#and all the other writers are like…fine

[toadtoru]

HOW TO INTERACT WITH WRITERS AND ARTISTS: A GUIDE

Hello! We all know that there is a steady decline in interactions and reblogs in fandom and I think a lot of new readers are very nervous to interact with artists on here. So as a somewhat seasoned Tumblr user, I figured I’d make a little guide for those who might feel they need it. :D

Disclaimer: This is by no means a rulebook or a demand. I am not forcing you to do any of these things. This is simply meant to be helpful towards those who might be new to the app or are nervous about interacting with people. Also: Since I write fanfiction, most of these examples are gonna be rooted in fanfiction. However, this can be applied to any other form of art on here as well!

FIRST OF ALL:

Customize your blog. A lot of people think blank blogs are bots. It doesn’t have to be a big thing but go on Pinterest, and find a cute profile pic. Choose a cool colour. Give your blog some personality.

It is completely fine and normal to want to remain anonymous on here. If you want you can choose a cool pseudonym (Alba is not my real name and I know for a fact that most of my mutuals’ “names” are pseudonyms.) but your blog can also just remain nameless.

If you are going to interact with NSFW fics and art I highly recommend putting your age in your bio. A lot of NSFW artists are not comfortable interacting with minors and ageless blogs and will block you if you don’t have your age somewhere.

It’s important to remember that writers and artists love interactions! We are here because we love a certain media and want to talk about it.

Secondly, Tumblr is not Instagram or TikTok. There are no “tumblr influencers”. Most of us are just normal people who do this as a hobby.

While it’s completely okay and normal to look up to someone or admire someone’s work, try not to put people on pedestals.

Lastly, fan fiction and art do not have a time limit. It doesn’t matter if it was posted yesterday, a year ago or ten years ago. It cannot expire. The love you feel for it now is just as valid as the love someone felt for it ten years ago. So please do not hesitate to interact with art just because it was posted a while ago.

THE BIG NO-NO’S:

“Part two?” It’s fair that you’re excited about a fic and want to read more, but simply just asking for part two without saying anything else can make a writer feel bad. We are not robots or content machines.

“X is stupid” “Your characterization is bad” “X wouldn’t do this” It’s okay to not like someone’s fic or art but commenting that it is bad or that you don’t agree is not okay. If you don’t like a fic you click off. If you don’t like someone’s takes or posts, you block them. You are responsible for curating your own online experience. Block what annoys you and move on.

Hate anons. I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but people still do it so I’m gonna say it anyway. Don’t send hate anon to people’s inboxes.

Don’t demand things. “When is the next part coming out?” “You promised you’d post” etc. Life happens. Most of us have school or jobs or both.

Use Character AI, Chatbot, etc. Do not use AI. Do not put other people’s art into AI machines without their permission or knowledge. AI steals people’s writing and art. Do not use it to finish unfinished fics for you, do not use it to get a part two, do not use it.

Do not repost* art without permission. Do not repost art on other platforms. Do not post people’s fics on Wattpad or other platforms without permission. Do not post artists’ art on Pinterest or TikTok without permission. Do not translate writers’ fics without permission.

*Note: reposts and reblogs are not the same. A reblog is when you press the 🔁 button at the bottom of a post. This is encouraged. Reposts are when you make your own post with the stolen art.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Reblogs. Reblogs, reblogs, reblogs. Reblogs. I cannot stress this enough. Tumblr’ algorithm sucks and sometimes posts don’t show up in tags. When you reblog someone's art you help more people see it!

Also, reblogs do not only help the artist but it also helps you! You can create a tag system on your account so you easily can find works you liked again. It’s much easier to find reblogged works than it is to go through your 300 liked posts. (Also if an artist deactivates you will still have the post instead of it disappearing.)

Comment on people’s art! Tell them what you liked! I promise you it will make their day!

Ask questions! Did you notice a specific choice the artist made that you found interesting? Is there something that intrigued you or you want to know more about?

BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY?

It’s important to remember that your support does not have to be some profound intellectual conversation. This is Tumblr, we’re all just having fun.

“I loved this!” “Your writing is amazing!” “This art is so pretty!” “The way you draw/characterize X character is cool!”

What did the art make you feel? “This made me happy” “This made me sad” Your emotions about the piece do not have to be positive. If someone wrote a 6k fic about the SatoSugu breakup then their goal probably wasn’t to make you feel joyous. Tell them how you feel! It will make them happy to know that their art evoked emotions in you.

Predictions! Did you catch some foreshadowing? What do you think happens in the next chapter? It's super fun as a writer to read what people think is going to happen!

Okay, folks. I think that’s all I have for you. Remember that we’re all just here to have fun. We want to interact with you. Reblog and comment on the fics you like! Send your thoughts to people’s inboxes! Once you get over that initial fear, I promise you, it becomes so much more fun. Fandom is supposed to be fun.

[pygmi-says-hi]

STOP DOING THIS IN INJURY FICS!!

Bleeding:

Blood is warm. if blood is cold, you’re really fucking feverish or the person is dead. it’s only sticky after it coagulates.

It smells! like iron, obv, but very metallic. heavy blood loss has a really potent smell, someone will notice.

Unless in a state of shock or fight-flight mode, a character will know they’re bleeding. stop with the ‘i didn’t even feel it’ yeah you did. drowsiness, confusion, pale complexion, nausea, clumsiness, and memory loss are symptoms to include.

blood flow ebbs. sometimes it’s really gushin’, other times it’s a trickle. could be the same wound at different points.

it’s slow. use this to your advantage! more sad writer times hehehe.

Stab wounds:

I have been mildly impaled with rebar on an occasion, so let me explain from experience. being stabbed is bizarre af. your body is soft. you can squish it, feel it jiggle when you move. whatever just stabbed you? not jiggly. it feels stiff and numb after the pain fades. often, stab wounds lead to nerve damage. hands, arms, feet, neck, all have more motor nerve clusters than the torso. fingers may go numb or useless if a tendon is nicked.

also, bleeding takes FOREVER to stop, as mentioned above.

if the wound has an exit wound, like a bullet clean through or a spear through the whole limb, DONT REMOVE THE OBJECT. character will die. leave it, bandage around it. could be a good opportunity for some touchy touchy :)

whump writers - good opportunity for caretaker angst and fluff w/ trying to manhandle whumpee into a good position to access both sites

Concussion:

despite the amnesia and confusion, people ain’t that articulate. even if they’re mumbling about how much they love (person) - if that’s ur trope - or a secret, it’s gonna make no sense. garbled nonsense, no full sentences, just a coupla words here and there.

if the concussion is mild, they’re gonna feel fine. until….bam! out like a light. kinda funny to witness, but also a good time for some caretaking fluff.

Fever:

you die at 110F. no 'oh no his fever is 120F!! ahhh!“ no his fever is 0F because he’s fucking dead. you lose consciousness around 103, sometimes less if it’s a child. brain damage occurs at over 104.

ACTUAL SYMPTOMS:

sluggishness

seizures (severe)

inability to speak clearly

feeling chilly/shivering

nausea

pain

delirium

symptoms increase as fever rises. slow build that secret sickness! feverish people can be irritable, maybe a bit of sass followed by some hurt/comfort. never hurt anybody.

ALSO about fevers - they absolutely can cause hallucinations. Sometimes these alter memory and future memory processing. they're scary shit guys.

fevers are a big deal! bad shit can happen! milk that till its dry (chill out) and get some good hurt/comfort whumpee shit.

keep writing u sadistic nerds xox love you

[juney-blues]

June Egbert is, and always has been incredibly fascinating to me because of just, how many factors have conspired to make Homestuck fans show their collective transmisogynistic asses.

The main character of Homestuck transitioning is a planned future plot point for the official continuation of homestuck, that was spoiled in advance by a fan making a joke about finding some toblerones Andrew Hussie the author of homestuck hid in a cave.

The current main writers of Homestuck: Beyond Canon have went on record in an AMA confirming that this was indeed always the plan, even before they took up the project.

In spite of these facts, the general consensus among certain homestuck fans seems to be that "June Egbert" is purely a headcanon for the original comic that was "made canon" by a "Toblerone Wish" (a concept that didn't even exist at the time)

For a variety of reasons, the "canonicity" of the postcanon official continuations of homestuck is a mattter of much debate, (though a debate that most homestuck fans seem to err on a side of "it's not canon at all in the slightest," something the writers have feelings on I'm sure.)

All of these factors combined leave the concept of "June Egbert" in a very nebulous place. It's assumed by most to just be an "ascended headcanon" that was shoehorned in, it's a spoiler so it hasn't happened yet in any official media, and the official media it will eventually happen in is regarded by some to be nothing more than glorified fanfic.

If someone is talking about June Egbert, and you don't like the concept of June Egbert, you have your pick of a million different excuses for why she's fake and gay and not worth discussing and bad writing and just the authors doing a gay dumbledore*, paying lip service to representation while actually doing nothing.

And of course, lots of people *don't* like June Egbert! Rather than being introduced as transfem from the start, she's in this nebulous position of discovery where people have to truly reckon with the idea of a "Pre-transition Trans Woman."

You can try to write off *some* of the backlash as transphobia, because obviously not everyone in this fandom is gonna be cool about trans people.

But there's no shortage of fans just dying to tell you about how much they like reading her as transmasc, or the idea of her being nonbinary or genderqueer or genderfluid, or literally anything besides a trans woman. And since they're fine with all those other interpretations, there's obviously no implicit biases driving their distaste for the concept! (if you want to try explaining the concept of "transmisogyny" to people like this you're braver than I.)

you can trust them when they say it's *just* a problem with whether or not it makes sense with the writing, or it just doesn't feel right somehow, or any of the thousands of excuses that this writing situation gives them to just Not Like It.

It's just, so interesting to me. There's not a lot of characters out there that get a trans arc in this way, that leaves room for open denialism and insistence that we have our trans cake and eat it too... Because Homestuck is a timeline spanning multiverse story, lots of people seem to want it to be an alternate timeline thing. Assuring us we can have this character share space with a non-transitioning version of herself and it won't be weird or imply gross things about trans people.

If you ask me it feels like a plotline that'd be really good for exploring some gender horror though, finding your true self and then being demoted to a footnote, an alternate version, because everyone around you likes your pre-transition self more....

Anyway I have no broader point beyond "hey look at this isn't this kinda weird. You don't get this kinda stuff often!"

*side note: it's a little ghoulish I think to compare "a future trans plot point that hasn't been given the chance to even happen yet, in an already famously queer piece of media, from a nonbinary author" to "some stupid shit done by the literal most famous transphobe of all time" but that's perhaps a discussion for later.

[willowrites]

𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 ᥫ᭡ 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭 & 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬. you couldn’t have just one, could you?

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭. can you pls write something like reader is dating matt but always catches chris staring or vice versa and they go behind matt’s back on the down low — anon

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. smut, threesome, cheating, name calling (slut, pretty girl), sub!reader, dom!matt, dom!chris, oral male/matt!receiving ..

𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬. finally got a matt & chris req kinda !! im so sorry it took so long, had huge writers block w this one for some reason (i hate all of it) enjoy!!

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭. to be counted.

you had been dating matt for about a year so far and it was amazing. you both knew you had a connection the minute you two met. you were inseparable. being inseparable from him on the other hand also meant being inseparable from his triplet brothers, chris and nick.

you and nick got along like two peas in a pod. he was your best friend. you guys would hang out just you two going to the mall or watching a movie. you were also his model for photography whenever he wanted to try out new photos or take portrait shots.

you and chris though, even though you spent practically every day together — you weren’t that close. you tried to talk to and connect with him like you did with his brothers but he kept the conversations short. however, even though he seemed disinterested, you always caught his lingering stare from across the room. like when you and matt were on the couch watching a movie — hugging and cuddling, his eyes were always on you.

you told yourself, maybe he just wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship. that was until one night while you and matt had been making out and sharing an intimate moment, you caught his stare.

that night you and matt had accidentally left the door unlocked so when he opened it to ask matt a question about his pc he only saw the shocking scene of matt’s fingers buried deep inside you as you were leaning back against the headboard with your hands in his hair.

you probably should’ve yelped and said something to matt, but no, you just sat there being stimulated by matt’s fingers while his brother was staring right at you. as you reached your orgasm you couldn’t hold his eye contact and longer. your eyes started to flutter shut when you felt your impending wave of pleasure hit you like a freight train.

that was a week ago. ever since then, the stares had been frequent and held more tension than you ever noticed. you couldn’t help but take a couple of glances toward him when you could and caught yourself staring at him on multiple accounts.

“you okay?” matt’s spoke up out of the blue. he had caught you staring at chris as he was on his phone, one hand behind his head. he was dressed in a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants.

you quickly looked toward matt a bit embarrassed. “y-yeah, i’m fine. why?”

he narrowed his eyes. he knew you had an attraction toward chris even before you would find out on your own. “no reason.” he shrugged.

he moved his eyes toward chris who was already looking at you once you looked back to the tv. matt’s jaw clenched, he knew the attraction was mutual.

that night while matt was out to get some more milk and snacks, you had been sitting on the couch alone just scrolling through tiktok when you heard heavy footsteps making their way downstairs. you looked up meeting chris’s gaze.

the tension between you two filled the room clouding your mind and judgement. you looked back to your phone not even paying attention to the entertainment being displayed.

you heard chris chuckle under his breath. your head snapped up. “something funny?” you asked as he made his way closer to you. he stopped with his hands in his pockets.

he looked you up and down. you felt small when he was staring down at you like he was now. your own eyes scanned him. he had those damn gray sweatpants on that left nothing to the imagination. “mm, nothing. just how you can’t keep a second of eye contact with me.”

his comment caught you off guard, not prepared to be called out like that. “i.. i don’t know what you’re talking about.”

he had a stupid smile plastered on his face. he loved how as soon as he mentioned it you started fidgeting and acting defensive. “oh.. no?” he challenged taking a step forward. he towered over before squatting down and placing his hands on your knees. “look at me.” he demanded, feeling his hands slowly start to inch your legs apart.

what is he doing? you thought to yourself. matt could walk in at any moment but you didn’t have the strength to move.

chris then went to kneel down in front of you, his face getting inches closer by the second. “look at me.” he whispered, now centimeters apart. you felt his breath on your lips. you had still been looking down at your lap but now you had been drawn to his eyes. as soon as you looked at him, his eyes flitted down to your lips before licking his bottom one and leaning forward.

he captured your lips on his molding them to yours. you didn’t kiss back at first a billion thoughts going through your brain. how could i do this to matt? im betraying him, with his own brother. how could i be so horrible to him. regardless of all those thoughts, you hesitated but eventually started kissing back.

as soon as you started to reciprocate his own actions he pushed up against you grabbing onto your hips. your legs wrapped around his waist by default and sooner than later you felt his hardness poke against you. you let out a gasp at the feeling not expecting him to grind up against you like how he’d started to. he moved his mouth down to your neck kissing and slightly sucking.

you knew it was wrong but it felt so good. he eventually pulled away and started moving further down your body, looking up at you through his lashes. he was full-on prepared to remove your pajama pants when you both heard the front door open. matt walked into the room and stopped once he saw what was going on.

you quickly shoved chris off of you causing him to fall backwards. he was able to land back onto his hands propping himself up. matt’s eyes moved to chris who was no doubt turned on but why had been previously happening and then he moved his gaze to you. widened eyes, puffy lips, tousled hair — he knew what the both of you were up to and even though his blood was boiling, he didn’t say a word. he simply set the bags down on the counter, put the stuff he’d bought away, and then went upstairs like nothing ever happened.

your heart dropped as you watched him move. he was so fucking pissed. “fuck!” you whisper-yelled to yourself. “i’m a fucking idiot.”

you heard a breathy laugh come from chris. you lifted up your head narrowing your eyes at him. “what the fuck are you laughing at? do you think this is funny? we both just fucked up.” you hissed at the man. you rested your head in your hands wondering what the fuck came over you.

chris scoffed, “you’re being dramatic.” he stood up adjusting his sweats. “acting like you didn’t want me to kiss you..” he walked away.

you didn’t know what to say. he was right, no matter what, you did want the kiss. you enjoyed it. you stood up dumbfounded. you had to talk to matt.

you hurriedly walked to your shared room, chris following behind you quietly. you entered, seeing matt had changed into his pajamas. “m-matt?” you called out, not prepared for the conversation lying ahead.

he slowly turned, his gaze strong and hard. his jaw was clenched shut. “so how long have you wanted to fuck him, huh?” he questioned, crossing his arms.

you shook your head immediately. “no.. no we didn’t…” you took a deep breath. “i never … fuck — there’s no excuse okay. i’m sorry.” you apologized. you had a look of embarrassment on your face until you saw matt’s lips press together as he held back a grin. he then poked his tongue against his cheek. he wasn’t smiling out of happiness. he was smiling because of events that took place before he left for the store.

like it was mentioned earlier, matt was aware of the mutual attraction between you and chris, so before he left for the store, he and chris had a small chat.

before matt went to the store …

“you want me to… to try to get your girlfriend to kiss me?” chris asked, very confused at the sudden challenge.

matt nodded quickly. “yeah, i always catch her staring and i wanna see if she’d actually do something.” he shrugged.

chris licked his lips. “and if she does?” chris didn’t want his brother to hold it against him.

“then i’ll punish her and show her who she belongs to.”

matt slowly walked forward toward you. the room was silent. you felt intimidated like you were prey being hunted. “tell me, was it not enough to have me… you just had to be a greedy slut and have my brother too?”

you stood there, humiliated. you were too stunned to speak. “i-i…” you stuttered. a million thoughts running through your head.

he laughed humorously at you. “c’mon spit it out, yeah?” his eyes scanned your face. he was moving closer and closer to you, admiring the look of fear and shame you had on. he brought his hand up to move your messy hair out of your face.

even though his blood ran hot at the thought of his own brother having you the way he would… he knew deep down — you’d always love him. you’d always only want him.

he grabbed your face with both of his hands and pulled you toward his, connecting your lips together. he kissed you with so much passion, that his hands made their way to your waist clutching you hard like he planned to never let you go. you were caught off guard by the kiss but promptly kissed him back with equal emotion.

he took the initiative to move you around and back you up against the bed. he stopped you before you could lose your balance. "gonna sit on my lap like a good girl, mkay?" he cooed, moving around the right side of the bed before sitting right in the middle.

you crawled toward him, hypnotized by his soft velvety voice. you settled on his lap feeling his hard-on poking your ass. his hands moved your hair to one shoulder before peppering your neck with kisses. he marked you shamelessly with lovebites. "you're mine." he stated while beginning to remove your bottoms leaving you in your lacy underwear.

his fingers went to your sex, beginning to move onto your clit. "no one will ever make you feel this way." he whispered. your legs began to spread allowing him access to more of you. he moved his fingers in circular motions every now and then moving toward your entrance to gather your arousal.

he painted your clit with your own juices, smoothly stimulating you. you let out quiet little moans as the sensation grew more powerful. your head fell back against his shoulder. "you heard me? c'mon, tell me who this pretty pussy belongs to?" he questioned as he brought you closer and closer to the edge.

"you.. only you matt." you moaned in between staggered breaths. your legs began to shake and your eyebrows began to furrow.

"say it again." his hand increased its pace. "say it. tell how much you love me and how good i make you feel."

you pressed your lips together to suppress your whimpers and gasps. your eyes squinted shut as you spoke. "mm - i love you matt. so fucking much and.. and you make me feel so soo good." your hands were clutching the sheets as you were nearly about to come undone when you heard matt chuckle behind you.

his hand grabbed your chin holding it still before speaking. "open your eyes, baby, you've got company."

your eyes fluttered open and the first thing you saw was chris staring at you, again. his dick print pressing against his sweatpants. he was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, his muscles prominent.

chris couldn't help the way he felt. he couldn't help the way he longed to please you, to be inside you, to hear you screaming his name. he didn't have a desire for anything else but, just for you to be writhing beneath him.

he moved his gaze from you to matt. matt was smart, he could tell his brother was itching to have you. he knew all chris wanted was to make you feel good and that’s where they both had the same goal.

matt’s fingers slowed on your clit, keeping you at the same tortuous spot. edging you, so that you couldn't quite reach that sense of release. "wanna be a good girl for chris too, baby?" your chest was moving up and down, that uncomfortable feeling in your abdomen the only thing on your mind. slowly but hesitantly you nodded your head.

chris was surprised that matt had basically given him permission. there was some sort of brotherly exchange of looks between them before chris entered the room and closed the door behind him. he slowly stalked toward you, eyes never leaving your face.

matt moved you off of him, turning you to face him, and guided you to rest on your knees. "gonna please us both, baby?" you said nothing as you pouted clenching your thighs to try to relieve some of the tension. “oh pretty girl, so needy.”

the way he spoke to you had you just about ready to deep-throat him right then and there. “i’ll be so good for you and chris, please.. just need to cum.” you leaned forward and placed your hands on matt’s thighs.

he grinned before looking at chris. “gonna take me in your mouth while chris takes you, alright? that okay with you?” his hand caressed your cheek. you nodded starting to reach for the waistband of matt’s pajama pants. he lifted his hips allowing you to pull them down a bit revealing his boxers. you then reached and pulled out his hard dick, mouth-watering in the process.

you clenched your legs as you slowly stroked him once earning a small moan. as you were about to place your mouth on his tip you felt chris’s hands meet your naked waist. you gasped, forgetting this was actually happening, that your boyfriend and his brother were here and ready.

chris’s hand trailed down to between your legs, touching your sensitive skin. you let out a shaky exhale. his fingers were soft… similar yet so different. he circled his finger in your hole gathering your arousal before slowly massaging your clit. you let out a hum. “yess…” you whispered.

matt tilted your head up to look at him. “god.. you’re so beautiful.” the praising made you wetter by the second. you leaned forward trying to kiss matt but chris’s grip on your waist tightened pulling you back.

you looked back at him as his grip loosened. “don’t move.” he murmured before inching a finger inside you. you clenched around him, whining because you wanted matt’s lips on yours. “quit whining ma, i’ll make you feel good, promise.”

you pushed back against chris’s hand wanting more. you bit your lip before turning back to matt. you tried to please him, to show him how good you could make him feel. you leaned down taking his tip in your mouth and swirling your tongue over him. his right hand making its way through your hair. “such a good girl for me and my brother huh? this what you always wanted, baby? both of our attention on you?” you pushed your head up and down guiding you to take him in your mouth.

you felt him hit the back of your throat moaning around him sending vibrations down your shaft. “mhm… just like that. taking me so fucking well.” he grunted holding up your hair for you. you bobbed your head up and down, saliva pooling on the side of your lips. you hollowed out your cheeks and just as you were about to try to take all of him in once again, you felt chris’s tip nudge at your entrance.

you sharply inhaled, waiting for his next step. “cannot wait to be inside you.” chris muttered, moving his tip up and down your folds. you let out a noise trying to push toward him so that he’d hurry up. “so impatient…” he tutted.

matt stroked his cock that had the absence of your mouth. when you noticed you took him back in your mouth anticipating chris’s dick to push into you at any moment. your heart was racing, excited about the impending fullness you’d soon receive.

while you waited, you took matt in your mouth continuing your actions from earlier. your eyes rolled back as matt took control of your head. he pushed you down, making sure you took every inch of him. “such a good fucking girl.” he tilted his head to watch as he disappeared in your mouth. “those pretty lips were made to be wrapped around me, huh baby?”

you tried to nod in response to his words but you had been busy being fucked in the mouth. “look at you. you love when i make a mess out of you with my cock, yeah? i know you do.” he sucked on his teeth. matt was getting close to his orgasm so he slowed you down a bit, wanting to savor you as much as possible.

you had been so distracted by matt that when you felt chris inch inside you your eyes widened. you pulled your mouth off matt to let out the most shaken string of whimpers. “finally.. oh god.” you clenched your teeth as chris bottomed out right away nudging your sensitive spot. he clutched your hips before thrusting out and back in.

you heard a rough moan come from chris’s mouth. “so tight but so wet… fuck.” his eyes were closed at the sensation of finally having you wrapped around him. your head fell down as you were in doggy style being fucked from behind by chris. you tried your best to keep yourself up but the way chris hit every part of you had your trembling.

matt once again lifted up your chin. “c’mon baby, show me how much you love and appreciate me. show him how good my girl is.” his cock was red and hard waiting for more of your touch. you nodded promptly taking him in your mouth. you carried on to please him, moving your tongue around him while stroking the rest of him that wasn’t in your mouth with your hand.

the room was being filled with all three of your moans of pleasure. you had sweat dripping down your body and your hair was a mess while you were receiving attention from matt and chris. chris picked up his pace when he noticed how hard you had been trying to please matt. the moan that you had been letting out was caused by chris’s rough thrusts inside you. he rolled his hips, the only thing on his mind being to make you cum.. and make you cum hard. to guarantee you’d enjoy yourself he brought a hand down and massage to massage your clit.

you wanted to scream but with matt in your mouth, you had to keep your cheeks hollow. matt’s bit his lip as he felt himself right at the edge. “that’s right.. that’s my good girl. fuck — always making me feel soo good and treating me so well.” he tilted his head back. “gonna cum, baby. keep going just like that.” he commended.

soon enough matt shot his cum to the back of your throat which you swallowed proudly. you sucked him off like a lolly pop before coming more to your senses. you became fully conscious of chris and how good he had been making you feel. you pressed your lips together trying to stifle your whimpers.

you felt your impending orgasm nearing because of the double stimulation you had been receiving. you clutched matt’s thighs for support. you could tell chris was close too by the way his pace faltered before he picked it up.

before you knew it your body seized up as your orgasm crashed into you. you involuntarily let out a string of moans and whimpers, your thighs shaking with every second that passed.

chris moaned stilling inside you. you didn’t feel his cum paint your walls assuming he used a condom but he stood inside you for a few seconds hands glued to your waist. you soon collapsed on top of matt, causing him to hold you by your underarms before pulling you toward him and hugging you. your head rested on his shoulder followed by small kisses from his lips.

after a minute he whispered, “did so good. did you enjoy yourself?” you did nothing but nod, still exhausted.

chris had a huge smile on his face as he clothed himself back to before. he and matt shared a look before he walked out giving you both your privacy.

you both sat there in silence, just holding each other. you then spoke up, “i love you matt and … regardless of what happened tonight i always will love you.”

he kissed your cheek. “i know, baby. just felt like giving you what you wanted which just happened to be my brother.”

“yes i wanted him but i need you. you know that right?” you reassured him.

he bowed his head with a smile. “mhm.. i know.”

© willowrites

[teambyler]

New Mil*ven footage: There's a reason they get interrupted (Byler analysis)

Whoever posted this new footage said they're "not breaking up" because El is smiling?

That's presumptuous of you ;)

Source

Maybe they're not breaking up in THIS scene. Or maybe they are, and making clear that things are alright between them. It's possible to be on good terms with someone you break up with. (Shocker!) And even crack a smile while you're wishing the other the best.

One really can't conclude either way. The body language does suggest honesty between them though. (Something not seen in s4.) But that honesty could be about anything.

WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT IS THAT WE GET THE INTERRUPTION TROPE LOL:

If you ask me, this is CONFIRMATION that not everything's sunny in Mileven land. This is not a "will they or won't they?" interruption of a kiss, because they're already a canon couple. No, this is something closer to the Pineapple Pizza Interruption scene(TM) where SOMETHING the audience is WAITING to be said is NOT said:

In s4, the GA was supposed to think Mike was going to say "I love you." (Or perhaps he was going to call it off after thinking the painting was from Will? Can't say for sure.) POINT BEING: the Interruption Trope is a writing device to tease something, only to deny it. The purpose of it is to set up an IMPORTANT conflict/tension in the story that will be resolved later.

(EDIT: After writing all this I realize that there's another time interruptions happen: AFTER a scene achieves resolution. Will and Mike had one of these in 4x4 with "It looks like it'll be up to us again." "It always is, isn't it?" and Jonathan barges in. For Mike and El, the Painting Lie still needs resolution and is almost certainly related to this conversation. So everything I say here might actually not get interrupted and is actually SAID, leading to a new phase in their relationship. I just think it's less likely because any frank discussion of the Painting Lie makes a Byler conclusion too obvious. Okay, on to the likelier theory!)

Now what is this NEW unspoken thing between Mike and El? Season 4 was all about Mike being unable to say "I love you" to El. And now he has already SAID IT. On paper -- what Milevens call "canon" -- the Mileven relationship is fine and healthy.

So why prepare the audience for a NEW development in their relationship if it's not a breakup, or at least an emotional confession of some kind that threatens the last canon development that made everything "fine"?

The Painting Lie is Chekhov's gun. If this scene is indeed early in s5 (there are very few scenes with Mike and El together in the s5 teaser, perhaps she's with Mike only at the start of the season), then there's very little time for the writers to prepare something ELSE "waiting to be said" that is NOT related to the Painting Lie.

So what is being interrupted? Is it:

Mike asking if she commissioned the painting?

El saying she didn't commission it and telling Mike she thinks Will loves him?

Mike has realized the painting was from Will and is about to confess he doesn't know how he feels about him?

One of them is initiating a breakup?

WHATEVER IT IS, the Painting Lie challenges the stability of Mileven because it was core to the Pizza Freezer Confession(TM) that was supposed to tie up Mileven in a neat bow at the end of s4. The moment the Painting Lie is mentioned, this tells the GA that not everything will stay the same between Mike, El, and Will.

By the time Mike and El get interrupted, (1) the audience has already been made to expect something to come to light between them (likely related to the Painting Lie), and (2) resolution of this plot point will not happen right away and is IMPORTANT to s5.

That's because Stranger Things follows nearly 100% of all TV/movie writing in following a three-act structure. The start of each season sets up the conflicts and character motivations that drive the rest of the season. (Just as the first episodes of s4 set up El's "problem" of feeling like she's the monster and why she went on a journey of self-discovery.)

It's hard to imagine the writers setting up Round THREE of Mike struggling to say "I love you" to El. No, what's being interrupted is the next development, which has to do with the Painting Lie and its ramifications for Mike, Will, and El.

Add to this the fact that all the teasers we're getting suggest that El is separated from Mike and most of the others for some chunk of the season. What's left unsaid between them might remain unsaid. And we know that Mike and Will are side-by-side much of this season. (As promised, Mike said they will "be a team.")

Which begs the question: WHAT is interrupted between Mike and El, and what is it setting up plot-wise? Is it something whose RESOLUTION involves multiple scenes of Mike ALONE with the boy who canonically loves him and made the painting that made him feel so wonderful? Someone who Mike confessed he REALLY missed and Hawkins "isn't the same" without him?

The conflict's GOT to have something to do with Mike's feelings for Will. It FAR surpasses any other possibility, given how much set-up there has been for it.

Another plot point for season 5: on Will's end, he still hasn't come out of the closet. Doesn't part of his "emotional arc" have to include coming out to his BEST FRIEND? This is probably set up in the first episode, also.

That, together with the interruption of Mike and El, helps prime the GA to look at every scene with Mike and Will, reading every interaction and figuring out what will happen between these 2 best friends who have never lied to each other, until now. We'll even see a flashback of when they were younger. How their relationship changes after the inevitable revelations is central to s5.

The ENTIRE SEASON will be the Interruption Trope for Mike and Will, while they confront the full danger of Vecna together. It will be "the painting tucked away in Will's backpack" times a hundred.

-teambyler

(My own theory of how Byler will culminate, in case you haven't seen it!)

[ringsreforged]

Natalie's *deep* Haladriel thoughts - BEWARE

Pau - When you read this later, let me know if you want me to move it to my personal account, yeah? If it even still exists...

I’m not really sure what this post is going to end up being. A defence of the show and the separation? In part! A critique of the show based off leak spoilers and my own gut feeling? For sure! A desperate ramble in an attempt to get my head in order? Absolutely!

I will say before we dive in that I’m absolutely a Haladriel shipper, but the way I ship isn’t always in line with fandom. I ship what I see as part of the narrative because it’s the narrative, and everything else is a bonus. I make this distinction because I think this is why I’m so okay with a lack of scenes when some others are not, and I don’t want to come across preachy. I don't think I'm in any way superior for this by the way. In fact, I wish I could be more *normal*!!!!

If you came to this show for Haladriel alone, and simply want to see them share scenes week to week – that’s your prerogative. I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t feel that way. What I might try to say is that I don’t think that makes the shows bad or suggests that the writers have baited with this relationship. I think that’s ultimately what I find frustrating…

But anyway, let’s get into whatever this is. A reflection on expectations, a five-season arc, and those STUPID spoiler leaks…

AND THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. STAY AWAY. HISS.

Alright, so this post is mostly brought to you by a sinking feeling I have that the leak spoilers are real. Because everything in that episode 7 promo matches up.

STOP READING if you don’t want to know the spoilers. And honestly? STOP READING IF YOU THINK YOU WANT TO KNOW because living with this knowledge has truly made this season less enjoyable for me (credit to it, then, because I still think it’s incredible). IF I’M MAKING YOU PANIC, STILL STOP READING because there very much is a world where these spoilers aren’t that bad in context…but I prefer to keep my expectations low…

Have you gone???

HAVE YOU GONE?????

SPOILER TALK

Okay.

So, the leak spoilers say that there is no kiss between Sauron and Galadriel (which, honestly, I have no great issue with – more to come on that later). Instead, the kiss is ELROND AND GALADRIEL, and I absolutely do take issue with this.

I can only hope and PRAY that it works in context, but I can’t get my head around it. And yet, the promo…it’s all falling into place. Elrond will be sent to discuss terms with the orcs before the battle. He’ll see Galadriel in chains, and he’ll ask for a moment to say goodbye. Adar will allow it because he’s a gent like that. This is where we get the chin touch with the thumb everyone speculated over and then…HE LEANS IN AND KISSES HER TO PUT A NEEDLE IN HER MOUTH? SO SHE CAN RELEASE HERSELF LATER??

To clarify, most of this is my spec, but THE KISS TO PASS HER A NEEDLE IS A REAL LEAKED SPOILER THAT NO LONGER SEEMS FAKE.

It's just…so convoluted and weird??? Does he store needles in his mouth like a squirrel? Why couldn’t he have slipped the needle into her hand??? WHY ARE YOU PUTTING ELROND’S LIPS ON GALADRIEL’S?

And look, maybe this spoiler IS still fake! But the details were so specific, and everything about the context seems to be accurate, so that feels like it would be a bonkers coincidence to me. Maybe when we actually see it play out, it will be fine.

But that does bring me back to the Haladriel of it all, just briefly. With my whole heart, I do not need them to kiss. After season 1, I didn’t think it would be possible, and I’m okay with that. But if you’re willing to let ELROND’S lips touch her, then MY GOD, you could have let Haladriel have ONE kiss where she’s trying to distract him or some shit. OOF.

My only relief is that it happens next week, so we can hopefully get it out of our systems and enjoy the finale.

That said, if these leaks are true then that also means the finale leaks are true. Now, I actually never wanted to see any of these spoilers (hence me making it VERY CLEAR what this post is about, because I wouldn’t inflict this stress on anyone unwillingly), so once I got the Elrond kiss details, I tried to get away without seeing much else. But there was some information on the big Haladriel scene.

I’m actually not going to detail it here, because – overall – I think we’ll still super enjoy it (just…lower those kiss expectations) AND because I don’t think all of it was spoiled. At the end of the day, there will be plenty to unpack, they’ll be back on our screens, it will be meaty, it will be layered. I’m really looking forward to it, in general.

My one fear is that it’s a season 1 finale repeat. And again, that won’t necessarily be bad per se, but it will feel a little bit underwhelming. Now, I’m not somebody that wants a true corruption arc for Galadriel. Normally, I love that shit, but not in this IP and not with this character. I want to see her explore her darkness, I want to see her face it and accept it, and I certainly want to see her be tempted…but I don’t expect or believe we'll ever actually get the whole ‘dark queen of Mordor’ vibe. Prisoner? Maybe. But not an actual dark queen.

That said…surely this scene doesn’t play out the EXACT same way as season 1? Sauron shows her a vision, she’s tempted, but ultimately resists and tells him she’ll never be at his side. I just don’t get why we’d repeat that, when there are so many other options that still keep Gal on the side of light.

I keep coming back to Galadriel’s line to Elrond in episode 4 – when it comes down to it, he has to choose to defeat Sauron and sacrifice her. I feel like if I hadn’t seen the leaks, then I would be 1000% expecting this to be the outcome. Especially with how Elrond’s theme comes in at the end of The Last Temptation track. He comes upon the confrontation but chooses to do the thing that will harm Sauron in the long run, rather than the thing that will save Galadriel.

I hope so badly for this, but I do worry that it will go the other way. What if it parallels Gandalfanger’s destiny/friend choice, and Elrond chooses her because THAT is how light wins or some shit? Not that this will be a bad scene by any stretch – I love their relationship and want to see their FRIENDSHIP (grrrr) reforged…but, again, the S1 finale! Sauron left her in the water, and Elrond was there to save her.

There’s also Galadriel’s conversation with Adar in the most recent episode – you succumbed, I resisted – but I guess this could go either way? He succumbed, so she resists. She insists she’s able to resist, so she succumbs. URGH. MY HEAD.

There MUST be a difference. SURELY??? Like, this season has been so well written…I just can’t comprehend the copy and paste.

Again, this isn’t anything close to a deal breaker for me. I firmly believe the showrunners when they say this relationship will remain the core of the show, but…hmmm. Okay, on that note…

DAMAGE CONTROL – MOVING ONTO THE DEFENCE OF THE SHOW

So, this is where I want to get into some stuff that I just…don’t agree with that I’ve seen being thrown at the show by shippers. And I’ll reiterate here that I’m truly not telling anybody what to feel. You can hate the show for its choices and feel how you feel. You can express yourself in your social media spaces, and if anybody doesn’t like it they can mute/block/unfollow. This chunk isn’t really aimed at you guys.

This is more for other people like me, because I’m cursed to be somebody that generally wants to just…enjoy things for what they are, while also being susceptible to the mood of others. I want to scroll tags and have a good time, rather than see negativity because it lowers my mood (this isn’t just ship related by the way, I really love this show overall…it’s just this tag that has been impacting my mood most this season). Regardless of the nonsense that might be in episode 7, and even if the finale scene is a repeat of S1, I’m still going to want to focus on enjoying what we get, enjoying the narrative being told etc. So, for those of you that have a little sinking feeling in your gut after the first half of this post, hopefully this second half will help.

This isn’t a ‘typical’ ship. This is a true ENEMIES ARE ENEMIES dynamic where the bad boy is ultimately going to be (is already) pure evil, and where our heroine is the embodiment of light. There are certain things that we just have to accept when it comes to loving this dynamic as part of the show – there will never be another season like season 1. Nor should there be?

Do I wish for s3 to have them in close proximity for at least a few episodes? Of course! Do I think it’s possible with or without finale spoilers? Absolutely (given how quickly characters travel from place to place on this show, they could end the season at opposite ends of Middle Earth and this would still be on the cards…). I’m also anticipating Season 4 as a good time for them to be in full MIND PALACE mode – where the rings are all ringing, but Galadriel hasn’t yet worked out how to shut him out yet. By season 5, there might just be one final scene before the final battle. But, again, I really do think there needs to be a little bit of acceptance of that. Or, at least, expectation of it.

Something I really want to push back against is this idea that Haladriel was baited or teased, but the writers don’t actually care for it. Honestly, that’s nonsense to me on a couple of levels.

First of all, almost EVERY dynamic this season has been reduced to a handful of scenes here and there. The most consistent relationships have probably been Annatar and Celebrimbor, and Durin+Durin+Disa (off the top of my head). Elrond and Durin (probably the other most popular dynamic of S1) have been apart all season, Elrond and Galadriel have too. Isildur popped up to say hello and we might not see him again.

When you actually stop and look at this season…Sauron and Galadriel had to be separated. She could not be anywhere near him while he’s working Celebrimbor, and there’s no world in which they were ever going to change that narrative. And yet, the Sauron and Galadriel dynamic has been consistent across the season. With Galadriel predominantly (and depending on how the finale goes, I may have thoughts on this), but it has also been easier with her because people have talked with her openly about Sauron. It’s been harder on his side, but the fact that Mirdania seems to have been cast to look like Galadriel honestly – right now – feels like it was done with the express purpose of giving Sauron a Galadriel reference.

Again, I’m not saying you have to like the lack of scenes, but it’s not bad writing to respect the overarching narrative of an ensemble show. Galadriel’s season has been all about him, and we’ve had countless insights to make that clear – building up to their final confrontation. If Sauron was running around mentioning Galadriel every five seconds with Celebrimbor or with the dwarves, it would be horrendously out of character.

This next comment is…somewhat dependent on the finale…but as somebody that loves Elendil and Miriel, everything in Numenor has been somewhat crammed in. I would firmly argue that the Galadriel/Sauron dynamic across this season has been treated with care and reverence, all building to a climax designed as the high point of the season. Will we be 100% satisfied? Who can say! But it IS what the season is building to.

I think this brings me around to a particular gripe I have, and maybe the people that believe this came to the show after S1 had fully aired or something…but there’s this idea floating around that the showrunners don’t like this dynamic and are just giving it crumbs to bait people into watching. This makes me want to scream.

These showrunners literally took a few lines about Galadriel being tempted by Sauron and PITCHED THE ENTIRE SHOW OFF OF THAT. The Tolkien estate wasn’t only pitched by Amazon BUT CHOSE THIS PITCH OVER ANYTHING ELSE. Season 1 was written pretty much like a prologue centred around GALADRIEL AND SAURON HAVING A PERSONAL CONNECTION WITH ROMANTIC UNDERTONES…and guess what?

They wrote all that…they filmed ALL THAT…before knowing anything about the audience reaction! That was ALL the showrunners, the writers, the directors, the actors. They ARE the narrative. They are not bait.

Does that mean the fundamentals of their dynamic will always please you, individually? No, of course not. Some people want outright romance, some people want soft Sauron, some people want Dark Galadriel. Will they kiss? I doubt it. Do I wish they would? Sure! Will they be separated again next season? Probably! Will I also wish that they could at least be stuck together for a run of episodes again? Absolutely!

But the idea that any of this is bait, or unimportant to the show drives me a little bit bonkers.

I guess my personal feeling of frustration comes from the fact that I feel so lucky they are exploring this show from the perspective of this dynamic, regardless of specific details/scenes. I’d bet my house (I don’t own a house) that every other pitch hinged on Elendil or Isildur as the protagonists of the show. Now, I love those dudes, but just IMAGINE? The fact that we’re on this path at all is still WILD to me.

ANYWAY, this is what happens when Paulina goes on holiday and I have nobody to ramble too. Sorry for the explosion, but I’ve been dreading the stupid kiss spoiler since I stumbled on it after EPISODE BLOODY 3 and so I needed to vent somewhere.

TL;DR: You are welcome to feel the way you feel, and if you hate everything you go right ahead, but maybe this makes sense to somebody. IDK. IDK.

[nthspecialll]

You are literally the best rdr account ever fr, your rants are not biased at all and i love it. Because some ppl rly should drop their ranting bcs it's obvious that they are more talking about their imagination about that character than actual facts.

I am so glad you think so because I sometimes noticed that too. From time to time it feels like people have an idea of a character and try to make the game fit around that rather than actually make the game sculp the character. That sounded very messy so: They make the evidence try to fit the result they want rather than letting the evidence form the result. And to be honest I think that is a little... Well offensive to the developers?

I am a writer, I write books and if someone tried to discard part of a character I spent years making because they felt like it, I think I would get annoyed, I even get annoyed reading it. Like it is fine if it is just jokes ya know? Like "Kieran is just a baby" as a joke but also being able to see that there is so much more to him, that is fine, but if you just refuse to acknowledge that there is more... No.

Another thing is glorification, I do not like people glorifying characters, again not as a joke, I think it is like ignoring a whole part of the character, the "mean" part of the character. Take Javier, I love Javier, he has so many nice and sweet sides, but I also know he is an asshole in chapter 6, that said I know people are not assholes for no reason, I know Javier had a reason to act the way he did. Do I think him acting like an asshole is a-okay? No, but I also know that there is nuance to it.

I have also seen it the other way around, where people make a character worse than they are? Like especially the women of the game, but also Javier and Bill. Again, dismissing part of a character that someone has put sweat, tears and blood into is not okay.

Media literacy is also a massive thing in this game because it is a historically accurate game in so many ways, and again, people who intentionally dismissive it because "Oh I wouldn't do that" are blind to history, because of course you wouldn't, you grew up in modern days with modern ideals and you got internet to educate yourself outside of whatever ideals and things were put into your head by those immediately around you.

I always strive to get as much information about characters as I can, to show both sides and to find out why do characters do what they do even if I don't agree with it. I remember when I learned that Javier did in fact point his gun at John and I at first got annoyed but then I caught myself and was like "that is fucking stupid ignoring it, face it and find out why."

To clarify, I am not shitting on people making jokes about characters, I do it too, nor am I shitting on people who does not have all information (I am not telling them to go research everything and "oh they must know every small detail to even speak about this character"), I am not shitting on people who have different opinions on characters, I am shitting on the people who chose to ignore parts of characters because that fits their narritive.

These characters are wildly deep and complex, allow them to be, and I know some people are going to say "oh that is so dramatic" and maybe, but that is my opion and if you don't agree just scroll, I am not forcing you to be here.

If you read all that, thank you! Here is a pic of Javier because I love him:

[jeannereames]

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Peter Green, giant in Classics. He died this last Monday morning (9/16/24) at the ripe old age of 99. He was born the same year as both my parents.

Peter was not only a very fine scholar, but also a damn good writer--which isn't always true of historians. He wrote historical fiction (no, really, he did: The Laughter of Aphrodite, about Sappho, and Achilles, His Armor, about Alkibiades). And he wrote some quite excellent collections of essays: In the Shadow of the Parthenon and Classical Bearings. His Alexander to Actium--a monster book about the Hellenistic Age big enough to choke a mule--actually made money for U-Cal Press. Not common for academic books, especially of that size!

I have issues with Peter's take on Alexander, I'll be honest. In fact, it was his cheeky summary of Hephaistion as "Tall, handsome, spoilt, spiteful, overbearing and fundamentally stupid" that made the little Hephaistion sit up in my head and object: "I wasn't like that!"

And that launched a dissertation. So in a backhanded way, you can thank Peter for my work on Hephaistion.

But I want to tell you about the other Peter I knew, a genuinely helpful, friendly, and likable guy. He and his wife (Classicist) Carin Green were long-time friends of Gene Borza (my academic father) and Kathleen Pavelko (Gene's now-widow). Born in the UK, he had mid-century British Classicist training mixed with some very progressive politics that might surprise.

He also gave me the best (academic) edit job I've ever received, in now 25 years of publishing. Together with Gene, I gave a paper at the then-APA (now-SCS), which ended up becoming my first (co-authored) publication, "Some New Thoughts on the Death of Alexander the Great." Peter was there to hear, and came up after to congratulate us then quiz me about my psych background and the info I'd brought on grieving. Gene told him about the chapter in my dissertation on Alexander's mourning, and Peter said, "Send me that chapter" for Selecta Classica, of which he was editor. I warned it was long. (To the tune of 60 pages in manuscript!)

But I sent it. And he took it. Then did the edits (both academic and literary) himself. It was fantastic. I quibbled on two things. First, commas. Ha. But second, he insisted everything go back into Greek without some translations, contending anybody reading it would know the Greek. I objected. I lost. I still think that was a mistake, but it was also evidence of that mid-century Brit Classicist that assumed the only people reading it would be other Classicists.

But folks, he made that first (solo) article of mine so much better, forcing me to clarify problematic phrasing, elaborate where I'd been too brief, etc. And he did it with a light hand that allowed my own voice to come through. He became my model of How to Be A Good Academic Editor. When I edit today, I have him in mind.

Peter, thank you for all you've done, not just in print, but as a human being and mentor to young scholars, like me. I'll pour a little libation of good red wine in your memory.

With his passing goes the last of that generation of Macedoniasts.

[demeterdefence]

kept meaning to make a post and kept FORGETTING to because i'm dumb but i cannot stop thinking of all the loose ends / introduced plots that got dropped without any warning and one that has been sticking out is persephone's "new" abilities after she "lost" her powers

we get a lackluster hint in episode 267, when apollo uses some random magic deus ex machina to "restore" persephone's powers. he starts bleeding from the nose and ears.

also apologies for the terrible quality, i forgot that lo went under daily pass and had to scour my own screenshots lmamdgjsf

it's not explained at the time whatsoever and in fact, the vagueness of the narrative kind of half-heartedly implies that it's an effect of ouranos' magic - it's also completely handwaved away, since no one bothers to ask why apollo is suddenly bleeding from the orifices and able to use persephone's powers.

it's not until persephone and hera decide to visit kronos in tartarus that persephone explains she somehow knew all along what this strange power was! she can apparently make a god rot from the inside!!!

it's not explained at ALL how she figured that out or like ... why she has that specific power. it is mentioned during the solstice where she creates winter that she can only make "decay," but that's a pretty obvious and visual thing - she's quite literally blistered the mortal realm in snow and ice, with all the plants dying on their physical surface.

important context, but other than persephone's attack on minthe, she is never seen using her powers on another person. her abilities are always on herself, or using plants / growth in some way. the fertility goddess nonsense does mean that hades and kronos are able to use her powers to strengthen themselves, but beyond that plot point being ridiculous, it's also something they don't just figure out overnight. kronos being able to escape control the underworld, and hades going godzilla mode during the trial, are clues used to eventually figure out what persephone's fertility goddess powers can do.

in regards to her new winter powers, persephone either figured it out somehow before the scene with apollo, or she figured it out after. with no explanation how.

moving from the how, we then get the last mention to this power, when persephone attempts to stop kronos

spoiler: it does not work. the power is never referenced again.

in terms of lore olympus' many crimes, it's a small thing, but it stands out to me as such a flailing attempt to write some wiggle room into the finale. rachel was struggling to get to the end, that much was obvious, and she was padding out the episodes as desperately as she could so that she could pull on any random thread and find a way to keep the plot moving. in better hands, this might have been a legitimately interesting power to explore for persephone! the goddess of spring, capable of rot, capable of such bone-deep destruction, and how she reconciles that with growth. it could have been a powerful juxtaposition, but it got abandoned as soon as rachel figured out how to give persephone her powers back. presumably, persephone still has this ability, but it is literally never brought up again. we have no idea if there was lasting damage to apollo, if it did anything in particular to kronos, what it can do to a god (the assumption is nothing, since both apollo and kronos seem just fine in their final scenes.)

it's just. amazing to go back and look through all the various strings rachel was knotting together, seeing stuff that might have been genuinely fascinating to explore in some other writer's hands! tiny little things like this, added up together to just be crapshoot after crapshoot. it's no surprise at all that rachel finished the last episode barely an hour before it went live. what a mess.

[atthebell]

rewatching cellbit's mortuary assistant vod and someone asked about sharing the ordem rulebook pdf with friends and he was like (paraphrasing in translation) "between friends is fine, that's normal like sharing a regular book, but sharing it publicly is piracy, plain and simple." and then when he was talking about why piracy is an issue here he didn't even defend himself and his work because he knew no one would care about that and instead he had to be like "i'm not the only person who creates this stuff, there are other writers and artists and all kinds of people who work on this who need to eat, who need income that they won't get if you're pirating the book instead of actually buying it."

idk like i get that no one will take it seriously to not steal from a guy like him but it does kind of suck that people don't understand the difference between stealing from giant media corporations versus indie productions. like regardless of how rich you think cellbit is personally (which is still nowhere near as rich as someone like kevin feige or jeffrey katzenberg) ordem is still indie and still has nowhere near the kind of funding something like a disney movie or a paramount tv show has.

[doomed2repeat]

…who in the Bridgerton writers room has a threesome fetish, REVEAL YOURSELF.

[bixels]

Bit of a weird question, but what is your overall least favorite thing about MLP? 

Sparity.

[glitterarygetsit]

Why do you comment?

Was discussing fic commenting practices with a friend the other day, and realised we both comment on things for different underlying reasons. So I thought it might be interesting to make a poll about it! Why do you comment? Do you see it as a one-on-one interaction with the author, or as a way of supporting the community? Is it a form of payment or the start of a dialogue?

I think there are a lot of different and valid attitudes to this, and I’m curious to see what different readers’ thought processes are! I’m sure that for most readers, multiple of these answers apply—try to pick the one that feels most important to you, and please do expand on them in the tags if you like!

[biblicalhorror]

Girl help they're calling the guy who blackmailed his wife and her teammates over their trauma to save his furniture store a "himbo who just loves his wife and wants her to be happy"

[daeneryseastar]

“alicent making homophobic remarks the night of laena’s funeral isn’t cool considering laenor was shown to be heavily grieving his sister and didn’t deserve to be attacked during it (not to mention it was an obvious ploy on alicent’s part to divert attention from her committing literal treason).”

“b-bUT WHAT ABOUT DAEMON AND RHAENYRA FUCKING-“

i’m not gonna lie i don’t particularly care that they had sex that night. was it disrespectful? for sure. did it harm anyone for them to do it? it, in fact, did not. two consenting adults having sex away from prying eyes and keeping to themselves < an entitled boy purposely calling a girl at her mother’s funeral (whom he had never interacted with before) a pig and ridiculing her grief. laena’s storyline was cut short because the writers decided she wasn’t important enough to make into a proper character that isn’t at the mercy of other characters (it’s something i’m forever going to be salty about, daemon and rhaenyra loved her with all their hearts and were absolutely devastated when she passed) but out of those two scenarios who do you think she would be more upset with?

the people who bring this up in retaliation cannot handle alicent taking any criticism whatsoever. in all honesty i wouldn’t even care if her fans would just say ‘yeah, it was shitty. don’t really care though.’ it would at least save me the time of reading think piece after think piece on why alicent deserved to get her lick back against rhaenyra for her lot in life (caused by otto and viserys) by focusing on her pain rather than her son’s. these are the same people who try to claim that most of rhaenyra’s children and step children secretly hate her, due to wanting ‘complex and nuanced relationships’ to occur (they actually also can’t handle that rhaenyra was a great mom all around to all of her kids, and that maybe they need to be focusing those feelings on the green kids with their parents instead). let’s be serious for just one moment: it makes more sense that the children who were neglected by one parent and abused by the other having complicated familial feelings than children who were (for the most part) raised in a relatively stable and loving environment.

[ixkhor-and-ambroxia]

Hey #GreekMythology tumblr, I want ya’lls help on something :).

So, I’ve been thinking about starting this massive project. Like, would take years and years work of writing and research and sheerly finding the time and motivation for. And as I was thinking about the specifics, I thought: why not bring others into it as well? Because as much as I am interested in a lot of Greek Mythology, there are things that are simply not my interests and might cause writers block and my goal for the project would to be as fun as possible. So, here we are.

What is the project exactly? Well, hopefully, it’ll be a long Ao3 series/fic focusing on the individual perspectives of various figures/events in Greek Mythology arranged in (semi/good enough) chronological order. I personally intend to write for Poseidon in his/my version of the Titanomachy and (maybe) some events that follow, if you want a little bit of an idea on what I’m talking about.

The limits on this are almost completely free, all that I ask are that each of your submissions are one POV only (and by that I mean your main subject’s POV). Why do I say this? I say this because that is what I want this project to look like. It doesn’t matter if it’s First, Second, or Third POV along with all the other variants of those three, my main focus is on the individual experiences of these individuals. Kind of like character studies, if you know what I mean. I’m intending for it to be mostly formal but I will absolutely accept crack admissions that I will probably put into its own series to Separate the Vibes for whoever comes by :).

Ultimately, this is a completely open-ended project that has absolutely no deadline. I’m about to go to bed so I can’t go into too much detail, but if you want to DM me or send any asks, I am completely okay with that and we’ll all flesh out the specifics we go :).

What is my overall purpose? Not only is this project made for my own individual purposes of learning more about the gods and other Greek Mythology writers, but it’s also the chance to spread the word of other writers. I know how hard it is to get specific audiences, especially when you’re shy, so this is a chance for your work to be stumbled upon. Each post on the eventual Ao3 fic will include your socials, how to find you, and your other general works on either ao3, tumblr, wattpad, or other :)

Can you participate even without socials or a tumblr page? Yes you absolutely can :). My asks will always be open to anons and I will do my best to give credit when I eventually post everything :). If you want to post multiple submissions or simply just want a trackable (between works) name to your writing, just sign something at the end. It could be a name, it could be a potential username, I don’t mind at all :)).

How do I submit things? Well, the best way would be to DM me :). I have a personal writing email separate from most things that would be perfect to either share a google docs with or to just send a copy-and-pasted copy of it. Otherwise, I take asks. None of them will be posted unless asked or we’re ready to so it’ll be safe to just drop them off in! It’s also where I take questions :).

Any other things to note? I’d really appreciate some other moderators and editors :). There’d only be like two or three of each and we’d have to know each other decently well before officially starting, but some help would be appreciated! Also, I’d like to keep a working ‘spreadsheet’ of who’s working on what just for people to see what’s going on :). Maybe some people can collaborate or it’ll encourage those niche writers to write :). A third thing is that most questionable stuff is accepted. I’d personally rather not handle all those things other than posting it so it might be a while until I can officially accept (consensual and/or graphic) ✨spicy stuff✨ but, other than that, I’ll take any of it (also, it’s Greek Mythology, almost all of it already happened). If someone’s willing to take over the ✨spicy stuff✨ then please DM me so we can work out the details and see if it’s a nice fit :)

Honestly, that all should be it. The main point is that I’m trying to start up a long-term project on Tumblr and Ao3 about what is essentially Greek Mythology character studies that not only allows for mass communication across a wide audience, but also (hopefully) gets some recognition for the smaller writers :). Feel free to DM me or send me asks with questions but for now, I shall sleep

Tagging: @bluebellstudio @thirteen-deaths-later @0lympian-c0uncil @happyk44 @h0bg0blin-meat @sworeontheriverstyx @deathlessathanasia @gotstabbedbyapen. Sorry if I tagged you and you want nothing to do with it, I just wanted to get it out there /pos /gen