#a ship that i am extremely normal about

[pluto-bop]

[alexkablob]

Something about the inherent Lest/Maddie parallel that exists in Arcane S2—each of them the honeypot relaying the pillow talk of the clueless aristocrat they're sleeping with back to who they're really loyal to—and the way it reflects how Mel learned more from her mother than she likes admitting to herself (or than Ambessa ever gave her credit for until the very end) because, on the surface, they both use the same tactic to keep an eye on their potential rival.

And yet! Mel's compassionate treatment of Lest (a trans woman sex worker who she considers a genuine friend, is protective of and willing to accept criticism from, and who she refuses to consider expendable) contrasted to Ambessa's contingency plan with Maddie (a radicalized fascist who she converted into an asset by convincing her she was a more effective leader than Caitlyn and who was, in the end, eminently expendable) is one of the starkest illustrations of just how different Mel is, and how much better a leader of the Medarda clan she's going to be.

[thereweredragonshere]

I skip all Hiccstrid scenes in Rtte because buffstrid is not canon💔

[beanghostprincess]

still can't believe this happened in the same episode btw

[blabberoo]

Thinking about how drifter and bobby would somewhat worship eachother. It feels like they are each other's version they want to be (idk how to put it i suck at english). Immortality and mortality, both who were cursed in somekind of plague.

Everytime i draw them all touchy, cuddly, with each other. Being so, so close. That thought comes to mind.

[absolutely-normal-about-x]

I have an extremely controversial Announcement-

[felidthing]

i just had a very long complicated dream about some very ooc homestuck kids. jade might be rooted in some form of fanon at least but i dunno

[amorremanet]

i enjoy the way complaining in the tags still feels like muttering to myself

[utilitycaster]

Here's the thing about projecting your personal experiences onto a story. It's extremely normal. People do it all the time. It's part of being alive and human. If that's the primary way you wish to interact with fiction then you can and I cannot promise no one will physically stop you but I certainly won't. We've all decided that a pop song is about our lives (or about our blorbo's lives) and I am no exception.

However, your projection is not textual. It is your personal experience. Your personal experiences inform your understanding and taste, but they are not the canon of a fictional work.

It's sort of the generalized version of this post. You can ship whatever the fuck you want - follow your heart or your dick or whatever you ship with - but some things have explicit textual support within the narrative, and some things do not. This is also true of other interpretations. Many intrerpretations can be valid. Multiple conflicting interpretations can be valid. But some are not. Some have zero textual evidence.

When, for example, I say that people are projecting their trauma on a narrative, that doesn't mean their trauma isn't valid, nor does it mean I think they're morally wrong for doing that (nor, if I did think they were wrong for doing that, should that matter, as I am not The Arbiter Of How To Experience Fiction). It does however mean that I do not think they are reading the text with an eye towards what is actually happening, but rather what appeals to them based on personal experiences that are not necessarily pulled from the text, and therefore their feelings are valid but their analysis, decoupled from that, is more likely than not absolute dogshit. And people are similarly allowed to have dogshit analysis; no one is physically stopping you. People are just saying "wow your analysis was bad," because they think it was. There is no identity or personal history that permits you to cut the line and have The Only Correct Opinion On A Work That Is Above Reproach.

[copperbadge]

Man, the saga of my hall closet. I've been trying to put the shelving into it for days but first the parts I needed hadn't arrived (it shipped in three pieces) and then as with many IKEA things I've assembled over the years, I've had to employ physics to get some pieces assembled solo. Give me a lever and a fixed point, etc.

But I got the uprights assembled (INSIDE the closet because they're taller than the doorway opening and as deep as the back wall) and the shelf parts arrived and got unpacked, and then I looked at the bracing that will keep the uprights square...

And they shipped without the hardware to mount them to the uprights. It's like six extremely specifically sized/shaped bolts and for want of about six grams of metal I can't put up the shelves for another few days until the replacement hardware arrives, which means everything that normally lives in that closet is still in a pile in the living room and I'm hosting guests on Friday. This could get interesting.

Still, nil desperandum; I did get the assembly mostly done and listened to the latest episode of La Magicast, another footie podcast focused on my team, AS Roma. Charmingly, they refer to the most senior players as the Senators because they rule the rest of the team. I am very fond of Pellegrini, one of the Senators and team captain, so it pleases me to picture him playing a match in a full toga.

And today is Storage Day! Very excited to get all the storage tubs out of my front hallway.

[starcurtain]

Normally I am a very dedicated single-shipper and don't multi-ship too many characters, but seeing Sugilite, I was kind of like "Okay, but Sugilite and Aventurine would be a whole lot of pretty in one ship."

However, then I saw this fanart on twitter and now I'm just like... Hang on, hang on a second.

Hey Star's brain, have you considered: Bi disaster Sugilite who thinks he has an (extremely unfortunate, how did this happen, no way aghhhh!!) crush on Aventurine, so now he's stuck seething over Aventurine's newfound whatever with Dr. freaking Ratio of all people--

But he has no one else to whine about this to, so he's just constantly involving Topaz in his drama.

"Be my cover so I can spy on them--"

"This is not a thing that normal people do, you know."

Three hour phone calls complaining about Aventurine daring to breathe.

Dragging her out with him on fake dates trying to make Aventurine jealous--

Eating all the ice cream in Topaz's freezer without permission because he deserves to feel good about something in life again; Topaz, you just wouldn't understand--

Until finally Topaz is like "Sugilite, real talk here: Do you even actually like Aventurine, or are you just jealous he found someone and you're still single? Because you're the most annoying person I know, but also... I'm right here? We could just go on a real date sometime, you know?"

This is how Sugilite realizes he is actually a certifiable boyfailure™.

And also how I make Sugilite/Topaz a thing. I have a vision.

[frozenjokes]

Cub and mumbo is a ship I really want to like extremely badly but it hasn’t quite clicked in my brain how they would work so I just need to take a moment to ramble and brainstorm and make it happen.

I think they have a kind of vibe that’s like ‘I saw cub at the ‘eating people’ club!’ ‘what were YOU doing that the ‘eating people’ club?’ I imagine cub being charmed by S8 mumbo and his quite frankly insane workaround to stealing Grian’s soul instead of just cannibalism normal style. Cub might keep tabs on Mumbo after that, just curiosity with little interaction, and he ends up witnessing multiple instances of Technically Not Cannibalism? that leave him kind of baffled?? mumbo jumbo why are you jumping through hoops like this. I am fascinated by you but I think also you are in desperate need of tearing someone apart (and god I’d love to watch). They’ve said a total of five words to each other when cub wanders over to him and is like hey. if you wanted to 👉👈 you could ✌️ rip scar into a million pieces with me :) for fun :)

mumbo goes ?????????no????????"? and cub comes away from this interaction dejected and also with the impression that the issue here is that mumbo is simply repressed and is in desperate need of help and nothing else. commence slutfan135 (attraction and eating people are integrally linked which is a universal for everyone cub has decided)

from Mumbo’s perspective this is coming out of fucking nowhere and he’s deeply deeply confused until he’s chatting with scar one day and the subject comes up and scar’s like oh yeah lol he wants you to eat him soooooo bad he’s been talking my ear off about for weeks and mumbo goes Why. W hy. And scar shrugs. (Unhinged cubfan monologue would not have been understandable to anyone especially not scar but he’s just happy to listen to cub talk. Nothing is more fun than listening to an autistic person go off the rails about something insane.)

Mumbo just approaches cub the next day and goes dude I do not want to eat you and I’m not going to. And cub goes 🥺 please? Somehow this leads to a conversation about desire and carnal attraction and gore and shit and it’s nice probably. Mumbo doesn’t really want to hurt people so instead he chooses to hurt people in extremely convoluted ways instead. Cub suggests he go apeshit instead. you’ve been cannibalism edging me for weeks mumbo jumbo I am begging you. Something something guilt and shame and it’s all an extremely poorly disguised allegory for catholic guilt and shame in regards to sex. maybe it ends with mumbo suggesting cub eat him instead. This might fix him??? I enjoy a predator hunter/hunted dynamic so I think that would go hard with cub being like okay :3 only if I can chase you through my gay little labyrinth. Even better if the turns get tabled on cub and mumbo ends up killing him instead. I haven’t mentioned mumbo is a vampire yet but he is. Then they eat each other the end. cumbo win

[sepdet]

Killing Time excerpts #2:

Kirk & Spock compare dreams over breakfast (p 7-10)

(from that totally canon Star Trek novel that Pocket Books rapidly recalled from stores to de-gay certain Kirk/Spock scenes, but my Mom beat the censors to a first edition!)

Kirk poked at the eggs on his plate with the tip of his fork, but it was blatantly obvious to Spock that the captain had little interest in the food.

"I don't know who I was, but ... I wasn't who I was supposed to be." He laid the fork aside and took a healthy gulp of the reconstituted orange juice. "And that's not exactly right either," he continued, not quite looking at the Vulcan. "It was as if I was still James Kirk—the same James Kirk I've always been—but I wasn't in the right . . . place." He shook his head in frustration. "I can't explain it, Spock."

Spock eyed his friend carefully. "Dreams of alienation are not unusual," he pointed out. "In situations such as exist onboard starships, they are, in fact, extremely common." Taking a sip of the hot herb tea, he pushed his own plate of untouched tood aside. He couldn't help remembering that he, too, had been experiencing dreams of alienation and displacement for nearly a full solar week; but something restrained him from mentioning it. "In your dream, Captain," he continued cautiously, "was it as if you were . . . not how you would normally envision yourself to be?"

Kirk frowned thoughtfully, then glanced up as his open palm slapped the table."That's exactly it!" he exclaimed, then lowered his voice as he noticed a young yeoman at the next table cast a quick look in his direction. He leaned closer to the Vulcan, feeling vaguely ridiculous for the outburst, but somehow closer to the solution. "I was on the Enterprise— but it wasn't even the Enterprise—at least not like I know her," he added as an afterthought. "And . . . I kept seeing you." At last, he looked up. "But you were different, too, Spock," he stated emphatically. "I'm not sure, but . . . I think you were the captain."

He shuddered internally, as the haunting quality of the dreams sharpened. He thought he saw a faint smile come to the young yeoman's face as she stood and quickly left the dining area, but he no longer cared. At least it might alleviate her boredom. "And I didn't know who I was." He shrugged uncomfortably. "I must've been an ensign or something, because I remember trying to think of some way to approach you—to tell you that things weren't the way they're supposed to be."

He grinned without looking up, and took another swallow of the orange juice, tasting it for the first time. It only strengthened his resolve to put in a formal request to Admiral Nogura for fresh orange juice at the next opportunity. "And I also remember thinking that you would never believe me. After all," he added as the smile broadened, "you were the ship's captain— and a Vulcan! What chance would a lowly human ensign have of trying to inform the Vulcan commander that he (meaning me!) was supposed to be the cap-tain?" He laughed aloud, feeling some of the tension ebb away just in the act of telling Spock about the absurdity of it all.

The Vulcan leaned forward, and their eyes met across the table. "Jim," he murmured in a tone suddenly deep and foreboding, "I also dreamed."

Kirk swallowed the lump of nervousness which rose in his throat, but he could only stare mutely at his first officer. Guiltily, he looked around to see if the yeoman was still eavesdropping. Bad enough that the captain's having anything but delusions of grandeur, he thought. But if Spock buckles . . . He let the thought drift into silence.

The Vulcan steepled his fingers in front of him. "At first, I believed the dreams were attributable to the somewhat uneventful mission currently assigned to the Enterprise. However, I am no longer convinced that such is the case."

Kirk looked at his friend for a long time, their eyes holding them together. "What did you dream, Spock?" he asked, forcing his tone to remain neutral.

But he didn't need to hear the answer; it was clearly inscribed in the dark eyes, carved in the angular features, written in the almost tangible conviction with which the Vulcan spoke.

One eyebrow arched, and it seemed for a moment as if the first officer might surrender to the human urge of shrugging. He did not. "I do not believe it is worth concerning yourself, Captain," he said as if attempting to dismiss his own statement. Somehow, it sounded far less logical in reality than it had in his own thoughts. "We have observed in the past that our minds have developed a telepathic rapport of sorts. Perhaps I was merely receiving fragments of your dreams, thereby—"

"Spock," Kirk interrupted with an exasperated sigh. He reached across the table, resting his fingers lightly on his friend's arm. "I know it's an inconvenience to your Vulcan logic to have this link with a human, but just tell me!" But the gentle smile robbed the words of any harsh implications.

After a moment, Spock nodded almost imperceptibly and took a deep breath. "I dreamed that you were an ensign," he stated, "and that I was . . . captain of the Enterprise."

Kirk leaned heavily back in the chair, letting his hand fall back to his side. He could think of nothing to say.

"Perhaps we should inform Doctor McCoy," Spock suggested. "Since Vulcans do not normally dream whatsoever, and since our dreams do bear remarkable similarity . . ." His voice drifted into silence.

Kirk glanced at the chronometer on the wall, then nodded. "You're probably right," he agreed. "As a precautionary measure, we probably should tell Bones. But . . ." He put one hand to his forehead, sensing a headache struggling to break through. "Just keep it to yourself today, Spock. I'm going to talk to a few other people and see what I can come up with first."

Spock's head inclined in acknowledgment, and he rose from the chair as Kirk stood and followed him toward the door.

Once inside the lift. Kirk tried to shake the feeling of uneasiness with a deep breath. His success was marginal. But when the double doors opened to reveal the familiar refuge of the bridge, he stepped back, smiling deceptively at Spock's apparent confusion. "After you . . . Captain Spock," he offered graciously.

The Vulcan turned, both brows climbing in a moment of surprise. "Illogical," he noted, but nonetheless stepped onto the bridge first. "Captain, I need not point out that it would be irrational to base rank solely on the basis of dreams—regardless of the fact that I would, no doubt, make an excellent commander.*

Kirk shrugged, scrutinizing his first officer discreetly. "Maybe," he conceded, stepping onto the bridge and pulling the professional air of command into place. But he couldn't resist one final urge. "But keep in mind that I'd make one hell of a lousy ensign, Spock!*

The Vulcan stopped, meeting Kirk's eyes warmly. "Of that," he readily agreed, "I have no doubt."

Next Time

Things get steamy (literally) as Kirk dons a lumberjack shirt and invites Spock to stroll with him in a garden.

See tag Killing Time excerpts for more

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hey, I just wanted to thank you for talking about the whole Taylor Swift "queerbaiting" thing. I am not a Swiftie by a long shot, and only learned about "gaylors" a few months ago. But I grew up with people insisting that I had to have crushes/find people hot. Regardless of what I said. It's really nice to see someone push back against that rhetoric that was so harmful to me and many others. It may seem small or not that big a deal, but it's genuinely huge to me to see those posts.

I'm glad it's meaningful to you but in the name of not taking credit where credit isn't due I want to specify that my objection isn't really to the idea of people shipping Taylor with her friends; I think it's very cringe, don't get me wrong, and extremely misguided given the sheer levels of heterosexuality that Taylor exudes, but I mind my business about people writing RPF every day because it doesn't affect me literally at all.

my issue is more with pretty extreme conspiracy thought being normalized among young queer people as just a fun silly little harmless thing to do, when the tactics used by Gaylors - thought terminating cliches, inventing significance and symbolism in meaningless imagery, encouraging people to doubt and disregard direct statements in favor of a "real" truth that only they can understand - is indistinguishable from qanon and other cult shit. which isn't to say that I think Gaylor as a idea is equally as bad as qanon, obviously, but conspiracy thought begets more conspiracy thought - there's a reason for the rather short pipeline from "spiritual healing" woowoo shit to antivaxxers to the far right. that's my beef here.

[fawnduu]

Were you aware of your tastes in high school or just kind of obliviously enjoying the sweaty company of your classmates?

I had this kinda huge epiphany in 6th grade where I was like "I think this is when I'm supposed to start finding boys attractive and It has not happened to me.... Am I a lesbian?" And then I proceeded to couch that thought and ignore it for a long time. The levels of cope in hindsight were insane. I would also pretend to be a boy on club penguin and get online girlfriends, take them to the pizza parlor, and then back to my igloo where... Nothing happened I didn't know what to do beyond that point besides show them my puffles.

My first time ever making comics were these awful Naruto oc comics. I always shipped my self insert with deidara....extremely uh..hm...gender of me at that age??? and I was really into Tsunade.... I can't imagine why (.)(.).....

In 9th grade there was one girl who was out bisexual and I was DEEPLY in love with her but also still incredibly confused about those feelings. I thought it was so cool she could be into girls and I was jealous she would admit it freely to people. One of my core memories is laying on the floor skin to skin with her watching 8 mile and barely processing the movie because I was only thinking about her. She had a crush on my friend and I ended up facilitating getting them together resulting in the most confusing self inflicted heartbreak of my life.

There were lots more confusing scenarios, rping romance with online friends where "I was the boy, so it's very straight and normal and not gay or trans of me" before I finally had the epiphany freshman of college that I am stupid and in fact gay.

[serpentine-illusion]

🔊Yapping about my Cirrus/Copia/Aether delusions and y’all are forced to listen 🔊 [ part 1 ]

At some point i promised thoughts and delusions about whatever I am on atm so here it is. I am so deep in the trenches about this ship, this is like a general train of thought ive had for them and their dynamic, how things worked out, what is going on all that. This is up until Copia becomes Papa, I will make a second post with the rest :)

[Some things in here are definitely not at all supported by the lore, this is mostly me being delusional and straight up making shit up and playing with my barbie dolls so 🙌🏻]’

Also!!! If you are looking for like fluff, healthy headcanons about fictional relationships, this might not be the post for you! They are quite toxic and I think exploring toxic people and toxic relationships is very interesting, so just keep that in mind :)

-Cirrus imprints on him as soon as he summons her, idk why, she just does

-she is totally infatuated with, they are glued together most of the time and she takes a lot of tasks and responsibilities off his shoulders. She worships that man physically and spiritually bro

-they do start out as just friends, they have a lot in common and spend A LOT of time together. They have similar personalities, in group settings they seem more reserved and quiet but when they are amongst themselves they usually get loud and passionate about whatever they are talking about

-Copia is sort of confused by ghoul dynamics and finds them hard to navigate/doesnt know how to properly insert himself into the group/what boundaries he should be aware of etc, while cirrus is nervous about overstepping and scaring him off

-they sort of naturally just…develop into something more. They spend more time together, they have really intimate conversations and share a lot with each other, touches linger longer, physical boundaries are non existent.

-theres no official start to them ‘dating’, their bond is just extremely strong and it develops into that direction and they dont really hesitate when it comes to going further

-ghoul dynamics are sort of poly by default. The ghouls all mingle with each other, some have stronger bonds ( cirrus and cumulus are very very close, later her and aether as well)

-BUT cirrus is very territorial. She is very protective and can get very condescending when it comes to her bond with copia. she gets jealous easily when he spends time with the other ghouls.

-cirrus is still actively involved with the other ghouls, it comes natural, but she gets very bothered when anyone but her is close to copia

-the other ghouls are….irritated with this for sure

-Cirrus is sort of stuck in the middle. She feels like she has little to no control over her jealousy when it comes to copia, but on the other hand she feels very self conscious about how the other ghouls perceive her in that context.

-Copia is super aware that she is totally codependent. He can tell its having an impact on her dynamic with the other ghouls and he knows its a bad look on himself to have a ghoul tend to all of his needs 24/7. But he doesn’t do anything about it because he enjoys being the center of attention.

-Cirrus is assigned other tasks with a handful of other ghouls when the Rat MV incident occurs ( I talked about this on my copia reference sheet).

-the only ghouls shooting the MV with copia are dewdrop, mountain and swiss (idc if this isnt accurate my house my rules) and cirrus has a normal reaction and doesnt overreact at all ( she completely crashes out. )

-Copia is send to the infirmary for treatment and cirrus is not allowed to see him ( higher clergy administration generally doesnt care about ghouls beyond their use and purpose. Cirrus doesnt work in the infirmary, so she has no business being there. Copia is not Papa at this point, so he does not really have a say in the matter either. )

-The only way Cirrus can get an update on Copias condition is through Aether ( Aether works in the hospital wing because he has very strong quintessence magic and is overall responsible and reliable )

-Aether and Cirrus have been close before, but they grow super close here

-they genuinely really like each other, they are similar in character, they have the same humor and they enjoy the same things

-Aether loves Cirrus, he thinks shes pretty (🥴🥴😳😳) and responsible. He admires how strong minded and passionate she is. He can also see that Cirrus bottles up a lot, she takes up a lot of responsibilities and doesn’t share when something is too much for her. Because she seems like a reliable person, the other ghouls rarely ask how shes actually doing.

-Aether comforts her a lot and they spend a lot of time together

-when Copia gets out, Cirrus is devastated by his injury. He uses crutches and is in a lot of pain and she totally blames herself for not being there when it happened and for not taking care of him right after the accident.

-Cirrus totally takes over, she makes sure Copia doesnt have to lift a finger, shes mad with worry and shes scared hes gonna break if she doesnt do literally everything for him

-Copia thinks its endearing, but at the same time he is frustrated. He definitely gets a little stir crazy and irritated that she doesnt allow him to do his usual work.

-They definitely get into it a little bit, Copia is trying to make her understand that shes smothering him, hes not as fragile as she makes him feel

-Cirrus like, gets it and she feels bad but at the same time she totally feels like shes losing control and losing him when shes not up in his business 24/7

-Aether spends a lot of time with both of them, he does physical therapy with Copia, infuses his joints with quintessence and in general is there to help him get back on his feet

-Cirrus and Aeth have gotten super super close and Copia expresses he would be happy to welcome Aether into whatever they have

-Cirrus is like. Shes ok with it. She likes Aether so much and she knows realistically this is a great dynamic. They would work well as a trio. Copia gets along with both of them.

-BUT she is so so jealous already, shes fuming inside, her guts hurt thinking about sharing him but she still agrees because she wants Aether to be with the both of them. She is so torn between her rational love for Aether, and being completely devoted to Copia at the same time. It shouldnt be hard to let him in but she is just never able to find any balance.

-So they let Aether into their situationship and it works well. He balances out the dynamic Cirrus and Copia have. Aether is a little more casual than Cirrus for sure, he doesnt obsess as much.

-Cirrus has like. Rules. She has rules in place for boundaries and rules Aether has to respect in the relationship. They only apply to his dynamic with Copia though and Aether is obviously frustrated with her. Cirrus and Aether usually communicate well, they communicate like 2 sane adults, but when it comes to Copia, Cirrus needs to be in control, she needs to oversee everything and it drives Aether nuts.

-Copia does admit to Aether that those rules didnt exactly come from him, but he also never stops Cirrus from making them, because he likes being treated like her little trophy that she doesnt want to share and he also loves her too much to make her upset by denying her the control she needs

-its obviously very inconsiderate and makes Aether feel like hes third wheeling a little bit, but Aether is a people pleaser, he does what hes told to make the people around him happy, so he goes along with it.

-once copia recovers they sort of all go back to relative normalcy. He uses a cane permanently now, definitely lost some mobility and is forced to be way more sedentary.

-He really doesnt mind it. He has been under a lot of pressure from everyone, about everything. How much he works, how he looks, what he does and now everyone is finally giving him more grace.

-he tries to give himself more grace too, he tries to be nicer to himself, he's still pretty bothered about how much or little he works, what he accomplishes etc but he's less bothered by...like himself

-he's always worried and anxious but Aether and Cirrus make him feel good about the way he looks and thinks. He gains some weight and its healthy relationship and recovery weight.

-Cirrus is like, in pain with him, she knows its a change for him that is hard on him and she does everything she can to make him feel better and take care of him

-BUT (and she feels horrible about this) its easier to keep him close to her this way. He relies on her way more now and she enjoys it. And she knows she shouldnt.

-Her and Aether rarely get into fights. They both always tough it out when they have a problem and then find softness and comfort in each other again.

I think this is all for now, at some point I will make a part 2.