#I dont have much to add. good ask i think its good to inform on things like there

[ssareiids]

HIIII OMGGMG i love ur theme its sauurr cutesie i love it!1!1 i wasnt sure if you take requests or not so feel free to ignore this erm.💔💔

i was wonderign if u could write for spencer reid (PLEASEPLEASPLESE) like definitelt domestic fluff and like it's the two of them baking and uh it goes wrong but reader and spence just giggle like idiots at the mess they made

SWEET ON U!

pairing: s2! spencer x reader

summary: spencer and you both excel in many things in life– just... not baking.

tw/cw: if you're scared of fluff then back off /j LITERALLY NOTHING TO ADD AS A TRIGGER, if smth does count as a trigger here though please tell me..

shayli's ted talk: guys i swear i've been writing since my casey oneshot it's just that i'm... i'm employed now🙁.. also I LOVE YEW ANON, guys request things plz... im going through a writer's slump . we dont mention the dilauded here he's happy okay

Today was one of the days that God– or whatever being that resided in the clouds, gave Spencer a day off.

Well, it was more like the day off was forced on him. If you knew Spencer Reid, you knew he didn't take vacations, didn't use up sick days, and would probably win an award for perfect attendance if it existed for the FBI. He had denied himself of a freedom office workers would love to have, up until this very moment.

Hotch has made his words clear, and easy to understand.

"Take a day off, Reid."

Said in that same poker face Hotch always wore, the one that was burned into his eyes with how often he saw it. It was rare for the Unit chief to ever smile, and when he did, no one would be there to see it.

Getting back on track though...

You had a much more positive reaction to his day off, it may only be one day of freedom from case files and coffee mugs that were filled with a caffeine that bordered nowhere near luxury. But you would take it, you just didn't know what to do with it.

When he had first informed you of his day off, you had been overjoyed at the fact you'd finally have your boyfriend to yourself instead of playing a never ending tug of war between the job and you.

The excitement quickly faded when you realized.

You had no idea what to do with him.

I mean, you could just cuddle up all day and sleep the entire day away. But, that wasted alot of time, time that you and Spencer rarely had together.

You then wondered if you should ask him what he wanted to do, but unfortunately, ever since the two of you had begun this relationship– Spencer follows behind you everytime.

Literally and figuratively.

His half awake mind had once followed you to the kitchen when you woke up to go get a glass of water, and let me tell you. Seeing a 6' foot man behind you at 2:00 AM does things to you, and not the good type. You screamed and he screamed back, both in fear.

You knew that he'd go along with whatever shenanigans you had in mind for your couple bonding time, so you brainstorm, maybe not as fast as your boyfriend but you think.

You sit on the couch, criss cross applesauce, while looking down onto the floor. Eyebrows furrowed in deep thought as you scour the files of your mind for an idea on how to spend this rare Saturday.

"You look like me" Spencer tries to joke, it falls flat and slams face first into the floor when you don't respond. Too lost in the rabbit hole you've created to try and say something witty back.

Spencer furrows his eyebrows too, and approaches you warily– slowly, like you were some sort of threat he had to neutralize before sitting down next to you on the couch. "... Are you okay..?" He probes, trying to see if his profiling mind can do him any good in guessing what's up with you.

Then, as if the electrons– or atoms, whatever. Lined up in your brain to form the first idea that would suffice, you sat back up straight. A peaceful glint in your now not squinted eyes as you turn your head to face Spencer.

He looks confused, like... really really confused.

".. Love...?" He tries the pet name as if it would snap you back into reality, and you simply grab his hand before smiling at him.

"We are going to bake."

"... 'Kay."

As you had planned he had agreed to the idea without much second thought. Which was funny since he's so meticulous with the things in his life, maybe he's just gotten used to you bringing chaos into it.

You two had spent maybe about 30 minutes or so wondering what you should bake, you thankfully didn't need a search engine for ideas this time because Spencer was on board with being the recipe holder.

"How about chocolate chip cookies?"

"We don't have chocolate chips."

He responds curtly and you snort before rolling your eyes at him.

"I wonder who's fault is that.." You reply back, and he opens his mouth in protest, but he never actually says anything back knowing that you're right. Giving him a smug grin that said "Exactly."

"How about a Pie?"

"Well... I suppose we do have the ingredients for a normal pie, but we'll also need a variety of fruits, maybe more chocolate, and–"

"SPENCER."

"Okay, let's make a pie."

The two of you retire to your kitchen, getting all the baking necessities and tools out. You didn't even know he had all this stuff in his apartment, and when you asked he said they came with the place when he moved in.

You two learn alot of things about each other through small talk while trying not to get shells in the mixture when cracking the eggs.

You learn that Spencer has a sweet tooth, but you figured that out when you caught him putting 4 packets of sugar into his morning coffee.

Spencer learns that you almost broke your jaw on a jawbreaker once when you were 16, he furrowed his eyebrows and asked why you did it knowing it was called a jawbreaker.

You learn that Spencer has read your favourite book approximately 143 times and counting. You nearly teared up and almost got your salty tears in the melted chocolate.

And Spencer learns that you had a pet chameleon who ran away. He suggested it could still be in the house but just camoflauged, and you threw the cupful of flour at him.

You both stand there in silence, unmoving, like a showdown between 2 cowboys with only flour and sugar at their hands.

Spencer stands there, ruffled in the white powder that now adorns his pyjamas like snow, his face covered in so much of it he nearly looked like a ghost. He only reacts when you start laughing.

You don't laugh gently, or chuckle at the sight. No you laugh like you've just seen the most funniest thing in your life, and in a way... it kind of was. You hold onto the counter and hunch over, laughing like you were hysterical.

He looks over to his back, trying to find a weapon to launch back at you until he lands on the melted chocolate sauce, he glances back at you. Completely unaware of his plans before reaching his finger towards it, ew.. but it'll be worth it.

Once his finger is coated in the gooey sweet treat, he smudges it on your cheek, not carefully nor affectionately, he rubs it on your cheek– shamelessly.

You look up at him and pause your laughter, a look of faux offense swirling in your eyes as you try and find something to retaliate against him.

The innocent unbaked pie crust on the pan lay there, unaware of it's fate to come as you peel it off ready to lunge it at him. Spencer reacts just as fast though and gets his own piece of the pie crust

"Uh uh, don't you dare." Spencer says, raising his piece of pie crust like it was a shield against yours. You squint your eyes as if in focus before flicking your share of the pie crust at him.

He dodges, barely, before trying to swat you with his own. You jump back and almost bump into the kitchen island before grinning and reaching for an egg.

"I have a weapon and I am not afraid to use it!" You reply, holding the egg at him as if it was a knife, Spencer plays along and drops his pie crust onto the floor and raises his hands into the air "Ok! Ok! I surrender!" He says, his voice squeaky in defeat.

You two eventually agree to a ceasefire before getting to work on recreating the pie crust that you two had used in your food fight.

This time you work in silence, a comfortable one that came easy after the little playful banter you just had, you worked better this time since you both had gotten used on how to start and how to use all the baking tools.

After the pie crust had been filled with the melted chocolate and had been sent away to the oven, you two both fall back onto the couch.

Or it's more like you land on the couch and Spencer lands on you.

"Ah– hey!"

You shout when you feel his body weight practically jump on you, he grins toothily in his little victory when you let him stay ontop of you, knowing that you really didn't mind.

The two of you sit there in silence, waiting for the timer above the stove to ding so you both can try out your creation, there isn't much conversation.

But you didn't need to talk, your touches on his carefully done hair, and his head buried into your neck spoke enough of the love that blossomed nicely between you two. It got you thinking.

It had you imagining what you would be doing if you never met Spencer, if you never had a sudden surge of confidence to ask the pretty boy at the library out, or if he had rejected you. It had you wondering what fate held for you, the idea of fate itself.

DING! DING! DING!

You nearly push Spencer off of you when you hear the alarm's call, apologizing hurriedly before rushing along to the oven, with Spencer following right behind you, even if he was in the middle of having a very good nap.

He grabs you the oven mittens and urges you to be the one to get the pie, you don't question it, he was clumsy with his hands– half awake or not.

The oven door opens like the gates to heaven, in it's wake an aroma of chocolate and sweetness follows, sending you and Spencer into a momentary trance before you finally get it out of the heated space.

You both try to reach for it until you remember the thing is still... extremely hot.

Neither of you have the patience to wait for the sweet treat, so you leave it out on the fire exit, hoping that the windy breeze of the night cools it down enough, and that there aren't any pie swipers nearby.

The two of you giggle like little kids waiting for the smoke of the pie to dissipate and the heat to finally turn cool. When Spencer announces it's been 15 minutes, you finally grab it back into the safety of your home.

The sound of plates being taken from the dish rack and a knife being taken fills the kitchen alongside your giddiness, you bring it onto the counter with an eagerly waiting Spencer with a knife.

"You sure you can cut it?"

"I'm not 6."

He replies stubbornly before squinting his eyes and focusing on the slice he's about to cut, you look away to pass time as he cuts his own slice, but then look back when you see that he's taking... forever.

"Spence?" You ask when you see he hasn't even made an indent on the pie, raising an eyebrow when you see the focused glint in his eyes usually reserved for crime scenes and cases– not for cutting a pie.

"Shh..." He hushes you with a raised finger before finally making the cut, clean and simple, before handing it to you.

"I cut the pie for you in pi." He says proudly, as the joke flies over your head, which is usually supposed to happen to Spencer, not to you.

"... What?"

"You just don't get it." He shoos you away from the thought with a gesture of his hands.

extra:

"Hey, Spence.. about your joke earlier." You bring it up as the two of you lay in bed, social battery well drained after the events of today.

He only hums in acknowledgement of your conversation starter before allowing you to continue.

"Did you try cutting it for me.. in the size of pi or something? Like... pi as in the number..?"

"ты никогда не узнаешь."

"STOP DOING THAT."

shayli's ted talk: i used google translate for the russian so don't judge me... heh.. ok bye i'm gonna disappear and not write for another month.. maybe..

written by @ssareiids

[sealsdaily]

hello sealsdaily, I just wanted to say something about the silly seal misinfo which was going on yesterday. I noticed a lot of people in the notes were concerned about humans getting close to seals and touching them, and the seal in the image getting vandalized by humans regardless of what it was. I also saw people wondering if maybe the heart was the edit all along and not being sure what to believe. The seal in the vid (Kyoro :) ) is from a seal sanctuary and just had a silly heart drawn on her by her caretakers who spend a lot of time with the seals and care for them, so though people are well intentioned and you should NOT EVER touch wild seals I want them to know there is nothing to be concerned about in this case.

I wanted to share the vid I saw of the heart being drawn as both proof she’s in a safe environment and also that it was actually just a heart lol, in case you guys would be interested in posting the vid/sharing the tweet :) 🦭

https://x.com/kyorofan1/status/1769083367553663240?s=20 (also big apologies if I’m phrasing this weird or not clearly, I’m very tired so I’m a bit worried I’m not making sense lol!)

Yeah, good call! Here's the video if you can't see it on twitter.

[uwu-scraptrappy]

Went and watched 54 just now and I'm incorporating that into my hcs for Michael. Maybe he could be a bartender at a high end club as his secondary job, or maybe that was his first job and also how he got addicted to the stronger stuff. Leaning more towards the first one because he could theoretically hear a lot more and have more opportunities to gather information for Matthews. Idk can someone be clinical about him with me pretty please

[mina-org]

part one - part two - part three - part four - part five you're reading part six!!

Seriously? Fuck this shit

You can’t move the frown, it’s stuck to you. What were you supposed to do? you had refused to go out with sabre because you didn’t have any money and now no electricity, your phones dead, you can’t even text him:(

Soon enough the clock strikes 12, a knock echoes through your apartment.

sabre is here and he’s gonna think you’re an idiot!

This is a great start, perfect.

Before you can unlock the door he’s letting himself in, “love you gotta keep the spare in a better place, ya lucky it’s just me.” Soon enough his shoulders are brushing past yours, heading to the kitchen.

“I picked up some food for us lovie, didn’t want ya cooking for me ‘nd hosting,” everything he does is so natural, it’s like he’s been here before and he’s not said anything about the electric situation, maybe because it’s daylight so he’s not noticed? Maybe it’s because the windows let enough light in? But you haven’t messaged him, he’s probably thinking you’re rude and now you’re being completely silent.

"im really sorry for not texting or anything, my electric isnt on and my phone is dead." you blurt out fast, your chest tightens a little, scared of his judgement, first you cant pay for coffee and now you asked him to come over and it looks like you didn't pay your electric:(

"its alright lovie, just gotta light some candles, it'll add to the mood 'nd add to the mood." he coaxes a nod out of you and you're meet with a smile. "good, now lovie I got a portable charger in the car, can get it for ya? dont want you ignoring me too much alright? and you dish out the food for us, yeah?"

"yes please, that'll be great." you soon return his smile, looking up at him! its perfect, he loves a damsel, especially one in distress(ignoring the fact he and his bros are the reason for it but thats none of your business)

Kyle searches through his car and puts his phone on mute, and changes Simon's name on his phone, doesnt want you to see Johnny simon, and price on his phone and put one and one together. the thought of johnny's tech fumble still gives him a giggle. that man hides his intelligence so, so well.

soon enough hes back upstairs, placing the charging brick on a side table before wrapping his arms around you, bringing into his chest and snapping a picture, "it'll be good for a scrapbook love, 'nd I wanna show off my pretty girl to my friends." he informs you and usually you'd protest but sabre was a breathe of fresh air, he was everything you wanted in simon and you didnt have to beg for it.

soon enough tea light candles are scattered across the table, charting out the new constellations that'll shine over you sabre, no, no, no.

You're getting ahead of yourself, you've known sabre for like 30 minutes? can't plan your wedding right now, when he goes home though? free range!!!

"so um, I thought we could like do a little painting dating, I grabbed a couple of canvases and stuff."

"great! I see this stuff all over 'nd I never 'ad anyone to do it with." sabre responds eagerly, he settles into his seat

"what are ya gonna paint?"

"not sure yet" you stare at the colours and suddenly you've never seen anything before.

"have ya seen the hand one? like we both have a colour and than I press my hand on the canvas 'nd than you do it over mine" he suggests.

do you just wanna compare hand size? you tilt your head to the side.

"yeah, but this way ill have a painting for when ya busy, unless youre willing to give me a hand, love?" he nods, admitting it with a laugh, you notices theres a hint of embarrassment, "'m a clingy bugger love, hope that's alright."

you nod at his words, "me too" you say simply and sabre starts picking out colours.

"you wanna be purple love, 'nd I can be green?" you nod and sabre is soon tugging up his sleeve and passing over his hand for you to paint.

you hold his hand so gently, he can't remember the last time he was held so delicately. the mix of the sensation of bristles and cold paint sends a shiver down his spine but you hold him steady and the scent he had smelt on simon and lingered in his flat it's suddenly flooded him, moorish caramel and rich vanilla, he wants to take a bite out of you.

his hand is soon covered in the pistachio green paint and moving to press down on the canvas.

now its your turn, but sabre is already tugging your sleeve up and a gently but firm hand brushes a layer of lavender over your own hand, you and sabre chat about everything and anything, his thumb gently rubs up and down.

soon enough the painting is done and sabre's got his phone out and taking pictures of you and the creation, saying he'll post it. little do you know he's sending it to simon who's spiralling because what the fuck? you always sent those sappy videos to him and now youre doing them, with Kyle:( not him. sickening. blood rises and he wants to grab Kyle out of your flat and take back his place.

sharing has never been Simons strong point.

taglist: @skeletonsucker @supernova2205 @wh0re4-alexademi @grr457 @gh0st-spid3r @sweetlittleblackrose @aceywaycy @mooievis @theadultoedge @cheese-pull @imtherain@h0e-02 @misscaller06 @lucilleifer @cherryflavoredguts @junitries @aneternallyexhaustedpigeon @drewsphswife @just-lilita @bvrnxy @crempuffie @erintaro @skyfire93 @my-little-evil-blog @alexalix-z@littlemiss-it-girl

[nyxhiems]

Cw/ I stereotype brits so much in this story, mantion of colonization and also i talk shit abt eel jelly in this fic, if you are a fan of eel jelly im sorry (especially abt your shity taste in cuisine). Still learn english so idk if this fic is readable (my passion to learn english almost vanish the moment i learn the existence of eel jelly).

Since 141 is brits (yes Johnny you r scottish but Scotland is still part of uk and i still gonna stereotype you for this fic) and im southeast asian and consider my self as someone with mid level space tolerance... suddenly thinking abt the first time high spice tolerance! reader cook for the boys.

The first time they saw you in thr kitchen, they got ecstatic. You gonna cook for them and from the smell they know the food gonna be good. But when they try it... The food just too spicy for them, Kyle practically run to the fridge to get milk and Simon just mumbling abt met the angel of death (hes fine. He just a drama queen).

"What kind of spice you put in the food?," John ask. You roll your eyes when Johnny said something abt shit from hell.

"Its mostly garlic, turmeric, and several type of pepper. Its isnt spicy at all."

"I hate to inform you but pepper is spicy."

"Depends. Black pepper isnt."

"Its is."

"Stop try argue abt spices with me, Simon. You brits colonized half the world for spices but cant stomach one."

"We sell it. Not eat it."

"Shame on you and your eel jelly."

John who just done drink half jug of milk suddenly say "Whats wrong with eel jelly?"

"John. Whats right abt it?"

"Well, its edible."

"Its looks like vomit."

"Still edible."

"Spices also edible."

"Too spicy to be edible."

"You probably say salt is spicy."

Johnny who looks like his soul just came back from his trip to another universe (bless him) chipin "It could be."

"Johnny, sorry to inform you but theres a problem with your taste buds"

"You the one who have problem with your tast buds. How can you say that food isnt spicy?"

"Im not a bitch and you just have shit taste in food."

They still eat it tho. And you make different food for them with less spices (much for your own dismay). Your ancestors almost crawl back up from the grave because of it... Its fine as long as the boys enjoy your cook.

(You try to add more spices to their food slowly to build their spice tolerance. Dont tell them)

....

Accidentally erased a word from my phone keybord. Im crying.

"Probably" looks so funny to me. I almost thought its isnt a real word. Its not the reason i erase it tho. The reason i erase it 100% because my finger is faster than my brain.

If you ask where kyle after he run for the milk? Legend say he still in front of the fridge. Devour all your icecream.

Edit : feel bad to stereotype brits but i got piss of by eel jelly so much felt like i got historcal flashback abt brits killed my ancestors.

Edit: its a shame that brits choose british museums as "souvenirs" for their colonial era. Not food. Maybe thats why London sky looks depressing... because the ppl isnt happy enough, because the food looks like a prison camp food.

Now i talk shit abt brits too much but their food is a fucking crime to society especially to the nation that they colonize.

Edit: just found of of stargazy pie.

[hoonieyun]

now playing...

i'll still be here - leigh-anne

pairing: lee heeseung x reader x sim jaeyun

warnings: i dont think so but pls lmk if i need to add anything, 18+

pls ignore timestamps and possible typos lol - this is partially written, please be sure to read the written portion to fully understand the story <3

wc: 468

your phone was endlessly dinging, making it hard for you to focus but you tried your best to focus on the lady sitting in front of you. she had a sleek bun, wire rimmed glasses, and a pen and paper sat in front of her. 

“do you want to get that, yn?” she asks and you shake your head. 

“no, not important” you say with a smile as you quickly switch the ringer off to mute all of the sounds. 

“what is it, anyway?” she asks and you explain that it’s all of the people reaching out to you regarding your new song and because you kind of dropped it out of the blue; a lot of people were pleasantly surprised. you also added that you were planning to just drop the song and kind of go MIA to stop yourself from obsessing over every single thing that people say about you online. 

“that’s good, i’m glad you’re doing your best to listen to my advice but don’t feel like you need to be so strict with yourself. i know you’re a popstar so being on the internet is a part of your job; just know when to get off when it’s becoming too much, ok?”

she was so knowledgable in everything she said, it always made so much sense and whatever she said to you brought so much clarity. which was a good thing because it was her job at the end of the day. 

the rest of your session with your therapist goes very smoothly, talking about your goals for the week and habits that you’ve wanted to get into that you haven’t and other habits that have been hard for you to break and how you can get to a point of releasing those habits. 

it’s only been a few days speaking with this therapist but since she was a part of the mental health retreat you attended previously, she had your information from the retreat so you weren’t completely starting from scratch. 

you bid her goodbye with a small hug and you make your way to your car, pulling out your phone and quickly scrolling through all of the notifications before driving to your apartment. deciding that you’d respond to your texts when you got home. you listened to your new song on your drive home and you don’t realize you’re crying until your version gets too blurry. it wasn’t tears of sadness but something of release. 

like you’re releasing so much weight off your shoulders without the guilt your old self would feel for putting yourself first. as if you had become a totally new person in the last month and this new era of your life was focused on just you. 

choosing yourself and not feeling guilty for wanting to be happy.

masterlist - back - next

hoonieyun notes: guys u need to listen to this song its so beautiful like truly one of my favorite songs.. the lyrics and overall melodic value of the song is so impactful.. anyways omg now playing is almost overrrrr wahhh

copyright 2025 - present © hoonieyun all rights reserved all writing here is fiction & not in any association with characters mentioned. if you enjoyed reading this please consider reblogging and following <3

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[pumpkinsy0]

Tips on how to write Curly,Tim, and Angela Shepard??

asking MEEEE how to write the shepards??? im rubbing my hands together evilly i feel so honored to b asked this thank u sm<33

BUT, here r some important characteristics for their characters i think could help for writing em!! ill try to focus on things that r like, skimmed passed??? in fics??idk how to explain it

tim

-tim is a cool and collected guy, at most hes scarily calm!!! he has a good head on his shoulders and hes not ignorant to the problems in his life, and almost nothing gets past him, he knows whats wrong w his family and is very observant of it, unlike angela and curly. when it comes to tim, make sure things like his inner monologue and his movements is pretty composed and self controlled. when he thinks, he doesnt think half way, hes an analyzer and he dissects the world around him and tries seeing it for what it truly is, he doesnt let his emotions control him.

-he will always, ALWAYS, have his guard up!! even if its w small things like glancing around, always having back up plans, asking questions about before he even hangs out w em, etc etc, he can never be too sure, and he LIKES being informed, it bothers him so much if hes not, so hes always looking out. on top of that, on a regular ass day, i dont think hes OBVIOUSLY protective of angela and curly, he knows how they get when they feel cornered so he kinda???lets them do whatever???? tim being protective comes off as someone whos more annoyed than anything, other than someone who loves their family

for example he says things like: “i already said no, stop asking”, “didnt i tell u to bring ur blade with u”, things like that!!

-and finally, i think the only way u could actually get tim to b emotional, is if something happened to angela or curly. theyre literally his life lines, if it wasnt for them, he wouldve booked it half way across the country already. tim would be way more hostile and aggressive, its like hes coming apart, but thats rlly only when hes alone, out in public hes still pretty stoic but still agitated a bit more easily. everything he does at the end of the day is for them and while it may not seem like it, hes always thinking of them.

ps: hes quite honestly a lone wolf, he doesnt rlly have friends, ppl he hangs out w, ofc but friends??? eh, hes perfectly fine w being left alone w his own life, but thrives off of being around ppl bc he can use them to his advantage to further himself, but i dont say that in a “mwahahahah hes so manipulative and stone cold hearted😈” way

basically: for writing tim, make sure hes always coming off as a leader, hes always gonna have leadership qualities in whatever he does, so even the small things he does is important, it doesnt matter hiw small u think it is, if u feel like it shows his character, just add it in there. tim does have his limits, and its always gonna b curly and angela. kinda like darry, how he shows how he cares is just different and not understood, however for tim its to a higher degree.

NOW FOR CURLY☝🏽☝🏽

-im not gonna sit here n say that hes book smart, bc generally speaking, hes not, and this may b a bit controversial, but i dont think hes 100% street smart either!!! BUT hes not completely DUMB. while yes, hes not particularly smart in one aspect, hes not CLUELESS, he can grasp complex things and knows what to do, just not everything. ppl undermine him and overplay his stupidity so theyre surprised when he shows that he can b smart, and thats if they DO even realize that, its small when he shows hes smart, but he can have his moments, pls dont write curly as completely incompetent</333

for example: maybe tims trying to come up w a plan and bc curly knows the schedule of these ppl, hes actually a big help, but ppl just dont pay attention to how important that part of the plan was so they dont realize it, maybe ponys ranting to curly about something, and curly got pony to see another side of it he never rlly thought of before, but bc of how he said it, it doesnt “come off as intelligent” but it rlly is!!! i hope this made sense😭

-part of the reason of why he acts out is bc he looks up to tim, but hes not seen as smart like tim OR angela is, hes constantly compared to them both and while he loves being a shepard and loves his siblings, he wants to b seen as his own person and make something of himself!!! this however, can get him into trouble bc hes desperate to prove himself, to who??? to himself, to tim, and to a degree everyone else. im not gonna say curlys “all bark, no bite” bc he isnt, but he can definitely talk more than what he can rlly deliver and that gets him into shit as well and also thats what causes ppl to play up his stupidity. curly is pretty misunderstood and pushed to the side!!!

-i would say that curly being around others is important to write bc i feel like thats when he truly flourishes as a character. hes way more energized and pumped up, so when u write about curly around friends or whoever hes close to, make sure hes more relaxed, boisterous, and adventurous. however, when hes upset, id say hes sorta like tim, his eyes r the same, bit more analytical, and he uses the ppl around him. becomes less of a friend, more like a leader, hes not all buddy buddy, and if they try to joke around w him while hes mad, he pushes them away, tells them to shut up, its like a complete 180.

-if u wanna write about curly going through something, i feel like its important to realize that hes in denial about the problems in his life, not ignorant about it, its pretty in his face, its not like he cant say its not there, but hes just like “yea its bad, but its not THAT bad, i could push through it”, i think thats his way of coping w everything around him, but when hes pushed far enough and forced to come to terms w it, he does some irrational things to cope and turns to drinking

and last but definitely not least, my main girl angela

-she NEEDS to b around ppl, she THRIVES off of the attention of others and if she doesnt get it, shes on edge, she rlly doesnt like being left alone w her thoughts and needs something to distract her. and just like how curly and her r tims life lines, same could b said for curly and tim w angela. she needs her brothers as her support, and if they arent there, she tries to find it in other people, even if its only for a few weeks. bc of this, when it comes to this part of her character, in writing, id say that if u rlly want to make angela go through it, but for her problem to b solved, she goes to either tim or curly, BUT if u want to show that shes really desperate to b heard out, and she feels trapped in a corner, she tries to find comfort in someone else, usually through a romantic relationship. id say that it perfectly shows that for angela, her family means everything to her and she goes to them, BECAUSE she knows they have her back, but when she goes to try and find comfort in other ppl, it doesnt rlly work out or doesnt change, so shes just reminded that “at the end of the day, all u have us ur family and nobody else, ever”, which is a huge thing in her mind as thats just how shes grown up

•now, im sure we all see the shepards as poc, and considering this is the 60s (or 70s or whatever time period it rlly doesnt even matter, poc have never rlly been respected), i think to a degree, angela is sexualized, but its also a way she protects herself. i dont think angela is respected and thats for a multitude of reasons, its bc shes a woman, shes a shepard, and shes a poc, cards r pretty stacked against her. BUT, shes not clueless☝🏽, tim taught her from a young age about the world around her, bc he NEEDED to, its to SAVE her from getting taken advantage of. so to protect herself, she uses the things stacked against her, against em, she knows how hard it is to fight it, so why fight it when u can use it to help u is the way she sees it. and her being sexualized is just one of those things. angela in town is seen as “the forbidden fruit” ig u could say and she knows about it, so she uses the way how ppl see her as an object to use them as her puppet. they dont think shes aware so they dont rlly suspect much from her, hell, they dont even think she can fight, and theyre wrong w that. they just see her as an “easy” girl and if thats what they think, so be it, she’ll fuck w em one day, thats just her survival tactic and how she can survive. as far as this one goes, id say that its important to understand how the ppl around her interact w/see her, as that can help u understand what her next course of action will b, she NEEDS people in order to further herself, shes like tim in that aspect. however it will also somewhat impact how she sees herself, at the end of the day, shes still vulnerable but she doesnt let on, shes spent such a long time trying to cultivate how she wants ppl to see her and she doesnt want that ruined, she’ll do anything to keep that intact, ESPECIALLY lying. so if u want to write her coming loose emotionally, dont add small hints of it when shes in front of other ppl, MAYBE only when shes in front of tim or curly u can do that, if u wanted. in front of other ppl, she hardens up and comes off a little more smarter than she lets off, so she CAN b scary, and thats when ppl remember that shes a shepard. shes too grown for her own good but she just wants control in her life.

-speaking of her life, like curly, shes in denial about the things in her life, but its more so about how they impact HER. she knows their life is completely fucked, she knows how bad it is, but she just says it just doesnt hurt her as much, and to a degree, shes right, but then again, some days r harder for her than others, so while yes, shes vulnerable, this doesnt mean that she cant handle what tim and curly go through, shes not fragile, and i think thats important to remember, shes tough!!!she has to b, she will bite back if she has to. dont JUST write her in high school dramas, she has to deal w some of the gang issues curly goes through, while not AS much, its still there

-ANNDDDD FINALLLYYY, when it comes to angela, while yes, she is analytical, but she can let emotions drive her sometimes, and thats potentially her downfall, shes a pretty impatient person, so when she wants results, she wants it FAST, and it agitates her deeply if things dont go her way, some leadership qualities from tim rubbed off on her, she acts more like tim while curly looks more like him. when it comes to her inner dialogue, u should have a comfortable mix of her being observant and her having a bitttt confident and self assured, let her b a lil cocky!!!

i hope this helped u at least a little bit<3333

[lyss-sketchbox]

Have you played through Natlan a little bit yet? Because I love it except for one thing. Does the Archon quest feel...off to you? At least the first act. Specifically the character introductions and character acting?

Funny thing actually i JUST finished it last night!

Well uh spoilers ahead

I think its... alright-ish? Act 1 basically sets you up with the basics, the characters, the culture, the traditions, and lore so we know whats up. Cool. We are literally being fed information because we are tourists and i can excuse that.

Idk how to feel about traveller and paimon literally going 'ah look, an opportunity has arised, its time to do our thing and help with this major event'. I mean yes thats how its always been but mentioning it doesnt... help... it just points out a flaw.

The characters are fine enough imo. I really expected Mualani to have this super hyper attitude and squeaky voice we usually get from an 'everyone loves me' character but shes suprisingly mellow and i appreciate that alot. (May change with Citlali though and im not looking forward to it)

I do not like how it is very Tell not Show. Because you know what keeps being shown? The fact that Kachina is A CHILD. Maybe she's not an actual child who knows but hyv is clearly infantilizing her. Case in point:

The chief of the tribe literally asked you for ID because you are strangers hanging out around her. He literally said 'a good feeling isnt gonna be enough for your parents to trust these people'

After the chief knew who the traveller is, he said he could trust Kachina to go to the Stadium to sign up and not get into trouble. She HAS to participate because she has an Ancient Name and you can barely trust her to go to the stadium???

Kachina mentioning how she can't keep excusing her age for being a bad warrior. So she KNOWS shes young and either she or other people in the past has excused her for her performance because of her age.

The genuine actual side by side of her first match up. You know a child vs a massive buff man. Maybe it's just me but her kit is clearly not made to DPS and hyv making us fight these opponents with only her kinda makes it feel so much like a drag.

Everyone around her keeps saying oh shes actually really good, she almost made it last time, shes super powerful just lacking confidence. Well we dont really... see it. When the tournament started and we play as mualani and kachina all i can think about it 'yeah mualani is gonna do all the fighting here' and it adds to the idea that kachina literally did the bare minimum. But then suddenly we get a really cool cutscene of her defeating a 3 times winning veteran. It is not believable to me.

Also now that she's won we are literally sending her off to fight the abyss where she has a REAL CHANCE OF DYING but we gotta be ok with it because she can get resurrected? Are we not supposed to be concerned that we are sending a child to war with a real chance of her dying?

It is such a tonal shock and the traveller or paimon barely says anything about it so WE are supposed to be fine with it too? It probably is culture shock but like... SOME people still sees Clorinde as a killer despite doing her job as a duelist, how do you think those people will think seeing THIS tradition.

As for the bit where we go with mualani while we wait for kachina to come back from war, it was... alright i think. But the manufactured 'chillness' is there, like you can tell theyre trying their hardest to potray this tribe as the chill surfers one. Its also obvious they want us to like Atea. While she looks a lil overbearing i appreciate that they were being subtle about her 'my life isnt gonna last long so i am doing this dangerous task', they had to explain it anyway for mualani but i think them not stating out right at first that 'woah you werent going here because you can use the hotsprings again!' is a good choice, that is a good show not tell i think.

For now though the entire thing simply feels off because i feel like there's no stake at all for us. If kachina loses? Then she doesn't get sent to the war, thats kind of a good thing seeing how she did ended up 'dying'. We've met the archon but for some reason hasn't asked about our siblings or anything and the only reason we are staying is because its the right thing to do. Thats it. I think it's just... alot offered to us but none with actual value to the traveller personally.

While you can argue that fontaine is exactly like that, that we only stayed to help lyney with his trial and everything else because its the right thing to do. Lyney is fatui. Neuvillette is a dragon. And furina is an absent archon. Theres an air of mystery around how fontaine works and these people have MASSIVE connections. You almost want to stay to see how it'll turn up, what information will show up.

Natlan on the other hand revealed basically everything to us in the first 2 acts. Natlan gets abyss attacks because they dont have strong leyline connections. The fatui wants the gnosis and literally will just fight the archon for it. The archon is chill and kind and is the reincarnation of the original archon because we were told that. The facking traitor from night-wind is obviously the Ororon guy lmao. So what IS left to speculate? To look out for?

Like wow she's gonna carve us an Ancient Name? Why lmao. What for? We can purify the abyss we are not dying in the Night Kingdom.

Shrugs idk feel free to fight me on this. I am just a lil jaded because i literally cannot take the archon seriously when shes literally just called 'Archon' with no special title or anything

[runner5ive]

Hello hello hello I LOVE your art it is so gorgeous and constantly in my queue. Your Five is adorable and I love them. And I have questions for them!

Do they have a daily routine? What’s it like?

What traits do you and Five share?

Which ones are purely Fives?

What color(s) do they wear the most?

When’s their birthday? How do they celebrate it?

What’s their ‘default’ state?

Do they have a survival mode they put on? Or are they think about that kind of stuff all the time? If they ‘put on’ a survival mode, what sets that off? 

Favorite place to be?

Do they have a pre and post run routine? What’s that like?

What do other characters associate them with and why?

How would they describe themselves? Whether it’s true or not.

Which characters are they really close to and why?

How would these characters describe them and why? Whether it’s true or not

What’s a precious object they have? Why is it special?

Who will they take advice from, no matter what it is? Who won’t they take advice from, no matter what it is?

Hello! Apologies about the wait! I cant even form the words to explain how intense work has been recently lmao.

Long post is long! So I answered everything under the cut below!

Do they have a daily routine?

Uhhh yes? But its mainly the runners routine. Get up early - earlier than most in Abel. Breakfast. Pick up running rota from Sam. Depending on when theyre needed they either spend the day running or fixing up Abel/dealing with repairs/training in the runners areas. Then the evenings are mostly to themselves, but they tend to help Janine out a lot and have an early night.

What traits do you and Five share? Which ones are purely Fives?

Oh my gosh I have no idea? Five isn’t a self-insert so they differ from me in lots of ways. Uhhh. I asked a few friends for their opinion on this and they they said the following:

I would also add that we’d both walk into a horde of zombs for a coffee

What color(s) do they wear the most?

Honestly? Probably a dark red. Mostly because I headcanon that Abel’s uniform is any red/maroon shirt they can find.

When’s their birthday?

Nobody knows (: They’re rather forget everything about their life before the apocalypse and do not want to reveal anything that can trace them back to the person they once were. Sam figures it out of course (but he’ll take that information to the grave)

How do they celebrate it?

They dont (: although their friends throw them an annual ‘adoption day’ party, to celebrate the day they joined Abel

What’s their ‘default’ state?

They’re actually quite quiet (I mean, theyre mute, but you know). They’re a bit of a wall flower. They like to listen, which is what makes they a perfect match for Sam, who likes to talk.

Do they have a survival mode they put on? Or are they think about that kind of stuff all the time?

Childhood trauma means theyre always in survival mode :D Although they can relax more nowadays thanks to feeling safe with their pals.

If they ‘put on’ a survival mode, what sets that off? 

New people, or people of authority. They are very affectionate in general, but people tend to have to prove themselves to them. They find it easier to trust new people as the seasons go on.

Favorite place to be?

Janine’s farmhouse

Do they have a pre and post run routine? What’s that like?

Theyre quite good at being mindful of warm ups/cool-downs and stretching. Other than the things expected of them, such as a decontamination shower, the only real post run routine is that they never really say goodbye to Sam before a run, and he doesnt say bye either. Feels too much like inviting bad luck to do so.

What do other characters associate them with and why?

Sunshine and big smiles. Sunflowers. But also like... Garbage lmao.

How would they describe themselves? Whether it’s true or not.

Expendable (:

Which characters are they really close to and why?

They’re closest with Sam, as the two of them tend to understand each other better than anyone else in Abel. But Simon is a close second. Simon and Five have a ride together or die together kinda friendship. I cant remember specific episodes, but there are specific moments where everyone is like ‘lets throw Five into this severely dangerous situation because they are Runner Five and theyre most likely be okay’ and he is like ‘???? Lets not ???? That’s ??? Actually fucked up???’ He’s the easiest for them to be goofy with too.

How would these characters describe them and why? Whether it’s true or not

Brave to the point of idiocy. Self-sabotaging. Goofy and silly. Loyal. Dependable. Tragic.

What’s a precious object they have? Why is it special?

They arrive at Abel with nothing except the mullin’s uniform (which gets burnt they decide theyre not going back) so they dont really have anything from the before. Most objects are like massive spoilers so imma not mention them. But the thing they cherish more than anything - which is not really an object - is when they get their own room. Theyve never really had a proper home before.

Who will they take advice from, no matter what it is?

Janine. Janine says jump they dont even ask how high before theyre launching themself off a burning building!

Who won’t they take advice from, no matter what it is?

At first I was going to say there isn’t really anyone they wouldnt hear out, but then I remembered a fic I’ll never actually write and my answer to this is their biological parents who are alive and well during the apocalypse (:

[kaleido-write]

Leasebound: artsyle or art choices

I've seen the latest comment and wanted to add information and context my credentials on the matter are being a multidisciplinary art student , I've done pretty much any type of art you can think about going from glass painting to kabuki theater.

Leo here this absolute king was eloquent and very nice in his questions wich i absolutely love , he showed a level of respect rusty isn't capable of

And here is rusty reply

1.

We start terribly wrong here , clothing *is* about personality, it is about someone preferences , likes , dislikes ect . Its here to tell us about the characters

Such as , well any characters in media their fashion style is representation of who they are , and the same goes irl .

Let's use the howl house as an exemple because it's a really great dos and donts made by a women so hopefully rusty will swallow better the criticism ! Dana uses fashion to show the evolution of her character and their personality , reducing fashion as unnecessary is a tell that rusty doesn't know anything about character design nor how to make a story that matters and make sense

And what do i mean by matters ? Because it can sound harsh and mean I admit it , i mean something that tell us something, not just a place holder to say she is relevant nor good because she made a comic . Because you can do something for a long time and still be bad at it . Time isn't always an indicator of something value

2.

Color schemes are completely natural in artwork ??? What is she talking about ??

Color schemes are so so important to ensure the color coordination of your panels , to ensure everything fits together without being such different color it will give a headache , color schemes are there to tell stories to and her complete lack of acknowledgement towards it tells me everything i need to know about her as an artist

She doesnt know anything about the theories nor is her limited art knowledge truly worked on , she simply started drawing one day and never bothered to study anything art related

3.

Its actually quite simple to do , all that work you find monstrous rusty is actually the before work you do , its the work you do to get to know your own characters and how you will tell your story , and it's quite easy to do , you simply lack the imagination and understanding of the importance of forework

4.

No rusty nobody is insulting your skills , Leo was simply asking about your stylistic choices , yk what you claim is an art style? Because there's a difference between the 2 if you didn't knew wich i know you don't.

5.

Rusty , you made a comic on the basis that lesbians don't have enough representation. How can you in your right mind complain over people asking if you will represent them too , how stuck up do you have to be really .

Also many many 1 person comics have theses little details , details that are not concise , like Jaden tattoo !! But apparently that tattoo and shez tattoo aren't too annoying to draw uh ?

You can pick and chose what you want to represent but don't belittle people for asking why you're representation is a very selective way of portraying lesbians , representation that at its core is the lesbians you would be attracted to nobody is blind enough to not realize you do that , especially with how much every main character slowly start to look like each other .

6.

Actually rusty you did break art design rules and comic making rules to actually make the comic go better and faster . You just don't know them so obviously you can't know that you broke them because you're too ignorant to actually study art properly

In conclusion no one (again) discussed rusty actual artstyle wich involve the way she draws , that's the artstyle

The art choices are wich color to use , the design choices ect , so thank you for anyone to actually take the time to learn what an artstyle is and maybe yall will stop bitching and moaning about a fight that doesn't exist .

Also special shout out to Sarah 🫶 hope you doing good too

Unfortunately yet again rusty and her over inflated ego took over any sense she may have and decided to just be absolutely mean and awful once more

Sarah only showed to you that a color palette is used *everywhere* (i will use neutral pronouns but if Sarah wish for me to correct the text with the appropriate pronouns I will) they came forward to show her and she had the audacity to complain ??? They didn't latch onto it they simply wanted to help you improve

It is a mistake rusty , you're actively making art mistakes because you don't know shit about art . You keep having the sheer audacity when many people who actually study art tell you you're wrong and making mistakes .

Yikes since you can't insult him you decided to misgender him ? You're right rusty you're not stupid you're pathetic cruel and mean and can't differentiate hate from genuine comments for wich reason ? Oh wait I know ! Because everyone that came forward with good tips and advice you see it as hate , you have no distinction of it because if someone doesn't comfort you into your self idealized version of yourself you feel too challenged and the idea of growing to be better is terrifying to grown ass women like you .

You seem to be incredibly bitter over making your comic for free , and to think of the hatedom as genuine interest when no rusty, me personally I simply take great joy in dissecting your work and seeing every mistakes you make , because you're a terribly mean person that has no idea what respect is and can't be respectful to people if they're not your bootlicker , i pity your friends and fans , they must live in fear of saying the wrong thing and make you mad

Cola we all blocked you because you too have no idea what you're talking about you too can't even tell us what is an artstyle from art choices

A great exemple of representation and simplified artwork is "high class homo" on webtoon with the main lesbian princess having a prosthetic leg or again "the cursed princess club" wich is amazing and has a simplified artstyle

What we are critiquing are art choices , please you all should go take art classes and learn a fraction of what I know

But rusty , Leo was good faith , Sarah was good faith , we are all good faith you simply chose to see it as attacks because of your over inflated ego , please go to therapy you need it more than me , learn that other people have feelings ok ?

No , it is a hatedom rusty , I do not in the slightest enjoy your work riddled with mistakes and hatred for anyone that doesn't conform to your narrow definition of how people should be.

If you're losing money then..stop it ? Stop complaining about losing money , if you have health issues too you should put that all first instead of a comic .

[starsaparilla]

you said you wanted asks so i must ask

1) do you have a courier oc? like, an actual character.

2) thoughts about christine and veronica (and Christine staying in Sierra Madre)?

3) what's one character you wish had been a companion but wasn't? and why and how would their quests go idk im shy despite asking on anon 😔💔

1) yes!! i have a couple.. i make new ones depending on the run i’m doing or the faction im siding with etc but for my current playthrough (neutral karma independent vegas) i have cherry!! she’s super cool… i like her lots. nepo baby that wants to run vegas herself as a way to get back at her family for disowning her (long story) + learns about love and friendship and kindness and also backstabbing along the way! i can’t draw so i mostly make pinterest boards for characters but yeah… i love my ocs. trying to flesh out the rest of her family at the minute too bc they were (to me) pretty prominent figures in the wasteland until around 50 or so years before the events of new vegas!!

2) christine and veronica are so dear to me!!! canon lesbians in a video game… i do wish they didn’t fall into the trappings of gays with unhappy endings but yk. 2010 so i suppose it was par for the course. as for christine staying in the sierra madre i have mixed feelings- ultimately i like it narratively, i think christine becoming a guardian is very fitting. the sierra madre houses vera keyes, a woman who had her life derailed and destroyed by the greed, cruelty, rivalry and jealousy of two men. in a similar vein, christine royce had her own life- and her love- uprooted and snuffe out by a cruel and greedy man too. it makes poetic sense to me that christine would stay to guard the sierra madre. christine/vera parallels are so srs to me and i would definitely go into way more detail at another point but im trying to keep this concise because you didn’t ask to be blasted with my dead money brainrot. anyway also i find it oddly beautiful that a place with such a dark past can perhaps become a safe haven like it should always have been now that christine is there. my one issue is that there’s no option to inform veronica of where christine is or anything but i know this was due to technical limitations and nothing else so i don’t harp on the devs too much for this.

3) benny maybe… i think doing an independent run with benny as the companion makes soooo much sense and i do think an ending where you both take vegas is super fun. but i have the benny companion mod so i don’t think he counts as an answer here for me personally. in terms of what would be best for gameplay id say a legion companion would be interesting as while i dont play legion nor do i like them, i think its a shame they’re underdeveloped. victor as a companion could be rlly fun! good for a house run and id love a securitron companion anyway :) id also love to port ulysses to the main game as a companion 💔💔💔 and then obvious popular answer sunny smiles my angel <3

i forgot to add quests!!! god actually i’m gonna have to think abt this one but i think for benny an interesting quest would be anything to do with the boot riders… will nvr forgive the lack of backstory we get for him in the game. legion companion could potentially involve visiting old settlements and learning about their history? it would be interesting for a legion companion to be someone disheartened with the legion’s methods, kind of like veronica (BUT NOT LIKE VERONICA) , and you can ultimately talk them into leaving (good karma) or convince them to stay with you and the legion (bad karma). i’m not sure on specifics for victor but given that he’s a cowboy likely inspired by old world western movies it could be so fun to have a quest that follows the plot of some famous western movie… big dramatic shootout at high noon. fun times. ulysses i’m split on bc i think it’s entirely contingent on how you interact with him in lonesome road and which faction you’re aligned with as there’s a lotttt of ways he can feel about you due to all of these factors that might make creating one Definitive companion quest hard. as for sunny idk. something that lets us go back to goodsprings ^_^ very last minute but i also think a great khan companion would be nice mostly bc i like the khans and the narrative is so awful to them

[mokkkki]

been following your works since your AJA series and love your choice of allusions, references, metaphors, similes, and motifs - your intertextuality is so layered and insane and established so right off the bat (no pun intended). how do you do it?

hey gorgeous! okay, wow, this is a very big question and i will try to do my very best to answer, though i might miss some things just because of the ginormous nature of this ask.

read. the most important thing a writer can do is read. i love fic as much as the next person, but it's important to delve into works that have been professionally published. when people say this they dont understand that reading is only the first level (and ofc, the most important level) of this step. read fiction, non-fiction, comics, or whatever you want to write one day, and after you're done with that, read things that you would never, ever write. don't stick to a genre. don't even stick to a format! go to podcasts, video games, movies. all of these are based on scripts. it is so so important to be able to recognize those universal elements of good media. there are so many components to this: reading will give you more general knowledge that might work its way into your writing one day, it allows you to meet a vast variety of povs, it develops your critical thinking skills, and ofc, it can even provide a roadmap for your later projects. writing has no rules, but if it had one, id have to say this: a good writer knows good writing, and the fastest way to that is reading a lot.

research. this ties into the fact that reading a lot will give you more general knowledge, and i think that general knowledge is an important factor in being able to write well! you asked specifically about my intertextuality, and most of my intertextuality is historical or religious in nature. i chose to intertwine my characters with historical and religious figures because i like them and the information i have built in! "research" doesn't have to be some crazy note-taking adventure (though it certainly can be if you want it to), it can quite literally be reading a wikipedia article on the toilet. some fascinating aspects of history i personally enjoy reading about is the ancient world, which ties directly into mythology, and eventually flows into abrahamic religions. religious intertextuality is so built-in and inherent, just because of its universally applicable themes (death and rebirth) that apply to every story told. i think its a great place to start if you are trying to add intertextuality to something you've written! i also recommend looking at non-western history, because it tends to be overshadowed, and there is truly so many fascinating things contained within it.

write. like. duh! and im afraid this might sound a little discouraging, but i think that if its your first time writing (and your goal is to be a good writer, rather than a cute hobby on the side), you also have to know that on some level, your first draft/project will suck compared to published novels, just a little bit. but you can't let that discourage you! you just have to keep going. its still something you've created, and even if that thing is ten pages of a bathing grandpa's stream of consciousness, it is valuable and important. i literally mean that with all my heart. i think that writing is a really tough discipline sometimes, just because it's a solitary activity where you type out what is, for all intents and purposes, an extended daydream you are having, and its for that reason that people tend to just run out of steam halfway through a project. you have to be able to motivate and push yourself. write like the wind! write poems and short stories and scripts and fanfic and novellas and epics, experiment with different styles, and above all, know that the content you are creating has value, simply because it came from you.

okay, i think that's everything! thank you so much for trusting me to answer such an important question, and if there is anything that seems unclear to you, please don't hesitate to leave another ask or even send a draft over <3 lots of love!

[larrythefloridaman]

I'll put Crimson here but I'm sure he's been asked already, so just in case I'll also add Recon Riley

Noone did, actually! I suppose I'll do both

GIVE ME A CHARACTER

Crimson:

How I feel about this character:

Embarrassed by the depths of my own investment in dissecting the complexities of the most annoying guy in the whole wide world. A strange sense of pride in knowing i sowed the seeds of my own downfall by inciting the initial reinterpretation of crimson's character as a shitstirrer after 20. Maddened by my own position as a lead researcher in studying this freak and how recontextualization fundamentally transforms the audience's understanding of its character and its role in the narrative, particularly enamored with how your perspective changes when one rewatches from the very beginning of the show with lategame context in mind.

so in conclusion hes fine. I guess.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Mostly just crimtoinette, beyond a passing joke here or there or vaguely shippy interpeetations of canon relationships (like my opinion of crimson and val's past relationship,) shes kinda the only character i can see him with in a serious capacity- well. theres also the chart. the chart is its own beast

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Crimson and Cosmic 'my mom blasted me to smithereens' support group when

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I worry i tend to dominate conversations about Crimson and its character with my general intensity about the subject to an extent i mightve frightened off some people from discussing the it. So if most of my opinions were unpopular im not sure id notice. This being said i understand the 'out transmasc' or 'nonbinary because it doesnt care' type interpretations of crimson's gender situation but i do not agree. closet-case transfem crimson numero uno the Arc of it just Makes The Most Sense. Transition would not fix her so much as it would be an inevitable byproduct of fixing her. like lanolin or pomace. its an essay topic on the backburner because it would involve a lot of discussion on queercoding and the exploitative relationship between fascistic art policing and subversive sociopolitically confronting art- to make my point about transfem crimson as a concept arisen from the deconstruction of a queercoded 'demonic seducer/general sleaze' villain archetype in the metanarrative as a victim trapped as a villain constructed as straw by the powers that be to destroy as a performance of absolute power and control- as effectively and thoroughly as possible and i simply do not have the time nor energy. essay i havent written tl;dr what if you wanted to transition but god (the all-powerful author of your reality) said no the minute they got the hint because you'd be bad representation. because you were born to die a liar. According to them.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

Sighs so wistfully. Limbo was so cool for the (checks notes) three scenes it was directly relevant before the streams ended

Recon Riley:

How I feel about this character:

I like them! Dont have a lot to say off the top of ny dome, though. Cocky and talented in some things but definitely not others, mysterious, unscrupulous, disloyal, cool, genderfluid. The vibes are great just in general

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Ehhhhhhhhh. I feel like i dont know enough concrete information about them to really get all that invested in making this doll kiss any other doll. genuinely all power to the making shit up for fun warriors you're powerful but im not. I need some kind of foundation to work off of to care and we truly know So Little about good ol riles beyond their place in the plot

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

I think her and jenny have a funny rapport? shrug

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Theres a pretty open ambiguity that Riley was a victim of Doctor Order who was stuck there because they had to be for one reason or another like most of her allies OR. that theyre an opportunist that just saw the writing on the wall and decided to ingratiate themselves to the winning side of the 'war' as quickly as possible. I find the latter a bit more interesting, because while its cynical and the former has precedent- well thats exactly it. We already have so many uncomplicatedly victimized former order allies that i think its a fresher take and a more interesting and unique narrative niche for them to fill to have been there because they were Kind Of A Selfish Asshole and willing to go with what Order was doing a lot of the time for personal profit's sake. Not a true believer in the cause or anything, just ruthless, and folded themselves seamlessly into cpuk's ranks with all the other former order folks trying to leave their history behind.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

For the love of god. i wanna know anything about riley ever. They dont want to be known about but too bad i need to know what their fucking deal is

[trans-axolotl]

(Apologies this is long and rambley)

So ive been thinking on a peer-made trait-based 'diagnostic model' (not for disorders but neurodiverse traits), rather than the way the DSM and ICD do it and what that would look like and if it would be a good idea to propose as an alternative that focuses the patients unique experiences over theorized model boxes with misleading names.

Ive been growing increasingly discontent with how the ICD and DSM both categorize disorders, and the completed alternate models ive seen that already exist are not much better honestly, and worse for my specific brainfuckery. The alternate models that only focus on one section are just that- focused on one specific experience. Monotropisim as an alternate autism model can never be fully realized in the bubble it exists as a theory in. Plurality has like 50 different theory models and half of them aggressively ignore common reported experiences because they don't work with their unverified personal gnosis theory of everything, and the other half are likewise mostly incomplete. Trauma/cause-based models ignore genetic/from birth issues as a known cause of mental illness/developmental disorder and also consider everything trauma to the point of diluting the term.

I figured the best option would be to group traits by perceived experiences or related phenomena, with overlap, and the best way to do that accurately would be to make the 'diagnostic codes' combinable infinitely. (ex- a category that is 'unusual sensory experiences' with synthesia, hypo and hyper sensitivity to stimuli, needing to regulate with the sensory system (stimming) to high degrees, hallucinations of any kind, voice hearing(would also go under the plural category when consistent and personlike in presentation), visual snow, etc and each trait is a unique string of characters you can stack under the category string to create a larger string that describes your experiences quickly and concisely).

(The groupings are still all up in the air and id want to get a lot of perspective before cementing it, but I do want to put synthesia and hallucinations and visual snow all together because they are adding a Weird experience and its sensory based stuff others cannot perceive)

And then I realized that this is just the Geek Code but for neurodiversity,,

Im STILL not sure if that makes it a bad idea or not honestly.

On one hand the way the DSM and ICD are set up is NOT actually that great, and being able to shorthand a list that describes things better and doesnt pathologize people as having 'asshole liar personality disorder' or whatever would be fantastic, on the other it is also clunky, people are gonna be pissed about how I am categorizing things contrary to how the DSM and ICD group things (autism and schizophrenia and plurality are all holding hands and kissing with tongue), and it may more strongly encourage people to share very private information online via sharing their string code of every last neuroweirdness they have (which I do NOT want people doing for safety reasons).

So I just went 'hm, whos a cool antipsych person who may have more insight than I do about trying to make a peer-made description system for those who dont want to use the DSM or ICD to describe their experiences', and I thought of you, so thoughts? Is it feasible? Is it a good idea to try? I have like 500 million projects and I REALLY shouldnt add a new one of this magnitude, but I feel like its an important idea to at least float around first.

Hey anon! My answer got pretty long, so I'm going to put it under the read more.

I actually know a few people doing something like this--the founding director of Neuromancers started a project like this (not much has been happening with it lately, bc everyone is so busy with other organizing commitments and life, but if we ever get back to it i'm really excited about it. you could join the discord for Neuromancers and ask about the project if you want to join). I'm a known DSM hater and think that both the DSM and ICD and most biomedical models of mental illness as well as the "evidence based" processes of diagnosis are so fundamentally flawed, oppressive, and are in no way culturally relevant to the vast majority of people. a lot of us are still going to use that terminology as a shorthand because it's the most accessible and understandable in our current society, but that doesn't necessarily mean we all like it or agree with the way it's formulated in the DSM.

Honestly, I'm always a big fan of mad/mentally ill/neurodivergent people creating more ways of understanding ourselves and creating more resources for us to use. I think that there's never going to be one right model that works for every experience or than can encompass everyone. And I think that there's so much value in really deconstructing and dismantling the DSM--understanding exactly how disorders are currently categorized, the evidence behind it, the lack of evidence behind it, what clinicians and researchers are saying about these diagnoses, how we actually experience these diagnoses in practice, how diagnoses change through history, things like that. It can be super crucial to build our own understandings of just how these diagnoses were shaped in the first place so that we can understand what it would mean to dismantle and build alternative models that feel more affirming for us. I think your idea of trying to group more by traits rather than strict disorder criteria is something that might resonate with a lot of people!

that being said, i think that it is such a large and difficult project and also something that is almost impossible to make universal--there are so many factors going into everyone's experience with madness/mental illness/neurodivergence, and different labels are going to resonate with different people for different reasons. it's hard to predict what language or models will catch on with different people, and not all types of language or models are accessible to everyone. i guess for me i just think it can be helpful to go into projects like this without the expectations that this will necessarily be able to replace the DSM for everyone, and instead thinking more about how this can be a valuable tool for providing more options and ways of thinking about madness/mental illness/neurodivergence! even if it doesn't work for everyone or is only applicable to certain types of traits and variations, i think that this type of creation of knowledge is so, so valuable. i hope that makes sense!

some other related concepts that your ask reminded me of was @bioethicists principles of liberatory antipsychiatry. Charlie identifies the right to your own explanatory model as a key principle of liberatory antipsychiatry, and that liberatory antipsychiatry should affirm and build upon those individual models, and respect that as a way of healing. I think that's a really important insight, and to me makes a lot of sense. We all have the right to draw from our own experiences + minds, as well as use existing knowledge, science, and disability community experience in order to create alterative labels, models, and frameworks for our madness/mental illness/neurodivergence. I honestly feel like I've created my own hyperspecific model of madness for my own bodymind, and that framework has been super helpful for figuring out how to live with my madness. Idk how helpful it would be for anyone who isn't me, but having my own particular explanatory model was crucial for helping me heal.

It also reminds me of the way this really amazing peer support network for people living with schizophrenia in Japan called Bethel House, who developed a framework for radical peer support and healing. This article talks about the concept of tōjisha-kenkyū, which in English would get translated as something like "self directed diagnosis" or maybe "political education," and it seems kind of similiar to English concepts about self diagnosis.

"Self-reflection is at the heart of this practice. Tōjisha-kenkyū incorporates various forms of reflection developed in clinical methods, such as social skills training and cognitive behavioural therapy, but the reflections of a tōjisha don’t begin and end at the individual. Instead, self-reflection is always shared, becoming a form of knowledge that can be communally reflected upon and improved. At Bethel House, members found it liberating that they could define themselves as ‘producers’ of a new form of knowledge, just like the doctors and scientists who diagnosed and studied them in hospital wards. The experiential knowledge of Bethel members now forms the basis of an open and shared public domain of collective knowledge about mental health, one distributed through books, newspaper articles, documentaries and social media." (Japan's radical alternative to psychiatric diagnosis, Satsuki Ayayais and Junko Kitanaka, ).

Anyway, thought I'd share those things to sort of point you in the direction of other people thinking about madness outside of the DSM. if you end up doing any more thought or creation for this idea, def feel free to share with me! I love seeing all the ways people take apart the DSM and build our own knowledge, and would love to keep updated.

best of luck, anon!

[fireandiceland]

Hello recently fell back into the hetalia fandom again , uhh i kinda dont know how to navigate the fandom etiquettes around here anymore since the last time i was interested was like 8-9 years give or take and wonder what has changed (sorry if its an annoying ask...)

Hi! It’s not annoying at all, don’t worry! I’m not sure if I’m the right person to ask this though because I joined this fandom in 2021, no coming back to it then or anything, I got here as a new fan only 4 years ago haha!

But from what I have gathered through interaction with older and newer fans & what I’ve seen on old blogs I can tell you the following: people tend to be a lot more conscious about real life history, especially when it comes to shipping, but also tend to ignore canon more these days? You should definitely be ready to see a lot of character and ship interpretations that are rather far removed from canon (which isn’t particularly bad but you can like that or not I guess).

Hmm what else.. The manga is still ongoing with weekly updates, but we are currently in what I would call a canon AU arch called gangsta (or gangstalia). I haven’t kept up with reading but it’s kinda like if you combine a non-serious mafia AU with Yugioh-esque card game battles. (And we got some really cool outfits for the characters for that, even for some minor characters!)

What else is new.. If you like “discourse”: I think it was 4 years ago now that the hetalia collezione came out. It’s a book featuring character descriptions lots of little bits of information and trivia about the characters and there was 1 mention there of Austria and Prussia being cousins which caused a huge uproar for a while (a lot of people tend to ignore this now or don’t take it for canon because seriously wtf lol). And recently there’s been a lot of usuk hate on tiktok, seemingly because younger fans haven’t read any older manga strips started calling people names for shipping what they deem brothers or father/son. On tumblr we just block and ignore though, I generally don’t bring hate and negativity here onto my blog.

So much for what you might have missed in recent years. As for current fandom etiquette I think it’s mostly just the basics. Don’t spread hate, curate your online experience (don’t be afraid to use the block button), live & let live (ship & let ship), reblogs are better than likes, keep comments in the tags if they don’t add onto the post.

I think that’s it. This got longer than expected, I’m sorry for getting a little off on a tangent! I hope what I said is at least somewhat helpful & most importantly welcome back and I hope you have a good time coming back into the fandom 🥳🧡

[collegeoflore]

OC meme!

tagged by @aliasknives!! thank you love :3

tagging @menzoberranzans @elminsters @tadpole-apocalypse @undead-potatoes and anyone else who wants to do it :3c

B A S I C S

Full name: xarrai. just xarrai lol. they’ve never once used their last name and so that gave me an excuse to never make one up for them :)

Gender: sure. whatever. (transfem flavor)

Sexuality: bi/pan/who cares

Pronouns: any

O T H E R

Family: they don’t remember if they ever met their father or not, and while their mother and at least two half siblings live in neverwinter, they don’t speak at all

Birthplace: the outer city, somewhere between wyrm’s crossing and the basilisk gate

Job: bard, courtesan, information broker, pickpocket, con artist, professional drunkard, etc etc etc. post-game, they add adventurer and (reluctantly) bard college instructor. (jury is still out on if the xarrastarion harper ending is canon in which case they add harper to the list even more reluctantly LOL)

Phobias: loss of autonomy, The Church Of Bane As A Whole lol

Guilty pleasures: if you asked, xarrai would tell you they’re a true hedonist and would never feel guilty for any pleasure. but if you dig deep enough into the trunk they had stashed at the elfsong you will find a collection of some of the worst romance novels in faerun buried under fancy dresses and thigh high boots that they would VEHEMENTLY deny is theirs. they don’t Like these books but they are obsessed with them the way people hate watch reality television LMAO

Hobbies: reading, leather working, writing (mostly music or poetry), stick n poke tattoos, drunkenly making out with strangers at the blushing mermaid, petty theft. obvs they sing and play their lyre but that’s part of their day job so i’m not sure if it counts under hobbies? lmao

M O R A L S

Alignment: chaotic neutral, leaning a littleeee chaotic good by the end of act 3. a little.

Sins: most of them if we’re being fully honest. lmao

Virtues: self-control, vigilance, freedom (is that a virtue? whatever.)

T H I S O R T H A T

Introvert / Extrovert

Organized / Disorganized

Close-minded / Open-minded

Calm / Anxious / Restless

Disagreeable / Agreeable / In between

Cautious / Reckless / In between

Patient / Impatient / In between

Outspoken / Reserved / In between

Leader / Follower / Flexible

Empathetic / Unempathetic / In between

Optimist / Pessimist / Realist

Traditional / Modern / In between

Hard-working / Lazy

this section was such a challenge for xar they r very much an Everything All At Once guy lol. take these answers with a grain of salt ig

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

OTP: astarion, unfortunately for everyone involved

Acceptable Ships: gale (but it never really works out for them,) technically they romance halsin in game as well but it’s not really romantic. tbh u could make an argument for them with most of the companions and it wouldn’t be That outlandish

OT3: i mean like astarion/xarrai/halsin is vaguely canon but they’re never Serious with halsin, though perhaps they get a little more romantically involved with him post-game? realistically i think xar just keeps a rotating cast of other partners coming in and out of their life until the end of time and i rly dont see astarion ever having an issue with it. they would get bored without hearts to break tbh. its enrichment.

Brotp: karlachhhh forever and ever. after she dies, they’re probably closest with gale (sorry gale lol)

Notp: it’s not technically a notp but i am obsessed with how badly xarrai wants jaheira and how she turns them down every time. ur never gonna get that milf honey but u can keep trying