#I'm actually really surprised I share a mutual with them since most people in these spaces reblog things that are triggering for me

[velvetvexations]

staying the FUCK outta the discourse but i’m pretty sure i know what user they’re accusing you of being a sideblog of, and i don’t buy it. firstly cuz ive spoken to them a few times as far back as like 2020 and the writing style is totally different but also cuz im mutuals with both of you and ive had post like notifs come from both blogs when afaik likes always come from your main even if reblogs/comments can be from side blogs. like yeah it could be whole ass separated accounts but like they’re not shy about their opinions on thier main that seems like a lotttt of effort tbh

everyone is just interchangeable paper dolls to some people

[its-short-for-jackalope]

THE SEARCHER IN THE SHADOWS

☆ Thoughts On Part One ☆

I have many thoughts and feelings and I am definitely not gonna be able to wrangle every last one in here, but I can do my darnedest to hit most of the big ones!

Dropped From The Clouds

The contrast of this first song compared to the start of TGOA makes me a little insane. Both songs are full of questions and uncertainty and take place after the characters have been teleported to another time and place, but When Are We? has the comfort and assurance of being with friends while Dropped From The Clouds has Rose isolated and alone without any familiar faces, and the parallel just reminds me of how much has changed and how quickly things are continuing to change. When are we going to slow down? Not now, it seems.

Dakkar's introduction, oh my god — "I'm nobody." [mildly threatening Radiance noises] "Give me the orrery." — and then he immediately goes into science mode. I need to draw him so bad. Also, side note, I already adore Jesse Bhamrah's voice.

He was/is a Traveler and a Searcher? so it seems the titles aren't mutually exclusive, then. I wonder if his unclear status as a Traveler has anything to do with whatever he's got going on that we heard in Transmission 14.

Fast Friends

CAPTAIN ADDISON ARVAD!!!!!! THE SCREAM I WANTED TO SCRUMPT!!! (also Natalie Masini sounds amazing)

"Lower your weapon, for God's sake." "The gun was your idea." I love them, your honor

So Dakkar and Addison were absolutely taking precautions in case Kal had possessed Rose, right? That's the vibe I get, anyway. Maybe they know he's capable of doing that sort of thing (maybe Sia has seen it happen? or, y'know, ✨️seen✨️ it) and that's why they wanted to check if she knew the GAD's publication date—Kal doesn't seem to automatically gain his host's knowledge, like when he didn't seem to know Morgan had already been sent away, so if he was possessing Rose then he probably wouldn't have known the date.

...Actually wait, you know what? Maybe it was Itzal they were worried about. We don't really know anything about what magic he could have at his disposal—maybe he can also possess people or change his form. and since he's a bigger, badder threat, I think it could make more sense for them to avoid saying his name rather than Kal's. 🤔

ADDISON IS A ROSE FAN???? ROSE IS PRETTY FAMOUS ON THEIR ISLAND??!? THEY HAVE A BRICK FROM TOWNSHIP NUMBER 9??!!?! Rose deserves the hype 100% of course but I have so many questions

okay I didn't expect Rose to meet Addison the very hour she arrived 2 weeks in the past, so I did not consider the fact that she and the crew would be here and they wouldn't have disappeared yet. I am now deeply afraid, because I know something happens to her. I have been so afraid of how the time travel will hurt me irt the twins that I didn't think about how many OTHER ways the time travel could hurt me.....

AND ROSE CAN'T WARN HER!!! So she just has to keep her mouth shut and let it happen and Addison must know that something happens, she and Dakkar didn't seem surprised that Rose didn't know who she was, but she's gonna go in blind anyway... 😭😭😭 okay wait, what if Addison and Sia's plan was for them to leave the Antikythera drifting for the others to find, but instead of returning to Lincoln Island Addison and her crew disappeared??

Destiny Strange and Sublime

...well now I just feel silly for not even considering that Dakkar would be the Searcher in the shadows 😂

I can't quite tell if the people he mentions he'd been unable to save is like... a personal thing, as in he actively failed to save them because of his own mistakes, or if it's more of a shared grief for the Blazing World and all its inhabitants. the first interpretation is definitely more angsty, lol.

I wish I had more coherent thoughts on this one but at this current time it mostly boils down to ohh pretty music, Dakkar is cool, Jesse Bhamrah is awesome, et cetera.

Arrival, part 1

HELLO PART 1 SONG!!!! I am excited to see how parts 2 and 3 may emotionally devastate me in the coming week!

so many people from the Blazing World! pleasantly surprised my island of refugees theory was correct. then again, I've spouted off enough theories that odds are at least some of them gotta be right, lol

Ahlaam my beloved!!! Virginia's voice is gorgeous, omfg.

The different creatures and plants from all over the world.... have the Searchers been looking for things that remind them of the Blazing World and bringing them back to the island to make it feel more like home? Crafting a facsimile of the Blazing World from pieces of Earth? (aough, and I thought "Ipomoea, just like home!" couldn't hurt any more than it already did...)

the phrasing of "OUR planet's biggest ocean" is interesting to me. Is the Blazing World connected to Earth somehow, thereby making it the same planet in some way, or is it just that this island has been home long enough for Ahlaam to feel attached? Or. Or. If the Blazing World is on the moon, then it would make sense for Ahlaam to refer to the Earth as her planet because the moon revolves around it and it's the moon's planet. (yes, hi, hello, it's a new pulp episode, we are once again in the Overthink Everything And Fire Off A Bazillion Theories era <3 )

They've been waiting for Rose for YEARS? ...would that be since 1835, or 1829? and we know they've been waiting for Margaret because, well, duh, but have they been waiting for Samuel and John, too? or are they all just Rose stans?

the crew of the Antikythera....... 😭😭😭

I love that a good portion of this song is basically just Ahlaam going "check out our sweet digs" lmao

The nights have been dark but this is the spark that will set the whole lighthouse ablaze — YELLING RIGHT NOW, oh my god. lighthouses are guides through darkness and stormy weather and they also cut through fog, I want to bite something (/pos)

this has got to be both very nice and very overwhelming for Rose, lol.

Addison & Dakkar and Ahlaam & Dakkar are both very fun dynamics

A Spell Is Just A Rule Made With Magic

THE FOG IS FROM A SPELL!!! ITZAL CAST A SPELL AND CORRUPTED HIS PEOPLE! "It saturates the heart with darkness 'till you forget life before the blight" oh my god, he convinced all of them that the fog is how they always were & were meant to be? No wonder Kal considers Sia and Margaret traitors. So when Kal says "soon the Blazing World will meet its end" he might not be talking about an actual place—in his mind he's probably talking about the traitors' movement & the ridiculous, dangerous ideas they have about replacing Itzal's world with one of light...

"A spell is just a rule made with magic, and any rule can be broken" AOUGH. CHILLS.

ooh they believe Rose is the key? aw man this adds more weight to "I was a hero and the heroes win — don't they?" in Vanishing...

"Capital." oh my god Mr. Dahan you can't do this to me. The similarities between Dakkar and AJ have to be intentional, right?? ...oh god, is Dakkar gonna make a bad deal to save lives? Is he gonna sacrifice himself in some way to save his people?

Two Weeks

I love this montage, it's such a nice way to go through this part. also I just really like how this whole first part is structured, having this entire part dedicated to Rose in this time is a great way to handle the time travel without being confusing by jumping back and forth, AND it gives us time to get to know the new characters a little bit! It's also a bit of a breather after how hectic the end of TGOA was. (I feel like part 2 is going to get super intense super quickly, lol.)

So they start with science and testing her mind, giving Rose access to all their research to see if she figures out anything there. And then they go to the volcano and scan her, starting to test her body for evidence that she might be able to help them in some magical way. (They're probably still going over the research too, ofc. Those were a lot of books, Dakkar.)

Day 9!!! Sia is here!!! I desperately want to know exactly what she and Addison were talking about. I think it might be a plan to abandon the Antikythera for Margaret and the others to find in a few days, but that's mostly speculation.

also Sia seems so much more relaxed and at ease here. maybe it's because she's at home with her people and she can be less secretive than she was on the satellite? (and because she isn't in a literal magic battle, lmao.)

Dakkar mentions phase three and they go to the lake to try doing stuff with illusion magic—do they want to try using magic on Rose to see if they can get her to activate whatever magic she may have? Or maybe how Rose reacts to the illusion magic could reveal something...?

Rose not wanting to go in the water, aoughhh 😭 and Sia helping her when she's scared 😭😭😭

Dakkar's Grotto / Mobilis In Mobili

when I saw this scene during the premiere I said "holy sci fi" and I stand by that. this environment is so cool. I wonder why the rest of the island isn't like this when they're clearly people with a lot of knowledge and technology... it's probably a matter of supplies. They fled to this island from Itzal and his spell, so they wouldn't have had time to pack a lot of stuff. I imagine whatever they did manage to bring and/or build is all dedicated to their efforts to find a cure and protect everyone.

we know they haven't found anything yet because they're still testing Rose's blood. man, that's gotta be stressful for her. (And the Radiance folks, yeah, but c'mon. so much pressure on Rose right now and she's brand new to all this. 🥺)

The Nautilus is here!!! and it's a spaceship!!! AHHHH!!! 🤩

SHIT IS GOING DOWNNNNNNN! Margaret is radiating and I am going to be Thinking about what it means that Sia can sense it—is it a part of her precognitive abilities? is it part of whatever bond they have that allows them to combine their power?

Rose blurting out a warning about the fog and Ahlaam and Sia immediately getting more concerned.... I hope that maybe since she waited until right before Sia left it won't influence anything negatively, if at all—it's only a very small part of the present that will be influenced and it's not like they totally altered their actions across two weeks to accommodate for that information so I'm sure it's fine. hopefully.

Rose is worried about Samuel almost drowning like she did (and is/will be)... she is not going to like hearing about the dangers he's actually facing. well, if anything is gonna wake up potential magic in her, learning that one of the bad guys attacked & has been harassing her baby brother will probably a good contenderrrrroh fuck I had a thought. uh, stay tuned, we'll get there.

oh god the Ellen Austin will be arriving soon and Samuel and Rose will reunite (they BETTER REUNITE ASAP) and Rose is going to be two weeks older and I am going to perish

not the little reprise of The stars appeared... that made me so sad last time.... 😭 I love how this version of it is positive. the parallels,,,,,,

Rose and the Stars

IT'S HERE AT LAST!!!!

The past stays soaked into our skin 😭

we are lit by suns that shatter through the dark.....

WE TRAVEL WITH THE SPIRITS THAT WE KEEP — ough, makes me think of the ghost of all my yesterdays in Behind Me. also the change from "Don't spend a second looking back" in ep 1 to "only looking back to see how much we've grown" has me feeling things idk how to describe rn, lol

THE CONSTELLATIONS TURN INTO A CROWN!!!!!! 🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣

Rose will shine again 🥺😭❤

A Few More Thoughts

Is the day Sia arrives also the day Addison and her crew left the island? we don't hear from her after this, and her disappearance isn't mentioned in the rest of part one but Sia knows that something happened to the crew when she confronts Kal on the Ellen Austin. If they had a plan for the Searcher crew to return to Lincoln Island and leave the ship for the others to find & investigate to kickstart Margaret's memories, but then the crew just didn't show up, I would think it would be mentioned? Unless they didn't want to overwhelm Rose and distract her from her work, or maybe they avoided discussing Addison & the Antikythera with her because of time travel rules...

oh and it is gonna take me a bit to grasp the time travel rules, lol. (sorry Matt, I haven't seen any Back To The Future since I was a kid.) I am going to be pondering the timeline for a while, particularly where Sia is involved. I feel like they probably want to avoid going back into the past as much as possible just based on how they are with Rose and how they put a lot of effort into not altering the present with her information about the future, but I don't think Sia would have gone from 1835 and skipped right ahead 39 years and stayed there? Like she has people to take care of and plans to make, she probably wouldn't just disappear on them for such a long time? maybe the Travelers who are experienced in abiding by Time Travel Rules are able to navigate backwards in time with more freedom because they know what they're doing. idk, like I said it's gonna take me a bit to wrap my head around this. maybe parts 2 & 3 will make it a little clearer.

OKAY, CONTINUING MY SAMUEL THOUGHT FROM EARLIER: Sia and her bunch believe Rose is the key. What if Itzal and Kal think Samuel is the key? What if that is why Kal was interested in Samuel on the Ellen Austin and why he seemed to really delight in antagonizing him? If Kal was hanging around long enough beforehand to see how close Margaret and Samuel are, then that could have convinced him that Samuel is Important™ to the Blazing World and that Margaret knows he is important to them. And maybe both sides are only halfway there, maybe it's both twins, together, who are the key, and that's why they haven't made progress towards the cure with Rose over their 2 weeks.

okay there are probably plenty of things that I'm missing and more that i could come up with and tack on, but I've been working on this post since last night and i want to finish it and get to other things so I am calling it here, lol.

...that is a horribly long sentence but I am not editing it. hope you enjoyed. <3

[ropebuny]

Oof. I'm pretty sure I'm the guy you were referring to about being disappointed in my girl obeying "too well." I'd like to clarify, probably more selfishly than anything else.

A) I appreciate you not actually tagging me because oh buddy that was a ride of comments and reblogs.

B) I absolutely love and married this girl. She is absolutely not boring nor am I disappointed with anything about her. She's amazing.

That was really a tongue in cheek snap shot of something that happened, more of a joke than anything else. Albeit maybe not the most well delivered or received.

C) We communicate literally every time we have sex. To make sure she's ok, satisfied, something that was too much or not enough. We talked about her being "too good" right afterwards and we both laughed about it. In the fake disappointment that she doesn't give me a reason to punish her more.

D) I do appreciate the advice and input and criticism. I am absolutely not perfect and have never claimed to be. I started this blog originally to learn more about kink and how to do things better/safer, find new ideas, explore things, yada yada yada. Not like there was a course in college I could take. But now I'll add some of those comments to new things to try and ways to spice things up.

In the way of kink, I very well might be boring compared to some. But I'm doing my best to be better for her. So honestly, thanks for the criticism.

-K

thank you for taking the time to reach out and write out your thoughts and further explain everything. I definitely see where you’re coming from now. sometimes it’s a caught in the moment thing, where you wanted to perhaps feel ‘justified’ for punishing her but then couldn’t do so since she was being so good that it felt kind of frustrating not being able to have a ‘reason’ to punish her, but not frustrated in a ‘genuinely mad’ type of way. and it’s cute how the two of you can joke about her being ‘too good’ afterwards too. that is always important in a dynamic, to be able to express yourself and make silly jokes with each other

I just personally would have taken it very to heart if my dom expressed their dissatisfaction and used words such as ‘disappointing’ and ‘not of any fun’ and I know that many other subs would agree. how your sub takes it and whether or not she is offended or hurt by your statements, is entirely your own personal experience and business between the two of you to work out. to a lot of people though it seemed like you were lacking in being able to communicate this dissatisfaction with her obedience, as it came across as being, so they put in their two cents. I didn’t want my criticism to come across as me attacking you or being hateful, that is also why I never tagged you. that is never my intention. your post got me thinking about how insecure I personally would feel if my dom shared those feelings and expressed them openly for others to see on tumblr, so I wanted to perhaps start a small discussion between my mutuals. it felt disrespectful in my eyes, because many doms unfortunately do not value their subs as much as they should, or some even at all. and it’s saddening to see as a sub

the post eventually, to my surprise, gained traction and lots of people weighed in their opinions and experiences which I think is lovely in this community, how we can dissect these things and try our best to help one another. what matters is that you and your sub have a respectful and healthy dynamic, my issues were personally in the specific adjectives you chose to use to describe her obedience which felt disrespectful to me, and it got me thinking how I would feel if my dom shared these thoughts. and it got me thinking and ranting. I apologise if any of this hurt you, since I and my post are the reason this specific situation is even being talked about in the first place.

it’s an important quality to be able to take criticism, so I admire your ability to do so. it’s especially important to be able to take criticism and assess it, especially in an environment such as the kink community where people can so easily get hurt or scarred/traumatised. and I myself have received criticism and have seen people’s disdain towards my words, so it’s important for us to always realise that we can always better ourselves and better how we communicate with each other and to be aware or how certain actions/words of ours can hurt others. good on you for taking accountability and thank you for taking the time to reach out to me and explain yourself, and most importantly defend your sub and openly express your love and respect for her. and I again apologise for any discomfort this has brought onto you, because it was truly never my intention for you to see that post and have others bashing you. I never expected that post to blow up nearly as much as it did

[sophaeros]

I think I'm hf in the exact same thing as you rn I just found your blog I am also obsessed with band rpf and Casablanca's/hammond jr do u have a kind of manifesto or anything I can read

dude did one of my irls send this or smth..i was literally Just talking about putting together a masterdoc and they were egging me on BSJFJWBS. i mean i'm kinda working on one but no promises bc im terrible w long term projects and also theyre very difficult to figure out

BUT i Will say (and i've seen other random people online agree w me) i think the general timeline is that during the seven years they lived together from 1998 to 2005 jules was down bad for albert but albert didn't realise his own feelings, so the most that might've happened is some fooling around physically. (this is mainly going off of this page from the meet me in the bathroom book where jules says "albert, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, baby!" insane quote. i could talk a little more about their full quotes but that's another post)

sometime between 2005 and 2013 (possibly 2011 tbh, comedown machine is The gay situationship album but angles touches on it a lot too) they dated twice and broke up both times. im not sure who broke up w who but tentatively i would say the first breakup was more acrimonious while the second breakup might've been mutual.

it's difficult to say anything for sure because most of their songs have songwriting credits shared with other people, so looking at lyrics for clues has a pretty big margin of error since a line might've been written by someone else and not them, yknow? i mean rpf is never a "for sure" kind of deal i could be entirely wrong and that would be fine but. you get what i mean

also one way trigger is the lynchpin for me. i physically cannot imagine a platonic explanation for this poster that uses a screenshot from thelma and louise of all films. not to mention the lyrics like even my Mom raised an eyebrow at "get dressed in your bed while she's asleep." and also it's one of two strokes songs albert has ever played solo with the other being elephant song (at least according to setlistfm, im still trying to find a video of it) (edit 12/08/2034: setlistfm lied to me he did not play elephant song 💔💔💔💔) which was written, surprise surprise, by albert and julian in 1999.

i mean i guess the poster could be them fucking around and having a little laugh but come on what an insane ass joke to make man. i'm gonna make a post later about one way trigger being their specialest little song because it really is

soo like..theres still more i could talk about like one way trigger being written by the albert julian nick trio (which makes me laugh imagining nick mediating their lovers quarrel) [EDIT: ACTUALLY WAIT NO ok it's hard to find definitive information on who wrote what bc different databases have information of varying precision but the canadian site socan which is the most precise so far says only albert and jules wrote the lyrics for one way trigger i'd misremembered. albert julian nick trio Did do call it fate tho which is still kinda crazy !! also jules and albert being the only ones to do one way trigger makes me crazier jesus christ why is this depressing ass song Their Song !!!!] which is the same trio as games from angles. theres a lot i've been thinking about them nonstop for like, what, a month? give or take? my poor friends have to deal w me sending dozens of messages at a time much love and light to them if they read this muah

and thank you for the excuse to be insane on main anon 🥰

[starrzies]

★Meet the Artist 2024★

I might have forgotten to post this </3

Hello there!!

I'm Starrzies, but I also go by Rodimus!! Of these two names I prefer my nicknames (Starrz/Roddy) more than the formality of my full username/chosen name!! I'm 19 and a full time college student! (I want to become a Forensic Pathologist!) My pronouns are He/They ONLY and my chosen gender identity is Demiboy! I'm also Aroace, my specific labels being Cupioromantic/sexual!

I'm just a silly little guy trying to do his best. I am a hobbyist artist and writer and I love to share what I come with in the hopes that other people will enjoy it as much as I do! I tend to post art related to my own characters, art I've done for other people and - more rarely - fandom related art! I also stream on Twitch!!! Usually it's art streams (especially for Art Fight!) or me playing my games - either solo or with other people! I do have a Discord server full of my friends, mutuals and people interested in my stuff and community! Feel free to come join :) I'm on basically on every platform (maybe not active, but I'm there!)

My special interest (been into it for as long as I can remember) is Transformers!! It will almost always show up at some point! I'm also super into Lego Monkie Kid, Overwatch and Genshin Impact!! (The last of the 2 I on and off play!) I tend to reblog content form these 4 fandoms! (They're the main 4 but I may branch out!)

I try and be super friendly! Really, I don't bite, but I do have a very limited social battery! So conversations may not last very long when it comes to talking! I also sometimes just don't have the energy to reply. If I don't reply then it's nothing against you, I promise!! That being said I AM TOTALLY OPEN TO BEING FRIENDS/MUTUALS!! Please note, if you are younger than 18 I will NOT be your close friend, close mutuals at most. This is just due to safety! (Pre-established friends before I became an adult are still a nd will remain my friends.)

Pets! I own,,, a few. Just a small little amount. They're all my babies though and I adore them. I do my beast to take proper care of them and give them long, happy and fulfilling lives! Hiraeth and Ravage both came from litters I've raised! (Hiraeth being an accident and Ravage from a foster litter.) Ember was my sibling's cat but became mine because she just,,, likes me more? My other pets were 100% intended! All of these guys are spoiled rotten,,,

Silly little notes/explanations!!

Cupioromantic/sexual; someone who doesn't feel/feels little romantic/sexual attraction but desires a romantic/sexual relationship

Demiboy; someone whose gender identity partially identifies with masculinity, but is not entirely binary

I've been in relationships before! However, I generally only feel platonic love for people around me. I genuinely love (/p) all of my friends and you'll see me make that very clear! I am NOT interested in relationships, especially after this most recent one. Things have gotten complicated AF and I don't even want to bother entertaining anyone.

I have a Decepticon Insignia Tattoo on my left wrist! My first tattoo ever and I LOVE it so much! I will be going back in October for hopefully, my second tattoo!

I own a 2001 Ford Mustang!! It's a convertible too! I ADORE my car so much and there is so much I have planned for it!!

I own 4 dogtags! They are NOT military related at all though! They just have special meaning to me and I've been wearing them since 2018! I did actually let someone borrow one of them for a decent amount of time but it was returned to me! I don't think I'm ever going to let them go again, they mean too much to me.

Ravage is named after the TF character! :D He was my little gaming buddy back when I was fostering a litter of kittens for my senior project. I ended up keeping him, I got too attached. Now he is best friends with Ember!

Hiraeth was a TOTAL accident. I was supposed to just have her mom but she was pregnant much to our surprise! (Someone was getting rid of her, probably because they knew she was pregnant, and gave her to us without telling us that lol) I was allowed to keep Hiraeth but none of the other cats were allowed :( They all went to loving homes though!

Discord is my main, preferred way of communication!! I always have it open on my second monitor so I tend to respond really quickly on there :) You should totally add me on there! I'm under the same username ;)

Feel free to interact with me!! Just be aware of my boundaries and DNI! (Very basic btw!) I'm always happy to chat and meet new people :)

I want to make a comic!! I have so much more planning before I can work on it though :( One day! You may see little teasers to it being posted on my socials!!

This blog is my SFW blog!! I do have,, other accounts but those will remain unnamed! If you are curious and have your age visible feel free to ask me about it in DMs!

WHEW, I think that's enough personal info that I'm putting on the internet LMFAOOO I'll be sure to redo this next year as well ;))

Quick Reminder!!   I DO NOT allow people to reupload, repost, claim, trace, reference or use my art without my Permission! If my art is posted anywhere else other than my accounts it’s not mine! If you like my work, consider following me or commissioning me!! (This does not count if the art was made for you! Please remember to credit me though!!)

Art Trades are Open! Commissions are Open!! Do NOT ask me about Requests!! Do NOT; Reupload, Repost, Claim, Trace, Reference or use my art without my Permission! 💜

You can Dm me Questions or Concerns! Like my work? Check out my Carrd for where else you can find me!

[kiisuuumii]

@kiisuuumii's writerly questionnaire !

thank you @lead-to-code for tagging (ily kara <33)

i'd love to see yall's answers (only if you'd like to share of course !) @noahsbong @yearning-rambles @thesorcererpoet

about me:

1. when did you first start writing?

i was maybe between seven and nine ? to be honest, i can't really remember when it was, but i remember the first few things i wrote were story quizzes on a (now gone </3) website called quizilla (it was naruto rp....................)

2. are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

not really, now that i actually think about it ! ive always been the type of writer that only liked writing angst, and even outside of writing (fan) fiction (which tbh i dont do very much of anymore), so much of my poetry either comes from heavy emotion or features it so sdghjksd

3. is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

theres one mutual, actually, who i actually wished i could write more like. in a very self-deprecating way, but ive since become very comfortable, and maybe even happy (!), with my style of writing ! so, no, i'm not really looking to emulate anyone in particular, and no one's ever made a comparison between my work and someone else's so no to that one too :0

4. can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (room, coffee shop, desk, etc)

i usually write on my phone, in the notes app or in my drafts here ! and ill usually only write in a (head) space where i can really think, undisturbed, for at least 30-45 mins. so i'll usually be out in my backyard under one of my calamansi trees ! though, lately, ive been occasionally writing at my desk on desktop tumblr :>

5. what's your most effective way to muster up some muse?

fall in love with someone

once i start thinking about how everything around me is alive, i start remembering that i, too, am apart of nature—a lucky enough set of sequenced mutations, to make me—just a eating, breathing, shitting animal. how lucky this set of mutations is to take it all in, the emeralds in the trees, and the beat of a chipmunk's heart, how scared we all are.

that or love

6. did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

people, no, but places, yes. i grew up for most of my childhood in the desert, and i have /always/ hated summers, because i'm kinda heat sensitive, and i sweat easily, and i hate it i hate i hate it djhks

but, a year ago, i moved back home, and, honestly, since being back home, ive come to appreciate the desert a bit more sgkjds i used to think they were ugly and uninteresting, but there's so much more there if you look a bit harder imo

7. are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

honestly !! i think there are plenty obvious ones, but i really wanna talk about /the lack of/ sexual themes in my work !! i wanna write more sexetry or whatever, but it feels really embarrassing to sdghks i really like writing them too, but again !! it just feels embarrassing !! ;w;

my characters:

1. would you please tell me about your current favourite character? (current wip, post wip, never used, etc)

not to copy of kara dskjfs but i love my first (and my current) d&d chara !! her name is maeve umerie, and shes a drow wild magic sorcerer / (planned artillerist) artificer !! shes so packed full of trauma and self-harming behaviors and addictions that i dont even know where to start <33 (i promise i love her i would actually be so devastated if she died before i could give her a proper happy ending </3)

2. which of your characters do you think you'd be friends with in real life?

i have this fantasy novel thought that ive floated in my head since maybe september-october of last year, and, in it, i have a character named levin hel, and AUGH hes just a sweetie :^( hes the son of a blacksmith-gunsmith duo who know a thing or two about magic, and is the apprentice to the son of the wizard who saved his life (who's name is nox, and he's an asshole ! but also i love him so much ;v;)

i need go go back to all my notes and stuff on it, bc i invested A LOT of time worldbuilding for it, but yea levin's a very kindhearted person, very much wanting to be like nox's father :'''^) </3

3. which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

i would absolutely hate to meet maeve mother. she's horribly self-serving and emotionally manipulative. she rules the house with an iron fist, and anything less than the best is worthless. she uses everything at her disposal to get what she wants, family or not.

4. tell me about the process of coming up with one, all, or any of your characters.

im ngl most if not all of my characters are just bits and pieces of me and my wants in different aus >_> .................................

5. do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

family and/or religious trauma mhm yep

6. how do you picture them? (as real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc)

for my fantasy wip, i imagine imaginary artwork, but for maeve, i have pieces i've drawn and pieces i've commissioned of her !! id love to someday get pieces of her family and other major characters in her past commissioned :>

my writing:

1. what's your reason for writing?

i will say that it's changed over the years. as a kid, and up until college, i've wanted to always be a story-teller. but, lately, i dont really have a reason for writing, other than to satisfy the thing that lives inside me that wants to write :^)

2. is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particular motivating coming from your readers?

knowing other people's reactions, getting to hear how something made them feel emotionally, or physically, or if there was a particular thought or memory that came to mind. i love knowing what people see, what my work makes people see, if anything.

that or if theres something, a word choice, or a line, that you thought was clever or struck you !!! i always love knowing people's thoughts !!!

3. how do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (for example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who "gets" the human condition; as a talented world builder, as a role model, etc)

i want to be thought of just as another person, honestly. someone who had very human emotions, and did the only thing she knew how to do.

4. what do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

uhhhhh im ngl i think this is also my greatest weakness but i have a tedium to my world-building, in that i need history-book-level details of my worlds or i will die (like i drew my own map. i drew a fucking map of an entire contiment)

5. what have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

yk,,,,, no ones given me a whole lot of specifics so im not sure,,,,,

6. how do you feel about your own writing? (answer in whatever way you interpret this question)

i said it before, but im pretty content at the moment with my poetry. though with prose, i think i could probably improve a bit sdgjksg

7. if you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

uh yeah !!!! i write and record voice memos in my journal fully knowing no one will ever read it or listen back right now as it is so !!!!

8. when you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? if it's a mix of the two, which holds most influence?

i gotta be honest, writing is a selfish act for me. i write because i want to, in ways that tickle my fancy dgkjds

it really is almost like an instinct for me

[librarylexicon]

2024 Writing Review

tagged by: @daringyounggrayson - ty!! 🫶 tagging: I already tagged a bunch of people very recently so I feel awkward 😅 hmm how about @freyafrida @goldenraeofsun @babblingbookends and any other other followers/mutuals who write. I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE.

number of stories posted to ao3: Ten! Which I'm very happy about, because it's the most I've posted in a single year since 2015(!). Here they are:

Family Crisis (almost 90k and counting)

A Manor of Speaking (3k) - Corners series

Duty and Care (400 words)

Better Out Than In (200 words)

Catch and Release (300 words) - Corners series

Belated Vigil (100 words) - Corners series

Ends and Beginnings (500 words) - Corners series

At the Gate (500 words) - Corners series

Happy Birthday (282 words) - Corners series

Now and Then (14k) - Corners series

word counted posted for last year: AO3 says it's 109,554, which I know is not really accurate, because I posted the majority of Family Crisis in 2023. Rough estimation puts the actual number closer to 33k.

fandoms i wrote for: Batman (Comics)

pairings: TimSteph in At the Gate, and some minor BatCat and TimSteph in Family Crisis.

stories with the most kudos, bookmarks and comment threads: Family Crisis is the obvious winner of all three categories, as the oldest and only chaptered fic.

work i’m most proud of (and why): Outside of Family Crisis, because I don't want it to dominate these answers, it would definitely be Now and Then. I'm a big fan of Dick & Tim's relationship in Post-Crisis and have long wanted to do them justice in a fic. It became a 14k behemoth that I think captures why I love them so much, and I hope that it will inspire more people to read the comics and appreciate Dick & Tim in them.

work i’m least proud of (and why): This is hard to answer, because I try not to post anything that I'm not very proud of. That said, it's probably A Manor of Speaking, simply because I rushed to finish it for an event and couldn't make it as long or developed as my usual one-shots. I don't dislike it, but it's really more of a vignette than an actual story, and Cassandra deserves a full character study, in line with All the Corners That Are Left for Dick or Flight Mode for Tim. One day!

share or describe a favorite review you received: I like this question because it made me reread the last few pages of my AO3 inbox and relive reading those delightful comments. I don't receive a whole lot of comments, but so many of them make me blush from how kind and effusive they are. Here's one from Now and Then that I absolutely adore (warning: contains spoilers). This person also left a bookmark saying "I love everything from this author but THIS is SO [keysmash]", and I remind myself of it whenever I feel down about my writing.

a time when writing was really, really hard: Whenever I work on Family Crisis, there comes a time in the latest chapter draft when I hate everything I've written and think it's super predictable and boring and I'll be letting down my readers. And so I write an abominable number of drafts for that thing. *headdesk*

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: I don't know if it surprised me, per se, but I did not expect to conclude chapter 23 of Family Crisis with the scene that I did. It was a very sweet moment that practically wrote itself, but there was no trace of it in my chapter outlines!

a favourite excerpt of your writing: I think Ends and Beginnings is my favourite of the seven ficlets I wrote for a zine last year. Dick and Bruce are, as always, the centre of it all, and I especially loved fitting a ton of characterisation into 500 words.

“We’re a family of only children—but you’re not the one who has to deal with siblings who weren’t always there. Or who once tried to kill you. And Damian’s still not used to living here instead of at the penthouse. He was bound to be on edge.” Bruce shook his head. “You give yourself too little credit, Dick. And I was too blind to appreciate how much you’ve done to hold this family together.” He passed a hand over his face. “I’ve missed too much.” A lump rose to Dick’s throat. “Give it time, Bruce.” “I’ve been gone too long. Damian’s two inches taller. Damn it, Tim became an adult and I wasn’t there.” Dick swallowed, eyes prickling. “Speaking from experience… needing your dad isn’t something you grow out of.”

how did you grow as a writer last year: I'm not sure how to answer this. I'm too slow and deliberate of a writer to follow challenges or push myself to meet certain milestones or statistics. I did write a bunch of zine fics, which was a good exercise in sticking to a word count and letting loose with some fluff, silliness and slice of life. Ideally, I'll continue that mindset, because it was really beneficial to just Get The Words Out. (IRL, I was published in an anthology, yay!)

how do you hope to grow this year: Somewhat related to my previous answer, I always say that I have excellent attention to detail, but in practice this means I'm a habitual perfectionist. If I could learn to turn off that part of my brain more often, that would be great! Also, I'll be able to write about so much more if I stop shying away from action scenes.

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): Undoubtedly this would have to be @tevyaa, who is the most supportive person I have ever met in fandom. Whenever I feel discouraged about my writing (and then guilty about complaining), she's always there with a pick-me-up, and her comments are the most lengthy, detailed and complimentary ones I've ever received. She's a fantastic cheerleader and I owe so so much to her. One gift fic is not enough!

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: When I wanted to make Dick and Tim take a brotherly bonding road trip, I sent them on the Great Ocean Road in Now and Then, because I have firsthand knowledge of it and knew my depiction would be accurate.

any new wisdom you can share with other writers: When it comes to fanfiction, characterisation is everything. Without accurate characterisation, you're just writing about OCs. You'll know you've got strong characters when they start bucking your outline and doing what they want instead. So yes, outline all you want, but be prepared for your characters to have their say along the way.

any projects you’re looking to starting (or finishing) this year: I feel like a broken clock saying Family Crisis again and again, but there are only a couple more chapters left (but the most difficult ones), and they're the top of my priority list. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to continuing my Corners series, including filling that mysterious gap between A Manor of Speaking and Belated Vigil. And I never start out thinking I'll do fandom events, but the Dick Grayson Anniversary Week looks interesting...

[namazunomegami]

This post is for @sniigura and me but you can read it too /j

Thank you darling for letting me ramble about some of my original story ideas 💕 My blog mainly features fics so I think there's no point to share them, even tho I have a lot concepts and characters that I've developed in my earlier years as a writer.

Cw: a lil mention of prostitution and kidnapping, my characters in general have disastrous upbringings

The first idea that I somehow circled back to came to me in the form of a very vivid dream. I rarely have dreams, and I'm especially surprised and at awe that I still remember the story with all the details and imagery.

The story is set in the Edo period of Japan and it's focused on a girl named Otomuro (my brain somehow recalled the name of a noblewoman from the Fujiwara clan. Probably I was searching for names for an oc and for japanese ocs specifically, I tend to use the names of actual people so I have the proper characters in kanji), who's abducted by a yokai. Luckily, when I did some research on japanese folklore, I found numerous yokais who frequently kidnapped children from their parents. And this story and even the original dream was full of various creatures and spirits from japanese culture.

When Otomuro is an adult, she's forced into prostitution. Though she frequently tries to escape the yokai, all her attempts result in failure. The yokai states that she's its favorite child and acts like an abusive mother figure towards her. She gets really close with one of her clients who is a ronin, a samurai without a master. His character is still really vague but I remember that he promises that one day he'll rescue her and helps her reuniting with her family. And that's basically it.

I mostly spend time with building Otomuro as a character and I did come up with a scene when she's serving as a kamuro, basically a lady-in-waiting for high ranking courtesans. Courtesans had a good relationship with their kamuros. They treated them like their younger sisters because they had mutual responsibility towards the other. Kamuros ran different errands for courtesans like delivering letters, gifts, or luring clients in to their brothel and in return, the courtesan fed, dressed and sheltered the kamuro.

This story is in a veeery slow progress, but I'm 100% sure that it can be an awesome idea for a novel. If I can come up with anything to fill in the missing parts.

The second idea is a short story that focuses on two original characters from an unfinished novel. That... sadly will remain unfinished. I'm very much heartbroken that I won't finish it, I put tremendous research into the setting, wrote over 140k words, prepared a massive appendix for further context and explanations but one single character's arc and personality fucked the whole thing up. He was supposed to be an antagonistic character but I just kept building him and he became a rather sympathetic lil fella, and he shouldn't be a character you can feel sympathy for. And it doesn't feel right for me to continue... My boy massacred the whole story lmao.

I've had a rather large cast for this novel, and the characters are with me for more than 3 years now. I know what kind of life they're going to lead, how their life started and how it'll end. They're very much their own distinct person, almost alive, and somehow they can function quite well in a different setting. Nowadays, I really like to think about them as one traumatised, queer, neurodiverse and multicultural friend group lmao. They're my children, I can never let them go or forget about them.

Yeah, back to the story, since most of the characters are highly developed and established, sometimes they just start talking inside my head. That's how my writing process usually start. The story is rather simple, my main characters, Lotte and Nikolai have a little catch up after 3 years of seperation.

I started to entertain this idea because until now, I never had the chance to develop crucial parts of these character's life. Mainly Lotte's relationship with her adoptive children (they didn't even have genders or names but now I'm settled on two boys) and one of her most dangerous coping mechanisms to deal with her depression and C-PTSD, which is none other than dissociative amnesia, and how it circles back to the kids. Lotte is a loving mother, but not an ideal, perfect parent. She's very much dependent on her older kid and quite possessive towards the younger one. Her kids must take care of her the same way she does for them too. Nikolai had several failed marriages throughout his life but the reasons and causes were unclear. So I decided to make a background character, Ulyana, as his first wife (Ulyana is still a special character for me because I named her after a russian friend I had online during quarantine. It's sorta a habit of mine to name characters after people I know and love, like Lotte's mother is named after my aunt and Nikolai's best friend is named after my grandfather and such). So the easiest way to solve these issues is to make the characters sit down and talk.

Lotte and Nikolai share a very complex and deep relationship. It's filled with a lot of understanding, gentleness, playfulness and platonic love. And even some romantic love on Nikolai's part which gives a kind of tragic edge to the whole thing. Nikolai is very much in love with Lotte, that's why his marriages fail but Lotte can't reciprocate this kind of love because she's well... canonically aroace (but like nearly all of my characters are queer this shouldn't be surprising), she has no desire to be a romantic partner or a wife but she does want to be a mother. They've been through a lot, they have an effect on each other, they make each other grow. Lotte smiles and laughs only in the company of Nikolai (and besides my russian characters only she's allowed to call him by his diminutive, Kolya) and Nikolai is capable of selfless acts to ensure Lotte's safety, though he's still a morally grey character, he's willing to achieve it by comitting corrupt and questionable things even.

But as much as I love them, the plot were abandoned before I could've written a longer interaction between them. There’s a draft of their first scene, however, there’s still an enormous language barrier between them so they can’t communicate that well. But these two really deserve their own seperate story.

Thank u bby for letting me share this with the world, hope you have a wonderful day 🥰💗

[juliens-bakery]

hi sorry this is so long ! this question may seem out of the blue, apologies, but why are so many boygenius fans on here, like, shameless liberals who won't tolerate any criticism of Biden? to be clear I'm not talking about your blog, I scanned it and it was so refreshing to see someone actually critical of the Dems and their instrumental role in the genocide. like, I see popular blogs in the fandom making aggressive posts that are basically “you HAVE to vote blue” and *yet, crucially*, they haven't reblogged anything actually critical of Biden? it seems the only time they talk about politics is to proselytise about how you HAVE to vote blue despite the *genocide*, and nothing negative about the actual policies, just scolding anyone to the left of them and saying hey biden's actually not that bad domestically !

i'm a POC boygenius fan from the global south and it's just something I've been observing keenly knowing that the external policies of that country will always hang over my head like a looming threat, whether blue or red is in power internally. and when young voters in that country do, for once, take cognizance of the devastation enacted on *our* countries by their govs, these liberals crawl out of the woodwork to scold them, then go back to posting about the latest julien-lucy sighting or whatever. it's surreal to see.

again, sorry for the unprompted rant, it's just been eating at me for so long and this blog just seems like one in the fandom that I can still trust. I just needed to get this off my chest. i fell in love with bg in 2020 I'll go back to streaming them now <3.

hi! thank you for this ask, it's been very thought-provoking for me, and i really do appreciate the trust. and no worries about the length, i'm about to one-up this shit.

it is a little hard for me to answer this question fairly. for one, the boygenius-sphere has changed a LOT since i started here (7 years! it's a long time!), and so a lot of my mutuals that i've had since are no longer here (shoutout @remembermydog though, we still here <3) and a bunch of new people have come through. so i'm really not as plugged in with the broader fandom space as i used to be, and i don't really follow a ton of new blogs these days, so i can't really say that i've seen everything that you've seen for myself.

that being said, even if i've had less ability to share your experiences, i do think what you're saying has a lot of truth to it. the obvious thought is that boygenius fans are disproportionately white, which naturally lends itself to that sort of optimism about the extant systems of power. fundamentally, i think, it is very difficult for a white person in that country to reconcile themselves with the idea that the extant systems of power were always bad to begin with and have never been fit for purpose, b/c they've always worked well enough for them. like, there's no innate moral value with being white or not, but it's not the most surprising correlation either. (and yes, i'm aware that boygenius fans are also disproportionately queer women, which counterbalances that optimism to a very real degree).

the frustrating thing is that there are so many people who refuse to even entertain the idea that some people have a moral line over which they will not cross. and i do think that there can be a moral obligation to do an unpleasant distasteful or "bad" thing in order to achieve better ends. but there's always balance between the depth of the wrong and the value of the ends. and everyone has to decide for themselves where that balance lies for them. if i was american, i don't think i would vote this year, for a bunch of reasons. i don't think i would begrudge anyone voting for biden, especially if they thought that trump would send even more bombs (although frankly i have no fucking idea what trump would do). i've voted for trudeau in years when i really didn't want to because of the voting patterns of my particular district. i am about to be an extension of the canadian legal system, which has inflicted incredible amounts of harm to indigenous people and many others.

voting for biden and not voting for biden are both moral compromises. the only question is: how much blood are you willing to get on your hands as you fight for a better world? everyone's line is different (and not everyone's line is acceptable). i think i'd be more comfortable with not voting, because i think joe biden is among the very guiltiest people for this genocide. so maybe i don't want to support and reinforce that guy! and fundamentally, a party that wins elections has much less incentive to change. and the thoughtless and condescending dismissal of these ideas that really infuriates me. so i am really sorry that your experiences of this space have been tainted in this way. there are lots of good and thoughtful people, and these years have been the most fulfilling period of my internet life. but it's a space full of people on the internet just like any other, and so i don't really think it's uniquely bad, but neither is it uniquely good. i've made a nice little space for myself, and i really hope you can find that too <3.

thanks for the ask. there were a lot of things i needed to get off my chest.

[thebisexualdogdad]

Cullen Row x mechanic Male!reader headcanons

● you met Cullen when he brought his and Harper's car in to your garage to get the engine fixed

● he heard through some mutual acquaintances that you could fix up cars for cheap thanks to "finding" parts that frequently "fell off" of the transportation trucks

● you thought he was cute and was flirting with him hard, offering to fix the car for free in exchange for a date

● he was really into you but nervously said yes because the last guy he went out on a date with did a total 180 the moment he found out Cullen was trans 

● the date went better than Cullen could have even imagined and he really wanted to tell you the truth before he fell too hard for you and got his heart broken

● he was surprised when you were completely unfazed by it 

● "you're still into me?" 

● "of course I am, I like you a lot Cullen and I'm going to kiss you now if you're okay with that" 

● "I am really okay with you kissing me" 

● when Cullen told Harper he had a boyfriend she immediately needed to meet you

● she pulled the whole "if you hurt my brother I'll hurt you" speech

● but unlike most people you knew she actually meant it 

● you and Harper end up getting along really well finding common ground in your shared love for mechanics and engineering 

● Cullen brought you into his, Harper's and Duela's little thievery club

● you're the perfect getaway driver and can lose any cop car in a high speed chase when needed

● a lot of the crews stash gets hidden in your garage now since the three of them of don't have any permanent residency so it's safer than them carrying it around town in backpacks 

● Duela still hasn't forgiven Harper for having her backpack with $500 in it stolen on the subway after pawning a bunch of designer handbags they lifted while breaking into some rich lady's penthouse 

● Cullen much rather prefers sleeping in your bed in the small loft above your garage than in their car or whatever cheap and trashy motel room they can rent for a week 

● and when winter comes around and the shitty motel owners in Gotham raise the room prices to take advantage of all the unhoused folks trying to get off the streets Harper and Duela start sleeping on your couch 

● Duela gags having to watch you and Cullen be all cute and coupley 24/7

● Duela "I think I'd rather go freeze to death in the snow than have to be subjected to this tooth rotting sweetness any longer" 

● Harper "if you leave I'm keeping your cut of the jewelry we stole last night" 

● Cullen "I think Duela owes Y/N part of her cut anyways for scratching the new paint job on his car" 

● "seriously Duela you are never driving my car again" 

● Duela "it's not my fault you were busy getting handsy with Cullen in the backseat when you were supposed to be on lookout for the cops"

● "Hey Harper is the one who should have known the store had a silent alarm!" 

● Harper "I told you those models of glass cases weren't supposed to have motion sensored alarms!"

● Duela "children, children that's enough, I just got a text with a new job offer�� anyone up for robbing Bruce Wayne?" 

[stellarred]

I've been seeing a rash of posts from some people saying that Q and Picard would never get together, and that they'd kill each other before that ever happened.

Granted, I'm Qcard biased as hell after shipping them so hard since the early early 90s. But, why would Q and Picard never get together in the end? @predawnite

And what is this stuff I'm seeing out there about them killing each other and hating one another?

When last we looked, Q and Picard shared a very tender moment of mutual connection in STP, and considering Q has spent the past 35 years pining and chasing after Picard because "he has always loved him" as quoted by Akiva Goldsman, I hope the hating thing is a joke.

Picard doesn't hate Q. He really doesn't. Q annoys him, sure. But, he does have warm feelings towards Q, but he can't look past his rigid, moral compass because Q is so wild, and he refuses to let go of his stubbornness and allow both he and Q the chance to just "get their feelings out in the open."

Picard loves him--not nearly as much as Q loves him. But, after Q shared his deepest truth with him, Picard was receptive to Q. Did you see that micro look he had on his face when Q said he had "one more surprise in store"? That was a look that someone gives when they're anticipating doing something *more naughty, sexual, sneaky, (you get the picture) after something else like that has just been revealed to you.*

Picard was anticipating something more, and knowing that Q had just told him that he loved him and shared that intimate mental message with him, Picard was most very likely anticipating both of them taking things a step further. Gut feeling that was what was happening. I will fall on my Qcard sword for that any day.

There were a LOT of gay undertones that were not overt throughout TNG and STP.

As for them never ever getting together? No. I disagree.

They would've had significant problems staying together in the TNG era. Or rather, Picard would've tried to leave Q, which would've hurt Q. Q would be fighting to keep him.

But, Q's love for Picard had deeply grown and matured, and Picard recognized that in the end of STP S2. Considering that Q's not actually dead dead, and that he won't hurt Jack because of his love for his father, and that Q promised to see Picard again, and that the likelihood of Beverly and Picard not staying together, Picard will join Q at the end.

I recently asked, Why does Picard always stare at the stars? (in TNG and in STP)?

He does it because he knows that his destiny lies out there. With Q.

Qcard has been a long time in the making. But, it is destiny onscreen or not.

[xenon-demon]

WIP Wednesday

thank you so much @sailors-ink for the tag!!! <3 it's technically thursday for me now (gotta love being australian) but shhhh it's fine WIP Wednesday is a state of mind ✨

In a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We're posting progress here. If you haven't made any, go make some and come back to post!

After you've posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That's it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request!

WIPs:

1. steddie domestic hairwashing 2. cheerscoops fake dating season 3 au (steddie/buckingham) 3. when you come back, it's gravity (kas!steve au) 4. med student steve & nurse eddie who is sick of his shit 5. doctor who steddie indulgence

And the snippet I'm posting is from steddie domestic hairwashing:

“You know there isn’t actually a hospital policy about bathing?” Steve’s barely shut the door behind him before he starts speaking.   Eddie feels a thrill of anxiety shoot through his chest and hopes to whatever higher power there might be that his heart rate monitor doesn’t pick up on it. “What?” It comes out way too strained, and Eddie’s really got to get a grip on himself. Just because he feels like a deer in the headlights right now doesn’t mean he needs to act like it, for fuck’s sake. “There isn’t a hospital policy about who can help you shower, or go to the toilet, or whatever. You don’t have to put up with the shitty sponge baths from the nurses anymore,” Steve says, his voice bright and excited about this, the absolute bastard. Eddie swallows, trying desperately to school his features into something calmer. “Oh. How, um, how’d you find that out?” “I asked one of the nurses,” Steve replies, like it’s obvious, and of course he fucking did. God damn Steve Harrington and his stupid god damned helpful nature. "Sure, you can't have an actual shower, since you still have bandages and stuff on. But as long as we don't get them wet, there's nothing stopping me from washing your hair or helping you get cleaned up." “Right,” Eddie says, and he knows he should say something, crack some kind of joke like I’m surprised the nurses will speak to anyone associated with me, but he can’t bring himself to. He sees it on Steve’s face the moment he notices that Eddie isn’t as excited about this as Steve is. “What’s wrong?” Steve asks, brows furrowing slightly. He’s much quieter now. “I thought your hair was bothering you? Since, y’know, we had that conversation…”

Aaaaand I'm honestly not sure who to tag since I've seen most of my writer mutuals post for WIP Wednesday already, so I'm gonna say if you see this and want to do it but haven't been tagged, then do it and say I tagged you! <3

[essskel]

Hi! If you don't mind me hop on the train of asks that's been going on - I want to ask one thing.

You say: 'it doesn't matter if Roche is racist or not. It doesn't really solve the politics of the factional warfare', but how exactly it doesn't? Is it not important, if the extermination of elves is not motivated by racism, and how it can furthermore make him realize how evil his job was pre-tw3 and change for the better?

From what I've seen in your Ves meta, you seem to be putting more weight and value on her, in regards of her motivations, than you do with Roche. Which seems to me like motivation does matter to you. I just don't understand how it can't be the case with him.

They're both pretty much do the same job, and they're a part of the racist military, but both of them are not motivated by racial bigotry.

And if you're going to make an argument 'but Ves didn't choose her job and doesn't take pleasure working under him', keep in mind that if Roche did offer Ves to serve in the military, the decision to stay was decided herself:

Ves: I'm a soldier because I do it well.

Geralt: Ever dreamed of a different life?

Ves: Finch, our marksman, once tried farming. But he just didn't have the hands for it.

Bet he'd get me right between the eyes from eighty paces off.

Ves: A hundred. I've tried cooking, darning, smiling like a doll, serving beer in a tavern. None of my things.

Her not being racist doesn't resolve the conflict she's been part of, but it can essentially make her reconsider her actions and future goals. Same with Roche.

If we're also talking about their moral compassion, and how Ves exceeds Roche in that sense, it's worth considering that the whole situation with the village - was the only instants of insubordination. She disobeyed because in her eyes Roche was acting out of character. Not because she was questioning his leadership. Even Geralt is surprised and doesn't understand why, an idealist like him, would not help those villagers? And that's obviously not because he didn't care. But because he had to maintain the fragile alliance with Nilfgaard. And Ves was not aware of that. After the whole situation is resolved, Ves still remains at his side. She didn't leave (although honestly the quest writing was dogshit. Roche should've told Ves the plan way earlier. She's his most important person and second in command, whoever wrote that quest).

Roche is a terrible guy, you can see it even at first glance, but if Ves was mindfully judging his leadership, then why didn't she do it before? Why didn't she leave him when Roche officially disbanded the Blue Stripes? Abandoning those innocent people wasn't the only terrible thng he has ever done, and if Ves intended to lead her own warfare without him, then she would've done it by now. Maybe she stayed because Roche is her only family and a father figure, but I don't think she would put her feelings above her morality.

She's as Roche a soldier. A soldier by will. And as him she burdens a lot of sins on her back. But I think I got carried away.

The point I was trying to make: Roche and Ves are both soldiers and share mutual sins, but it doesn't mean that both of them can't make up for the mistakes and change for the better. And the way they can redeem themselves - is to make the military less fascist.

My ask is a bit choppy but hope I got the point across. Not trying to be mean or rude. Just wanted to share my thoughts.

Thanks these are all great points! To get right into it I do actually think my arguments have been inconsistent, I’ll try to clear it up here. Also, I think that the post you’re referencing where I talk about Ves’ moral differences to Roche is almost a year old, and I’ve since evolved some of my thoughts on that, so I’m not surprised that it contradicts my more recent answers, sorry for the confusion though, maybe I should delete older asks. Also, however serious my tone may sound here, I'm not trying to correct or argue with you!! Pls don't think that, I'm just trying to make my stances on things as clear as I can.

TLDR attempt: the blue stripes upheld and inflicted racial oppression, to me that makes them racists, to others it doesn't because the racist actions were not motivated by racist beliefs. I disagree, but either way, they could still receive character growth and repent (highly doubt CDPR would do this, or do it well). However, writing that story would need a great deal of care, and hopefully the victim's voices, viewpoints, and empowerment would be centered, not the oppressor's past justifications - however one may define or interpret those justifications. (although it would still need to be discussed, esp in preventative work ie: how do we change societal norms and opinions so that this never happens again?)

and a more full explanation below the cut:

On the question of the racism perpetrated by the Blue Stripes (HAVE to mention that I don’t ever consider myself an authority here, im white, im an american, thats a very skewed perspective that is worthy of interrogation) what I meant more was that I don’t think the /debate/ over Roche’s status as a racist is constructive, because it always focuses on various definitions of racism or in-universe logic as opposed to the actual narrative, or intention of the writers.

Is it not important, if the extermination of elves is not motivated by racism, and how it can furthermore make him realize how evil his job was pre-tw3 and change for the better?

I think what I've failed to articulate is that I don't see anyone arguing motive or backstory, and neither am I. Roche's (and Ves) stated and observable character motivations behind his crimes were the protection of his country and those that he cares for. That’s the story we have to work with, that would most realistically be the groundwork for a redemption arc. It WOULD be different and matter if he was motivated and called to action by bigoted hate, but we know that he is not, so let’s not worry about that hypothetical for now.

With that in mind, it’s the debate over whether or not to label him a racist that I find to be leading to a dead end. I personally think that no matter Roche's motivations, he found it within himself to justify racially motivated war crimes, and that makes him a racist. I’ve seen other people say ‘no, he’s not a racist, he just ended up doing racist things because he wanted to protect his country, and it was impossible for him not to fight back against the Scoiatael.’ I don't agree, yet if we take either route, I think we both end up being met with the same questions of:

How would one go about delivering reparations for, or even just addressing a history of war crimes such as this one? How do ex-fascists seek recovery in the real world and what would it look like here? Why would Temeria, not Nilfgaard be a better ally to non-humans post-war? What would be the most respectful way to structure a story that tried to repair temeria's relationship with non-humans given how heavy and personal some of this subject matter is? How would the generational gap between Roche and Ves affect their respective character arcs? Is that even a story worth telling? What would a sympathetic tone to a redemption arc for these two be telling the audience about fascists?

like, as I mentioned, I think the overall narrative surrounding Roche’s character is one of a traumatized, propaganda-ridden solider from an impoverished background - there’s some probably sympathy to be found there, there’s potential character growth and discussion to be had, but to me … why does also acknowledging that his character’s past is one of ongoing racism change anything or render the redemption arc more or less distasteful? (this is not really me arguing that he NEEDS or deserves a redemption arc, just talking about the questions posed) It seems like people want to keep the ‘racist’ label off of fictional characters who aren't explicit villains so that positive discussions of them are less uncomfortable, but here, we’re still talking about someone who would likely have sat through a genocide so what are we trying to define away? Roche would need to atone for his racist actions, and is that not his own racism?

side note: I'm talking about myself here, I was sort of vague in my last ask where I stated that I believe Roche is a racist, and I should not have been.

Does that make sense? Idk. I’m mostly agreeing with you, and i’m not out to argue that a redemption arc would be indistinguishable in tone if Roche and Ves were secretly bigots, or that it would be equally realistic to achieve without feeling forced. It would be different, it would change this conversation, change how their characters were written on a technical level, how the framing of an acceptance of wrongdoing came about. But they weren’t, at least not as far as canon has shown us. I’m only saying that when I call Roche is a racist, and someone else doesn’t, a lot of the time we’re still going to end up with the same general route to growth and reformation for him and Ves or maybe even Temeria as a whole, because their backstories are mostly set in stone now.

Oh god this is getting long, ok onto Ves before I try to wrap up: She’s in the Blue Stripes by her own volition, you’re totally right and I wasn’t really addressing that correctly before. I think the reason I separate her a bit from Roche is that I feel she’s more of a commentary on the children of fascists/minors with hateful beliefs, or the products of second-hand propaganda - and vile as these younger generations are, their reformation feels more achievable through maturity and the development of personal morals.

She joins the Blue Stripes at a very young age after suffering horrific trauma. Fascist rhetoric coming from the man who stepped up to protect and arm her was probably very easily to adopt, especially because she’s coming from a place of privilege herself as a human. Fascists and hate groups and incels or whatever LOVE to make young social outcasts feel welcome because they recognize them as easy prey, and when these ‘young social outcasts’ have an existing bias of privilege - they’re white, they’re a man, ect - it’s scary how easy it is to indoctrinate them sometimes. Not saying this is play by play what Roche did, there’s no reason to believe that he’s lying about taking her in because he wanted her to be safe and nothing else, but the metaphorical shoe fits in my opinion. She is after all, not his daughter, but his very useful soldier.

I could go on and on about Ves’ reaction to Morril vs her fellow Blue Stripes, or the eye for an eye quest, but honestly she’s such a minor character that Id just be filling in gaps with head cannons and speculation about her slightly more progressive/thoughtful viewpoints, but I'm trying not to do that here. Pretty much everything I said in this post about Roche or ‘the blue stripes’ applies to her in my opinion. She’s a perpetrator of racial oppression, and her future growth would need to revolve around undoing that damage, while unpacking internal bias such as underlying bigotry would provide the framework and tone - for Ves this would probably be more specific to her relationship with Roche? But again this is hard to speculate with minor characters.

GOD sorry this is too long. ok damn I hope that clears up some of the contradiction and vagueness that you picked up in my earlier posts, but also maybe this is just an absurd amount of word vomit. Either way! I appreciate you sharing your insight, thanks for reaching out!

[thaleleah]

awe yeah your mom was vulnerable and stepshit took advantage of that 😭 dw tal, your person will come at the right time 🩷

ikrrr his dick needs to be snipped 😂 man is almost 80 years old, it's nastyyy

my stepmom is a literal child, she actually throws tantrums it's actually so fucking embarrassing. a literal slipper 😂 now i'm worried cause are you gonna hit your 2 year old like that if he acts up or doesn't listen to you? LOL tal ilyyy for not liking my dad either cause he doesn't deserve it! too little too late

omg you write for avatar too? 👀 look at you go girl! what's the avatar fandom like? it seems like it's chill and drama free. the reason i starting watching avatar was because of jack 😂 i'm a huge scream fan so i needed to see what else this man has been in and was so surprised he was in avatar 2, i actually didn't recognize him because of the hair but he still looked so fine! i need to rewatch avatar 1 and 2 because i actually really enjoyed it! and the cgi is amazinggg (much better than marvel) - and yes ghostface is so fucking hot, especially in the new one, i think cause it was more serious and the mask was like decayed. ughh i have a predator/prey kink too it's just so so hot! getting chased and hunted by those two was soooo ughhh! can you tell i only have a thing for villains? the heros barely capture my heart 😂 look and you and both simping for tom and jack; we have amazing taste in men 🩷

i'm so glad you got some writing done and it didn't feel forced, never force yourself, tal 🥰 you got this babe 🩷

🍯🐝

Babes, the way I tried to respond to your ask TWICE with a rant about how my stepdad must want me to hit him with my car because of how he treated my mom this weekend on her birthday weekend, and Tumblr closed out on me both times without saving my long af rant. SOOOOO maybe that's the universe trying to tell me to let that shit go. Which, like, okay. But . . . OOOOO THAT SHIT MADE ME SO MAD. So, anyway - thanks for listening to me tell you about a rant I would have made you read had Tumblr not told me no twice lmaooo

I feel so sorry for the two year old. Hopefully your stepmom will refrain from being a vile evil bitch to him. At least I hope. And yes, nothing your dad does could ever make me like him. Fuck that man lol

I doooooo write for Avatar! Avatar is the only fandom that I've consistently been in for nearly my whole life and I can't ever see it going away. I have such huge respect for James Cameron cause the world that he's created is just so amazing and beautiful and the detail and meaning of it all has me in constant awe. I could literally watch the movies over and over again and never get tired of them. December 2025 can't come soon enough for A3, I'm practically vibratingggggg. The fandom is def not chill and drama free though, especially on the smuttier side. It's actually been super toxic recently which is really disappointing cause I feel like Avatar is one of the fandoms that should be the least problematic but...here we are. My mutuals get tons of anon hate messages daily and sometimes there's even drama between accounts. Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with as much bullshit as they have since I'm a smaller blog, but I have gotten my fair share too. I know it really doesn't matter what fandom you're in, all fandoms have haters and most writers or artists get nasty messages, but it still sucks. All my mutuals are great though and they remind me of why I started being active in the fandom in the first place when things get a little too rough. Some people write some good Spider fics since you're a Jack Champion fan 👀

Love youuuuu 🥰

[akfamilyhome]

YouTube 2022 Year in Review

Sorry for the wait on this one! This is what catching COVID after Christmas does to your schedule, I guess. This will be my first Year in Review post shared on Tumblr instead of Patreon! They're freely available to read either way, but this is a more suitable place to put it, probably. For those who don't know, in each of these posts I look back on the stuff I put out on YouTube throughout the past year, and perhaps share more interesting facts about them that I haven't before!

This year has been sort of a continuation of what happened in 2021. I graduated and got into a day job at the end of that year, so this year was mostly me adjusting to things, and as a result, output on the YouTube channel hasn't been as frequent as I'd hoped as I didn't have too much time to write/continue scripts.

However, I did explore other avenues for smaller-scale but still interesting topics, including the videos I put up on my rebranded second channel, Akfamilyhome Plus! I'll talk more about those videos later in the post. And of course, I started a Tumblr account, which you're currently reading from right now. In addition to that, I've been upgrading my computer setup as well, going from my 2017 MacBook Pro to a full-fledged PC for gaming and editing work! Migrating stuff over and adjusting my workflow for it wasn't super annoying, and thankfully the videos I made in the latter half of the year helped with that.

So anyway, stuff that I DID put out! Let's see what fun facts I can share along the way.

Every Unique Level Gimmick in New Super Mario Bros.

You could say this is the one "big" video I put out this year, and man I really wished I could've put out more of them! Regardless, what started as a small interesting discussion with a couple of mutuals about New Super Mario Bros. DS ended up as a pretty fun romp down memory lane and an excuse for me to babble about obscure Mario enemies! I was also very satisfied with the jokes in this one -- hopefully they weren't too bothersome for some of you lol

Of course, my list of what constitutes as unique level gimmicks isn't 100% accurate, some people have pointed out a few objects that actually did appear in later games like the tilting lava plaforms, but I think I still got most of them!

Some folks have asked if I'll do similar videos on later games of the NSMB series. Like other potential sequels to my videos, it's something I can consider, but considering they most likely have less unique gimmicks compared to the DS entry I'm not in the biggest rush to do so. There are still other overlooked aspects of the later games I could potentially talk about though, like the Coin Rush packs in NSMB2.

"10-in-1" Nintendo Switch Sports Accessories

Most of the videos released this year were kinda spontaneous ideas rather than the topics that were stuck in burnout limbo, including this video on plastic Switch Sports accessories that a Twitter poll convinced me to make! Yes, it is a simple review of plastic accessories at the end of the day, but some of them actually did surprise me a little and I thought the video struck a nice balance between constructive demonstration and dunk-fest.

For those asking about further testing...this accessory kit has since found a new home. Would rather have a family actually have a reason for using this than it taking up space at my place!

Since I found this accessory pack, there are other similar ones that have started popping up in stores here as well, including ones that contain golf clubs as well! ...I'm not sure if I want to make reviewing these a regular thing though.

Regarding my tangent during the Volleyball segment about using Joy-Con strapped to your arms and legs as VR trackers...there's already a tool that tries to pull that off called SlimeVR Wrangler! I have not tried it myself yet, but for those who have spare Joy-Con lying around this could be something to look into.

I bought the arcade version of Rhythm Tengoku

...that title kinda says it all! This all happened from me stumbling across an auction for the arcade game cartridge itself and biting the bullet, and documenting the whole process of getting it to work has been both frustrating AND fun (and perhaps even useful for other arcade noobs like me lol). I still have the cab where it is and it does still work when it wants to! Someday I might be able to hook up larger arcade-style controls to it or even build a standalone station or cab for it...but there is absolutely zero room at my place for a setup like this right now, so that will have to be in the very far future!

A month after this video was posted, a listing popped up on Yahoo Japan Auctions for the original control panel itself! ...at that point I didn't have more money to burn for both that and the necessary adapters and wiring to get it to work though, so hopefully it went to a good home.

Slightly unrelated, but it was a while since I posted an unscripted video on the main channel, and I thought I did a pretty good job in this one without stuttering or repeating too much! If you liked that and want to see more, I have more unscripted content over on Akfamilyhome Plus which I'll also touch on later!

The Famicom Disk System Cleaning Extravaganza

This is a case where I really just wanted to indulge in talking about the obscure of the obscure. I'm sure just generally talking about the Famicom Disk System and the stuff I've collected for it would make for a great video, but there actually hasn't been a YouTube video about these cleaning kits that aren't in Japanese! I also kinda liked the bootleg disk tangent, and hope that gave you an interesting glimpse at the early gaming scene in Hong Kong.

Like I said in the video, the cleaning spray counted as flammable material, so I wasn't able to ship it from Japan to Hong Kong. I'd like to thank PushDustIn for taking care of it in the meantime and also cameoing in the video! If anyone has further (legal) ideas on how to get that spray from Japan to Hong Kong, please let me know.

For those who were interested in the footage of early Hong Kong gaming stores shown in the video, I'd like to share its source! It's from a 1990 Japanese documentary featuring a local media personality investigating the booming Hong Kong video game market (and bootlegging scene). The clean rip I'm sharing below unfortunately doesn't have any subtitles (and the only reupload with subs I've seen was in Chinese), but it still shows some pretty fascinating accessories and scenes of a time period that even I was never around for!

Every Game I've Beaten in 2022

And here's my latest video, from...a few days ago as of this post! It's a quick review of every single game I've beaten during 2022, at nearly a game per minute! I would've loved to have it out earlier at the end of 2022, but then y'know, Christmas COVID happened.

As I said near the end of the video, I wanted it to be less of a simple "Top 10 Games of 2022" video and instead let me share a wild grab bag of games from different generations that might pique others' interest, and reading some of the comments, it seems that it accomplished exactly that! Thank you to those who watched it all the way.

I'm definitely down to do a similar video at the end of 2023 as well, but it hopefully will be shorter. I might write down each of these review sections as I finish each game as well, rather than doing it as one big batch near the end of the year. Actually, 2 games are already on the list so far. How many will it end up with? We'll see!

Akfamilyhome Plus videos

And that's not all, as I've shared quite a few unscripted videos on Akfamilyhome Plus this year! There have been new meme videos and core video commentaries posted this year, as well as a fun random idea I had of asking folks in my Discord server to GUESS! THAT! NINTENDO! IMPRINT! (you can watch the video above if you haven't yet)

Near the end of 2021, I started posting bonus unscripted videos for Patreon supporters. A handful of those videos have also been posted publicly since, so you can now enjoy videos of me:

Checking out four different variants of Tetris on the Game Boy

Trying the Hong Kong version of the Famicom

Write-protecting a Famicom disk

Flipping through a licensed Chinese Mario 64 strategy guide

Playing a 3DS game upside down

Messing with the GBA wireless adapter

Visiting a private retro museum in Hong Kong

Reminiscing about every 3DS Puzzle Swap panel

And throwing a Famicom disk into water!

And for patrons, there's still a bunch of exclusive videos available, from checking out the Nintendo DSi XL Demo Video carts, to reading the 2010 Nintendo anti-piracy manual! As more videos are posted on Patreon, some of the older ones will rotate out into public availability, and that's how I'd like to keep it going for a while. But if you can't wait around or want to show your support, all these videos are available on Patreon for as low as only 1 USD a month and will remain so for the forseeable future!

(It also gives you quick access to my semi-closed Discord server, but if you'd like a peek at this chill place of discussion, here's a 25-use invite link as thanks for reading all the way down here!)

That's almost everything I've put out on YouTube this year! That's not even counting the time I freaked out at Chris Pratt Mario!

This year, while I'll still be trying to get some of my limbo scripts off the ground, I'll probably embrace more spontaneous ideas like I did during 2022 as well, so I don't fall too heavily into a production rut. And after a year at my day job, I hope this year I can strike the balance between that and YouTube work more easily. I'd like to revamp my Patreon presentation later this year as well and continue to make cool stuff for it as thanks! The dream of being able to do YouTube work full time continues.

Thank you for your continued support, and hopefully this year will be a better one!

[dilfyjilfy]

I would love a sangcheng and mingcheng fic that goes like

Huaisang has been friends with Jiang Cheng for years, and as such, knows all about JC's insecurities with himself and regarding relationships

Because of this, Huaisang feels that it is better to ease JC into the idea of a romantic relationship with him, rather than just confessing outright and potentially scaring him off

As soon as Huaisang recognized his feelings for JC, he came up with an entire 5 year plan to woo him, and things have actually been going pretty smoothly

Huaisang is in year 3 of the plan, and it involves getting JC acquainted with his family, cause he know how protective Mingjue can be, and he wants his brother and his future husband to get along

He starts getting Mingjue and JC to hang out together, with his presence, and then without

Things are actually going pretty well between Mingjue and JC, to Huaisang's delight, that is, until Mingjue catches feelings, and not having Huaisang's reservations, asks JC out like 3 months into meeting him. And JC says yes

(at this point, neither JC or Mingjue know about Huaisang's feelings for JC, they just thought Huaisang wanted his two favorite people to hang out and get along)

I'm not sure where it'd go from here, I just know that eventually mingcheng would find out about Huaisang's feelings for JC (maybe through some bitter arguments and tears), maybe feature a temporary breakup, courtesy of JC, who wants Mingjue and Huaisang to value their own relationship more (even if he has to end up alone), and during this temporary breakup, Mingjue and Huaisang manage to work out their feelings (this is when Huaisang would find out that wow, it really only took a few months for his brother to fall head over heels for JC, and the feeling seems mutual) and come to the conclusion of 'hey, doesn't Jiang Cheng deserve 2 boyfriends, if that's what he wants?'. Still, Huaisang is determined to get Mingjue and JC back together even if JC only wants his brother. They go to talk to JC, together

During the getting back together talk with Jiang Cheng, Mingjue and Huaisang find out that in addition to JC having romantic feelings for Mingjue, he has also had romantic feelings for Huaisang that go beyond even the start of Huaisang's conceptualization of the 5 year plan. As in, JC has been in love with Huaisang since a year after they first met

When Huaisang asks why he never said anything, JC tells him that he was scared of losing the friendship, and that when it seemed like his feelings were returned (maybe once Huaisang also caught feelings he started acting a little different before putting his plan in motion, and JC noticed) Huaisang started acting more distant with him, and once Huaisang introduced him to Mingjue, he read that as Huaisang rejecting him in the most gentle way be knew how, so he resolved himself to only ever being Huaisang's friend. Mingjue and Jiang Cheng hitting it off and falling for each other soo quickly was a surprise to them both

It would end with Huaisang and Mingjue just going "you know, we don't mind sharing" and BOOM, Jiang Cheng now has 2 boyfriends

I also just want a crying Huaisang to call Mingjue a 'big-tittied slut' in a fit of rage but that's neither here nor there