#AGAIN YOU CAN BE UNCOMFORTABLE FOR MANY VALID REASONS

[sainteclectic]

+ since it's aro awareness week, I'll finally unleash that rant on why the state of shipping discourse in this fandom bothers me

disclaimer that i am not saying you can't be uncomfortable with jashshipping!! I don't really like romantic shipping in this fandom either. this is just a commentary on the culture surrounding this discourse and fandom shipping in general. OK LET'S GO.

I've noticed this weird distinction people make between platonic and romantic art in regards to what gets the "jashshipping" tag added. it's also incredibly arbitrary what kinds of posts are considered "jashshipping" - is a qpr jashshipping? why not? they're in a relationship. why does it matter if it's romantic or not? why is romance the only kind of shipping seen as valid, either positively or negatively?

on a personal level, I feel this pressure to always clarify that I'm not talking about romantic pairings. qprs, close friendships and relationship anarchy in general aren't seen as jashshipping, and it feels like I need to preemptively devalue my queerplatonic ships by saying they "don't really count." I need to be careful about my work not being "too romantic" or people assume I'm "jashshipping." i just find it demeaning as a partnering aromantic person.

and this culture is why people who enjoy non-romantic pairings don't want them to be tagged as ship - because there's this implication that a ship HAS to mean romance. it shouldn't, but it still does. it would be great if we lived in a world where shipping meant any kind of relationship between two characters instead of just referring to romance, but we don't.

this is why I tag ship names without tagging it as jashshipping. because the nature of "shipping" in this fandom is always implied to be romantic in nature, which is what makes it the most taboo to discuss. so I don't tag it as jashship because that's only used for romance {or for what the fandom perceives as inherently romantic actions, which is another can of worms entirely}. but elevating a romantic ship to a higher negative standard is still placing romance above any other form of relationship. there's still a hierarchy in place.

I don't think ships as a whole {hah} need to be defined by romantic attraction. it's short for relationship, after all. to designate ships as ONLY romantic implies that romance is the only valid type of relationship. and to designate romantic ships as uniquely bad still implies romance is a unique type of bond.

{I also have an issue with the implication that dating what is essentially your headmate is selfcest by default, but that's another discussion}

TL;DR - I think the culture around what designates something as "jashshipping" should be viewed with more scrutiny. it's very amatonormative to assume pairings with any level of closeness is "jashshipping," and it implies a hierarchy of relationships even if that hierarchy is negative. jashship works as a content tag for anyone uncomfortable with romantic pairings, but to imply it's an objective judgment on what's considered romance is reductive.

[scales-n-art]

Quick PSA, because there seems to be some severe lack of education regarding Asexuality among a certain bunch of opinionated people, who frankly have no place having such strong opinions about something they've demonstrated to be so ignorant about:

Asexuality =/= a lack of libido, sexual appetite, sexual drive, or sexual activity.

Asexuality does = little to no experience of sexual attraction.

There are many forms of attraction. For example, some of them may be: romantic attraction that you'd experience towards a romantic partner. Aesthetic attraction that you may experience when you see someone's fashion style or overall appearance. Platonic attraction that you may experience towards a close friend. Etc.

Asexuality IS a spectrum, we call it the Asexuality Umbrella; SOME people under the ace umbrella may experience no interest towards sex/intimacy whatsoever, some may experience disgust re anything sex/intimacy related, some may be indifferent or neutral about it, and some are positive or even enthusiastic about it. These things may include acts such as kissing and physical touch of the non sexual kind. ALL of these people are still asexual, and their sexual activity or lack thereof has nothing to do with it.

Asexual people may choose to engage or not in sexual activity, and the circumstances under which they choose to do so, and the reasons why, are very varied: physical pleasure, closeness to a partner, emotional connection, finding pleasure in pleasing a partner, etc, etc.

The ways in which an asexual person may choose to find their pleasure is also very varied. And yes, it may be through fiction, because it can be a safe way to do so without being expected to behave or perform in a certain way that may be uncomfortable for the individual. Nothing wrong with enjoying a good smutty book or fanfic, or comic. Harms no one involved. Enjoying this doesn't mean you're not asexual.

Asexuality does exist, and it's way more nuanced and varied than just equalling it to "not getting any."

Now read all that again, but switch Asexuality for Aromanticism. Also a spectrum, also varied, also incredibly nuanced.

So, yes. A fictional character CAN be asexual, AND also engage in sexy times with the chosen ship partner. A Queer Platonic Relationship is also a very valid option, because NEWSFLASH, sex is not the only valid bonding point of a relationship. It can be a strong, important one depending on each individual, but it's not the only way to connect with a partner.

And, NO. Asexual people are NOT "repressed." Asexual people do NOT need anyone to "change their minds". Asexuality is NOT a problem, a symptom, or a sign of trauma.

Some sources to know more about the topic:

AVEN - Asexuality Visibility and Education Network

The Invisible Orientation - by Julie Sondra Decker

The ABCs of LGBT - by Ash Hardell

ACE: What Asexuality reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex - by Angela Chen

There are many more sources out there, support groups and communities on social media that you can find mainly through AVEN, or with just a simple search about Asexuality on any search bar nowadays.

There's too much info about it now compared to some years ago to remain so ignorant about it.

Do. Better.

[burst-of-iridescent]

i've written before about how fire lady katara isn't an inherently disempowering or racist trope, as have many others, but lately i've been thinking about how arguments against fire lady katara often tend to utilise a surface-level interpretation of colonial trauma.

[edit: this post will use the term "colonial trauma" because those who argue against fire lady katara usually use the same wording or are referring to that concept. but it's important to note that according to show canon, the fire nation did not colonize the southern water tribe and zuko and katara did not have a colonizer/colonized relationship.]

antis who present this argument usually posit that marrying zuko would be a form of re-traumatization for katara, while marrying aang would "protect" her. katara is supposedly more shielded from confronting the impact of colonization in the southern water tribe or on air temple island than she would be with zuko in the fire nation, which contextualizes colonial trauma purely through the lens of physical interaction with the colonial power (ie. living in the fire nation or looking after the people of the fire nation). whether intended or not, this argument inadvertently limits colonial trauma to the geographical boundaries of the colonizing country and implies that it can be reduced or averted solely by minimizing contact with said country.

even leaving aside that we have seen katara in the fire nation (and enjoying herself there), the implication here is that active engagement with a colonial power as a member of colonized peoples is an inherent form of re-traumatization... which i take issue with for multiple reasons.

firstly, katara lives in a world that has been permanently shaped and changed by imperialism, and that's going to affect her no matter where she goes. sequestering herself in the south pole her whole life and never seeing a glimpse of fire nation red again won't allow katara to escape the legacy of colonization or the trauma it has caused her, because its influence is rooted in everything from her family to her tribe to her own bending. believe me, i understand the appeal of a world where women of colour can avoid reckoning with the impact of colonization by simply never setting foot in the colonizing country again, and why people might be uncomfortable with zutara individually as a result - but i can't accept it as a valid argument against the ship, because that's just not how colonial trauma works.

secondly, the idea that this "protects" katara reeks of paternalism because katara is not a character who chooses her path simply based on how safe or comfortable it is. if that was the case, she would never have left the southern water tribe at all! she could've remained there her whole life and likely been safe, since the fire nation had no real interest in the south pole any longer. katara is fundamentally defined by how relentlessly revolutionary she is - over and over, she chooses to do what is right, what is hard, what is unexpected, even at cost to herself. she challenges injustice and discrimination and bigotry; she fights for the downtrodden and speaks for those who can't speak for themselves; she will never ever turn her back on the people who need her. does that truly sound like someone who needs to be hid away and protected from her own supposed re-traumatization?

thirdly - and i fully accept that there are those who might disagree with this - katara actively choosing to engage with her colonial trauma can be empowering just as it can be traumatizing. don't get me wrong: as a woc and a minority in my own country, i understand how tiring it is to do this. i understand the exhaustion of confronting what was done to you and your people, of facing down bigotry over and over. i understand the desire to run away from it all, and why it can be wish fulfilment for others to let katara do so. i really, really do.

but there is also wish fulfilment in letting katara fight, as a brown girl with power and resources that few brown girls in the real world hold. there is a power fantasy in seeing katara head into the belly of the beast and emerging triumphant. there is empowerment to be found in seeing katara struggle with racism and ignorance and mindless hate to enact change - and succeed. i love reading and writing about katara unpacking her trauma regarding the fire nation, about growing to love the place she once hated, about reconciling both her homes and healing from the wounds of her childhood.

and ultimately, i think that's what katara would want for herself. after throwing herself head first into the fight against the fire nation, after facing down her greatest trauma instead of letting it consume her, after helping and protecting the people of the fire nation, after refusing to let the fire nation take anything else from her - i firmly believe that the last thing katara would do is allow herself to be ruled by the fire nation instead of being the one ruling it.

personally, i find that a more hopeful and victorious narrative than one where she remains safe and sheltered away from the fire nation, but forever haunted and dictated by her trauma. would that be realistic? perhaps. but the entire point of foiling katara with characters like jet and hama is to show that she's not doomed to be mired in the pain of her past. that where their stories could only end in tragedy, hers can - and does - end in hope for something better, as she always believed it could.

[yuikomorii]

// I’m making this post, as a result of seeing way too much hate and misinfo regarding every character. Nobody stops anyone from voicing their opinion but the need to degrade a character, while providing BAD reasons or stating incorrect/out-of-context facts about them only for the sake of internet validation, is such a loser move.

We’re all in this fandom to have fun and even if you have something negative to say about a character you don’t like, keep it to yourself or in private with your friends.

Ayato:

“I don’t like Ayato, he’s overrated”, omg you’re just sooo different! Definitely not like other girls/guys!

Everyone is allowed to dislike whatever they want but if Ayato is your least/one of your least favorite DL characters, then your opinion ISN’T valid. This is a franchise full of abusive characters and he’s literally the most heroic love interest. Why would you hate the hero…?

“He’s dumb and annoying”, says the person who spends their time insulting FICTIONAL characters. 1) Japanese fans like dumb characters, since they come off as endearing; 2) Ayato outdid everyone throughout the routes.

He did more good than all of his brothers and saying that X, Y or Z deserves the main role more, is fake fan behavior because at this point you’re just setting up your favs.

Kanato:

No, you’re not cool for calling him ugly. It’s okay if you’re not into that type of characters but his design is not bad at all.

“He had no development”, he does in CL. It’s not major but it can still be visible.

The whole Teddy thing might be annoying to some of you, but his fans get why he acts that way. Let’s not forget that he is a victim of neglect.

Yes, he was sexually exploited too. Don’t forget this x2.

Laito:

“I hate Laito so much, he was so cruel in HDB 😢”; stop living in the past and move on already.

His development shouldn’t be overlooked only because your opinion about him was formed on something that came out more than 10 years ago.

He’s still the most fascinating DL character and I get that he might make some of you feel uncomfortable but don’t project your triggers on a character that’s merely made after a trope.

Shu:

No, it’s not Shu’s fault for the way Reiji acted. Envy is never a good reason to hurt someone.

“Shu roasts the heroine the most!”, I get that it’s rude but his insults are actually funny?? A bunch of people will like him for being brutally honest or a jerk because it’s literally a game for players with masochistic fantasies. They WANT to be roasted by good-looking men. That’s the point.

“Shu is lazy and stupid, he’s the only one who failed his school year”, genuine question: If you were an immortal creature that doesn’t need food or sleep to survive, would you still care about grades? Besides, he’s really smart.

“Shu doesn’t care about Yuma, he just feels guilty”, in LE he sacrificed himself for him and reincarnated merely because he wished to meet Yuma again and get on well with him in another life—

Reiji:

“He hurt Shu and Yuma”, well yeah but he was shown plenty of times regretting it and trying to fix things. Stop reminding this to Reiji stans because that conflict is already closed.

“He is so mean in other routes”, obviously?? If you don’t teach him how to love, he won’t suddenly act nice towards anyone.

Without him Yui would fail her tests and the Sakamaki household would be in chaos.

Subaru:

“W-What do you mean baby Tsundere is not soft innocent virgin boy? 🥺”; he has never been like that, that’s how YOU perceived him. Stop acting so shocked every time Subaru does something bad because he’s still a vampire after all??

Also, why are so many people reducing his character to Kou and/or Yui—? He’s much more than that and has his own interests, struggles, likes, dislikes, and so on.

“He’s irrelevant”; Diabolik Lovers has 13 love interests, they can’t make everyone extremely important to the general plot. Just enjoy a character as it is, it’s not that hard.

Ruki:

The cat jokes were funny when the Meow Meow Vampire art came out but MOVE ON. I hate that scene and Ruki was in the wrong but come on now, that’s not even the worst thing he has done and MB happened in 2013.

I understand not liking Ruki as a person, because he’s mostly not a good one, but this doesn’t mean he’s not a good character.

“Ruki deserved what happened to him in the past because he was cruel towards everyone”; while I agree that Karma hit him, I wouldn’t say any child really deserves to go through that. He was just a spoiled brat, who most likely wasn’t taught by his parents about modesty or kindness.

Kou:

“He was so cruel in MB 😣”, and HE HAD DEVELOPMENT! He’s not the same anymore, nobody is.

“He overreacts”, sometimes he’s not in the wrong and has all rights to be angry.

Kou isn’t afraid of going against Ruki, even if he’s the brother he admires the most, as long as he knows that what Ruki is doing isn’t good.

Yuma:

“He beat Yui up in the MB bad ending!😡😡”, it’s a bad ending for a reason, lol.

Pretty reminder that Yuma always tries to help others with Kou and Azusa, and was even willing to save the ghouls in LE.

“Yuma doesn’t care about Shu”, did we play the same game or…?

Azusa:

“Azusa is so horrible, he threw Teddy in the fire!”; and he only did it to save Yui, it was not intentional.

While not all his actions are good, keep in mind that he never means any harm and is overall such a sweet guy.

“He is too clingy”; I know that might not be everyone’s cup of tea but is it really worth hating a character just for wanting affection?

The Tsukinamis and Kino:

“They were too easy to defeat in DF!”; Dark Fate wasn’t entirely about them to begin with. Most routes focused on the boys’ internal struggles with their trauma and how to move past it.

“Kino is sometimes mean for the sake of being mean”; it’s almost as if he’s the ✨villain✨

It’s dumb questioning the morals of characters supposed to have an antagonistic role.

“Kino hurt Ayato in LE”; out of all characters who have wronged Ayato, at least Kino felt bad and wanted to apologize.

Yui:

“She’s dumb and ugly”; Japanese fans literally love her for being an idiot because it wouldn’t be fun to see the heroine being the best at everything or not making mistakes at all. Plus, her design is definitely not ugly.

Stop creating your own version of Yui in your head and ending up disappointed when she doesn’t act the way you expect her to. No, Yui is not OOC for liking being bitten, having a low learning ability or saying things she shouldn’t in the wrong moments. Nobody is perfect and everyone has their own kinks and flaws.

“She’s too innocent”; she’s not?? If you really want to see her thirsty, go play Ayato’s routes, especially the heaven scenarios.

“She’s weak”, she’s the opposite. Yui is one of the most mentally strong DL characters.

I can’t understand people who hate on heroines when they’re present in all routes and are the most positive characters.

[girlsdads]

prompt: daniel watches the video of max with the microphone 😳

(video in question. this spiraled into… something. you decide whether that’s a good or bad thing 🫢)

It’s a bad idea, Daniel knows, as he lays belly down on the firm hotel mattress, pillow propped under his chest, and opens Twitter. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for, exactly—maybe just some validation that he can still fucking drive, after today. He’s full of a buzzing sort of anxious energy as his feed loads, and with it, a video of Max.

His thumb hovers for a beat too long—the clip starts playing on mute. It’s from earlier, after the race, Max’s broad body filling up two thirds of the frame. Checo’s mouth moving over on the left. Max nodding along, grinning. The clip loops, and that’s when Daniel notices.

Max holds a small mic loosely in his right hand. His thumb is—he’s swiping it back and forth over the pop filter, rubbing it with his fingertip. Daniel watches the Max on screen realize what he’s doing, watches his smirk grow as he rubs his finger in a quick circle against the mic. He turns his body toward the camera, holds the mic in front of himself, rubs the flat of 3 fingers over it. The clip loops. Daniel’s throat is dry.

He doesn’t know how long he lays there, watching the clip replay. He can’t make himself scroll past it. His skin feels hot, itchy, like everything underneath has been replaced with a swarm of bees. Max thumbs the mic like he would the head of a cock; his own, or maybe—fuck.

Daniel knows that Max is—that he likes guys, too. Max had told him so himself, back when he first came up to Red Bull—an almost sharp-edged admission, like he was daring Daniel to be uncomfortable.

He also knows that Max has brought men home before, that he sometimes prefers it, after a race especially. Max had told him that too, so unabashed it had made Daniel’s stomach flip.

Daniel looks over at the other bed, the blankets still rumpled from the way Max had kicked them aside early this morning. Max is out tonight, celebrating. He could bring someone back if Daniel wasn’t—if he hadn’t—

They’d shared Max’s plane on the way here, and it had been the longest uninterrupted time he’d spent with him in months. Max had been soft in one of his oversized hoodies, relaxed and happy, laughing at Daniel’s jokes—Daniel knew he must be fucking glowing. Fuck, everyone had to be able to see it. Daniel felt like he could keep the goddamn plane in the air with the way Max’s attention made him buoyant. They’d touched down in Bahrain, and the thought of parting ways with Max became imminently devastating. Daniel found himself suggesting a shared hotel room and Max—agreed? For some reason. It will be like old times, Max had said, his smile bright and wide.

Old times—Daniel thinks, now, as the clip loops once more. Old times when Daniel would’ve been the one celebrating, would’ve fucked someone in their shared room, in the bed right next to Max’s, would’ve tried not to regret making Max crash with Charles.

Daniel doesn’t want to think about Max bringing some guy to their room, pushing him down into those rumpled sheets that probably—fuck—probably smell like Max, getting him naked, teasing just the tip of his cock with one blunt, clean fingernail, making him shake and moan, all while Daniel is—watching? No—fuck, they’d make him leave. Of course he wouldn’t—

Daniel doesn’t know how many times the clip has looped. His cock is hard against the mattress. Video-Max’s thumb circles. Daniel’s hips twitch. He rolls onto his back and shoves his briefs off. Precome is already sticky on his belly by the time he gets a thumb on himself. Just his thumb at the tip, loose grip on his shaft, tight circles. How Max would do it, if he were here, if Daniel begged him for it, maybe—

His thighs are shaking now, opening and closing on their own as he presses his thumb into his slit, gets it soaked and slippery, swipes back and forth again and again and again—

Several things happen at once. The clip loops. The keycard reader whirs. And—

“Daniel?”

Max’s voice, hoarse from the smoky air of whatever club he came from. Daniel squeezes his eyes shut and comes, gasping. The phone slips from his grasp as he shivers through his orgasm, the screen smacking him in the nose before it bounces to the mattress.

It’s a moment before he realizes—the video sound is on. His fucking nose maximized the clip, volume now fully blasting.

Max’s raspy voice again—

“Is that—are you jerking off to a video of Checo?”

[switch-witch-erin]

This post is about the very experience of loving tickling, the feeling of shame for it, the feeling of being somehow abnormal, which as far as I know actually haunts many.

This is gonna be a long read, featuring my journey to finding peace in liking tickles + how I managed to clarify for myself that liking platonic tickling is a thing, and is, in fact, okay. I’ll try to make it as short as I can :,)

❗️All of this is just a reflection of my experience, please be respectful

First of all, I have to say that tickling has always been a main form of showing affection in my family — here

For my parents and siblings, it was of utter importance to never show “weakness” in any way or form, no saying “I love you”, no hugs nor kisses, no words of validation, only stuff like “study hard so you can get a better job in the future”, “don’t forget to wear your scarf, it’s cold outside”, so basically they showed their love through doing anything they could for me to survive and thrive, but without any affection. And since affection wasn’t allowed, my siblings decided to start disguising it by messing with me, like tickling me silly, claiming that they’re just teasing and pestering me, while also making it fun and entertaining. They were gentle and careful, especially considering our big age difference (I’m 25, and my eldest brother is 48), and it made me feel so loved and cherished that I never wanted it to stop. Most tickle fights happened with my sister, seven years older than me, and she’d let me win just to cheer me up, which also gave me an extra boost of joy and love for her.

Therefore, by the time I went to school, I was 100% certain that everyone liked tickling, they just played the game of pretending, while actually having fun. I was called a local tickle monster among my classmates and some of the teachers as I kept tickling my friends all over the school, and I was a very social kid, so it might have been around 30 people on my “wanted” list x) Thinking about it now, I don’t remember a single kid actually getting uncomfortable or disliking the tickling. Maybe that’s because my tickles were gentle and didn’t last long as I was afraid of accidentally hurting peeps and made sure to keep it light. There also was a girl, around 15 years old, who really liked me and treated me like a younger sister because she thought I was a cute kid. She’d hang out with me and some of my classmates during breaks, put me on her lap, tell the stupidest jokes one could possibly come up with, and then tickle me silly, saying “See? I knew it was funny, you’re laughing!”. Unfortunately, I changed schools, and we never saw each other again, but it was fun while it lasted.

When I got older, like 12 or so, I remember there was a girl who kept initiating tickle fights with me on a daily basis, that was so much fun, basically my number 1 reason to go to school at the time x). I was a little overweight and insecure about my appearance, so her willingly touching me (as well as hugging me after the tickling) and saying that my giggles were cute made me feel so much better about myself, no words can possibly describe it. She was definitely a lot rougher than me when it came to tickling, but it was fine, maybe because I wasn’t that ticklish, so it didn’t bother me much. I even remember teachers watching us and smiling. Back then I didn’t feel embarrassed in the slightest, I treated it as any other form of fun activities, like playing hide and seek or drawing. Though it didn’t last long.

Next year, when I was 13, we got a new classmate, she was nice, but her mood kept changing every ten minutes, it was weird, probably a puberty thing, but still. We quickly became friends, and eventually, after about two weeks of getting to know each other, I started tickling her, and she became completely enraged. She yelled at me, slapped my hands away and started a whole ass rant about how people who tickle others are annoying and rude, while threatening to punch me if I tickle her again. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. It’s like my entire world got turned inside out, and I felt so guilty and ashamed of myself that all I could do was apologise and leave. Of course, now, as an adult, I understand that her reaction was way too intense, and I should’ve at least clarified that I didn’t mean to upset her. But back then I got absolutely mortified. As a cherry on top she started avoiding me like I did something terrible, and only in about three weeks she came up to me out of the blue and started a conversation like nothing happened. It felt weird, but I was so glad she seemed to have forgiven me I didn’t bother to ask questions. But that’s when the shame all tickling community knows started forming. “What if other people whom I tickled actually didn’t enjoy it? I haven’t seen someone tickling others as often as I did, what if it’s not okay to act like I do? What if I’m some kind of creep to others? What if I have been a creep this whole time, but no one bothered to tell me? Bad people don’t know or don’t care if they’re bad, they just do whatever they please, just like I did with my friends before. What if I’m actually a bad person? A creep?” Yeah, well, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Among puberty-related things, that made me feel insecure as well and I stopped being as social as I was, I closed off, but the need to have tickles in my life persisted, and I started watching those silly tickling moments from cartoons and anime posted on YouTube. Watching them has always made me smile, and it felt like a void inside me started to fill up. I can only compare the feeling to hugging my boyfriend or receiving support from my friends - that fuzzy feeling that makes life worth living. I remember panicking when these videos started appearing on my feed even after I deleted them from my YouTube history, as it felt like I’m doing something perverted and unnatural. Once, the videos popped up on my main YouTube page while I was watching stuff with my friend, and I was mortified. She didn’t question it, not sure if she even noticed, but I wanted to die right there on the spot. When I was thinking all of it over as a teen, I used to compare myself to creepy fetishists, who pile up various disturbing stuff in their PC folder just to open when no one’s looking. The thought made me cry so many times I can’t even count, as I couldn’t share with anyone about it, and I assured myself that I am a creep, so if I want to stop being one I should get rid of that liking tickling thing and enjoy “normal” stuff. So I deleted all of the saved videos, art and other stuff, unfollowed the creators and went on with my life. It was a difficult decision, but I was determined.

Several months later my classmates (13-15 years old) started a massive tickle fight, among like ten or so people, and it all was happening right in front of me. I was staring at them with googly eyes, sitting there all tensed up and confused like ??? You’re all not supposed to do that??? How dare you??? And it was mostly among boys, so one of them approached me with a big grin on his face, and some sort of Tarantino dialogue happened

— Hey, why aren’t you participating? Are you not ticklish?

— N-No…

And he proceeded to start tickling me, but I didn’t react, either because I was still shocked or because I didn’t want to be a part of it, I’m not sure myself. And when he saw the lack of reaction, I swear to god, he was UPSET. He lowered his head and pouted a little, mumbling something like “damn, okay”. I can’t say for sure whether he was upset because of me (presumably) not being ticklish, or because he wanted to make me react, but something in my head clicked. Like… “oh, you want tickles? I’ll give you tickles!” And I started tickling him back furiously. Nothing painful or uncomfortable, just rather intense as I targeted almost all of his upper body at the same time. The guy’s laughter was silent, and he leaned over, shaking with inaudible giggles, but he didn’t try to get away. Not even once. When I realised what I was doing, I stopped, feeling mortified once again. It felt like I was using him for my “perverted” needs, like I just submerged this boy to something he doesn’t enjoy for my “sick” pleasure. You know that feeling when you’re about to explode with crying, but you hold yourself back as much as you can with what little power you still have? Yeah, that was how I felt. When suddenly he sat up with an even bigger grin on his face than before, looked at me with such a happy, excited expression, and then turned to the others, yelling out “Beware! She’s not ticklish, and she’s a master tickler!” Then he glanced back at me and said “Hey, it’s not fair you’re not ticklish, you’re imbalanced! (Russian slang for someone or something way mightier than their group) Come with us, you’d be an absolute winner!” [Love men’s urge to constantly compete lol]

A school bell, indicating that the next lesson is starting, saved my sorry ass. Imagine how hard it was to concentrate on studying after all of that x)

By the time I came home I was so confused I could barely talk to anyone, completely stuck in my own thoughts. It seemed like they all were enjoying the tickling, and they were participating in it willingly, having fun together. No one minded getting tickled, and even though no one said out loud that they enjoyed it, it was obvious. So my brain gears started rotating. If it’s okay for others to enjoy tickling, why can’t it be okay for me? Yes, maybe I like it more than they do, but what’s so bad about it? Some people like martial arts, some people like drawing, dragons, marine biology, sports, massages, and I like tickling! It’s a special interest, my special interest. I do it because it feels nice, and not only it makes me happy, other people enjoy it too! Not everyone, naturally, just like not everyone likes being touched in general. But to people, who enjoy tickling, it’s a nice way to unwind and have fun. It’s some kind of monkey brain thing like “me make other monkey happy with tickles, other monkey happy = I happy”. Apes together strong x)

And slowly but surely I began my research, checking what it’s like to enjoy tickling, how it works in biology and psychology, why some people like it and some don’t, why some are more ticklish than others and whatnot. It was fascinating. Humans are so fucking weird (affectionately), there’re so many details, nooks and crannies that take part in our existence…

But scientific part aside, I decided to switch on my critical thinking skills as well and actually look at my situation from someone else’s perspective. And eventually came up with a basic scheme. The questions I asked myself were:

1. Do I harm anyone, including myself, by liking/participating in tickling?

2. Does tickling bring me joy?

3. Do I violate people’s boundaries by tickling them?

4. Is it considered inappropriate to enjoy tickling?

As a result, I came up with several conclusions, which can be summed up in one statement

“If tickling is consensual and brings joy to both parties, there shouldn’t be any problems with it”

Maybe you noticed that some people who don’t have tickling as their special interest enjoy it too! It is a form of affection after all, so, since it brings me joy, why should I be embarrassed about it? Don’t get me wrong, even though all of my friends know I like tickling (they saw my art, we’ve talked about it a lot, I share the news of what’s up with the community and many other things), sometimes I get so fucking embarrassed I don’t have words to describe such strong emotions. Fortunately, my friends are good people, they remind me that it’s okay… it doesn’t stop them from poking and teasing me, but can’t say that I mind x) Even people like my brother’s wife know about that special interest of mine, and ALL of them, and I mean EVERY SINGLE PERSON think that it’s okay. Some said that it’s even cute. But it still wasn’t enough for me to let go and enjoy myself, so I decided to contact a specialist.

By the time I became an adult I decided to talk about my liking of tickling with my therapist, and mind you this woman was definitely overqualified when it comes to all the stuff I asked her. Looking back at it I can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it might have looked to her.

“Hello, my name is Erin, I’m 22, I really like tickles, both tickling and being tickled, is there something wrong with me? 🥺”

I bow to her ability of keeping a poker face. True professional. I don’t want to go into the details, but overall she said that enjoying platonic tickles is actually very common, especially for people on autism spectrum and those with ADHD (aka me). [Not that everyone who likes tickles should immediately get tested] She told me that she had a patient with severe autism, he had trouble talking to people, and he didn’t enjoy being touched. So whenever he wanted to express affection for his family members, he’d gently tickle their side a little and smile at them. Tickling was his love language. And, in case anyone is still wondering about whether tickling can only be a kink, I really doubt that it was anything sexual for him. By the way, you can read a post made by an actual psychologist regarding tickling not necessarily being a kink.

And since tickling has always been the main form of affection I received, it’s only natural that I carried it into adulthood. I’m 25 years old, a whole grown ass woman with a degree, a job, my own apartment and goals to achieve. Why on Earth would I drop enjoying something as lighthearted and fun as tickling because someone considers it weird?

The actually weird thing is telling people what they are, and what they’re supposed or not supposed to enjoy.

If getting tickled silly by my man is what makes me happy, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.

Peace out, have fun, and stay true to yourself ✌🏻

Hope my post helps you feel at least a little better 🌸

[saltydkdan]

Salty i wanna get into Baki which one do you recommend,the manga or the anime?

Oh you just woke up the fucking beast (I'm so sorry).

I LOVE this question, and as a recent Baki fan myself, I can tell you that getting into the series as a Western consumer can be rough if you don’t have a basic guide to know what you’re getting into…. so that’s what I’m gonna make this post (TEEHEE).

This series has gotta be one of the most insane shonen- actually no- one of the most INSANE PIECES OF FICTION I've ever experienced, and I NEED more people to check it out. Like, LOOK AT THIS SHIT DUDE.

Baki out of context somehow even puts Jojo's Bizarre Adventure to shame. The way I usually pitch it to people is that Baki is as insane as people THINK Jojo is before they read it. Shit is just... MAN LMAO. OBAMA IS FUCKING IN THIS.

Unlike more popular stuff like Dragon Ball and Hunter x Hunter, a lot of this series has just never been officially localized, so knowing where to start, and even how to support the series, is a hard task if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Thankfully THAT’S WHAT YOU HAVE ME FOR. This Tumblr post is gonna be your one stop shop for how to get into Baki as an English speaker (and it’ll give me some space to ramble about one of my latest favorite series).

But uh before we get into the nitty gritty, wanna put some trigger warnings for the series for those who may want to know. Listen, I know how some of these are gonna look to the average person, but this series just be like that sometimes, if you can’t take stuff like this trust me it’s insanely valid. You’ll understand if you choose to take the plunge.

SERIES TRIGGER WARNINGS:

Animated Blood/Violence, some animated gory imagery, Incest (???), Nudity, Urine stuff, Bigfoot/Animal Violence, Death, Uncomfortable looking muscles, and one instance of sexual violence (offscreen)

If you are comfortable with all that (and again, valid as fuck if you aren’t) then let’s talk BAKI!

First off, Manga or Anime?

You would think that either would be fine, but my personal recommendation for Baki as a beginner, is to watch the anime over reading the manga. Simply put: The anime is a lot more widely available and accessible in English speaking territories, and is fairly easy to support officially with its current iteration.

For whatever reason, the manga just never really took off in the West when compared to other series, so it was only ever officially released in English a handful of times, and they only ended up publishing the first few volumes. Theoretically, you can read the first few books to start, but the entire series all together is legit longer than One Piece at a whopping 1,203 chapters, so you are gonna run out of material real quick. The fraction of officially available manga barely scratches the surface of the series.

Even if you’re stubborn about reading the manga and want to try reading fan translations, they come with their own separate batch of issues. Plenty of fan scans you can find online range from wildly outdated, to generally being poor quality at best. There’s even some fan translations that just straight up make shit up and don’t even properly translate the original script. Adding in extra dialogue and slurs randomly to make the text seem way edgier than it actually is.

Full disclosure, I wanna cut through my bias here and say that there are indeed some great scans available on the internet if you look hard enough, especially for the more recent content! But they aren’t super easy to track down with how the series is formatted, and you may accidentally find yourself reading the story out of its proper order.

The watch/read order of Baki is a bit of a toughie for new people, but is actually pretty simple once it’s explained. The story of Baki is split up into multiple different series, kind of similar in format to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Though instead of “Parts”, Baki is split up into completely different manga and TV series. This is why many fans get confused initially, especially with the watch order, because it isn’t laid out in an easy to understand way at first glance.

The most well known series are currently streaming on Netflix, but those aren’t the ones you wanna start with. Nope, the story of the Baki anime actually starts way back in 2001, in a TV show that isn’t streaming officially online. Now if you want to watch out of order, I’m not gonna stop you. You can do whatever you want, by all means, but you’re gonna be missing some VERY important story context, and some characters just won’t hold the same weight.

So if you DO want to watch in order, come with me my friend. Let me show you-

BAKI’S SUPER COOL AND NOT AT ALL CONFUSING WATCH ORDER:

Baki the Grappler (2001) (24 episodes)

This is the original 2001 anime adaptation, the very start of serialized Baki anime. You’re gonna wanna start here trust me.

This series isn’t streaming anywhere officially online, but you can find it… places. Seek it out, trust me, because otherwise you’re gonna pay way too much for out of print DVDs on Ebay. Thankfully though you have options! The series is both subbed and dubbed (as well as every series I discuss from this point forward.

This show is the very start of serialized Baki anime, the very beginning of Baki Hanma’s story. Although it’s not in the way you may think. Despite this being the earliest point in the Baki timeline, it’s actually an adaptation of a later story arc from the manga.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t you just say this is where I should start? Why is it adapting something from later in the story?”, and yeah it’s valid to be confused. While yes this is the first ever Baki anime, for some reason the staff behind it made the decision to move this later arc up a bit from the original manga. In my honest opinion, I feel like this is actually a great decision.

As you will see as you watch, this honestly FEELS like this should be where the story begins. The escalation of power and storytelling from this point onward feels very natural, and you won’t miss out on anything or spoil yourself whatsoever on later events.

This is the de facto best starting point.

Grappler Baki Maximum Tournament (2001) (24 episodes)

This is effectively the second season of Baki the Grappler. For whatever reason they decided to title it something else, and while this is the norm for the series later on, this name change is weird because it adapts an arc from the original manga just like the first season of anime I just talked about.

Whatever lol.

Anyway this series, much like the previous, isn’t officially available as of now. So your best option is to SEARCH for it. SEARCH on the INTERNET. Or y’know. The good ol’ expensive out of print DVD on Ebay route.

In my opinion, compared to the first season, this one feels a bit slower paced and a bit of a slog at points but HOLD STRONG TRUE BELIEVER. This season is the introduction to a lot of mainstay characters in the series. Many of which you will come to love, even if you don’t know it yet.

BAKI (2018) (39 episodes) (NETFLIX)

This is the modern adaptation of Baki. After the last series ended in 2001, the anime went on hiatus for 17 years before it was announced that it would be coming back with a modern coat of paint.

Contrary to what you may think, this isn’t a ground up reboot. It’s a continuation of the exact point they left off years ago, right after the Maximum tournament. The only thing that kind of sucks about this is that, at least for the English dub, they replaced most of the voice cast. Most of the new VAs do a great job, however you may need to get used to Yujiro Hanma having Shadow the Hedgehog’s modern VA from the games haha.

Thankfully, you can officially support this series easily via Netflix. Normally I’m pretty eh on Netflix as of late, but this being the only way you can support the show officially in the west, I personally recommend it.

Baki Hanma (2023) (39 episodes) (NETFLIX)

This is the most recent anime! It’s also on Netflix.

Me and my friends just got to this on our watchthrough together.

Anyway, this is my list! If after you catch up you wanna hop into the manga and read the fan scans, I’ve heard that you can start on Baki Hanma/Baki Son of Ogre (chapter 183).

Hope you enjoy the funny man punching show! Feel free to report back and tell me how you feel about it (positive OR negative)!

Like I said, I've been watching the series with friends on Discord every night or so when we're free and MAN. Baki is fucking AMAZING WITH FRIENDS. It just never slows down after a certain point, and it just gets stranger and crazier.

[frogofalltime]

it's funny that they say "you won't know until you try it" and "you just didn't meet the right person yet" etc to asexuals in an attempt to erase our identity and say we would definitely not be asexual if we had experience. because in my experience these things have actually made me more sure that i am asexual.

i have always met the right people, all my life. i have loved so many people and they all made me feel safe and loved and i wanted to be intimate with them in some way, but i still didn't want sex !! i guess i wanted to hold hands and kiss and cuddle and talk about our deepest feelings and fall asleep in each other's arms, but i did not need anything more than that.

last week i met someone at that activist camp in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal or wifi that i mentioned. they're one year older than me and poly and very very cute. i instantly fell in love with them and they were really into me. so when it got to 2am on the last night and we were curled up together under the stars and they asked what i wanted to do, i decided fuck it, i'll try this, since i was enjoying being so close with them and i felt very safe and respected and comfortable. i explained all this to them. so they kept making sure i was okay, asking "can i do this", "is this okay", "please tell me to stop any time", etc. they were very gentle with me. and i reasoned that if i hate it i never have to do it ever again !!

and i mean. idk what even counts as "sex" when it's between two afab people but. my friend said when you're queer anything that feels right can be sex. it felt very overwhelming. so i asked them to stop and they did and we just went back to making out and cuddling all night instead. and it was definitely "the right person". and i did "try it". and i decided that yes i am still ace. perhaps i'm even more certain than before.

would i do that again ? probably not, but maybe, if the other person wants to. this person was very hot, and they showed me how much they were enjoying themself, and i liked making them happy. that made me happy. so it was a good thing overall. and if i'm in that situation again with either the same person or someone else, maybe i'll consider it. but i don't want or need that kind of thing in order to be happy and in love, either !!!

we spent the whole next day together, they put flowers in my hair and we talked about birds and did a self defence class and ate a lot of food and lay down on the grass together looking at the sky. then we both had to go home to different cities. but they kissed me goodbye and we exchanged phone numbers and have been messaging each other a lot ever since. because the right person is someone that loves being around you no matter what else is involved !!!

anyway !! my point is !! asexuality is so valid and i was right about being ace before i ever tried anything and i am still right now. you know yourself much better than any of these aphobic people can. please don't put yourself in uncomfortable situations just to prove something; only try new things if you feel safe and want to do so. your identity is yours and nobody else's and i'm proud of us all for existing in a world that tries to pretend we don't <3

[creampuffqueen]

i am begging people to stop going “but my sensory issues!!!” on every single post about shaving. it is so frustrating and unhelpful for so many reasons

1. you are making it about yourself. you are contributing to the “what about-ism”. bean souping the post, if you will, by derailing the conversation to turn it to you and your personal preferences

2. i’m being so for real when i say a decent amount of y’all are lying about your supposed unshaven related sensory issues. i’m sure there are some people who genuinely experience sensory issues related to having body hair, but when HUNDREDS of comments on a post are all claiming sensory issues? sensory issues are not just things that bother you, or make you a bit uncomfortable. people with sensory issues have their ENTIRE LIVES affected by them, whether that be foods they can’t eat, materials they can’t wear, noises they can’t be around, whatever. i really feel like the term “sensory issues” has been totally co-opted by neurotypical folks who just mean that a sensation bothers them a bit

3. the staunch refusal to look even a LITTLE BIT deeper into your own personal choices is infuriating. you cry “sensory issues!!” and then don’t think any further than that. it’s completely stunting to any kind of productive conversation surrounding women, body hair, shaving, and beauty standards

4. why do you need the approval from people who don’t shave? why go onto a post about shaving like “b-b-but what about me?? i have SENSORY ISSUES, i HAVE to shave every hair below my eyebrows 🥺 can you please validate me?? can you please tell me i’m still a good feminist?? can you tell me that it’s fine i’m upholding the status quo because of my SENSORY ISSUES that FORCE me to shave??”

y’all act like we’re breaking into your house, stealing your razors, and forcing you to grow out your leg hair at gunpoint. no. all that’s happening is people are saying women shouldn’t be forced to shave their body hair, and yet the people who seem to be most upset about this idea… is other women!

again, i am sure there are people who genuinely have sensory issues that mean they absolutely must shave their body hair. that’s not the issue here. the issue is other women jumping into a conversation about shaving, crying sensory issues (likely from a misunderstanding of what sensory issues actually are) derailing the entire conversation, and preventing any kind of successful discussion

and i just don’t understand why! if you truly, absolutely, 100% shave only for yourself and your comfort, that is fine! but that shouldn’t prevent you from understanding the patriarchal influences around shaving, and encouraging other women to do what they want with their own bodies, including not shaving

but your choices and decisions around shaving don’t exist in a vacuum. i highly doubt anyone in this day and age is deciding to start shaving for themselves. you were influenced by the people around you. be that adults telling you it’s a thing grown women do, be that other people your age starting to shave and you feeling left out, be that being mocked by peers and family members over your (completely natural) body hair

if you shave, that is FINE. that is completely valid. be it because of sensory issues or not. but you don’t need to talk about it! you don’t need to go into the comments on posts about not shaving and make it about how you still choose to shave. you can realize that not everything is about you personally, and most posts about not shaving are a comment on society. you can work on deconstructing your own reasons for shaving (and can still continue to shave after doing so if you want). you can help actually contribute to the conversation about the patriarchal influences behind women and hair removal

just. for the love of god, stop crying “sensory issues!!” on every post about shaving. it’s not that hard

[thecameronchronicles]

Worth

TW: body image issues. Smut. Language. Severe angst. Happy ending! 

SUMMARY: JJ realized why you broke up with him and sets out to prove your reasons as being invalid. 

WORD COUNT: 2300

REQUESTED

Hey i wanted to ask if you can write something like All the right curves again with JJ or Sarah if not that totally okay :)💕💕 can’t wait for you coming back but don’t stress💓💓  also I love your writings &lt;3

*THANK YOU SO MUCH! THESE BODY PIS FICS ARE SO PERSONAL!*

Worth 

He couldn't bring himself to understand why. Hours spent staring at his ceiling or life passing by just on the other side of a pane of glass didn't clarify it. To make matters worse, he would hear the echo of your voice as you parted from Sarah after dropping her off at The Chateau. Your eyes rising to the room he usually occupied before he caught the look of apparent indifference. As if the last six months meant nothing. As if you only ever thought of him as an outlet to your daddy issues. As if you validated why Kooks and Pogues should remain distant. But as he looked to Sarah wrapped blissfully in John B's arms, Kiara catching glances from Pope, the burn of how you'd broken up with him and constantly returned just out of reach. Just as the sweetest memories held as well. 

The very same memories that could be as sensual as they could have been dominating. Fingers wrapped as you laid against his chest during the storm a week before it happened would be the same pairing that was thrust into the sheets an hour later. Your body often acting as a haven for his most wild of wiles you managed to take with a touch that corrected his raw carnality. But now he was left vulnerable for reasons he couldn't understand. 

But a party at The Chateau would offer the chance to learn why. Nursing a countless glass bottle to his lips, he narrowed his eyes at you from across the scene. You'd debated even showing up as you knew the tension it would cause. But as he'd draped himself around every girl he could, you thought he had moved on. After all, why would JJ Maybank be stuck on someone like you when he had girls like Kie at his disposal. Effortless beauties with insecurities that paled against your own. 

THIS having been the unspoken reason you left him standing in the center of The Chateau in telling him it wouldn't work. Trying to spare him. Trying to protect him. 

"I'm gonna go..." You told Sarah as she pulled herself up from John B's knee. 

"What?! No! You can't!"

Your eyes flashed to JJ, ignorant to how uncomfortable you had become in watching him flirt with everything with a pulse. Tourons. Pogues. The handful of Kooks that remained friends with Sarah after her breakup with Topper. It was relentless pain on your already bleeding heart. 

"God, JJ is an idiot." You shrugged off her comment before returning inside The Chateau for your coat, having left it inside as you'd even helped set up for the night's festivities. You focused on the collection of jackets set in a pile on John B's bed, many of which were the same style. And yet yours had been easily identifiable as it was practically a second skin. You weren't even able to set both arms in the designated slots before hearing the floor creak behind you. 

And you knew, it was him. He had a way of being present that the scent of the sea and the heat of his skin was equally palpable. It was what made him so intimidating to you-what also made you miss him so deeply. Or at least what had begun the reminiscent reasons as to why. 

"Gonna leave without saying goodbye?" He asked, clearly affected by alcohol, but not enough to actually deter his speech or focus. Just enough to offer him the carelessness of confronting you. 

"I shouldn't have come-"

"But you did...For Sarah, right?" He asked, unable to look at you as you felt as if this somehow validated your reasons. Not in his words however, but the way he seemed to look past you. 

"I just want to go..."

"Just tell me you came here for her...that there wasn't some part of you that wanted to see me-" His ringed fingers collected at your arms had kept you inhibited from an escape, a touch that held such power to tempt you to remain. 

"Just tell me one small lart-"

"It doesn't matter, JJ!" You finally snapped against him. The usual quiet and well mannered persona pushed to such a reaction. 

"How can you say it doesn't matter when you single handedly made me believe in something  I didn't realize could even exist?!" He took a step closer, shaking you to validate he held your attention. 

"Maybe it didn't mean the same thing to you, but it meant everything to me-" You pulled yourself away. 

"It meant everything to me too..." His expression softened before narrowing again as he recalled your words. 

"Then why did you say everything you did? Do you really believe we're a lost cause? Because I keep catching you watch me and you don't exactly keep your distance."

"You're right..." Hope illuminated behind his expression, "I'll stay away." That hope obliterated. Falling to ashes at his feet as you finalized the jacket around your arms before ultimately leading towards the door. One sole over the threshold before he brought you back against him. 

"I don't buy it. You came here because some part of you wanted to see me-"

"Tell me I'm wrong and I'll leave...I'll go forget you in someone else and-"

"That's why..." You explained  as he sighed in confusion. Tears in your eyes once they finally met with his. 

"You will find someone else. Be with someone who looks better and-"

"WHAT?!" 

"I saw you tonight, JJ...with every single girl BUT Sarah. And I'd wage anything that if she wasn't with John B, she wouldn't have been excluded-"

"I just wanted to get a reaction out of you, I couldn't care less about any of them..."

"Until another one you mean..." His eyes sharpened to the point they were almost completely closed. 

"What are you-"

"Anyone else, JJ! Anyone else who can stand next to Kie or Sarah and not feel twice their size! That can go visit you at work or be with you on the beach without having to be told they pity you or commend you for your charitable act of being with me-"

"Who the fuck said that-"

"It doesn't matter..." 

"It does to me." He elaborated with a clenched jaw. 

"They're right, JJ." Something rushed across his mind. An epiphany. But not one that brought him peace with closure. Instead, it bore something else. Something you'd never necessarily witnessed before. 

"No they aren't-"

"Yes they are, they-" He surprised you with the sudden kiss made against your lips. The lips you'd dreamed of, missed, cried over. The same ones you had craved the second you kissed him for what you believed to have been the last time. And even now, in the attempt to prove a point, he had done so sweetly. Such kindness behind a kiss capable of such power. Yet, he refrained. At least until his hands rested at your ribs and you were taken against the edge of the bed. 

"JJ-" 

"Sorry princess, but you're letting stupid people affect your head..."

"What are you doing?" You asked as he hovered over you, beginning at your lips once again. 

"I'm going to kiss every part of you that you're insecure about. So tell me..." He began to pry apart your ensemble. Clothing and layers you'd chosen to feel more confident, he pulled in the hopes of making you vulnerable. But as you tried, he could feel your tension. 

"Focus on me. You know I'd never lie to you...And I am so obsessed with every...beautiful inch of you..." He began at your lips. 

"Every inch .." His lips pressed softly at your lips and jaw as you became dissolved beneath him. Pliable and motivated by his ambitions for you, he was able to make you forget everything without much more than a touch. A breath in your ear, a look from across the room and those hurtful words from those who knew so little of the love you had for each other had mended. 

"A little self love,sweetheart..." He kissed your stomach as you shuddered beneath him, unaware how he managed to make you so bare so quickly. A momentary hesitation to allow him further having been contradicted by the rise of his shirt from over his head. 

"If only you could see yourself like I do...You'd never question anything again..." He moved back up to you, from the bone of your hip to your neck until he could pin your arms over your head. 

"But I want you to look me in my eyes and tell me you didn't break up with me because you thought I wouldn't want you..." He pushed his body fully into yours, enough to feel his cock protesting against your former assumption. 

"Because my girl-" Your face animated to the title. Of all the things you'd missed, his possessiveness of such saccharine commitment has been the most. 

"Yes. My girl...is smarter than lying to me. So tell me why you said it wouldn't work. We both know it isn't because you don't want this..." He looked at the alce between you, "Pretty goddamn obvious I've missed you, princess." You blushed. 

"Because you deserve better." He paused for a second, retracting from you completely before standing between your legs at the edge of the bed. His fingers slow at his buckle. 

"Why would I need to look for anything better when I have the best?"

"JJ..." You moved to your elbows as he moved closer to the edge of the bed, keeping you flat. 

"But you took something away from me. That leave I have when I'm with you...Because I don't love you because of your curves...your ass...your smile..." He bit his bottom lip as a smirk made his dimples quite prominent. 

"Even though they are definitely not missed..." He hovered over you again. 

"I love how you make me feel when I'm with you. How you love me...how you made me want to be the best for you...and if I have to remind you..." Your panties were only pulled to the side before his cock threatened your lower lips."

"How we feel together...." You gasped. 

"Just in case you forgot." Your back arched immediately as his body curves to apprehend this extension. Hands to each breast as each nipple and mound was throughout appreciated with a soft tongue but threat of his teeth, you moaned his name. 

"What if someone hears us?"

"I'm counting on it, sweetheart." He pulled himself over you as he set a few steady thrusts within you to keep you from distracting yourself.

"JJ..." 

"I only wanna hear sounds with vowels, princess. You know I don't know too many of those other words Pope and you played on that game you both like-" 

"Scrabble?" You teased as he kissed your lips until you were breathless. A prideful grin leaving you compliant. 

"Starting now, sweetheart...I'll even make it easy..." He dropped his thumb to your clit, small circles making you utter a single "ah" before arching to the pressure given by his shaft making slow inserts. 

"Perfect. Keep going, princess. Apparently I have to make my point and I don't care if it takes all goddamn night." His fingers fisted the sheets beneath you rather rapidly and tightly as his body rode against yours in desperation and necessity. All while you responded accordingly.  Every rush of his hips made to your own would drive you deeper into the bed as your body moved and molded to him. 

"Fuck..." He tensed over you, beginning to shake after your body began to wear beneath him. Aching thighs as he edged you both to prolong the moment, not a second or inch of your skin left without a confirmation of his love for your figure. 

"I'm not coming until you see what I see..." 

"I want you to come-"

"Then tell me you know...you know you're beautiful." But the words seemed wrong. Sour. As if they held two different meanings from what he wanted and what you could offer. 

"We'll work on it...Then just tell me you're mine. Because I'll spend every second of every day reminding you if I have to." You nodded. This was an easy one. 

"I'm yours."

"Again-" He hit hard into the end beside you. 

"I'm yours, JJ!" You belted as that familiar pull and twist of heat from your lower stomach saturated his final thrusts as he found that release within you. His lips at a rest to your shoulder before he retracted and analyzed you. 

"I expect you to dump my ass for being an idiot. But never because of thinking you aren't enough...trying to beat me to the punch or whatever. You are supposed to be the smart one between us, princess..." He teased before taking his shirt from the floor. 

"Come on, there's a s'more with your name on it...Worked up an appetite, I'm sure..." You bit your bottom lip as your body still needed more. 

"Or you could just bring back the stuff in here…"

"Why would I-" He beamed. "Oh..." He removed himself from the rook quickly before returning with the items. 

"Where do we start?" You questioned as he pulled the marshmallows from the bag and to your lips.

"Anywhere I want..." He closed the door behind him, moving back to you again. Only this time without the angst of the tension formerly between you. A reconstructed connection now stronger than ever. Every inch of your body truly adored by him. Any cross word against you rivaled by his sweetness. Because he proved his love and devotion for you. 

And in the times he couldn't, he just held you with such love that it silenced those hollow thoughts. His touch existing as a quiet reminder of what you'd always have.

The love of JJ Maybank.

TAGLIST: @hopebaker @drewspisces @penny4yourthoughts @magnificantmermaid @pickingviolets @lovedetlost @trikigirl271 @maybankslover @slut4tangerine @slvtherinseeker @obxiskewl @bluesongbird @slut-era @ailee-celeste @camilynn @sweetestdesire @onmykneesforrafe @jjmaybanksangel @phildunphyisadilf @mashdan0916 @pankhoeforlife @pankowperfection

MASTERLIST

JJ MAYBANK MASTERLIST

2ND JJ MAYBANK MASTERLIST

MARCH MADNESS MASTERLIST

BODY POSITIVE MASTERLIST

[angy-grrr]

Just another queer ship

I know many of you just are here bc you wanted to see bkdk metas years ago -many have left since then, changed accounts, stopped getting my content, or just moved on to the work others do in the fandom-, but I also know some of you feel at least a little bit like me. You felt connected to this for many reasons, as many as the amount of followers I have, but I want to talk about me, hoping the ones that understand also get to have... something, I guess.

These ships were important to me partially bc of being my special interest, partially bc they are queer; I know some ppl believe its wrong of others to enjoy shipping "just bc they are gay", they just have been a huge part of my life and followed me thru different stages of accepting queerness on its own and on myself. Its kind of funny, how this started when I just tried so hard to be non queer and how it ended when I accept that im a genderqueer lesbian.

I remember back then I saw romance as that uncomfortable pressure of expectation and need of validation whenever an older guy (like young man I mean, I was like 13 so older guy looked like that) was in front of me -bc romance was always like that-, how picking a random guy means love, or how eye contact means im telling that guy Im interested in him. Because romance is always about a boy and girl just ending together as the ending of all stories -if I wanted to do things right, I needed that, I needed to show off a random guy to others, even metaphorically, as long as him and I were never completely alone (this "relationship" needed to be useful for something, for others to see how great I do this, how im a winner in life).

Its funny, isnt it? I really wanted this to be a subversion, to understand how complex these feelings can be and that a girl and boy can be friends and be so important to each other, that the feelings you have for someone "you arent supposed to like" can be real, and strong, and impact you forever.

I dont care about what we got.

To whoever is reading this, if anyone does at all, im guessing you could be another queer person who got their heart broke because the shonen that wasn't supposed to be like other shonen ended up like all the stories do. So to you let me tell you this:

Don't you dare give your heart for this. There are so many harmful many things in this world, and I dont want you wasting your spirit over a story that never cared about us. Im nobody to tell anyone anything but I dont want us to once again yearn for a queer story in the shows, books, comics and movies that clearly dont want us there.

Its normal to feel the overwhelming pressure in your life -there are tons of things to worry about, so many injustices- and wanting to find comfort in media, and how it hurts when the author takes that away from you. Im not telling you to stop shipping or consuming what you watch, im telling you to use that into something for all of us. There are queer shows, music, entertainment, communities, etc., and we can also use fandom spaces to create and see what makes us feel seen -thats the rule of fandom, if nobody has written it then do it yourself even if its ugly and imperfect.

The ending of THE manga that has been by my side for what could be half my life is everything I feared it would be, but Im the most queer I have ever been. The manga wasn't for us? Okay, I'll be part of whatever I create then.

[foxyyaoguai]

The antis have been all over my posts in the last few days, so I wanted to share my experiences and write a guide on how to deal with them. 

First off: Our ships and character preferences are valid, no matter how hard some people try to demonize them. We are part of fandom and allowed to post about the things we enjoy, just like everyone else. Our fanfics, fanart, video edits, photo edits, etc. are all works of love and they deserve to exist and be explored by others. 

✨ Strategies for dealing with antis ✨

Don’t engage. I have checked the bios of all the antis that left comments under my posts, and the majority of them are minors. You don’t want to talk to minors in fandom spaces!! And a conversation based on logic or reason won’t be possible either. 

Delete their comments. Tumblr, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube allow you to delete comments, DO IT!! You created something with love and hateful comments have no place underneath it. Even if the comment just makes you uncomfortable and isn’t outright hateful, it is perfectly reasonable to delete it for your own sanity.

Block generously. Not only the people who target you specifically but also anyone who engages in character- or ship-bashing. People who do that for one ship will do it for other ships too and it’s extremely bad fandom etiquette. When you see a character or ship-bashing post, block everyone who liked it and then the poster.

Report people for harassment. The rules vary by site, but especially threats of violence should be reported. Also, if someone follows you to another social media site after you’ve blocked them, that is called block evading and you should report that too. 

When you see other people getting hateful comments underneath their posts, leave a nice comment to offset some of the negativity. Your being supportive can make the difference between this person never posting again and them being motivated to keep going. People are always welcome to send me links to a post that is getting targeted by antis and I’ll like it and leave a nice comment. 🥰

Don’t let the bad comments outshine the positive ones! Every time my post gets enough traction for antis to find it, it also gets lots of lovely reactions. Many people have told me that my content and recommendations made them ship my OTP, and that is the single thing that makes me happier than anything else. Take a screenshot and look at these kinds of comments when you feel down. This is the real reason you should keep posting. 

Most hate comments are exceptionally uncreative. It helps to laugh about it, preferably with a friend. ✨ Remember, you used your energy to create something and you should be proud of it!

When you see a creator you like, but they also display obnoxious behavior towards people who like other ships, characters, or dynamics, at the very least don’t give them a platform by sharing their posts. 

Stay safe. Don’t post personal information online. 

It’s completely valid to step away from social media for some time. Private your accounts, turn off notifications, do a canon reread, read some fanfics in peace. Whatever it takes to remind you why you love the things you love. 

Bonus Tip: Watch videos of cute animals to destress. Bunnies nose-booping each other can (and will) cure anti-induced anxiety. :)

✨ Platforms sorted by least to most toxic and my advice for using them ✨

1. Discord 

Discord is great because you can join servers specifically for your favorite characters and ships. If a server doesn’t already exist, consider setting one up! Pro tip: only invite people that have positively interacted with you in the past. A small server consisting of nice people is a lot more fun than a large server consisting of members that can’t get along or are only marginally interested in the topic. 

Fandom Discord servers have clear guidelines on what you can post. As long as you follow the rules, people have no grounds for calling you out. In my experience, moderators are quick to respond to harassment.  

When you join a server and you see they heavily restrict certain types of content, it is a red flag. Proceed with caution, even if you plan to only talk about “safe” characters and ships. 

2. Tumblr

I have rarely gotten hateful comments on Tumblr, and the few times I did they were easy to delete.  

A lot of the older fandom generations use Tumblr and they are more mature and accepting of all kinds of content.

3. Twitter

Twitter makes it easy to curate your own fandom experience. You can mute words you don’t like to see on your timeline, mute and block users, and most people have their ship preferences in their bio.

4. Instagram

My Instagram posts about Jadecest get a lot of positive interaction, even more than on Twitter. There are unpleasant comments once in a while, but they are easy to delete. 

Blocking a user will delete all their comments from your posts. 

5. YouTube

People who don’t like your ship will downvote your videos and downvotes lead to the algorithm not recommending your videos. 

I have gotten a few negative comments, but they are easy to delete. 

6. Reddit 

When you post in a fandom subreddit, everyone will see the post, independent of their ship preferences. 

There are a lot of minors on Reddit. 

You can’t delete comments.

Most fandom subreddits are poorly moderated. 

7. TikTok

I have gotten the most hate comments on TikTok. They can be filtered or deleted, but antis interacting with your video by leaving hate comments will lead to the algorithm recommending your content to even more antis. It can get very ugly. 

If you post on TikTok consider turning off comments, stitches, and video replies. You can also mark your content as 18+, so it won’t get recommended to minors. (Again, antis tend to be underage.)

Platforms are more toxic the more they show your content to people outside your bubble. Discord, Tumblr, and Twitter keep your content relatively well contained to your circle of friends. Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram heavily promote your content outside your bubble, which is good, because more people are going to see it, but also bad, because it reaches more antis. 

~~~

Antis are loud and obnoxious, but it’s important to remember that they are a minority. Ship and let ship still exists, especially among the people who have been in fandom spaces for more than just a few years. Don’t be afraid to post your content and express your love for your favorite characters and ships! I, for one, would love to see your creations, and many other people would love to see them too. 

What are your experiences and strategies for dealing with antis?

[mermaidsirennikita]

I'll be completely honest, I just kinda feel like the romance genre needs to accept that dubcon/noncon, whether or not you want to read it, was a big part of the genre's history.... and no amount of rerelease editing is going to make that go away.

You wrote a book; it was a long time ago; you followed conventions of the time; you maybe wouldn't now; but you were in fact writing into a genre that did raise you creatively on this element being a big part of it.

No issue with authors wanting to voice what they'd change, make edits with author's notes (and without the erasure of the original content). But pretending it didn't happen does nothing to help us, and it frankly makes it harder to treat the genre as one deserving of serious, potentially academic, analysis. If you're erasing the original work because it makes you uncomfortable, how can we discuss it honestly and analytically and contextually.

This is a very different matter in some ways, but—Eloisa James (an academic scholar who got her doctorate from Yale and taught at Fordham at one point, among other things) backed out of writing the forward to a special edition Georgette Heyer book because of the antisemitic content being removed. It erases an important part of the work, however we may dislike it. How can we DISCUSS the book if the book has been mangled and its history compromised?

"But it's less readable with the bad content", I mean, yeah. For a lot of readers, noncon and dubcon takes a book off the table. And that's so valid. And it's also true that no book can be for everyone. It Happened One Autumn is not for readers for whom dubcon and noncon is a hard stop. I so respect that. I frankly think it's a bit insulting to butcher a book like that in order to get readers who have hard limits to read something that like... famously did. Just let them pass on a book.

I mean, the reality is that for the AUTHOR, there are many reasons to make edits likke these, and again, I'm not necessarily against releasing a VERSION of your novel that better matches your perspective today... as long as that's very clearly not the only version around. For the publishers? It's money. It's making a book more palatable to a larger group of people.

But also... some people like reading dubcon and noncon. And that's okay. And they should have books with content that they like to read, too. And it's fine. There's a huge history of women reading that content specifically to process complex feelings about their experiences and their feelings about their places in the world, and also to simply have fun, and... yeah. That's valid, too.

I just have a lot of feelings about this practice, and it really does come back to a love of the genre and wanting everyone to have books that they enjoy reading (while acknowledging that literally zero books work for everyone and that's OKAY). And a RESPECT for the genre too, and a desire to make it something you can study, if you so please, like any other. I think there's a way to satisfy readers who want to just read for fun and people who want to read for fun and take the genre seriously. We just don't need to make every book cozy and without people who have flaws in order to do so.

[meret118]

Woe's Hollow:

I watched the previous episode again before the new one, and was struck by two things. The first, is Dieter"s eye coming out. It reminded of the Bible verse about, "If your right eye offends you, pluck it out." If Dieter is actually Keir's shadow self, then Keir killed that part of himself by plucking it out.

The second was red-headed Woe sitting where Helly would normally sit in relation to Irving during his dream.

I still think the night gardener story is stupid. Did Helena do it on purpose so she wouldn't have to keep pretending to be an innie? It makes no sense to me that a company so detailed oriented they already removed Irving's image from the photos by the time the innies return to work wouldn't have anticipated their questions, and come up with a better story for her.

Trojan's Horse:

Severance is back, baby! Apparently what I needed was Helly. :) The pacing was a lot better this episode IMO too. It shouldn't take this long for the show to hit it's stride in season 2 though. The season is half over.

Those looked like dental tools, and the whistling man had an old fashioned dentist's smock on. It made me think of the dental torture in Marathon Man. Do they put tracking devices in teeth? Are they changing people's teeth so dental records can't be used to identify them?

What the hell is Mark drinking? Is that part of the reintegration?

Helly has her fists clenched when elevator open. She's prepared to fight immediately.

I posted about the Grakappen here.

They ate Irving's head - there was a big piece of it severed. Dylan was eating his ear though, because he didn't listen to Irving's suspicions about Helly.

I couldn't find a picture of it, but I call those type of mug handles finger traps. Two holes, innie and outie.

Milchek wanting validation on his reaction to the white bullshit from Natalie was painful and sad. I think she wants to agree, but is afraid to.

I can't tell if he actually drank the cool aid, and is now starting to see the light, or if he just pretended to in order to get the job, and is finally starting to have qualms now that it's affecting him personally more.

I was starting to think Helena was changing too until she referred to the innies as animals. I can see why she would be afraid to return, but the word choice was telling to me, even if she doesn't believe the Kier mythology.

"Here is the lunch menu." Ha!

"Uses too many big words," is a microagression against an educated black man. Is it because it makes the white man uncomfortable, and they want him to "sound black" by which they mean uneducated? (If he did use AAVE, they would penalize him for that too.) Or it a complaint by a young teen because the words are "big" to her? Or both?

". . . and to treat as what they really are." Slaves? It's interesting that they chose a black man as an outie supervisor given the history of experimentation on black people.

Mark, Helly and Dylan are now a work threesome, while Burt and his husband seem to be interested with Irving. I didn't know Burt was fired. I thought he had been retired for his age. I thought he said he was retiring in that video. Or maybe he was embarrassed, and just said it was retirement rather than "erotic entanglement."

Fields is a very unusual name. I wonder what the significance is.

Natalie is black and a woman, and the only outie I remember being frequently referred to as her first name, like an innie.

Miss Huang is very into the corporate mentality. There's a reason cults go after young people. I hope they eventually explain her presence. Her being there still feels like something weird for the sake of being weird at this point.

So much for Rickon's ideals. I so want Devon to leave him! The most improbable thing in the show to me isn't the severance chip. It's her being married to him. He can't even use the term correctly - Trojan Horse, not Trojan's Horse. The horse was from the Greeks and destroyed the Trojans,

Helena pretending to Helly was a Trojan Horse. Outie Mark pretending to be Mark R would be the Trojan's horse.

[sarcastictissy]

My apologies, I sincerely thought you were aware which is why I came to you ack, I’m so sorry D’:

But in short, the original admin, Puella, was the one who created Otipep and they made a doc about their experience on QSMP and the story behind why Otipep exists, and well, Otipep basically existed cause they were gone for a while, came back and decided to “roleplay” while they were in an unwell state with a high fever and used Otipep as an excuse for their rude behavior. And well, that led to Ro, Ro’s community and a few of Ro’s friends really uncomfortable with the entire situation.

The admin was removed as Pepito and we got Pepito’s perm admin Lina to continue the story.

The document came out yesterday (unfortunately I’m unsure if it can be accessed again due to Puella privating their account after receiving massive backlash from the community), and it honestly was extremely off putting, disheartening and disappointing to see so many rush to support them after the uncomfortable situation they created that left one of the most patient CCs uncomfortable alongside his community. I understand wanting to support all admins who worked on QSMP (trust me, I support many of the admins who have came forward with their story and admins who continue/ed to work on the project or on Q Studios) and were affected, but a lot of actions can not be blindly forgiven. Plus this is fairly reminiscent to the situation of Dianna(?), Tilin’s admin, where after they left the project, many found out that she broke the boundaries of other workers and also of a few CCs.

-💫

Dw about it!! Thank you for telling me! I'm not aware of Tilin's admin to be honest. I'm disappointed Optepip used their personal circumstances as an excuse for badly treated Roier, his fans, and his friends. I'm sure Optipep actually insulted his family as well but I could be wrong. Regardless, it does not seem that they apologised for the situatuon and used the fact they were fired (as an actor, or as an admin I'm not sure) as a way to get pity or sympathy, despite there being a valid reason for the backlash they received. Just annoyed they don't seem to accept the fact they did something wrong. And it's not clear that they don't understand they did something wrong, it's more that they choose to ignore the issue instead. Honestly I'm not sure what to think. I hope they do apologise to Roier either publicly or privately.

Also are you my first anon with a sign off?!?!!?! :00

[casp1an-sea]

OK I’m going to share my thoughts on Dancing with the Stars this season because I don’t know why I haven’t done that yet. I’ve been obsessing over it.

First of all, why was Anna Delvey on the show? Like it doesn’t make any sense. Maybe they were trying to cause drama or something, but it did not work. She deserved to be eliminated that early. like watching her made me feel uncomfortable and like you could tell the people around her were uncomfortable too. Originally, I didn’t understand why she was getting so much hate aside from the fact that she was uninteresting. But I watched a TikTok, where someone explained how they hated that she was on the show because she was in an illegal immigrant being allowed to stay in our country to perform in a dance competition, meanwhile, so many others are being mistreated and deported by the government. And God that pissed me off so much.

Second thought, I’m not a fan of brooks and Gleb. The constant reminders that they’re sexy and hot and having a showmance was just annoying to me and distracted from the dancing.

I know a lot of people have been making jokes about Jenn Tran dedicating her dance to Taylor Swift rather than an important person in her life like the other contestants did. And I did this too at first, but I was thinking about it and honestly, I think it’s just as valid and meaningful that she chose to dedicate this dance to an artist because she explains that the reason she’s doing this is because Taylor’s music got her through a really difficult time. And honestly, if it were me, I probably would think to dedicate my dance to something like Star Wars before thinking of dedicating it to my family. Because the things that we love often are what we spend the most time of our lives consuming and can help us get through those difficult times when those important people in our lives like our family cannot or choose not to be there for us. And even if it seems more shallow, there is a real level of emotional connection to that thing.

I love Chandler but it’s really is annoying to me when dancing with the stars gets celebs that have actual dance experience. I’m not saying she deserves lower scores. I think she deserves the scores she got and I’m glad that she got them. I just don’t think she should have been allowed to compete the same way I don’t think contestants with prior dance experience should have been allowed to compete in previous seasons. If they want to do something like that They should have a spin off show. I also don’t think it was fair that she got to perform her song on Disney night. It just seems like an unfair advantage because she already had experience with and was comfortable performing as that character and experience dancing as that character even if the Choreo was vastly different. But that might just be me. I still enjoyed watching the dance though. And I do like the song.

all right complaints aside let’s be a little bit more lighthearted

I think it’s no shock that I love Ilona and Alan, everyone does. I think she really embodies what dancing with the stars is about not just in her personality and what she stands for, but also with her dancing. the way that she truly has visibly improved from the start to the finish. She might not necessarily be the strongest dancer, but she still a good dancer and has definitely learned from her time on the show. Other contestants like Joey and Chandler we’re doing pretty well consistently and while that’s great and amazing and I think they deserved the scores and placements that they got, having a dancer like Ilona is just really refreshing

I really liked Stephen and Riley’s freestyle. Not going to lie originally I only watched this season for Stephen. I was a competitive gymnast for 13 years and I still have a lot of complicated feelings with that experience. I decided not to watch gymnastics at all Until this Olympics, So this was my first time watching it again after I left the gym. So when I found out that Stephen was competing on Dancing with the Stars, of course I was intrigued. I’ll have to admit he was not the strongest of the finalists and I think he deserved fourth place. But his freestyle was my favorite of the night. Originally, I was a bit skeptical because I felt that there was not much dance moves in it, but that didn’t mean that I disliked watching it. There was just something moving about it and maybe the song helped but that was just part of it on my second rewatch I genuinely was brought to tears watching it just all of these experiences with gymnastics in the past flooded me. It was so powerful. I just can’t stop watching that dance. It was probably my favorite of the season not because of the dance itself, but because of the way it made me feel.

Monster night was my favorite. I loved it. I pretty much liked every single dance. yup

I don’t know what made this season so special but I’m glad everyone sees it

and lastly, my opinions on the final placements.

I think I liked them. I know a lot of people are attacking Joey but I was fine with him winning. I thought it was going to be a tossup between him and Chandler and I think the both of them were pretty evenly matched throughout the whole season. Neither of them were my favorite groups. I didn’t dislike them. I just liked Ilona and Stephen more but I think the placement that they got made sense and I’m not really mad that Chandler got third think her and Joey could be swapped and it would still make sense.

I think Ilona deserved second like I said before, to me she really embodies what dancing with the stars is about. And it’s no secret that she had the public vote and she deserved it. I think the show isn’t just about good dancers but also about a dancers improvement so it makes sense to me that The most improved dancer should get second place. now before the finale, I would have put Stephen in fifth. and that’s not saying I dislike him. I’m just saying I felt he wasn’t the strongest of the dancers. He was still good and he still improved, but I don’t know if I would put him over Danny. I think if they hadn’t decided to let everyone stay for the finals Stephen would have been the one going home. At least that’s my guess. But I am very glad he got to stay. Like I said, his freestyle was just phenomenal and this put it over the edge for me. I think he deserved fourth. He had a stronger final performance than Danny did and that’s really what determined it for me in the end.

I think Danny‘s placement in fifth is fine. his final dances weren’t my favorite. The Barbie and Ken one was funny and I liked it because it was fun, but I don’t think it was the strongest performance. I think he really did improve as a dancer throughout the show and he deserved to get into the finals.

I’m overall happy with how it ended and sad that it’s over. If the tickets weren’t so expensive, I’d go see them on tour.