#and need love elsewhere

[buckevantommy]

people talk about the fantasy of going to live in the mountains. well, i live in the mountains and i daydream of going to live in better mountains.

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

As an American southerner it makes me so happy that Sonic says "y'all"

[sunbloomdew]

the way to the moon is about holding on (to the promise you don't even remember making, to the person you loved, to the life you never got to live but refuse to give up). it's johnny choosing to be with river time and time again, it's johnny holding on to all the paper rabbits river made even if he didn't know their significance, it's river keep trying to remind johnny of their shared past, it's river giving up her treatment so a place that means the world to her is protected, it's eva and neil trying their hardest to send johnny to the moon, it's eva taking the risk in hopes of making it

the way finding paradise is about letting go (of your mistakes, of the unrealistically perfect life you never lived, of the person who helped you through your darkest times but who now keeps you stuck in the past). it's colin letting go of faye despite being afraid, it's colin keep replacing pages in his book with new ones, it's faye knowing that colin never needed sigmund's help, it's faye telling colin he has to let go of her if he wants to live fully, it's neil and eva trusting faye despite what it means for them, it's neil taking the risk in hopes of making it

[philiponmycracker]

A study in expressions Tom Hulce edition: Double trouble? Part III, now an established regular of the Quintessential Tom series. Remarkable how I still haven't run out of these ridiculously adorable "parallels" and I'm losing my fckn mind

(Part I) (Part II)

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

I really think a lot of pastors need some kind of "devil's advocate" advisor who listens to their sermon, and then tells them how their sermon will be interpreted by a congregant with a progressive bias. not so that the pastor will change that sermon, but so the pastor recognizes the need to occasionally get specific.

[ladsbible]

Caleb comes with reader to a doctor’s appointment with Dr Zayne. Commence a competitive threesome where they try to see who can make reader cum more.

Overstimulation x10

WAIT I CAN'T JUST DO A DRABBLE OF THIS.

this is gonna need a full fucking fic, forgive me. adding it to my wips.

caleb vs. zayne threesome fic coming up. eventually.

[sunfloweraro]

I feel bad for Ravio in your pink bunny au bc the poor guy's bestie comes home, is doing kinda awful, gives up on life and becomes a bunny and then one day just. Is gone. Like.

Ravio's probably freaking out because Legend's been in this slow decline for a while and Ravio has been trying to pull him out of it but just can't and then he vanishes.

Oh yeah it is super rough for poor Ravio! Don’t get me wrong, Link is doing terribly too, but Ravio shoulders it all by himself and wont ask for help, which only makes matters worse for both of them. And then he snaps. And Link runs away. And doesn’t come back for months. Yeah… Ravio very much blames himself for everything—Link not getting better, and Link leaving him. He can sense he’s still out there and alive (they’re intertwined after all, two sides of the same coin) but he thinks Link doesn’t want to be found. He doesn’t want to come home. And now Ravio has deteriorated too.

I’m the author and I feel terrible for Ravio T.T their reunion in a few months will be very cathartic to write.

To help us all feel better, here’s a snippet of Ravio finally getting some comfort!

(and of course, my obligatory @thatonecrazysidekick tag!)

(and thank you for the ask!!!!)

***

Fierce squawking. Ravio flinched when Sheerow landed on his head, panicked chirps escaping her. Why had she even bothered to come back? Didn’t she know he was awful and broken?

“Leave me alone,” he rasped, his voice strained and wet with tears. “Let me rot.”

“Absolutely not.”

Ravio’s head snapped up at the new voice. He sat up quickly, scrubbing at his eyes when he saw who it was, her royal purple hair braided down her back and her eyes narrowed—in annoyance? Concern? Ravio couldn’t tell when his vision was blurry. Her hands rested over her hips. “Hilda! I—erm…”

Hilda’s face softened. She made her way over to join him on the bed. Ravio turned away, his cheeks burning darkly. “No wonder Sheerow came to get me,” Hilda said, her voice much gentler than he deserved. Ravio sniffled, couldn’t look at her as shame burned bright within. “What’s going on, Bun? You look terrible. And where’s Link? Why isn’t he helping you?”

Her words, so soft, so concerned, made Ravio’s breath hitch all over again. And then he was dissolving into sobs once more, burying his face in his hands to hide himself away from her and wishing she would just leave him alone.

A noise of concern escaped Hilda and she shifted closer. “Oh, Bun…” She curled an arm around his shoulders, and Ravio… Ravio couldn’t help himself. He didn’t deserve the comfort, but he turned and latched onto her like she was the only thing holding him up in this sea of loneliness and misery; a light in the ever-persistent darkness that had become his life.

Hilda began to run a hand up and down his back, slow and sure. Her other arm squeezed him closer, holding him together as he shuddered and broke to pieces in her arms. “Just let it out, Bun. I’m here.”

[rookanisstuff]

I am once again in the comments of lucanis art begging for prints I AM 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

[charcubed]

I NEEEED people—especially those with unfathomably large platforms???—to start doing just a tiny bit of internal evaluation before they log onto a blue website and say “I don’t want these queer characters to fuck in canon” or “I’d be fine if these characters never kissed again” or whatever.

This is a post about Good Omens and the prospect of Aziraphale and Crowley potentially having sex in season 3. It's a response to a tweet that I'm crossposting, but let it be known the above statement and this topic applies broadly across multiple fandoms too.

But anyway, in regards to Good Omens specifically:

I am seeing this take that essentially boils down to "Canon has now made it clear that these characters want to have sex with each other through subtext (i.e. Aziraphale and the ox), but I don’t want that to reach narrative completion because the idea of them having sex makes me uncomfortable or isn’t my personal preference” and it is, to put it mildly and delicately, A Very Bad Take.

This is rhetorical (and I do not expect or particularly want an answer), but: explain to me how and why queer characters who are unavoidably visibly queer (aka 2 "man-shaped beings") fucking on screen wouldn’t be a net positive, especially when you can indicate how canon has set it up.

Presumably, some people say things like this because ~they want to see them as visibly ace.~ Okay. But by some of these people’s own admission, there IS more evidence in canon now to indicate these characters crave sex with each other (vs arguing otherwise)... yet people would rather that be ignored/erased all for the sake of them feeling comfortable or feeling better about what canon shows or doesn’t show explicitly??

I’m sorry, but—speaking as an ace person, to be clear—your personal preferences for the story shouldn’t / don’t affect anything here. There’s too much in this.

Yeah, I understand on a personal level not having “representation.” I almost never see myself or my unique experiences and identity reflected in stories. And yet, I also understand that that doesn’t change any story or the world in which we live. Things like this are not said in a vacuum.

Any queer characters having sex on screen IS a net positive. It is rare and impactful, and openly calling for or hoping for otherwise when canon points to its potential is a detrimental alliance with purity culture, whether intentionally or accidentally. Because we live in a Goddamn society!

Who knows (other than Neil Gaiman) whether Aziraphale and Crowley ARE going to fuck on international TV. None of us do! But the subtext right now blatantly says they’re starving for it. And you don’t have to like the prospect of that, but honestly? We SHOULD get to see it play out. There’s no truly legitimate reason we shouldn’t ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Whether you "prefer" it or not.

And my ultimate hot take is… if someone balks at the idea of that or doesn’t understand the importance of it, despite even seeing the subtext… then they should perhaps unpack that? Just a thought.

Truly the way fandoms are managing to hit either “subtext doesn’t count :/ ” or “let’s keep it to subtext so it’s ‘open to interpretation’ :) ” nowadays depending on what corner one visits is MADDENING. Whiplash-inducing. Surreal. And so much nonsense you can’t pick where to start.

So! I do genuinely hope I'm not kicking off discourse but I felt this Needed To Be Said (and on more than one site). Because posts like “even if they never kiss again, we’ve won <3 “ make me want to be like…

These characters are YEARNING. Do not doom them and us to it. For once, we can reach for the stars and maybe–against all odds–pull them down. Embrace it!

---

[Update: after more discourse has occurred, I have somewhat elaborated on this further, from the POV of the significance of the queer themes in Good Omens and more specifically how they center illicit pleasure/desire]

[lordgeneralsix]

my brain is soup rn but I want to work on mask concepts so.... if anyone feels like dropping what kind of colours/symbols/patterns/etc they associate w any kcd character I would be v glad

[qoldenskies]

i think a lot of people pretty openly acknowledge that leo is someone that self-aggrandizes and acts reckless in order to compensate for his insecurities, which is true and it's very clearly spelled out especially in the movie, but i don't really see people acknowledge the fact that donnie is the EXACT same way (outside of people who specifically like to write a lot of angst for him. leo is forever designated sadboy of the fandom). which is sad, because i think it's the most twin-like thing about them!!

it's a trait they share pretty openly. same flavor of daddy issues, although leo is always wanting to look down, to be the BEST at something, to be admired and respected and trusted, to be above other people, while donnie is always wanting to look up, the whole approval from a parental aged adult thing is the largest example but i also think about his desperation for CAMARADERIE in the purple jacket, and also like, lol the entirety of mind meld. he wants to be understood and acknowledged and praised and he practically begs for it with everything he does.

both of them desperately want to impress! but i kind of interpret it as leo trying to make a point to himself more than to other people, because he is so caught up in his own self-judgement. it's why he can act rude or try to step over the others (raph especially, although early on there is some mutual toxicity in that relationship) in order to prove that point.

but donnie has a lot more self-security because he knows what he does! he knows he's good at it, i don't think there's any denying that. but under real praise he gets starry-eyed or he softens. he makes a big point out of presenting new things because that's what he's looking for. and i think that makes him so averse to the potential of failure. it's why he'll shrug it off or outright deny it when its brought up to him. he sucks so bad at taking responsibility lmao.

i think mind meld in particular is a very telling episode, especially the beginning of it. he gets rash and upset when he feels like he's doing too much on his own. he feels ignored and disrespected for his efforts, and makes bad decisions as a result. and between that and donnie's gifts it's very very obvious he is projecting the fact that he equates his usefulness, his role, to his self-worth as a person. a lot of that crowing confidence is not real. he is MAJORLY overcompensating just like leo is. (and i would also like to point out the kind of things he makes shelldon RESPOND to in smart lair before he's reprogrammed, like leo's ribbing)

idk, i just feel like donnie wants to be seen and leo wants to be able to see himself, although there is some overlap there and the two problems can bleed into each other.

(and i do think a big point of leo's arc in the movie is for him to genuinely stop being selfish. his insecurity gets in the way and he's thinking about himself when he acts, and that's what hurts people. all of them have the potential to be self-centered, but leo's behavior was putting people in danger, and he had to look past all of that because he has ALWAYS been a strong and capable person and a good leader, but he was afraid of it because he was setting the goalpost for himself too high, and it was RAPH'S thing. it all felt too daunting. he's never going to feel ready if he only thinks about himself. at a point it's just not about him. as dubious as his sacrifice at the end was, that was the point. get him some therapy for that blunder though)

and i think it has a lot of potential to make them clash in a really interesting way. donnie's like,,, got his THING!! leo is not CONFIDENT in his thing!! and he can't ever be better than donnie at his particular thing, so he LEAPS onto any chance to get one over on him, which clashes very badly with donnie's issues of easily feeling dejected or unappreciated. he's going to take that personally, and then leo is going to take donnie's bad interpretation of that behavior personally, because like... why doesn't donnie trust him? :((

anyways they are majorly twinning they are both dramatic unconfident bitches with self-worth issues and they both get louder and meaner when they feel hurt about something. its why i keep accidentally writing angst of the other when i try to write angst of one. ahaha lol oops

sorry ive had this blog for only a few hours i just needed to get my thoughts down mostly for myself. for writing purposes

[harrysdimples]

I hope you’re all well ❤️

[geryone]

My hopeful tbr full of books I’m pushing myself to get to before the end of this year ❤️

[m--rtyr]

Sometimes I do consider prioritising other fandoms because I know I’ll get more money, and commissions, and generally feel more fulfilled

But I hate how every time I consider stepping away from aphblr, for even a moment, I feel really guilty. I’m not even particularly significant to the fandom anymore, but I just can’t bring myself to even take a break from it. I know I need to, though…

[matteoberrettini]

bringing positivity for once: today at work i was told that my coworkers said i'm good at tutoring 🥹 and yesterday one coworker sent me a message himself thanking me for my tutoring 🥹 and then my therapist told me the others in this group thing i'm taking part in all like me 🥹😭😭

[athene-owl]

Seriously - as a Pokemon fanatic myself, wtf is with Pokemon fans insisting that:

1. Pokemon's success is solely due to it being perfectly designed game and character-wise

2. Every other monster taming series that doesn't blow up to the degree that Pokemon did is a fucking failure because it doesn't follow what Pokemon does????

I don't know how the fuck to explain this to some of y'all, but Pokemon's success was in large part due to pure luck. It came out at the optimal time, it was brought overseas and it struck gold. Of course it has a lot of great elements that helped it be so popular, but to act like it's success was due to it being so uniquely genius and perfect is a slap in the face to its predecessors. Pokemon had a capitalist juggernaut behind it that had the means to pump money into it and if you seriously think that it won by its own merits purely then I think you are very naive.

If it came out today, do I think it would be popular? Sure, I can see that. But it would not be guaranteed to blow up the way that it did in the 90's. Again, this is coming from a diehard, lifelong Pokemon fan.

And the absolutely bullshit idea that every series remotely comparable to Pokemon is a failure for not being Pokemon 2.0 is worse. OF FUCKING COURSE NOTHING ELSE COMPARES TO POKEMON'S SUCCESS. Pokemon is an established, centralizing, multimedia powerhouse which makes more money than any other franchise on Earth. We don't say that indie animation is lesser than Disney for not getting the same box office sales, but Pokemon fans LOVE throwing this idea around. To insist that capital success = artistic merit and flawless design philosophy is honestly just disgusting.

It's easy for Pokemon to dominate other franchises when it was one of the first to blow up on an international scale. Of course, when you can buy Pokemon merch of anything, it's gonna gather more focus and money than an indie game. When you have a prestablished fanbase of over 20 years, yeah you're gonna sell better than new franchises. So what - no other monster taming series should even bother? Because nothing will ever dethrone Pokemon, it can't.

I am so sick of watching unique and creative works with a ton of passion behind them get shit on for daring to not follow the Pokemon formula and their inability to outsell it being used as proof of their deficiencies. God forbid a piece of art have its own goals, intentions and meaning behind it.

And how hypocritical too, to ignore the serious design flaws in early Pokemon generations. Pokemon's first gen had a lot of weak designs and major flaws BUT it had the financial backing to continue on and define it's own style and formula over time. Watching Pokemon fans lambast new franchises for not having everything perfectly worked out in their first entries is laughable.

And can I just say how depressing this shit is? I am not a game designer, I will never make a monster taming series, but watching indie creators' works get disregarded for not being Pokemon is so disheartening. 99.99999% of artists will never make anything comparable to these giant media franchises. Our works will never gain even a fraction of these series' fanbases and success and enthusiasm. In my experience, this is something a lot of creatives struggle with - if I'll never be as successful as this huge thing that inspires me, if no one will ever see my work, if I can't create the single most original thing, why bother creating?

That doesn't mean our work is intrinsically worse or useless, its just the cold hard reality of living in a capitalist hellworld. Mega franchises established 35 years ago dominate the media landscape. They make money on brand recognition alone, they set the industry standards and if you equate that with them intrinsically being better, more worthy of success and shit on indie creators for not reaching those impossible standards then you're a piece of shit. And this attitude is so rampant in the Pokemon fandom, so unquestioningly pushed, that it drives me up the wall.