#*this was reeeeeeeally hard

[jeju-tangerine]

actually the scene of the 5 finalist ladies and the guys in their babyblue outfits standing in front of The Family and looking mournfully at the seemingly idyllic scene before them.. bonechilling actually. ready set love is secretly about the horrors of heteronormativity and the patriarchy ?

[delicateartisantrash]

Fanfic Scene Sketch

Nova, always thinking ahead. There’s a soft side somewhere under her cold armor.

she’s supposed to be very aloof, but i keep ending up with writing her during scenes she is, for contextual reasons, less aloof. Partying with the other Seekers might have contributed to this one.

please pardon me yeeting through a bagillion typeface styles in my doodling

[skrunglebeasts]

In your opinion, how do you keep a protagonist as engaging/interesting as an antagonist w/o making the latter seem too flat/boring in comparison?

anon, ive been sitting on this forever because ive thought about this a loooooong time and the simple truth is this is very hard to do

unfortunately, theres nothing you can do about making an antagonist less interesting. you can make the most boring, flat, one-note, mwahaha im going to kill people because i love kicking baby animals piece of shit man, but the moment you make the mistake of making him conventionally attractive, hes going to have people who love sleazebags flock toward him. i say he because this sort of character is always a guy people love guy villains. thats all there is to it but hey, the fun part is trying anyway, right? the challenge comes from the fact that we spend a lot of time with the protagonists of whatever story we end up with. familiarity breeds exhaustion or indifference with that in mind, regardless of how you go about, the main thing that you need to make a good protagonist is you need to feel REAL REAL strongly about them and their place in your story. you can love this blorbo or hate this little bastard, but you have to feel it. it doesnt matter if other characters have their own separate stories and having stories about other characters that have nothing to do with the main character can even help flesh things out and make the audience appreciate the main character more! at the end of the day, the bones of the story have to be built with the protagonist in mind. if you dont like those bones and feel nothing about that character, its going to become very obvious to the audience youd rather be writing about someone else additionally, you can go the ryoko kui method and make EVERYONE a little bit of a freak, which i highly recommend i dont have a solid formula for you at the end of the day, but i do think you need to approach any story with a real level of sincerity that you channel through your focal point character. everything else will fall into place

[bladeandspell]

Welcome to the muse alphabet. All you gotta do is go down the alphabet and type in a muse's first name that begins with that letter until you can't anymore. Yup, we don't skip in this house, we go until we can't anymore. I'll start. Feel free repost with your own. Canon characters of any media are allowed just as long as you've written them once or twice in the past.

A - Arthur (Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War)

B - Beatrix (Final Fantasy IX)

C - Cao Pi (Dynasty Warriors)

D - Demyx (Kingdom Hearts)

E - Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

F - Oerba Yun Fang (Final Fantasy XIII)

G - Genesis Rhapsodos (Final Fantasy VII: CRISIS CORE)

H - Takenaka Hanbei (Sengoku BASARA)

I - Irvine Kinneas (Final Fantasy VIII)

J - Jellal Fernandes (Fairy Tail)

K - Kain Highwind (Final Fantasy IV)

L - Lavitz Slambert (Legend of Dragoon)

M - Mouri Motonari (Sengoku BASARA)

N - Ran Nagisa (Ensemble Stars!!)

O - Oscar (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance / Radiant Dawn)

P - Pesmerga (Suikoden / Suikoden 2)

Q - Queen (Suikoden III)

R - Sakuma Rei (Ensemble Stars!!)

S - Spartos Leoxses (Magi)

T - Troy (Suikoden IV)

U - Ursula (Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade)

V - Valeria (Suikoden / Suikoden II)

W - Wen Yang (Dynasty Warriors)

X - Xane (Fire Emblem... 1/3/11/12 blablabla stop remaking this game it sucks)

Y - Yuber (Suikoden I-III)

Z - Zihark (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance / Radiant Dawn)

[leafdrake-haven]

FINALLY DID IT!!!!

Finally finished editing how I want to build my icy/snowy themed deck

Now I just gotta get the cards and some sleeves etc xD

[punkitt-is-here]

reeeeeeeally love the brief hint of regret here. i kinda wish this was still archie sonic era where the metanarrative gloves could come off and they COULD go somewhere with Eggman, but since its so closely tied to sonic "canon" now it's hard to see it going anywhere. still, i love the little nods to what could have been.

[matt0044]

Regarding the "Does RWBY like women?" poll (yes, yes it does BTW).

You know... the whole poll debacle reminded me of something.

RWBY helped me expand my media diet by telling me that just because people hate something enmass, it could just all be bullshit coupled with mob mentality.

Instead of hatedoms getting me to think:

"Damn, I don't even wanna be associated with that show based on the rage it inspires."

My more skeptical brain is like:

"Okay, so why is it reeeeeeeally hated? Is it reeeeeeeally bad or are people going along with the crowd because critical thinking is too much of a burden in this capitalist hellscape?"

Because bad media literacy is in part a result of the fact that most geeks and normies alike aren't out to be legit critics but rather just want to enjoy the thing, gush about the thing and so forth. They can't exactly articulate their reasonings why like they're trying to get an A+ in Therapy Studies.

And THAT is how the YouTube Video Essay and Angry Critic scene takes off.

We dunk on the Nostalgia Critic (often for VERY real IRL grievances) but his catchphrase: "I remember it so you don't have to" is something many who'd come after would take to heart. These video maker people are taking about a thing you like and are explaining it in a way you not only agree with but makes you feel vindicated.

Be it for love... or for hate.

Because hatedom circles like the RWDE looks to video essays that reassure them, keep them from doubting their stance on the thing and how they enforce it.

With the burden of actually seeing the thing and thinking hard taken off of them, people can confidently say things like "RWBY prioritizes Jaune" despite not looking at any potential evidence in the show that might contridice it.

Which is why this is a call for everyone to question the popular opinions.

Does Jaune Arc reeeeeeally get that much narrative importance at the expense of the main girls?

Was Jaune reeeeeeeally a self-insert?

Was Ironwood reaaaaaally derailed in his character arc?

Was Adam reeeeeeeeally representative of the Faunus?

Was the Faunus reaaaaaally offensive?

And of course...

Was Monty Oum reeeeeeeeally the only one who's vision matter to the show above all else?

Ask yourself these questions and do the work to back them up. If people are giving you responses that contridict you, responses that take evidence from the work itself more often than not, then try to do the same in turn.

Think about that show or movie being panned? What if... you actually like it?

Not everybody is a critic... but we can at least try to.

[liobi]

more writing for @thedeerus's Time is Running Out au, this time with somehow way more grief and trauma

title; Reversal (1/3), a future I don't want

[???]

Before you even opened your eyes you knew something was wrong. You couldn’t move, it was hard to breathe, and crisscrossed lines of pressure and pain held you against the bed. On top of that, someone was sitting on you. Kafka was there, you didn’t even need to see her to know. When you did finally open your eyes you saw her golden gaze look down on you impassively, an empty sardonic smirk adorning her beautiful features. You hadn’t seen her in months. It was so good to see her again. 

“Kaf-” you tried to speak but with a twitch of her fingers, the wire around your neck tightened and you choked on the rest of your words. Why was she doing this? Why wasn’t she helping you escape?

“Why did you kill me, Stelle?” Her golden gaze met your own. Why would she say that to you? She was right here, what was she talking about? “That job wasn’t supposed to go down like that, remember? But you lost the Stellaron just like you lost your brother, and then I and everyone else died just like *******. That was your fault. You messed up so badly there’s nothing left of us to bury, and what’s worse you don’t even remember.”

You watched in horror as she began to dissolve right in front of your eyes, like she was being flensed by some invisible force. The pressure on your neck was too much, your vision swam and darkened. “Everything you touch dies, just like your ******.” 

-

Before you even opened your eyes you knew something was wrong. You couldn’t move, like you had been dipped in a pool of molten glass and it had hardened around you, anchoring you to the bed. Time around your body was frozen. Caelus was there. You two had pulled this stupid prank on each other so much growing up, but you had always been able to break free. But not this time.

His golden eyes took in the pathetic sight of you and he just sighed, disappointed. “You’ve gone too far off course and you’ll never find me now. The future I went to ceased to exist because my big sister couldn’t follow the script a talking cat made for her. Thanks for looking out for me, I’m sure ****** and ******* are reeeeeeeally proud of you.”

“I didn’t- I’m not-”

“You’re so obsessed with the past, a past you don’t even know how much you remember, that you can’t see what’s in front of you. When you were with me, all you thought about were the years we couldn’t remember. When you were with the Stellaron Hunters, you couldn’t stop thinking about me. Now with your new family, your jailors who you couldn’t help but get attached to, all you can think of is Kafka.” Caelus squatted next to the bed, now eye level with you. “How much longer do you think it’ll be until they die thanks to you? If only you had a way to change that.”

He tapped you, and something within you responded. All it wanted to do was make your wildest dreams come true, all you had to do was ask. Cracks spiderwebbed throughout his body, a golden light spilling from within. It was so bright your vision went dark.

-

Before you even opened your eyes you knew something was wrong. You couldn’t move, it was like your entire body had fallen asleep and left only your mind awake. Like your soul had partially drifted out of your body and you couldn’t manage to get it back in. Something was in the room with you and you didn’t know what it was but its presence put so much pressure on you, you felt like you were at the bottom of the ocean.

You opened your eyes to be met with the golden gaze of a foxian woman sitting alone with you in an infirmary room. “What are you doing to me?” you asked the thing inside her.

“For once? Nothing, this isn’t me.” She leaned forward, taking your hand in hers and massaged from your fingertips to your palm, from your palm to your wrist, and so on. “Your domain is expanding, and without your counterpart around or a support system you fully trust it’s unbalancing you. Not to mention your case of paracausal indigestion . What on earth possessed you to take one of those into your body?”

“Why are you here?”

“Coincidence. I didn’t know you were here or that you were still alive. I’ll be sure to tell ******, that should lift THEIR mood if only for a moment.” She had finished with one arm and had moved to your other. It felt like your own again. “Where’s Caelus?”

“Gone. Future. Don’t know where.”

“I can stabilize you for now, but it really is just a temporary solution. Your body is in an awful state, and your time is going to run out if you don’t get it under control. Either take this in fully…” she somehow seemed to squeeze the golden sun inside you. “Or find some way to pull it out and spend your last days in peace. Either way it’s your choice.”

“Who… are you? Why do I know you?”

“No one you will remember when you wake up again.”

And for the last time during this nightmare your vision went dark.

.

.

.

.

[PRESENT DAY, PRESENT TIME]

The first thing Stelle was aware of was the sharp pain inside her skull. The second was the distant noise of the infirmary radio.

“-were shocked yesterday to see the Everflame Mansion going up in literal flames. While witnesses to the scene reported loud noises and ground tremors at the time, neither the IPC nor the Committee have sent any forces to confirm the situation, abiding by the Japella territory’s Non-Intervention Zone status.”

Stelle opened her eyes and saw March slumped over her bed fast asleep while Dan Heng was sitting in the corner reading a book of classical poetry (if Stelle's memory of Hanzi could still be trusted). Stelle realized she was in one of the private rooms, and the noise of the radio was filtering in through the slightly cracked door. 

She groaned as she tried to pull herself into a sitting position. She motioned towards the book. “Do you have any favorites?”

Dan Heng's eyebrows went up a fraction of an inch as he looked at Stelle. He clicked a button next to her bed. “Tiānpíng shānshàng báiyún quán, yún zì wúxīn shuǐ zì xián. Hébì bēn chōng shān xiàqù, gèng tiān bōlàng xiàng rénjiān!”

“Sometimes you gotta cause some turbulence, though. But it's a good poem.” Stelle said after considering for a moment. Dan Heng's eyebrows went up a full inch this time.

“I was expecting you to ask for a translation.” He said, unfolding himself from the chair to stretch. “Just how many languages do you actually speak?”

“I'm not sure.” Stelle thought about the ones she’d recently spoken as she shook March’s shoulder. “At least seven.”

March grumbled and mumbled as she slowly came to, but as soon as she realized who was shaking her, her eyes shot open. She launched off the bed and wrapped Stelle in one of the tightest hugs she’d ever had. “You're awake! Oh my god you're okay.”

“What's happening exactly?” Stelle’s voice was warbled, like a squeaky toy squished as much as it could be. “Why are you acting like I almost died?”

“Because you've been unconscious for the better part of a week.” Welt explained, entering the room. Following him was Himeko, and also Tingyun for some reason. “As best we can tell, an anomaly with your powers caused some instability in your physical condition. Fortunately, the new resident Dan Shu has some high level medical experience and a healing power, and was willing to use her powers to help stabilize you.”

A dream she couldn’t remember tugged at the edge of her consciousness, of a sun in her ribcage pushing her soul out, but it was washed away by the migraine. “Remind me to thank her when I don't actively feel like death.”

The group stepped outside to allow Stelle to dress herself in peace. She overheard that Dan Shu was a blind woman who had apparently been arrested on charges of being an accomplice to criminal activity, but had not done anything violent herself. 

Tingyun’s voice rang clear as a bell through the closed door. “While Dan Shu is a resident at your correctional facility and Committee regulations stipulate that all correctional facility residents must wear power suppressing gear at all times, if you needed her to not wear hers for emergency medical treatment reasons… no one would hear it from me.”

After a pause, Welt cleared his throat. “Thank you for your consideration, Ms. Tingyun. We will take it under advisement going forward.”

Tingyun smiled at the response, and Stelle stepped out of the room. “I’m hungry.”

“Me too! Let’s go get some food.” March tugged at Stelle’s sleeve once more, but this time it wasn’t a lack of trust in Stelle’s character. It was concern. So Stelle let herself be led along, ignoring the budding warmth in her heart.

A few days later, Stelle knocked on Himeko’s office door as softly as she could. 

“Come in.” Himeko called from inside. Stelle stepped into the office and shut the door behind her, hesitating about literally everything she had come there to do. “What’s wrong, Stelle?”

Stelle started and stopped herself time and again, while Himeko simply put her paperwork away, watching and waiting until Stelle was finally ready to speak. “Has there really been no news about them at all? Or are you guys just keeping it from me to make me more compliant.”

“Calling you compliant during your stay here at any point is a stretch, but…” Himeko looked at the clock and sighed. “No, there's really been no news. The reason you got another chance after your second escape was that both the IPC and the Oversight Committee have no clue about the other Stellaron Hunters’ activities or whereabouts. After the coup of the Japella Brotherhood, your group got serious attention from all sides in a way they hadn't before.”

“Was it really that big a deal?”

“Officially there was no contact or agreements between the IPC and the Brotherhood, but unofficially there's still a lot of money to be made in Japella away from usual regulations. As long as the Brotherhood got a cut, they were happy to look the other way.” Himeko stood, walking towards her coffee pot next to Stelle and poured herself a mug. She gestured towards it, offering some to Stelle, but Stelle made a face and the offer was rescinded. “Your group overthrew the de facto government so completely that the IPC doesn't have any remaining connections in the city. What's more, the major players left standing have no interest in making any deals with the outside world for now.”

“How does that make them want to keep me alive?”

“Simply put, they're concerned about the possibility of retaliation if they put you down.” Himeko took a long sip of her coffee. “And even more scared that they're already in the Hunters’ crosshairs but don't know it yet. So they need you, and they need you to give them information.”

“But what if…” Stelle hesitated, not wanting to speak the words into the world as if that would make them come true. “What if I’m the last one alive? What if they died and that’s why I can’t remember what happened?”

“All I remember about the last job was that we were there to secure a Stellaron. I don’t remember anything else, what happened, why the building was leveled, where the Stellaron went, any of it.” Stelle was good at keeping cool under pressure but now she couldn’t manage to keep the panic fully out of her voice. “Different reactions based on what people do to and around Stellarons include explosions capable of vaporizing all organic matter. It could have been a wish, it could have been the Stellaron deciding it needed to go somewhere else or…”

“I didn’t know Stellarons were capable of thought.” This was information that Himeko wasn’t sure anyone knew with how much mystery surrounded the golden cancers.

“According to Silver Wolf I’m probably the one of the foremost experts on Stellarons and calamity offset equations outside of any Genius Society members or the Aeon generation.” Stelle was panicking and her mind was searching for any exit or rabbit hole out of the oncoming full breakdown. “Even if I don’t know how much I know or where I learned it from.”

“Well, that’s more leverage we can use to keep you alive if needed.” Himeko looked like she was already coming up with new plans and strategies, quietly accepting Stelle’s worst case scenarios as fact. It made sense, and it made sense in a way that few other explanations did if Stelle’s connection to Kafka was as steadfast as she’d let slip a few times during interrogation sessions. 

“I can make myself invincible, Himeko.” Stelle could feel the tears welling up in the corner of her eye, hot and miserable and painful. “It’s a reflex that happens faster than I can process, but that reflex only applies to me. If they’re really gone then…” 

“I should have been able to save them! Maybe that’s why I can’t remember anything, trauma and guilt locked all those memories away.” As Stelle accepted their deaths, her world shifted and she broke. How could she have been so stupid. She failed, again. First when she and Caelus had found the Stellaron, she had underestimated how difficult it would be for the two of them to use it, the risks involved, and as a result Caelus had to throw himself into a distant future she might never see all to protect her stupid life. 

She could practically see it now. She must have gotten careless, and Elio didn’t foresee her acting So Stupid and Ruining Everything and that’s why everyone died. And then her reflexes kicked in, so she stayed safe while she got everyone else killed. The tears fell openly now. Unable to do anything else, Himeko wrapped her in a hug as silent sobs shook her body. “I got everyone killed. I know I did. Everything’s ruined and I’m… Please just let them put me down, Himeko”

“Oh Stelle…”

“Everyone I care about dies because I fucked up. I… I don’t want that anymore!”

Himeko offered no words of consolation. What could be said in this situation? 

So Himeko just held Stelle until she cried herself dry.

[soraka-in-warhammer40k]

I'll have to apologize to the Black Library writers for when I ever thought they wrote crowds of imperial citizens as totally retarded dumbasses incapable of even the basic logic and it felt really obvious and over the top.

Meanwhile in this election some people did not vote because they did not like how, by their opinion, violently the current administration handles the situation in Gaza. Their inaction directly strenghened the only other candidate who's long-standing opinion on the subject is "just genocide those fuckers already I don't give a shit about them".

Meanwhile a bunch of men of color were so appalled by having a woman be in a superior position to them, they voted alongside the crowd that waved "mass deportations now" signs while looking directly at them making no secret who they want gone.

People in general were mad about things getting more expensive - so they voted for the person who explicitly promised to make every imported good more expensive by 10-25%. You just can't make that shit up.

So every time a Black Library author tries to satirize 40k's humanity as this disgusting mass of stupidity, ignorance, and pure unbridled hate that would have them kill themselves for the chance to even cause mild discomfort to someone they were taught to despise, they will have to try reeeeeeeally hard because oh boy the bar for our species just dropped to being a tripping hazard in hell and it will be hard beating THAT as a writer.

[blackheartharv]

I dont think I have the skill necessary to write fanfiction so heres my thoughts on Dick and Jason and how I would write them if I could. Okay here goes nothing.

12 year old Jason meets batman the traditional way (by getting caught trying to get his tires off the batmobile) and now he is suddenly in a world of abundance and comfort. Jason is now the son of a rich and powerful man and that causes some insecurities to flare up. He is distrustful and suspicious of Bruce initially. Jason doesn't realize that Bruce-still reeling from Dicks absence- saw tiny Jay trying to jack his tires and all he thought was "this is a small child with no home and no one to take care of him...hmm I have a home and my nest is empty, must have small child". Doesn't see that for the first few months Bruce sees an echo of Dick in all the little gestures that Jason makes (his head tilts when he's confused, his eyes sparkle when he's excited, his nose flares when he's irritated) but over time Bruce sees the ways that Jason is not Dick (he's quieter than Bruce would expect, he'll find Jason the library before he finds him in the all purpose gym, Jason hoards food like hes preparing for a war)and now he has to learn to parent a child who is "not Dick" which would be easier if Bruce would allow his heart to do the thinking for him in this one regard. There's trials and tribulations, but overall, Jason eventually feels safe and cared for, if not especially loved in the Wayne household (not that Brice didnt love Jason, he is just reeeeeeeally bad at communicating his feelings). After some time, Bruce starts training Jason to become Robin, and Jason takes to it easily and with joy. Cue the "robin gives me magic" vibes.

*Enter Dick stage left*

Dick is already Nightwing, so his visits are sporadic, but Jason can tell when he's at the manor because the atmosphere changes. There's tension between Dick and Bruce that Jason doesn't wholly understand and having Dick around is a double-edged sword. If Dick isn't dismissive and almost outright cold to Jason, he's full on yelling and fighting with Bruce. Their fights get so bad that it triggers Jason's anxiety to the point of needing to hide somewhere "safe" in the manor (usually his favorite nook in the library or at Alfreds side in the kitchen). It's weeks of this before, one day, Dick bangs his hand down on the table from frustration at something Bruce says when Jason flinches hard enough to drop the cookie he's eating. Right as they both turn to him, Jason is already out of his chair mumbling an apology before almost running out of the room. He can barely take having Bruce's stare in normal circumstances, but having both the Batman and Nightwing glares on him is too much. Dick stares after him, guilt churning in his stomach before he stands to go after him, ignoring Bruce's stern call of his name.

After looking for almost a half hour (he even tried to ask Alfred, only to receive an unimpressed eyebrow arch as a response), before he finds Jason curled up in the furthest corner of his nook, staring out the window and ignoring Dicks approach. Dick isn't shy by any means by he's almost bashful as he apologizes to Jason for seeing him like that and how he's been allowing his feelings about Bruce to get in the way of them being brothers. He explains what Robin means to him and how Bruce didn't have the right to take something that was Dicks birthright and give it to another, especially without Dicks knowing. Jason understands, and the brother bonding begins.

Even with things still being tense with Bruce, Dick's attention is Jason's favorite thing outside of being Robin. Dick smiles easily, teases and jokes with him like a big brother would, helps with homework, gives advice when asked, but what gets Jason is Dicks tactility. It's hard not to notice when Jason is now used to head ruffles, shoulder pats, and the occasional hug from Bruce. Dick would grab him around the waist and swing him around as a greeting whenever he comes by, would lean into his side as Jason makes them sandwiches for lunch in the kitchen, would run his hand through his hair as he passes behind Jason sitting on the couch, would lay his head in Jason's lap as Jason reads curled up in his-now their- nook in the library. It's a level of warmth Jason hasn't had since his mother and he basks in the attention.

Dick is busy running Bludhaven and the Titans, but he tries his best to make time for his Little Wing. Within the first week of meeting the Titans, Jason never wants to go home again. They all spoil him relentlessly, much to Dick's dismay:

(Donna keeps picking him up and flying him around the tower "Donna please that's too high, are you sure you're holding him securely? Lets maybe fly over this mound of pillows I totally didnt erect in my paranoia. Hmmm? What do you mean I'm mothering him how dare you he's just a baby-Jason I know you're 14 don't yell at me I'm only trying to keep you safe, Donna you said no loopty loops you promised"-Roy helps him make his own trick arrows "Jason this one shoots acid, whyyyy did Roy let you make this, HOW did you make this? Nvm no you can't take it with you, do you want B to kill us both? Yes you can have it back whenever you come to the tower UNDER SUPERVISION, no you can't make one that explodes, Jason I swear to god..." - Wally challenges Jason to way too many eat offs as not-so-well hidden attempts to put meat on his bones "16 wally. 16 freaking Chilli dogs are you clinically insane? No no I don't care if they're his favorite, he's puking his guts out in our bathroom and I have to take him to that gala with B in an hour, Jason hush you're still going, oh youre dying? well whose fault is that Little Wing? Wally I will literally kill you if you say I'm a mother one more time"- and Garth makes sure that the sea life know and recognize Jason as their own "Garth! Garth where is Jason? What do you mean he's still playing with the whales it's been 2 hours and 42 minutes since he's been on land, Garth he's probably a prune by now tell em to bring him back, stop mocking me are you mocking me, I'll eat a fish stick right now don't play with me bring him back NOW") but Dick wouldn't have it any other way. Having people love on Jason the way he deserves is all Dick wants for his little brother.

Over time Jason improves as Robin and Dick softens enough that his relationship with Bruce starts to improve as well. He goes out nearly every night with Bruce and Batman and Robin are an iconic duo, but inwardly Jason feels his best self is when he's under the tutelage and careful eye of Nightwing. There is a level of freedom that Dick allows Jason, his opinions are accepted more readily without fear of judgement or shut down and rapport comes easily, barbs and jokes flowing readily between them.

But that's not to say that Dick isn't a tough mentor because he is. First protege of Batman and Dick shows it in his ability to lead and his serious approach to heroism. He lets Jason have more freedom, but he also reigns him in with gentle/firm words. He listens to Jason's opinions, but he also offers rebuttals and will shut down an idea if it's too dangerous or reckless. Jason, being sensitive to criticism and with a Batman sized chip on his shoulder, tends to bite back more harshly than he should and sometimes it evolves into arguments that start out as a simple back and forth but turns to hurtful barbs being thrown at each other. At the end of the day, they're a 14 and 19 year old and sometimes they act like it :

"I totally had that guy Wing!" "Little wing he almost shot you, you can't just jump out like that you need to be more careful!" "Be more careful Jason, Be less reckless Jason, be more like Dick Jason! It's never good enough for you is it? The golden boy is always right huh?" "That's not what I said, you're acting like a spoiled brat!" "Whatever Dickface I don't need to take your shit" "Language and don't forget you little jerk, you came to ME remember?" "Oh round of applause for the good Samaritan everybody! Dickwing the savior helping out the street trash like a good boy! Make sure you dont let the street rat do too well or daddy bats might not ever love you again" "Yeah and maybe I'll just leave the 'street rat' right here and go about my business since you've got it all figured out right?You've been Robin for not even a year and almost got shot in the face tonight, but yeah you're a professional. Maybe next time you won't have Nightwing or Batman to save you, you'll just be a smear on the road and a bad memory" and sometimes it leads to them walking away from each other, both upset but too stubborn to apologize first with wounds festering...

But there are times where the apology consists of this: Jason will wait until dark and everyone is in their rooms for the night before making his way downstairs to bake Dick's favorite cookies. He'll make his way back upstairs and after knocking quietly and hearing Dicks soft reply, he'll enter Dicks room and silently place his offering on the nightstand by Dick's bed, Dick watching without comment. After, they'll just stare at each other, Dick's eyes measuring while Jason stares back, defiant even in his apology before Dick's face breaks into a small smile and he picks up a cookie and everything is forgiven.

Or this: Dick will wait until he's calmed down enough to finally make his way to Jason, who has holed himself in his room (the library is neutral territory, a place where no arguments or disagreements are allowed) to sulk. With all the audacity of an elder sibling, he will open the door without knocking and then full on tackle Jason on his bed which always leads to angry wrestling-Jason screaming bloody murder meanwhile- which leads to not-as-angry tickling which leads to cuddling in whatever sprawled out heap they end in. Jason will huff and call Dick annoying but he melts into the embrace every time.

It's through these encounters that they strengthen their bond into something damn near unbreakable and they become inseparable. Whenever Dick visits the manor, he beelines for Jason immediately, regardless of if hes there on a mission for Bruce or not. Whenever he's with the Titans, he's checking his phone for any texts or calls from his Little Wing:

"Dude your son is fine" " Shut it Wally" " Whose son? Oh, Dick? Are you still tracking his field trip?" "He's not my son, mind your business, and yes I am because he refused to tell me where he's going on this mysterious field trip-" "Gee can't imagine why-" "Donna you said you were on my side-" "and isn't it concerning that there is a side to be on?" "Guys please!"

Jason soaks up the attention like a flower first introduced to the sun. One of the first things he tells the few friends he makes in school is about his big brother. "Yeah did you know Dick could be in the Olympics? That asshole can do a quadruple flip with his eyes closed and bring home the gold but noooooo he doesn't want the publicity" "Chess? Nah I'm good but you should see my brother play, he's always one upping those old guys at the park, he's so good". He does this to Bruce too which totally doesn't make Bruce a little jealous. "Hey Dad, I'm going to see Dick this weekend" " You know you could stay home sometimes, we could watch one of those movies you like Jaylad" "No can do old man, Dick finally agreed to let me spar with Donna I can't miss it" "You're really leaving me just to go spar?" "To spar with DONNA, B there's a difference" "...if you want more advanced training I can maybe call wonderwo-" "Hold that thought B, Dick is calling- Sup dickface miss me yet? Yeah yeah I know what to bring, MOM, I'm not a baby-"

And that's the other thing that develops. It started as a joke between them, something that the Titans started way back when Jason first started visiting.

Jason calls Dick "Mom".

The jokes and the teasing over the years finally solidified into this thing between them. Jason doesn't say it often, and sometimes it's just a thought in his head, but for all intents and purposes, in his heart of hearts, there is no one more deserving of the title than Richard Grayson. There will be times where Dick is seeing Jason off to bed and as he ruffles his hair and kisses his forehead, Dick will hear a quiet "night mom" before Jason turns away to head off to his room. Times where Dick will finish saying something that'll have Jason's eyes rolling but a fond "okay mom geez" will tumble from his lips. Times where the nightmares stray a little too close to home and Dick is holding his bruised heart in his hands, vulnerability broadcasted in the way he holds himself so tightly-too tightly- to let anyone else ease the hurt but Jason squeezes through the cracks of stubbornness and frigidity with a soft "it's okay mom, I'm right here, it's okay" and will hold Dick til it passes, even if it takes all night.

These are moments Dick holds close to his heart, moments he hoards earnestly and tenderly. By this time Dick has learned about Catherine Todd, about Jason's love of his mother and how it endured almost everything,even Willis, but her drug addiction. Learns that "mom" can bind Jason in ways nothing, not even the approval of Batman, can. Learns that he holds something more fragile and volatile than a bomb and even more devastating. Luckily, Dick is the type to hold on to things, to people, so now when he hold his Little Wing he sometimes hears the echoes of 2 screams and a hard thud on a cold circus floor and thinks "this time my grip will be infallible".

[tyrannosaurus-trainwreck]

The one genuinely shocking thing about the UnitedHealthcare CEO getting his claims adjusted is how absolutely high on their own supply the mainstream media seems to be?

Like, yes, of course politicians are going to go on tv and slob on CEO knob to justify the corporate tax breaks, bail outs, and fine reductions. Doing these things is massively unpopular, so politicians have to justify their actions somehow, and it's still déclassé to just come out and say, "The company paid me $10,000 and took me to Ibiza for a week-long vacation in exchange for my vote to not investigate them for wiping an entire town off the map. Sorry, not sorry." It's a cynical bit of kabuki that's impossible to imagine them actually meaning.

And, yes, of course opinion pieces that companies have paid to run on sites and in papers are going to argue that the all-mighty Job Creators™ should be allowed to sneak into your houses and smother your children to death with their own pillows if they want. Their jobs are so stressful! So many people's livelihoods depend on them! It's the least we can do to let them hunt our pets for sport!

Like, these are PR flacks who honed their chops on internal releases trying to convince everyone that it's only fair for their Benevolent Overlords™ to get 10% of the peons' paychecks tithed directly into the CEO Handjob Fund because the CEO worked so hard to lay off 5% of the company instead of the mere 3% that The Market called for. They've probably literally written multiple spec pieces for corporate to keep on file just in case they get a CEO who wants to bring prima nocta back.

But pretty much every single news outlet has spent the last three days running headlines and breathless regular-ass articles acting like a human personification of needless suffering and greed was a beloved elected official unjustly killed for standing up to organized crime or some shit.

(lmao at the fucking Post calling something truly tasteless)

I mean, I know politicians get Really, Really Good Health Insurance and are internally flagged from hell to breakfast to keep them from getting fucked with by the blood-sucking ghouls in charge of the Deny Until You Die Department so that none of them get personally mad at any of these companies. But it seems like it would screw with NewsCorp Ltd's bottom line for everyone on their own payroll to be getting the same treatment.

Of course, it's entirely possible this stuff was all written by shoving facts and supposition into ChatGPT with 'act like it's a bad thing he's dead' as a prompt.

But it's interesting to get a look at the mentality behind 'let them eat cake' comments. Like, the balls it takes to scold people for being elated that a guy who made almost $50 million dollars ensuring not only that the sickest and most vulnerable among us died needless, painful deaths but that their families were bled dry trying to save them? Don't exist. They'd have their own measurable gravity wells. It's the sort of sentiment that only comes from a rock-solid belief that this isn't reeeeeeeally a problem.

[lesbeet]

i've been curious about EMDR therapy for c-ptsd for several years now and finally found a practitioner where i live that i really love and we started a few weeks ago and it's been.....a lot lmao

as someone with a special interest in psychology i also have just been finding the entire process absolutely fascinating, and a lot of the times it feels really silly and like it shouldn't work but it definitely has been!

but i had a reeeeeeeally rough emotional flashback yesterday that i genuinely remember thinking as i was violently shaking and sobbing "this feels like a fucking exorcism" and it's just tough bc i KNOW this is going to help and sometimes you need to rebreak the bone that healed wrong so it can heal properly but god is it fucking hard in the meantime lol

[ateohsixxxx]

hiiii eerie, sitting on my break and thinking soooo hard about your hips

Reeeeeeeally? Whatcha thinkin’ hard thoughts about, Bile? Cause I know you’re not calculating the curvature of my hip.

Wanna share? You always have lovely plans thoughts and ideas.

[ratgirlcopia]

skeletá review now that i've listened to it one billions times

peacefield: i really like this one. i like the fact that it comes after respite. it feels a little like it's going "hey! wake up! wake up!" i like the choir bit in the beginning and it has some of my favorite lyrics on the album (sidenote: i did suffer from "the version you misheard is cooler than the actual version" because i thought it was "oh shadow, stay close to me" the first time and i almost shit myself about respite. still a good song though). my only gripe with it is the bridge, because it's just Fine on the album and it really needs backing vocals. it's better live because the bridge kind of echoes and builds and flows into itself in a way the studio version kinda kills. needs more reverb or something.

lachryma: i liked lachryma a lot the first time i heard it, then i liked it less after hearing it several more times, and now i like it a lot again. lyrically it ranks pretty low for me on this album (still Fine lyrics, just outclassed by most of the other songs), but i absolutely cannot deny how hard it goes. when it dropped i was intensely invested in whether or not he could reliably do the flip falsetto live and now that i know he can and does, i enjoy it even more.

satanized: i was not crazy about this the first time i heard it, but i was also approaching everything with extreme skepticism. did not take very long for me to become crazy about it, though, and i continue to be crazy about it. it's got the ideal level of goofiness, it's stupidly good live, and i love that you can dissect it and find little bits of all the previous albums in it.

guiding lights: my initial reaction to this one was...perplexed? i guess? because at first listen i was not expecting this type of earnest sadness/estrangement/feeling of watching someone led astray by something taking them toward nothing. i really love it now though. i think it should probably replace he is live. and should have done so on this tour, but that's another post.

de profundis borealis: i'm an oscar wilde hater so i don't care about the reference here but i tried not to let that negatively impact my opinion of what i generally consider to be a good song. i wasn't obsessed with it at first but it reeeeeeeally won me over lyrically and musically. and while i'm not in love with it, i enjoy it a lot now.

cenotaph: holy moly i love cenotaph and loved it from the first listen. it's so queen. i really think it's phenomenal. it's so bouncy and so loopable but it's so, so sad and bittersweet. absolutely can't get enough of it. every single part of it.

missilia amori: this i also loved from the first go and continue to love in increasing amounts every time i hear it. it's sick. the riffs are so good. i would kill to hear this live. crazy ass lovebombing song. incredibly unsettling. an impeccable serve.

marks of the evil one: this is killer. the lyrics are profoundly goofy and i think "they're crawling out the serpent's lair" is one of the best line deliveries in the whole ghost discography. the third rider looks cool.

umbra: i loved that synth intro when i first heard it six goddamn months ago and the rest of the song is just as good. the cowbell and the synth/guitar duel are so good and they're SO GREAT live. the darkerrrr the betterrrrr.

excelsis: this one is tough! probably because it's preceded by four songs of all killer no filler. i think it suffers from shifting the tone so abruptly after umbra and i think it needed a longer intro or possibly even a full instrumental track before it to properly set the mood. it feels like i'm being consoled after my pet died, and i have trouble getting fully into it. there are connections i WANT to make with it, but at the same time i'm skeptical about whether or not they're intentional, so i don't want to overhype it for doing something it might not be thinking about at all. sometimes it hits though. the bridge into the guitar solo is extremely good. skeletá is not impera and did not save the best song for last, but that's fine.

tl;dr impera and prequelle pretty much tie for me, and i'm comfortable saying skeletá ties with them.

[red-dye40]

please give us the director's commentary for "IT'S NOT A FETISH THING." i loved that fic so much!!!

i live to please you anon (thank you!!!)

because it’s a one shot we’re gonna do the whoooooole thing :)

There’s a Bub’s Burger Boy piggy bank just kind of sitting on a crate in the corner–arguably the most unsettling piece of decor here.

i can’t even begin to tell you how much research i have put into determining what reverend meat is (like is he a ceramic figure or like a molded plastic or what)—based on my research ☝️🤓 there plenty of variances of big boy burger figures made by funko NOOOOW but back before like the 2000s almost all the collectible figures of the boy were actually rubbery piggy banks and i cross referenced a bunch of actual banks listed on ebay with the very few rev meat appearances and kinda settled on him being a late 80s variant (which i think lines up well with the timeline) 🤪

also fun fact @margaritaville gave me that exact piggy bank for my birthday this year :)

“So. It’s been a while.” She tries again. “Yes.” “Still killin’?” “Mmyep.”

i have such a deep fascination with nny as a side character and i have a profound fetish for the times in which he is completely disinterested in his killin thing

Nny feels a small twinge in his brain; a little shiver of something that makes him sick and overwhelmed. He presses his fingers hard against his temples to try and relieve some of the sensation.

this headache thing iss nny constantly remembering the pain associated with the head trauma devi caused him the night of their date, and the subsequent overwhelm is him realizing He Is Horny For It but doesn’t know how to proceed. later, when devi gets the same headache, it’s kinda the opposite side of the same coin.

Last month I bought a wholesale box of gas station hot pickles and stuffed them full of the white goo inside Twinkies, and I ate the whole thing in one sitting.”

this was originally a line of dialogue in ancaux!

“Nny… what you’re describing sounds less like a cause for alarm and more like a cause for… just living your life like a normal person. It feels like you don’t allow yourself that luxury, and it’s making you insane. Maybe also pregnant? If you just let yourself, y’know… eat good food, have some hobbies that aren’t murder-based, maybe make a friend that isn’t presumably that Burger Boy you can’t stop looking over at–maybe you won’t be such a raging lunatic all the time? Or, I don’t know, it could be a nice start??”

i imagine devi suffers from the virgo disease of needing to problem solve everything—like she can’t help it, even when it’s for someone she absolutely detests. it all seems so simple to her, like just stop being fucking crazy!!!!

though i never stated this ANYWHERE in the text, i placed this fic a few months after nny’s phone call apology, and in that time devi’s taken some good care of herself, less full of rage and more just like. wow that guy is so fucking sad and pathetic. i would love to fix him or maybe just tear his guts out.

There’s something extremely unprepossessing about your victim willingly offering themselves up to you. She unenthusiastically grabs him by the wrist. Turns his arm over.

i reeeeeeeally wanted this whole part to feel. almost boring, definitely awkward. consent is obviously good and communication is good and also what i think a lot of ppl maybe don’t realize is sometimes this negotiation grinds things to a halt and devi was really hopin she could just roll up and maim this fucker.

Devi can tell that, behind his hands, Nny is blushing hard again. She can’t get enough of this power dynamic.

i also have a fetish for absolute maniacs melting into a puddle because a hot girl has the upper hand and is kind of making fun of them for being a sniveling brat

“You are so incredibly fucked up.” She tells Nny. He kinda chuckles.

i really like this little exchange honestlie :) i think it must be kinda fun to share the full scope of his “”””hobby”””” with someone who won’t immediately run away and maybe even on some level appreciate it. like devi’s disturbed, yeah, but she knows she can best nny so she’s not really scared of him, and she’s about to use all this stuff on nny so rn she’s kinda into it? maybe that only makes sense to me but :)

His finger dislocates like nothing, right at the base, and he feels a gross shooting pain run all the way down his wrist. The air is still thoroughly knocked out of him, so he can only wheeze and kick his legs. Devi gives the same finger a little twist and a little tug. She’s almost hoping it’ll come right off and maybe sound like a cork popping when it does. Instead, little blood spots begin rising to the surface right at the point of tension, forming quick and easy bruises that swell his joints. She feels satisfied with that–she releases the forceps, but keeps her grip on his hand so she can move right along to the next finger.

i rewrote this part soooooo many times. originally i wanted devi to slowly saw off his fingers, one at a time, and she was gonna be talking a lot more doing it. there was a though that this fic was actually gonna be one in a series of three, and with each installment the violence was gonna get worse and worse and more and more blatantly horny. so i pulled back on the amount of gore and made devi talk a whole lot less bc she’s just so focused on “making it feel good”. eventually tho the second installment turned into sexual trauma clip show and became its own thing, so i sometimes wish i made this part grosser. but i also think i’ve read it so much i’m completely desensitized to it.

His mouth is a mess of spit and blood and mucus. Tears are streaming down his face and he’s moaning, kind of laughing, fully blushing and heaving.

I HEART FLUIDS!!!!!!!

Then a huge barbed hook, mounted at the end of a pole almost as tall as her. She starts to pull it down. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Nny deflate a little.

pssst! it’s the hook nny used to cut mmy open!

“Show me where.” She orders. He nods again. With a weak and shaky hand, he points down to the lower part of his abdomen, not quite in the middle but presumably far away from anything vital. Devi takes a breath. Sidles up a little closer. Her left hand, harsh but tender, grabs the back of his head. She pokes the tip of the knife right where Johnny had pointed out. And it’s a risk, but he holds out his hand under Devi’s to offer to guide her along. She thinks about it. Takes another breath. Moves to wrap her left hand around Nny’s fingers, around her hand holding the knife, and the two of them go for it.

when i was writing this i was like “ugh this is too sweet for them” and really was scared it felt out of character, too shippy, etc. but i also do think devi would not want to actually kill someone, not even nny, at least not in this narrative. the cover art i made for this fic has a screenshot of a google search that says something like “places to stab someone that won’t kill them but will still hurt” which is truly what i searched in order to figure out where she could stab him.

His face drains of all color. His eyes kind of roll back in his head. Something guttural sounds from the back of his throat. His grip on Devi’s hand lessens, and all at once his arm drops limp at his side.

death gurgle as a metaphor for cumming

THATS PRETTY MUCH ALL I GOTTA SAY ABT THAT!!!!!! thank you again for ur kind words :)

[wisecrackingeric-2]

hi eric its me ian

do you like pokémon because i’ve heard you like pokémon and i. i really. really like it too. please. i’ve been a fan since i was little and have played at least one game out of each generation please can we talk. i. ough. i need to know your faves regions pokémon characters the like

@eggo-tistical HELLO HELLO HELLO IM SOSOSOSOSOSO SORRY ITS TAKEN ME S O LONG TO ANSWER THIS IVE BEEN BISY ALL DAY BUT I AM CURRENTLY RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES VIBRATING OVER THIS ASK OH MY G O D POKÉMON IS MY SPECIAL INTEREST I LOVE IT SM (I’ll keep all of this under the cut just so I don’t clog up peoples dashboards BDBSBSBSBSH)

OKOKOKOKOK so first things first the region/generation IIIIIIIII was introduced into was Gen 6 aka Kalos (yes I am young HAHSWBWHEH) and oh my G O D I have. SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH NOSTALGIA FOR THAT GEN. I replay X&Y AAAAALLL THE TIME just cuz I love those games S O DAMN MUCH?????? Like the design of the region is so pretty and the Pokémon designed are so unique and the music is so,,,,,, mwuah perfect. Nuzlocke comics also got really big around that time so that’s how I was introduced into Nuzlocking and HOOOOOOOOOO BOYO BOY

I AM A M A S S I V E NUZLOCKER. I LOVE NUZLOCKES SM. THEYRE MY FAVOURITE THINGS EVER if I’m not writing an essay over Luis you can GUARENTEE I’ll be doing a Nuzlocke. I got into them cuz I ADORED the storytelling aspect and all the creative comics but I’ve stuck around cuz I just LOVE the problem solving/mathematics part of them?????? I love all the insane strategies and statistics runners come up with and I can easily just watch multi-hour Nuzlocke runs for days on end

But going back on track kinda but also on the subject of Nuzlockes my absolute FAAAAAAVORITE region/generation is EASILY Gen 4 and Platinum. In 2020 I started my first ever Nuzlocke of Platinum and tk say that singular playthrough impacted my life in a way I can’t even describe would be a MASSIVE understatement. I played it through some REEEEEEEALLY TOUGH TIMES and it was such a consistent constant for me I still go back to that save file and just. Walk around with my Pokémon. And reminisce. It was also just my first ever Pokémon game EVER (if you don’t count Pokémon GO BDBSBSHSH) so I hold it very near and dear to my heart <<<33

My starter was Turtwig and I called him Boba Fett and now Boba Fett the Torterra has stuck with me through every single game I’ve played- I’ve transferred him all the way up to Scarlet & Violet and I love him SO much he unironically means the world to me. Torterras my favourite Pokémon ever I have SO many plushies of it n stuff <<<<<333 if I can find a photo of Boba Fett the Torterra I’ll post it

I also R E A L L Y love gen 5. Like all the designs of the Pokémon are SO COOL and Unova is such a fun region to go through and the STORY?? THE S T O R Y ???????????? I really love how they were kinda aiming for an,,,, older audience with it????? Unova just goes so hard

But I think if I had to nail down my number one favourite Pokémon game EVER right alongside Platinum it would be Legends Arceus. LIKE?????? THE STORY???????????? THE ENVIORMENT????????????? THE MECHANICS??? THE ART STYLE??????? ALL THE LITTLE BACKGROUND NOISES????????? OFS SUCH A GOOD GAME I think right alongside like. Resident evil 4 it’s probably my favourite game of all time it’s so stunning I replay it ALL THE TIME

I’m also semi into shiny hunting!!!!!! I’ve only ever really done it on scarlet and Violet but my favourite shiny hunt I’ve ever done was for shiny Mabostiff aka my other favourite Pokémon alongside Torterra <33 ut was right after my dog had passed away and he looked EXACTLY like Mabostiff except he was golden so I went out of my way to shiny hunt one in his memory <<<<<<33

I also really love competitive Pokémon!!!!!!!!!!! Have I ever actually PLAYED competitively??? No but I can tell you everything there is to know about it!!!!!!!

Uhhhhhhhhhhh what else uhhh,,,,,,, Torterra and Mabostiff are obviously my favourite Pokémon but I have plenty of other faves too. Like Flabebe, Sylveon, Hisuian Decidueye cuz it looks like my irl pet chickens, Meganium, Wingull, Jirachi, Delphox uhhhhhhhhh there’s probably more but my brain is soupy soup BXBSBBSBSJS

But uhhhhhhhh I think that’s it!!!!!!!! Someday I would LOVE to make a long-running Nuzlocke comic based off of my first ever Nuzlocke with Boba Fett the Torterra, and as long as the 3ds doesn’t completely shut down next year I’m planning on doing a Nuzlocke of the OG Red & Blue Games And HOOOOOOOPEFULLY Making lil mini Comics to go along with it if all goes to plan!!!!!!!!!! :DDD