#I am sorry I took a while!

[antiquecritique]

|| Elena & Duncan ||

For Duncan, there had not been an issue of a shortage in a very, very long time - he had been on this earth for far too long to not plan way ahead and have a backup even for his backup. Very few things were of a major concern for an old undead creature aside from the one thing his entire unlife basically revolved around - blood. And that was something Duncan always made sure to have in a steady supply. So although with many donors available on a call, Duncan still made regular trips to the Greywood Hospital, for the blood packs supplied by a specialized department who took care that the residential vampires and even businesses catering to them were well supplied by clean, healthy blood to consume and on a regular basis too. It was the most legitimate way anyone in Greywood could get blood for consumption, as long as they were registered, able to be reached out to if needed and had proven that they were of a species in need of it with papers signed that they would not waste the precious donations for other purposes. 

So, in essence, Duncan had going on his weekly shopping to the hospital with, essentially, vampire food stamps to spend it on. He would’ve found it funny if humor were still working on him. Since it didn’t, he just found it very convenient. There was no need to hide, no need to hunt, no need to charm a human to give up what kept them alive without a fuss. Truly a golden age for vampires in this town, save for the black plague when availability, although grim and depressing, was much more abundant. 

There was another thing to look forward to - as much as an emotionless vampire could look forward to anything - on these weekly errands to the hospital. An acquaintance he’d made there, out of a nurse who works on the floor. To her, it would all seem like a very accidental story, how they first met and started chatting and how the vampire seemed very friendly and perhaps even pleasant to talk to while he was waiting for his request to be processed and her work was too slow and she had nothing better to do than to humor him. For Duncan, it was a way to keep an eye on the family. Not progenies or alike, but the real family, the mortal one that descended from the numerous branches Duncan was the ancestor of. By now, he knew her schedule and had picked times to come in when she would be around in her night shifts. He had no specific interest in her but instead in her son, who through Roman carried still the Creeds’ ancestral bloodline within the Baudelaire branch. 

So there Duncan was, in his usual old-fashioned best, occupying the same seat in the waiting room he always would as he waited for his name to be called, knowing that sooner or later Elena, the mother of a Baudelaire, would be passing down the hallway and maybe notice him and come up for a chat.

@elena-delacruz

[xxplastic-cubexx]

[right to left]

finally finished This Wip from Ever ago and so now i ask you ever look into another dudes eyes and suddenly want to do whatever he wants

[shmaroace]

don't get me wrong, i love all the positivity around being aro, like "be proud of being aro!! love who you are!!", but we never talk about how hard it is to reach that spot. so here's to the aros who are still trying to understand themselves, who aren't proud of who they are yet, who are still coming to terms with their new identity.

[gatoburr0]

[yudol-skorbi]

FINAL PART 3 OF EDDIE'S UNFORTUNATE CRUSH IS HERE there will be a couple of bonuses in the future by the way

part 1 part 2

[arinsanity]

tiny creature of steel.. hi inscryption tumblr community what did i miss

(og image under the cut!)

[venneeece]

「 Thiollier 」

[kiitoskiitos]

You can now buy my zine Mutilation grindset in my etsy store!!

It includes comics, essays and more. Many liked classics from me and also plenty new stuff only included in this zine. Read all the specifics in the item listing. Thank you for your support!

>>>link to store<<<

[samsheughan]

don't fade away never fade

happy birthday @eddiediaaz!

[marblerose-rue]

click for better quality!

it's this way! / squirrelpaw and leafpaw

[nkjemisin]

Hey there. I'm writing a story set in New York City and am not American. I have few characters, but most of them are arab or white. I can't help but feel a bit wrong about it, given that America is much more diverse than that, and NYC being an emblem of that. Do you think I should force myself to include more representation or should I just tell my story, and leave that more diverse cast to some other story I could write? I know this is a neverending debate and there are many opinions about it, but I've always agreed with everything you've said in matters of representation in fiction, and so I'd be curious to know your personal answer on it.

I'm a little confused by how you're using "representation," here. It sounds like you think representation = "randomly sticking BIPOC everywhere." I think when most people use that word, it means something more like "create an accurate or at least plausible depiction of a group or place." In actual New York, there are plenty of Middle Easterners and white people who live in relatively homogeneous small communities where they might only see someone of a different ethnicity on the subway. If your story is set in one of those communities -- and you do stick some random BIPOC in that subway scene, because that's plausible -- then it sounds like your characters might be an example of good representation.

(Note: if you're not writing something set in the real world, but it features human beings, it needs to represent humanity as a whole, unless there's a good in-world reason not to. But if it's our world? You can get specific.)

Here's the catch, tho: plausibility is relative. If you've absorbed some biases and haven't done enough research, then you might end up writing something that feels plausible to you, but which isn't actually representative or plausible to anyone else. The way to avoid this is to do the research and check (to the best of your ability) your biases. For example, you aren't American, I assume you've at least visited NYC? If not, you should. You can visit some of the communities I mentioned! You can eat in restaurants, visit mosques, have conversations with actual real people who are living the life you're writing about! If you don't have the time, money, or spoons to do that, there are other ways to do good research -- films and YT/Tiktok videos made by people from the communities in question, for example. But you'd need to watch a lot of them to get a good representative sample.

I recommend this book to all the writing students I've taught at Clarion, and other writer workshops: Writing the Other, by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward. There's a particular part of it that seems relevant here, which is a kind of hierarchy of "appropriate" appropriation, I think first mentioned by Diantha Day Sprouse but included in Writing the Other. Basically it says that if you want to write about a culture that isn't your own, you can learn about that culture in one of several ways: a) You can be an Invader, and just go take whatever intellectual and artistic tidbits from that culture that you want, regardless of how damaging this might be to members of that group. Example: non-Indigenous people who write about actual secret practices, or who encourage the desecration of sacred places. b) You can be a Tourist, in which you're still mooching from that culture, but at least you're figuratively paying someone for it and accepting tidbits that the culture has chosen to sell. Example: getting a sensitivity reader. Or c) you can be an Invited Guest, who brings in as much as they take out, and who has formed relationships that are beneficial to all involved. Example: being part of an exchange program, both as a student and later as a host, and maintaining those friendships outside of the program.

The goal is to be an IG, but that isn't always possible. Tourist is still better than being an Invader. (...I feel like I'm leaving out a category. It's been a while since I read the book; any more recent readers want to check me here?) But the closer you can get to actually participating in that culture, the more your work will be informed by reality instead of biases or misinformation, and the more likely your work will read as plausible not just to you, but to your widest possible audience -- people familiar with the culture and people who aren't.

(I'm a little concerned about your phrasing of "force myself to include more representation," note. Why would that need to be a forced thing? A writer's goal should be to write something that feels lived-in and authentic to [if it's a real place] most people's experience -- not to meet some arbitrary standard, but because that's how you master immersion and characterization. If good immersion and characterization feel forced to you right now, that suggests you need more practice. I recommend writing short stories!)

[frodo-with-glasses]

In the Barrow, Part Two

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[sun-of-4-gun]

reeding your Six ear backstory I'm curious on what the jttw gang thought of him? where they like:

"that monkey looks a lot like you"

SWK: yeeAhh how much of a coincidence O﹏o

hahah essentially!

Tang: Why did he look like you?!??

Monkey: No idea (lie), but I am flattered! Not happy about everything else though.

it was a very "Fuck You. Random Chimp Event 🫵" moment because to the pilgrims, Six seemingly came out of nowhere and took Monkey's place after he was banished. later on they thought they had him back but it was an imposter! I'd imagine it was Sandy & Horsie who were suspicious of "Monkey", because Pigsy & Tripitaka were thinking of him as being much better than before, except it isn't really Monkey or Stick and neither were being aggravatingly annoying or frustratingly aggressive!!

Monkey only realised what Six was when he was just about to destroy him. with the No Killing Rule by Tripitaka, and Buddha & Lin's sympathy for him 500 years ago, he gives it a second thought to not kill this guy, who to his understanding is basically just a younger version of himself under different circumstances. in a way maybe it would've been like killing himself, or at least these negative aspects within that manifested to ruin his own life, metaphorical &/ literal self-sabotaging & harm if you will. because "Six" was initially pushed away & buried to the back of his mind, but bottling up ruins you, and that's exactly what almost came to be

so he does it again, but this time with a positive outlook and hope this six-eared macaque will understand that what he did was wrong during timeout. just as Buddha did for him once!

there isn't much to think of for the others since it was all so chaotic & confusing. one moment Monkey killed a bunch of guys and claims he didn't, and after being banished by Tripitaka for "lying & murder", he came back to apologise because apparently he did kill people! but it turns out no, he didn't, because that was the six-eared macaque who framed him, stole his identity, & almost got away with their luggage if it weren't for the real Sun Wukong! I don't think Monkey even tells/confirms to anyone about the fact that technically he created Six, so this is all his fault for not talking about his feelings 5 years ago, and he's still not going to talk about this maybe after 1,000 years because it's just so out of the blue!

Pigsy assumes that was just a rogue hair clone, he teases how more pleasant & tolerable Six was compared to the original, and prefers a quiet Stick. this earns him a bonk in the head

Tripitaka hopes that Monkey keeps his promise to free Six in 500 years & give a chance to redeem himself like he has for him. he's glad his youngest disciple didn't kill the specious macaque & is being considerate of other's feelings

Sandy was absolutely furious about fighting his own shadow, as Six borrowed it to match his prowess when they battled. I'd think he has ideas of his origin but it remains a quiet understanding and unspoken secret between him & Monkey

Horsie prefers the original and did not like Six even when he was in disguise. I imagine he instantly sensed it wasn't his friend but couldn't understand what was different. the vibes were just off but again, didn't say anything

and so after that kerfuffle, they'll carry on their journey like nothing happened to the next episode!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Concept: LQR big naturals but also with the flattest ass. Make him a titty dorito

Lan Qiren Breasted Boobily down the stairs of Cloud Recess

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[the-real-gmail]

Gmail?

Yeah?

[smokbeast]

Can I give Moon a catnip toy?

*rolls a ball that has a bell that jingles and smells like lavender and catnip*

The offering has been accepted,,,