#2. has made writing in general feel so much easier than it ever has

[rokurookajima]

the actual funniest part of writing metalbanders in this the year of our lord 2024 is that my partner of five and a half years is…… a musician. a punk/metal/whatever drummer specifically lmao so now i’m like ok … harmonic convergence’s music would all sound like my partner’s deranged bands (like the ones ed plays in not just what he listens to) ✔️ delusions of grandeur ✔️ dress wan like ed for the most part (the jacket… the source for why i know u should never lean ur head on that spiky shoulder) ✔️ i know the exact amount of ANNOYING this type of musician is to be intimately linked with ✔️

[riality-check]

DILF!Steve concert saga, featuring Eddie POV for this part! part 1, part 2

"I have to open it."

"Nope."

"Gareth. I need to open it."

"The vault is sacred," Archie says.

At the same time, Jeff chimes in, "The vault was your idea, Eddie."

Eddie thunks his head against the wall. "I know. But I need-"

"They're on the last song," Archie says, putting a hand on Eddie's shoulder. It's probably meant to be comforting, but it feels patronizing as shit.

Eddie is a good friend, though. He doesn't shrug him off.

"Once they're through, I'll unlock it," Jeff says, dangling the key slung around his neck.

"But you could do it now," Eddie protests.

Gareth sits protectively on top of the black lock box. "Absolutely not."

Eddie sighs and waits for the guitar solo onstage to end, nodding his head along to the beat.

It's what he usually does when they're backstage, but this time, it brings a smile to his face. Miss Anna was a natural yesterday for her first time headbanging, and her dad is the reason Eddie wants to break the sacred vault tradition.

He wants, no, needs to know if he got the note. If he decided to write something. If he wants to go a little further than PG flirting.

Eddie for sure wants to go further than that. God. Steve's handsome face and his big hands and his thick thighs (deliciously exposed by his shorts in the summer heat) are all wonderful incentives to skip a few steps and go straight to ramming him into a mattress.

Or, with how that shirt clung to Steve's biceps and how his shorts clung to his ass, let him ram Eddie into the mattress. He isn't picky.

(He isn't desperate, either, thank you very much, Gareth. And no, he won't admit how long it's been since he got laid.)

From the house, the audience roars, and Eddie jumps off the arm of the couch he was laying on.

Gareth sighs and gets off the lock box.

"Jeff, open it," Eddie says, staring at the vault and subconsciously making grabby hands toward it.

"Is that how we ask?"

"I could always yank the key off you."

Archie sighs and, ever the peacemaker, takes the key from Jeff and unlocks the vault. The second it's open, Eddie snatches his phone and turns it on.

Please please please let the DILF text back, he thinks to himself as he waits for this stupid metal brick to turn on and give him a resolution to this whole ridiculous situation.

Because, first, Eddie doesn't really jive with kids. Sure, they flock to him in the same way they flock to every other vaguely cool-looking person, but aside from asking if he has to draw his tattoos on every day or if his mommy is okay with him having his hair that long, they generally leave him alone.

And that's okay. Eddie easily made his peace with not having kids about ten years ago. Between his strong preference for men and the way that significantly decreases those odds and the choice to not pass on his truly abysmal family history of mental illness and addiction, it seemed obvious and a lot more selfless.

But Anna was cool as hell. Smart as hell, too, in a way that made Eddie feel like he was looking back at a time before school punished him for being bright and verbose and energetic.

Anna didn't make him want kids. Again, the whole family history thing is a real vibe killer. But she did give him enough fuel, for just an instant, to think that dating someone with a kid might not be a deal breaker anymore.

Or maybe Steve was just that hot.

He whined a lot yesterday, in the hotel, about how hot Steve was.

His phone turns on, and, front and center, is a text from an unknown number:

I guess I don’t have to ask you what you do for a living. Just so we’re even on that front, I’m a teacher, and Anna’s full time job is preschool.

Eddie grins so hard he feels like his face will split in two.

"Is it him?" Jeff asks, trying to look over Eddie's shoulder.

"Of course it is," Gareth scoffs. "Look at his face."

"What did he say?" Archie asks.

Eddie takes the easier way out and lets him have the phone.

Gareth and Jeff crowd over Archie's shoulders, and Eddie watches their faces change as they read the message.

"Oh, he's bitchy," Gareth says.

"That means he's perfect," Jeff says, with a pointed look at Eddie.

Eddie shoots Archie a clear "back me up" look and gets a shrug in return because all his friends are assholes who know his type way too fucking well.

"What do I say?" he asks.

Archie tosses him the phone. "I don't know. Flirt back."

"I don't know how!"

"You ground against a guitar-"

"And kissed me onstage," Jeff continues. "But you don't know how to flirt?"

Eddie puts his head in his hands. "I didn't have enough sex in high school to know how to do this!"

"That's not an excuse when none of us did!" Gareth says.

Jeff barks out a laugh.

"Just ask if he's free tomorrow," Archie says, like the rational, wonderful friend he is. "This was the last stop of tour. It's not like you have to get anywhere else at a specific time."

"Okay. Okay, yeah, I can do that," Eddie says, hyping himself up. Before he can second guess himself, he writes back.

Since it's summer, I'm assuming you both have off. Can you fit it in your busy schedule to have dinner with a humble musician tomorrow night?

"Oh, shit, did you send it?" Gareth asks, snatching his phone.

"Wait," Archie says, like the rational, horrible friend he is. "Do we know if he's single?"

"Oh, shit," Jeff whispers.

Eddie takes his phone back and refuses to look at it. He wants to shut it down. He wants to drop it. He wants to drive to nearest river and throw it there.

"Am I a homewrecker?" he asks absently.

"Only if you succeed," Jeff says.

"He might have a wife," Archie muses. "He might be straight."

"Okay, dude, enough," Gareth says. "This was supposed to be exciting! Eddie was supposed to get ass!"

"He might be ace."

"Archie, shut the fuck up."

He holds his hands up in surrender, and Jeff pats his shoulder, a little comfortingly, a lot condescendingly.

Eddie sits down on the couch. Puts his head in his hands. Breathes.

He's flirting with a married man. He's absolutely flirting with a married man. This is a new low. This is worse than the time he licked the floor of a restaurant, drunk, for five bucks. This is worse than when he greened out in the parking lot of a Chuck E. Cheese. This is worse than when he accidentally told the gas station cashier that he loved them and immediately walked into the glass door behind him.

This is. So bad.

And then his phone rings, so it'll get worse. It has to. That's how these things go.

Eddie has always been self-destructive, so, of course, he looks at the screen.

I can't swing dinner, but how's lunch? Fair warning: it might be a playground picnic if my babysitter bails.

"Holy shit, I'm not a homewrecker," Eddie says.

"I didn't think you had it in you," Jeff says.

"He's single!" Gareth cheers.

"Can I talk now?" Archie teases.

"I'm not a homewrecker!" Eddie says, and he launches off the couch to hug the nearest person, who happens to be Jeff.

They have to get out of the venue. He has to figure out the logistics of the date and how to be normal by the time he gets there and what to wear and everything else.

But, right now, Eddie is over the fucking moon that Steve is even giving him a shot. And he hopes, giddy as all hell and hanging off of Jeff's shoulders, that Steve feels even a little bit like this.

He writes back, once he's calmed down:

Lunch might just become my new favorite meal.

[mere-mortifer]

♥ Sanji/Reader Rec List ♥

40+ fics & authors suggestions! Click here to view this on a separate web page for easier navigation ♥

Sometimes I’m normal about fictional characters, other times I become psycho-sexually obsessed with them and relentlessly look for fanworks where they get smooched and hugged into oblivion. And by characters I mean Sanji.

So here’s a non-comprehensive list of Sanji/Reader fics that I love, most of them rated Explicit. This got sooo long because I kept finding other works to add while scrolling through my bookmarks and reblogs, it goes to show how good the fandom is! (Assume, unless otherwise stated, that Sanji is more on the sexually submissive side, since I like what I like and seek out that dynamic specifically.)

Authors I love

I’m starting this list with a few mentions of my favorite authors, although I’m sure I’m stating the obvious with most of these and you all know them already. Who cares! Go re-read their stuff! Leave a comment! Give them your money!

1. One Piece Works by @onlymurphy

Not to fall into hyperbole, but I owe OnlyMurphy my life. If you’re here reading this list then surely you love this author already, so this a good excuse to re-read the entire Grow Old With Me series. Sanji’s characterization is top-notch, and if you enjoy explorations of his self worth issues and how they would affect an otherwise loving romantic relationship then look no further. Also the author is a very talented smut writer (very talented writer in general, make no mistake), and that's the greatest accolade I can give them. Imagine me putting a gold metal around their neck but I’m the one who's moved to tears about it.

Honorable mentions for the filthiest-yet-very-romantic works in their catalog:

🌶 Do That Again

🌶 Wildest Dreams

🌶 If I’m Lucky

2. One Piece Works by @citrinae

I’m linking the masterlist for this author ‘cause I really like all their Sanji-centric fics, and I’d love, love, love to see more. Sanji is so princely and devoted, just an absolute dream of a man, and he’s putting a lot of effort into making the reader feel loved. He gets stellar results in my opinion.

3. One Piece Works by @thus-spoke-lo (GoldExperience86 on Ao3)

There are three fics in particular by this author that I couldn’t pick a favorite from if you held me at gunpoint: 

🌶 Let Me Help 

🌶 Worth the Wait

🌶 Dear Diary 

Have you ever read a sex scene so good you bypass getting horny and go straight into mourning, knowing you won’t be able to read it for the first time again? That has not stopped me from reading all these roughly a million times. Click on those links. Look at me in the eyes, listen very carefully: click on those links. I say this because I love you and want you to be happy. 

You will find other fics by them in the rec list because 1) I couldn’t resist and 2) I’m pretty sure they have more things posted on Tumblr than Ao3, at least as separate one-shots.

4. 🌶One Piece Fics by @untolduttering

Author, I know deep in my soul that you love Sanji as much as I do. Fortunately I’m okay with sharing. If anything I'm glad I'm not alone in the trenches.

Check out all her fics and snippets, her writing is incredible and I’ve loved every single thing about Sanji she’s ever posted. Each time I open Tumblr and I see a new post by her, my day gets a little brighter. She writes one of my favorite versions of Sanji ever, insatiable and devoted and so, so hot. He couldn’t be more my type if he tried. 

I want to single out her vampire!Sanji one-shot because I haven’t seen this trope used by anyone else and I liked it a lot! It fits so well, what with the theme of hunger and Sanji’s inability to ask for what he needs:

Hunger 

The meta post that inspired the fic

5. One Piece Works by @fanaticsnail

Fanaticsnail, you’re the only one who has ever made me willingly click on a smut fic that involved Doflamingo just because Sanji was there, too, and I love your Sanji so damn much (p.s.: everyone go read it, 🌶 Seat Number Four).

One of their fics also appears in the Sex Pollen section, and since that one is particularly filthy let me add here two fluffy, romantic fics where Sanji is all cute and flustered by the reader:

Kiss The Cook

Your Flirty Chef

Yearning & Pining

The title of the section is pretty self-explanatory: fics where and the reader are not together, but God knows they want to.

6. 🌶 Wanting by @froggiewrites

This fic…holy shit. I’m genuinely writing this with tears in my eyes. The yearning & pining & longing mixed with the sexual tension so thick you can cut it with a knife makes for a truly incredible read. Only for real Sanji lovers, if you’re not nodding along at each desperate thought the reader insert has about this man then I’m sorry but you’re only a casual Sanji liker.

7. 🌶 My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand by ladyhabanera

[screaming crying throwing up] no yeah I’m very normal about this fic, I like it a totally normal amount. In the Ao3 comments I say that “Sanji is so so dreamy—a heady mix of submissive and deeply romantic”, and then if you scroll a little you find my other comment which is just me yelling in all caps at my second reread. I not only stand by both, but I’m doubling down. 

8. Puzzled by @mynewblackdress

What a lovely series, and what a lovely trope…misunderstandings due to bad communication are as irritating and useless in real life as they are incredibly fun to read about. The reader is convinced that Sanji’s earnest compliments are his fucked up way of making fun of her, and it takes a while before they figure out that he means every word. Give it a read if you want a break from the sea of smut that I’ve added to this list, and you're the mood for opla!Sanji in particular. 

9. Sweet Confession by @softonshanks

I have one specific weakness that I’m glad to often see in fics: Sanji getting a hug while he’s busy cooking, and he’s all cute and flustered about it because he didn’t expect the affection.  And this fic has that + Sanji’s a pining mess for the reader, who he’s FWBs with despite the fact that he’s totally in love with her + she’s taller than him and he loves it. I’ve hit the jackpot. I’d love to see more Sanji fics from this author, so much so that I’m gonna ask her pretty please in Italian: Sara, ti prego, facci sognare.

10. 🌶 Your Name by @strawhatsoraya

Now, the one pining in this fic is me. Sanji and the reader are actually complete strangers, but if what appeals to you in mutual pining fics is the gut-wrenching depth of the feelings described, then I think you should check out this little one-shot. My notes on Ao3 are “Tfw when a pwp hits your id so well it bypasses making you horny and goes straight to suicidal”—do with that what you will. Also, check out the rest of this author’s fics and make a whole evening out of it.

Ft. Zoro

Get that stinky Mosshead out of my sight…no, wait, let him stay. I guess we can take turns on Sanji or something.

11. 🌶 Picture You by @froggiewrites

I don’t usually read Sanji fics where Zoro is heavily involved, but I’m glad that that didn’t stop me from clicking on this one (also, to be fair, they take turns on the reader. Well, the reader takes turns on them.) My note on the Ao3 bookmark is “God-tier sad horny Sanji characterisation”...couldn't have said it better, me from the past. 

12. 🌶 Shaken Up Hearts by @lyriumcoloredskies

Okay so I lied, maybe I do like it when Zoro is heavily involved, as long as it’s a collab to team up on Sanji. Sanji gets lovingly demolished in this one, but before he gets there he’s sad like a kicked puppy about not being allowed to kiss both you and Zoro. Who am I to say no to a heavy dose of Zosan in my het Sanji smut?

13. 🌶 Nuvole e Lenzuola by redtendou

This one’s niche because it’s written in Italian. I was stunned by the author’s ability to make a graphic sex scene actually work despite Italian’s atrocious sex-related lexicon–trust me, it’s a struggle. If you’re into Zoro and the reader ganging up on Sanji and you understand Italian, definitely give it a read.

Spa day for the soul

Fics where you take care of Sanji, or Sanji takes care of you, or where there are actual spa activities thrown into the mix. God knows this man needs some TLC once in a while.

14. 🌶 My Pampered Prince by @sheerxfiction

It’s Sanji’s turn to spend some time flat on his back on the kitchen table–it’s what he deserves. If you’re craving a brilliant smutty fic where Sanji gets pampered then you've foudn it, the reader take really good care of him in this one–and I have to give bonus points for the heavy dose of Sanji’s self-worth issues and the readersinsert fighting back against his refusal to get taken care of. Get loved, idiot.

15. 🌶 Shower Time by @chibieggplant

Cute, hot, sexy–I’m talking both about the writing and Sanji in this fic. He takes a shower with the reader and spends the entire time in disbelief that he gets to tenderly wash her body, feeling quite embarrassed by how into it he is, despite the fact that this an established relationship fic. And that’s how I like my boys!

16. 🌶 Vinsmoke Sanji: Not all Men are Rats by livingonadaydream

I love, love, love fics where Sanji gets pampered…but it doesn’t hurt to read the complete opposite once in a while. A very sweet Sanji makes sure that the reader gets a very happy ending.

First Time

We'll never know the canonical sexual history for any One Piece characters because Oda is, unfortunately, a coward. However I'm not surprised that Sanji is considered by many the most virgin to have ever virgined in the history of virginity—so here's a list of fics where you pop his cherry. Be delicate, please...he's very sensitive.

17. 🌶 Say When by @venomatically

This one has to be the first I tell you about. If you go check the comments on Ao3 you’ll find me absolutely losing my mind after my first read, and there’s no quick comment I can add here to fully explain how much I love this author, her writing, and–Good Lord in Heaven–the way she writes Sanji. He’s a virginal pervert. He’s got that dog in him and it happens to be a cute little puppy. He’s so sweet and adoring he can’t bear to tell you how often he thinks about fucking you. I need someone to invent him in real life, it’s not even funny anymore. (Also, if you like to see Sanji actually get a little depraved, check out her other fic, too: 🌶 Letting Off Steam)

18. 🌶 Lust by @tetzoro

Ooh, this one’s hot. It starts so poetic and romantic, but as Sanji loses himself in the feeling the descriptions get more carnal. I love his POV here. Also it involves one of my favourite things ever: the readers starts on top but when it gets too good Sanji can't resist and he flips her over to do all the work himself. Who else cheered?

Sex Pollen

While writing this rec list I realized I have at least four sex pollen fics where Sanji eats something he shouldn’t and then…I wanna say “regrets it”, but the consequences are that he has hot sweaty sex with someone he’s really into. If he were to notice the trend I think he might start putting the wrong thing in his mouth on purpose.

19. 🌶 It’s a what flower?! by @sanjifucker42069

From the blog name alone I knew I’d found a kindred spirit. They have written for both the animanga and OPLA, and to be honest it’s hard for me to pick a favorite work. That’s a lie, this one’s my favorite. The author has a great sense of humor, and this fic in particular is both very funny and incredibly hot. I love how desperate and pathetic Sanji gets, and how hard the reader insert is trying to keep things PG before it becomes obvious they just have to fuck! Good problems to have if you ask me.

20. 🌶 a fever you can't sweat out by @cryocandy

I remember reading this one day right before work. My shift was about to start, and I was sitting by myself in the car reading the smoking hot sex scene for no good reason at all, ensuring that I wouldn't be able to focus on anything productive for the rest of the day. Sanji in this fic is so dreamy and cute and pathetic, all qualities enhanced greatly by the amazing writing. If you don’t think you like fuck-or-die fics, do yourself a favour and read this one anyway. 

21. 🌶 Needy Boy by @maddddstuff

My note on Ao3 for this one was “Single-handedly made me into spanking btw, if you even care”, and I stand by it. He’s the one that gets spanked by the way, in case someone was in doubt.

22. 🌶 Someone Help Me by @fanaticsnail

Sanji’s a mess in this one. A total and complete mess, and I loved every word of it–also, since in the first part Sanji is struggling against the effects of the sex pollen all on his lonesome, this fic might also appeal to my fellow Sanji whump fans.

Dom!Sanji & Co.

Just because I have a preference for Sanji being a sub it doesn’t mean I will scoff at fics where he’s more dominant in bed. Here are the ones I stumbled upon that I’ve really liked! (Also I’m using the term “dominant” very loosely here, in some of these fics he’s simply more assertive in bed.)

23. Too Much (Take Me Home) by @secretwritingspot

This is THEE dom!Sanji series for me. There’s no sex in it, it’s more of an exploration of the sub/Dom dynamic and why someone would crave submitting to another person. Sanji finds himself in the dominant role with little warning, but he’s damn great at it in his usual adoring and tender way. I’m linking the first fic of the series, but the author has written more for this scenario!

24. 🌶 Leg Day by 1LucaCola1

The title says it all; fantastic premise for a smoking hot pwp fic. If I had the opportunity to train and make good use of Sanji’s expertise, I’d also push myself too far until my legs were shaking, and then let him do other things to me to make the shaking even worse.

25. 🌶 very professional nights by @missfrustration

Ugh, I love this one! Sanji is your superior at the Baratie, and he’s so very stern with you until he isn’t at all. Love the bait and switch of a Sanji whose professionalism makes him act a little cold when clients’ satisfaction is on the line but simply melts when he’s alone with the reader. And everything he ends up doing to the reader in this fic, I’d hardly call a punishment.

26. 🌶 Doodled Hearts by Twisted_Inkwell

Soft dom Sanji fucks you hard but he’s sweet talking to you in French the whole time. I don’t know what else to add to convince you to read this one, that should be plenty.

In the kitchen

To fuck the cook, you’ll have to look for him in his natural habitat. Then you can proceed to ruin the kitchen table for everyone else.

27. 🌶 Midnight Snack by BombasticBastard

This fic is a part of a Sanji/Reader/Zoro series, but I’m linking Part 2 where it’s just you and our lovely boy. As the title says, the reader is craving a midnight snack and goddamn, she gets the best one the Sunny’s pantry has to offer. This could also go in the Dom!Sanji category because he quite literally talks you through it, as the kids say nowadays, but he also showers the reader in compliments & he confesses his love, so overall he’s too much of a big ol’ softie to call him dominant in any way.

28. 🌶 All It Takes by mooseskulls

Reader catches Sanji being the pervert that he is, stolen underwear and badly-hidden moans included. This one has both a gender neutral version and a transmasc!reader one, I thought that was lovely–this way lots of different people can enjoy the “getting bent over the kitchen counter” scenario. 

29. 🌶 Compliments to the Chef by @tigreblue

The Author says this is their first fic–if that’s the case, they’ve got a bright future ahead of them. We all know Sanji doesn’t easily accept love and gratitude, but some good ol’ finger-sucking ought to convince him. Things degenerate beautifully from there.

Dark(er)

By darker I mean that I’m adding here fics where Sanji is something other than an absolute sweetheart. You’ll understand how actually dark any of these fics are from my comments and the authors’ tags, but they all have the general vibe of “Sanji is a sleazy pervert” in varying degrees of illegality.

30. 🌶 appetite by @groubee

Ooh…this one’s fucked up. Sanji is an unreliable narrator that makes non-con somnophilia sound kinda cute, actually (it really isn’t.) In his defense he’s written as some sort of incubus-slash-sex-demon. The author doesn’t go into detail but they don’t need to, it’s all about the sickly sweet mood (emphasis on sickly) of a tender lover who’s also a horrible, horrible person.

31. 🌶 Letting Off Steam by @venomatically

He’s a freak in this one, but he’s soooo nice about it and he’s soooo thankful that you’re letting him be a complete pervert who can get away with waking you up by stroking his cock over your face. 

32. 🌶 Smile for the Camera by @thus-spoke-lo 

This one broke my heart and turned me on at the same time, I give it a full five stars. It’s a short and sweet one-shot where Sanji breaks down all your walls and then does the same to your trust in men…enjoy!

33. 🌶 Compliments to the Chef by @thus-spoke-lo

I realize only now that this fic and Smile for the Camera are by the same author. That’s not gonna stop me from reccing this little series, too–in the notes on Tumblr you can see that this was written for a “sleazeball collab”, which should tell you something about Sanji’s characterization. While reading this I felt like that lady in the comic about sexual harassment on the workplace…like yeah maybe I would be okay with it if the guy was hot enough. And by workplace I mean a shitty restaurant, and by guy I mean Sanji in the role of the line cook who smokes too much and is very transparent about wanting to bang you on the counter where lunch service is prepared.

34. 🌶 Use me by moosetracksandscenechanges

This fic! My God! I’m adding it here not because there are hard kinks or morally dubious dynamics between the characters, but I still think it fits. It has its sad moments due to a generally darker atmosphere and a more aloof version of Sanji (not that aloof, still recognisably himself)...but also he willingly gets tied to a bed. Sub Sanji lovers stay winning. My hopeless romantic heart hopes that Sanji and the reader will actually get together, but there’s a lot to love about the fwb dynamic they’ve got going on right now. A bittersweet read in the best way.

35. Conjugate the Ways by @secretwritingspot

Oh, Sanji has a foul mouth in this one, but he’s speaking French so he’s forgiven…also the reader has no idea what the hell he’s saying to her. It’s creepy in a cute way! The fic doesn’t include actual smut, it’s just Sanji fantasizing out loud about the things he wants to do with you, but if you’re in the mood for some good ol’ sexual tension, give it a read.

36. 🌶 Ma chérie by marriedtosanji

He lied to you! About being French, of all things! I would never forgive him. He’s really good in bed though, so he makes up for it. The smut here is so delightful it does a 180% and goes back to breaking my heart over the fact that I’ll never meet a cute stranger in a bar who wants to seduce and is also Mr. Sanji Onepiece himself. 

Voyeurism

I swear this isn’t even in my top 10 kinks, I guess that Sanji’s character simply inspires a lot of authors to put him in situations where he’s staring. Watching. Ogling. Observ–you’ve got the gist of it. 

37. “It’s entirely too obvious [...]” by @ofallthingsnasty

[giggling and kicking my feet] the reader makes Sanji sweat cold in this one…I love when he’s nervous, I love when he’s desperate for forgiveness! He doesn’t do anything bad, but the fic is all about him watching the reader eat and obviously liking it a bit too much. The mood is suggestive but overall it stays pretty innocent until the end.

38. 🌶 Voyeurs by snackshack

Thank you Zoro and Nami for your help in making this happen, we couldn’t have done it without you. Sanji and the reader are in a freak4freak relationship, a match made in Heaven. Very good smut and a delicious premise!

39. 🌶 Perversion by glossyjoonie

@Sanji: babygirl you suck ♥ Short and sweet fic part of a larger collection (there are other Sanji-focused chapters, check out those ones, too!) where Sanji gets caught spying on all his favourite ladies: Nami, Robin, and you. Robin sticks around for a while in this one, but in the end the reader is the one who shows Sanji what happens to boys who misbehave.

40. 🌶 Just Between Us by @mytanuki-kun

This man is always spying on you in the shower, in bed, from behind a bush or whatever…it’s about time he gets a taste of his own medicine. I adore this fic, I remember reading the first chapter and hoping the author would update as soon as possible because I was hooked. Sanji catches you ogling him in secret and he plays into it cause he’s a horny bastard and the love of my life. The writing is incredible and Sanji’s characterization is so, so dreamy and sexy and adorable.

That’s all, folks. You have enough material to survive a nuclear war, you can spend many happy decades closed in your bunker eating canned food and reading reader insert One Piece fanfiction. 

My final, desperate request is this one: does anyone have the link to a Sanji fic where he’s 40 years old and he hired a babysitter (you) for his kid, but then one night the kid is somewhere else and you two end up hooking up? Please? Pretty please? I think it was part of a collection or series but I can’t find it anywhere!

[blakbonnet]

AUTHOR OF THE WEEK: @soupbtch

Ever read a fic and go "they're so 😭" - that's every single Danny fic to me, aka today's second aotw feature, and god, what an amazingly talented author they are.

I'm so glad you decided to write and grace us with your lovely and bonkers fics, because I cannot imagine the OFMD fic world without your incredible Every Part of You series. I cannot imagine logging into this website without another incredible post from you. Every single thing you write (and do) leaves me in stitches and then, more often than not, you straight up chair your friends with your ultra soft way of writing how much they love each other - in between the much needed elbow fucking. You are such an amazingly kind person - hilarious, supportive, and the best cheerleader 💕 Thank you for answering my questions:

What's your writing process like? Do you start with the beginning or the end? Do you write in order or as the scenes come to you?

I start with a pretty detailed outline because if I don’t go in with a plan, I’ll drop threads and/or write myself in circles. Then I have my outline open on half of my screen while I have a separate doc open on the other half where I’m actually writing. I write in order from beginning to end.

Favourite trope or headcanon you like to explore while writing? (Things like Ed's sweet tooth, Stede's ability to bury his feelings etc)

I have a lot of fun writing angst, so I think any facet of that I can explore is a good time. Weigh them down with insecurities and see how far I can bend them with external factors like plot points, each other, or other characters before they snap. So things like Stede believing he ruins everything he touches, Ed believing he doesn’t deserve fine things, and how they both stand in the way of their own happiness because of these feelings. I also love exploring like, the horrible communication skills Ed and Stede have with each other when it comes to their emotions, and setting up story beats where that intercommunication can break down. Because they’re idiots (affectionate).

Whose voice is easier to write - Ed or Stede? Why?

Ed for sure. I find him very easy to connect with, emotionally. All my favorite characters think they’re unlovable monsters and no, this says NOTHING about me personally, etc etc etc.

Your personal favourite thing you've written that you'd like more people to read

Red Skies at Night! It's modern au, but they're still on a boat! If you like slow burn, bitchy Stede, Ed with a tongue piercing, fun costumes, and a big dash of pining, I def recommend checking it out!! ❤️

What is the one word that you think you use a lot?

The one that comes to mind is ‘blink.’ Kind of a funny one, but to me, it’s such a juicy way to imply so much while saying so little, so I know I use it frequently. Stede asks, “Do you trust me?” and Ed blinks back at him as he tries to work out why that question hits him like a truck (because the answer is a very easy yes). Ed says, “You make me happy,” and Stede blinks back at him in awe (because Stede? Making someone happy? That can’t be true). You get it.

Do you have a beta reader? Have they made you a better writer?

Yes, Beedle (@sleepystede) and Connie (@spirker) have both beta read for me! They’ve helped me tremendously with flow and rewording awkward sentences, and I’ve improved a lot from their feedback. Connie has also been invaluable to bounce ideas off of for new fics and just generally pushing me to be more creative through her never-ending support and big beautiful brain.

Why OFMD 🥹

I loved season 1 when I first watched it, but as soon as I saw the season 2 trailer, something clicked in my brain. Where season 1 was slow burn, will-they-won’t-they, is this real or are they queerbaiting, season 2 was posing itself as very, very clearly queer. Stede is going to get his man. That’s it, that’s the show. Undisguised, unabashed, unapologetic gay yearning and gay romance. There are a million other things I can say, but I think it really all comes down to that. What a gift. No one does it like our show. 💖

Please head over to @ofmdlovelyletters (who also made the header) and send your love to all your favourite authors (and authors of the week 😈 watch that blog for some special letters coming your way)

[lightlycareless]

What are things that Naoya’s kids do to purposely annoy him?

Hello!!

I think they'd be many things tbh, considering he ends up having like 5 kids 🤣 so the list could be endless... but let's start with a few :> some a bit Naomi-centric because it's easier to write it like that.

warnings: none. domestic fluff. Naoya is a good dad in his own way 🥹

Also: I recommend reading these two too :> (oneshot 1, oneshot 2) somewhat related to this ask.

Happy reading!

Let's start by how cute it would be for Naoya to chase Naomi once she gets a hold of her technique (I will forever HC all of his kids being carbon copies of him 🥹❤️).

Like, he'll want her to get into the bathroom to take a shower, or get ready for school or something and she's like:

“No, papa!” Before running off giggling, Naoya trying his best to catch up. He may be an excellent sorcerer with undisputed control over his technique and seemingly never-ending stamina, but he is still nothing compared to a stubborn child determined to have her way.

Naoya eventually catches up to her, and while he's concerned (scared she might hurt herself 🥺, she’s still a baby with much to learn) and exhausted after the whole ordeal, he's happy too to see that his baby has lots of potential, essentially winning her a good position in the clan / jujutsu society.

The other thing would be feeding the cat you both eventually get her with things she's not supposed to. They're already glued to one another, but this just takes their friendship to a whole new level.

Though this would soon stop after her poor kitten gets sick :( thankfully nothing bad, but neither you nor Naoya had ever seen Naomi so distraught in your life! This definitely brought forward a much-needed conversation about proper care for pets and such. Naomi became a very responsible pet owner after that.

And lastly, this is Naoya's personal bane: when either of his kids follow Mai and Maki’s antics in bothering him. Just about… anything involving the 3 is enough to annoy him. And with good reason! They like to instigate Naoya through his babies just to hide behind you when things get too real 🤣 I envision they'd encourage Naomi into calling her papa a loser, silly, ugly, “mama is too good for him” so on and so forth.

Though there would be a point where Naomi defends her papa, especially when his affection/veracity of his relationship with you is questioned.

“Mama loves papa very much and he loves her too!!” she’d cry. “Papa loves me too… right?”

The twins would stop their teasing for a while after that, feeling like absolute garbage for upsetting such an adorable girl and subsequently doing their best to cheer her up. Or at least to stop her from telling you or Naoya what happened—wouldn’t work, but there are no real consequences since you know they meant no genuine harm.

Now of course, some of his kids are more mischievous than others (Naohime…) but I think those are like the general guidelines of things they’d do to annoy Naoya 🤭

This made me want to write more of his other kids, like, I forgot they were supposed to have 1 other boy, and twins. 😶 as well as first-time scenarios involving Naomi. Thankfully, I have enough excuses to do so hahahahaaaaaaa which I hope you'll like as well 🥹❤️

Thank you so much for sending in this adorable ask!! Take care and hope to see you soon ❤️❤️

[offbrand-deltatraveler]

Tbh I get that all the episodes of this arc being extremely rushed and episodic and awkwardly cutting off instead of having proper endings is just part of the YouTube Shorts aesthetic, but it really doesn’t work for an episode as important as today’s that was a video and not a Short. And arguably never worked for any more serious story-important episodes tbh

(Spoilers for pretty much everything and just a lotta general negativity ahead)

Like things like the explanation of the lore and the countdown could be done in Shorts because they were clearly made with the fact that they were going to be Shorts in mind, but when things finally started to pick up it felt less like Shorts and more that they were only showing us little bits and pieces of a much bigger story that we’ll never get to see and that really messes with the immersion

“But the world doesn’t exist outside of when Chikn wants it to. The Shorts are all there is to see. That’s the point” the point is stupid

And that doesn’t even work because if the world can only exist when Chikn wants it to then everyone should be dead. How did any episode or even any moment without Chikn in it ever exist if that’s the case? How are the characters shown to have done things off-screen multiple times?

Also furthermore like. Everything was just so rushed???

Like one minute Chee is getting upset and ends up punching Chikn so hard it knocks him out (Not to mention she didn’t even punch him in the face and just kinda awkwardly pushed him. Would’ve been cool if she scratched him being a cat and all but the devs didn’t wanna go for that for some reason), but in the next scene she’s smiling like nothing was ever wrong to begin with, and somehow manages to trigger a flashback without even saying anything?

Also the devs teased a lotta puppet imagery with Chikn that they can’t decide whether or not they actually want because there was that whole thing about how while the chaos is caused by Chikn, he still feels like a part of it rather than the cause of it (“Sometimes I feel like I’m just… A puppet on a stage”), which is presumably because of his chaotic powers running wild and trying to take control of him, but in this episode that apparently was completely retconned in favor of Chikn himself feeling like he has to destroy the world. Which I can also see as well with how Bezel keeps egging him on but 1. They didn’t have to replace one with the other. It’d arguably be more interesting if both were true at once (Chikn feeling like he has to fulfill his destiny and destroy everything made it easier for his powers to get the better of him), and 2. Bezel never said anything to him that would actually make this work. He didn’t even know about his destiny until his powers started doing their thing because Bezel explicitly refused to tell him. Where did these feelings of having to fulfill his destiny even come from? How does he even know there’s a prophecy instead of thinking that he just happens to have weird powers?

Or maybe he did. Maybe all that stuff did happen and does have an explanation and we just won’t see it because they don’t show us the full story

And also speaking of Bezel what happened to “Everything must be cute. Everything must be nice”? If Chikn is so convinced that he must follow his destiny of destroying the world what was up with that part where he explicitly stated that he doesn’t want the world destroyed?

(Also also speaking of Bezel, the reveal of him being the doomsday clock was cool and really clever but like. If he’s not the embodiment of time why didn’t Iscream & Fwench Fwy literally just kill him?)

“Well maybe his powers did what power usually does and began to corrupt him” They should’ve said that. As the viewers, AKA the people who are not writing the story, it is not our job to fill up plotholes

And also that still goes for the “Puppet on a stage being controlled by the chaos inside him” angle while today’s episode goes for the “Bezel gaslit Chikn into thinking his destiny is inescapable” angle

And also furthermore if he’s convinced he has to destroy everything why didn’t he eat her? Why didn’t he ever try to hurt Chee or show that he was going to (And yes, I do mean show. Chikn tells her over and over again that his destiny makes him dangerous for Chee to be around, but she is never shown to be in any real danger)? Maybe instead he could’ve started trying to do that thing he did in one of the earliest episodes where he pulled out her pin and she just died. Maybe seeing her like that could remind him of that time and that could’ve been the thing that triggered the flashback

Not to mention the whole reason this happened in the first place was because Chee stopped hanging out with him and that made him feel lonely and the emptiness and boredom he felt allowed him to become aware of his powers and how they affect people. Why was that never brought up throughout like any part of this whole thing? “We’re all here for you” He doesn’t want a “We’re All” he wants you specifically. That’s why he’s doing all this. That was the whole significance of Chee going to talk to him

And speaking of how his powers did that thing to Chee, quick sidenote to mention how we never see the result of that. We never see what exactly happened with Chee that stressed him out so much or how Cofi and Slushi reacted to it and that wouldn’t been such an interesting thing to show. And no this is not because of an episode limit they literally have 300 of them

And speaking of Slushi, why do we never see her reaction to the fact that all of this was Chikn’s fault? Between Chee randomly walking out on their hangout and Chikn’s powers rubbing off on Sodi she has to have noticed

And the line delivery in this episode was shit because we know Chikn Nuggit characters can sound genuinely emotional when they need to

tl;dr: The “Silly little relatable Shorts made by a small group of people who just wanna have fun” aesthetic doesn’t work well when applied to Shorts that aren’t silly or fun. Trying to uphold this vibe has done infinitely more to hurt the story than to help it

[keystonepublishing]

The Purim of the Philosophers by Jonathan Edelstein

Jonathan Edelstein has cropped-up in this blog for several times now, and not without good reason. I knew him from almost a decade ago on an internet forum and his stories - short and long-form - have captivated me by their depth and ingenuity.

So no surprise, I decided to bind yet another short fiction of his. After my first two binds of his work, I actually made a promise to myself to bind two more stories of Jonathan's before the year closes out.

One of them was Of Letters They Are Made, and the other is this: The Purim of the Philosophers.

Set in an alternate France where the Albigensian Crusade went unfinished, the Languedoc is its own kingdom, and the political situation is still explosive, The Purim of the Philosophers tells of a Jewish official sent by the Languedoc king to the city of Marseilles to quell tensions between the Jewish communities, all while the French north is gearing up for another war with the south...

Now, while this all sounds fascinating, I doubt I will remember all the background context in 20 years' time. That was why I decided to write a preface to explain the bewildering history of the region, balancing out the need to explain history with the constraints of a small page.

To be honest, I think there is enough historic oddness about southern France to make an original compendium, but I digress.

As with previous binds, I have a love for filling in pages with images that capture the feel and mood of the story, and this bind is no exception.

Additionally, parts of the tale is told in the form of letter correspondence between the Jewish official and his son, which I formatted using the 1475 Humanistica Cursiva font. I love the old-timiness of the letters so much that I eventually used it for multiple other things in this book, including the chapter headers and title strip.

The main body text is Alegreya, with a large drop cap of Harrington colored red to give an impression of illuminated manuscripts.

And as always with me, I added-in a comments section to preserve what people thought and discussed of this story when it was first published on alternatehistory.com.

But after all of that, I still feel like giving the background stuff of this tale more justice. So with some consultation from the author, I put-in two more sections denoting the main characters of the story and their real-life counterparts, as well as minor Jewish, French, and Occitan terms that were sprinkled throughout the book.

I have to say, it was quite an experience Googling up which terms meant what to a faith that is not really known to the general public east of India. I think I learned more about Judaism in the last 3 weeks than I ever had in the last 5 years, or even 10!

All in all, this bind was one of the more easier ones to make. I would have made this quicker if not for stuff at work and home delaying progress for a bit. I so wish I could make more than 1-2 books a month, but better to have those 1-2 books than no books at all.

[5eraphim]

this thought has been rotting my brain for about a week now and I've just worked up the courage to request this, feel free to delete this if you don't want to write btw.

Yandere medic had kidnapped the reader a while ago, and medic got home after a long day and the reader just sort of walks up to medic and hugs him, completely unprompted.

Idk I need something fluffy in my life.

(I am so bad at writing fluff- but it is funny the one fluff request I've gotten is for Medic of all people 💀 Hope you enjoy!)

Title: Night Light

Character: Medic 🕊️ (Team Fortress 2)

Rating: M (MINORS DNI- GO PLAY OUTSIDE)

Content Warnings: yandere, possessive behavior, mind break, hurt/comfort, toxic relationship, implied NSFW, kidnapping, touch starved reader, cuddles, reader is gender neutral, implied dehumanization/slight infantilization

Word Count: 1.9K

MASTERLIST

TIP JAR

"When you grow accustom to something, when it becomes part of your everyday life, you notice when it suddenly vanishes.

If only my heart were made of stone."

Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Time had never passed as slowly during your captivity as that evening. He was late coming home, not a rarity, though you couldn't shake the feeling something about tonight was different. A certain air of restlessness only heightened your agitation. Minutes passed like hours while you were rooted at the window waiting for the harsh white headlights to cue Medic's return home.

As you waited, poised right by the bedroom's window, you paced back and forth, wearing a thin blanket from the bed as a shawl across your shoulders, wringing the ends with your hands nervously. As though it was physically impossible to still yourself. 

Never before had the 10 x 10 bedroom you were confined to while Medic was out of the house felt as claustrophobic as it did now. You weren't allowed out of this room when Medic wasn't home, it wasn't much, but you still got a shiver down your spine remembering how he left you chained to a radiator in the basement after your first escape attempt. At first, Medic wanted to trust you, giving you access to roam the top floor of his house while he was gone, though that lasted less than a week after you'd tried to run away, shattering a window and nearly severing a vein when you tried to pull yourself through.

After that, you were taught the hard way any comfort in this house was to be earned, and your petty act of rebellion or insolence would only result in punishment. Being chained up in the basement was the worst, but there were other ways Medic would force you to obey his commands and diminish any dignity you held onto. If you wanted clothes, you would have to wear what he provided for you, assuming he felt generous enough to supply any. If you wanted to eat, you'd be lucky if he let you eat at the table with him; it was marginally less degrading than when he fed you while you sat on his lap, though this wasn't nearly as bad as when he would force you to feed from a bowl on the floor at his feet. If you didn't want to sleep on the cold floor, not only were you forced to share his bed, but be obedient and not give him a reason to kick you out. 

Nowadays, you aren't so resilient. You knew Medic was a sick bastard, and you knew if you kept testing him, there was a good chance your luck would eventually run out, and he'd do something severe. Even if the obedience was faked, Medic appeared appeased. He remarked on how much easier it was to hold you when you weren't struggling or how beautiful you looked when you smiled for him. You wanted to believe you were only doing this for your safety, that you truly hated Medic with your entire heart, and that you'd die before ever loving him back. But as the days began to pile up and your resistance slipped away, Medic grew genuinely kinder. You couldn't help but feel some inexplicable yearning for Medic. When he was gone, you were always alone, the feeling as dismal as it was inevitable. And while you might still fear him, when Medic was home, you felt a bittersweet acceptance of your situation. 

After what felt like an eternity passed, you watched headlights drawing closer as you watched Medic's car pulling into the driveway. Your heart leaped into your throat as you listened to the sound of the door being unlatched. Springing from waiting by the window, you stood in front of the bedroom's door; your blanket-shawl slipped off your shoulders and fell onto the floor as you strained your ears to listen, vaguely able to hear Medic kicking off his boots, dropping off his white coat before finally making his way up the stairs. You could feel your heart beating in your ears as you listened to Medic unlocking the door while you stood frozen in place, waiting to see Medic at last. 

He pulled open the door and, for a moment, appeared surprised to see you standing there waiting for him. For a beat, the two of you stared at each other silently, unsure of what the other would do next, Medic opened his mouth to say something, but you were faster. Moving determined, though awkwardly, you extended your arms out before reaching for Medic, wrapping your arms around his neck, and pulling him into a tight hug. For a moment, Medic was stunned and motionless with shock, feeling you pulling him closer to you with silent neediness.

"Please hold me back." Your voice came out breathy and hushed, the words tumbling out before you even realized what you were saying as you mumbled as close to his ear as you could, arms wrapping just a touch tighter around Medic's shoulders, as though you hadn't seen him in weeks. You couldn't see his face, more content to shut your eyes and burrow your face into his chest, inhaling his scent. Though silently, you knew you wanted more. A part of you wanted to tear the clothes right off of him and feel the heat of his body directly against your own skin. But for now, you were content to savor the moment as it was, hearing the faint sound of his heart beating in rhythm with every breath he took. 

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around your torso, returning the embrace with equal warmth. "I was surprised to see the light still on when I pulled in, were you staying up to see me again?" You nodded, head still buried in his chest. 

He always said you looked so cute when you nuzzled him like this, and he couldn't help but hum with satisfaction seeing you all needy. "Aw, were you worried I was spending time with someone else? Were you jealous?"

He was clearly trying to mess with you, but you couldn't help but raise your voice a little, responding, squeezing him tighter in your arms. "No! I was afraid, Medic!"

Pulling your arms from his shoulders, you let him hold you while you continued, feeling as though tears were about to fall at any moment.

"I missed you… I missed you a lot." You wanted to explain yourself, convert these intense and enigmatic emotions into words, to explain to Medic and yourself. 

He pulled away just enough to face you, "Why don't we go lay down for a moment? You look like you could use that." Nodding silently, you let him guide you to bed, pulling back the covers before tucking you into bed, allowing you to situate yourself before crawling in right next to you. The warm, almost calm look never once left his face as you writhed for a moment uneasily, trying to find a comfortable position beside him. Eventually, settling down to lay on your side, wrapping one arm over his chest and a leg just over his lap. Medic's arm stretched across your shoulders to pull you closer, his other hand under the blanket, rubbing his fingers along the thigh, you draped over him. At that moment, you felt almost as though you were back in the body of a child, curling up in your parent's bed after a nightmare. Even now, you continue to nuzzle your face against him. You had an entire day of loneliness to undo, but now that you could feel him so warm and close, all your stress and tension were melting away. Sighing, you pulled away, looking up at Medic with eyes half-lidded with admiration.

"What happened to you while I was gone?" He tried to force a chuckle as though he were joking, but the glimmer of curiosity in his eyes gave away his sincerity. 

Resting your cheek against his chest, staring blankly at the wall, you answered in a dull voice. "I don't know, and I can't explain it. But when you were late, I guess I just started to miss you, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop." 

As you spoke, your voice grew frailer. It hurt to think about the isolation, the loneliness, everything you'd endured stuck in a cloister confined to one bedroom. 

Medic made a noise of sympathy, "But you know I'd be back; you know I'd never abandon you, don't you?" 

Of course, you knew; the Medic told you many times before he'd die before leaving you. But Medic never knew how to stay dead; realistically, you knew he always managed to find his way back to you.

"Today, waiting for you to come home, it hurt. It hurt more than ever." Internally you felt a twinge of guilt; you just wanted to enjoy your time with Medic now that he was finally home; the last thing you wanted was to make him worry about you. But you weren't lying, and you felt that if you kept all your loneliness bottled up inside, you'd lose your mind altogether. 

He looked down, his brow creased slightly with worry. "Have you been feeling ill?" 

You shook your head, "Not sick, just worried."

Hearing this, Medic's cheeks reddened slightly. For the first time in ages, you'd managed to be the one to fluster him, and you had to admit, he looked bizarrely cute like this. His typical mania softened into something entirely different. Sure, you'd seen his softer side before, but you felt as though you'd never really appreciated it until now, and your heart ached with a lonely kind of affection. 

"Worried about me?" His head cocked to the side a little, unable to entirely process the words leaving his own mouth. You tugged at his shirt lightly, scrunching the fabric with your fingers.

"I worry because I care about you. I think I've felt this way for a while, waiting for you to come home… I don't know- but I feel like all these feelings are finally coming together. I love you, Medic." You could've sworn you felt Medic's heart beating a bit faster as you rambled, but you knew for sure you felt him gasping slightly hearing you say, "I love you."

It's not like he'd never heard those words from you before. But every time before now, it was prompted, whether as a response to his own "I love you" or via threat to hurt you if you didn't say it. Though that isn't to say you'd never thought this before. Though saying it out loud, at last, made it all finally feel real.

He leaned down to kiss the top of your head, mattering against your scalp, "I love you too, my love. I always have, I always will."

He continued, "You are the light of my life, and I swear, no matter how far I go- I will always find you."

For the first time all night, the tears you'd kept bottled up for so long began to fall. Though now you wept with joy, feeling a kind of levity in your heart you doubted you'd ever known before now. Medic stroked the back of your head as you wept into his chest, wetting his button-up with your tears. It was a comfort to assure yourself no matter how much time he spent away from you or how he punished you for disobedience in the past, he would always make up for the lost time when he found his way home. Not the building he lived in, but by your side, wrapping his arms around you, where he truly belonged.  

[bestworstcase]

Question from someone who's attempting to write rwby fanfiction. Do you have any advice on how avoid portraying team RWBY and their peers (JNPR, Penny, Oscar, etc) as people who are 'just better' or somehow more inherently virtuous than Those Evil Villains Over There Who Must Be Defeated and The Failures Of Generations Past? Because I want to write the girls and their friends bringing an end to a millennia-long conflict and upending the status quo and yeeting the brother gods, but like. I don't want to somehow imply that they have some special holy righteous sacred innate thing that made them succeed where others couldn't. And I feel like I keep accidentally implying that.

step 1. Worry Less.

if you don’t believe that RWBY et al are intrinsically Just Better Somehow you’re probably not going to write your story in a way that inadvertently implies as much even if they’re ultimately the ones who Solve The Problem. they’re just in the right place at the right time to escape this cycle these things happen bfrgk

step 2. remember that everybody does what they think is right

no one is a Bad Person on purpose and even when someone does something they know or believe to be wrong there is always some rationalization going on that makes it okay or makes it something outside of their control. keeping this in mind whenever you write character conflict is really important for portraying conflict in a naturalistic way—even if it isn’t something you put In The Text it’s useful for you as a writer to know what’s Going On in the heads of the characters who are wrong and why they’re doing the things that they do.

(a good exercise if you want to practice is to rewrite a scene from the other side’s point of view; if you have for example an argument between two characters who are both extremely convinced of their own rightness and don’t like each other, can you leap into the antagonist’s perspective and write that argument from their side in a way that paints the protagonist as irrational, stubborn, foolish? if you can switch your writer POV around like that to see things from the Wrong Perspective it becomes a lot easier to handle complex conflicts because you have a really solid grasp on what everyone’s stakes and opinions and reasons are.)

step 3. don’t be afraid to let the Good Guys fuck up & don’t be afraid to let the Bad Guys have a point

rwby does this really really really well. nobody is ever one hundred percent completely right—not in the story and not in real life—so letting the good guys be a little bit wrong and the bad guys be a little bit right creates points of common ground and margins for compromise to be built in between. and obviously if you have protagonists who are able to make mistakes and grow and accept compromise then Innately you have protagonists who are flawed and three dimensional, because if they were Perfect they wouldn’t need to learn or grow.

step 4. think about Why these characters are the ones who solve the problem

this is something that’s just helpful to have in mind as a writer to clarify your own framing; often the answer is a lot more about circumstance than any intrinsic Betterness and in the case of rwby a lot of it just comes down to the fact that salem attacked when she did—team rwby et al weren’t inculcated into the paranoid keeping secrets cult and didn’t have ozpin to lead them, so they figured out their own way of doing things that (because it plays to humanity’s strengths) works a lot better.

y’know how every time someone new is let in on the secret, the first question they ask is “why don’t people know? why not tell everyone?” the story is making the point that the natural, instinctive human response to finding out about a secret war is to go “it shouldn’t be secret!”—ozpin has to work very hard and be extremely careful about Who he initiates into this conspiracy because his methods run contrary to human nature. it takes active effort to quash that reflex to ask for help. what makes team rwby et al "special" isn’t anything unique to them, per se; its that they learnt the truth outside of this coercive environment that trained the old guard to Never Tell Anyone, so they intuitively grasp that telling more people and asking for help is better than not. because Most People put into this situation would intuitively grasp that.

[tavina-writes]

i want to share salt. have you ever had a ship that annoyed you so much it starts poisoning other ships you could have potentially liked? because this is me with xiyao vs nielan. like, xiyaos are so fucking loud and proud of the fact that he sides with jgy over everybody else multiple times in ways that turn out to be incredibly hurtful. so it gets to the point i can't even enjoy cute teenage nielan art knowing xichen is going to so catastrophically fuck this up by repeatedly writing off mingjue as just imagining things and lying to him and leveraging their relationship for someone else's benefit and handing his killer the method to kill him and that people are *gleeful* about all that.

Hi Nonny!

First off, I want to offer you a hug, because this sort of feeling about fandom is never a fun thing to experience, and since you recognize that this is a salty ask, you might want nothing more than a "hey I see this and I get it in some part!"

But if you're thinking about how you might improve this situation and like, enjoy interacting with 3zun fandom again/mdzs fandom in general, I have a few ideas:

block everyone whose takes are pissing you off. There needs to be no bigger reason than "You know what, your takes are ruining this fandom experience for me" or "making me slightly more irritated than I would've been." There's no shame or like, anything wrong with this. Ultimately, we all live in this mosh pit of stuff together, and I might think everyone has a right to whatever kind of take they want, but I don't have to martyr myself on the cross of "hearing all sides" or whatever, and neither do you Nonny.

Recognizing which things are fanon and which are canon. This might help, but like, LXC doesn't, canonically, keep picking JGY at every turn. He is a flawed character with his own problems (as are they all in MDZS lol) but this is...not really what's happening? People can say what they want in their meta and their headcanons and interpretation of canon, but that doesn't make it...true.

this goes with 1 and 2 but also: if a fandom or a ship or a trope or something no longer brings you joy Nonny, there's always the opportunity to pack it up and leave it behind, either permanently or for a time. There's nothing wrong with not being "on" about a ship or fandom or recognizing that it was once something you really liked but not something you enjoy right at this very moment.

All that said, I'm personally of the opinion that there's a very loud and vocal part of the xiyao fandom (who exist on my blocklist by now) who've made me lose interest in the ship altogether, because the parts of the ship that I find most interesting -- the deceit, the almost gothic horror vibes, the slowly rotting center of their relationship when it didn't begin that way -- is obviously not what most (or what seems like most) people who ship it are looking for. And overall, I'm sure that it's no loss to not have me there, and that I (a NieYao girlie at heart) would not be welcome in that sandbox, so like, Nonny, I do get you and your frustrations. Ultimately I guess sometimes it's just easier to recognize that not all fandom spaces are welcoming and to find places that serve you better.

[cyberdenizen]

Welcome, little doll, to the depths of my mind.

This space is like a home, one I've carved for myself, where desire flows free, and dream might be shaped into reality.

Before you proceed further into my depths, I ask three things of you: 1. If you are a minor, pedo, homo/trans/xenophobic and so on, or if you're going to be an asshole, simply turn away now and make all our lives easier. 2. If you're not fond of the desperation on display here, the lewd writings, depraved visuals, then I ask that you merely block me and carry on as if nothing happened. This is an 18+ space composed by an adult for adults. I am not here to cause harm, and I ask you not cause me harm in return. 3. Do continue down this little post until you reach it's conclusion, understand who Cyber is, and do not be shy to ask questions after.

Now then, I do hope your curiosity is swelling deep within you, dear little reader mine. Won't you be so kind as to press that little "keep reading" button and let your eyes continue to dart through my words? Come now and see what secrets await.

WHO IS CYBER? Cyber is merely my handle, a name I choose to go by for privacy's sake, but then... I suppose that part was obvious, now wasn't it? Cyber is many things, I am many things. Dominant, poly-amorous, pan-sexual... A man who has begun to loss count of all the dripping depravities that swirl within his mind... And, as stated in my bio, I am currently in my late-20s, but time moves ever onward, and so in time 20s shall be 30s. There's much more to say beyond this simple introduction, so don't be shy, dear reader, come and see what hides in my About page.

WHAT DEPRAVITY DOES CYBER DREAM OF? While I keep a much more detailed expression of my desires, my fantasies, my kinks on my Desires page, I feel it worthwhile to provide even a mere snippet of what you might expect to see from this space I continue to form here. And do note that these are kept alphabetically, rather than any form of priority order:

Bladder control, Wetting, Omorashi, etc.

Body-writing, Tattoos & Similar markings

Bondage & BDSM

CNC & Rape-play

Corruption

Degradation

Diapers & Pull-Ups

Drooling

Exhibitionism & Public-play

Hypnosis & Brainwashing

Intox-play (Alcohol & Light drug-play)

Orgasm control (Both denial & forced)

Tentacles

Come and visit my Desires page to learn more. Much, much more…

D.N.I. I made comment above, but I feel it worth reiterating here... If you fit into one of the following categories, please turn back:

Under the age of 18, or attracted to said individuals.

Homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic or any other sort of related -phobic.

Clearly a bot, not that you're capable of processing the contents of this post anyway.

A general asshole... seriously, just respect people, it isn't that difficult.

CYBER'S LEWD TALES When creativity strikes, I find thorough enjoyment in writing some wonderfully depraved little tales. Each story I've written gets posted here with the tag #cyber.stories, but I also keep the whole collection organized via my Stories page, so do make sure you visit and read to your heart's content, doll.

THE CHALLENGE GAME Once upon a time, I was urged by some wonderful little anon dolls to compose a game that would challenge my lovely readers to sink deeper into their depraved nature. Currently, I am reworking this little game from the ground up, but rest assured, when it is ready, you will know.

ADDITIONAL SOCIALS While tumblr is my primary platform of choice, I do have a range of other socials including Discord, Twitter, Reddit and more... Don't be shy, little one. Come and ask to know more, if you dare.

ANON SIGN-OFFS As time goes on, those sweet little things that regularly send anonymous messages come and go, so I will try my best to keep track of what sign-offs have been claimed here. CLAIMED: ⛵🌙(sailor moon), 💜🌟💜(heart-star-heart/little soaked pet), 🐙(octopus), 🕯️(candle), 🧁(cupcake/muffin)

IMAGE CREDITS Icon - Orignal art by Merunyaa, edit by me. Banner - Original art by Brassica, edit by me. Background (look closely when viewing my page on browser) - Original art by Maria Rose, edit by me.

AND NOW, I SET YOU FREE But remember, there's no need to be shy, dear reader. Come now, follow, return regularly. Become captivated, enthralled, and let yourself sink deeper.

Final Note: My blog is best experienced through a web-browser/on desktop. The mobile app is sorely lacking in functionality still to this day...

[toriafiction]

Lightning in his Eyes and Thunder in his Wings

Author's Note chapter 4

Introducing

Dick "I need to fry some bastards" Grayson

And

Jason "I'll break you if you touch him" Todd

I'm excited about having gotten this far. I personally feel like this is where things really start in a way. Chapters 1 and 2 are backstory, and chapter 3 is the transition, but chapter 4 is the start of what I think of as current time.

You might notice a change in pacing from here on. There won't be any big time skips, just brife mentions of a few weeks passing between point A and point B here and there, but nothing substantial. While the passage of time will be slower, events will pick up.

Years have passed between the events in Titans Tower in chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 4, and in that time Dick had created a new normal for himself, something that he believed was sustainable. Now, as promised in the story summary, Jason is back and, by merely existing in his space, has awakened something that is going to flip Dick’s world upside down.

Dick isn't human, and he has gotten to complacent with that fact.

This chapter introduces Jason into the story as an interactive character that we are finally getting to see, and I wanted him to come in with a big entrance that felt genuine to the story. This led me to writing my first ever fight scene. This was both easier and harder than I thought it would be. Dick’s sole fight was easy. I wanted to showcase how he used his abilities in a fight and him just being a badass fighter in general, so I just let him kick ass. No problem.

I had a problem after I brought Jason in. I really wanted to have them fighting together, not just in the sense of fighting back to back but actually playing off each other. Such as where Dick rolls across Jason’s back to defend him. I wanted to have more things like that, but I couldn't come up with anything. I even tried looking up fighting videos, and that was a huge bust. I hope I still got the point and the feelings across.

The next problem I had was even worse.

Talking.

I had no idea how to have them interact or what to have them say to each other. I knew the emotions and what the ultimate outcome of the interaction was supposed to be, but I agonized over this tiny little part for weeks. I even wrote around it until I hit the exact same problem with the next chapter.

I was stuck, and at that point, I stepped away from this work for quite a while, and it sat collecting dust in my docs for some time. When I came back, I still didn't know how to write the scene, but I wanted to keep my focus on this story, so this is the point that I started naming chapters. I also changed the name of the fic at this point. I was using a temporary name of "Lightning Strikes Twice." I knew that it wasn't a title I wanted to keep, and while I sometimes worry that my current title may be too long, I am much happier with it.

I finally got over my writer's block with this section while I was at work one day. I was hit with the idea of Dick’s line about Jason being snake bitten, and it seemed to shake everything loose. During my break, I made a rough outline of the scene and jotted down a few ideas for the next, and finally, I was able to move forward again. Yay!

Previous notes- 1st, 2nd, 3rd,

[kosmicdream]

I got this ask on curiouscat but.. the site wont let me post my reply?? so i just decided to put it here since i dont get a lot of questions these days. so i like to answer them when i actually have something more to say. this one also went kinda off topic but w/e.

==

Q: How do you keep the motivation to work on all your long comics? I always start and then abandon a project cause another distracts me or I feel unsatisfied with the result... I admire your commitment so much!

===

Aw, thank you! I really appreciate it. But don’t get too discouraged.. I get distracted too! I currently have 9 ongoing comic projects with 2 more i eagerly want to start drawing, and at least a dozen concepts on the backburner that have been around for sometimes over a decade. I think that what I’ve found, is that starting a new comic takes so much time. It takes a lot of time to get a story really rolling, time to learn how to draw the story how you want and in a weird way - having a longer comic you’ve had more experience with, you can pull a lot more things from. I generally find that FFAK and NRD are much easier comics for me to work on because of all those years of experience with them. But it still can get demoralizing if i focus too much on the faults or how long I still have to go. Sometimes its easy to feel that readers have lost interest and moved on, or its just not as good as you wanted it to be, ect. If you look for reasons like that, reasons to demotivate you, you’ll find them in spades.So i try my best to NOT do that, because working on a comic is hard enough.

In a weird way, when i sometimes find myself in the pit of struggles like this - i realize every author ive ever read has been in the same shoes as me. There is no artist that just magically has it easier and never runs into some challenges like this, some challenges can never be overcome because they’re part of the experience of making the project. There’s limitations involved and things change overtime. You won’t always have the same experience with the same story as you make it, or the same feelings involved. Sometimes that's really hard to let go of, if you feel the earlier years were so much better than the struggles you have now. I know I faced that hurdle with FFAK and I am currently going through that with NRD, but even the harder times do change too. It never gets easy to make a comic, but it changes. 

With FFAK, i don’t honestly know how I will finish the complete story. I often struggle too, especially with the third (final) arc, if it really is good enough. In a way, a lot of places of it feel incomplete and rushed, so I tend to worry a lot about how that will go. However, I never thought i’d have a comic like FFAK in the first place, so i feel really lucky to have made it this far at all. Endings do scare me, as there’s just so much pressure involved to deliver and even reach it at all, that it feels almost like an impossible fantasy to pull off in a satisfying manner to yourself or the readers. However, I do think I’ve gotten more excited to reach endings than I used to be even a couple years ago, and I have gotten more forgiving of myself for not being perfect at it. No matter what I manage to make, I’m going to have my own critiques of it because there’s improvements to be made in all aspects of the story. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can actually do so I can learn from it and be more confident in the future. 

FFAK also has such a huge cast, it can be a technical nightmare to figure out. I dont envy authors like GRRM that have a seemingly endless cast to deal with. I already have so much of my hands full with what is essentially one family. And I know for my other comics that I’ve made, the cast has never gotten as out of hand as FFAK’s. But I dont mind having FFAK be like this, because it has been part of my enjoyment of writing the story too. FFAK is generally very motivating because I always have something I’m excited to share about it, and every small progress is a big reward for me. I’ve put a lot of years of work into ARC2 and i am desperate to get to share it with everyone, so I hope readers will enjoy what is to come for the future of the story even though it already is a decade old at this point.

[goldenpinof]

1) I'm a different nonnie but I loved your analysis on the dnpg comeback, but it leads into 2) what I don't understand about Dan is how YouTube stresses him out /so/ much, but how other projects don't as much? I've read his book, and I know it has to do with judgement and how hard he feels he has to pretend to make people like him (side note, I want him to write another book. I'd love Dan is Not Okay as a book even. I like his writing style), but you would think that that anxiety would translate to any public projects. 3) mildly unrelated, but when they react to pinof 4, I wonder if they're going to talk about 2012 in depth (Dan's breakdown on Tumblr, how the fans harassed Adrian, the friends they publicly fell out with between 2012-2013, just all of it) or if they're going to just react to the Pinof itself. Personally I feel like PINOF 4's energy is generally fine, but since they're focusing on controlling the narrative now, it could be interesting to use it as a possible retrospective and a way to clearly define their boundaries.

i'm gonna follow your structure :)

1) thank you <3;

2) i think it can have something to do with the amount of things being made. if it's youtube it "has to be" many good quality and interesting videos (3-5 is already many) and youtube demands consistency if you view it as a job. youtube is also a more public place than venues or bookstores. anyone, and i mean ANYONE, can see Dan's videos on the internet for free and form an opinion, and comment, and start a discussion (good or bad). and not that many things can be erased from the internet. books also cannot be erased the moment you make it digital but it's harder to go through a book and form an actual opinion than to watch a 10-min video and form an opinion also based on Dan's face. videos are personal, it's about him. bigger projects feel more like a job and are perceived as a separate entity. it's not Dan, it's what Dan makes. also books have editors and publishers that have some kind of responsibility alongside the author. independent youtube videos? not really. switching to tours. Dan likes irl feedback a lot. maybe that thing makes it easier for him to dive into an enormous amount of physical and emotional work every tour requires. also, the tour is not Dan, it's what Dan makes and plays a role in. there is more detachment from his personality even though we know he puts his own thoughts into his shows (tatinof and ii included). Dan may also like conceptual things (i'm assuming here, i don't remember if he ever said it, he could). to build a whole world based on an idea and live in this world for a bit. like, creating a tv series or a show requires more time, more revisions, help from others, but it's also more fun to create something so big, i guess. it requires more than his youtube videos but it also gives more in return. it's like making a baby that you're so proud of and then presenting it to the world, time and time again to different people. youtube videos could also be viewed as babies but as he said, a lot of it was made to please the algorithm and to survive on youtube (paraphrasing here). he overthinks his content and because of the amount (again) it's harder with videos than 1 or 2 bigger projects that he can spend months on making. (i bet the pitching of his projects and communication in general stress him out as well. but luckily, he has managers for that). you mentioned dan is not okay as a book, and i would die to see the script of a show as it is. and the fact that it already exists blows my mind a little bit. like, give it to me!!;

3) no, they won't talk about 2012 uneasy times. honestly, i'm gonna be shocked if they acknowledge it in any way. Adrian is a public figure now, mentioning him is a risk. i think they will just react to pinof 4, maybe they will give a few looks @ the camera indicating that they know we know, but other than that, i really really doubt we will get any serious commentary.

[nebulacollege]

Any dark headcanons about each of your characters, I’m terribly invested in them :3

Hi, Ryu here~ I’m usurping this blog’s askbox for this particular ask!

Like Katsu already mentioned, it’s very difficult to write hcs about your own characters, especially if you’re trying to keep everything spoiler-free. Thankfully, I have nothing to do with these boys’ writing and Nebula’s story in general: I’m just a mere artist and designer, so it should be easier for me.

But to be completely honest, it’s kind of tricky for me as well: I can’t write anything that would hint on any specifics of their darker sides in-universe, since the game is already quite dark... but at the same time, I don’t really want to keep it too vague and uninteresting either. 🤔 Quite a conundrum. But too interesting of an ask to ignore it, so I’ll do my best!

Thank you so much for sending asks and being interested in these boys and their story. You being this invested motivates us both <3

My note: I’m going to censor some (actually just one) of the replies either entirely or partially due to things I don’t want to share yet. This makes writing dark headcanons almost impossible lol Because 1. The story is already extremely dark, so these headcanons won’t reach this level of being fucked up. 2. I don’t want them to hint at different things that people might guess are going to happen in the story. If we ever complete the game, feel free to ask this question again!

Once again, nothing of what I’m about to write is canon. Also I’m not sure if you could consider them dark or not. Anyways. Let’s go~

Niall prefers not to use his cunningness in a competition (he is too prideful to win with anything other than his own skill), but he still uses it a lot for petty reasons. For example, if his competitor pissed him off during a game of chess, Niall will focus on winning fair and square, but then orchestrate a situation in which that guy will get hot tea or a bowl of soup spilled all over him. Of course, he’ll do it in a way that there will be no way to blame Niall for that – and he’ll act super concerned too, winning extra social credit.

Niall would never consider himself- nope! An entire headcanon got snatched!

The first time Niall was confessed to (even before Nebula), the person ended up avoiding him for a couple of weeks, looking very depressed and almost always crying. They seemed like the worst thing possible has happened to them, like the response they got from Niall was the something so bad that it’s borderline traumatising. No one really knows what Niall said to them back then… but after that time, somehow they made out and even started kind of sort of dating… for a couple of days, and then amicably parted ways. Ned still remembers being confused by this sudden change of heart by Niall, but Niall said that it was always better to stop things at a better point, right? Like the whole horrible thing never happened.

Ned got aggressively bitten by a huge dog back when he was a kid, and he somehow managed to overpower it, open its jaw and save himself. He had a nasty bite mark on his leg for a while, but somehow doesn’t even have a scar on it anymore, and doesn’t seem to be scared of the dogs at all. He was 7 when it happened.

Another time he accidentally broke his aunt’s gorgeous emerald brooch. He just wanted to look at it closely, and it kind of flew away and hit the wall and broke… He was very upset, but his aunt was kind enough to ensure him that she won’t be mad as long as he finds all the emerald pieces that got scattered around the floor. They found all the pieces but one. Ned’s stomach really hurt that day for some reason.

Ned is kind of bad at controlling his strength, but he used to be even worse at it. He accidentally broke his opponents (in any kind of sport) noses and bones multiple times, he even did it once while he was already in the Nebula College, and a lot of people saw that. There was a guy in his dorm who was genuinely afraid of him to the point of transferring to another school, and it was weird for everyone involved. But it’s not like Ned did anything to that guy, so he couldn’t get punished for scaring him off like that.

Animals really don’t like Liam for some reason. It’s not like they start hissing at him or anything, but they instantly start acting meek and anxious, some almost get paralysed. Liam, however, loves holding animals! He has a lot of cute pictures of himself hugging dogs, holding cats, petting goats and scratching horses’ cheeks.

A lot of people in his dorm don’t really remember Liam’s face. It took some time for them to stop acting surprised whenever they see him, like he isn’t supposed to be there. Liam doesn’t necessarily hold it against them, but he finds it a bit weird and kind of funny.

Liam entered a dessert-making competition once just for funsies, and it ended up being so easy that he got bored by the end of it. He made a super elaborate cake for the final challenge, and then completely ruined it intentionally. He spent 10 minutes just sitting in the ruins of his own cake, looking around at his competitors who got very excited that they finally had a chance to win… and then suddenly felt like he wanted to win again. He made a super easy 5 minute dessert and somehow ended up winning anyway. He remembered his competitors’ crying faces forever.

When Edmund was arriving to the Nebula College, he saw a couple of raven carcasses: one in the forest while they were driving through it, one half-eaten one near the school territory, one right in front of the car as he was getting out of it. He thinks about it every time he sees a raven on his house’s emblem.

Edmund kind of likes it when he’s putting on a sweater with a tight collar and starts feeling like he is suffocating a little bit. He used to be scared of this feeling when he was a kid, but now every time it happens he feels goosebumps (the good kind) and likes that his heart starts beating faster. Maybe it’s just due to the lack of oxygen.

Edmund started wearing his skull ring a long time ago, and he remembers it feeling too big for his fingers. His fingers are still kind of thin, but the ring sits better on it now, so sometimes Edmund grabs the skull part and pulls it very strongly, letting it scratch his skin unpleasantly until it stings. Sometimes he gets carried away doing that, and sometimes he thinks about how it would feel to have someone else who is much stronger than him do it. The poor ring would probably break.

[northwest-cryptid]

I think 90% of people's problem with AI comes from our inability to get away from it being the new thing. Similarly to how when cellphones went from being bricks to being flip phones that made texting easier, and those who developed the tech kept insisting on moving from dial pads to touch screens; people really hated touch screens and texting in general.

I cannot tell you how many times growing up I'd hear people say stuff like

"why is everyone in the office texting each other? Just call me if you need something it takes 2 seconds! I don't know how to use this fancy touch screen shit, just ask me something in person!"

It's the same way I see people talking about AI, note that the use of highlighted words here is to sort of point out parts of the core message behind the words. Texting is a "bad thing" because there's an easier alternative, aka calling someone on the phone; something phones were originally designed for before even texting. Furthermore a lot of the frustration with texting came from the lack of understanding in how to use the new touch screens; with a lot of people feeling like you could just ask them something in person if it was so important.

Now I'm not trying to claim that you're mad about AI because you "don't know how to use it" rather I'm arguing that you're mad about AI the same way that people were mad about touch screens. Because everyone around you is insisting on using it. It's yet to be refined in a way that makes sense for most of the use cases. The result is that it feels like EVERYTHING needs to have AI now, your car needs AI, your house needs AI, your computer needs AI, your phone needs AI, AI for your dogs, AI for your trash bins. Because AI has become more of a buzzword than actually being what it is; a sort of umbrella term that literally just means "artificial intelligence" which... we've had for a while.

I ask you this, have you ever played a video game? Have you ever said "damn this AI is shit!" When you see an enemy running into a wall trying to find you, or your team member uses an attack that heals the enemy? That's a fair thing to say, because you are right; that IS an AI.

However it's not the same kind of AI that can generate images, or write paragraphs of text be it a documentation of something or an RP of your favorite fictional character... right?

Well, kinda?

See there's actually a few different kinds of AI which mostly get broke down into how they function. The AI that makes images and words is basically doing the same thing as the AI that decided to use Garu on that Wind based enemy and piss you off.

A lot of people seem to give AI entirely too much credit in trying to make sense of how they work. Even the words "Artificial Intelligence" is kind of a joke if you ask me, because it's basically no different than a game of chess when it comes to the decision making.

When you play chess there's hundreds of different moves you could make on your turn, but only so many of those moves actually make sense, on top of that; even less moves would actually be beneficial to you. So when you're deciding what piece to move and where to move it, you likely use some level of process of elimination based on the data you have available.

You survey the board to find what pieces your opponent has left, and where they have them placed; then you might look over your pieces and figure out where you could either take a piece, or at least move your piece safely to set up for future moves. What you're doing is essentially covering your bases from a priority list.

You want to ensure that none of your pieces are taken this turn, so you cover that first; make sure nothing is in danger and NEEDS to be covered or moved. Then you WANT to take the enemy pieces so you scan the board for any possible moves that might take their pieces, if you're still coming up empty the least you can do is make sure none of your pieces are going to possibly be in danger next turn while you set up to take their pieces.

This is more or less what an AI is doing when it's deciding if the word "And" or "But" comes next in a string. I'm trying not to get really technical with it, not because I don't think you could understand it or anything, but because I have found that when I do; people don't seem to understand it... so okay yea that's maybe part of it, but look it's not meant to be a put down. I am trying to write this in such a way that as many people as possible will understand it.

If 5 people read it and only 1 really understands it, that's not good. If 5 people read it and 4 of them understand it, with 3 of those people being comp sci students who would have understood even really technical statements, and one of those people being a person who thinks AI is actually sentient... well good hey 4 people understood!

So trust me I'm not looking down at YOU, I'm just trying to make this as easily understandable to as many people as possible. Now obviously the problem with that is that on a more technical level someone out there is going to look at this and say "hey that's not entirely correct" and that's fair. But run on sentences, and annoying tangents aside (see I'm self aware :P) I hope this is all making sense so far.

Basically, an AI generates text or images based on what it knows; it only knows what it is taught. AI cannot think for itself; similar to how we say humans can't have an original thought; AI cannot think period.

If I tell an AI that the words "I" "went" "to" "the" "store" "yesterday" exist, and nothing else. It's going to respond to any and all interaction with some jumble of "Yesterday store I to the went!" Because it literally just knows those words exist and it knows it should generate some kind of statement with them.

It doesn't know what they mean, how they're used, or why they should be used. It just knows they're words, and it's goal is to make sentences (strings of words) with words!

Now I feed it the sentence "I went to the store yesterday" and it knows that those words likely go in that order, because I told it that those words go in that order.

Now if I give it a bunch of other random words it will likely pair up things like "store" with things like "yesterday" so whenever you tell it about stores, it's going to tell you something about yesterday. You'll likely not know which store, because it will only know to pair the words "the" with the words "store" so it's always talking about "The Store" and likely that it went there yesterday.

Now, if we're asking if AI itself is "bad" we can honestly, objectively say no. AI in and of itself isn't a bad thing, it can't have any moral placement it's simply just a tool. It's not even a tool in the same way a gun is a tool.

I say this because I often hear people say:

"AI is like guns, guns aren't inherently bad but bad people use guns to hurt people! AI isn't inherently bad either but bad people use AI for the wrong reasons!"

The green here highlights the only part of this statement I agree with. Because simply put guns are made for the singular purpose of causing something else harm. Whether for self defense, or war. It's a tool designed specifically for something we would be much better off without. However, AI is simply being horribly misused and abused, where many MANY people have found extremely good uses for the technology as a whole.

I've heard people tell me as well that Generative AI is bad and that other forms of Analytical AI is actually the only good AI! Which I also fundamentally disagree with. Because again, without generative AI we wouldn't have AI in things like video games that make characters feel real. If you go back and play early Pokemon games; you can see how poorly trained the AI really was. It will always look for specific things which allows you as the one with a human brain to abuse and exploit that weakness. You can essentially use knowledge of which moves the opponent has; with your knowledge of the type chart to force them to use a specific move and then simply switch to a Pokemon who is strong against that attack type, until it no longer has the points left to use the attack against something that would be effective against it, but weak to the attack.

At the same time it's what allows games like Mabinogi to have enemies who can "think" about which skill to use in any given situation. The AI is pretty poor but it's there, enemies still get stuck on corners, they still don't understand not to hit you when you load Counter Attack; they are still going to spam windmill and smash. However, I'd rather the AI be poor than really really good because the same technology that tells Pokemon in Red and Blue to use fire against grass types; has evolved to be able to kick your ass at Mario Party and actually use strategy in games like Chess. I don't need Generation 30 to come and give us an enemy who can actually "understand" how skill combos works. I swear to god if they teach the enemies to combo Smash into an Assault Slash into a Windmill into another Smash into a Bash into- you get the point.

Hey remember what I said about making this understandable to as many people as possible... yea sorry I went off the autism rails with that last bit, but you hopefully understand what I'm saying here.

Generative AI has been around for a long time; normally only available to those who had the programming know-how or the money to really use it. However it recently was given to the people, to do with what they want. Problem is, a lot of people got really lazy about it and decided to never evolve it beyond just image generation, and of course if people can generate images, there's going to be people who want to generate GOOD images. So it kept getting developed further, while other less moral individuals began using it for everything from essentially photoshopping people's clothes off (bad) and stealing people's art by generating "finished" versions before artists could even begin to shade their WIP (also bad.)

This caused a big rift, understandably so. Because some people were literally using AI run on their own local machines, that was trained specifically on ethically sourced images, art, and material. All of which is, believe it or not; entirely fine. That's ethical as hell, no one is hurt in that at all. There's basically consent given on all sides to use the agreed upon material to train a specific model/checkpoint to be good at a specific thing. These models are actually capable of making some really high quality stuff you'd never know is AI because they were trained well and constantly improved upon. These people are not lazy, they have layers and layers of plug ins, they adjust the images, adding things by hand or correcting mistakes, then teaching the AI how to do better. They use different plug ins made by the very same community; specifically to give bones and references to the AIs images so it can better pose a character or make sure all their digits are in place correctly.

On the other side of things people were very up in arms because every big tech company, every website, everyone with any amount of text or images to sell; was suddenly selling out to these AI companies to train their big AI models. Models that produced horrible lazy results, that took no effort to just pump out by typing in "AniMe GiRL Big BoBieS!" in a prompt box and clicking the generate button like you're going for a "all manual clicks 1M cookies" cookie clicker speedrun. People didn't like this for a lot of reasons, and they were right for it. This isn't how AI should be trained, not only is it not at all ethical; it's arguably stealing (not in the legal sense, because anything we post on a social media website is given over to the website; and we don't actually own it. Though I suppose copyright might combat ToS on that a bit) and at the end of the day it's just wrong. It also produces absolutely horrible results though, we're talking absolute trash that you shouldn't have wasted the time or energy on. So it's a lose lose for everyone, but this is the internet and you're going to have dumb trolls everywhere who seek to make other people's lives worse. If they know they "trigger" you they're going to keep generating dumb AI shit on horrible websites with shit AI models.

I think a huge problem we're running into is that no one wants to get specific enough with it. They want to yell at "AI" as a whole, they see a cool image of a witch knight and go "ugh it was made with AI!" As if it's just as bad as the images coming out of things like NovelAI or Dall-E. There's no way for them to know what the model/checkpoint even was, if it was run on a local computer or hosted by some bigger company. There's no way for them to know if it was ethically sourced images, if it was trained and made in a manner that was actually okay. Hell they don't know how much additional work the generator put into making that image. For all we know they generated it, hated how it looked, and redid everything by hand. There are people out there who hate AI so much they'd still think it's bad and wrong and horrible even if it was ethically sourced, and 90% drawn by hand using ink made from a thousand year old tree.

People don't want to see the ways in which AI could help people, they don't want to see the ways in which AI has improved and has lead to many of the games and entertainment we enjoy being better. They don't want to see it for what it could be...

That last bit there? I was talking about companies, people who would shove AI in your face every second of the day, self driving cars, new forced AI on your phones and computers; AI on your TV to tell you what to watch.

The big reason I hate all of that is that it doesn't utilize AI in any real way, nothing useful comes of that. It's just a buzzword, it's just the newest thing that they NEED to have or else they won't be taken seriously in the tech world. It's bluetooth, it's touch screens, it's the newest thing. People are of course going to hate it, because we're not seeing what AI could do for us, we're not seeing the good that it could be, we're only seeing the bad, we're seeing how people abuse it; we're seeing how companies shove it into everything even where it doesn't belong.

I don't blame anyone for being annoyed by it's constant invasion, but I also believe we need to be more specific about our target when it comes to AI. Getting mad at AI as a whole is scapegoating the blame onto some invisible problem. It's taking the focus away from the companies who are actually a problem, and shirking it onto individuals who are breaching containment in their AI circles while using it (very possibly) ethically because they're producing results people don't know are AI made in the first place.

There's no way to know if someone is just hating on AI to hate on AI because AI is bad; or if this person is actually using AI in a way that is wrong. It's hard to know whether or not people are up in arms about this dude because they use badly trained AI that steals and produces lazy results; or because they're just using AI in the first place.

AI has been used in many fields, for many things, for many reasons, for many years now. It's not going to go away, but we could fight to actually make sure it's being used correctly and being used ethically.

You're fighting against bluetooth, you're fighting against touch screens, you're fighting against the new big thing that's being brought to the people and just like the boomers who came before you clutching their Nokia bricks saying "texting is pointless, it'll never catch on; it's such a pain! They're not going to make BIGGER keyboards on already huge phones just to make a secondary function more accessible!" You're going to find that technology is going to evolve to accommodate AI more and more whether we like it or not. What we CAN do however, is demand better; practical applications of it's use. We can set standards, boycott where it counts; and actually pin down the bad actors without allowing others to get scapegoated in the crossfire letting those abusers off the hook.