#I only wish I had been attempting this

[delcat177]

@serpentinegraphite

Jesus Christy that's a big beaw

[swampybogg]

sketch Twin-Shadowed Knight spoiler

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

"i mess up things and then i don't have the energy to fix them up" yes brain true sentence but no brain the appropriate response is NOT "therefore i should kill myself (and here's how)"

[assmundr]

"Because we all know that a woman is not a woman until pregnancy/childbirth/motherhood/rape/infertility/other uterus related topics, is an integral part of her story" lol preach

If I had a penny for every time I encountered this in a story, I would have enough money to be able to quit my job and fully focus on the second part of the Asmundr/Home review lmao

Little tangent under the cut

I am honestly so tired of this still being an issue in the year of our Lord, 2025. It's even worse then the writer/artist are attempting to portray something "progressive" through their writing, but still somehow end up doing this.

Like, Andy Weird for an example. I loved The Martian and Project Hail Mary is honestly one of my the most favourite books I have ever read (read Project Hail Mary PLEASE I'm begging you I AM BEGGING ON MY KNEES-) but his second released book, Artemis? Atrocious. I have no idea what possessed him after he wrote the deliciousness that is The Martian to then spit out the kind of lukewarm mess Artemis was. I couldn't get past 60 pages, and I only got that far because I loved his two other books and wanted to push through. But I couldn't.

It absolutely is because of the main character, who is a woman (unlike the main characters in The Martian and PHM) and just kinda written as if an alien once did a Google search on what a woman was, spent 20 minutes reading about them on Reddit, then wrote a book about one. Nearly on every page, the reader gets reminded that the main character has boobs and has sex, because it's the most progressive thing ever to say women fuck!!! The MC has "not like other girls" vibe that obnoxiously overtakes over everything else happening in the book itself.

One of the worst books I have ever read, The Spectres, has many issues, but the biggest one gotta be how Every. Single. Female. Character. in it's story is defined by what male character they're currently attracted to. Every. Single. One. No matter who's POV it is, if it's a woman, her internal monologue and their actions will always circle back to the man she's into, completely defining her by her attraction to them instead of, you know, defining her by her personality like a regular person should be. And yes, this book was written by a man, if you were wondering.

It's even funnier when other people call this shit out, but then write it into their stories themselves, either being completely oblivious to it or bending back over backwards to excuse why it's okay if they do it. I once knew a person who heavilly criticised the badly handled sexual assault/rape in Home but then they had their own character raped/taken advantage of MULTIPLE TIMES for the sake of cheaply written drama and also have them have like seventeen miscarriages, too, because we all know the story of a person with a uterus isn't compelling until something like that happens to them. They also had a character they used as a clown and a comic relief in their writing that they were weirdly attracted to, while they were also a rapist (who assaulted several characters. Yes, it includes the previously mentioned one as well) All of this while they called out Home and Kique for misusing these topics for cheap drama/trauma/shock value.

I'm just. I'm so tired of this. I'm tired of seeing women and female presenting characters in media that's not even of this niche be written this way. Have rape, assault, pregnancy/birth related trauma thrown in left and right as if those are the traits that define women. I am tired of having to research the media I wanna engage with, whether it's a movie, a game or a book, to figure out if something like this will be a part of it's story. I don't mind at all reading about this, mind you. What I do mind, however, is when it's cheaply used as a sterotypical "female" trauma authors throw into stories so they can then label them as dark or provoking or some other shit. A woman is more than her uterus, a woman is more than a vessle for some cheap drama, and I am getting really tired of seeing this writing so often.

[mortal-ghost]

been working on this for a bit and am pretty happy how it turned out with all the guitar mixing :) i love this song and its so much fun to play too, and interesting to figure out all the separate parts and how they work together

[seventh-district]

.

[flippedorbit]

i’m gonna be so for real, if things don’t start changing for me in good ways i will be disappearing off the face of the earth

[girlivealwaysbean]

it would feel so nice to work towards a career that has meaningful impact and makes millions of people happy

[daz4i]

i am so angry about being alive it's not even funny anymore

[residueradiation]

It is so frustrating I have so many things I want to draw at all times but usually when I finally have time to draw anything I am not really enthusiastic about any of my ideas anymore. I want to draw 2 things a week not 2 things in 3 months.

[ohforficsake]

💯💯💯

Commenters are a writer’s lifeblood. We write for ourselves, we share not to feel so alone. Thank you to those of you who have made me feel less alone. 💚

Dude it is SO FUN and EXCITING to see a reoccurring reader. If you've commented a handful of times on an author's work, I guarantee that they recognize you. You can't imagine how many times I've excitedly informed my friends "the person with the funny cat image commented!" "- anon is back!!!!" and the friends've recognized who I was talking about because I talk about my commenters so often LOL. We love you all!!!

[captaincrowe]

feb 14 has never been a particularly hard day for me before. i think this year it might be

[runicrever]

Hi 👋, My name is Mohammad, and I’m reaching out in a moment of desperate need. I’m a father of three young children living in Gaza, and we are caught in the midst of a catastrophic war. Our home is no longer a safe haven, and the future here seems increasingly uncertain. 💔

I’ve launched a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $40,000 to relocate my family to a safer place where my children can grow up in peace and have a chance at a brighter future.

Unfortunately, my previous fundraising efforts were abruptly halted when my account was terminated without explanation. However, I remain determined to keep fighting for my family’s safety and well-being. 🫶

If you could take a moment to read our story, consider donating, or simply share our campaign with others, it would make an incredible difference. Every act of kindness, no matter how small, brings us one step closer to safety and a new beginning. 🙏

Thank you for your time, compassion, and support. ❤️‍🩹

https://gofund.me/fd1faea2 🔗

I truly do wish i had something to give I'm currently living paycheck to paycheck so I don't have much money I can spare but hopefully answering and thus sharing this can help you out

[sphinxdom]

slow coiling dread in my stomach realizing ive failed in my one role in the system - that my failure is not just familiar but identical, even surpassing, the failure ive criticized in others amongst my own . was it not fear and knowing, truly knowing that drove my word and my heart

[krc-krc]

Divorce is the LEAST destructive way of parting ways if people don't work out, regardless of how they got together. I'd rather people divorce, than e.g. kill each other or themselves because they won't/can't

i love divorce i love when people realize that they aren't a good fit for each other and get divorced about it. more people should get divorced

[keypostos]

caleb is 10 when he realizes that he's a physical touch fiend. the rush he gets when his hand lingers on top of your skin after playing with you is like no other. when he presses into your side while you're reading, his thoughts always circle around one topic: you, you, you. when you would run into his room after a nightmare, caleb was ready to swoop you in his arms and hold you until you fell asleep. every response towards you was involuntary.

caleb is 15 when he realizes that teasing 13-year-old you becomes irresistible. when he holds up your book, pencil, or some other item in the air, he watches as you jump up and down to try and grab it back. he's grown a lot in three years; if he had to estimate, he's a whole head taller than you now—20cm at least.

when you throw yourself onto him in an attempt to get your stuff back, he falters. you're laying against him on the couch, shuffling and moving up and down over his body, and caleb's breath hitches. you're so close and right there.

he's going insane. you can't even stand up for five seconds before caleb pulls you down against him once more, saying something about retaliation or revenge while tickling you to death.

caleb is 20 when he's about to leave for the DAA. there's an air of silence around the house. you've trapped yourself in your room more often, stressing over your senior finals. at least, that's what you've been telling him.

"i'm sorry caleb, i really need to study for this test."

"oh! i totally forgot about that project i had due tonight. shit, i'm sorry caleb. we'll have another movie night soon, okay?"

he doesn't know if you're actually this busy or if you're actually ignoring him. all he does know is that he misses you. he wonders about how he could miss someone who was in the room across from him. you were so close, but so far.

when you found out he was leaving—though you had a grin on your face while congratulating him—caleb knew you were devastated. he wondered if you were secretly mad at him for leaving.

two weeks before his departure, he practically forces you to be around him. he laid down next to you like before. he stroked your hair while you napped on the couch. he teased you and picked you up so you could hit him and grab him like you used to. he always chose to put his arm around you during a movie. he dragged you by the hand all around the neighborhood. he needed to all of that again, a thousand times more.

but at 24, it seems like there may have been a wedge between the two of you. calls are more and more infrequent.

"sorry, space signal sucks," he'd type.

"sorry, i was busy with training!" you'd reply, 2 days later.

he thinks that he would do anything to go back to before. he hasn't felt you in months. he sees you only twice a year.

it's hard. it was excruciating during the first few weeks. not only was he dealing with bootcamp, but he always found himself looking to his side, thinking you'd be there with him. at night, you were there, right next to him in bed.

he imagined that you would whisper words of reassurance in his ear. you'd hold onto him like you used to, when you had nightmares, and wrap your legs between his. there were days where we stroked his necklace, wishing that it was your hand instead. what he would give to have you next to him.

all he wants is to be able to feel you again. he chastises his 10-year-old self for taking you for granted back then. he wants to feel the apples of your cheeks when he caresses your face. once,—when he was 13 (you, 11)—he did that, and he thought you had a fever the way you warmed up. if he could, caleb would build a time machine to go back to that.

caleb is 25 when he is out of your life.

he thinks about you every day. it reminds him of when he was in bootcamp five years ago. it takes him back to when he was fifteen; you were on top of him, and his brain was fried to a crisp. caleb wonders if he's always been this way, because he can recall that at ten, you were still the only thing consuming his mind.

even during his arm repairs, you're there throughout all the pain.

when you discover his metal arm, all of caleb's instincts point to the door. he's spent so long trying to hide it from you: it's the constant long-sleeves (even though they made him incredibly uncomfortable), or making sure to only touch you with his left-hand (even though he wanted to pull you in with both hands).

but he stays. because it's you.

you freeze momentarily, listening to his writhes and moans of pain. caleb only notices you're there when he feels your hands brush his shoulder. he jolts back in surprise, and he sees you looming over him.

he stammers something, not even sure of what he said because you're here. you see him. you see it.

caleb's wanted this for so long. he wanted to see you again, in a state where you were both vulnerable, like old times. however, that moment probably wouldn't have come if he doesn't confess about this, so he relays the details.

you listen attentively, eyes wide with shock as caleb goes on. your hands wrap around his metal one, and he feels nothing. it's agonizing. he sees you examine him so gently. your fingers trace over bolts and plates of metal, lightly stroking up and down his arm. and caleb feels nothing.

how often has he dreamed of this? for you to be touching him again, so intimately and softly? he's stayed up countless nights wishing for you to be here, just so he can put his arms around you in a crushing embrace, only to be incapable of feeling you on one side of his body.

you pull away from his arm, asking if the fleet was accountable. when he doesn't say anything, he feels your weight lift off the bed and go towards the door.

whatever happens next is involuntary. he uses his flesh arm to pull you back, caging you between his forearm and his chest. there's no thought to it, no rationalization. it's just you and him. and he's been deprived of this for so long.

he breathes into the crevice of your neck, and he has half a mind to place his entire face there. he wants to breathe you in after being away from you for so long. no conversations, no contact, no touching. the last time he was this close to you was years ago. he needs this, caleb thinks.

the feel of you against his bare chest is something he cannot seem to describe. it's like he's his teenage (or even kid) self again, where he seems to short-circuit whenever he comes in contact with you. you're still small compared to him, but you fit perfectly like you did a decade ago.

he lets you go after he feels you trembling. you don't hesitate to place your hands on his waist and tackle him onto the bed. you catch him off-guard as you pin him beneath you, looking straight into his eyes.

"hold me," you plead, "with your right hand."

caleb lets out a shaky breath. there are voltages of electricity flowing through him—literally and figuratively. his skin sparks alive when he feels you. will it be the same with the metal arm?

slowly, caleb raises his mechanical arm. he wraps it around you, and feels the movement of your back shift downwards. you released a breath you didn't know you were holding. caleb held his.

you wait patiently before caleb starts running his metal hand up and down your back. you watch him exhale as he continues. you press your forehead on his, and you breathe in tandem with him.

caleb is 25 when he discovers that he loves physical touch.

wow like i didn't expect this to get so long... but like here we are???

i think we need to start embracing touch-starved caleb in all of our fics. this man hasn't seen the love of his life in YEARS (infrequently, anyway) so i think once she touches him (like INTIMATELY) for the first time in years he goes a little cray.

also sorry the ending was rushed i wanted to get this over with bc i intented this to be like 500 words but obviously it got way longer than that. what can i say... this freak has dug into my brain.