#and generally this feels better for me. i'm not qualified or in the right position to dissect this stuff

[neometalpussy]

every day they find new ways to make me try and figure myself out. to understand myself. such is my plight i guess

[f1cflcfic]

Won't Say I'm In Love (SMAU ft. Lando Norris) - part vii

pairing: lando norris x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n); past carlos alcaraz x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n)

summary: As a general rule, y/n does not date athletes. You've been there, done that - would not recommend. Besides, you definitely don't do love. There's no time in the world for complicated feelings when there's a career Grand Slam to be won. But what if your heart just refuses to listen?

genre: social meda/mixed au, friends to lovers

note: this is RPF and is obviously in no way, shape, or form reflective of real persons

series: part i | part ii | part iii | part iv | part v | part vi | ...

April 14-18, 2025

April 19 - 21, 2025

[Transcription of video excerpt "Tennis Stars Surprise Fans..."]

“Describe my dream girl? Ideally she’d also be really into tennis, or we might have a difficult time of finding common ground,” Grigor jokes.

The fan continues. “If you had to marry someone on the tour right now, who would it be?”

“Oof, marry?! I’m not ready for that,” he laughs. “Who do you think I should marry? Who’d be a good match for me?”

“I mean, my favorite tennis player is Y/N L/N,” the fan shrugs. Dimitrov smirks, and repeats her name.

“What?” The fan questions, unsure what’s caused his reaction. “It’s just, isn’t she already dating – never mind. I don't think I'm her type.”

“My favourite is Maria Sharapova, but she isn’t on this tour,” the other fan interjects. This seems to amuse Dimitrov even more. “That’s my ex-girlfriend.”

Switch to Y/N L/N

“Shall I call her now? We’ll just give it a go,” she pulls out her phone and selects Coco’s contact. When she does pick up, she immediately turns the screen to the two fans who stare at the tennis player in awe. “Say hello to my new friends Co,” Y/N says enthusiastically. “Oh, hi – what’s up?” “They put us in a gondola, and they could ask me anything – and they wanted to know who I hung out with the most on tour. So obviously, I had to call.”

“Of course,” Coco agrees, and is about to respond when she gets interrupted by another voice and winces. “Yikes, that’s my sign to hang up to and avoid a penalty drill. I’ll see you later, have fun!”

“Well there you go,” Y/N grins as she hangs up. “To be honest, this is how most of our conversations go – we always get interrupted by one of us having to go and train.”

“What would you be doing if you weren’t playing tennis?”

She purses her lips and thinks about it for a moment. “I’d probably run a dog rescue. Or a pet rescue at least. I think I’d like that.”

April 25 - 29, 2025

[Transcription of press conference post-quarter final]

Y/N, you are also one of the signatories of the letter that was sent to both the WTA and ATP - asking to renegotiate the prize money to be won at Grand Slams. Can you tell us more about why you made that decision?

"Yeah, sure. It's not just about the slams by the way - it's about the entire WTA and ATP tours. I'm lucky now to be in a position where I don't have to qualify and automatically enter tournaments. So my chances of being able to support myself and my team financially are much better. When you don't have that position, it's really hard to be a pro tennis player. It shouldn't be that hard, and it certainly shouldn't be an obstacle or barrier for players wanting to enter tournaments or wanting to actually dedicate their life to the craft of playing tennis at such high level. Plus, the percentage of money that now goes to players versus the tour itself is also skewed. Not just in terms of ATP versus WTA, but also in terms of what the organizers get versus what we get as players. There's examples out there of fairer agreements in other sports, also included in the letter."

Thank you. I was also wondering if you feel like the requirements of playing the tour are fair and equitable, considering both the money you receive if you win & the division of labor between WTA and ATP players?

"Quite frankly, no. I mean, we do a lot of media - all of us have those obligations. But it's men who get all the headlines. If you look at tennistv or espn - most tennis content is focused on male players. Yet we are out here, too. And then I get used as content instead about who I'm dating. Not exactly comparable experiences, I'd say."

You and your opponent Naomi Osaka have both also been vocal about mental health, and its effects on athletes' performance. Your friend Lando Norris, who was in the crowd today, has also been an advocate for open conversations around this topic. Do you have those with one another, too?

"He's here? Really? I'm too focused on the court to know what happens off of it, but that's so nice to know, thank you! I forgot your question, sorry."

He is, yeah. My question was if it's a topic you talk about with your fellow tour players, or even with friends who may or may not be in sports?

"You know, I wish I could say yes, but the honest answer is no. It's not brought up often, because it is definitely also still seen as another potential element to exploit. It's hard to be open, but I'm working on trusting my friends with my brain chemistry."

∘•···············•∘ʚ ♡ ɞ∘•················•∘ ∘•···············•∘ʚ ♡ ɞ∘•················•∘∘•···············•∘

A/N: it's 2AM, here we are (iykyk)... I used too many images, and had to use a good old classic text divider instead of the image divider I've been using for this fic, sorry about that! Next up: Concern, Physical Touch and Shenanigans when in Rome

part viii is available here now

♥ likes, comments, reblogs and asks are always very much appreciated - i love chatting and hearing your thoughts! ♥

taglist (open): @linnygirl09 @julesbog @midnight-and-books @sarx164 @obxstiles @freyathehuntress @vhkdncu2ei8997 @berrnuu @lightdragonrayne @glow-ish @batsratswrites @blushmimi @colmathgames2

[nartml]

To Pimp a Butterfly and 1989: a rant

Listen here, three things about me are that I'm a) white as snow, b) Greek, c) still a minor.

What does this mean? It means that I obviously wasn't raised with hip-hop, and I got into Kendrick Lamar's music pretty late.

As in, early this year.

I've known of him for some time, and the moment I found out he had a Pulitzer prize at some point in late-ish 2023, I decided I had to sit my ass down and pull out Spotify.

Now, as an avid reader of both fanfiction (ao3 raised me) and books [I feel the immense need to clarify that I don't associate myself with mainstream booktok. Capitalism's consumerism has overrun that shit and all I see are the same 20 books being recycled and recommended (a substantial amount of those are Colleen Hoover and her variants). Tropes and spice* are officially the defining factors of whether a book is worth it (*your porn addiction ain't cute) and quantity is heavily prioritized at the expense of quality. Also, diversity who?], I was, for a lack of a better word, hyped.

A Pulitzer prize is nothing to scoff at in general, more so in music, more so in hip-hop.

(Edit: Upon quick reflection, I realize that putting emphasis on hip-hop can come across as coded.

I am in no way, shape, or form trying to undermine hip-hop or say that it's somehow less 'sophisticated' than, for example, classical music. I'm very aware of the amount of skill and technique one needs to write a masterful hip-hop album, and I'm not doubting that there are hip-hop artists out there who are also incredibly deserving of such a prize. I meant it in the sense that I've unfortunately never heard of another hip-hop artist who won a Pulitzer before, which is quite telling.)

That's some huge shit, and I'd be a fool not to be intrigued.

Admittedly, I didn't get on that immediately. For a while I procrastinated, because I wasn't in the mood to hyper-fixate on anything new just yet.

Which of course meant I ended up forgetting about it for a few months, because of course I did.

But then I came across a TikTok that talked about how it was insane that '1989' won the Grammy when To Pimp a Butterfly was right there.

Now, a fourth thing about me is that I don't fuck with Taylor Swift.

And a fifth thing about me is that I'm not baseless in anything that I do, say or feel, and that includes annoyance.

Her immature understanding of activism and feminism leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The way she built up her fan base around this portrayal of her as a relatable girl's girl, her refusal to accept criticism, and always making a victim out of herself (even now when she's in her thirties and is a fucking billionaire) while never using her position of power and privilege for good are all reasons that serve to fuel my dispassionate dislike.

And before any Swifties get on my ass, no, I don't think that "But she's a singer! Why are you expecting so much out of her, she isn't even qualified to speak on XYZ—" is a good enough excuse.

She has always been rich, and now she's a billionaire. There are no ethical billionaires, and that includes her.

Fame is influence is power. Uncle Ben said it all: With great power comes great responsibility.

And let me tell you, I don't see her owning up to that responsibility, especially after all that talk about how she supports women, supports the LGBTQ community, and supports the BLM movement. Has she ever actually put her abundant money where her mouth is?

I've never seen her speak about anything that doesn't immediately concern her.

Don't get me wrong. She's not the only celebrity like this out there. I'm sure there are worse cases. I know it for a fact.

To wrap this segment up before I get even more sidetracked, I'll outright state that I don't hate her, because hating her would by definition mean that I, in some way, actually care about her, and that just sounds exhausting.

Best way to describe me is indifferent, leaning towards distasteful.

She's annoying.

And that's how I feel about both her as a person and her as an artist.

I'm not denying her talent, nor her impact on the industry, nor the fact that she does have good songs that even I like.

A select few, of course, but still.

Apart from those...what? Ten songs? I have never, ever been able to listen to any other song of her's all the way through.

I get bored. They do nothing for me. They sound empty. Hollow. Plastic. Repetitive.

Her lyrics, that are praised by fans for being deep and complex, sound pretty surface level to me.

Not all of them. But I'm a sucker for analysis. A literature nerd. Greek is my native language. I can tell when something's deep and when something wants to be deep.

(Not necessarily including Folklore and Evermore in that category. Her storytelling ability is actually great.)

Her music largely sounds like it wants to be deep.

Most recent example being her latest release, The Tortured Poets Department.

Anyway, back to Kendrick.

My initial plan was to listen to 'DAMN.' first, because that's what he won the Pulitzer for in the first place.

There was a change of plans after that TikTok.

I decided to compare the opening tacks.

I put on Welcome to New York, and predictably, I felt nothing.

The rhythm is dance-y, I suppose. But there's nothing substantial about it. There's nothing exciting about it.

The lyrics are juvenile, and I get it, it's a pop song and she was in her twenties.

Nobody is expecting Shakespeare (no matter how much you scream or kick your feet, the only reason Shakespeare couldn't write Taylor Swift is because he's in another league entirely) or Odysseus Elytis. Nobody is expecting mind-blowing lyricism.

But it's the opening track to an apparently Grammy-worthy album. The very least I'd expect from it would be some additional levels of artistry.

Am I being harsh? Probably. Do I care? No.

Disappointed but unsurprised, I put on Wesley's Theory.

I ascended within the first minute.

Don't get it twisted, I barely understood shit.

Not only am I white, I am also entirely removed from America and its culture as a whole. I don't know what's going on there in y'all's daily lives.

And this was baby's first proper introduction to hip-hop as a whole.

My untrained, white-ass ear barely caught two references. I got what the gist of the song was about, and that's about it.

I had to look up analyses of the track to fully grasp what Kendrick was on about, and even then, there was obviously still a disconnect.

And I expected all of that.

I didn't expect to get hooked on that song within the first listen.

I swear to fuck, the beat is addictive. I swear to fuck, even when I was fighting to understand what the lyrics were referencing, I was having the time of my life.

Even I, an amateur in every sense of the word, could tell that there was depth and there was quality and there was intentional meaning in every line of that song.

It didn't matter that I couldn't understand it. It mattered that I knew it was there. Not because someone told me that was the case. But because it was audible.

I listened to the next track. And the one after that. And the one after that. I had listened to all of the tracks, before I knew it.

And the evident permeance of quality, of substance, carried on throughout the whole album.

It had exactly the type of lyricism I'd expect a Grammy-worthy album to have. It had exactly the amount of artistry I expected a Grammy-worthy album to have.

Even better, it had all the ingredients I expected a timeless album to have.

The poetry Taylor Swift fans insist hides in her discography, I found in plain sight within Kendrick Lamar's.

After meticulously reading the lyrics, I watched video essay after video essay, searched for analysis after analysis on this album, each time understanding the meanings behind it a little better.

Needless to say that the Grammy's are rigged and I love Kendrick Lamar.

Hip-hop is gorgeous.

[tobiasdrake]

Are you officially gone from TV Tropes? Haven't seen you on any of the forum threads for a while now.

I pop in from time to time to lurk on some threads, but I'm not actively following things there the way I used to. I've been focusing a lot on Tumblr lately.

But I've always had less online time in general lately, as these last couple months have involved a substantial amount of adulting.

I'm finding I enjoy the format of Tumblr a lot better than internet forums. There's less pressure to respond to people here. I can shoot opinions out into the wild and people can take or leave them as they will, and then everyone just moves on.

In a forum, everybody's in one room vying to duke it out with whoever spoke last. Everything has to be such a debate. Everybody's always competing to prove how smart they are and how right their position on whether Batman can beat up Superman is.

And I just. I don't have the mental space for that anymore. I haven't for years. I'm in my late thirties now; I don't want to fistfight someone in the Denny's parking lot over Spider-Man movies.

And I'm also just so tired of long, drawn-out arguments with people who clearly aren't reading what I'm saying, and just respond to the general idea of my point that they've heard from others. Then make me out to be the bad guy because they've made it into an argument and dragged it out for pages on end.

"Ugggh, there goes Drake answering questions and clarifying misinterpretations of what he was saying again. Why does he always have to drone on and on about this every time people keep pushing the topic back onto him? Why won't he just drop the topic we keep responding to him about?"

TvTropes is an echo chamber governed by mob consensus. They like to say that they're just... pro-positivity towards media. "We are a website for celebrating media," is the pitch. Threads that exist purely to complain about a piece of media are forbidden and the general belief is that if a fan and a critic are arguing, the critic is always wrong.

But that's a lie, because the forum has plenty of complaining threads. The Sonyverse thread exists purely so everyone can shit on the Sonyverse and talk about how dumb Sony is for ever thinking these films could work. And also conspiracy theories about Venom's success being fake.

In actuality, TvTropes is governed by mob rule. The community has an opinion consensus about a piece of media, and if you disagree with the consensus then you're wrong. You're not supposed to talk shit about the MCU in the MCU thread but you're also not supposed to defend the Sonyverse in the Sonyverse thread, and either of these positions will incite the furious mob. It's an echo chamber.

For a long time now, it's become my policy on TvTropes to just say my piece and then fuck off and not respond to whoever gets uppity about it. Just fire off an opinion and then bail. Because I don't want to fistfight you in the Denny's parking lot, and if I actually respond to questions being asked then I put a target on my back.

And that's just. Not any fun for me. I didn't like the movie. Seven pages of screeching at me about it isn't going to make me like the movie. That's kind of the thing about media discourse? Even if you have the facts on your side, you're never going to change someone's mind by vanquishing them in the Arena of Logic.

No one has ever gone, "Oh, you're right, Black Widow's death technically does not qualify as Women in Refrigerators because she had agency in it. The scene is therefore good now. My qualms have been quelled and I will now defend this movie with my life." At the end of the day, we're just using words to describe how the thing made us feel. You might outmaneuver my words in a clash of verbal blades. But my feelings live on. You cannot slay them in semantic jousting.

And I've long given up on trying.

This is where Debate Bros will say "Well, my goal isn't to convince YOU but to convince ALL OF THE PEOPLE WATCHING US," as if sharing opinions on whether Batman can beat up Superman carries the same cultural gravitas as a Presidential Debate.

I use media discourse the way other people use fanfic. To express the feelings and ideas that are burning in my brain and need an outlet, need to go somewhere. On TvTropes, that always has to turn into a fight, because everyone in a forum environment has to have opinions about everyone else's opinions and we're all expected to civilly scream at each other until the mob consensus has been formed and the Official TvTropes Opinion is reached.

But on Tumblr, I can just throw my opinions out into the wild. And if people like them, they'll get Notes and maybe even start doing numbers. And if people don't, then they'll just be left to the void of forgotten statements. Either way, I can move on with my life after saying it, you can move on with your life after reading it or not read it at all, and we can all just go do something else.

That's basically how I try to use TvT these days, but on Tumblr that's actually the culture. It's what's expected. And so I find myself drawn more and more to the calming void of Tumblr over the combative civility of TvTropes.

[blinded-by-forest-sunlight]

CRASHES HEADFIRST INTO YOUR INBOX. EY MULLIN CAN I GET UHHHHHHH 23 27 40 56 AND 61 FOR THE ASK GAME

oh my god that's so many numbers (positive) ((I am sending you some numbers back)) (((please go read my friends' fics they're incredible)))

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

oh man. hm. I don't ever feel like I'm qualified to give writing advice despite doing this since I've been like. 12/13, but! as I've gotten more creative these past few years (working as a director and a playwright recently), I've come to notice my creative flow more often? Don't force the words when they won't come out, yknow? my sign to be more creative and sit down is usually whenever I start imagining full scenes in my head vs just a few snippets here and there

also! I've come to embrace that when I write, I jump around a TON. don't write linearly if it gets you stuck instead of moving onto that really cool thing you wanted to put onto paper.

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

favorite part is whenever I send my drafts over to friends and they're just as excited as I am :> on a technical level, when I actually remember the correct spelling of a word :P

least favorite part? having ideas you planned out so carefully not coming out right on the page. it SUCKS

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

squints at you. oh man I've thought about this a lot? for an overall thing, I'd LOVE to do chapter covers of The Journal with their corresponding tarot card - Mullin looking over the edge of the Grandcypher as The Fool, or Io as The High Priestess ;) (hint)

for a specific scene, I've always adored my little ballroom-esque scene that's at the epilogue of The Journal - there's some cute moments there!

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

oof, positive about myself. it's hard, I feel as though I'm my own worst critic, but... I've been really trying to work on setting an atmosphere for longer scenes, and I think I've been improving by a ton!

in general, I've always been happy with my dialogue, it's another one of my favorite things <3

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

it honestly took me a few years to answer this question myself - when I was graduating high school and entering college, I didn't have nearly as much time to write (I still don't, but I've gotten better with it) so I always felt disillusioned whenever I did sit down to.

But I've worked my way out of that shift (at least I hope so) and I've reconnected with having fun and letting go some of my own stopgaps - write it for myself, and if other people like it? Great! if not, no skin off my back.

tysm for the questions, friend!! <3

[rmd-writes]

Hi!! I always love what you write, so I'm very excited to see whatever this secret project is! But for now I do have a question about beta reading. How did you break into it? For a long time I have thought that I would enjoy doing that for different people, and I like that kind of fine-tooth comb editing work. But I am not a writer myself, just an avid fic enjoyer, so it feels like I can't quite bring as much to the table or meet other authors in a mutual kind of way. And I would never want to imply that an author needed that extra help or anything like that by just cold reaching out to them. Sorry that so much about me haha, I'm not necessarily looking for any advice (though if you had any I would certainly take it) but I am curious about how you got into it and what your experience has been like! Thank you!!

Hi nonnie! Thanks for the ask!

Can I just say to start with, that as an avid fic enjoyer, you absolutely can meet writers and other creators in a mutual way! Everyone has a place in fandom and something to contribute. It would be a very lonely world for creators if people weren't there to enjoy what we make (and hopefully tell us what they're liking those things). Personally, I appreciate readers so much and I especially love seeing regular names pop up in my inbox 💖💖

As for how I got into beta reading, it started back when a pal in Schitt's Creek fandom was writing a fic and worried that she was going to lose motivation to write it so I offered to sit in the doc and cheer her on. Please note that my motivation for doing so was entirely selfish because it meant that I had early access to the fic that I desperately wanted her to keep writing 😅 that eventually turned into me beta reading that fic (and all of her fics after that) for her.

I started beta reading more frequently in RWRB - I'd signed up as a beta reader for an event, but around the same time I also got to know other writers via a discord server. Sometimes people would ask for beta readers and I'd volunteer - I'm still a tiny bit dirty that @three-drink-amy snagged the beta rights to bleedingballroomfloor's baseball boyfriends fic right out from under my nose even though she is far better qualified than I to beta read a baseball fic - so much so that she helped me with the baseball scenes in my rwrb lawyer au lol (please know that I love them both dearly, there is no internet beef here).

You say that you don't want to reach out to writers and imply that they need assistance, but honestly, sliding into people's DMs and letting them know that either I'm very interested in X fic that they're writing and would they like someone to beta read it or that I'm available in general to help if they want it because I love their writing is how I've ended up beta reading for almost all of the writers I do that for!! People are generally just thankful to know that someone is interested in their writing! It can be a lonely hobby sometimes and having someone to live in your docs or send snippets to can help balance the need for wanting to talk about your fics with someone or bounce ideas off someone and wanting to keep what you're working on under wraps.

God, this is getting really long, I'm so sorry. I've been rambling and I'm not even sure that I answered your question.

You asked what my experience has been like and for the most part, it's been very positive! I get early access to fics (I often say that my favourite way to read a fic is in google docs 😂), I get to cheer my friends on and sometimes they even trust me enough to let me throw ideas at them and write them into their stories - sometimes I even get to do this without actually doing any editing and that's just as fun. I love beta reading, I think there's something really special about being trusted with the draft of someone's writing and getting to help make it the best that it can be (what that involves looks different for every writer I work with). 💖

And all of that doesn't even touch on how much I learn from the writers I've worked with - it's definitely helped me improve my own writing!

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

We really need to stop with the "your worst art is inherently better than AI art because you made it" shtick. I guess since the populace grasped that the "AI art isn't art" argument wasn't convincing to anyone who has studied art and its attempts at a definition, this is the current cool way to put it.

Why are we wasting our times arguing the most subjective shit when we have objective reasons to dislike AI? Let's be for real... there will always be people who are hyped by technology. There are people to whom technology is more hype than art. I don't personally relate to it, but "woah! Technology can create art now!" is the coolest thing to some people, and that's not inherently bad, when you consider that AI can be used ethically.

And quite honestly, I've never been a fan of not meeting beginners where they're at. There's a reason I've seen random 0-noters from beginning artists claiming they don't agree with that argument, because the AI art they see "will always be better than their drawings". Whether it's because you're a beginning artist or poorly coordinated or whatever it is, and I've been there, sometimes your art doesn't match your expectations of what is good or beautiful. This is not the end of the conversation, but being able to say "I'm disappointed" can be cathartic, and toxic positivity won't hit the spot. There are so many ways to make beginners feel better (giving advice when requested, pointing out what they did right, sharing your enjoyment of the scene or character notably when it's fanart) that aren't... this.

"You may draw badly but it's inherently better than when an AI does it"... -> I was looking to draw something pretty, though, not to go on a power trip or marvel at the inherent good of human nature. You know? I'm saying "I wish I had the skill to make art that looks like this!" and nothing about what you're saying informs me of why we're against AI.

It feels, to me, as though if you don't have any other argument against AI than "human better", you are no different from any old fart reluctant to accept new technologies. And I say that as someone who doesn't support generative AI; I think you're making the situation worse by making us all look like we don't know what we're talking about.

I have a firm stance against AI, and some of my reasons include: being built off art theft, lack of current regulation surrounding said art theft (aka what properties AIs can be trained on) and distribution, lack of current protection of workers rights (related), poor optimisation of energy usage, currently unnecessary energy usage (and related pollution)... having something against the whole repetitive "capitalism/investors run the world and get to manipulate what is considered important for the sake of a return on investment" shtick, as well.

There's probably something somewhere in the list that you also care about. So why pretend we care about something else that cannot actually be qualified or quantified? One that doesn't even work in any capacity - other than in making the speaker feel better about themselves?

[starlightfyre]

Thank you for answering my questions! It’s alright for not getting to them sooner, you’re not obligated to answer them, and I got the feeling that everything keeps trying to stop you from accessing your Tumblr haha.

You’ve clearly put a lot of thought and effort into building your world of Dracos, and I’m curious to know how dragons like Landia and Ice Dragon would fit in, if at all, since your world leans more towards anime lore than games. (Sorry if this question isn’t welcome, I’m going through a Kirby dragon world building phase of my own and want to poke the brain of another dragon enjoyer)

You would be right, haha! My devices and usual situations sometimes prevent me from checking Tumblr xD

I'm glad you asked! :D our AU draws a lot from the anime while fusing quite a bit of the games in. So I'll happily explain the wider lore of dragons! Dragons are some of the mightiest of beasts found in the Starlight Dreamers and Dreams of the Stars universe, and are often respected or feared. So any beast that falls under the species of "dragon" is treated with caution or high regard.

There's various kinds of dragons that fall under certain categories. I'll explain the category that ice dragons fall under first.

There are dragons that are demon beasts and/or monsters, which are dragons made or commonly used by Nightmare. Ice Dragons fall under the demon beast/monster category. Demon beasts are creatures that are usually made of negative energy, so most dragon species of this category are usually not nice! But you can come across some that are raised by good people or even Star Warriors as companions of war. Overall, ice dragons are neutral unless raised good or bad! A common name also used for demon beasts are Nightmares since they're often made of corrupted Dream Matter. So an ice dragon qualifies as a Nightmare Dragon. There are many other types of Nightmare Dragons as well, some worse and more evil than others!

Dracos fall under a category that is similar to demon beasts, interestingly enough! Except they're positive magical creatures made of Starlight and untainted Dream Matter. So holy/star beasts, I guess? Creatures that fall under these categories are called Dreams– a concept that belongs to my sister @blazingstaro (check out her stuff for more on the various species of Dreams outside of the Dracos!). So in contrast to Nightmare Dragons, Dracos are Dream Dragons. They're capable of traveling the stars and traversing the realm of sleep when they rest, as well as developing Super Abilities as they grow old. Dracos were born to combat Nightmares and were born in the image of their ancestors, the Origin Dragons, which I will explain after this. In their birth to the galaxy, they evolved and improve on the weaknesses that led to the near extinction of Origin Dragons to have better chances of survival. Because of their similar make to demon beasts, corrupted Dracos become Dracomares. So, a Draco CAN become a Nightmare Dragon.

Origin Dragons are the ancestors of which Dream and Nightmare Dragons were made. Origin Dragons are primal creatures of Dream Matter that were generally neutral depending on the individual. Unlike their Draco descendents, they couldn't traverse space, but were masters of elemental manipulation, such as mastery to cause storms, breathe fire, move earth, and other elemental powers! Landia in particular has lore significance. Eons ago, Landia ruled as kings over a dragon city long before the Dracos or Nightmares existed. The four siblings guarded the Master Crown until the day would come that it would be gifted to a worthy ruler who would lead the Champions of Starlight; wielders of four sacred blades made by the elements and blessing of four powerful dragons of that time (two of those blades being Galaxia and Galacta's lance). The Crown was stolen though, leading to it's misuse and eventual corruption. Landia was lost in an unknown space in that battle and the world was torn asunder, starting the decline of the Origin Dragon's near extinction. As seen, eventually the crown does end up back in their possession, but they guard it for the purpose of it not falling in the wrong hands until Magolor stumbles upon them.

Here's some art examples!

Landia, when split into four dragons, are actually kinda small xD they become large when fused! The sketch of one of the Landia dragons between two others is another Origin Dragon on the left (Athrodite) and a Draco on the right (Branwen. She's young here, but she grows up to be around Athrodite's size).

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Here are examples of demon beast dragons/nightmare dragons. On the left is my stylization of Ice Dragons! On the right is one of the fiercest of nightmare dragons; the silver dragon, based on the dragons sometimes seen in the anime. This one in particular is my character, Cynder. Silver dragons breathe fire and are quite large, easily rivaling Origin Dragons in size! They don't speak but understand speech, so are highly more intelligent than they give off!

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Some colored Origin Dragons! On the left is Azymondias, on the right is Elyna. She's the only dragon of her era to have manipulation over the element of space and Starlight and is rather important to the backbone of my story lore. She is thought to be the base of how Dracos work modernly! Azymondias is a storm dragon, and aided in raising and teaching Branwen. Both of these characters are no longer around.

--

And lastly, examples of powerful Dracos and Dracomares! The left is the Alpha Queen Draco. On the right Firush, a Dracomare. Dracos come in various body types that are close to Origin Dragons!

Dragons are an important part of the lore of our stories! Dream and Nightmare Dragons are what came after Origin Dragons. The four dragons that aided in the creation of the sacred blades are an interesting topic I plan to talk about at some point. But I hope you enjoyed this dive into our world's lore on dragons! The Dracos and Origin Dragons are very important in my stories, so I'll be sharing more about some of the those characters as my stories go on ^w^

[sally-mun]

OKAY GUYS I NEED TO RAMBLE ABOUT LOKI FOR A MINUTE BEFORE I CUT MY FUCKING HEAD OFF

Okay I've been losing my mind about this since last week, and with the new episode coming out tonight and SOMEONE still not up to date on episodes so I can have a proper nerd session (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE YOU FUCKER), I'm just going to explode here if y'all don't mind. I probably shouldn't have to say this, but obviously, SPOILERS AHEAD WATCH THE DAMN SERIES FIRST JUST DO IT

So I've had a lot to go off the deep end about now that this show is FINALLY fucking back, but the last episode ended on an extremely gnarly cliffhanger. To be specific, now that Miss Minutes is jilted and has decided to flip on He Who Remains, she cryptically mentions to Renslayer that she knows a pretty big secret about her, but if she tells her, it's going to make her really mad. Honestly, the main reason I find this so intriguing isn't just the inherent mystery of wanting to know what Miss Minutes is going to say; it's moreso just me wondering, what could POSSIBLY upset Renslayer any more than she already has been since the Time Keepers were outed as fakes? The stakes are already pretty fucking high, and from her POV she's got to forge ahead alone because no one else gets it and thus they won't help her. It'd have to be something MAJOR on a scale we haven't even approached yet to derail her from all that. So I brainstormed it in the shower a few days ago, because I get bored while having to wash my hair 82 times, and I had a VERY INTERESTING THOUGHT:

What if Renslayer is ALSO a Loki?

BECAUSE I MEAN... YEAH THAT'D MAKE HER PRETTY FUCKING MAD. RENSLAYER HATES LOKIS. SHE HATES THAT MOBIUS KEEPS CHOOSING TO TRUST AND WORK WITH OUR LOKI INSTEAD OF HER. SHE HATES THAT SYLVIE'S BEEN RUNNING AMOK AND CAUSING HER PROBLEMS FOR ALL THESE YEARS. RENSLAYER ABSOLUTELY CAN'T STAND LOKIS.

And unfortunately I IMMEDIATELY ruined this idea for myself because we know that Renslayer isn't a Loki. At the very end of season 1, B-15 lured some of the other hunters to Renslayer's place on the timeline to prove to them that they're all variants. We got to see for ourselves that Renslayer's just a normal person like the rest of us. She works in a school, and if I'm not mistaken she's the principal. Unless she lived in a VERY different version of Asgard, she's not a Loki.

BUT THAT'S WHY I FEEL LIKE I'M ABOUT TO COME APART AT THE SEAMS. At this point I don't care WHAT the new ep tonight is about to reveal, because I feel like finding out that Renslayer is also a Loki is SO MUCH BETTER than anything else they could possibly say at this point. Honestly, it would explain just about EVERYTHING we've seen so far -- about both Renslayer herself, and about the TVA in general. In her case, revealing that she's actually a Loki would go hand-in-hand with her attitude and habits. She enjoys her position of power and authority, even keeping trophies of her victories, and makes no secret about looking down on those she feels are beneath her. She unshakably believes that she NEEDS to be in charge in order for things to run properly, and that things fall apart without her. You might even say that Renslayer ruling the TVA makes life easier on everyone else... aka, EXACTLY the reason Loki's always given for wanting to rule Earth.

As for the TVA itself, I would've loved the idea that Lokis are just especially well-suited to work there, and that the majority of the staff there are Loki variants. That would explain why our Loki was so easy to recruit, and why he's been doing such a good job despite knowing the least of the main cast! What if Loki was right all along, and he IS "burdened with glorious purpose" -- and this is it? What if Loki has always been uniquely qualified to take on this responsibility? It's definitely a burden, it's definitely a purpose, and depending on his arrogance level he could definitely find glory in it. Lokis being the best candidates to handle this kind of burden could very well be WHY our Loki and Sylvie were chosen for the mantle by He Who Remains. As he pointed out during their discussion in S1E6, he paved the road for them. He made sure they'd make it to his citadel, because he wanted them.

Besides, it would make SO much sense for the majority of TVA employees to be Lokis because Mobius specifically points out that they pick up WAY more Loki variants than almost anyone else. That means they'd have a VERY, VERY LARGE POOL of potential recruits at any given time! It's also been proven that the staff's memories have been manipulated at least twice, so there's no reason for anyone to notice that they've accumulated so many Lokis over the years. There also wouldn't be much opportunity for them to accidentally find out, either, because we know that Loki's magic DOES NOT WORK AT THE TVA. The vast majority of TVA workers never leave there, so they'd have no chance of accidentally awakening any of their magic -- and those that do leave, such as the hunters, spend very little time actually down on the timeline. They show up, arrest the variant, set a reset charge, and get out. Even though they'd have the opportunity to accidentally perform some magic, it's very unlikely that it would've ever come up.

What makes me like the idea even more is that EVERY variant of Loki we've ever seen so far (minus Gator Loki, I suppose) has had black hair. That's one thing that has NEVER changed despite the circumstances; we haven't seen a ginger Loki, for example. All the Lokis we saw during the briefing in S1E2, and all the variants we saw in S1E5, have had black hair to the extent that we could actually see it. (Yes, this includes Sylvie, because we know her hair is dyed. In her flashback to when she was first arrested, she had long black hair.) You know who else has black hair? Almost ALL of the main characters that we know at the TVA! Renslayer, B-15, Casey, and OB all have black hair. Mobius' hair is white, but might it have been black back in the day? Who knows! It could have been! We don't know that it wasn't! And guess who else also has black hair? He Who Remains. Was he a Loki too? No idea! Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe it wasn't!

I don't know, I guess I'm just so stuck on this idea because it would just be SO frickin on-point with the very premise of the series. The idea of "what makes a Loki a Loki?" has already been explored a bit in S1E3, and this would be a great way to dial that discussion up to 11. If everyone turns out to be a Loki variant, well, now we have TONS of data on what it means to be a Loki! Plus, imagine the implications that has just for the TITLE of the show! We all thought it was called "Loki" because we're following the story of the Loki we've always known, but it'd have been an amazing reveal to show that it's moreso about Loki as a concept. The twist that the series name itself isn't necessarily about the protagonist would've been a pretty serious mindfuck to me!

I also like this idea because I've heard the complaint about the show that it, allegedly, really has very little to do with Loki in particular and is moreso about the TVA, with the argument that it could've been ANY Marvel character used as the protagonist. The complaint is that it only stars Loki because he has such a strong fan following and it's all just, effectively, fan service. Let me just say right now that I was never much of a fan of Loki as a character until this series, so I'm not campaigning for it out of personal preference. I've always genuinely believed that this show could only have worked with Loki as the protagonist, for reasons I'm not going to rant about in this post. My greater point is, revealing that the TVA is crawling with Lokis BECAUSE Lokis are the best ones for the job would just go to show that this series WAS always about him, and could ONLY have been about him. It would've been a great rebuttal to what Renslayer said to him in court in the first episode, when she told him "It's not your story, Mr. Laufeyson. It never was." Plot twist, it IS his story, and it ALWAYS was!

And it's KILLING ME that the series is undoubtedly NOT going in this direction and now I feel like I'm grieving the episodes we'll never have alskdjFLKSJE;KesKSJFDLSLEi I'm just imagining Renslayer finding out she's a Loki, being VERY UPSET ABOUT IT but eventually getting past it, and then rediscovering her skills with magic. How fucking cool would it have been to see Renslayer going full Norse God against our team?? What if she was especially proficient, to the extent that our Loki realizes he's outmatched? What if the other TVA characters had to rediscover their own lost magic skills, and the only way to succeed was to be their true selves -- to be Lokis -- so they could work together with their different magic specialties? What if that was how they got Sylvie to work with them again, because realizing that they're the same might instill a little bit of trust -- especially since learning to trust and see herself in others would be a step in fulfilling her character arc?

Siiiiggggghhhhh. One day in fanfiction, maybe.

[multiplicity-positivity]

hi i'm kinda freaking out and idk what to do

so i've been a singlet ally my whole life right?

except for the past weeks (maybe months? idk) whenever i look in the mirror it does not feel like me. i just know it's not me, whoever i am. the person in the mirror is not what i look like.

but i....am still me? if that makes sense? my memories, feelings abt people, and thoughts in general are still very much like me.

TW FOR NEXT MINI PARAGRAPH: mentions of dpdr

side note: i am trans-genderfluid but this does not feel like my dysphoria does. i also have dpdr, but idk if that's it.

i'm just rly rly confused and panicking and would appreciate anything rly.

Hi! So we’re not a doctor or clinician by any means, but this absolutely sounds to us like depersonalization, which is a key symptom of DPDR. Our system made an infographic with our experiences with DPDR a while back, and we’ll link it here so you can take a look:

Struggling to recognize yourself, feeling like your reflection doesn’t really show who you are, being jarred or disturbed by seeing yourself in photos or the mirror… to us, all of this sounds like depersonalization.

So if you already know that you have DPDR, chances are, you’re probably going through a depersonalization episode when you have these feelings. Hopefully with time and through grounding and reorienting yourself these feelings can pass!

If you have a therapist, doctor, or mental healthcare provider, it may be well worth it to bring this up to them. They’re certainly more qualified to give better advice than we are, and they could likely help you more than we can!

We also experience DPDR, which is why we feel more or less confident about what you’re experiencing - because we experience something like this too, even when we’re 100% sure about who’s fronting!

Again, we’re not a clinician, so take our words with a grain of salt! We’re just a system who also experiences DPDR… and to us, it sounds like you’re experiencing some long-lasting depersonalization.

We hope things turn around for you soon! Or that at least you’re able to learn how to make the most of your situation. Good luck with everything!

🌸 Margo, 🖋 Cecil, and 🐢 Kip

[toyotacorolla2008]

hi!!! i was wondering if you could do a tutorial for how you draw transformers? i can never simplify them like you can. do you have any tips?? also love your art sm <33

hi ヾ(•ω•`)o

I WILL TRY MY best to explain what i do… i don’t actually have a very structured system but this is vaguely how i got started and how i simplified the process

1. look up and compile a whole bunch of references

this will be useful for EVERYTHING– transfomos come with lots of shapes and gizmos and details and stuff so a variety of references from different angles and in different poses is really useful because you can see the shapes they’re made out of and also understand how everything connects with each other

trapezoid town! this is a mess but it’s a quick example of how by looking at everything you start to notice trends or details like what moves with what or how flexible some parts are

there are a whole bunch of resources very nice people have compiled on the web like here here here here and here (mainly MTMTE) and there is a discord server (this is a link to a tumblr post about it and not the invite link itself) for it too but you can always look through the source material and just start screenshotting and pasting shit into a folder. 

you don’t have to do humongous in-depth breakdowns if you just want to be able to quickly doodle robots (god knows i don’t!!) but having the references on-hand makes it easier for the times when you’re like This pose is going to be challenging and I’m not sure how all of the cuboids will be positioned.

references also help break you out of thinking of it as just drawing blockier humans because the proportions and shapes vary a looooooot

2. draw draw draw

at first i drew a lot using refs heavily to get an idea of the shapes then i got lazy and just started drawing anime girls and smacking rectangles and kibble on top BUT as you draw more and more you start to pick up on the Salient Features as well as their General Silhouette.

drawing from memory means that what makes them look recognisable will become more emphasised in your mind so you’ll naturally pick up on how you can simplify them without losing what makes your guy Look Like Your Guy. so if you want to simplify the robots just be incredibly lazy like me B)

i'm kind of horrible because i don't even do like Basic Shapes i literally just eyeball it

for poses i rectangle it out while thinking really hard

anyway when i first tried to draw transformers but Something Didn’t Look Right it was either a) the level of detail across the entire drawing was inconsistent and threw it off balance or b) proportions weren’t right and these things only got better with me finangling and doodling and learning by iteration.

of course sometimes i don’t give a fuck because no cops in transformers doodle land but yeahhhh i’m the kind of guy who only gets through stuff by throwing a lot of rocks at it. i don’t have a Method to offer you unfortunately but what i did do was

3. experiment and exaggerate and experiment!!

The First Rule of Gun Safety is to Have Fun and Be Yourself! i took a lot of liberties and rarely stayed on-model when i doodled and waffled around (and i still do…) but it helped me figure out how much i was willing to draw lol and consequently how i would stylise them.

i would play with how big or small or exaggerated or expressive they'd be… even my most detailed drawings are nowhere near comic-detail but my least detailed ones were. turquoise triangle that’s vaguely brainstorm-shaped. having fun with it and just doing it to make stupid jokes makes the practice seem like not practice.

so yeah tl;dr i started by reffing what bots actually look like, would trace comic panels to get an idea of the shapes and details and then start drawing side-by-side → drew billions of perceptors from my diseased mind and played around with lines → ??? → upgraded from goofy-looking rectangles to goofy-looking rectangles

that’s it for advice! (i don’t feel qualified to say that much)

below are just examples of stupid doodles i’d make on my ipad in class or in the margins of assignments lol, you can tell the last one is from when i still didn't understand brainstorm's build very well because the wings are placed wrongly... But i grew.

hope this was somewhat helpful! there are other tutorials from other artists that i can direct you to but this is how toyotacorolla2008 got to shitposting on tumblr dot com

[f1cflcfic]

Won't Say I'm In Love (SMAU ft. Lando Norris) - bonus part three

pairing: lando norris x fem!reader; past carlos alcaraz x fem!reader

summary: As a general rule, y/n does not date athletes. You've been there, done that - would not recommend. Besides, you definitely don't do love. There's no time in the world for complicated feelings when there's a career Grand Slam to be won. But what if your heart just refuses to listen?

genre: social meda/mixed au, friends to lovers, tbd

note: this is RPF and is obviously in no way, shape, or form reflective of real persons or events

series: part i, part ii, part iii, part iv, part v, part vi, part vii. part viii, part ix, part x, part xi, part xii, part xiii, tbd.

bonus: one, two

author's note: This is a bonus part, and not a regular update! I just wanted to celebrate Lando getting P2 in Imola + me feeling a lot better after this weekend.

author's note 2: Did I look up how to spell Montréal (with or without the accent aigu) on the website of the Canadian government? ... Yes, yes I did.

author's note 3: also, remember when I said these bonus parts would all be lando's pov? I lied :D This one is all y/n. The remaining two will be his, though. Hope you enjoy!

June 14-15: Montréal GP 2025

There’s nerves fluttering around your stomach when you rush over to congratulate him after qualifying. They’re certainly not butterflies, you tell yourself. It's just because you shouldn't be here, but you are, anyways.

“Oh my god – congratulations!”

He grins, hugging you back when you fling your arms around his neck. “Pole position baby! I told you!” Lando yells, laughing in your ear. It’s unfiltered and pure, and you close your eyes for a moment just to bask in the sound of joy.

When you open them, there’s someone from McLaren wearing a headset hovering nearby, looking on in what seems to be a mix of both amusement and impatience. You instantly let go of Lando. All of a sudden, you realise that it's nost just the one employee. Everyone's crowding around the two of you it seems – not out of the same sense of euphoria you felt just seconds ago, but out of business mode.

They all need something from him, and that trumps your wants.

Because, shit. You want.

Maybe Coco was right.

Maybe Montréal and New York aren’t really that close, and maybe returning a ‘lucky’ bucket hat doesn’t fully justify making the trip to someone who’s in the midst of a championship battle with his teammate and could use the support, even when he is adamant that he is not superstitious.  

Maybe you’d been a little too easy when offered an opportunity to spend more time with him before you’re off playing grass and he’s on summer break.  Maybe, just maybe a part of you likes Lando more than you’re allowing yourself to acknowledge.

It’s a terrifying thought.

“He did good, eh?” Max nudges your shoulder, inadvertently keeping you from spiralling on the spot as Lando gets swept up in debriefs and media and what all else. “S gonna make it so much easier,” he continues as he settles into a chair, then waves at where Lando’s dad is sitting with his manager.

“Yeah, he did,” you echo absentmindedly. A replay of his best lap comes on a nearby screen. “He is good,” and you mean it in more ways than one.

Adam walks over now, big smile on his face as he first squeezes Max’ and then your shoulder. “You must be so proud,” you smile.  

“I’m always proud. But he finally seems comfortable in this car. I’m just happy that he is happy,” Adam replies. “Plus, he is always happier when you’re around.”

He says it like it’s obvious, without looking at any of you in particular. All of you, then, you think. Max, you, Keegan.

His roots. His support system. His friends. Plural.

It’s not meant to rattle you, but it does.

Because Lando thrives on friendship and connection, and he loves being supportive in return. He gives like his heart won’t ever run out of room. It’s never conditional, never something that must be negotiated. And it makes you feel so lucky, but it isn’t a singular experience. You’re one of his close friends, and you’re happy he has Max, and Keegan, and Ria, and Carlos. And it’s always been fine. You didn’t need to be singular. Never wanted or needed to hear Adam saying something like that about just you.

Except now you don’t know where friendship ends and feelings begin, and for the first time ever, maybe you want there to be a singular you, not a plural one meant for his friends in general.

And that? That might be a problem.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So you try and detach for a little. It’s easy to avoid Lando when he’s the race winner, and you can entertain yourself by hanging with Carlos and Rebecca for a good while. Besides, the hotel rooftop bar is crowded, completely filled with F1 crew and guests. It somehow makes it easier to blend into the background, observe from afar as the clock ticks down on your impromptu stay.

Lando has been drifting around the room, saying hi and accepting congratulations or doling them out in return. But he always ends up looking over at your corner. Checking if you’re still there, knowing just as well that time is running out.

When he finds his way back to you, there’s relief evident on his face. “For a second I was afraid I’d have to celebrate without you. Pole and a race win! Maybe it’s not the pasta, or the bracelets, or the flowers. Maybe it’s just you,” Lando says breathlessly, cheeky smile on display. As if he knows he shouldn’t have, but couldn’t help himself and let the words escape him anyways.

His smile only widens when you roll your eyes at him. “Sure, or maybe it’s Max, or Keegan, or your Quadrant cap, or the way in which you put your socks on the other way around when you got in the car today.”

His eyes crinkle and he giggles, cheeks still a little ruddy from the exertion – or maybe from laughter or the earlier champagne.

You feel stupid the second the words come out your mouth. “You have such a nice smile,” is absolutely not a normal thing to say to your best friend. You know this, and yet here you are, spilling your guts as if trying to expel all the butterflies that have taken up residency there as of late.

Lando’s smile turns blinding at the compliment, his pleased reaction clear in the way his voice goes up the octave as he answers with a bashful “really? Thank you”. Like he can’t quite believe you’d say those words to him and mean them.

Which is actually awful, because he does have a nice smile. The nicest. When he smiles, he beams, his entire face scrunching up in delight. No, Lando Norris doesn’t do pure happiness in small doses. For a millisecond, your treacherous brain conjures up a vivid image of what it’d feel like to trace his lips with your tongue – to steal the laughter right out of his mouth as it bubbles up from deep inside his chest, and to commit the shape of his smile to memory. Especially the small gap between his front teeth, and everything else that makes him so frustratingly handsome. Everything you’ve maybe always noticed, but not like this. Never like this.

“You look pretty, too. You always do,” he says, belatedly. His hand reaches up all of a sudden, softly cradling your cheeks that have gone hot from the earlier embarrassment of confessing how much you like his laugh. His fingers are cool against your skin, and your eyes track the movement for a beat, then flick back to watch him instead.

There’s something in his gaze you haven’t seen before. Affection, sure, but there’s something else. Something deeper. Heat, you think. His lips part, and your gaze involuntarily drifts downwards to witness just how his tongue peeks out to wet them.

For a moment, you consider leaning in. To give in to whatever weird pull you’ve been feeling today. But it’s gone just as quick when Carlos thrusts a drink in both your hands, only belatedly realising that he’s perhaps interrupted something. “Here’s your – oh.”

Spell broken, Lando’s hand falls away and you look anywhere but at him. “Thanks, you’re the best for this,” you say as you take a sip from your Coke Zero, hoping it’ll cool the sudden heat crawling up and down your skin.

“To champions,” Carlos raises his drink, Lando following with his own. “May we be them, may we befriend them, may we beat them.”

Another sip. Your skin still burns.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is maybe 30 minutes later when you start slowly making the rounds, dropping in and out of conversations to say bye or see you soon. Max notices the backpack and weekend bag first. He frowns. “Are you leaving now? In the middle of the party?”

“Yeah. Don’t want to miss my flight. Literally playing and touching grass tomorrow,” you wink. He snorts and pulls you in for a quick hug.

“Good seeing you today, Fewtrell. And don’t forget to send me the link to that bag,” you nod at Pietra, pointing at her clutch. “I love it.”

She nods, stepping closer to hug you next. “I can do that. Have a safe flight, text us when you land.”

Then there’s Lando. Somehow, the interaction feels heavy all of a sudden. Uncomfortable. The rooftop feels too small. He’s too close, there’s too many people around, and you’ve got a plane to catch right back to reality.

In an attempt to get it over with, you rush forward to give him an awkward hug. “Thank you for coming,” he whispers, breath warm against your neck. “It meant a lot to me.”

His grip on your waist tightens briefly, but then you pull away from him and flash a quick smile at the rest of the group. The corner of his mouth pulls downward. You try not to notice as you give Keegan a side-hug, before all but running out.

It’s weird, having left with just a wave and a nod. Your stomach’s all up in knots about it, and you can’t quite explain to yourself why everything had felt wrong all of a sudden. So when not even three minutes later Lando texts you, it feels a lot like relief. Because whatever that goodbye was – it clearly left both of you wanting.

You can't help but grin when you cancel your Uber, and grin even wider when Lando pulls up with a car that’s way too expensive but looks sleek and powerful in the dark. The window rolls down. “Get in birdie,” he smirks, then jumps out to open the door for you and stow your luggage away.

It’s familiar, sitting in a car next to Lando whose eyes are focused on the road. You’ve done that a thousand times before. But it’s different all the same. Because you’re both quiet, and the air is thick with tension that only seems to build, instead of dissipate over time. So you find yourself tracking the way his fingers flex around the wheel, how his arm rests on the console, how his necklace sometimes flickers when the street lights hit it just so.

“Y/N? We’re here,” Lando seemingly repeats as he turns off the engine. Right. It’s been forty minutes since he left his own celebratory party, just to spend more time with you. Time you spent in total silence, trying to ignore what it is that you want.

“Were you even paying any attention? You were so quiet,” he asks, his elbow jabbing your arm jokingly.

You grab it, pretending the only reason you’ve encircled his wrist is to keep him from moving. “Stop assaulting me, and let me have a look at the time on that expensive watch of yours.”

He huffs out a laugh but quiets, allows you to manoeuvre his arm just so.  “S not that late yet. Think an Uber driver could’ve done that?” Lando comments triumphantly, and your lips twitch.

He pulls away.

“C’mon. I’ll walk with you. I know you get antsy if you're not extremely early.”

Once you step out of the car, and your weekend bag is slung over Lando’s shoulder, the silence descends once more. The parking lot is quiet, and while the car might’ve drawn attention elsewhere, it’s easy for you both to hide in the shadows now.

You try to suppress the urge to fill it with rambling, but there’s also not much else to say. There was no reason for him to leave his own celebratory party, just so he could spend another forty minutes with you.

But here he is.

Here you are.

Stretching whatever time you have.

Lando breaks first, starts talking nonsense about the people he’s happy to avoid by being here with you instead. His empty hand is flying through the air as he gesticulates wildly, and you can’t help but giggle.

“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” He questions, and you don’t even pretend otherwise.

“Your hand’s so distracting, it’s telling its own story.”

Lando stops walking, turns fully to you as he frowns. “What do you mean?”

“You talk with your hands. They’re always moving,” you muse, but then his expression falls even further.

“It’s not a bad thing,” you rush out in an attempt to fix it, “it’s actually kind of sexy.”

Too much, you think immediately. Why would you say that out loud, when you hadn’t even really formed an articulate thought about it?

“Sexy?” Lando questions almost disbelievingly as he stares down at his own hand.

You nod hesitantly. “Yeah. I can say that, right? Cause we’re best friends. And I can find my friend’s hands sexy. Objectively.”

It feels like playing with fire, saying these things. Allowing those thoughts to live out there, instead of in your head. Waiting with bated breath for whatever Lando might say in return. If he’ll draw the line, if he’ll let you blur it a bit more. If he’ll confirm that you are friends.

Best friends. Just friends.

Fuck, maybe you don’t want to be just friends.

“Right. Yeah,” he clears his throat. Pauses for a second. “Maybe you should hold it then. So I won’t move it and you won’t get distracted.”

For the first time that evening, you wish for more lights – just so you could read his expression. It’s hard to know if he’s being serious. Then again, how serious are you? You don't know that either, but you do know that you’re in it now, and with feigned bravado you smile at him.

“Maybe I should,” you repeat, then slot your hand into his. Perhaps it’s the fact that you’ve accidentally held hands just the other day, or maybe it’s muscle memory from nights spent at crowded clubs. But somehow, holding hands with Lando feels entirely ... natural.

As if you've always done it. It’s just that your head is spinning from how normal it feels.

And yet it also feels fragile, fleeting. As if the second you’d try to capture this, it’d be gone. So you don’t talk, instead allow his thumb to ghost over your hand – just shy of a caress, and pretend everything's normal until you reach the Departures terminal.

Lando comes to a halt then. You retract your hand and he lets you. You almost wish he didn’t. But then he pulls you in a tight hug instead, lips close to your ear as he confesses how much it sucks that you’re leaving already. How much he’s going to miss you, especially at Silverstone. “I’m gonna miss you too. And I’m gonna miss these hugs,” you say with a small laugh.

Your hands are around his neck, and it would have been so easy to reach up and tug on his curls. But he’s cut them recently, so all you find is smooth skin and the touch of cold metal when your fingers skim his necklace.

Heat creeps into your face as you realise all of a sudden that this is, once again, far too much. The moment's run away from you, and now you're hugging too long, the smell of him is too comforting, and the touching too familiar.

It’s like quicksand. The moment you try and resist it - when you start to struggle, the sand will pull you straight back in even further.

And the moment you pull away from Lando, is the moment you realise just how close your faces are. You can feel his breath on your lips, the flutter of his eyelashes as he blinks, gaze flickering between your eyes and lips for just a second. Your heart is beating in your throat, and you wonder briefly if Lando might hear it, if he might feel it if he’d position his hand just right. Your own eyes fall to his lips, see the way his tongue darts out like he always does when he’s nervous, and all of a sudden the world around you fades away while you move to close the distance altogether.

His lips are soft, and he tastes like pineapple and his stupid cinnamon mints. It makes you smile into the kiss, because it’s good and delicious. It’s so familiar and it’s so Lando to be eager yet demanding all at once. He tries to pull you in even closer as the kiss turns heated, his tongue licking into your mouth, hand sliding further down your waist.

Impulsive as it is, you’re also immediately greedy. Because you might not allow yourself to ever have this again, even when it’s quite possibly the best first kiss you’ve ever had.

You have no idea how long you stand there, on the corner of a parking lot and the airport entrance – just out of sight, making out like a bunch of teenagers and zero clue as to what it means. His other hand has slid up to hold your face and push some loose strands of hair behind your ear. It’s such a sweet gesture, but it has you gasping into his mouth at the startling realisation that you’re kissing your best friend, and you’re going to miss your flight if this continues.

With heaving chest and a final quick kiss to his now swollen lips, you slowly pull away. A whine almost escapes you when you catch sight of just how thoroughly kissed Lando looks. His pupils are blown, cheeks ruddy, hair all over the place, and he’s smiling that gap-toothed smile of which it’s almost a shame that you can’t see it when you’re kissing him.

God, you know what it’s like to kiss him now. You know what he tastes like. What his hands feel like when they’re grabbing onto you, trying to find purchase so he can pull your body straight into his. And you can’t stop yourself from wanting to do it again. And again. And again.

His hand comes up to once more push back those annoying hairs you always have to fix with a clip when you’re playing tennis, but never bother to do off court.

You fight a smile. “Thanks.”  

“These keep falling in your face,” he points out needlessly, hand lingering to cradle your jaw. He looks so pleased with himself, and you want to kiss the stupid smirk right off his face. But then the time on Lando’s smart watch glares up at you, and while a small part of you feels incredibly satisfied at the increased heartrate on display, it’s also a harsh reality check.

“They were my break-up bangs,” you murmur, trying hard not to let the panic take over, as the weight of what you’ve just done comes crashing down on you.

Fuck.

You’re so fucked. This is your best friend, that you’ve just kissed out of impulsive desire. And you don’t have the time to even talk about it, because you’ve wasted it all making out like a couple of fucking idiots.

“Shit. I have to go.”

Lando’s eyebrows draw together as he prepares to say something in response. It’s then that another wave of panic hits you. Maybe it would actually be worse to talk about it. You take a step back and out of his reach, focusing instead on your weekend bag that he'd set down on the ground earlier.

“Like. Now. Fuck.”

Because as long as you don’t mention this, it will be like it didn’t happen, and you don’t need to think about the consequences. Maybe this flight’s boarding time isn’t a curse, but a blessing in disguise.

As you hoist the bag onto your shoulder, he reaches out – wordlessly fixing the position of the strap for you so it sits comfortably across your chest and back.

He knows you’ve run out of time, too. There’s no point in addressing the elephant in the room now. So he just gives a strained smile, hand moving down from your shoulder before landing at your hand again. He squeezes it once. “Text me when you’re there, yeah? Have a good flight, birdie.”

If only you were less of a coward, less afraid of your own heart jumping out of your chest, you’d have squeezed back. Instead, all you offer is another nod and wave, and then you're gone - hand pressed to your lips all the way to your gate.

♥ likes, comments, reblogs and asks are always very much appreciated - i love chatting and hearing your thoughts! ♥

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[thekaratcake-blog]

Again, nobody made generalisations that it's ALL of media or ALL of the trans community. You added that because you sound stupid if you throw a fit over "it's a major issue". And yes, I'm saying that a positivity post for physically disabled people is not exclusionist, just like a positivity post for neurodivergent people is not exclusionist. You just wanted to throw a fit over something.

And I do know about issues that either affect me personally or affect people who are close to me, actually. Apparently far more than you do, oh great genius of thinking you know about every single thing ever better than people who actually experience it.

You said some incredibly, disgustingly ableist things to people who disagreed with you in that thread, just like you were transphobic and intersexist to people in other treads. However in no part of the "physically disabled is exclusionist!" thread did ANYONE misgender you or tell you to kill yourself, funnily enough, it's literally right there for anyone to read. You did use ableist slurs though.

If you want to stop then maybe delete the posts where you're an asshole or something so that everyone else doesn't have to read them constantly. Or, even better, learn to stop being an insufferable asshole and come to the realisation that you are, in fact, not the center of the universe and cannot dictate other people's experiences to them because you don't have a fucking clue what you're talking about and demonstrate that repeatedly. I doubt that's going to happen any time soon though, so you'd better get used to people hating you for it.

Okay, so more basely nonsense, claiming shit I didn't do and overblowing absolutely nothing

And yes they made massive sweeping generalizations, again, and I quote "ALL of american pop culture is designed SPECIFICALLY to hurt intersex people"

Fucking dumbasses jesus christ, you really can't listen, can you? Also btw yes they did, they're also on my page

Wow you're dumb as shit huh? Making claims about what happened without bothering to check, they're all there for you to see, also lol no I didn't use any slurs, good try tho

This is amazing honestly, and yeah no I'm used to quacks who hate for no other reason than to hate hating me, the transphobes do it, jump onto the bandwagon, also btw you can just, there's a button called "block" and ther'es a button called "not interested" lotta button that could fix this situation where you're complaining about how "everyone has to read them constantly" this is just, man this is sad, I don't even like calling people stupid but you seriously are, it amazes me that you accuse me of denying other people's experiences, that aren't their experiences but broad sweeping accusations and claims about an entire community and what happens with in it

And then you go deny my experience with people on tumblr lol, except that you can literally find all of it right there are waiting, you could just go see it, it's still up, I responded to all of it, lil seperate asks, go on, go look for once in your life instead of making weird assumptions, and yeah dumbass a post saying "If you're neurodivergent have a nice day" isn't exclusionist BUT it would be if it was "If you're a white neurodivergent person have a nice day" because remember that whole, adding an extra world qualifier for literally no other reason?

Tell me then, why did they add the word physically then? Please do explain to me why only PHYSICALLY disabled people are allowed to read that post and feel good about themselves exactly, why DID they add that qualifier on there, exactly? Please enlighten me

[batmancomicanalysis]

Content creators/influencers can benefit from demoralising their audience

An example: right-wing influencers frequently claim that women are inherently depraved. What are the psychological consequences of this for their male followers? Greater misanthropy, frustration, sadism, masochism, social alienation, social isolation (which facilitates the formation of a parasocial relationship with the content creator: demoralising the consumer paradoxically strengthens their "bond"), addiction, hopelessness and depression. Result: the content consumer is less likely to stop consuming the content and will tend to consume more of it, so more followers, engagements, ad revenue (from the website or other companies), sponsorship revenue, paid subscriptions, merch sales and donations for the creator, who may branch off into public or private speaking/meetings (this is aside from any sadistic non-material motives on the part of the content creator). Furthermore, the consumer spends more time online and thus more time consuming porn, which makes them even more demoralised and guilty as a by-product of their hypocrisy. Along with their increasing agreement with the often toxic positions of the content creator and personal radicalisation, guilt serves as an inducement to donate in order to diminish the feeling. And if the world is about to end or has ended then you have no future, which removes a psychological barrier to giving your money away.

If someone is a social media content creator they have a vested interest in you putting your time, energy and money into social media, so if they're narrowly self-interested (as merchants tend to be) then they probably want to keep you there, away from other avenues (if this sounds like the the description of an abusive cult then that may not be coincidental). They want their audience to be passive and feel they are accomplishing nothing (or at least nothing outside the creator), so that they are more likely to want to "compensate" by donating. "At least I'm supporting the cause in the way I can", "X is better qualified than me to fight the battle", "I've had a load of free content from X, it's only right" etc.

In so far as these influencers are able to demoralise their audience, they may also solicit donations from hostile state/corporate actors for this very purpose.

I'm confident that the same logic applies in many areas rather than just being specific to right wing influencers. For instance, pro-porn addiction accounts push the message that "you will always relapse". To donate a lot of your money to someone who you don't know and who isn't doing something truly exceptional, you generally have to have very low self-esteem, so they work to generate and encourage despair and addiction.

[gayraccoonthing]

Okay, I just got back from my two day trip and LET ME TELL YOU, I'm not lying when I say that shit was fucking AMAZING!

(Small note, this is mostly about the LGBTQ rep there. There was a lot of awesome POC rep, too, but I don't feel qualified to talk about that.)

So, first, we went to the Minnesota zoo (pretty awesome ngl) and saw lots of cool animals and scenery (shit was expensive tho lmao).

Then I got to go to Barnes and nobles (fucking score) got some Adam silvera books and left for the science museum.

And when I tell you this museum was one of the best places I've ever been in, I MEAN IT.

Because HOLY SHIT, it was so welcoming and inclusive, and that's not even going into detail right now. (Images and positive rant under cut)

OKAY! I'll do my best to describe the pictures a bit. Let me go on this positive rant about the museum and it's LGBTQ inclusivity because OH MY GOD.

So, we explored the first floor exhibitions a bit before going off to the omni theater (think movie theater but with a big ass screen that's curved to give the illusion you're in the place it shows on screen, hella headache inducing but fun. Don't recommend it for those with light, sound, or just general sensitivity issues. If I wasn't sensory seeking, it'd be hell.) And the ads go on the screen (ads for the museum, not other companies) and this comes up!

It's hard to read, but I figured a visual may help.

The header at the top says, "Pride in STEM" the paragraph below states as following, "We celebrate the scientists creating a world that's inclusive instead of exclusive, diverse instead of uniform, and powered by the communities they hold. Together, we can make a better place for science itself. Learn more at 500queerscientists.com" and FUCK, if I didn't already love the museum enough.

We go through all the exhibits and floors, all extremely awesome and educational, very hands-on (lots of hand sanitizer too) the dinosaur section was awesome, I loved sportsology (I don't even like sports), the human body section was fascinating, seeing the natural life in Minnesota was so cool, the musical stairs were so fucking fun, the tugboat was amazing, and there's so much more I loved.

And then the giftshop. God damn I loved that gift shop. (What's that one meme? The tumblr post. The one with the three dragons, idk.) And I start to look through, and there's an LGBTQ section!!! It's small, but it's so much more than any other gift shop I've seen.

(Picture from far away, couldn't get too close because my mom) (also, no more images in this post from here on, just so you know)

I ended up getting some awesome enamel pins and a small magnet and cheap button pin. And in the pin display, there was a whole lgbtq section for pins!! I got this trans dopamine test tube pin (pray to God my mom didn't see, I had to get brave and ask the person myself, lmao) unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the pin display, but it was so fucking awesome to see.

The staff were all so nice, SO FUCKING NICE YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

but this one lady at the register for the gift shop, I swear, she's amazing. I walked up with my pins to pay, and she looks at me, and I see her protect trans kids pin and her she/her pronoun pin, and I don't think I've ever felt more safe and secure in my life. And she looks at my pins (either my aroace pin on my bag or my new trans pin, no idea) and says to me, "you're just like me, I don't see a lot of people like us here." In such a sweet voice, I swear to God I MELTED right then and there (not actually, but in my head I'm screaming with pure happiness) and she smiles at me the whole time, and I'm just so fucking happy!

And on my way out, this person almost walks into me, and they say, "Sorry there, son." And, OH. MY. GOD. SON!!!! They looked at me, this 5'4, not passing at all, long hair, fem faced, me, and called me son!!! It could have so easily been some mistake (probably was), but, God, it feels so damn nice to be called son by a stranger! The gender euphoria is real rn.

I genuinely love that museum so much. It fills me with life.

So, if you're ever in St. Paul MN and looking for a good museum I highly encourage you to go there. It's amazing and I love it.

[amysubmits]

do you have any thoughts on how things like Autism and ADHD can play a positive and/or negative role in relationships and sexual interactions especially in the BDSM D/s dynamic?

Hi :)

I have ADHD, we used to think CD also had ADHD as he was diagnosed with it previously, but we recently learned he was misdiagnosed.

We both have some autistic traits, but I don't think either of us likely qualify for the diagnosis. I find development really interesting so I've sort of been interested in learning about autism since I was in high school...but I don't know nearly as much as many other people. Anyway, I know some about both but I only really have experience with ADHD so this will be more ADHD focused and any of the autism stuff should be taken with a grain of salt.

Some positives that come to mind:

Clear communication. I think people with autism and/or ADHD both tend to be more literal and direct rather than speaking vaguely or in metaphors. I think there is a lot of benefit to having really clear communication in kink or d/s. It just lowers the risk of miscommunication and can increase intimacy which can be a really awesome thing, too.

ADHD can come with hyperfocus which can make BDSM or D/s experiences really enhanced if they're super locked in to the experience.

Passion. Whether it's hyperfocus in ADHD or special interests in autism, both groups can be really passionate about the things they are interested in. If one of those interests or fixations is BDSM or D/s, they can do a really great job of researching thoroughly and learning a lot, which can lead to better educated and ultimately safer interactions and relationships.

The ability to fully "unmask" can be really healing. I think the nature of BDSM and D/s can allow people to be more "themselves" than they might feel they can be in other relationships or situations. With kink not really being the most socially acceptable thing, by exploring kink, we're sort of rejecting some of society's expectations for us. Instead of asking what our relationships 'should' be like or what our bedroom play 'should' include, we can instead ask ourselves what we want and what is healthy for us and so on, and customize our relationships and intimate interactions based on those. And I think taking that same basic idea of...I'm going to set my goals and expectations based on what I actually want, what really works for me/us, etc - is a really good way to approach life in general when you have neurodivergence. Or if you don't, haha. But especially if you do! Cause we can't fit in the neurotypical box. I've found a lot of healing through d/s this last year. I should write about that!

Some mixed:

Almost everyone with autism (google says 90%), and around 40% of people with ADHD, also have sensory processing disorder. Which has pros and cons in my mind. Because on one hand, if someone is sensory seeking in certain ways, BDSM may be a great way to get the sensory input they like or need. On the other hand, people with sensory issues may have more sensory related hard limits or triggers that need to be worked around.

Some negatives:

Lots of people with ADHD (and I'd think maybe autism as well?) have regularly been criticized for their shortcomings. I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who had ADHD as a kid, especially if it wasn't diagnosed young, but probably even if it was - who don't have insecurities that were caused by unfair/unreasonable criticism. Although most everyone knows about ADHD, it's still not well understood. I was diagnosed at 13 or 14 but have just started to really understand what ADHD looks like for me this past year! For a long time I thought I was misdiagnosed because my experiences didn't mirror examples of ADHD that I had always seen/heard. Anyway, I feel like most people think ADHD means being hyper and not paying attention to the teacher in school, and "...squirrel!" right? but not everyone with ADHD has hyperactivity and even those who have the hyperactive type, often have a lot of other types of symptoms that most people don't recognize as being ADHD symptoms. Like sensory issues, memory issues, difficulty with task initiation, other forms of executive function, rejection sensitive dysphoria, impulsivity. And due to that lack of understanding and sort of...ableism, I guess, I think a lot of ADHD people have wounds related to being treated as if we chose to do things poorly or were careless, even though we did our best. Most of us have experiences of being criticized as if we were making immoral choices, when in reality we had shortcomings that we couldn't overcome on our own. And when you grow up experiencing that a lot, it seeps into your view of yourself and makes you insecure and sensitive to criticism. If you have that sort of wound, it can make D/s challenging because accepting respectful criticism or critiques are part of d/s on both sides of the slash.

Most people with ADHD experience rejection-sensitive dysphoria, similar to what I stated above. But yeah this can make it hard to accept criticism and not get defensive or overly hurt, which can make being submissive tough in some situations.

With SPD, that sometimes includes auditory processing issues which can make verbal communication more challenging. This could potentially be dangerous if a sub says the safeword and the dom has auditory processing issues and doesn't immediately process/understand what was said. In other situations it may just make communication harder.

I'm sure there's lots more, but hope this is a decent start. I'd love to see people with ASD or ADHD or both comment with their experiences. :)