#The Snarky Ones (tm)

[makeitlookdecent]

i keep remaking/reusing the same designs for oc's...

[crabs-brencil]

rahhh finally a full illo, and this one comes with lore

basically i was listening to 2000s-y edm as i drew this and as such: connorkus as either highschool seniors or university students in 2009. they're all from some shitty mid-size city in the middle of nowhere. the manfreds are obv That One Family TM so markus is like the golden boy with way too much pressure put on him, and north and connor are the only friends that he can actually be chill with. ofc ppl think that they shouldn't hang out together because north and connor are Bad Influences TM, since north has the worlds shortest fuse and will butt heads with anyone that she feels deserves it, and connor because he's the alcoholic lieutenant's adopted son and a snarky bitch when he feels like it. also north's family owns a farm and the truck they are in is north's dad's. connor def lifted those beers off of hank "to help him quit"

[queermania]

I desperately want to talk about how Sam being played by Jared unintentionally made him so much more interesting because Jared sucks as an actor

SCREAM A;LSDJFJKASFD YES LET'S TALK ABOUT IT

i am very conflicted about what i think was supposed to be happening in the early seasons regarding a lot of different aspects of the show but i do at the very least think sam was supposed to be the pov character and i think the audience was supposed to identify and sympathize with him.

unfortunately, jared.

BUT! jared's inability to be super sincere makes sam so much more interesting. like, you can sympathize with sam's story. his mom died seemingly because of him. his girlfriend died seemingly because of him. he wants revenge. he wants a normal life. he doesn't know what he wants. everything sucks. it's all very sympathetic. he's mad at his brother. he hates his dad. but actually he loves him. he's trying to relate to these victims.

but like. jared looks constipated whenever he tries to relate to the victims aslkdfjasdk; so it just kind of seems like sympathy is an action sam performs because that's what Normal(tm) people do and that is, to be perfectly honest, so much more interesting than sam who is actually just so full of sympathy and compassion.

like, sam has learned social rules and social rules dictate that when someone's loved one dies, they deserve sympathy. so he provides it, however awkwardly. (and he gets mad when dean doesn't adequately perform Sympathy because he doesn't understand that it's not a performance for dean. dean either feels it or he doesn't and then acts accordingly. and dean doesn't understand that sam is performing it and they have communication breakdowns over this and it's very crunchy if you choose to view the show this way).

i feel like this also plays into sam always having a look of mild contemplation/constipation when, for example, cas dies, vs dean who looks like the entire world is crumbling to pieces right before his eyes.

and it makes sam seem like a much angrier person than he probably is intended to be. there's always a boiling tension simmering just under the surface because jared [redacted] [redacted] [redacted].

and because jared is actually pretty good at physical comedy, it also makes sam such a snarky annoying little brother.

and it makes sam seem kind of like he's given up in the later seasons because jared has somehow both checked out and gotten better at acting? there is more nuance to his performance when he does decide to pay attention to what's going on. sam seems to have more emotions than just anger. but also... so much of the time sam is like an empty husk just existing in a room.

so yeah. basically i agree. a different actor might have made sam a lot more likable but god how boring would that be?

[atlas-plugged]

I haven’t read Atlas since 2005, so I’m stoked to passively ingest snarky commentary.

It always seemed to me that the people around me who were most in love with this book often particularly love the idea that other people should love them regardless of how they treat other people. Like, being a dick, or just not having very good social skills, shouldn’t tarnish the adulation due to Smart People TM, (my super cringe teenage self included) who should run the world.

I’m super curious if this matches your observations.

So I'll tell you about the two people who I most vividly remember loved Atlas Shrugged when I was working at the coffee shop and they saw me reading it.

One person was a young latina woman who had worked her way through college and law school and who had passed the bar a year before and was working overwhelming hours at a law firm where she was getting significant raises on a regular basis. The job was difficult, and she always seemed on the verge of burnout, but she was very firmly entrenched in the idea that hard work paid off and liked the book because it was about people who were brilliant and rich and worked hard anyway and they came out on top in the end.

The other person who loved it was a middle-aged man who worked taking bets at the racetrack and who was a literal, actual VOCAL member of the John Birch Society. He was notable for two habits: he never tipped, and while he never bought his own pack of cigarettes he would also never, ever allow you to *give* him cigarettes, so he would 'bum' smokes from me and pay me a quarter each (this was when a pack cost about five dollars, so that was just about what a cigarette cost). He liked the book because he thought the world was full of moochers (he's the only person I've ever spoken to who would regularly refer to people that way in conversation) and the book was a story where the moochers got what was coming to them for once.

These were VERY different people who took pretty different messages from the book for very different reasons.

I think the central fantasy of Atlas Shrugged is that it is full of characters who are loved and valued for the thing that they most value about themselves. It is a book that is not just about a meritocracy, it is about a Meritopia. It is about people who get the things they want because they are the best at what they do. This is CENTRAL to the story.

The reason I used the term "Matryoshka of Cuckoldry" to describe the relationships is because of this meritocratic point of view. Eddie loves Dagny but is not jealous of the fact that she wants Francisco because Francisco is a better man than Eddie. Francisco wants Dagny, but understands her passion for Hank because Hank is a good man who is currently part of her world in a way that Francisco can't be. Hank *sends her a letter* letting her know that he's okay with her leaving him for Galt because he meets Galt and understands why Dagny can't love Hank anymore once she has met the pinnacle of humanity. Then both of her exes help her rescue her current lover because he is a better man than them.

The Fountainhead has a much more literal cucking thing going on with Dominique marrying and fucking two men who she thinks are much worse than Roark, sullying herself with their lust until Roark chooses to stop sullying himself by operating in a world that doesn't value him the way that she does.

What is the same in both of these novels, and what I think you are pointing at in your ask, is that the horrible characters are loved for the things that they love about themselves, and all of their unloveable traits don't matter.

That is the fantasy that people are getting from Atlas Shrugged, and that's why you might find some real assholes out there "Looking for their Dagny/Galt" (a literal phrase I have seen on Libertarian dating sites!).

And you know what, I can be sympathetic to that.

I was raised to value intellect over everything else. Academic achievement, high test scores, acceptance to a good college, and being smarter and more knowledgeable than all my peers was what I was taught was more important than being kind, or being polite, or making friends, or taking care of my mental health.

That meant that I really, really, really wanted people to love me for how smart I was.

And, well. The thing about that is, I ended up loving and being loved by people who didn't care if I was cruel or selfish, and who didn't mind being cruel or selfish to me.

I'm still kind of an asshole. And since I started dating my spouse within three months of when I first read Atlas Shrugged, it's not a surprise that he doesn't care much if I'm nice to people and is, himself, kind of an asshole (though, notably, he is not an asshole with me and part of me getting better has been both of us learning to draw boundaries on how we are willing to be treated by one another).

But oh my god, I'm never an asshole like I am when I'm around my dad. I'm never as much of a snob as I am when he brings it out in me. I'm never as mean as I am when I'm talking to him. And I've never stopped hearing from my dad that I'm too smart to be doing the job that I'm doing, that I'm too smart to be going back to school for a different degree, that I should be getting a PhD and focusing on one field because that's what I'm best at and the rest of the world should recognize it. I know that's what my dad loves about me more than anything else he loves about me. He thinks I'm smarter than him, and he thinks that's awesome, and he thinks that everything I do that is not about harnessing raw intelligence into an academic career is a waste of my mind and time.

So there is a part of me that deeply identifies with these characters whose best trait is their efficiency, who never bother to be nice because it would slow them down in the process of being perfect. I desperately understand the fantasy of someone saying "you are the best in the world at this one specific thing and I find that so sexy that I don't care about your lack of work/life balance, offputting personality, and total lack of skills unrelated to your area of interest."

(Of note: another part of this fantasy in the novel is that skill in one area translates to skill in others. There's a philosopher who is also an incredible short order cook; there's a banker who is also a brilliant tobacco grower; there's a railroad executive who is also an expert maid because Ayn Rand is so fucking kinky she doesn't know what to do with herself)

That's just, you know, a shitty way to live and means you treat people like crap and sometimes that takes a little while to understand that and figure out how to be less of an asshole.

Also: part of the fantasy is that you actually ARE good enough at any one thing that that's what someone will love you for. Most of us aren't! And that's a good thing actually, because people should love you for more than one aspect of yourself!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: one of the most important things that I've ever come across for my mental health is this image:

[ETA: the image is a print by Nicole Manganelli of Radical Emprints and you can get one here.]

I saw it on Tumblr some time in 2013 or thereabouts and instantly recoiled from it. I was angry about it. It was *WRONG.* At that point, in my mind, ALL that you are were worth was your productivity. That was literally all that you had to offer to the world, and literally all that people could love you for.

That's the Atlas Shrugged mindset. That's what the people who are fans of the book are carrying around in their heads. That's why they think it doesn't matter if they're an asshole, so long as they're rich enough, or work hard enough, or are the best at enough things, or have enough to make up for the fact that they aren't anything outside of their productivity.

But the picture wasn't wrong, I was wrong.

Anyway, I've done a lot of therapy about it and that's the best answer I've come up with.

[fanartfunart]

OH ACTUALLY

[yonpote]

oh how badly i want to tear down the "phil is/was the nice one" thing so so badly

like we only believe that because when we see a duo of people we have an impulse to exaggerate their differences, so because dan had famously portrayed himself as kind of a snarky and sarcastic and edgy motherfucker phil became the nice one. HE WAS NEVER ACTUALLY UWU CINNAMON ROLL INNOCENT ANGEL BABY HE 'S ALWAYS BEEN KIND OF A SNARKY SHIT he just wasnt as upfront about it and he didn't make it a part of his Brand TM.

[queenklu]

Seeing AI discourse about writing college papers reminded me of the time I got Called In To A Professor's Office over a paper I wrote that he thought was plagiarized.

See, the thing I had realized about myself by that point was that I am...VERY BAD....at reading the assigned books. I have every intention of doing so while in class, but the instant I'm out of class the book no longer exists (what adhd). So by the end of the year I would always wind up getting screwed over in the book buy-back with books I'd literally never cracked the spine on, because it turned out speed-reading sparknotes could get me through class discussion and I'd developed a System(TM) for panic-writing an essay the night before.

This system was: find an online pdf of the book. Skim. Read summaries. Pull quotes from pdf. Bullshit. Estimate the page number for any citations because no one actually checks those, and use the publication data from the syllabus for the works cited. This works Very Well if you are, like me, a sarcastic asshole who knows teachers want to read an entertaining essay instead of yet another regurgitation of whatever sounds academically "best."

So here's this history class, which actually turns out to be an english class in disguise, and we are told to read and write an essay on The First Autobiography Ever Written in the English Language, which just so happens to be about a lady who had FOURTEEN kids, suffered a psychotic break, and spent the rest of her life campaigning to become a saint.

It's called The Book of Margery Kempe. I cannot express to you how smug I am to find a pdf of the exact same copy we'd been told to buy, down to the same publishing house and year of publication. I won't even have to bullshit page numbers.

...It's written in Middle English.

Here begynnyth a schort tretys and a comfortabyl for synful wrecchys, wherin thei may have gret solas and comfort to hem and undyrstondyn the hy and unspecabyl mercy of ower sovereyn Savyowr Cryst Jhesu, whos name be worschepd and magnyfyed wythowten ende, that now in ower days to us unworthy deyneth to exercysen hys nobeley and hys goodnesse....

This is fine, College!me thinks. A little tedious, but clearly the entire class has successfully done the reading enough to talk about it, so it must be doable. They probably had discussions about the language and I forgot to pay attention.

So I write the essay, pulling quotes from this middle english pdf that I can only half read, but that I can certainly form opinions about. Is it my best essay? No. Is it snarky? Yes. Is it in MLA format? That's mostly what they'll be checking for.

Then the Professor pulls me aside after class and asks to speak with me in his office. I have another class that I have to go to, and because I'm commuting in to college I won't be back on campus until two days later; he says that's fine, and all of this is settled and we've parted ways before it hits me how fucking fucked I am.

It must be the book.

He's going to call me out on not buying the book.

Can he tell I didn't read the book?

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

And I have two days to stew in it.

By the time our meeting rolls around I am a Mess. He is going to fail me. I am going to die. If I open my mouth at all I will burst into tears. Perhaps there is the slimmest chance if I act Normal this will be fine??????

P: So I read your essay...

Me: *using my Normal face* ⊙.☉

P: ...and I'm just wondering...

Me: ⊙.☉'

P: ...where you got the quotes?

Me: ⊙.☉'''

P: .....because the version of the book we read....isn't in Middle English.

Me: ⊙.☉??????????

P: I actually thought you might have plagiarized it--

Me: ⊙.☉!!!!!!!

P:--but to be honest it's written so entirely in your style that it's impossible this essay is plagiarized.

Me: ........⊙.☉.....

P: .... Anyway.

P: Just wanted to chat.

P: Uh. You're free to go.

Me:

HERE'S THE LESSONS LEARNED:

Just buy the book Cite the pdf. The professors Do Not Care how you've read the book as long as they can plausibly believe you've read it.

Just read the book Listen. I wasn't going to get anywhere near an ADHD diagnosis until my 30s. And if they can't tell you didn't read the book, then is it really the same as not reading the book? I think Margery would agree you gotta make some shit up to get anywhere in life.

Being a sarcastic asshole in my academic papers saved me from a plagiarism charge.

[bookofmirth]

On every character sarah writes having the same personality: why does every main girl have to be this big planner who has multiple plans on backup and never tells people, only to surprise everyone when everything goes right at the end with no prior explanation... idk if I'm putting this right, but it just made me very... annoyed

Like yeah, that worked great with Aelin, sure, but for me it just doesn't fit with Bryce? Especially on how she was just thrown at this and suddenly figured out she was The Chosen One(tm). It really bugged me, idk

Fair warning, this post rips Bryce a new asshole - not as a person, but as a character that sjm created. So I'm putting it under the cut.

Just to start, in context I said that all the hofas characters ended up having the same personality - though you can make a case for her reusing a lot of the same descriptions and such for all of them. ANYWAY...

To me, the issue is not just that Bryce keeps doing things behind the scenes that we never get any hint of, it's a bigger issue that we never get a hint that she even gives a shit.

With Aelin, at least we already knew what she was working towards and why. We already knew what she cared about and how far she was willing to go to get it. Aelin caring about Terrasen and her court and saving the people she loved was never in question. Her trauma from finding her parents dead, her fear at losing the rest of the people she loved, the weight of responsibility that she felt, we knew all of those things pretty much from the get-go. Her tendency to shut people out could be considered a flaw because she didn't trust other people to help her. We don't know about Terrasen right away, and tbh I don't remember what history we get instead and so I need to reread, but I can point to very specific values, goals, and motivations that make Aelin act the way that she does.

But Bryce - the central problem with her as a character is that Bryce doesn't care about anything, and sjm never figured out what she cares about, either.

Characters need to have central things that they care about, that drive them, motivations, things that they fear and things they would go to great lengths to protect. They need flaws, and clear relationships to the world around them. I could make a list of those things for a lot of her characters. Not all, but most.

With Bryce, I have NO IDEA what those things are. That makes it so that when she randomly find Emile, it just seems like she did it to come across like a nice person. She doesn't care about what humans are experiencing, she shits on Vanir/fae all the time, she treats Hunt pretty poorly, she isn't close to Juniper or Fury (see: their near disappearance from hofas), Danika kept so many secrets from her that I seriously doubt the depth of their relationship. Bryce was working in that library museum thing for Jesiba (I'm already erasing the series from my memory oh my god) and going out and partying and that was all well and good, but... was she going to do those things when she's 200, too? I'm not even saying that she needs to like, go get married or whatever, but she literally has no goals in life!

SJM saying that Bryce is the fun, cute party girl who also has a deep, intellectual side, a pretty woman who can also kick ass, okay, but she needs a reason to kick ass. SJM completely forgot to include the second half of that equation, which is ironic since that was a big point of her character - to prove that women can be feminine and strong, wear high heels and be smart. She failed miserably in my opinion, if that really was the goal of Bryce's character.

When Aelin is snarky to people, I know why. When Bryce is a bitch, it comes out of nowhere and is often turned on people who actually deserve her time and attention and empathy (e.g. Sathia). Aelin is an asshole to that one dude whose name starts with a D because he's a man who is underestimating her and wants to refuse to let her lead because he assumes she will be bad at it. When Bryce is an asshole to Sathia, WHY. I mean really, I wanted to throw my book across the fucking page!!!! Because that's a perfect example of how, if Bryce was guided by a set of values (feminism, I guess?) then she would have responded very differently to Sathia, who has experienced literally the exact same thing Bryce has (being betrothed to someone against her will). Instead, Bryce throws that line back in her face about "well I never let that stop me" as if what Sathia has experienced is her own fault for... not trying enough??? PLEASE. ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW.

The whole "girlboss" thing needs.... something driving it. You can't just bulldoze people and call it being empowered. And I think that sjm has really, really simplified gender and sexuality in CC to the point that that's really the only distinction that matters. That's maybe another issue. I just have a lot of thoughts about these things lol.

Anyway. This is what happens when you write a character built on aesthetic and #girlpower, rather than making them a complete person with fears and values and joys and goals and motivations and flaws.

Okay one more point, this is NOT beyond sjm's capabilities. She obviously is much better at writing characters than this. I just think that sometimes, something suffers when you try new things. In CC, sjm was giving actual world building and magic systems a go. And the characters, really, REALLY fucking suffered for it.

[reallydumbdannyphantomaus]

Paulina Sanchez @perfectandadorable

time for the Official(TM) Top Five Sexiest Ghosts. do not argue with me i am objectively correct. a thread.

Paulina Sanchez @perfectandadorable

5. the box ghost do NOT come for me. a man in overalls just does it, ok? he works it. plus, so easy to please. just bring him ur leftover amazon box and he's ready to propose

Paulina Sanchez @perfectandadorable

4. technus once again, do NOT come for me. look, the 80s style is objectively attractive!! he looks good!!!! just like. duct tape his mouth. and then we're good!

Paulina Sanchez @perfectandadorable

3. ember mcclain if you're not into her, you're either not into women or lying. tell me she's not hot as hell and i'll recommend you a neurologist

Paulina Sanchez @perfectandadorable

2. dora look, the sweet-girl thing usually doesn't do it for me, but when that sweet girl can turn into a dragon????? sign me tf up. dora,,,,, if you're reading this,,,, my dms are open

Paulina Sanchez @perfectandadorable

and last, the one we all knew was coming: 1. danny phantom again, ur either into him or not into men. snarky, sexy, and a hero? mmmmmmmmm (and, yes, dash, it still is gay if he's dead)

Paulina Sanchez @perfectandadorable

BONUS: LEAST sexy ghost the wisconsin ghost seriously why does he look like that? he's got like triple d titties but a waist as thick as his wrists. do you not have back problems, sir? i know you're dead and all but you seriously concern me

[intheticklecloset]

hi!! i saw your hc requests were open and was wondering if you could do any with lee!isagi and ler!bachira? your last few fics with them have just,, made me so happy and i need to know more on how bachira teases him and gets to his worst spots!! thank you!

BachIsagi Headcanons

SO. Obviously Bachira gives off HUGE ler energy, right? Add Isagi to the equation and he just can't help himself! 😈

Thankfully Isagi doesn't mind being tickled in general, even less so when it's Bachira doing it. He gets a different kind of butterflies when it's him messing around~

The cool thing about Bachira is that he can be a different kind of tickler for different kinds of situations, meaning he can be gentle if desired, but also RUTHLESS if he's feeling particularly mischievous!

Most of the time he tickles Isagi in the spur of the moment, just because he feels like it. Isagi smirked at him? Tickles! He made a great shot? Tickles! He was getting really hyped up for a game? TICKLES! There's really no rhyme or reason to it - it's just whatever feels best in the moment.

But when he's in a Mood(tm)? Things are different.

It didn't take him long to figure out Isagi's ribs and feet are his worst spots, so the discovery phase is long out of the way. But the teasing phase? That lasts FOREVER.

When he's really in a mood to mess with Isagi, he's very slow and methodical about it, kind of lightly hovering around his worst spots and being all "ooh, you must be REALLY ticklish here if you're giggling already!" (knowing full well what he's doing)

Isagi's responses to this kind of teasing vary. Sometimes he gets really flustered and whiny and "just get on with it!", and other times he'll be snarky right back, like "nah, I'm just laughing at your face, you look silly trying to be cool like that." BOTH of which obviously result in more tickles for him.

One of Bachira's favorite things to do is to pin Isagi's wrists out of the way and dig into his ribs while straddling him, giving him no choice but to look up at him while he's laughing himself silly. He loves seeing Isagi unable to help but react to him and his teasing; it's addicting and something he'll never get enough of.

Despite his ler energy, Bachira understands the importance of boundaries and consent. If Isagi's not into it, he won't engage until he is. And once he's got him fully laughing and begging, he'll show mercy when he realizes Isagi has really had enough.

Bachira doesn't make a big show of aftercare, even though he also thinks that's important as well. He'll usually just flop on top of him and snuggle up to him, hugging him close and just generally being affectionate.

Isagi loves the attention, if he's being honest - everything from the first sparkle in Bachira's eye that lets him know he's toast to the final wiggle to a ticklish spot before the cuddling commences. If it were anyone else he might get fed up with it, but with Bachira, he just loves soaking up all the attention. It hits different. 🧡💙

[starwarsbundle]

Pt. 3. TBB Headcannons they probably deserve.

Doesn’t matter if it’s been a couple of days since I last watched some Bad Batch (cause I’m procrastinating. What? You ask? I DON’T KNOW, PROCRASTINATION HITS OKAY)

But. That Fine(tm) Batch are still the majority of my thoughts.

Anyhoo, I felt like doing Crosshair today. As of yet, he hasn’t really grown on me (I respect y’all Crosshair simps, but am still confused). But I want to do Headcannons on him regardless.

Crosshair is the youngest sibling. No, not Wrecker, Crosshair. I specifically think it goes age wise - Echo, Tech, Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair. (Hunter just has massive Big Sibling energy.) And I know for a fact that younger siblings have a favourite older sibling they want the attention of (*speaks from experience*) and Crosshair’s older sibling is Hunter. He just wants Hunter’s attention and appreciation - but doesn’t know how to communicate it well.

Is a Drama Queen(tm). FIGHT ME. HE IS. following on from the sibling thing, as a cadet he probably did the most outrageous and absurd things to get Hunter’s attention. That calmed a LITTLE as he grew up, but not too much. Now he does outrageous sh$t because he can.

Doesn’t like being alone. Being alone gives him the Big Sad. He won’t ever say so - but he loves his brothers’ company with a passion. And he really just wants to have them back after he joins the Empire.

Being Snarky is his way of showing he loves his brothers. (Mans has issues, we know). Tech knows this to be a fact because his first subjects of study were his brothers; and so he has learned each of their specific ways of showing affection. Sometimes Crosshair IS just being a sarcastic sourpuss, but Tech knows the difference. Hunter (sort of) does, and Wrecker was always happy to love his baby brother anyway.

Crosshair would absolutely wear black fishnet gloves with black painted nails. (He probably let Omega paint them but doesn’t talk about it).

His hair (when it grows, mind you) is actually pretty curly. He has a habit of straightening it. Obsessively, so no one knows he has it.

Definitely listens to “The Game” by the Starbenders. Can sing it word-for-word, and does it rather well, too.

Is secretly terrified of doing wrong by Echo. (The Batch is young by Reg standards). Crosshair absolutely had a Moment when he learned Echo was to join the team. (An original reg from the war?! 😲 *le gasp*) He sees Echo as a figure that represents so much he aspires to be - almost a celebrity figure. If Crosshair was (and we know he was) ever a little sh$t in his way of saying he looked up to Hunter, by comparison he treats Echo with a guarded respect none of his other brothers get.

Was Tech’s original little helper. Hence, how he can predict the Batch’s movements based on what decisions Tech was likely to make.

Sometimes listens to synthwave music when he misses Tech.

Cries. A LOT. this pairs up with his being alone issues. Never cries in public though. Mans just wants his brothers back.

Is definitely the clingiest of the Batch, even compared to Wrecker. AND, loves hugs. Like, looks and sounds like a porcupine, but melts to hugs. Will not pull away first.

Crosshair seems like a porcupine but is really a sad hamster. Dude needs a break.

[skaruresonic]

Yes, because when he told Blaze not to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders in Rush, he was speaking from firsthand experience of guarding the Chaos Emeralds under the threat of apocalypse. He didn't step out of his own shoes for two seconds and think to himself, "But it seems like she's had a rough past" …wait

IDW!Sonic would be more like

"He's just like me fr fr" strikes again. Once more we have Games!Sonic heavily implied to be unrealistic, as if A.) he has no emotions, and B.) the only way he can empathize with others is by making things really about himself.

"Nobody can be endlessly positive" - okay, but Games!Sonic... isn't.

He has doubts. He gets tired. He makes mistakes. He feels sadness and guilt. He has a temper, gets frustrated, gets irritated (sometimes with his friends, even!). He's not some perfect smiling Pollyanna who's never suffered a single doubt in his life just because he prefers not to dwell on the negative. It's just that his will is so strong that he knows setbacks are temporary and he keeps pushing on regardless.

However, he's also not the type to wear his every emotion on his sleeve a la Amy and Eggman, and expecting him to is putting an unfair onus on him to be something he's not. Somehow his positivity, which is supposed to be inspirational and not strictly relatable, translates into "he has no Realistic Emotions(tm)." And it irks me to no end because once again, you are denying merit and dimension to Games!Sonic's character.

Not to mention, where would he have gotten this experience? The metal virus? Sonic pretty much had to run himself ragged just for a chance of survival. He didn't have a choice. It's not like he forfeited sleep because he wanted to.

All those times he should have taken responsibility… He didn't. Sonic can't assume too much responsibility if he shirks the ones he already has.

Also, listen. As someone who is currently experiencing vertigo and burnout at a degree that makes it difficult to be functional (can't really do much if the only state you can tolerate is lying down): if Sonic gave me this advice, in those words, I would be discouraged. He's emphasizing how ~useless~ the burned-out person would be to others instead of emphasizing that health is in and of itself important.

Jewel is already hard on herself---why add to her guilt by saying "relax or else you won't be able to serve others?" I mean, I already feel guilty that my brain and body basically shortcircuited from stress. thanks, Sonic

Furthermore, how come he didn't whip out this pep talk for Amy when she was overworking herself?

Oh, yeah, right. In issue 12, the Chaotix swung by demanding pay and he pretty much left her high and dry with a snarky look on his face.

I'm not just being A Hater(tm) like usual, either; the book makes frequent mention of how exhausted, busy, and stressed Amy is. The following examples all come from different arcs.

[elexuscal]

Having finished reading The Witch King, I present the grand unifying theory of Martha Wells protagonists.

(Image ID under the cut, since it's pretty long)

Image ID: A venn diagram entitled 'The Grand MurderMoonKai Diagram' with the subtitle, "Martha Wells has a character type, just saying". It shows three Overlapping Circles MB: Half robot, media obsessed Moon: Shapeshifting dragonbee, FUCKS Kai: Demon, Immortal MB+Moon: Weaponized limbs, loner, baffled by love Kai+Moon: Dead birth family, adoptive dad, royalty, fancy fashion, fucks MB+Kai: casual disregard for injuries, psychic powers, deeply angry All Three: Feared Due To Prejudice, Snarky Badass, Politician Partner, Trauma(TM), Abandonment Issues, Found Family, Will Destroy You If Your Hurt Their Loved Ones. /end ID]

[kittenintheden]

Not Your Sweetheart Ch 30 - Jumper

Not Your Sweetheart Chapter 30 - Jumper

The one where I absolutely delight in reminding everyone that Astarion has a dead average 10 charisma and an 18 CHA Tav gives him a run for his goddamn money in all the best and most angsty ways.

AKA "gets away with it bc hottie w/a body" meets "wins every social interaction and is also troubled and hot."

AKA the seducer gets seduced and he's mad about it, until he isn't.

But also it's a whole campaign? You know. Do not enter unless you're expecting true-to-life D&D -- everyone hot as hell but stupid as fuck. Get your top-shelf found family and hotties battling for flirt dominance tropes here. 

---

It's goth girl final exam time (Gauntlet of Shar finale). Gale is snarky. Astarion gets spicy with Ori and Realizes Things About Himself (TM). Read on AO3.

Commissioned piece of the dorks by the fantastically talented @hamrikaa (see the full thing in Ch 10).

---

Ori gets to Gale and reaches for his belt. He jerks and asks what in the hells she’s doing, but before he can get his staff between them, Ori holds up a pouch.

“Hey, that’s a spell component, give that back.” Gale attempts to snatch it and Ori holds it out of reach.

“Settle down, I’m not keeping it,” she says. She approaches Shadowheart and says, “The thing is, it is my concern, because I actually care about whether you live or die. See, I prefer live.”

Ori walks close to the edge, reaches into the component pouch and tosses a handful of sand out into the air. It scatters on top of the invisible surface. Then she turns, hands the pouch to Shadowheart, and returns to the others. Behind Shadowheart’s back, she throws up a rude gesture into the air at the general idea of Shar.

Astarion wraps around her from behind, laughing quietly into her ear.

Beside them, Gale grumbles, “There goes my Sleep spell. You’re going to replace that.”

“I think I’ll be able to find you a new bag of sand somewhere,” Ori says. “But I apologize for taking it without permission. I’ll use my own sand on the next invisible bridge.”

“I detect your sarcasm and I choose to ignore it,” Gale says.

[gloomiebearwritings]

A little TLC

This is... more of testing the waters than anything too long (づ￣ 3￣)づ But it’s absolutely @chadillacboseman​ ‘s fault I’m falling into Graves Hell [tm] 

You were pressed hard against the bed, his full weight on top of you as he pressed firm yet loving kisses along your cheeks. He pressed his forehead to yours, taking a deep breath in he finally broke the silence-

“I told you I don’t take people hurting you lightly.” he said, his voice soft despite the venom that still lingered from when he was ‘talking to’ someone else.

He gently brushed the hair out of your face, crooning about how precious you were to him, and that sometimes he just had to make sure people learned their lesson. While he never said what he did, the fact that he had red splattered across his face and uniform told the story for him- he did more than break those people. To him it didn’t mean shit, they hurt his baby doll, so they had to be ‘straightened out’.

“Don’t you worry that pretty head of yours, babe…” he told you before pressing another kiss to your skin, “I said I’d make it all better.” that tender voice sounded so soft as he sat up, running his thumb over one of the bandages on your leg, muttering a promise to you that was just barely audible. He hooked a palm under your thigh to raise it up, pressing a kiss to your knee before making a bold offer, “Want me to make it all better?”

His thumb was rubbing the underside of your thigh as he listened for that sweet little “yes” to leave your lips- smiling softly when you said it. “That’s my babe…” he said quietly as he moved himself between your legs, being careful to avoid bumping your bandaged areas. Quiet praises fell from him as he rolled his hips against yours, crooning about how good it felt to be flush against you despite the vest and such in the way. 

“Damn vests and belts…” he muttered quietly as he wrestled with the buckle of his belt to free himself of the constraint. 

Taking his bare hand he stroked himself through the thin fabric of his undergarments; tugging on the waistband of your own undergarment, letting it gently snap back against your skin with a little snarky grin, “C’mon now baby doll…” he says through the grin, “I can’t make it better if you don’t let me help you…” encouraging you to slide your undergarments down past your hips when he stops you; bringing the sharp blade of his knife to your garment he pauses, promising he’ll get you a new pair when the two of you are done- “It’d just be best if I didn’t make you move too much now…”

When you laid bare under him, he let out a sigh, seeing you as his dream come to life, commenting on just how perfect you were like this. Leaning down he pressed his lips to yours, moving his hand from himself to you; gently pushing it inside, pulling it mostly out, then pushing deeper. A second digit entered the more you relaxed into his motions, quiet praises falling from him as you relaxed around his fingers. 

“C’mon babe, think you can tell me what you want?” he teased, “I really want to hear you use your words for me…”

[lucabyte]

9 and 10 for the ask game!

(For (x), list of characters here (x))

9 - what oc of yours has had the most drastic redesign?

MMM okay. so part of my design process for ocs is often "can i wrangle a new original guy out of xyz thing i made in a character creator" or "can i make a guy inspired by xyz injoke" so I don't think those should really count. otherwise we'd have to deal with 5-Tonne and Bugsquasher being based on my splatoon player characters LOL. And like, slightly too many characters who were pulled out of being pokemon ocs when i was 12. that's cheating i think

(Similarly, "The Fence" is based on a particularly wide creation from one of the PS2 WWE games)

I try to go into these using the basis as simply Prompts, and treat these as the first "real" designs... So since the whole point of these is to make something unrecognisable I won't count that LOL.

HOWEVER. what I can do is point at characters who have been either subtly rejigged over the years, since my style has evolved for a long while, or talk about the redesigns during my 2021 Overhaul(tm), where I ran through the whole cast and gave them a new fullbody ref. Yes, all basically 70ish (at the time) of the fuckers.

But I think the two highlights from that era of redesign are two dog characters who were really languishing in design back then. Copper and Harley. I wanted to keep them recognisable as a challenge, and I think I did, but man I really cleaned up their designs...

wait stop the fucking presses i just remembered what 2015 tabitha and chrome looked like again. every time i forget. good lord. good lord. 10th birthday soon boys.

10 - name an obscure piece of trivia about any character

Hmm... obscure trivia....

Okay sure. Gabriel was created from one of Lupus' ribs like eve from adam.

or to be more specific: back in 2014, Lupus had a "mean and snarky with a heart of gold" characterisation, which is NOT true now. Now she's a dumb jock who's a delight to be around. this is because when I wanted to design her a Rival Counterpart, I cleft her in twain.

I took her "good-hearted blockhead" traits and kept them, and gave the "sarcastic snark" to Gabe. Eventually the two diverged in characterisation even further and don't even really foil each other anymore, but this along with some other things, mean Lupus is related to several other ocs in an origin-of-species manner.

Damon was also born from Lupus in an attempt to make a rival even earlier on, but was dropped even sooner and shares absolutely nothing but the name. And Lupus being a dog at all comes from her splitting from my lucario pokesona back on roleplay forums (a character who did not survive past 2012 i think). She retains a few traits that are references to this (... her height being one of them. and her aroaceness LOL) but other than that she's very different to me now. I hardly relate to her at all outside of being generally a pretty jolly person.

My current sona comes from that pokesona's mlp form! Not that it even shares their colour pallete!!! That horse is such a ship of theseus...

So i suppose this maybe also counts as a character who is very different from their original design! Just, whatever is going on here.