#Did you follow X Y and Z with this piece?

[desultory-novice]

Is it weird how most of my OC’s are villains/antagonists?

And most aren’t even puff balls or already known species but I just go wild, that’s because I’m trying to follow the way kirby games create characters by trying to be more and more creative while always trying to stay on familiar grounds.

Am I going too far? Am I still drawing Kirby characters?

I just don’t know if my designs are that good.

Im kinda saying this because I’ve seen several human OC designs and your “OC” (between “” since I don’t know if a pre transformation character can be called OC) Noir is one of the few human designs I actually think fit into Kirby and is overall one of the best designs I’ve seen without being too different and without being too similar, and I just wanna give tell you “well done”, do you have any advice on how to do that?

First off, you'll never ever hear "Oh, that's weird!" from me about designing antagonists! I think it's great! Everything from the complex emotions that led them to oppose our heroes (betrayal, vengeance, greed, hatred, jealousy, etc etc) to just having cool power sets you can go all out on from the beginning, they've got to be some of the most fun you can have designing characters!

It's definitely tricky to create something new that has the potential to fit in a work without it being a take off of something already in the work. I think part of the reason a lot of OC creators stick with puffballs or some other recognizable form (Magolor-alikes, Elfilin-alikes) is that it gives you a sort of bonus modifier to recognizability? Once you've got that, you can move on to adding all the original details without having to surmount that hurdle of "Does this non-Kirby character still look like they could feasibly be in Kirby?"

Of course, there's nothing wrong with just throwing all that out the window and stylizing your design like whoa! Heck, some actual Kirby characters don't look much like Kirby characters. I think back to Dark Mind, who is awfully cool looking and going by his name really should look like the rest of the Dark Matters but theweird...fire/vein/wires look? Is he part-eyeball part-computer??

He looks more like a riff on a Kirby boss than a Kirby boss. (Which makes that thing in Amphibia - apologies, as I've never watched the show - that looks so much like Dark Mind kinda funny in retrospect because it's a clear Kirby reference, but it references the first Dark Matter-like being to look really different from all the other Dark Matters before him!)

Sometimes, you just have to stick with it! Designing OCs is fun, but I know that for me, the meat is in their story. Can I connect with them emotionally? (Villain or no.) If I can do that, then it doesn't matter to me too much what they look like!

Also, it's totally fine to call Noir an OC, lol! I think that about him myself sometimes. (Dess Secret: I've had to push myself to be courageous every time I post a new Apologies comic because a mean voice in the back of my head says "You know everyone's going to be mad you turned a fan favorite last boss into a sadboy!")

But thank you for saying that. As for tips, well...

One thing I did was I kinda cheated by taking recognizable elements (his scarf + turning his tan cape into a long winter coat) from the character he's based off of. The concept for his hair I also stole off of the settei sheet while focusing on making it look somewhat flame like, so it matched DMS's dark flame hair.

But you can do this kind of "element borrowing" even if you're not making a character who is part of a known species! On that note, I guess that's the other thing I did for him was give him very "Adeleine-like" proportions. I mentioned this vaguely in the lightning round post that it's easier to draw for Apologies than it is to draw for MariPav because I try to keep Gijinka Marx and Magolor as approx. 7-8 heads tall humanoids with reasonable proportions.

In game Adeleine's got a big plate face with wide cartoon eyes and these kinda stick limbs. So, by drawing Noir a little taller, with slightly sharper features, and eyes that have a distinct "shape" to them (Rhombus? Is that the word?) but still those spaghetti limbs and almost child-like hands, he manages to look not too out of place standing alongside Adeleine.

Speaking of Adeleine's design, this last tip is not a solid rule, but simplicity is a great place to start when designing characters! When you mess around with both sprite art and chibi art, you learn quickly that little details (jewelry, markings, filigree, iris patterns, dozens of other things that may FEEL important) aren't going to make it into the finished piece. So choose a few bold things (and bold colors to go with them) that you can count on are always going to show.

To dip into some actual Kirby villains...

I think Nightmare's helmet is... a bit of a mess and I hate hate hate it and hate drawing it (what even is with those...antenna like horns?!) but the distinctive pointed witchy nose he's got and the dramatic chin, plus a body wrapped in a cape that looks like a tornado?! (Natural disasters are SCARY!) Those are all good, clearly visible design elements that say this guy is bad news!

(I refuse to listen to the haters. Nightmare is a good boss!)

One of the things that makes Zero 2 such a compelling boss visually is, of all things, the freakin' band-aid on his head, which is in complete contrast to his surreal, angelic design. But that's what makes it so effective! It doesn't seem to belong. "Wait, bosses can't take boo boos!" but because it's so distracting it draws your eye and your mind begins to think "...Is that to cover the spot where Zero broke out of last time we fought?" People make fun of bosses having "magical weak spots" but they're visually very interesting!

(Of course, it's actually the thorn that's the weak spot...)

Even rounder, friendlier bosses like King Dedede stick to having a few visually striking elements. Design-wise, he's a combination of a penguin (who is blue and yellow, because those colors stand out more than black + white) and a medieval Japanese daimyo. But he wasn't given a kimono until Smash Bros, which is fine as there would be no way to visually show that off till 3D graphics got as good as they did. So what they did give him a big round Japanese obi, which you'll always be able to see on him as well continuing the theme of the three primary colors (red, yellow, blue) on him and keeps his round belly from being entirely monochromatic!

Crowned Magolor/Magolor Soul, one of my favorite boss designs, is interesting because the more details the crown picks up (again, the design informs the character, as it twists around like roots and grows in some plant-like thorns, and this is before we saw it become a tree!) the less detailed Magolor becomes. This is so you don't have too much detail conflicting with each other. Your eye isn't too busy trying to "read" both Magolor and the Crown. And when you remove the crown, Magolor's basically a bouncy ball with a face! But he only needs to be a face because the empty eyes are the element they wanted to highlight, in this case showing his powerlessness.

So, to summarize...

Pick a few colors (remember to work some contrast in there! If you've got a lot of dark, scary colors, try adding something colorful and saturated to throw the viewer off. They can still contribute to the creepiness, even if they're not normally bad guy colors. The haunting orange glow of a jack-o-lantern. A bright, toxic-looking science-green! The purple of the sky as the sun sets and night is upon you...) Pick a few design elements to focus on (Large ones too! You should be able to see the most important parts of your character, even if you shrink them down super small!) and well, uh, I accidentally got ahead of myself. I think this step comes first but also, look to the forms of other Kirby characters, even if you're not making something that's a specific call back to them! Don't take their design, but take their shape. Or parts of their shape. In the sprite art community, we have something called "franken-spriting" where you cut out parts of various sprites you like or want to borrow from and then merge them together or redraw over what you've pieced together.

Finally, don't just show us what they look like: make us understand something about them. Back to Noir ever so briefly - I think that what made him effective as a character is that first time I actually drew him (outside of the sketch in Adeleine's notebook) I'd already informed people who he was and what his fate would be. He wasn't just some drawing of a moody teen with an ugly scarf.

He was an unavoidable tragedy waiting to happen.

(That said, you might not want to tell us all the good stuff in one go. Drop some tantalizing details, not every twist and turn up to the denouement! Something I was always told is "less is more!")

Tell us what to sympathize with, love, or fear about your OCs. The things that make them human - yes, even the eldritch monsters!!! - and hopefully your art will both energize other people and...yourself!

Most importantly, keep at it!

[readychilledwine]

Discipline

✨️Kink Education with Elizabeth✨️

Discipline is a huge part of the Dom/sub dynamic in BDSM. Discipline is the actual act of setting rules and boundaries in place for a sub to follow. Discipline is not punishment, but punishment is a part of the Discipline kink.

Discipline is non-sexual in nature. It could be rules as simple as, "you only wear those heels for me," or "when we interact with this person, you do not do x, y, and z." A huge portion of discipline training is based on accountability from the sub and self reporting. Doms will do check ins when they have time, but a well trained sub will self report any rules they have broken without the dom knowing, and will own the rules they have broken in front of the dom.

Breaking rules is what leads to why you are all here, punishment. Punishment can be a variety of sexual and non sexual acts, but I know a favorite here is impact play, so that is the punishment our dear reader will endure. Punishments are decided by the dom based on which rules were broken, how many were broken, and how much they were broken. Punishments should NEVER be given by a dom in a place of anger. If you enter a BDSM dom and sub relationship and your dom tries to punish you when he is angry, LEAVE. That's not a dom. That's a red flag. Punishment should also never be administered without a conversation being had. The sub needs to know exactly why they are being punished in order to actually learn and be trained.

Now, there is a difference between a punishment and a funishment. Punishment is earned by breaking rules that cause your dom to be upset. It is not something a sub is purposely trying to earn. Funishment, like I used in my azris x reader spanking piece (For Science) is used more in brat taming. Brats like to push their doms buttons as much as possible, toying the line with their doms in hopes of getting a funishment. Doms may seem more upset in a funishment since it is an established part of the dynamic, but funishment is still given with love and care and the safety of the sub in mind.

💕Peep the Valentines Day List Here💕

As always, NSFW below the cut

Helion x Reader

Warnings - impact play as punishment, Beron, jealous LoA, dom/sub dynamics, fingering, bratty behavior towards the end, lack of Helions thighs.

Lady Autumn sent you another glare as you held your husband's, your mate's arm kissing the muscle there gently as you did the best you could to look impassive. 

You knew she and Helion were lovers, that she had risked everything to be with him despite her marriage to the cruel male beside her. That had been over 400 years ago, though. You didn't understand how she couldn't just let him go.

You shifted uncomfortably as her glare began to feel heated. No, it was heated. “Andromeda,” you interrupted Tamlin and Rhysand's lovers spat with her name. “If you attempt to set me on fire, again, I personally will declare war on Autumn. It will be the 4th time in a year. Jealously isn't a good enough reason for a 600 year old female to have less control of her powers than I do. Nor is it a good enough reason to outright attack me and blame a loss of control."

Kal whistled next to you, leaning back as he smirked. Thesan's jaw dropped as Beron's gaze shot your way. “And who the fuck are you to decide that his court is able to go to war?”

“My high lady, mate, wife, general of my armies, and the female who ran my court for 50 years,” Helion turned to Andromeda and Beron. “Leave my mate out of our issues. She wasn't even alive when that all happened. She did not ask to be bound to me. She should not be punished for my transgressions."

Beron turned toward his wife, calming her using their bond, and nodded at you. You felt the embarrassment from Helion hit you full force. It was followed by anger and disappointment. You had taken a calculated risk, putting both her and yourself in danger of your husbands’ rage. You could feel as his fingers twitched, and your thigh was squeezed roughly. You were in for an interesting night.

The punishment began by ordering you to stay in your suite for the night. It had been 3 hours, and you knew he was returning soon based on the last tug he sent through the bond. You pulled the blanket higher up, refusing to cry over defending yourself. 

You heard the door open and a heavy glass being set down, followed by footsteps. 

The bed dipped beside you. Helion's hand went to your hair, stroking it lovingly. “Sit up. We need to talk, my sunflower.” You obeyed, leaning back against the headboard. “What is rule number 5?”

Your eyes fluttered shut. “I do not use my title to pull sway over another court.”

“Rule 4?”

“My title is to be exposed at your transgression. The other courts do not need to know for my protection."

“Rule 12?”

“Breaking these rules will lead to punishment as deemed fit by daddy.”

Helion forced you to look at him. “Did you break any rules today?”

You nodded, the accountability Would lessen the punishment. “4, 5, and 6.”

Helion smiled. “What's rule 6?”

“Don't fuck with Beron.”

He counted on his hand. “So 3 rules were broken, and a 4th is on the line. My question, sunflower, is, do I punish you in your home court with your brother just a few doors away, or do I wait until we are home?” 

It was cruel of him to ask you if you wanted to wait, increasing whatever he had planned, or get it over with. “Here.” You threw a sound shield up. “Let's just do it here.” 

Helion nodded and stood. “Up, dress off, bend over the bed.” He watched like a hawk as you removed your dress, leaving the pretty lacy lingerie on and leaned over the bed. “Haven't had to spank you in a long time.” You shivered as he ran his hand up your thighs. “10,” both of his hands came to the plush skin of your ass. “10 with no sex tonight seems very fair. It was self-defense, after all.” You bit down on your bottom lip hard, preventing yourself from arguing and making it worse. “Doesn't that sound fair, y/n?”

You took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”

“And you understand I am not angry anymore? That this was a decision I made with a sound mind?”

“Yes, daddy.” 

He hummed behind you, squeezing your ass again before sighing. “Count for me, princess.” 

There was nowhere for you to go as that first hit came down right below your left butt cheek, stinging the tender flesh there and making you wiggle. “One.” 

Two hands came down, hitting both sides and leaving you without side to wiggle and escape to. He hit harder this time, groaning as your skin began to change color faintly. “Two,” you whimpered. 

“Good girl,” he praised. “Thought I'd be able to trick you on that one. You are so well trained. Who taught you?”

You smiled, turning your head to the side so he could see it. “Daddy did.”

Helion was practically glowing with male pride. “You must have a good daddy.” 

“The best.”

The third spank hit your wet folds, making you yelp at the unexpected stimulation. Skilled fingers immediately found the apex of your thighs, making soft circles there. “Four,” it came out as a moan. 

Another spank came on right, in time with him pressing that bundle of nerves. You grit the count out through your teeth as you began to realize fully what was about to happen. 

6 and 7 were the same. Powerful stinging smacks on the left side repeatedly. You were desperate for anything at this point, wiggling your hips as he continued plucking moan after moan from you as if you were a well tuned harp. 

8 hit below your left cheek, towards the inside of your spread thighs. You yelled loudly as hit landed, struggling not to climb further up the bed. 

You could hear how wet you were. You could feel it running down your thighs. “Being such a good girl,” his voice was low, the timber of it melting you further into the mattress. “Sensational.” 

9 struck you as he plunged two fingers deep into you. The moan of his name was unholy as it echoed the room. “Nine,” your tone was strained, that coil so fucking tight in your stomach you almost could not bare it any longer. 

You knew if you came without permission, it would be worse. So much worse. 

One night without sex would become a week, and if you dared touch yourself, dared to lay a single finger on what was his, that week would become you strapped to a chair watching him fuck whomever he pleased in your place before him and that person overestimulated you and edged you for hours on end.

The final spank was centered on the right side again. He landed it in time with curling his fingers to your gspot. 

You couldn't help but to release a mix of a scream and moan of pleasure and frustration. 

Tears began to fall as you whispered 10 and he continued curling his fingers inside of you. 

You felt like your body was being forced to dangle from a cliff and he was holding on. He could either let you go, let you crash and fall into the valley of pleasure below you, or he could rip it all away. 

And he chose the second. 

His fingers were out of you and he was walking away. Grabbing the lotion you had packed. He moved you across his lap instead of the bed by your hair. 

The lotion felt so cool against the tender and sore flesh, making you whimper for a whole new reason as your thighs continued trying to get any friction they could. 

“What did we learn, sunflower?” His voice was gentle and calm, but where you were laying told another story. His hard cock dug into your side causing you to shift in need.

“Do not break rules.”

“And?”

“Be good for daddy.” 

He sighed, a content happy noise leaving his throat. “Rhysand and I are going to go look at Thesan's new pleasure hall. You are going to stay here and sleep. Understood?” You wanted to protest. Wanted to attend the pleasure hall with your husband and friends. He gave you a look, eyes dancing and hoping for a challenge.

“Yes, daddy.” Two could play this game.

He hid his disappointment and kissed you. “Be good while daddy is gone. I love you.”

You smiled and said it back, watching as he left.

You'd be good in his absence. You waited an hour before your hand slipped into your still soaked panties.

You'd be so good.

General tag list:

@hnyclover @glitterypirateduck @slytherinindisguise @mischiefmanager @bloodicka @starsinyourseyes @the-sweet-psycho

@mariahoedt @rinalouu @sarawritestories @starryhiraeth @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @cumuluscranium

Valentines Day Taglist:

@sfhsgrad-blog @amara-moonlight @eternallyelvish @novaksangel @teenageeggscissorslawyer @thisblogisaboutabook @amygdtjhddzvb

@justasillylittlegoofyguy @avajustreads

@littlestw01f @azriels-shadowsinger @acourtofladydeath

[adorethedistance]

Baby Fever - Trevor Zegras x Reader

Hockey Masterlist

Warnings: swearing, smut adjacent content (post-sex interaction/make out), a joke about cheating, a joke about death, and semen... in that order...

Words: 2322

Requested: Can you please do a trevor blurb where him and y/n go to a pumpkin patch with their nephew and Trevor's playing with their nephew and y/n gets so much baby fever please

A/n: Hey y'all! I'm taking a break from the Jamie series of firsts with a requested fic. I kinda riffed on the request so there are some things you need to know beforehand: 1) they're not babysitting a nephew, they're babysitting Troy Terry's kid Greyson 2) I'm aware Greyson is currently an infant but in this fic he's a toddler 3) I understand you asked for a blurb but I'm ass at writing blurbs 4) therefore this is a part 1. (Part 2 coming soon ish?) Enjoy!

Troy Terry had sworn to never let Trevor Zegras supervise his son. Or at least, before I was in the picture anyway. I had befriended Dani over the course of several Ducks’ games after Trevor and I became official. We somehow managed to have the same schedules despite having vastly different lifestyles; at the time, she was a new mom adjusting to domestic bliss, and I was a senior at UC Irvine preparing for my post-grad plans. Now that I’m not overwhelmed with work as a student, she and I grew pretty close. More often than not, we found ourselves having several hangouts without our guys present. Naturally, I saw Greyson a lot, considering the fact that I would spend my time with Dani in the Terry residence.

Our latest hang out consisted of us gabbing about the latest drama with Greyson’s preschool over a glass of wine. In telling me that Greyson was between daycares right now, I offered to take him off her hands for a night so she and Troy could have a much needed date night. At first, Dani refused, not wanting to dump the responsibility on me, but I insisted. There were several pros: I love kids, Dani has done plenty of favors for me before, Greyson’s already comfortable with me, and they wouldn’t have to pay for a babysitter. Pleased with my argument, Dani agreed and the plans were set. 

This Friday, the team had a day off and rather than having the guys disappear onto the nearest golf course, Dani and Troy began planning their night off, as did Trevor and I.

“Hey, babe, I was thinking about how to spoil you and thought we could get a table at The Ranch tonight. What do you say?” Trevor asks, holding my hips and subtly pinning me against the kitchen counter.

“About that.”

“What’s up?” He asks, deviously dipping his head down. I don’t give in to whatever seduction game he’s playing, and quickly peck him on the lips.

“I kind of made evening plans.” He takes the kiss in stride and looks at me teasingly.

“Is your boyfriend back in town already?”

“Yeah, he wanted to go to The Ranch, too. I just can’t have my boyfriend and my side piece in one place, soooo.” 

“I’ve been demoted to ‘side piece’? Ouch,” Trevor laughs before sliding his hands along my waistband to clasp behind my lower back, and pull me into him so our hips touch. “Fuck. Now you’ll never pick me over him!”

“Oh, that was always the plan. Don’t get it twisted.” He laughs once more before asking,

“What’s going on tonight?” I open my mouth to answer and as I do, he slips his hand down to grab my ass, catching me by surprise.

“Hey!” Right as I scold him, Jamie walks into the kitchen to refill his water bottle. I try to bite back the smile that creeps across my features, flustered by Jamie’s newfound presence. 

“Hey Jamo,” Trevor says casually, to try and ease the awkwardness.

“You guys know I still live here, right?”

“Sorry, Jamie.”

“I’m going grocery shopping. Just try to keep it in your room, Z.” 

“Keep what in my room?” He asks, playing dumb, much to Jamie’s dismay. He merely shakes his head and leaves the kitchen. Watching Jamie leave, Trevor follows with his gaze, tracking Jamie’s movements to the opposite direction until he hears the front door open and close. After, he turns back to face me, “You were saying?”

“I told Dani I would watch Greyson.”

“What?!” I half expected Trevor to be upset, but he’s sporting the widest smile I’ve ever seen.

“Yeah, she and Troy were due for some alone time, so I offered to take him to the pumpkin patch tonight.”

“When?”

“They’re dropping him off around 5.”

“5. What time is it now?” Trevor leans away from me to look at the clock on the oven that reads 2:57. “Oh, we have time.” 

“Time for wha-” I cut myself off with a screech as Trevor picks me up and sits me on the open counterspace. He pushes my knees apart to stand between them, the dominant action in tandem with the cold countertop underneath me sends shivers down my spine. He then kisses me passionately, trailing his fingers up the length of my exposed thighs. His hands find the top of my waistband, running along the hem as he presses his hard on into my core. I hold either side of his face in my hands, squeaking once more as Trevor picks me up and carries me to his bedroom.

___________________________

Panting and still slightly sweaty, I check my phone to see the clock reads 4:43. “Shit.” 

“What?” Trevor asks curiously. He’s laying on top of the covers, fully nude and sprawled out, after having collapsed on the bed next to me.

“It’s 4:43,” I say between sticky breaths. He shuts his eyes and groans loudly,

“Give me, like, five minutes.” 

“Uh, no sir. You need to get me a towel so I can get up and pee.” Trevor’s eyes shoot open and he sits up. 

“Right. Boyfriend duties await.” His expression is humorous and I can’t help but notice the way his abs flex through the movement. If it weren’t too late, I’d have jumped him again, then and there. He rolls off the bed, sliding on the nearest pair of briefs he can find. Trevor then grabs the towel hanging on the doorknob, and walks over to where I am on the bed, propped up on my elbows. The gravity of holding myself up causes the beaded sweat to roll down my cleavage, and on to my stomach where Trevor had finished a few minutes prior. He doesn’t say anything but I clock the way his eyes are trained on my chest as he approaches me. I hold out my hand for the towel but he holds it out of reach. 

“What are you-?” 

“Lay down.” 

“What? Why?”

“Just do it!” I confusedly put my head back on his pillow and Trevor grabs both ends of the towel, opening it up to lay it over me. “I’m calling it. Time of death, 4:44 PM. Rest in peace, Y/n, I’ll miss you.”

“Oh my god,” I say from under the towel. Pulling it off my face, I sit back up to find Trevor snickering at his own joke. “Are you proud of yourself?”

“Very.” He leans down and places a sweet kiss on my lips. When he pulls away, my eyes flutter open and he gently lifts the towel to cover his hand, then wipes off the leftover fluid. I look up at him as he moves, a soft smile of adoration painting my features. Trevor looks down at me and widens his eyes teasingly before relaxing to smile at me again.

The sound of the front door opening echoes down the hall and from the entrance we hear Jamie call, “I’m back! Please tell me you’re clothed!”

“Don’t worry about it, Jamo!” Trevor calls back before wadding up the used towel and throwing it at me.

“Ew!” I should’ve known him being sweet wasn’t going to last. Sliding off the side of the bed, I pick up my clothes and walk into the bathroom to pee. After I’m dressed again, I come out to see Trevor had thrown on the outfit he was wearing earlier: a v-neck polo and board shorts. 

“You can’t wear that,” I say in disbelief.

“Why?” Trevor looks at me in confusion. Turning to the mirror that hangs on the back of the door, he takes in the fresh hickeys littered across his exposed chest. “Oh shit.” The revelation is perfectly timed with a knock on the door. Nudging Trevor out of the way, I exit his bedroom and leave him to change. Jamie is unloading groceries with his airpods in and I wave when I walk by to signal that we’re done and he can exist peacefully again. 

Answering the front door reveals Dani and Troy in the nicest casual clothing I’ve ever seen. The Terry’s smile upon seeing me and I look at Greyson who’s sitting on Dani’s left hip.

“Hi Grey!” I cheer and he immediately smiles. I then notice Troy holding what seems to be Greyson’s booster seat and as I go to reach for it, Trevor appears behind me. Greyson runs inside and begins punching Trevor’s leg with all the might his almost-four year old arms can manage. I laugh but Dani scolds,

“Greyson, we don’t hit people, remember?” He immediately stops, thinks for a moment, and then proceeds to throw punches at Trevor but without making contact. Dani sighs exhaustedly before saying, “Good enough.”

“How’s it going, man?” Trevor asks Troy, causing Dani and me to look at the guys incredulously.

“You saw each other yesterday,” I tease. Trevor shrugs as he takes the car seat from Troy. 

“Terry’s my boy though,” He responds somewhat jokingly. Greyson then speaks up,

“What about me?” The group laughs about the sweet question but Greyson isn’t amused. He looks around, confused, before stepping further into the apartment to scope it out. Greyson then yells, “I wanna go to the pumpkin patch!”

“Read you loud and clear, bud,” Trevor replies. Then, Dani asks practically,

“What time do you need him out of your hair?” To which I reply,

“Oh don’t worry about it, we can hang onto him for as long as y’all need.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, well, his bed time is eight, and that’s usually around when we get tired anyway, so we’ll be here around then?.”

“8 it is,” I say with a smile, leaning away to look at Greyson fully. He smiles shyly before hiding his face against Trevor’s leg. “Why are you being shy, Grey-Grey?” I ask, looking down at his level. 

“I think he has a little bit of a crush on you.”

“Really?” I ask with a tiny bit of a laugh. Troy chimes in,

“Yeah, he was super excited when she told him you were the one babysitting-” 

“He’s been looking forward to it all week.” Dani finishes Troy’s sentence before they look at one another and smile, “In fact, he told me he has something to tell you, right Grey?”

“You’re pretty, Y/n,” He admits before running away, which causes the four of us to laugh.

“I told you my boyfriend was back in town,” I tease, which then makes Trevor laugh heartily. Turning back to Dani and Troy, they both look confused and I feel my cheeks grow warm in embarrassment.

“Inside joke,” I reassure. They nod and offer a few goodbyes to me, Trevor, and Greyson, before heading out for good. 

Closing the door behind us, Trevor sets down the car seat and says,

“I gotta up my game now that I have competition.”

“Yeah, so behave!” Trevor touches his left hand to his heart, giving me a look that reads melodramatically offended, “You’re currently in the lead, though.”

“I better be,” he bites back, wrapping his arm around the back of my body, coming to rest his right hand on my hip. His thumb brushes the hem and I look up at him over my left shoulder, 

“You’re still turned on?” I whisper, in shock. Trevor doesn’t reply. His hand slinks down to my ass as he kisses my lips heatedly, before he goes to follow Greyson’s path. I follow close behind and see Greyson’s found Jamie in the kitchen.

“Can I have one?!” Greyson shrieks upon finding a box of fruit by the foot. Jamie laughs at his excitement before asking,

“Do your parents even let you have sugar?” The dry humor is lost on the young child but I snort a laugh. 

“I’ve had these before in my lunch!”

“...Okay, sure. Let me open it for you. I don’t trust you to not destroy the box.”

“Jame, can you keep an eye on him for a second so we can get shoes on?” Trevor asks.

“He just got here and you’re already pawning off your responsibility on me?” Jamie playfully accuses Trevor, who looks offended. I laugh, partially at Jamie’s joke, and partially at watching Trevor misunderstand his roommate in real time. Jamie looks at me and we laugh about the joke going over Trevor’s head. 

I then head for the bedroom to search for the shoes I was once wearing. Trevor enters a little after I do to pull a pair of white sneakers from his closet. He’s uncharacteristically quiet. I almost want to ask what for, but then I’m overcome with the desire to let him stew in the silence. If I wait long enough, he’ll have to speak. He always does. Or, at least, he usually does. 

“Do you want kids?” He works up the nerve to ask, quickly adding, “Someday?” in hopes of softening the blow of the genuine conversation topic.

“Probably someday,” I answer simply, which sends him back into an introspective silence for a moment.

“How many kids would you want?” I look over at him to see he’s staring at me, as if tearing his gaze away would shatter the moment. I continue putting on my shoes,

“I think two is a good number. That way they can have a sibling, but not so many that they would feel their needs went unmet. Why?”

“I could do two,” Trevor says assuredly, ignoring my question.

“Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but you’re about two rings short of trying to have a baby with me right now,” I assert in a teasing way, although I’m not joking. The tension of the conversation dissipates as Trevor laughs. 

“Fair point,” Trevor squints his eyes at me, “But we can still practice, right?” I laugh again before nodding,

“We can at least agree on that.”

***

a/n: hope y'all enjoyed that and stay tuned for part 2 that'll drop sometime this week or next. let me know if you have a request for either Trevor or Jamie bc I'm on a ducks kick rn! Sidenote: is anyone else absolutely obsessed with the fact that we can copy paste tags now?? saves so much time !!!

[familyabolisher]

Apologies if you've answered this before, but I've been following you for a while and the way you approach literary analysis is so interesting, and your takes have made me reflect on and reconsider the way I approach a text and how to respond to it! So I wanted to ask: when you read other people's takes/analysis for a particular piece of media, how do you determine if it's good or not? And not in a way where you decide it's "good" in the sense that the person you're reading has uncovered the One True Interpretation you could get out of that piece of media, but in the sense where you feel like it was worth your time, and hit the spots that you're looking for in particular when it comes to media analysis.

I'm asking because I've taken to reading more media analysis and commentary online a lot more nowadays, and sometimes I'll read something I'm not quite satisfied with but can't exactly articulate why I feel that way. I never know if it's in the particular language used or in the length, or in the details, because frequently I find that at the end of my reading I don't even disagree with the take or its premise, which makes my dissatisfaction all the more confusing. So I do like hearing about how other people approach things to try and figure things out for myself, and I respect a lot of your positions, so. How do you do it?

Thank you! I feel like “good/bad” is a very broad framework to be using here; I wonder if it might be more helpful to come to conclusions about analytical work based on how useful you found it. There’s a lot of critical work that I consider to be completely useless to me, but that doesn’t necessarily make it ‘bad’ or even ‘wrong’; it’s just not doing what I want it to be doing. Some questions you might want to ask could include:

Is this elucidating? Does this explain what it purports to explain, does it answer the questions it wants to answer and/or pose new questions that weren’t immediately legible in the text? Has it developed an idea clearly? Has it given you some new angles from which you can think about the text? In short: did you get something from reading it?

Is the argument followed to its furthest possible conclusion? What I mean by this is like, media analysis is often a process of asking a lot of “why” questions: why is X like this? Why is this significant? Why X and not Y?—over and over until you run out of questions to ask. I think the big thing to watch out for here is whether or not a piece of analysis lays out its observations as though events, characterisation, relationships, etc., are phenomena emerging organically (as though it were “real life”) rather than being narrative choices made with intention (and some impetus towards figuring out what that intention is). Saying that X character is like Y is far less compelling than saying X character is like Y because Z when Z is an argument that extends beyond the boundaries of the narrative itself. Narratives are a series of deliberate choices; we want to know why those choices were made and whether we agree with them.

To give an example: let’s say we’re talking about the significance of Shiv’s pregnancy in the final episode of Succession. Following it through to its conclusion might look like this:

I start out by saying, “Tom being favoured over Kendall as CEO of Waystar is in part due to Shiv’s pregnancy reaffirming the Roy family bloodline, something that Roman establishes Kendall as being functionally incapable of doing.” The first question we should ask here is: why is reaffirming the bloodline significant?

From here we can say, well, we know it’s significant because Roman uses the word ‘bloodline’ to mark Tom/Shiv as favourable, and this tells us that there is a logic of eugenics running through Logan’s empire. This is good, but we’re still operating in wholly diegetic territory ie. the only terms we’re setting for our argument are those of describing conditions internal to the narrative. The next question we’re asking is: why are the Succession writers bringing this question of eugenics and bloodlines into play here?

From here, we can go in a bunch of different directions—for argument’s sake, we can think about Succession’s relationship to imperial/monarchic narratives of dynastic succession crises and how the show generates tension in part by transposing those narratives onto an American capitalist media empire in order to suggest that networks of capitalist hegemony and the means by which such a hegemony is sustained can be discursively linked back to such dynastic interplay. We might then point to eg. Caroline and the British aristocracy and this question of blood purity that Logan’s relationship with her + his discarding of Connor introduces; can we think about the British imperial aristocracy as a crutch on which American capitalism rests, or are we being asked to consider how these imperial superpowers are a) functionally interchangeable and b) mutually sustaining, or? We can look at the fact that Sophie Roy is brown and Iverson is implied to be autistic (and obviously the fact that neither is biologically related to Kendall and the suggestion that social ‘inferiority’ is therefore hereditary) to identify whose bloodline a practice of eugenics within hegemony seeks to retain and who it seeks to dispossess, and how this links back to the willingness on the part of the siblings to collude with (or even openly support) a fascist when it becomes in their best interest to do so. We can ask questions about reproduction of the bloodline as a means of reaping the rewards of hegemony (Shiv) or punishment within the borders of said hegemony for impotence and sexual deviance (Kendall and Roman). All of these lead us from arguments about the internal conditions of the Roy family towards conditions of the ruling class articulated through the family structure. All of this is compelling, but it begs the question of: why are we able to extrapolate all of these conclusions from the narrative configuration of the Roy family? Where in the text is it evinced that this kind of metonymic reading is coherent?

Finally, we link this back to Succession by understanding the Roy family as effectively metonymic for the ruling class as a united body (and why it’s effective for a family unit to take on such a metonymic role! What does this tell us about the relationship between the cluster of kinship relations we call the “family” and hegemony?) as is pretty transparently evinced throughout the show, and which is what gives meaning to this series of observations and allows us to extract an argument towards thematic significance out of what was initially just a set of observations about what was ‘happening’ on-screen.

I hope this is a clear example—I just went with it because most people on this website are at least passably fluent in Succession by now, lmao. The point is, you keep asking questions until you’ve followed the throughline through as far as it can be followed. In evaluating a piece of critical writing, you always want to be asking: why is this there? Why is this important? A weaker piece of critical writing will often avoid or else seem not to consider these sorts of questions. As a general rule of thumb, the more a work of critical writing seems to take for granted, the weaker it tends to be.

How well does the argument match the expectations you might have? Is this line of interrogation something that you’ve considered before, and what conclusions did you draw? Does the argument fall in line with your conclusions; does it challenge or develop them by introducing something you hadn’t considered, or do you think that your understanding identified something that the argument missed? If you were asked the question that the piece purports to respond to, how would you respond?

What are the blind spots of the argument? This is similar to the above, but is specifically concerned with asking what the piece might have missed or what assumptions might be limiting its scope. This means looking for the assumptions upon which the argument rests and trying to unpack and challenge them in order to understand how they took the form that they did. An example of this might be the kind of “female rage”/“teenage girl ferality” arguments you often see circling about Yellowjackets: what narrative does this idea of girls’ youthful ‘rage’ implicitly exonerated from harm contribute to? What do we do when we reify the idea of ‘teenage girlhood’ as a unique, impenetrable state that affords those who ‘experience’ it a uniquely elevated condition, or when we flatten these characters into the apparently equalised category of ‘teenage girl’? How do these arguments elide questions of race in Yellowjackets as regarding eg. Lottie or Taissa, and how can we follow them through to think about blind spots not only in the argument but in the show itself? No argument can feasibly encompass every possible nuance and perspective that one could bring to a text, obviously, but a stronger piece of critical writing will try to get into these underlying assumptions with depth and thoughtfulness and try to put some work into showing why they came to the conclusions that they came to; again, it’s about what gets taken for granted, what the writer presumes can go unspoken, and whether we ought to drag it to the surface and take a better look at it.

How well is the argument substantiated? Here I would expect reference to the source material—how well are these references selected? Are they consistent? Is there some cherry-picking happening—can you think of a point in the text where the claims being made might be challenged or contradicted? Does the argument impose stasis or unilaterialism onto something that in the text is in fact depicted as dynamic or otherwise in development? How well does this hold up with your interpretation of these moments—can you interpret them differently? What do you make of that ambiguity?

Can you place a value judgement on the argument made? In other words: do you agree? This is basically just about synthesising your responses to all the other questions and evaluating how on the mark you think the argument is; how you would respond to it, how you might develop it, how it might have developed your understanding of the work or else can be applied to other parts of the text (or indeed, other texts).

Ultimately I think the best thing you can do here is develop your own positions on texts to the best of your ability—I find that writing my arguments out helps me to get to grips with them better—and engaging with analytical work relative to that, ie. going in with your own solid sense of understanding from which your response can be crafted; I have an older post here on some of the questions you can start asking when you’re looking to do so. Obviously this means keeping an open mind towards arguments that contradict your own or that you may not have thought of before, but knowing what you think and why you think it will make it a lot easier to notice what might be missing or contradictory in someone else’s work (or, again, what you yourself might have missed). Critical work is (imo) best thought of as a dialogue rather than a straightforward imparting of knowledge; how someone else’s analysis informs your own, and how yours informs theirs, without flattening this dynamic into a deference of superior authority on either end, is the clearest and most productive way to think about it all.

I hope this is helpful!

[loptrcoptr]

It’s come to my attention that a lot of people in the BES fandom are new to fandom-culture in general (or lack there of; we denizens of tumblr are residents of a cesspool) and don’t know a lot of general old school online manners, laid down in Days of Yore by earlier generations. So let me bring up a crucial one that is generally being ignored on tumblr in the BES-sphere: ship tagging!

I am not doing this to condescend, I genuinely want to be helpful and to help us all enjoy our enclosure and our enrichment in said enclosure together. I think a lot of grief going around the blue eye samurai world on social media could be solved if everyone remembered one good old cardinal rule of fandom bullshit:

you do not put ship wank in a ship’s general tag.

let me say that one more time in different terms:

If you want to rant about how much you hate a ship, general practice has always been, on tumblr anyway, not to do so in the safe space created for said ship.

once again, lemme be very clear; I don’t give one rat’s ass or 800 collective asses of rats what you ship, why you ship it, whether you ship anything at all, why you hate x y z, etc. That’s great, that’s what fandom is for! Enjoy yourself! The issue is that there’s all this infighting fuckery going on that is exhausting to even watch from the sidelines, and I think there’s a lot of confusion as to why anyone is fighting over any of this shit at all as it is 2024 and ship wars are 2011 superwholock garbage that we all collectively agreed to jettison into space by 2015, ya feel me?

(and if you like to start shit and throw hands then obv this post isn’t for you as you know what you’re doing, this is for the folks who don’t know and are confused as to why they can’t rant without blowback)

So if you’ve gotten on tumblr recently and noticed your anti-ship post blowing up for some reason or other and asked yourself “Jesus why are these assholes from that ship always coming for me?? They’re such dicks!!” ask yourself:

did I tag them in my post?

Because when you tag a ship in a post about how much you hate it, it’s not a beacon that says “Hear Ye Hear Ye, Interacteth Not Ye Fuckos From Ship I Hate, This Is About How Much I Hate Your Ship”. For that to be the case, you would need old-school anti-ship tag nomenclature, like this: #anti-[shipname] or #[shipname] wank. Those tags would communicate your intent to rant, which is your sacred fandom right to enjoy doing! It is not, however, your sacred fandom right to enjoy doing it in the wrong space, that’s what’s happening here. A post that tags a ship with its normal tag, but whose content is anti/wank content about said ship, sends the signal: “ayyooo, who would like to debate this with me?”

So, does all that make sense? If you tag your post analyzing all the reasons why you think a ship sucks with #ship, you are encouraging everyone who ships that ship to interact with your post. It’s like rocking up to somebody’s house, ringing the doorbell, and saying “I hate your fugly ass piece of shit house, asshole” and then getting irritated when the homeowner responds with “who the fuck are you, get off my lawn?!”

#anti-[shipname], #[shipname] hate (forgot about that one, also useful), and #[shipname] wank do two very useful things:

1) They let other people who want to gleefully rant with you know that you’re on the level and they give like minded individuals a chance to follow those tags so you can have more rant sessions together, and

2) they minimize likelihood of involvement by the shippers you’re ranting about, who can block the tag, while keeping the ship’s normal tag open for the people who enjoy it

tldr; *swordfather voice* it would be bitchin if people could stop bitchin in the wrong places so that we can all coexist like adults here, touch some grass, and chill. Tag ship hate #anti-[shipname], #[shipname] wank, or #[shipname]-hate and keep it out of the general pro-ship tags :)

if your response to this is “don’t tell me what to do, cuntwaffle” or “I have an unhealthy relationship with the idea of shipping and think no one should have a safe environment to enjoy media except me and people I agree with so I will continue to poison the waters” then ok, cool beans, keep on chooglin’; but know that everytime you walk into a tea party you weren’t invited to and yell I HATE YOUR FUCKING TEA YOUR TEA SUCKS ASS blowback is a bit inevitable

[daaydreamy]

the sensual woman

summary: a day after harry and y/n’s date, she’s back at the bakery.

warnings: coarse language

pairing: harry styles x fem!reader

•••

“Big day, big day!”

Y/N grinned at Harry as she took the coffee and muffin she wanted from the counter, raising the cup in the air a bit as she started to walk out of the bakery. Harry was just standing there, like a complete fucking idiot, lips parted and cheeks warm. He watched her every single movement until her car wasn’t in front of the bakery anymore, still unmoving. 

As soon as she came in she was smiling brightly, her shoes clacking against the floor as she walked over to the display. She was making small talk with Harry, even teasing him a little, as she looked over what was ready to eat. She had even mentioned the small kiss they shared last Saturday night, murmuring to Harry quietly that she would be completely open to doing it again afterwards. Her hands were in the pockets of her black slacks and Harry just couldn’t stop looking. He probably looked like a complete wanker just staring at her but his eyes just couldn’t seem to tear away from her long-sleeved shirt that had kiss marks along the collar and her loose tie that accompanied it. 

“Big day…” Harry murmured quietly to himself, finally gathering himself after getting lost in his thoughts a little. He finally put the cash she put down on the counter into the register, wiping his slightly clammy hands against his apron whilst gulping dryly. 

He looked up from the sound of a small jingle, seeing a new customer come in. 

Right, he had a job to do. 

•••

“So, how’d it go?”

Y/N jumped a little from the sudden sound of Zayn’s voice, glaring at him a little as she went into her office. He followed her in, sitting down on the empty seat she had near her desk. He placed his sketchbook down and opened it up to his most recent page so they could look over his new sketches—and Y/N’s, except her sketches were hung up all over her office—together. 

“Why do you care?” She huffed out and looked down at Zayn’s work, biting her lower lip a little. She admired his work, really. Absolutely adored it. 

“Alright, calm the attitude a little.” He mumbled, “Just, you know, curious.” Zayn shrugged and she hummed, flipping to the next page. 

“It was great.” She sighed sort of dreamily, unable to hold back the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. She looked up from the book to look at Zayn, “He’s really cute, Z. It’s unbelievable. He even told me this joke, he said, “Why did the bike fall over?”” She recited the joke Harry said while they were having dinner. She still remembered how Harry had gone slightly pink-cheeked from her laughter, trying to hide it by looking down at his plate to poke at a piece of pasta. 

“Why?”

“It was two-tired.”

Y/N was smiling brightly, even laughing a little, but Zayn was looking at her confusedly because who the fuck finds that funny? He fake-laughed and Y/N must have noticed how she was giggling, folding her lips into a line as she looked at Zayn. She found it funny, alright? It wasn’t her fault she liked jokes like that. 

She coughed, fixing her shirt a little, “Anyway, the date went great.”

“Right.” Zayn chuckled. 

•••

Yesterday. (Sunday, the day after the date.)

“How’d it go, eh?” Niall said as he came over to sit down on the couch, where Harry was eating cereal quietly with his legs crossed, watching a show on the TV. 

“Great.” Harry said simply, darting to lick over the drop of milk that was threatening to fall off his lower lip. “We kissed before I left.” He said nonchalantly, trying to keep his cool. He was actually still so unbelievably giddy, even after sleeping for nine hours. His heart wouldn’t quit it. He was still even trying to figure out if it was all a dream or not, because it surely felt dreamy. Even when he woke up, he just had to replay that exact moment in his head.

“Nice one, H.” Niall said, taking a bite out of his granola bar, “Ya like her?” He then asked and Harry smiled. 

“Yeah, I think.”

•••

Like clockwork, Y/N was coming into the bakery at 7 PM, the soft knock of her shoes against the floor soft. Harry pushed his glasses up his nose a bit, smiling softly as she walked close to the counter, opening his mouth to greet her, only for him to be surprised by the feeling of her hand on the back of his neck and her lips against his. His cheeks immediately went red-hot at her forwardness, but he didn’t want to stop. In fact, he was just about to melt against her like a scoop of ice cream, until she unfortunately pulled away. 

She was smiling, her lipstick smudged a little. 

“Can I…” She looked over to where you could go behind the counter and Harry nodded swiftly. She quickly made her way around the counter and wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck, about to kiss him once more, only for her to pull back. 

“Esther isn’t here, right?”

“Nope.” He said softly and she kissed him again. His arms were around her waist, her body firmly pressed against his now.

As soon as Y/N licked over the seam of Harry’s lips, he was a goner. 

He whimpered quietly into her mouth, letting her tongue explore his own. She started moving slowly, and kept going until Harry’s back hit the wall softly, holding him there. His soft sounds were so pretty and despite the fact that she was starting to run out of her breath, she wanted to kiss him until her lungs were burning and on fire. She wanted to kiss him until she could no longer breathe, because she knew his kiss was enough to keep her alive. 

Eventually, though, (and unfortunately) Y/N pulled away for some air. Their faces were still incredibly close to each other’s, eyes staring into each other’s and panting into wet mouths. Y/N’s eyes flickered down to Harry’s lips, where she saw her red lipstick smeared all over his mouth messily, bringing her thumb up to wipe away some that went past the corner of his mouth. Harry only seemed to get even more flustered at that, breath hitching. 

“You’re so easy to fluster.” She chuckled softly, “Are you alright with my place?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Harry replied breathily, making her smile.

So then they got in her car. 

Harry was antsy, Y/N noticed, unable to sit still in the passenger’s seat, and once she started driving she placed her hand on his thigh, moving her thumb back and forth gently, Harry’s heart started beating a little faster again. She took her hand away eventually and Harry had to keep his cool, focused on looking out the window and watching the cars pass by. 

“Calm down a little, yeah?” Y/N glanced at Harry and chuckled as she put her keys into her doorknob, pushing the door open and allowing Harry to enter before closing it. 

“So-” Harry started, only for Y/N to cut him off for what seemed like the millionth time already (though, he wasn’t complaining, he would never complain.) He felt like putty and Y/N wouldn’t stop playing with him. Even her shoving her keys into the pocket of her coat whilst shrugging it off made him feel hot inside, like a campfire that someone wouldn’t stop throwing wood into. 

“Ever since I walked into that bakery I’ve wanted to kiss you.” She kissed the corner of his mouth, murmuring softly. Her kisses started traveling over to his jaw soon after and he gulped, noticing how she was starting to pull her tie off. “You have no idea how bad I’ve wanted to have you like this.”

“I- hmm,” Harry was about to say something, but she found just the right spot on his neck, causing him to whimper. Noticing his reaction, she paid more attention to that one spot, licking over it and nipping at it lightly. 

“What’s that?” She pulled back, tilting her head to the side a little. There was a teasing smile playing on her lips and he realized she was starting to put her tie around his neck. “I’ve barely even done anything and you’re so, so flustered.” She teased, loosely tying the narrow fabric in her hands around his neck. 

“I just,” He paused, suddenly nervous, “I’ve never done this before.” He said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never, you know…” He mumbled, toying with the end of Y/N’s tie. 

“Oh.” Y/N’s eyes widened a little, “Then… are you sure about this? We can take it slow if you want. We can probably just, like, watch a movie if you’d like, I don’t mind.”

“No!” He suddenly blurted out, flushing. “No, I-I want this. I’m sure about that. Just… I’m not, you know, like experienced. So, I’m afraid of it not being good for you, and stuff like that.”

Y/N was smiling. 

“God, Harry, you’re precious.”

a/n: i gotta score tonight man ! i’m horny, you know what i mean ? horny !

🏷: @crow-i-guess, @planetflos, @harrycanyonmoonn, @bxtchboy69, @sweet-as-lilacs, @lyricalniall, @venusincleo (couldn’t tag you!), @bxbun111, @tenaciousperfectionunknown, @emispleased, @goldenhrry, @cinnamongirlrry, @manifestrry, @niallhoranshotgf, @sad1esgf, @taylorsreputationsversion, @violetsandfluff, @purplefishingline, @a-strange-familiar, @moonlightbea-33 (couldn’t tag you!), @famedrs-blog, @coochiesteak, @blahblahblah-888 (couldn’t tag you!), @milesisntdonewritingyet, @harrysgoth, @theroosterswife24, @cinnamonlola, @youcan-nolonger-run

[aj1dordinary]

GRWM to participate in a life or death brawl!

platonic!Johnny Cage x platonic!gen-z!reader; neutral!Kenshi Takahashi x neutral!reader; platonic!Raiden x platonic!reader; platonic!Kung Lao x platonic!reader; platonic!Lui Kang x platonic!reader

@one-green-frog @whore-of-many-hot-men xox

thank you guys for showing love to my very first piece! i look forward to providing you with as much content that i can pump out! now that i’ve essentially finished the general background info, I’m gonna try to follow the storyline as closely as possible while also developing the lore for !reader. bear with me pls! don't know about any relationships taking place, but that may change. anyway, enjoy! xox

“hey guys! welcome back to my channel! as you all know, johnny and i decided to take a little vacation in between some of his big projects. that doesn’t mean that you miss out on all the action though so here’s a quick little get ready with me in this rehab facility he checked us into!” you poke your tongue out and shoot a peace sign to the camera before turning it around and showing the beautiful scenery of the monk academy.

“y/n! check this shit out!” johnny wails, he began showing his improved skills by throwing punches at a wooden dummy and with an uppercut, knocked the head a good 5 yards away. 

you whistle and track the trajectory of the dummy head with your phone. you’d managed to ration out your battery life despite filming and posting an abundance of johnny’s new life of martial arts. 

johnny runs over after to see the video for himself and as you play it back for him, he notices someone looking on with great disdain. 

“kenshi, man! I’m telling you, if you wanna piece, all ya gotta do is ask.” he makes a show of it by flexing his arms and posing as if he was back on the red carpet. 

kenshi rolls his eyes and lets out a puff of air, “i dont want anything you have to offer, john.” he crossed his arms and turns his attention toward the other guys that lui kang recruited to be the power rangers of earthrealm. 

you learned that kung lao and raiden were their names. you had to stop johnny from getting himself cancelled as he tried to make references to Godzilla when the men clearly were not of that origin. but they were cool people, you’d have to make a mukbang with them one day for sure. you paused, realizing you were no better in terms of geography.

“oh really? not even sentō?” speaking of being an antagonistic asshole, johnny removed the sword from his back and waved it around, trying to perform swift and severe moves as a ninja would. he made it a goal to make the sounds as well. 

you just stood at the ready, phone already recording and the sound picking up the popping of bubblegum in the background. a week in and you traded in your black flats and pantsuit for the same training attire that the guys were wearing. you were by no means throwing any punches, but you’d be damned if you didn’t match for aesthetic purposes.

kenshi stopped in his tracks, “oh i think you done did it now, johnny baby…” you twirl a curl of hair between your fingers, lowkey focused more on the rippling muscles and raging testosterone that put itself on display for you.

“now, now. if there is gonna be a brawl of any sorts, its going to be the one that decides who our champion of earthrealm will be.” 

“ahhh, the all-knowing, all-powerful always has such perfect timing,” you coo. “what’s hopping kangaroo?” 

“ah, i’ve been managing the behind the scenes of the competition. making sure all is in order for whomever our champion will be.” he smiles genuinely before bowing before you out of kindness. you would be rude to not return it.

“which is totally going to be me.” kung lao says affirmatively before throwing his makeshift razor-hat. it passes just over your head before getting imbedding in the side of a building.

“watch were you throw that thing! you kill my assistant, you replace her!” johnny pokes at his shoulder.

“nice to know that you value and care for her…” raiden chips in. 

“word.” was all you said in agreement.

“right…” lui kang claps his hands together, looking over the lively bunch in front of him. part of you wonders if he was beginning to regret his choice in heroes.

“as I was saying, today is the day. whoever comes out victorious in the matches will be earthrealm’s champion and will go on to battle against outworld warriors to defend the title. we will start with johnny and kenshi.”

“y/n, watch me beat his ass real quick.” 

“best 2 out of 3?” you say as you join lui kang on the sidelines. he simply nods.

“round 1… fight!” you say before banging the gong.

“beat his ass, johnny! wooooo!” you jump and cheer from the sidelines. 

“finish me johnny cage~” a robotic voice chimed from your phone. the sideline goes silent before you mutter a quick “oops” to check what the fuck just happened. 

you’re accidentally livestreaming. the voice being someone who donated. well, gotta get paid someway. you turned the phone back on the action, watching as donors flooded the chat, saying how sexy johnny looked when he was fighting and the whole nine yards.

“chat thinks you’re so cool right now. don’t disappoint!”

and how could he? with a swift uppercut, kenshi called it quits for the first round while he regained his balance and strength. 

“you’re not done yet johnathan carlton!” you call. he runs over as you take a gatorade bottle and squeeze the contents into his mouth and a little bit on your hands before smacking the shit out of him. “you get out there and you finish it!” he nods without a word before bumping your fist. when he turns to get back in the ring, you deliver a swift slap to his ass for encouragement.

“does that actually help?” raiden comments. he wouldn’t lie, he was tickled by the nonchalant relationship you and Johnny exhibited.

“nah. he just has a really nice ass.” you say, body language unwavering.

it definitely wasn’t helping. he was getting his shit handed to him this round. so much so, he tagged you in.

“whyyyyy am I here! i’m so quitting after this!” you scream as you block many of kenshi’s attacks. johnny, who claims he is just taking a breather, now acted as cameraman as he and the chat giggled at your attempts to evade kenshi.

lui kang had a smirk on his face as he watched the growing potential in you. Despite your obvious fear, you were evading kenshi’s offensive moves quite diligently. He eventually spoke with the goal to guide you.

“compose yourself, y/n. you’re bouncing all over the place, use that momentum for something else.”

you were desperately running out of air from running around the ring, but you couldn’t let up or else kenshi would deploy his frustrations about johnny on you (mmmmm). despite your fear, you heard lui kang’s voice and man, does this god have a voice of reason. you had to obey. so you placed your trust in it and stopped before quickly ducking.

 In doing so, you felt a gust of wind fly over your head, surely a devastating blow from kenshi. you then turned and blindly threw a punch. surprisingly, you made contact, square in the middle of his chest. he gasped for air as the assault caused it all to exit his lungs and drop to his knees. he looked up at you with a fire burning in his eyes. you did not wait to continue and tagged johnny back in.

“now who’s the kangaroo?” lui kang smiled.

“you must think you’re so funny.” you respond, completely stale-faced.

johnny ended up losing the second round, before recovering and winning the final round. quickly though, he was thrust into battle with kung lao where he lost. 

“a brawl between old pals,” you start. “how you feeling kung fu panda?” you put the camera directly up to his eyebrows on a 0.5x setting, getting an insane shot of his forehead.

“first, you’re no better than johnny,” you gasp. “second, i’m feeling really confident.” he finishes. 

“and you ray ray?” you proceed to give him the same media coverage.

“i’ve been waiting for this day for a while.”

“oh he’s so gonna beat your ass”

and you should’ve bet money on it too as raiden came out victorious. 

“so these outworlders, they hot? mutated? what exactly should we be expecting God-Almighty?” johnny asks but not without you delivering a swift elbow to his side for his crudeness. 

“outworlders do have an enhanced strength compared to humans. some also have powers like me.” lui kang demonstrated with his possession of fire.

“so what’s raiden got that can go up against people like you.” kenshi spoke up, finally seeming over the bitterness of his loss earlier. 

“i am always prepared. raiden, i bestow upon you the element of lightning. i ensure that it will aid you tenaciously. i am certain earthrealm will remain in good hands with you.” He hands the amulet over and raiden immediately demonstrated his new abilities by electrocuting the shit out of some training dummies. 

“ok one, he just literally roasted the fuck outta y’all and two, can he charge my phone with this new ability.” 

“can you be serious for one moment?” kenshi grumbled.

“oh im sorry, i thought someone who’s ass i kicked earlier had something to say?” you retort.

he was ready to respond again, but lui kang redirected the conversation.

“it is time. we must depart. outworld is expecting us.” he begins to move his hands in the same circular motion as before and another portal beings to open up.

“y/n! y/n! Look!” johnny points as if he was kid asking his parent capture his performance.

“i got it johnny, damn! it’s not like this isn’t my whole ass job.” you roll you eyes as you break your slowly dying phone out again. before entering the portal, lui kang turned to you,

“i trust that you won’t be getting yourself in trouble?” he raised an eyebrow, his playful demeanor replaced with a serious one.

“don’t worry kangaroo, i’ll be doing the PR work for both johnny and i. count on me to clean up any mess these boys make. it’s all in the job description.”

his face screwed up in thought before he nodded.

“Let us show these outworlders what we are made of.” he led first through the portal.

-end-

I will update as much as I can but just know I am a college student with other commitments. bear with me!

[damnfandomproblems]

/765811979817533440/6218-god-some-people-are-really-fucking

Bro this shit is not okay. It's one thing if you didn't enjoy a particular bit of a piece of media (such as a ship) and to even do something like write a fanfic where your OTP is the canon one, or maybe the ship is written better than it was in the show/whatever. Like, IDK maybe you thought X had more chemistry with Y than he did with Z, or maybe X and Z are canon and you like that, but think it felt really rushed, so you fleshed out their relationship more.

But it's a completely other thing to do that to someone's personal ocs and shit on the person who owns them just because you didn't like something they did. What the fuck? There's the argument that once you post your ocs online they're "in the public domain" (that's not what that means btw) so anyone can just take them and do whatever they want, whether or not the owner consents. I feel like that's true in a way for like actual licensed series, but I think it's a bit different when it comes to some rando's ocs. There just seems to be an extra layer of sheer disrespect when it's "I'm taking this random 12 year old's Sonic oc because I don't like that they didn't make him gay" instead of just writing a fanfic where Sonic himself is gay. You get what I mean? Especially in cases like your first example where it was then "GUYS! IT'S CANON! I FIXED THEIR SHITTY WRITING! LOLE!!!" and trying to come up with ways of "cancelling" the owner because "DUR MUH PROBLEMATIC SHIPZ" all over something that petty.

I hate how entitled people are over things that don't belong to them. I've seen countless times where people have blatantly disregarded boundaries because "BUT YOU POSTED UR OC PUBLICLY, SO IT'S TECHNICALLY MINE TO DO WHAT I WANT WITH!". Like, no John, I don't think that 14 year old on Tumblr dot com with 5 followers wants you to be constantly shitting on their writing and "fixing" it with content they're uncomfortable with. And I don't even necessarily mean like NSFW levels of stuff, either. For example, a common one I see is people inserting polyamory into everything as a "fix" for supposed love triangles (even if there isn't actually one there). Not everyone is into that. And even if they are, it doesn't mean they're okay with those characters being poly. Or people making really sexual/inappropriate comments about the ocs, even if the creator says it makes them uncomfortable or they're a minor themself. Nope! Don't care! Oc in the public eye! That means it's mine!

Like damn bruh, I wish we could be more respectful of other peoples' ocs. How do you think it makes these creators feel when people are constantly shitting on their work and/or stealing it and breaking boundaries to "fix it"? That's not okay.

(I kinda rambled a bit there, but hope I'm still able to get my point across lol)

Posting as a response to a previous ask.

[navibluebees]

Quaritch X Sunshine Reader Recom - Part 2

Please read before interacting.

@alyalysposts suggested the idea for Part 2~ Thanks so much :)

I've written this as the Sunshine Recom having OCD. Please don't read if it's triggering for you. What I've focused on is the repetitive behavior and compulsive checking over the course of the story.

Your hands trembled as you unloaded your pack. It had been who knew how many times that you had unpacked and repacked. You analyzed every piece of gear and went through your mental checklist, nodding to yourself. Once you felt comfortable with your supplies, you loaded it back up, zipping the pack closed.

But wait.. What if I've forgotten something. And what if it's something we need and we won't be able to make it without it? And what if everyone gets mad at me for leaving it? And what if-

You halted your thoughts in your brain and pressed your fist to your chest. You slowly start to rock back and forth, a whimper forcing its way out of your lips. You gritted your teeth, trying to find that sense of peace you so desperately craved.

I've packed and unpacked everything repeatedly. Nothing has changed since I started. I have everything I need. Checking again will not change that.

You sat back, tucking your hands under your thighs and fighting the urge to check 'just once more'. That's how he found you. Rocking lightly and sitting on your hands. Quaritch poked his head past the curtain separating your cot from others and assessed the situation with a quick glance. He knelt down beside you, startling you out of your daze. His hand settled lightly on your shoulder.

"You... okay?"

You nodded, trying to put your smiling face on, but couldn't manage to make the muscles work before tears pooled in your eyes and slid down your cheeks. He hesitated, then turned and pulled the curtain closed. "Tell me what's going on."

He propped an elbow on the knee that wasn't resting on the ground and focused all his attention on you. You withered under his scrutiny and his face softened minutely when he noticed. He nodded, urging you to go on. You pulled your hands from under your legs, shifting to wring them together as you talked. Unable to look at him directly, you focused on a small spot of the floor.

You rattled off all your inner thoughts and frustrations about the pack and how you wanted to make sure you had everything. And that if you don't pack everything, something might happen and then it would be all your fault for not being prepared.

He nodded along, trying to follow your scramble of words. He reached for you, grabbing you by the shoulders. "Y/N. Look at me. What helps when you're like this?"

You scoffed, knocking his hands away. "Colonel, I am always like this. I just hide it better some times than others." Your mouth twisted up at the confession and he held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright.. What can I do to support you better as your leader?"

You laughed and glanced away. He growled in frustration. "What's so funny?"

"Being more human could help."

He slapped his palms on his thighs. "Well, that's a bit impossible for me at the moment."

You spun to face him. "You know what I mean. I don't need a commander. I need a friend."

The silence battered you down until you turned from him, snorting in derision. Your hands inched toward your pack when his swatted them down. "You packed everything you needed to pack. You have all your supplies checked off. The others are full-grown adults and if they forget something, that's on them. It's not your place to worry so much for them."

Your mouth popped open with a gasp and he pulled back. "What? Was that bad or something? What did I say?"

You reached for him, patting his arm gently. "That was.. that was good. Thank you."

***

Taglist:

@maki-z @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed

[thiswasinevitableid]

Hey Loves,

If you, like me, need something that isn't doomscrolling or feeling utter despair today, the article above is a really good way to ground yourself.

I also know quite a few of you are younger than me and may have been literal children during the fallout of 2016, so here is some advice as someone who was a young adult then and hurtling toward middle-age now: pick one or two concrete things to do, then get the hell off the internet as much as possible for at least the next 24 hours.

To quote the piece above

"we took note of two knee-jerk tendencies from the left that ended up largely being dead-ends in the face of Trump:

Public angsting — posting outrage on social media, talking with friends, sharing awful news

Symbolic actions — organizing marches and public statements

The first is where we look around at bad things happening and make sure other people know about them, too. We satisfy the social pressure of our friends who want us to show outrage — but the driving moves are only reactive. The end result wasn’t the intended action or an informed population. It’s demoralizing us. It’s hurting our capacity for action. Public angsting as a strategy is akin to pleading with the hole in the boat to stop us from sinking.

Symbolic actions may fare little better under a Trump presidency. In whatever version of democracy we had, the logic of rallies and statements of outrage was to build a unified front that showed the opposition many voices were opposed to them. But under an unleashed fascist — if it’s all you do — it’s like begging the suicidal captain to plug the hole. "

To keep with the boat metaphor: Right now, being online is like being on the deck of that sinking ship. A lot of people are still in the "fuck, fuck, the ship is sinking, fuck, we're all in so much trouble" or the "we TOLD you that guy was going to drill a hole in the boat, why did you bring him???" mindset.

They're not wrong; the boat has a huge fucking hole in it. But at a certain point, standing there all shouting about how this is going to end in these X, Y, and Z tragedies isn't doing much but winding each other up into despair. That's what a lot of social media is going to be for the next few days.

Some of us are going to try and patch the hole to slow the damage. Some of us are inflating the lifeboats, or bailing out the hull, tethering the people who can't swim to ourselves so they won't drown if this whole thing goes down. Figure out what you can do. Even if it's small. Even if it's just keeping your feet on the deck rather than deciding to beat the boat too it and throwing yourself in to drown.

I need to go follow my own advice now. I'm going to finish my to-do list and comfort my friends, and then I am going to go play this song on my fiddle until I feel better.

[jeonstudios]

this feels so strange…back in 2021 i was in a phase where i would love to read members x y/n fics and i remember coming across EOALH and completely falling in love with it, i remember thinking about it all day and anticipating going to bed so i could read a bit more😂 back then only 2/3 chapters were out so i had to force myself to take breaks not to devour it at once😭 anyways then a friend of mine told me to read this taekook fic and i did reluctantly but holy shit there is a whole literature world out there, those were some of the best pieces of literature i have ever read in my entire life! and im not talking about those awkward smutty fics, im talking about literal novels lol, and im not even a taekook shipper but i completely fell in love with their stories. anyways, so ive been reading those ever since, but then today i randomly remembered yours and i thought let me check ur account out and to my pleasant surprise the fic is completed!! it feels strange because ive been reading taekook stories for so long now and haven’t read a y/n fic since yours, also you’re literally the only author who’s still active from those i used to follow back then and it’s brining back so many memories🥹 i’m so excited to read EOALH again, i will start it over tonight and literally cannot wait to go to bed hahahaha

i feel like there is an endless sea of mind blowing fics out there, no matter what fandom/ship you read 🤯 what's crazy about especially bts is just how many fics there are of every possible pairing, not only reader fics??? c r a z y 🤪 i'm glad you've been reading good stories! eoalh was finished like i wanna say 2 years ago but i honestly don't remember LMAO and omg how sad??? i'm the only one still active?? 😩😩 man i gotta get off this site lol anyway happy reading!! i hope you like(d) revisiting eoalh! ♥️♥️

[pink-pumpkin-princess-bitch]

DNI lists are stupid and dangerous

Ok now I have your attention and your pitchforks pointed at me, let's clear the following:

I'm not an expert in internet history or internet theory, although I do have an extended diploma in Creative Media, which lends itself to audience theory and thus fandom theory, which helps base some of my thoughts here.

I have no issues with people who use DNI lists for whatever reasons they have. My issue is more with the culture surounding it and the reasons these practices exist.

This is a rambling vent on my general complex feelings regarding the topic. This is (at least currently) unresearched.

So, why do I think they're stupid and dangerous?

Well, I'm not quite old enough to remember this, but there was a time when if you where on the internet, you hid your information. You guarded it. Because the internet was dangerous. People online are, for the most part, strangers. People used to, and still do, keep their information close to their chest.

So my main concern is, of course, that safty that many people have tossed to the wind. DNIs don't inherently force people to give out this information, but it does create a culture and expectation to give out this information or be pushed away by the people requesting this information.

Age might be the most obvious piece of information to come to mind, and it is the most common. "Minors DNI" is everywhere on +18 blogs. And that's absolutly fine at first glance. Someone showing mature content may not want kids around their content. But this is the internet, and this is where I think it's stupid as well as dangerous.

Kids lie. Lots of people lie, not just kids. And there's only 2 routes to go regarding this. Either you trust everyone is the age they say they are, effectively invalidating the point of the DNI in the first place, or you confirm it somehow. Well, every way they could confirm it is, from what I'm aware, legally dubious at best and legally illegal at worst. I might be wrong here tho. I'm not in law. But even if it's not illegal, requesting proof of age is extremely bad for multiple reason I think are pretty obvious.

But more and more, kids aren't lying. Instead they're out here putting down how young they are and blowing the whistle for any predator to come walking in and give them reasons to have DNI lists. And that's the exact opposite of what DNI lists seem to want to achive.

Specifically with "Minors DNI", it also perpetuates this culture of having to curate our own audience, be aware ourselves of who is interacting with us, and make sure the children don't hear things they shouldn't. To be blunt, I hate this. I hate this in the same way I hate Unalive and PDF file and Seggs. I'm not on Tiktok. I'm not on Kidsbop. I'm not advertiser friendly. Remember how they added strict laws on how kids are to be advertised to? Yeah me neither.

Expanding now to all DNI lists, and various other limits and boundaries, when did Tumblr stop being the place you Curated your own experience? Yes, I fully understand tag blocking works very little at times and is a chore if it's a genuine major trigger for you. But I'd argue it's even less effective to hold a big sign saying exactly what you don't want to see and crossing your fingers people will be nice enough to read it and listen.

Overall they're simply ineffective and encorage the sharing of details many other people may not want to share. We're all strangers on the internet. We don't need to know eachother's takes on x y or z. If it becomes relevant it will, and if not, who are we to demand that of eachother.

This is why I say I have no issue with people who use them. It's when my place in those boxes then falls into scrutiny just for passing by your blog does it becomes an issue. If I see your DNI, and I still interact with you, it's safe to assume I do not fall into that DNI. If you are still paranoid about this, you genuinely may need help working through whatever may be going on in your life to make the place someone falls into that box for you so important. This is not to say it isn't important, but it is to say paranoia is not the default you should act on. If it's truly that important and you must act on it, block the person rather than interogate them.

Now, as a closing word, I do have to mention I am in a position of privlage from my own standpoints on this. I was, to an extreme fault, very open about myself online growing up. Not only that, but with my father (may he choke on his spit) made me a Facebook account at around 12. So, for the past decade, possibly even longer, all the information someone could want about me has been out on the internet. This lead to obvious things. I've been groomed. I've been in some truly horrible circles. And I've had a very odd perspective on things growing up. For me, this information cannot be put back. Pandora's box has already been opened for me. So regrettably, I'm still fairly open about myself. Not nearly as much as I used to be, but it means I personally don't have issues providing the information requested of DNIs.

The only reason I haven't provided my age on this blog until now has been because I don't want to give the wrong impression. I don't want to encorage people the same way I feel DNI lists do to share information. At the bottom of it all, I don't want people to grow up without the safty and security of private information like I did.

For now, that's most of my thoughts. If you want to senselessly argue about the right to DNI lists existing, please don't bother. I don't care. I'm already fine with that and it just tells me you didn't read this. If you wanna correct me on certain bits, I'd love to know, long as you have some sources or something to help. As I said, this is currently unresearched. I'm sure there's some older internet historians and anthropologists out there who know far more than me. For now, that's it. Thanks for reading this longwinded vent.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

i see a lot of young writers asking questions like "how do I structure a chapter" "how many words should be in X" "how do I join up these plot points" etc and the truth is. there is no answer. there are no rules you can follow that will turn your painstakingly thought out list of plot points into an actual story. it is at least as much about vibes and gut feelings as anything else and at some point you just have to jump in and stop looking for a template to follow to do it "right"

how to structure a chapter? go read the first chapter of five books. notice any common threads? probably more differences than similarities, right? i mean they'll all probably give you some basic info about the characters and world you're dealing with, but they're not each going to follow the same formula of "two paragraphs of X, three of Y, a dash of Z", because that's not how it works! what do those opening chapters think we need to know about the story ahead? what do your readers need to know? great now you know what needs to go in that chapter

how many words in X? go find five books that have the same kind of mood and pacing as what you're trying to achieve – that make you, as a reader, feel the way you want your readers to feel. read them. get a sense of their rhythms. look up how long they are if you have to, but once again: writing isn't maths. it's about knowing in your gut where the beats of the story fall, and you learn that by doing: by reading and by writing, over and over again. how long is a piece of string? stories take the words that they take. sometimes they need trimming or lengthening in edits but i cannot stress enough how much "before you've written a single word" is not the time to worry about that. the more stories you read and the more you understand those intangible vibes, the closer your first draft is likely to be to the length the story needs to be, but it's okay if it's not, because that's what editing is for!

because if you do it "wrong", which is to say, if the story on the page doesn't look like the one in your head? if the pacing's wrong or the chapters feel awkward or the plot doesn't turn out as neat as it did in the outline? that's literally part of the process, bro. you do it wrong first and then you either try again with a different story and get it closer to right, or you edit the first story, but either way it's a process of doing it wrong until gradually, with practice, it becomes easier to do it right. doing it wrong is not something to be afraid of. it's a thousand times more useful than not doing it at all because you got stuck on the need for perfection

you can ask all the questions about How To Write that you want, but you're not going to learn a damn thing about writing until you actually sit down with a blank document and try to put that into action. and that's not a flaw! that's a feature! writing is something you learn by doing – no prior qualifications needed, no rules to memorise, just a chance to explore what a story is through taking it apart and rebuilding it

how to learn to write: read, and write badly, until eventually you write well. that's all there is to it. stop being afraid to start and you'll be 50% of the way there already. the other 50% is learning to finish what you started. then you just keep doing it.

sorry and/or you're welcome

[esta-elavaris]

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Spoiler-y rant ahead because I loved this book and I never want to read it again.

So, for those who don't know, the premise of this book is that there are people who are clones (presumably of whose "originals" were in a difficult financial position, who sell their genetics/permission for this to happen), who are created and raised from infancy for the sole purpose of becoming organ donors when they reach adulthood. They survive three or four donations, one after the other, with just enough time to recover between them, and then they die - or "complete", as the book puts it. It's also hinted that as they're dying following the fourth, the doctors basically harvest whatever else they can - y'know, the really vital ones that wouldn't allow for recovery between if they did it earlier.

The book begins by describing the childhood of these clones, but you don't know they're clones. At first (if you haven't seen the movie, like I had), you think they're just kids in an orphanage or boarding school. Then it's all drip-fed to you, very matter of factly, as you follow them growing up and coming to grips with what's going to happen, and when it eventually does happen

And I have this habit, right, of when I love a book (and this was a five star read for me) where I go onto goodreads and read the one star reviews - just from a writing standpoint, to remind myself of how subjective it all is. But god, these reviews got to me. There was so much complaining about how the organ donation thing wasn't some big plot twist moment, or how there wasn't enough emphasis on the horror of it - there wasn't a Stephen King moment where a character pokes at their wounds and contemplates that their kidney was just taken or anything like that.

And to me, that just makes it so much more real?

In the book, the narrator - Kathy - mentions a theory that another "clone" at her school had, that they were given little bits and pieces of information about who they were and what their purpose was when they were just too young to understand it, so when they DID grow old enough to make sense of each new piece of information a year or so later, there's no rebellion. There's no outcry. Because by that point, the concept has become normal to them before they're even properly old enough to understand what it means. How can you not see the meaning in that? It can apply to so much. Admittedly, Kathy doesn't agree with that theory, but I did when I read the book.

It's presented as so normal and matter-of-fact because that's what it is to those characters, and that's what makes it feel so real! How many of us deal with horrible things in our day to day lives, or see them play out on the news, and just...get on with it? And if we were told in an abstract sense "tomorrow you'll see a child get blown up in a video" we'd be horrified, but then so many people turn on the news and see that very thing reported and the context and the way it's presented means it's just another Tuesday. Further still, how many completely normal things in our daily lives would seem horrific if we stopped and framed them another way?

There are moments where the horror seeps in, they're not robots, they don't feel nothing over the fate that they know is looming, and where they try to tentatively find ways to get out of it. So much of the book revolves around different theories they have, different rumours that if they do X, Y, and Z, they'll get postponements for their donations, but it's not done in an insanely melodramatic way - where the clock's ticking down and they're sweating trying to diffuse a bomb. They're numb and they're even weirdly reluctant to try because they're reluctant to hope, and it just feels so true to life.

There's so much more that goes on in the book - the donations themselves and people being raised solely to be organ donors, and the way the world treats them, there are so many different readings of that alone, nevermind what happens as the book develops, I could write a dissertation on it, but it's just wild to me that anybody could read it and give it one star for the very thing that makes it good.

God, I need to read more by this author.

[defodisturbed]

photograph - Zdinarsk x reader

We keep this love in a photograph... we make these memories for ourselves

Synopsis: A romantic dinner with your one and only true love, fueled by a photograph.

"Hey, uh, Y/N? I wanted to ask you something, if it's alright." Zdinarsk asked, entering your room. "Yeah?" You replied, tilting your head towards her, but your eyes still on your book. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out on a date."

You bookmarked your page, closed your book and put it away. "What do you mean go out on a date? Do you like me or something?"

"I do."

"Oh. I did not know that. I don't know why you would, but-" She cut you off, saying, "Y/N. I want to have dinner with you tonight, just us. I'll get us some food from the cafeteria and bring it back to my room. You could come over and we'll have a little makeshift date. That is, if you want to. I-I wouldn't doubt it if you just wanted to stay away from me I-"

"Z. I would love to. Don't worry about it. I like you too." You replied, cupping her cheeks. She blushed, purple staining her blue, luminescent-dotted cheeks.

Later that night

"Can I come in?" You asked, knocking on her door. She opened the door, dressed in pajamas. You felt embarrassed, as you had on your favorite red dress. "I think I came overdressed..." You said, looking down at your feet with your hands behind your back. You were shy, and Z picked up on it. "I think you look beautiful. I think I'm underdressed, now that I'm looking at you. Come in, I have our food all set up."

You walked in, seeing all the gourmet food in front of you. "This isn't cafeteria food, this is like 5-star restaurant type stuff. Did you make all of this?"

"Mansk helped me with a lot of it. He suggested it to me when I told our friends about our date." Zdog replied, sitting down and gesturing for you to sit as well. You followed through, sitting next to her and seeing how much effort she put into this.

"This is all so beautiful... where'd you get candles on Pandora?"

"...don't worry about it."

You laughed and reached for a chocolate-covered strawberry. After biting a piece off, you asked, "So, why do you like me?"

"I could ask the same for you. I like you because you're beautiful, smart, talented, funny, oh how I could go on. Why do you like me?"

"I think I like you because you're hot, funny, and I lowkey dream about fucking you. I'm just telling it how it is." You answered. Zdinarsk's eyes went weird and she kind of had this look in her eye. She didn't say anything, which made you worry, but she grabbed your face and kissed you passionately.

---

"Hey mama, what're you looking at?" Someone asked, wrapping their arms around you.

You set down the photo, and turned to look at your beautiful wife. "Oh, it's our wedding photo! That day was so magical. Sometimes I have dreams where it's that day over and over again and when I wake up, I try to go to sleep again so I can finish the dream. It's a weird habit I have..."

You hummed in response, kissing her cheek. You heard a baby start crying, and so you two went to go check on your newborn.

@dyingofcookies hope you enjoyed y'all i came up with this at 1am so excuse any spelling errors <33

[herrscherofmagic]

does anyone else get that weird feeling when you can look at a bajillion different art styles and go "yeah that's neat! love it! so cool!" and then as soon as you do absolutely any of your own drawing, there's just a constant alarm going off in your head saying "THIS IS INCORRECT AND IF YOU DON'T FIX IT, IT WILL LOOK TERRIBLE AND ANATOMICALLY INACCURATE" despite it being nothing different from all those other art styles you see and love??? like "uncanny valley" but w/ all your own artwork and almost all the time

like I was just thinking about this, because there's lots of awesome artists I follow on Instagram & Tumblr that have interesting styles that don't necessarily follow real-life human proportions. It's often different variants of anime art but that's not always the case, and across pretty much all these different styles you have different things like how the contours of the face are (i.e. chin, cheeks), or the size/spacing of eyes, or the way the mouth is drawn

but it's just occurred to me that whenever I draw, there's pretty much always a constant nagging feeling, that I have to fix every anatomical or rendering mistake and if I don't then it just won't look "right", and that's one of the biggest things that stops me from completing 99% of my art

like earlier today I posted a 10-minute sketch, and it was obviously not "good anatomy"- it was pure vibes, just drawing what felt right in the moment and immediately posting it without trying to correct anything at all. and as soon as I did it, it hit me- that was probably the first time I've ever just created a piece of art for fun with virtually zero concern about "accuracy". Everything else I ever work on is always constantly drawn-out and changed and modified endlessly because it never feels "correct" and I don't feel like I can proceed with it.

today I've spent more than 3 hours just practicing how to draw heads, and it was the same thing. I was doing okay, but it took ages to get through even the simple parts like drawing straight from an anatomy ref. and it drives me insane not just because of perfectionism or whatever... but the fact that there's not a single "correct" human figure.

There's a ton of natural variation in how people appear, that's why we're all unique ffs! Different people have differently-shaped faces, their noses look different, their cheeks are different, their foreheads can be different, the wrinkles or freckles or eyebrows or eye shape or X Y Z are all varied and unique among different people.

Of course there are certain basic proportions and principles, you don't put someone's eyes on the back of their head, but I know all the basic proportions at this point and I've made a ridiculous amount of figure drawings both live and from photo, quite literally hundreds of drawings ranging from 1-3 minute gestures all the way to 1-, 2-, 3-hour-long works.

So why is it that no matter who or what I draw there's always that piercing & uncanny feeling? that i'm never able to capture a likeness of someone whether real or fictional, whether I'm trying to draw realistically or stylized?? it feels like I'm still getting something fundamentally wrong all the time even when I've studied all the basics and so much more, and even when my own professors look at what I do and say it's correct.

it's probably the autism, since there's a ton of other things in life where I appreciate predictability and uniformity and certainty. math problems have correct answers, essays can have certain types of analysis, machines can be described in terms of mechanical principles. But art isn't like that, and I've had similar issues w/ my art classes before, I just never quite thought of it from this specific perspective. I knew I struggled with open-endedness in projects, but this feels like something even deeper and more infuriating than that >.>

going back to that sketch, I can look at it and see obvious simple mistakes that I didn't bother to fix because I kept it strictly to 10 minutes. the chin is an obvious one, for instance, and the eyes could be better too. but I don't want to go back to that artwork, partially because it's just a 10-min sketch and it's not really anything that profound, but also partially because even though I know I can make it better I'm scared that as soon as I start messing with it I'll never be able to look at it comfortably ever again because it'll always feel incorrect. Not incorrect because I didn't care but incorrect despite me caring so much. which feels so much worse than just making a silly mistake when you're drawing normally.