#But I can never swap out my catboy

[zylphiacrowley]

Here's my Main, and the 3 main alts doing the "Me angy" updated DT bench face.

X'vahl looks like he's going to bite someone... aggressively.

Sweet bean bun Lyra couldn't look angry even if she tried like super hard.

Me @ angy face Feyrn: "Who are you?!" D: (They still cute but Feyrn is not the type to anger like... at all.)

and Sable "I will consume your soul" Locrian the smarmy bastard man that he is looking like a smarmy bastard man.

[gremlinwithakeyboard]

So I started a master mode melee terraria playthrough a week ago

To quote myself from last week:

This is Casey

he is a catboy

he is about to die

a lot

And this is where he will die a lot

And so they did. Most of the first few hours of this were spent running from enemies, hiding from enemies and waiting to respawn. It was particularly difficult spawning on a windy day. I've never seen those dang dandelions before but they were the bane of my life.

I seem to keep making underground bases, and I happened to spawn near a nice cave so I knew what I had to do.

In master mode you drop all your coins in your inventory, so it took me absolutely ages to even save up for a piggy bank.

After a while I was finally able to start getting some good weapons. I got an exotic scimitar after the dye trader had a tragic accident with some boulders I placed. I found a mace from a chest which turned out to be really strong once I crafted it into a flaming mace. I was even able to buy a katana from the travelling merchant. But things didn't start getting much easier until I got my hands on an ice boomerang. I'd originally gone down there looking for an ice blade but this got the job done too. I was finally able to mine in a bit more peace and get full gold armor.

I decided some basic jungle stuff would be good to get next so I set up a house in the jungle to save time getting back when I had to respawn/magic mirror out.

So I was almost done with this base. I'd gone back and grabbed a piggy bank when I got yet another "evil presence watching you" notification. I did what I'd done with the last few and fled to the underground to stop the eye spawning. I gathered a few more jungle spores and stingers, and noticed I had quite a lot of money on me so, thinking it was late enough to go back to the surface, I went back up. I'd just plonk my piggy bank down and deposit my money.

I was wrong. The eye was on me as soon as I got up. There was no chance of placing the piggy bank so I began my mad dash back to my main base. I ran through the forest, through the desert and through another forest. I was able to safely deposit my money, so now there were no consequences to fighting back.

It was almost 4AM by the time it finished me off. I didn't have the DPS to do it yet. So I got back to farming stuff in the jungle. I got an amazon yoyo. I also fought my way through my first blood moon in the world but then lost the 4 gold I'd got from it dying stupidly right before the night ended. The zombie swarm I'd decided to fight picked up all my stuff and promptly despawned. I was getting stronger though. Especially with my new thorn chakram. I'd just need to set up a nice skybridge and I'd be good to go for king slime. A bit more grinding couldn't hurt, though.

I was back getting more spores, vines and stingers when I got the message again. "Frick it," I decided. "Let's see how low I can get it with my new stuff." So I magic mirrored back to the tree, deposited my money in the piggy bank, had a coffee for the plenty satisfied buff, swapped out my accessories for maximum speed and waited for it to show up.

Once again, the boss roared to life and I began to run back to the world spawn, making sure to stay a bit closer to it this time so I could continually pelt it with my thorn chakram. About halfway through the desert I decided to try pulling out my yoyo for some damage, and boy did it shred through the thing. It hit its second form as I arrived back at my base, and it wasn't even halfway through the night.

The second phase was intense. I stayed near my base to avoid zombies, but it was still difficult evading some of its chain dashes. I just kept hitting it with my yoyo when I could, and the NPCs in the base helped a bit too.

Its health was getting lower and lower, but its dashes were getting faster and faster. I couldn't aim with my yoyo any more. I was only getting in one or two hits per series of dashes. There was no way I'd get it before it got me. I swapped back to the thorn chakram. That seemed to hit it more, and of course there was the poison debuff too.

It hit 200 health and started dashing like mad. There was no evading it anymore. I had to kill it before it killed me. It hit 100 health. I hit 50. I kept throwing. It kept charging. I was one hit away from death. I was going to lose. I was so close.

Turns out it was only one hit away from death too, and I hit first.

That was probably the most intense eye of cthulhu fight I've had in terraria ever. One of the more intense boss fights too. It was dead fun though. I guess my skybridge will be built with plant pots all the way through! I think it's probably a good time to grab a slime hook, and try and smash a shadow orb so I can get the goblin next. Especially since I already have everything I need for lightning boots.

[apteryxdrake]

I understand this is not a literal list of demands that all trans men must adhere to (rather an illustration of the expectations our rainbow community often has of trans men), but I still have a deeply angry response. I spent 40 years trying to live up to society's standards of womanhood and failing at it, hating every second of it. Knowing none of it was me. I'm not going to swap one set of social expectations for another just because I'm transitioning. I will fucking wear whatever the fuck I want. I will talk about my 40 years of experiencing misogyny at the hands of bigots. I will speak about my interpretation of gender, both feminine and masculine, and how completely arbitrary it all is. And I will be who I am whether that's an effeminate man, or a manly man or something cryptid-like. Goblin catboy author obsessed with world building, conlangs and SWORDS. And if some fucker thinks that I'm not "good enough" to be a trans man, they can shove it up their ass.

Also, "male privilege", I would argue isn't as guaranteed as many people assume. Yes, as a man who can pass as a cis man, I do get a certain amount of privilege, but that privilege only exists because strangers think I'm a cis man. The moment it's revealed that I'm not, whether because I open my mouth and forget to talk in a gruffer manner, or because someone else outs me, then I lose any and all privilege. I get the same sort of thing as a white passing Maori person. I get white privilege right up until someone sees that one of my middle names is Maori, then I get the racism. People have to realise that privilege is fluid and dependent on a person's context and situation. It's not static. If the fashy people win, I'm going to be murdered along side those who don't pass as well, despite my three inch beard and lack of tits. Because it's not about privilege, it's about being something they hate, and as long as that hate remains we'll be under threat... and never be good enough for them.

Which is why I thumb my nose at their demands for certain behaviours as a trans man.

"How to be a Trans Man (According to the internet)" (2022)

transcription under cut

You must be masculine, 

but not in the traditional, threatening way.

You must cut your hair,

but only in a fashionable undercut.

You must bind, eventually get top surgery,

but never dream of having a penis.

You must have a common, boring name,

but nothing as common as "Aiden."

You must continue wearing makeup,

but nothing too fruity.

You must have a deep voice and stubble,

but don't go on the evil testosterone. 

You must still understand cis femininity,

but never again call yourself a lesbian.

You must be silent, submissive, sanitized,

but never claim to be oppressed.

Above all, you must let people treat you as a woman,

but reap all the benefits of male privilege. 

[wnfcom]

KarlNotFound Truthing

KarlNotFound is pretty unknown in the mcyt community in general I’d say, so I'm here to help spread the agenda as much as I can.

I have some songs in mind for the pair, mainly Kingston by Faye Webster, Bubblegum by Clario, Dreaming of You by Selena, and Once More to See You by Mitski. Also I know people love to debate about whether the feral boys are catboys or dogboys but I’d personally say George is a catboy/bunnyboy with dogoy tendencies and Karl is a dogboy with catboy tendencies. They’re both just so full with energy and it really shows when there around each other. 

In my opinion the pair has sort of have a “winter” vibe that can be implemented in sort of meet cute or pining aus, maybe with some fantasy in the mix? Both seem to love putting on specific outfits, normally oversized clothes (mainly George) and both are considered small, though Karl is more lanky and George is just plain short. They’re perfect for clothes swaps, they themselves said they’d switch hoodies when they meet up and Karl even mentioned sniffing Georges sweater when they did. I feel like Karl would be the type to share his clothes with George and George would happily comply, loving the way bigger clothes look and feel on him. Honestly because they don't interact much one on one on streams or videos its hard to get a complete read on how thy treat each other and their overall dynamic, BUT Karl sure does feeding knfers when he can. I think their relationship is really based on warmth and comedy and once in a while being genuine. They're a giggly duo most definitely, Karl always being one of the main people who can get a giggle or laugh out of George, just by his voice alone! They both seem to love being comedic, so the fact that they're almost ALWAYS giggling when their with each other is extremely important. There's never a dull moment when they're around each other because they know how to appeal to each other, such as George playfully flirting with Karl once in a while just like Karl will do (though a lot of the times he’s being genuine and just expressing his admiration with George which always seems to put a smile on Georges face) or Karl making a dumb dnf joke to get a rise out of him and their audience. They get each other, is what I'm essentially trying to say. They're very dependent on having fun, or just talking about their own interests and having the other listen adoringly and just genuine expressions of admirations or jokes. Their laughs just.. compliment each other so well. They’re also pretty jokingly mean to people, they're the type to poke fun of you and roast you in a lighthearted away and will act the same towards each other, but you can always tell its not serious when they erupt into giggles and repeat themselves. Their humor can be so stupid but it works. And lets not forget all of their silly inside jokes.

Now I haven't even mentioned both of their love languages, Karl's definitely being physical affection and verbal affection while Georges is quality time and also physical affection (shown by Tommy's vlog). Karl already shows his verbal affection towards George every once in a while, whether its in the guise of an inappropriate joke or its him being genuine and telling him how amazing he is (reference to the cooking stream where Karl had at least 2 instances of hitting on George) and it never fails to make George smile or laugh. Karl knows what George likes and isn't afraid to express himself and make the latter happy. Karl also is extremely affectionate physically and just touchy, whether its leaning on someone, punching or pushing them, hugging and grabbing their arm, its as if he cant get enough. Now compare this to George, someone (as shown in Tommy's vlog) doesn't complain when he’s given affection and actually with reciprocate it and enjoy it or easily comply. Now we got to see Karl make Sapnap warm up to physical affection but what about when Karl jumps on George for a hug and George doesn't complain, just hugs back and smiles, always having fun if Karl’s around. Additionally, George is a person, while he might not always express his love for his friends, he is one to show it. He’s been reported tp spend hours on vc with Sapnap and has been shown to be on the phone with Karl multiple times, as well as talking to Dream daily and being shown on tons of his friends streams and constantly talking to them. So put Karl and George together and you get people constantly spending time with each other, probably cuddling if they met up and showing how they care for each other in their own silly ways. They truly bring out the best in each other. 

I’ll leave you with an AU I thought of a while back: 

KNF are in a stereotypical fantasy world, where Karl is a prince locked away in a tower guarded by a dragon (Dream) and George is a wandering traveler and mercenary looking for work and one day he comes across Karl’s tower and out of curiosity and the need for a place to stay he finds his way in and finds a sleeping dragon. He sneaks past and makes his way up to the top of the tower and finds Karl who calls for Dream and he tries to bargain his way out if the situation, only to discover that Karl is lonely in his tower and he’d actually like George to stay with him because though he’s lonely, he likes it where he is. George agrees as long as he’s able to go out once in a while. From then on they live together and love blossoms. 

[fragileizywriting]

Fic Writer Questions

i got tagged by @miabrown007!!!!! this is so exciting!!!!!!!

How many works do you have on AO3?

21!!!

What’s your total AO3 word count?

643,153 (400k+ of that was written this year!!!)

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I've only ever written for Miraculous Ladybug on AO3!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I Want That Can't-Sleep Love: I wrote this fic while going through one of the most absolute turbulent experiences in my lifetime. Subsequently, this was also my first fic on AO3! And somehow it's been my most "famous" one, too. This is an ASMR AU where Marinette and Adrien are both extremely popular YouTubers who do ASMR for a living and have no idea who each other are, because they film from the neck down.

The Stars Are Nothing (Compared to Your Constellations of Freckles): This is a sort-of Marichat fic! As in, Marichat is a thing in this fic, and Adrien really wants to tell Marinette that he's Chat Noir. Her boyfriend. That guy. He wants to tell her. But is waaaay too much of a sissy to do it.

Locker Talk: Mouse Miraculous!Marinette and Snake Miraculous!Luka get trapped in a closet because of an Akuma, and then they fall in love. Maybe. The order might be wrong, though.

Sharks and Sugar: Quite possibly my prized possession, that will only be surpassed when I finish this very fic's sequel Eight for Two, this is a Kwami Swap + Reverse Crush AU in which Marinette has the Cat and Adrien has the Ladybug, and it's this AU's version of Ladrien. And Marinette has ADHD. And is obsessed with the idea of sharks. Adrien's just here for the ride.

The Bet: Also a Marichat fic! This one is really old. Chat Noir bets Marinette that he can kiss her by the end of the night, and he says this while he's in the middle of getting absolutely dragged through the mud in last place as they play Mario Kart (Mario Kart Wii, actually, because Mario Kart Wii is superior to literally every other Mario Kart that exists)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Okay so uh. Uhm.

The short answer is no.

The long answer is: I really really want to. I get so excited reading comments and so euphoric that I never know how to respond. I get so embarrassed by whatever I end up typing into the comment box that I end up deleting it and kind of hiding away. The brief and small times I do actually manage to hit send, however, are the times where my worry has really been overcome by the need to answer.

I'm not a native English speaker, so I get incredibly shy. Like, really shy with the idea of being misunderstood and coming off as mean and rude.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Technically speaking the only angst I've written that has an ending is something isn't right (echoing mirrors). It's a Chat Blanc-centric drabble that's about a thousand words!

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope! I've never been interested in writing or reading crossovers, I'll be honest. I always exclude them from my searches on AO3.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I haven't received hate, but I have gotten a few comments before saying "It would've made more sense if this character had done this, because of..." and essentially psycho-analyzing my plot and character motives for a better reason. It... didn't do me good. I felt incredibly embarrassed.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

No! I don't write smut. It's incredibly difficult, and I don't have the talent for it. There are so many good smut writers out there that I feel like anything I wrote would feel dull in comparison!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I'm not a popular writer! A sad but grateful thing to be! I don't think anyone's stolen my fic, at least, I don't think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but there's a scene in one of my fics called Eight for Two that I think about constantly that I would really really kill to be translated into Portuguese. The problems I have with English with not being able to differentiate a "ser" and "estar"s... oh it frustrates me to no end. One of the reasons why I haven't finished this fic yet is I'm not sure how to make this much of an impact with this chapter in English.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Depends! I've been writing a fic called fire lily petals that is based off of an AU that a Miraculous server came up together in 2018 that I decided to write a "bit" of. 100k+ words after that and I've deviated from the original plot too much to consider it the original AU.

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

There's a hierarchy for me, right? I guess if I had to pick in the typical lovesquare, it would most definitely be Adrienette. I love the idea of Adrien being smitten with Marinette.

But if AUs are allowed in this idea, I really like the idea of a Reverse-Crush Adrien/Lady Noire. It's such a good ship. Ahhh. So good so good. It's literally just Marichat but catgirl instead of catboy. So good.

But... let's be honest with ourselves. If you've actually read my work and know of my work, it comes to no surprise that Lukadrinette is up there as well.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

My fic called The Icarus Theory. It's also a Marichat fic, and I spent a great deal of time thinking and planning and tending to this AU. But I've moved on from it, unfortunately. I used a lot of that groundwork in my Sharks and Sugar fic, though. The last scene that Adrien and Lady Noire have together, in the dark, in chapter six is my love letter to The Icarus Theory (I've never told anyone that!)

What are your writing strengths?

I write a lot of words.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I am not good with commas. I use a lot of emdashes, which look like this guy: "—" and I feel like it's almost painful at how obvious it makes my writing look. It makes my writing stick out like a sore thumb. I feel like my work is very stagnant.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I don't like it when people combine a mixture of French and English in a fic, it really takes the immersion out. We know they're speaking French, because they live in France. I don't understand why some people write some sentences in French and then proceed to write in the following lines: "I love it when you speak French to me." What! That doesn't make any sense!

Whenever I've written a word or a phrase that is supposed to show up as in a different language, I usually write it in brackets. Every time Marinette has spoken Mandarin in my fics, I write it something like: "And it's a shame, really, because no one ever knew that I can just [switch languages on the get go, just like this. And you just keep nodding your head, don't you? Pretending that you understand?] But I know you don't understand Mandarin."

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Yu-Gi-Oh!

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I'm going to be honest... Eight For Two. Maybe I'm just being impartial.

[polkadotpatterson]

Fanfic ask!

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year

14. a fic you didn’t expect to write

18. current number of wips

23. fics you wanted to write but didn’t

I'm gonna answer 3 last so I can put it below a cut lol

14. a fic you didn’t expect to write

Everyone wants to know the answer to this question, I guess! Already answered here.

18. current number of wips

oh god I don't want to count them but I'll try anyway… okay, let's see, we've got the multichapter fics that are still in progress though I haven't touched them in a while (4), the ones I would say I'm actively working on (also 4), the ones I fully intend to get back to once I finish the ones I'm actively working on (also also 4) and the ones I might never finish that I started after wip amnesty or just didn't post there (6). I'm not counting any of the others from wip amnesty because I probably won't be finishing them, except maybe the coffee cup one, so we'll count that (1) which gives us a total of… 19. jesus christ

23. fics you wanted to write but didn’t

again, so many… including, but not limited to:

AU where Dot dies and gets necromancied instead of Jaylen

AU where Workman doesn't die

Lachlan on the Tigers (and then the Georgias)

Alto semicentennial fic

short circuits fic about plural fire elemental Emilia Sigh befriending Bonnie Sealevel (neither of them were good at their assigned positions and we got a blessing to swap them)

other short circuits fic about magical catboy Jasper Coven befriending sentient snowman Roscoe Hester (neither of them were good at the game either but I love them anyway)

regular universe fic about Dot and PDZ

fic about Morse and Mooney. I think they should be friends

I'm sure there are more, but nothing else is coming to mind! Most of these are things I'd still like to write in the future.

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year

I'm very biased but it's the Dot and Workman scene at the end of chapter 6 of the AU... the love... the emotion... the home... I poured my heart into this one and I'm so happy with how it turned out:

“Can we sit down?” you say, finally realizing you've been standing there without doing anything at all for who knows how long.

“Of course,” Workman says, and then you're on the bench next to them, so much and so little space in between, and you don't know what to do about all the thoughts that are swirling around in your head.

I love you.

I'm not supposed to love you. But I do.

I love everyone here. I tried not to. I was never meant to stay and get the chance to love anyone, and neither were you, but we stayed anyway, and now I don't know what to do.

I didn't get to have this with the Mints. Not like this. Not for this long.

I don't want this to go away.

I'm still not used to things not going away.

Or maybe I am. Because I think it's all going to go away next season, and I don't think I'm ready.

I love you more than I love anyone else here, and that scares me more than anything.

I didn't know love could feel like this. Whatever this is. It's not exactly the same kind of love I feel for Zavala, or Jess, or anyone else. Not exactly the same kind of love that's been making Ziwa and Eugenia blush when they're around each other. I don't think it's exactly the same way most people feel it.

But whatever it is, I feel it. And I don't know if you feel it too.

And I'm afraid that you don't.

And I'm afraid that you do.

Everything about getting close to you scares me. So why do I feel so safe when you're with me?

The thing about love, of any kind, is that it demands to be expressed. It can only spend so long rattling desperately in your ribcage before it breaks free, longing for someone else to notice it. It's not enough to quietly, hesitantly reach through the bars, testing the environment, whispering I'm here, I'm here, do you see me? Sooner or later, it needs to shout.

Metaphorically, at least. You’re not going to yell your emotions at them.

“The thing is,” you begin quietly, without even knowing what you're going to say, or at least how you're going to say it, “people like us don't get to have one simple clear answer about where home is anymore. And I think about that a lot, even if I know there might be no answer to find.”

They nod their understanding, not wanting to interrupt.

“I don't think any of us are supposed to be here. In this world. A place like this was never meant to be a home.” You force yourself to look at them. “But people? They can make up your home. Even from far away. And we’re not far away from each other, right now, but I… I am afraid we might be later. And I don't want that to happen before I say... I feel more home when I’m with you. You're part of my home.”

They're smiling bright, like when you won that 23-inning game together, like when they saw Beasley again, like when you first asked them to practice with you, something like all of that at once but softer. “You're part of my home, too.”

And you laugh, breathless as if all the air has left you along with the words, because for once, you didn't run away. Maybe you're running to your doom, but at least you won't be running alone.

“You know they will probably take me away at the end of the season, right?”

“I know they might try. I know they might try to do me in, too. I was in the wrong place when the world broke, and you were the wrong name on the wrong roster when those first blessings happened. We’re forced to shine for the gods and they can try to burn us out whenever they want, but we're going to fight them with all that we have. Because we have each other in a way that they never will.”

You close the gap until you're leaning on each other, sturdy and safe and everything you want forever. The stadium lights are bright all around you, and nothing but darkness lies beyond, but you close your eyes, because nothing about this place matters, not like the people in it do.

This is what you're going to remember, no matter what shells and flames and feedback might do. This is not why you are here, but it's why you want to be here.

And right now, you're here, together.