the Taylor's version because it just doesn't like a Debut/Fearless Taylor song and it sounds a little too polished (idk if it makes sense? Idk, the only time Aaron Dessner has let me down is when it comes to the Fearless Vault). Rating: 6/10.

22. Mr. Perfectly Fine. It's definitely the best vault track on Fearless! My favorite lyric is Mr. "Insincere apology so he doesn't look like the bad guy". Rating: 10/10.

23. We Were Happy. I quite like this song, actually, but I prefer the demo production over the TV one. While it does feel more Fearless esque than You All Over Me TV, I didn't love how they switched it from the orchestral arrangement to a downtempo ballad one. Rating: 7.5/10.

24. That's When. Writing wise, this song makes no sense... but melodically, it's quite nice soooo... Rating: 6/10.

25. Don't You. I kinda hate this song... the lyrics are okay, I guess, but the production??? This sounds like a Midnights demo... why are you doing synths and vocal layering on the most awarded country album??? Rating: 5.5/10.

26. Bye Bye Baby. Well, I hate this one more, actually. I do like the lyric "It wasn't just like a movie, the rain didn't soak through my clothes down to my skin", because of how it contrasts with Fearless the song and her vocals here are nice, but everything else sucks imo. Rating: 5/10.

Overall score: 7.8/10 (counting the vault), 8.6/10 (if we're going off solely the original tracks).

[dnofsunshine]

Digimon Secret Santa Exchange 2023: Don't blame me (you started it)

Kuga Yuuya never texted her first. Until he did.

Written for @hallowed-nebulae for the @digisecretsanta 2023 exchange! :3

a/n: i'm your secret santa and (like i said on ao3 lol) i'm not entirely familiar with the digimon world series, or i wasn't until recently, so i hope i did your two favorites, Rina & Yuuya, justice!! i've enjoyed the gameplay so far of Re:digitize Decode and i enjoyed writing these two. i hope you have a safe and merry Christmas, and happy holidays!! <333 :D

Oh, and here's my Digimon discord server if you wanna yell abt digimon with us!

Read on AO3! || Read below the cut:

Kuga Yuuya did not texted her first.

It wasn’t something subjective—it was a simple, known fact! She wasn’t sure Yuuya texted anyone first. Often, when Rina texted him, Yuuya left her (very cruelly) on read. Sometimes he left her on delivered. Which was like, extremely rude, thank you very much.

(Granted, none of those messages were because of actual emergencies, but still. Her memes were nonetheless very important and warranted a response. But Yuuya had ignored her. Because of course he did. The jerk.)

So, naturally, when Rina’s phone vibrated and pinged, and Yuuya’s contact lit up her screen, Rina gaped. She blinked, surprised, and it took several moments to register that oh yeah, she should read the message.

Hey, Yuuya had written plainly. Jeesh, and he called everyone else boring.

Yeah, the world had totally ended. Sometime in the last few minutes, the world had ended and Rina had died and gone to an afterlife where apparently Kuga Yuuya texted her first.

She debated on calling him to see what was up, but that ran the risk of scaring him off because he didn’t even text, let alone call; so Rina leaned back in her chair and did what she did best.

Rina: hey!!!! ┌( ＾◡＾ )┘whatcha up to???

Yuuya: Studying. You use a lot of exclamation points, Rina-san.

Rina: and u text like the heir of the gigo company lol

Yuuya: Is… that a good or a bad thing?

Rina blinked again, her lips curving into a frown. She narrowed her eyes at her screen suspiciously, and who could blame her? Since when did Yuuya care about her opinion of him?

Rina: not bad!!! was just kiddin lol (≧_≦)

Yuuya: Okay.

She sent him another text that mostly consisted of emotes and exclamation points (perhaps proving his point), and this time, it took a while for Yuuya to respond. At least a good ten minutes.

Yuuya: What about you? What’re you up to?

Okay. Wow. She peeked out her bedroom window—yep, still snowing. Which meant it was still mid-December and she was still in Japan. Maybe. Probably. If she wasn’t… did it snow in the afterlife? To what afterlife had she been sent, for Yuuya to not only respond but ask about her in return? Smug, snooty Yuuya? What the hell was even happening? She couldn’t even begin to know the answer to that. 

Instead, she answered Yuuya.

Rina: just chillin!!! not really doing much haha it’s boring w/o V.V. here tbh

Yuuya: I see.

Another pause followed. Rina stood from her chair and made her way to her bed to sprawl out, phone in hand, as she awaited the continuation of their conversation. She got bored waiting on minute three and decided she couldn’t handle the suspense anymore.

Rina: so whats up???

Yuuya: I’m studying.

Rina: well duh u said that already i meant why did u text me

Yuuya: You text me all the time.

Rina: yeah! but u like never answer soooooo

Yuuya: Sorry.

Oh good god, okay. Yuuya, apologizing? Prideful, arrogant Yuuya? Maybe she’d gone to some alternate dimension—somewhere that wasn’t the digital world—where everything was the same except for one fifteen-year-old Kuga Yuuya.

She frowned again, this time in contemplation. As she pondered how to respond, she kicked her feet idly against her bed, tapping the back of her phone case if only to keep her fingers moving.

She wondered absentmindedly if his dad scolded him or something. From what she knew, Kuga Kenzou was more insufferable than Yuuya—which, of course, made sense considering he was Yuuya’s father—so it wasn’t much of a stretch to say he wasn’t all that great of a parent.

Her chest ached inexplicably at the thought and her frown deepened.

Rina: is ur dad being a bitch

Yuuya: Huh?

Rina: ya know ur dad is he being a bitch lol

Yuuya: I don’t see what he has to do with the conversation.

Then, after about a minute:

Yuuya: Father is always being a bitch.

Rina: lol!! i believe it honestly

And because Rina was a gremlin with no sense of self-control: 

Rina: his ass must really hurt from the stick shoved in it

Yuuya: Lol.

Rina blinked once more in surprise and then grinned at her screen because this was another new thing—Yuuya laughing at a joke? A joke she made? She didn’t even know Yuuya could laugh, much less over text. She didn’t know he even had a sense of humor.

They spent the next hour or so texting, with Rina sending memes (the normal amount) and emotes (also the normal amount) and Yuuya telling her that it was, in fact, not the normal amount. Eventually, the time between Yuuya’s responses grew longer and longer, and Rina assumed that he’d averted his full attention back to studying.

Rina: ur a fun texter lol

Rina: not as fun as me obviously but still fun just sayin

She sent it without really expecting a response right away, but she was surprised yet again when the reply came in only a few minutes.

Yuuya: Wow. One person approves of my texting habits.

Rina laughed out loud. This was a fun side of Yuuya to see.

(And no, it wasn’t because she felt a little warm inside that he seemed to trust her enough to make jokes with her.)

(She didn’t feel warm inside at all.)

(Yuuya was simply growing on her.)

(Like a fungus.)

Yuuya: Is this supposed to be an honor or a shame, since the person is Rina-san?

Her laugh quickly turned into a scandalized gasp as she stared down at her phone in offense. No, she changed her mind. Yuuya wasn’t growing on her.

“Rude,” she said aloud as if he could hear her, without any hint of fondness in her voice. None at all. "Yer such a punk."

Oh, who was she kidding—she sent him memes, shitposts, and festive, holiday-themed selfies every day after that for the rest of the month. If he was pissed about it, well, he texted her first.

[axilarycobra]

Dragonets of Destiny LGTBQ+ Headcanons

I need to get going on posting these because I'm so behind (my school literally doesn't get out until THURSDAY). I'm just going to do the 1st arc protagonists right now because I like to make lots of headcanons about this stuff specifically (screw canon relationships) so it's probably long (*added note, it is long sry).

I already posted some of these on Insta and someone already commented on how it's hard to not debate me about these so please don't. They're just headcanons, they're mine, you don't have to believe them at all.

Clay

trans demiboy (he/they), gay, aromantic, polyamorous

quick note I want to make, I use trans demiboy to mean that Clay was afab. The distinction isn't that important, he'd still be a demiboy either way, it's just a little more specific to my hcs. For Glory, later on here who is a demigirl, hers just says demigirl because she was also afab.

This one evolved a lot over the *time frame (idk what it is)* that I've been making headcanons. Originally, Clay was just pan and that was it. Then, I was making a joke AU with my friend and Clay was trans in it but then I realized that I actually liked that so I decided to hc him as trans. The aromantic hc came with that just being a popular one with him, however, I don't hc him as aroace, I still like to think he has sexual attraction. Also, a lot of these come along with the polyamorous hc, that's because I ship them in relationships where they are with multiple dragons. I'll save those for another time since some get complicated.

Tsunami

genderfluid (she/her/they/them), lesbian, graysexual

Just like Clay (and all of these tbh), Tsunami has changed quite a bit. I originally hced her as just bi but I saw someone else hcing her as genderfluid and I liked that. There was a big spur in genderfluid hcs after I started to identify as genderfluid and that's visible throughout this. I also saw another person hcing her as lesbian which I think fit. The graysexual is a newer one, I didn't start hcing characters that until recently because I didn't even know what it was until recently, but I think it's a label that fits a lot of characters in my hcs.

Glory

demigirl (she/they), lesbian, asexual

Going to keep this one shorter. I always hced Glory as demigirl, that has never changed, but I used to hc her as bi. It wasn't until recently that I liked the lesbian hc. I'm actually not sure where the asexual hc came from but I like it, I think it fits well with the Glory that's portrayed in this hc AU I have.

Starflight

transmasc (he/him), gay, demiromantic, asexual

Starflight has probably changed the most. He originally was just a cishet guy, like, the only one of all the main characters. Then I started to like the Starflight x Flame ship and I was like, "ok, that has to change now" so it did. Then I started to like the popular transmasc Starflight hc and I added that. A while ago, I started to experiment more with aromantic and asexual spectrum hcs because I didn't have a lot of them and believed that they are definitely more common than I had them portrayed throughout these hcs.

Sunny

genderfluid/nonbinary (they/he/sun/sol), pan, aroflux, polyamorous

Sunny is the first character I had using neopronouns. I originally had them identifying as nonbinary but I also liked the genderfluid hc, ultimately, I decided that they could use both since that's kind of what I do. I know the aroace hc for Sunny is popular, but I like to think they still experience attraction, but it isn't always clear, hence aroflux. Sometimes sun feels attraction but it fluctuates. Also, the polyamorous hc comes along with the fact that I ship him in a relationship with multiple dragons, again, I'll save those for another day.

[haissitall]

overall thoughts about the country girls i've been drawing sometimes

what is this?: country humanizations with focus on Russia, America and China. tagged "nothetalia", ie "not-hetalia". maybe i'll come up with a better name one day

the overall concept: it's focused on international politics, so the characters' behavior is more alligned with their country's behavior on the world stage rather than with national stereotypes. modern-day focused. the characters exist on another plane of reality, so they can do magic, turn into animals, change appearances and undergo mitosis (about this later)

the design philosophy: all of them are women, no exceptions. because of the political focus, their clothes tend towards "business casual" to reflect that. sometimes inspiration can be drawn from the looks of prominent female politicians of a country. most of the times it's taken out of my ass and based on vibes.

the mitosis thing: because the characters are on another plane of existance and have to reflect political reality, they are very... fluid. for example: if a country is divided by civil war, then it gets split into two characters with the same face, same memories and even a mental link akin to telepathy. if they grow apart further, the link can get weaker to the point where it's almost entirely broken, and the twins are very much separate entities. an example of such separation: Britain and America (America started off as Britain's "double" so they still share a face and some physical features. i think they still share a mental link of sorts.) the characters can sometimes refer to their relationships as familiar, but it's very arbituary. America and Britain switch between calling each other "sisters" or "cousins", and Russia would think about the Union as her (late) mother (although technically current Russia is her "double" with the same memories and arguably the same-ish "consciousness", whatever that means)

relationships which interest me the most:

Russia & China: they have these vibes of "we are adults. we know love doesn't exist. we know we can't get attached. Healthy Distance, ok. not like the last time. this time we're sooo careful." i explored a very optimistic outlook on this dynamic in this fic. being so different means both some inevitable mistrust and an actually smoother dynamic where there's, like, less to argue about. i think they're very complimentary in essence. when China speaks Chinese and Russia speaks Russian, they understand each other perfectly. but only when they're drunk.

Russia & America: you know it's a great dynamic when in the "you're not rocking with me!? im gonna kill myself" meme each of them can be both the one breaking up and the one threatening to kill herself. (although im of the opinion that it's America who's responding to the break up text, but that is debatable.) i explored their dynamic a little in this and this fics. i think they're on the stage of very personal and visceral hatred and you cannot have them in the same room like two territorial and agressive cats

Russia & Germany: Germany refused to have friday beers with Russia so for a while she walked back and forth outside of Germany's window like an impatient tiger in a cage. Germany was too scared to tell her to leave so she just quietly closed the blinds

USSR & East Germany: im a bit insane about them tbh. i once saw a picture from i think better call saul (i haven't watched it, full disclosure) where he and his love interest lie in bed together but they're both dressed in business attire? yeah like this is their dynamic. but they're in military uniforms.

honorable mentions i'd like to think about more in the future:

America & Britain: i feel like they have something very messed up and entertaining going on Russia & India: a lot of wholesome potential. Russia & Iran: united by love for the geranium flowers Russia & North Korea: Russia appearing out of nowhere like heyyyy so, still friends, right?)) and Korea is like uh-huh. "welcome home cheater" vibes. Russia & Turkey: they're friends. they hate each other. they know the other very well. the most toxic and duplicitous "friendship" in the world and that's why it can be so fun