#and now I'm inflicting the same to my sweet characters

[far-butter]

That pain when you’re writing a non-binary character using they/them pronouns in English, but you keep misgendering them out of habit because your native language is a bloody gendered, binary mess you can’t possibly make readable grammatically with neo-pronouns.

[codemiracle]

Can you please tell me the backstory of the ocs...they are so gorgeous omg...thank u !!!...

My first ask... omg....!! (tries to seem calm about it) Thank u for asking!!! I'm glad you like them :((<3 The backstory of my ocs is still mostly a wip even to me (i change my mind often about things, especially when my mind fixates on different topics) But I can tell you more about the two ocs in this post here. tw: mentions of death, stalking, unhealthy behavior, dark stuff overall, and mentions of self-harm on Yuuta's part. (All of the images used here are CGs for the game.)

Yuuta is a deeply troubled person. His mother died when he was very young and he's been dealing with the loss of literally his only parental figure since (his father is literally the leader of a pyramid scheme cult and doesn't know about his existence) He despises how fragile humans can be and since then he tries to understand his own mortality through inflicting pain upon his own body. His mother died due to an illness he also has, an illness that causes parts of his body to suddenly get badly bruised or bleed without warning, his blood is really thin so stopping bleeding is hard for him too. He eventually finds some escape from his solitude exploring his darker side by meeting the MC (the character you control in the game) He gets deeply obsessed with them since he finds that inflicting pain on them (don't worry it's all consensual) is more relieving than doing it to himself. He loves the feeling of power it gives him, the feeling of a life hanging in between his fingers. And this time he won't let go so easily. He might be a little bit of a sharp-tongued person and sometimes can seem pretty harsh with people and even the MC, but it's due to the fear of losing someone again. When he really really gets into you he won't let you go, that's for sure. He can't let go of someone again.

Yotsuya it's quite the opposite of Yuuta, he doesn't hide his true feelings behind a mask of hatred and coldness, instead, he's a more shy but polite person, much more pleasant to be around tbh. But don't let that fool you. He has his own inner turmoil too. He's been following the MC for a while now (for unknown reasons) and seems pretty fixated on them, taking the same train as them after work, trying to make small talk as they bump into each other in conveniently the same places. He's always stressed from work, often you can find him just crying outside his workplace while he smokes (like in the drawing) or standing eerily quiet in the dark of night in the middle of the street. Not much is now about Yotsuya, but the fact he truly despises cheaters, often making remarks about cheating culture and hating on people who cheat on their partners. He seems to know the MC from somewhere else but refuses to say where they met the first time. Doesn't seem to have any connections or family, living alone in some simple apartment. I can't tell you much about him because I want you to discover who the "True" Yotsuya is (that's the point of his route.) But I can tell you, this guy isn't anything like it seems, he's quite the opposite of his sweet and shy persona when he's inside his home. That's his place, his playing field so to speak. He's no longer the meek office worker, but his true self.

Sorry, that was so much text.... and I feel like I didn't say anything interesting... feel free to ask if you need to know anything else!

<3

[zombeesknees]

currently in the life of the angie bee:

my sense of time is strangely broken, because it's almost 6pm but my brain is all, "gosh, it's not even noon yet!" and i have no fuckin idea why.

i've been deodorizing and washing and cleaning the house all day because i feel like there's a particularly sour smell throughout it, but now i'm wondering if it's me, and i don't know why i'm suddenly smelling so sour??? like, it's not a sweat smell, it's a sour, musty smell, and i'm still using the same shampoo and body washes i always do, and it's not as if my diet's changed significantly, so wth is going on??? IS IT A SIGN THAT I'M DYING OF SOME WEIRD DISEASE??? i know folks with diabetes sometimes smell strangely sweet, but i've never heard of something that makes you smell sour. OR IS IT ALL IN MY HEAD AND PSYCHOSOMATIC??? i'm not just gonna go up to someone and be like, "do you think i smell weird?"

quint remains one of the Characters of All-Time (and a Happy Jaws Day to all who celebrate it).

(yeah, i don't celebrate the 4th, what a bullshit holiday, we have nothing to be proud of as a country, especially these days.)

dropped $288 this morning on two and a half weeks-worth of groceries for one person. and that was buying basic, off-brand shit. how the fuck did we get to this.

slight silver lining: i have today, tomorrow, and the full weekend off, and i get to spend time with joel tomorrow AND see shara and nichole on sunday.

i set my reading goal for the year at 50 books (something i didn't come close to achieving last year, thanks to a reading block that set in in march and didn't let up for the rest of the year). and in the last two weeks i hit 54 books (almost all of them new-to-me, which is ALSO amazing). my unmedicated ADHD bullshit may still be preventing me from watching new shows and movies, but at least it's eased off on the reading front.

a new dude joined our book club this week and he's CUTE and likes fantasy and is a high school social studies/history teacher, and we discussed character archetypes for like ten minutes. maybe next club meeting i'll actually give him my number and ask him out.

wimsey has spent a full week in the flower donut collar thanks to scratching his chin raw and bloody. vet recced treating him with revolution in case it's because of mites, washing the wound with a special antibiotic flush, and keeping him in the collar until everything's fully healed/his fur grows back in. makes for a hella grompy flower:

god, leverage really is just the best show. doesn't matter how many times i watch it; i'm forever delighted and impressed with just how well written/constructed/everything it is. that's my emotional support family of thieves, your honor.

i'm getting SO CLOSE to filling out the final gaps in the current sections of my hazeldine WIP, and i really do think i'm gonna have to split it into two volumes instead of making it all vol. 6 as i had originally planned. but IF i do that, that means vol. 6 is gonna HAVE to end on a significant cliffhanger, which i typically try to avoid. (yes, technically all of the previous vols have ended on cliffhangers, since this is a continuing story spread over several volumes. but they haven't been LITERAL cliffhangers, with someone on the verge of death or something.) i don't like when books in a series i'm reading do that, so i try not to inflict that on my own readers. but perhaps i can mitigate it slightly by making sure both vols 6 AND 7 are fully polished/ready for printing, and release them like a month apart or something, so there isn't a huge wait in between...

FINALLY finished the replacement cross-stitch sampler of lighthouses for a gal from work (the first one got lost in the mail beginning of last month). now i can continue working on the Yee Dudes series for my bud jordan <3

but also i'm gonna try to design a pattern for myself re: a dracula joke that keeps popping into my head: descending the castle, lizard-fashion. i'm probably the only person who is THIS delighted/amused by that joke, but i'll enjoy stitching something for myself for a change, lol.

[carma-tjol]

Miscellaneous OPM Characters as Lady Gaga Songs

please read this oh my god I spent so much time... there's some meta scattered in there I promise.

Fubuki

Telephone

Bloody Mary

Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)

Telephone - because I watched an Instagram edit that used it and now I have it permanently associated with her. Fubuki has a fun and glamourous aesthetic and I feel like the song reflects that too Bloody Mary - because of the "I wont crucify the things you do" line. it reminds me of all the people she knows that are like. highly problematic but she's irremovably tied into their lives and ultimately accepts them. Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) - there are relationships she's had that fell tragically because of, while among other things, her own personal flaws and ego. It's tragic, but she really wasn't equipped to handle everything thrown at her at the time. there really is "nothing else [she] can say" anymore. Imagining her with this song puts a lighthearted twist on the woe of it.

Psykos

Summerboy

So Happy I Could Die

Teeth

MANiCURE

Summerboy - I like to imagine it as Psykos having the summerboy's POV. Feeling disposable and like she got played by Fubuki, she is left to sort of sourly reminisce on what could've been. So Happy I Could Die - for that INTENSE SAPPHIC ANGST. Also I like the concept of like. attempting to use sexuality to cope with severe internal turmoil. I love this song sooo much. Teeth - vibes I guess MANiCURE - "SHE WANNA BE MAN CURED!" so basically more sapphic stuff but campier and less gut wrenching this time lol.

Genos

(... god I initially struggled finding stuff for him HARD but ended up with 4 things. what.)

Replay

I Like It Rough

Shallow

Paparazzi (bonus)

Replay - Lady Gaga is talking about trauma and PTSD taking over and effecting every part of her life, which I feel like is relevant. "Every single day, yeah I dig a grave Then I sit inside it wondering if I'll behave" I Like It Rough - I've always interpreted this song as only ever experiencing harshness from people, not knowing how process kindness, and struggling to decipher sincerity. Which I feel like, removed from all the sex stuff, fits Genos pretty well thematically. Shallow - I don't really mean this in a ship way here (to be honest, one sided genos pining is my ideal! But that's not relevant here) but I can think of this song with Genos and Saitama's relationship and how at its core, One Punch Man revolves around them. They represent the central themes of companionship and how humanity is based on relationships with others. They try to "fill that void" with each other and Genos looks at Saitama worried, when will it be enough? (When will HE be enough?) Also I enjoy listening to songs where there is some form of disappearance or death and imagining the MA arc. I did that a tonnn with Sweet Talking Woman by ELO a while back, something about mixing the love song about chasing someone with the tragedy of the MA arc and how Genos became unattainable really clicked for me. (Fun fact, I had 182 listens for that song on my Spotify wrapped... pretty much all thinking of Genos) I'm supposed to be talking about Lady Gaga though oops. "Crash through the surface, where they cant hurt us We're far from the shallow now." They've experienced the same alienation, whether inflicted or self imposed and were able to drag each other out of it. Perhaps there's comfort in the similarity. Paparazzi (bonus lol) - If you enjoy leaning into Genos's weird obsession, this is the song for you! He's a little neurotic...

Flashy Flash and Sonic

I'm giving them the same song

Speechless

Speechless "In your tight jeans With your long hair and your cigarette stained lies Could we fix you if you broke? And is your punch line just a joke?" I connect it by thinking about how much weight their relationship held in their lives. Each of their dreams had the other in it. And I think that losing that was a bit worldshattering. "Would you give it all up If I promise, boy, to you?" Eyyyy we were left on a bit of a cliffhanger right? Flash was trying to ask sonic something but got cut off by the other ninjas. "We could-" we could what, Flash? we. could. what. (Team up again? Please I'm literally on my hands and knees begging, yet I know it's never that easy with OPM)

Amai Mask

Beautiful, Dirty Rich

The Fame

Beautiful, Dirty Rich - It's about fame! Living the high life! He's like a major celebrity and a diva so I think it works. Just ignore the bit where it says "but we've got no money" because he definitely has money. The Fame - similar thought process

Webigaza

Applause

Applause - She "lives for the applause!" The fame itself is empty without her fans.

Do-S (aka BONUS! other songs I like but had zero use for)

Love Game

Money Honey

Bad Romance

Poker Face

Government Hooker

Judas

not sexual enough for Do-S but I really like Americano too.

okay I'm done with these now I'm literally going insane

[noweakergirl]

I need to talk about wuthering heights hehehe... I can't stop thinking about it!!! I was shocked out of my body when Hindley dropped Hareton from the top of the stairs and then even worse Heathcliff saved him but then regretted it jdgszusjshssjjssjsjsjs and also poor Nelly, Hareton didn't remember her at all after she left :( Also I was initially feeling very sad about Linton cause of how Heathcliff was not really nice to him but then he was too selfish tbh. Do you think Edgar would have had Catherine run away with Nelly if he found that she was kidnapped and forcefully married to Linton? Also Joseph was sooooooo annoying I especially liked it when Catherine scared him in the start that yes I'm a witch. Like she is a legend. Her and Hareton sjdghsisusjsnshshsnsshzhzysh!!!! Throughout the book I was feeling so saaaaaad about Hareton like he didn't deserve any of what he faced!! And what's worse that he was intelligent enough to see how far behind he was others cause of education and for Catherine to be the one to tease him honestly broke my heart jxhdhshshsshsh Edgar was tooooo good!! And Hareton did I mention that I absolutely love him? He was probably so conflicted when everything was happening cause he liked Cathy and also we can see he had a sense of good and right cause he would defend her but also he thought good of Heathcliff so he couldn't really go against him (or am I being delusional here? We don't get his pov 😭) dheuwhshsshwjwjw I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS BOOK AHHH!!!! What adaptation should I watch? I have no idea. Heathcliff and Catherine 1 as characters were soooooooooo interesting. Isabella what a legend she is!! Attacking Heathcliff with a knife, ensuring he cannot use her to inflict pain on Edgar and then she ran away from him!!! I LOVED HER. Ok that's quite big of a rant 🙈🙈🙈

I TOTALLY GET WHAT YOU MEAN ABOUT HARETON, HE IS THE BEST! Poor boy was treated like dirt since the day he was born but I am SO HAPPY he got the ending he deserved. Even though Cathy 1 and Heathcliff are iconic, the second generation was my favorite. I adored both Catherine and Hareton and shipped them super hard ajddkdk. The way she taught him to read!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY HEART <333333333 and he tried to be better for her!!!!!!!! Despite everything and his cruel life, he tried his best to be worthy of her love aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. 🤎🤎🤎 Them breaking generational curse at the end by falling in love and (hopefully) leading a happy life!

(unrelated by why do I always think of Jess from Gilmore Girls when I think of Hareton, help)

Oh god, I get shivers every time I remember how Heathcliff forcefully married Catherin to Linton... He literally locked her up, like BRO. Heathcliff was devil for real, awful and horrible, but somehow I still can't bring myself to fully hate him. I think he's very fascinating as a character which is why he stays in your memory.

And I agree on Edgar, he was very sweet! <3 Isabella too, YEEES GIRL SHOW HIM TEETH <3

Btw, I imagine Joseph as Argus Filch from Harry Potter ajdjdksk.

"I can't stop thinking about this book" girl, same, because every time it rains and it's all gloomy and misty outside I start acting like I am Catherine myself. Oh, and about adaptation I think the most famous one (and the most beloved one) is the movie from 1992. I don't think I have ever seen any WH movie from start to finish now that I think of it which is sad cause I adore the book, so if you ever come across any version you think is cool, please let me know!

P. S. Now that you have read the book, listen to this and be as dramatic as possible while listening to it ;))

[needcake]

might be a random question. but what's your favourite piece of symbolism or motif that you've included in a fic?

This one was harder than I thought it would be when I got your ask haha I had to do some soul-searching and a lot of rereading, but here are a few in no particular order:

The peach metaphor in The problem with peaches as a way to bring all the elements of the story together, how Arthur felt old and bruised and past his prime (but how, as @oumaheroes pointed out in her review, there was still sweetness in him)

The description of Port's eyes in Leagues of sincere affection as being clear green like shallow waters hiding sandbanks under them, it's an idea I had toyed with for some time and has since become my headcanon for him because it tells so much (to me) about England's attraction to them and it's a little nod to their seafaring history. Everyone knows you should avoid sailing in shallow waters because you could run aground on hidden sandbanks and sharp rocks that could potentially damage the ship, but the fact that England keeps coming metaphorically back willingly says something about always making the same mistakes expecting different outcomes and his stubbornness in not accepting that maybe this relationship could potentially damage him. But also it says something about being attracted to potential danger and a defiance in not accepting other people's advice because he chooses his own path and who he wants to be with, no matter how hard and how difficult it might prove to be in the long run.

The parallel repetition of how Rome pulled Port from the cave and how Port pulled Brazil from the forest in In this universal river, how despite wanting to do things differently, Port ends up repeating the same cycle of violence inflicted on him from a young age, and how he doesn't realize what he's doing until it's too late (and how he tries to convince himself it's not). It was one of the things I wanted to do the most in this story and I'm very happy with how it turned out and with the response it got. It's still going to play a role later on in the story too, so I'm also excited for that!

On that note, there are several recurring motifs in In this universal river, and a big one that I really like is this idea that England and Port kept repeating that it's not too late for them (while it is, it has been since like chapter 4) because it gives them a misguided hope that their actions are still somehow redeemable when in fact they are right now only digging themselves a deeper hole. This ties the whole plot together, from England's belief that he doesn't need anyone but himself, to France's idea that all they have are themselves and that they can't trust anyone else, to Port clinging to his past glory. Other characters challenge this idea, but right now they're not ready to accept that. It's only later, after all the very highs and the very lows, that they'll be able to come to terms with the fact that a lot of what they had done is not redeemable, there's no magical solution, and only after they come to terms with that will they be able to find a compromise.

Thank you for this ask, Helia! It was fun pulling things apart and talking about this!!

[glareandgrowl]

Everyone Saw it coming if they are on my blog but

Kiyotaka Ishimaru for the ask game plsssss !

Ask game Here

Sexuality Headcanon:

Now, see, starting off with a kinda hard one... Taka's an interesting bean in what I calculate his sexuality to be. Most people assume Gay since... ya know. And while I don't think that's necessarily a bad take, its the popular take. And I am one who tends to shy away from popular takes. (I am also one to vehemently project onto the characters I love). Hence, I HC Taka as Demiromantic! (and demisexual to an extent...)

Forms strong emotional bonds with people close to him? Check. Only ever seems to fall romantically for those he is extremely close with??? DOuble check babeyyy!

Gender Headcanon:

Aaaand now its simple. Taka's a male. Cut and dry. Rather fondly a guy, I must say. He strikes me as the kinda guy who would be so excited to share with you that he uses he/him pronouns! He probably did some soul searching when he first learned of transitioning and other gender orientations only to find he was rather comfortable and happy where he was. (you know he spent hours studying to learn all he could) and would be all for helping others explore their gender too!

I know a lot of people hc him and mondo both as trans, but personally I think hes just very proud of his manliness.

A ship I have with said character:

I couullddd go the easy route and say Ishimondo... But you all already know that. Instead I'm going to go with a more... scandalous... ship.

Its KiyoKiyo. Korekiyo and Kiyotaka. Its my guilty pleasure ship.

Now, granted, I imagine this as a Korekiyo who has shaken himself of his 'sister's' grasp and is "normal" (Ie LOTS of therapy), so its more like the shy introvert getting dragged along by the loud golden retriever boy but I digress. Its sweet to me. Tall lanky and smol but strong.

(And YES this originated from Danganronpa Redemption FIGHT ME---)

A BROTP I have with said character:

Once again I could go with an obvious, that being Chihiro or Hina, but you ALREADY know this and I GO AGAINST THE ORDINARY!!!

I think Sayaka and Taka would be great friends :3

Hardworking, burnout-having besties who have to be told numerous times to slow down and take a break by their chiller, sweet yet partially annoying boyfriends.

A NOTP I have with said character:

There are so many... who do I begin with... Genuinely who do I begin with. Alr I hardly see this one in the wild but Kokichi and Kiyotaka I despise. Either that's just because I hate kokichi but-- BESIDES THE POINT. Hiro and Taka is another one I don't particularly like.

I get where it comes from, the few times they interract in the canon could be seen as brotherly (I GUESS) from Hiro's standpoint but-- Idk it just kinda rubs me the wrong way. Hiro's character in general does that...

A Random Headcanon:

Taka enjoys, and is really good at boxing. (Or wrestling) Like how some stories I've read put him on the football (soccer for us americans) team (or rugby ig idk.) I have a (self-inflicted) HC that Taka has slight anger issues hes still recovering from as a child and ABSOLUTELY uses the environment of controlled violence as a way to work off pent up steam. Any sport could do that really, but the inherent homoeroticism of wrestling is just *mwah* too good to pass up.

I know people like to HC he's into some kind of martial arts lessons for the same kind of vibe, and the art of him and Peko, but I find the inante physicality of using yer fists and body as a much more... *Taka Centric* activity. Idk.

Its the same reason he really enjoys thrill rides like rollercoasters and horror movies (if he can stand to not postulate the entire plot the whole time, ruining climactic moments and making people shush him.)

General Opinions:

HE GOT FUCKING ROBBED IN CANON MY BOY---

anyway feel free to ask me about more characters!!! This was fun :3

[quiet-longing]

with apologies

i figure I've now posted enough unhinged shit for people to no longer wonder about my humanity. my sanity, on the other hand...

anyway, this is my vampire blog. for amc's adaption of interview with the vampire, specifically. i will refer to it as iwtv from here on out because i'm too lazy to type all that out. but that's what i'm here for.

to cry about and post increasingly deranged iwtv stuff.

notes: i am ride or die for devil's minion, armandaniel, armand x daniel, etc. i will always tag it with some variation of that. they're my heart and the amc version with old maniel and assad!armand is especially precious to me. like, i will fight you in the walmart parking lot about them. i just love them a lot, okay?

i also love - LOVE - the other characters. all of them. every. single. one. they are all (including all versions of daniel and armand) fucked up, toxic monsters capable of great love and pain (both feeling it and inflicting it). they're petty, they're romantic, they're mean, they're sweet, and despite what they would have you believe, they are incredibly human. i think of them as humans turned up to eleven. sometimes twelve. frequently fifteen. way past what that 1-10 dial was ever meant to handle. they began life as humans and no matter how alien(ated) they become with age, they will never completely lose that part of themselves whether they believe it or not.

that means i will cry over all of them and insist they've done nothing wrong ever while still yelling at them for being the cruelest monsters, the very worst of assholes in the same post. i'll love them and i'll hate them, but i'll always love them more than i could ever hate them. and that's as it should be with characters as complex as these.

other stuff:

have read the books. have blocked out some of them because i won't have it. i just won't have it. not in my vampire books. have pitched some of them across my room. frequently ignore later canon. my canon is pretty solidly based in the original trilogy and parts of totbt. the rest, i cherry-pick from to suit my purposes. canon and i have a combative relationship.

in this house, we multi-ship and we don't get mad at other people for preferring different ships or liking different characters than we do or interpreting things differently than we do. these are complicated characters and you won't find a singular villain; likewise, you won't find a singular interpretation that lines up perfectly with your own.

some things i always try to keep in mind when i analyse any piece of media or text (and things i just think are generally helpful for anyone to keep in mind) is that everyone is the hero of their own story and that an explanation is not an excuse.

an explanation is not an excuse.

that's for the people in the back who conflate the two.

that's pretty much it, i think. old maniel 4eva, devil's minion, assad!armand also 4eva, we love all the characters, we hate all the characters, they are all monsters and victims, no ship is better than another (except devil's minion ;) ), all the characters are rendered in shades of grey, you can have more than one interpretation; they can even be conflicting, no one's the villain, explaining why a character does something is not an excuse for whatever bad thing they've done, but understanding motivation is critical if you want to interrogate the text honestly and anchor your interpretation in something solid. of course, that's just my opinion and you don't have to like or listen to that, either. (i majored in lit and philosophy with a minor in psychology. you can imagine the intensity i approach this with; i think it's probably off-putting to some people, but i can't help it. this is literally how i learned to think about things. honestly, i am mostly just here to post goofy shit and have fun, but when i accidentally latch onto a thing, i get really into it is what i'm saying.)

anyway, welcome to my disaster blog, everyone. i'm sorry for everything.

[lenny-rambles]

About "SpyxFamily: Short Mission 13"

Manga: "SpyxFamily"

Update: Short Mission 13

Author: Tatsuya Endo

Relevants tags ig: the dog has ptsd, again

Honestly, I was mad when I initially saw it was a Short Mission. It's gonna be a month now since the last regular chapter came out, the plot was moving, my heart skipped at beat at the last double spread, the story was thriving, I could sense a lore drop any minute now. Then we got two short missions. TWO!!! But the newest short mission took me by surprise and now I'm sad about the damn cartoon dog.

Spoilers for the SpyxFamily manga and anime, more as in, characters that appear and not exactly plot stuff, BEWARE!

IT'S A GODDAMN SHORT MISSION, WHY DID YOU SHOW AGAIN THE SAD DOG'S BACKSTORY?!!! ISTG. You know what I was expecting? I was expecting a "funny haha, future seeing dog has a boring day home alone" maybe break some stuff by accident, maybe he goes to the neighbors' for attention, cute, sweet, nothing heavy slice of life chapter. BUT NO, I WAS FOOLED.

Like, most of the Short Missions are just, not that relevant. Like, it is more of a day-to-day life than the manga normally is. As in, last short mission (the chapter before this one) was about Anya sending Lloyd, and WISE, to an early grave with a High-Fashion dress for prom. It was funny, sweet, Anya wanted to help, then Damian messed up again and she wanted revenge, you know, the usual.

Why? Who gave Tatsuya Endo the idea to give Bond MORE flashbacks?!!! Poor dog's been through a lot, the Forgers becoming his safe place is just beautiful. THE WAY HE AND ANYA RESONATE, BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH SECRET EXPERIMENTATION SURVIVORS!!!!!! Fucking dog making me sad because a big ass Penguin plushy has stiches. Stupid dog making me emotional over fish, FUCKING FISH. I HATE FISH!!!!

SpyxFamily makes me happy and sad. I think it's a great story to show how connections, friends, family, define a person more than what we'd like to imagine. No person is an island, so seeing characters like Nightfall or Franky, doing missions or getting bits of their backstory, makes it feel more real. Having a character like Anya, being capable of reading mind but not truly understanding most of it makes you think about how children navigate the world.

Oh gosh, I could talk about how SpyxFamily shares an anti-war message through its main characters, all of them victims of the war, one way or another. But it won't, 'cause this was supposed to be about the dog having what I'd call panic attacks because he accidentally broke a glass. BUT WE GET TO THE PENGUIN. In case you haven't read the manga (why are you reading this?) or simply forgot, Bond broke Mr Penguin!

It was an act of jealousy, Anya started playing with the plushie more, and he got lonely. So he destroyed it. He might be an oracle dog, but he is still a dog, I don't blame him. And he felt Bad. He made Anya cry. And he felt terrible because he just wanted Anya back and now Anya's crying and he can't undo it (dogs can't sew). In the end they made it better. I don't remember if it was Lloyd, Yoru or the neighbors, it was probably Yoru though, who fixed it. And the Penguin got cool looking stiches and "he and Bond made Peace".

That was nice, UNTIL THIS GODDAMN CHAPTER. I used to wonder if Bond also felt survivor guilt from being the only dog that managed to escape. TURNS OUT HE DOES, THE DOG HAS SURVIVOR'S GUILT FFS!!!! Poor Bond, realized that he inflicted damage to something like him (unable to defend itself, new/young, a play pretend animal and an animal no longer treated as such) and he tried to make it better. I can't change what I did but I want you to feel better, I'm sorry.

I'm overanalyzing here, it's probably Not That Deep. It's a funny haha manga about a family of dangerous people who end up loving each other by accident. But sometimes it's about Lloyd burying himself in a nameless grave by the time he was 18. It's about Yoru sacrificing her innocence for her brother only to do the same for her. It's about Anya needing validation from everyone because if the people in the lab didn't like her they'd get rid of her. It's about Bond feeling lonely and distressed because a vision he got is especially terrible and he is just a Dog.

I read the interview where Tatsuya Endo said he didn't like the characters that much. Maybe not Gege Akutami (you're going dow Gege) levels of hate, but a blunt indifference. And sometimes I find that hard to believe. Maybe he didn't want Anya to be cutesy-dumb-pink-haired little girl, or Lloyd a super-intelligent-spy-ikemen at first, or even now. But I don't think he doesn't like his story, or characters; we wouldn't have the short missions in the first place if that were the case.

All this to say, cartoon dog made me sad, and then happy, because there are better things coming for everyone in the end. Thank you for reading this far! I'd recommend SpyxFamily if you are up to something a tad dramatic, with a happy ending and endearingly funny. (Or if you have issues with your parents and want a bit of escapism, that's also fair)

[layzeal]

Thank you for your reply on LWJ's character! I have still doubts honestly, because you interpreted the Incense Burner extra as a dream from the real teen!lwj while I also suspected it was a dream he had later on (maybe he had a mix of different ambiguous dreams) but it was greatly influenced by wwx himself during the sex scene on the wood and then his no-more--repressed feelings influenced his subconscius and he basically filled a fantasy prompt. But I saw many have different opinions, I based my idea because according to MXTX lwj have read 🔞 books only after mxy!wwx's return and then I have the "oh" moment when I remembered the gay book porn on the dream.

But again, many people have different opinions on that, I don't want to say my opinion is the most correct!

Incense Dream apart, I understand what you said about LWJ's conflicted repressed feelings and this is why I love him and think to him as a fascinating character. But to me none of this conflict/fear/discomfort can translate as sadism because sadists actually have true joy on inflicting pain and no feelings of guilty and I have never seen this enjoyment from lwj, not even when he's a bit aggressive in bed and he's free from restrain, so I still think such word doesn't really belong to LWJ in his essence and this is a bit "too much" exploration of his dark side (?).

Actually LWJ is very limpid to me. I'm not saying he can't do mistakes, he's totally aware he did bad at the blindfold kiss. Maybe he's more possessive than an actual sadist, because he kissed wwx after wwx threw him a flower during the parade at the Jins hunting, among other girls who did the same at the cultivators as a sign of admiration and desire for courtship (it's a common tradition 🤩) and this of course unleashed a mix of explosive feelings on lwj. He reacted on his impulse and possessive desires, later regretted it. But the true beauty of lwj to me is that he has the potential of being a possessive husband (the whole hide wwx in gusu like his mother, deny him his freedom etc) but he always choose the opposite road, even though it was the hardest for his heart. This is why the "lwj actually is a sadist" doesn't sit well on how I see him. And even being finally free of the restrain, no feeling shame of his desires, it doesn't translate to me as sadism (we also have to put in context what the roleplay is, because actually I interpreted the incense dream in this way!) but the natural consequence of a guy with sharp corners who always feel too much, pining too much, crave too much, and he didn’t know how to do with these emotions because he also felt a bit alienated.

This post is going to be long sorry! I hope it doesn't bother you.

no worries!! lemme just put another read more here LMAO

i think this might just be a difference in interpretation of the wording, then? because by all means, lan wangji fits very well into the terminology of "sadist" in the sexual, bdsm context, he's not a true sadist! but this would mean getting into a whole other conversation about kink analysis and sex ed that i don't really have the energy right now kdjkdjhvjfh but be assured, it's not about lan wangji enjoying hurting people, it's just about him enjoying seeing wwx whine and cry and "fight back" (and then have some very sweet loving aftercare right after)

(funnily enough, even on your first ask, while i was still on the "HUH???" stage, i was reminded on this little section from the incense burner extra, and then thinking about it i was like "wait that person must have meant that other type of sadist")

and yep, on that whole "when did lwj begin 'doing research' by himself", i do tend to put it in his teenage years because of what MXTX said about the Lan library... *ahem* being a big library, but ngl i am also heavily influenced by that one audio drama extra where LQR says that LXC saw him studying a buddhist scripture very attentively and when LQR asks him about it he gets all flusteres, has a flashback to the libraru scene and then tells LQR "he doesn't fully understand the material yet" SKJDFHJKSDHFKJDSHK good teenji i love you. mxtx was so vague about it, and when reading the interview i still can't see it as "he only read it after wwx returned", only that he didnt do it suring those 13 years, which makes sense! my poor guy was grieving too much to get horny about gay sex with wei ying 😭 but considering how he did already know how to do it after guanyin temple, and up until that point LWJ still believed WWX had rejected him, i can only see him doing any actual research before wei wuxian died KDSFJHKDSKDJFHKJ

on everything you said about "But "the true beauty of lwj to me is that he has the potential of being a possessive husband (the whole hide wwx in gusu like his mother, deny him his freedom etc) but he always choose the opposite road, even though it was the hardest for his heart." i aboslutely agree with, and it's also one of my favorite things about lan wangji!!! he's so aware of his desires and what he should and shouldn't do, that when he does slip, he becomes SO frustrated with himself, he can only punch a tree and yell at wwx to get away from him, though it is that last part about how his sexual desires don't translate into sadism. it does, he is by definition a sadist!! just like wei wuxian is also by definition a masochist!! but ONLY in these sexual scenarios they create for themselves, and not in the actual, violent sense of the word that he finds actual joy in hurting people. context matters!!

[toxicruins101]

"Why not?"

DreamSMP x male! Reader

(this is written in 1st person so either way no pronouns are mentioned.)

TW: WAR, BLOOD, GORE, EXPLOSIONS, WEAPONS AND POSSIBLY MORE!

Blood

That was everything that clouded your vision and the floor around you

What happened? How could this have happened?

I never meant for it to end like this

I didn't do anything wrong

Yet pain is all I'm able to feel as of now, not sadness anger envy grief nothing

Just pain

I look up with little strength I have, my arm thrown to one side of the battlefield as the distant sound of sword clashing and screaming are heard around me

I know I'm going to die soon

No one can survive this

I can feel each and all burning wounds and bruises around my body each slowly briking me more to the edge of death

Each wound hurts more and more as the seconds pass

"DREAM! DREAM PLEASE! LOOK AROUND YOU! IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?!" I heard a distant voice say

One I recognized

Tommy, the main character, main hero, everything good about a character is him, he's the saviour of this story, or you had hoped he'd been.

"YOU BROUGHT THIS APON EVERYONE TOMMY! YOU STARTED THIS YOU'LL END IT!" another voice, yet this one felt as lonley and as distant as you felt about the man.

Dream, in a word, evil, if you could use that word to describe someone it would be him

He has done countless and countless of crimes and sins, he was the villan, he found joy in killing, humor in torture, and love in death.

He was barley human, he was closer to Satan himself than to his fiends and family.

Yet it didn't really matter now did it? You were going to die either way

So who cares?

You didn't have any family, barley any friends, how could someone as insignificant as you matter in this living hell?

Yet my thoughts are closed off by that feeling

A feeling of panic, peace and rest at the same time.

Death, he had finally come to visit you after all these years.

Years and years of waiting yet he never came and now he seemed closer than ever

You closed your eyes and let out a breath you don't know you were holding

And let that beatiful feeling overwhelm you, your memories, your expiriences, thoughts, your feelings, your senses and finally.

Your soul.

........

.......

......

.....

....

...

..

.

"Hello?" a distant voice said almost like an echo

What? You had died? Where were you?

How is this possible? I don't want to be here

I just want peace

I want to rest

Thats all I ask for, nothing more nothing less, the sweet release of death

The forever silence, sleeping forever, just you and your thoughts

Why.

"well that's rather depressive" said the voice again, wait what?

How did it know?

Can it read my thoughts?

"I certainly can but not for the reason you think." the voice said again, the echo still present, it felt so far yet so near like that lovely feeling you had experienced not that long ago.

It had a almost male voice yet it was still very neutral, as if it didn't belong to a girl or a man.

"because it dosen't" the voice said again and I finally got the courage to speak.

"who are you?" my voice trembled, I had never felt so weak or confused.

"well, I'm the author" the author? What did that mean?

Wait

Who am I?

Why can't I see myself any longer?

Is this all I am?

Some simple words on a website?

"for them, you are, for me? Your my creativity, my thoughts and everything and more." what does that mean?

Are there more of me?

Of these stories with millions of words after another?

All in one simple website among million of other characters and stories

"right on the bullseye"

"how many more?"

"what?"

"how many more of me are there?"

The voice chuckled a bit then said

"more than you could ever hope to comprehend"

"why do you do this? Bring this pain and write about it?"

"why shouldn't I?"

"you said we're your creativity, your thoughts and more, yet if so why inflict this pain on us?"

"well, every main character deserves a story, yet I can't just write about a simple day to day life can I?, who would read that?"

"I understand that, Yet why must you present pain and suffering?" why do this?"

The voice laughed a bit before saying with a smile clear on their face even though I couldn't see them.

"Why not?"

(hellooo, author here, this was something quick I wrote cause I thought it was a cool idea lol, also to take the chance and say that my requests, asks and DM's are always open! So go ahead and submit anything you would like to see me write about! ^^ of course it has to be related to the dsmp cause thats literally my whole page LMAO, sooo, yeah! And if anyone wants to be mutual or something just go ahead and add me or dm me and I'll answer as soon as I can, anyways thanks for reading, hope you have a great day/night, see ya!)

[mylittleredgirl]

dear smut4smut author 🔥

Thank you in advance for writing for me! I’m very easy to please as a reader and love being surprised, so I hope you can write something you like.

There were so many wonderful tags in this exchange and I signed up literally 30 seconds before the bell rang, so I may have missed adding some of my always-loved kinks to every request, but I do always love them! You can also assume "and similar tags" are okay for the requested tags. This tumblr has anon asks open if you want to tease or clarify!

I'm usually a "they are/could be really really in love (even if they don't know it yet at the time of the fic)" kind of shipper, but I made a note in the M*A*S*H section where that's kind of different!

--

💕 I love: canon divergence | complications (e.g. emotional baggage, working together while in a relationship, traumas inflicted by canon) | episode-related fics | fix-its | friends to lovers | happy/hopeful endings | hurt/comfort | “it’s just casual” to lovers | other canon characters included in the fic | pining | polyamory dynamics | 5-times | all ratings are welcome.

🔥 Kinks enjoyed: aliens made them do it (or local canon equivalent) | blow jobs | body worship (especially related to body changes like aging, scars, weight gain, etc) | edging | hand jobs | masturbation | soft dom/sub (bondage and praise yes; pain and shame no; bedroom dynamic not 24/7 lifestyle) | watching/voyeurism | sweet I-love-you sex works for me too!!

⛔️ DNWs: alternate-setting AUs* | bashing of other characters or past canon relationships | crossovers (except between series in the same universe, like star trek) | hurt no comfort | non-canon nicknames | non-sexual bodily fluids in sex scenes | permanent character death | spelling out accents (for human characters) | unplanned pregnancy unless noted | zombies or blood-sucking vampires (other canon-typical aliens and cryptids are ok!).

*AU clarification: I don’t want alternate-setting (coffee-shop, law office, regency, etc) AUs, but I LOVE what-if canon divergence AUs of all sizes: fix-its, what if X episode ended differently, what if Y foundational thing didn't happen (e.g. “what if Agent Scully wasn’t assigned to debunk the X Files in the pilot episode, but she and Mulder met another way”), as long as they are still the same characters in the same canon universe.

--

🌃 Stargate Atlantis 🌃 (John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir)

My home-field ship is Sheppard/Weir, and I love them in every weather! I have also read some great ot3 fics and there really aren't enough of them to meet all the potential. John and Rodney both love her so so much in canon and are people who really don't know how to process or express that, and it makes me want to see how they figure it out... or make it messier. If you're writing that ot3, it's important to me that Elizabeth be a full and loved participant in the dynamic (and not just a guest or a ghost in a McShep fic).

In any case, I really want Elizabeth to be alive! Equally fine with fics set in seasons 1-3, AUs where Elizabeth is rescued or comes back another way, or fics where "that just didn't happen." I'm fine with "came back wrong" or suffering along the way as long as at her core she's Elizabeth and it ends in a hopeful or happy way.

Tags requested:

"Thank God You're/We're Alive" Sex

Aphrodisiacs

Body Worship

Can't Stop Thinking About It - Can't Forget One Night Stand

Clearly The Fact That We Keep Having Sex Is A Series of Unrelated Bad Decisions

Comfort Sex

Desperate Arousal

Dom/sub - Soft Dom

Established Relationship - The Inherent Romance And Eroticism Of Being Known

Hand Jobs

Hurt/Comfort Sex

Masturbation

Mutual Pining

On the run together [Maybe they rescue Elizabeth but can't return to Atlantis for some reason...?]

Praise Kink

Reunion Sex

Sex Pollen

trapped together

Trauma Recovery

Voyeurism

--

👽 Stargate SG-1 👽 (Clone Sam/Jack)

I love this ship when they’re still themselves, but now with some understandable existential angst and alienation from both their past and new lives. I love exploring the tension between what they have lost and this new life they have, and the challenges of navigating a relationship when they spent so long NOT being in a relationship. Sexually, it must be so strange (and perhaps also so fun?) to have new bodies with old souls and skills...

"I know it's still you in there" Sex

Body Worship

Comfort Sex

First Time

Hurt/Comfort Sex

Mutual Masturbation With Intent to Watch Each Other in Lieu of First Time Sex

Playful Sex

Praise Kink

Semi-Public Sex

Shower Sex

Tender Sex

DNW: Either of them having sex with other teenagers. DNW exception: I usually DNW unplanned pregnancy, but I'm ok with pregnancy scares or unplanned pregnancy for these two.

--

🍺 Cheers 🍺 (Sam/Diane)

This couple is the platonic ideal of “toxic ship that needs to be together monogamously forever as a quarantine measure so nobody else ever has to be part of this.” I love them. They’re the worst. They have incredible sex and want each other so bad it makes them look stupid. I NEED them to annoy each other til death do they part. I will happily read smut, fluff, angst, unhealthy coping mechanisms, hate-sex-but-secretly-I-love-you-sex, canon-like comedy disaster shenanigans, even an unlikely-fantasy version of them where they go an entire loving fic without torturing each other because they've figured things out feeds my heart.

Tags:

Alternate Universe - Soulmates [they would hate this sooooo much!! a true escalation of their dynamic in the show to cosmic levels]

Argument leads to sex

bickering as foreplay

Clearly The Fact That We Keep Having Sex Is A Series of Unrelated Bad Decisions

Clothing - Black tie dress code

Faking Sex to Fool Someone Watching Results in Real Sex

Kept Constantly Aroused [just imagining them doing a "who will break first" torture game all week in the bar...]

Oral - Sneaking away from public event for risky semi-public cunnilingus

Position - Table Sex

Position - Wall Sex

Reconciliation Sex

Slap Slap Kiss

unexpected tenderness

Wedding Night

--

⛑ M*A*S*H ⛑

I'm brand new to this fandom! As of writing this, I have watched through season 4 and it is rewiring my brain daily. They're all trapped together and so they love each other and hate each other and admire and need and pity and sometimes they just like each other. Everyone is horny and everyone's a little pathetic. They're all obsessed with each other in one way or another and I'm obsessed with them!!

I'm always happy to read romantic love, but in this case, these clowns are so situationally codependent that I think "flawed human people who need something in a hard situation and get some of it from each other through sex (and learn something about themselves or each other/maybe grow closer in some way through that)" rings true! (This is not a request to not do romance though if that's what rings true for you.)

About the ships:

I am obsessed with Frank and Margaret's dysfunctional relationship, I have spent waaaay too many hours thinking about What's Wrong With Them. They are so horny it's doing them psychological damage (and doing psychological damage to everyone else in the 4077 who has to think about it). You know they fuck so well.

Hawkeye/Trapper/Margaret has the potential to be really hot or kind of silly or even... surprisingly sweet. I answered an ask about it recently here!! Either this is a case of her calling their bluff because she's fed up, a circumstantial case of irrepressibly horny people huddling for warmth, or maybe they're really taking care of each other when they need it.

Trapper/Margaret: I soooooo wanted them to hook up [and probably regret it] [but could they stop at just once??]. I mean she's hot for him and he's got a lot of charged energy around her and they'd both really like to put each other in their place... 🔥

Hawkeye/Trapper: They are together in all kinds of weather! They are besties, the automatic plus-one for any shenanigan, they're so open with each other, they're so physically affectionate, they'd do anything for each other... (I also answered an ask about them.)

I just realized I didn't click on Hawkeye/Margaret and now it looks like I specifically excluded them.

Hawkeye/Trapper/Margaret/Frank: This one is kind of a writing dare tbh, but the comedy doubles act in every scene with these four makes me curious how it could happen. Couple swap? Both couples having sex in the same place but expressly NOT paying attention to each other (jk unless...)? Is this what will finally get them out of the time loop????

Tags:

"Thank God You're/We're Alive" Sex

Awkward First Times

Can't Stop Thinking About It - Can't Forget One Night Stand

Clearly The Fact That We Keep Having Sex Is A Series of Unrelated Bad Decisions

Clothing - Coming In Pants

Comfort Sex

Desperate Arousal

Frenemies with Benefits

Friends With Benefits

Huddling For Warmth Leads To Sex

Praise Kink

Sex as a Team-Building Exercise

Sex Chicken - 'I won't back down first!' mentality leads to sex

Sex gets paused to deal with PTSD then maybe returned to

Slap Slap Kiss

Switching

Threesome - A/B have sex while C watches

Threesome - F/M/M

Time Travel - Time Loop can only be broken by having sex with specific person

Voyeurism

--

🛸 The X-Files 🛸 (Doggett/Reyes, Doggett/Reyes/Scully, Mulder/Scully/Doggett/Reyes)

Doggett/Reyes is a lifelong ship for me, and I love the season 9 dynamics between Doggett, Reyes, and Scully – how they work together professionally, their developing friendships and trust, and their romantic attractions. Some of the draw of an ot4 with all the agents is the idea that their affections for everyone in the group are not equal and not the same, so that makes for a fun dynamic. How does it happen? How do they not just end up killing each other?

Tags:

"Thank God You're/We're Alive" Sex

Blow Jobs

Clothing - Black tie dress code

Comfort Sex

Hand Jobs

Hurt/Comfort Sex

On the run together

Playful Sex

Telepathic Bond [so fascinated by Monica's spooky visions and how she's convinced Doggett has them too...]

Threesome - A/B have sex while C watches

Threesome - Established Couple Seducing Third Character

--

That's all! :) I hope you find something fun here to entertain you. Thank you again!

[meimi-haneoka]

I wonder if CLAMP will ever give us the answer to why can't magic families show their kids their deceased parents photos 🥺

Iirc Akiho didn't have photos of her parents and syaoran didn't have photos of his dad either...

And then sakura has photos of her mom and now she can see them cuz her powers are growing too quickly? Wonder if photos have any influence hmmm...

Curious about ur thoughts on this! :D

Side note, thank u for all the translations and healthy discussions! Always a joy to read them

First of all, thank YOU anon for reading and appreciating my posts! 💜 I love the term "healthy discussions", it is really what I aim for. Sometimes I might be too exhausted to talk about certain topics (cause of discourse I see around) but I try my best.

The question you raised is really interesting! Since we have already two examples of kids part of magical clans who can't somehow see pictures of their deceased parents, it's legit to raise some questions on that matter.

In my opinion, though, the "source" of this is different between Syaoran and Akiho.

For Syaoran, we somehow have a vague idea of the family climate he grew up in. The Li Clan is certainly a renowned and powerful magical clan, and although there might be a certain amount of strictness "enforced" by Yelan (the current head of the family) to maintain a certain control over the clan, we also have seen plenty of examples of love and care in Syaoran's household. His sisters dote on him in the anime (let's remember that, despite appearing only in the anime, the four Li sisters are characters created by CLAMP and their existence is confirmed in the manga as well), and his mother can be very sweet with him in difficult times (like the story of the Mini Book that came with vol. 10 of Clear Card). So I'm inclined to believe that, if Yelan didn't keep pictures of her late husband around the house, there must be a deep reason: 1- Psychological reasons 2- She didn't actually have a good relationship with him 3- She's afraid of the emotional response of her child with impressive magical powers at such young age. Let's remember that Sakura herself was seemingly "stopped" by Nadeshiko's ghost before reaching for a projection of her mother when she was little, suggesting that her chaotic powers might have caused an irreversible damage. After all, we had multiple, subtle & non-subtle evidences that emotional state DOES influence a magician's control over their powers. Maybe Yelan is well aware of this and wants to delay that for when her son is more experienced with controlling his own powers. I don't really know, but these are my theories for what concerns the Li side of this question. 😁

Sadly, I can't say the same for Akiho's clan. I won't call them the "Shinomoto Clan" as they've never been called that way in the story and I have a strong theory that Akiho's name is fake. So I will call them with my favorite moniker, "Squid Clan" 😁😁 As we all know, Akiho was born without any trace of magical powers. So I highly doubt her clan would refuse (because this is what they did, they REFUSED upon her stubborn and persistent requests) to give Akiho pictures of her parents in fear of what could cause an overwhelming emotional response. I don't even believe in the psychological reasons, as no one seemed to particularly grieve for Lilie and her husband's demise, if not for the loss of a magical asset in their clan. And we already know that they couldn't give a f- about Akiho's mental state, since they were the ones inflicting permanent damages on it in the first place. Nah, unfortunately in Akiho's case I think it was simply some kind of "punishment" for not having any magical powers. I remind you that, in one of the flashbacks, one of the bastards even dared questioning if Akiho was truly the daughter of Lilie and her husband. It's somehow as if she can't be really considered their daughter if she didn't inherit any magical ability from them. And so, why would she have any right to keep or even see how her parents looked like? They died to protect her, after all. The biggest asset to their clan was gone because of her. (god, my hands are shaking while I write this.) So once again, I simply believe their greed and cruelty is the reason why they refused her any picture of her parents.

[foxymoxynoona]

I understand her and the fact of reproducing the family pattern too, my father did not succeed in breaking it before we came of age but my brother and I succeeded. in fact I pointed out her behavior because I found her hypocritical and she ultimately did no better than what she criticized others for. Her pride was misplaced and her blindness to the psychological violence she inflicts on her children (from my point of view) but her evolution throughout the story is pleasant to read. Living in a violent family is difficult on several levels, the physical and obviously the psychological, but the hardest thing is to hate and at the same time love more than anything the people who are supposed to protect us but hurt us deep inside. Thank you for your kind words, yes I created my cocoon after years of refusing a life as a couple because men terrified me (this is still the case) but my companion is the sweetest person I know with Me. if he could be with the others that would be good too but he's not bad. Also I love my parents more than anything and I’m glad that my father was capable of changing and became the sweet dad he is right now. It didn’t change what he puts us through but it made me proud and love him more

you create people who are so realistic in their faults that it's both very hard to read but also very interesting and I really enjoy reading your stories, hating certain faults and finding others endearing in the characters. See them struggle to be better, fall, get up and get there. I just see that you had hard times recently, I hope life treats you better now and that you’re doing well

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

"but the hardest thing is to hate and at the same time love more than anything the people who are supposed to protect us but hurt us deep inside." this is beautifully written and so true, I wrote those pieces from my heart every time Ezra protected his relationship particularly with Landon, every time Isabella gave Colleen another chance, etc etc. It does make it even more tragic when children are denied the love they deserve from the people they love and want to be most close too.

I completely understand how complex it is to decide how to manage adult relationships with parents who created awful home environments. My husband and I both have mixed results. In some cases it's a careful adult relationship, but he did choose to completely cut his mom from his life and go no contact. When I or my brother have tried to talk to my dad about our childhood, it goes nowhere. My husband's father still denies the things he allowed to go on in their home. It's just sad, all around. I'm glad you're in a happier place and I'm sorry for the warmth and joy you were denied as a child that you deserved <3

[erabundus]

anonymous &&. said... I really find your writing beautiful. I am not sure if someone already asked this but can you give me or us a tip on how to write beautifully and eloquently like you do? Thank you!

ANON  THIS  IS  REALLY  SWEET ...  i  love  writing  here,  and  i'm  endlessly  grateful  to  everyone  who  gives  me  the  opportunity  to  inflict  the  curse  of  my  endless  wanderer  brainrot  upon  them.

i  answered  a  similar  question  once  before  (  i  can't  seem  to  find  it  now  though,  sobs  )  but  that  was  more  geared  towards  general  writing  advice.  i.e.  i  try  to  avoid  repeating  words,  break  up  dialogue  with  action,  introspection  or  observation  and  so  on.  as  far  as  my  own  personal  style  goes,  i  wish  i  could  cite  a  source  of  inspiration,  but  it's  really  just  the  end  result  of  me  pouring  too  many  years  into  this  hellsite  SVSKS

metaphor  is  basically  my  best  friend  —  it  does  a  very  nice  job  at  illustrating  a  point  or  leaving  the  reader  with  a  certain  emotion!  it  helps  your  writing  flow  a  bit  more  poetically  too,  i  think.  i  also  really  enjoy  repetition.  it  can  be  used  sparingly  in  more  down  to  earth  scenes  —  but  when  a  character  is  having  an  unpleasant  thought  or  placed  in  a  distressing  situation,  repeating  certain  words  or  phrasing  over  and  over  and  over  again  tends  to  help  sell  that  their  mind  is  racing.  (  i  like  to  use  the  rule  of  three  for  this!  i.e.  repeat  something  three  times.  though  occasionally  i'll  break  it.  )  the  same  goes  for  adjusting  the  narration  to  have  very  clipped  and  short  sentences  /  observations,  because  if  a  character  is  experiencing immense  anxiety,  they  probably  don't  have  time  to stop and  calmly  describe  the  color  of  the  wallpaper.

in  general,  i  think  paying  a  lot  of  attention  to  your  muse  is  incredibly  useful  for  writing  posts  that  flow  nicer  and  have  their  own  unique  style.  ren's  narration  tends  to  be  a  wordy  with  a  cynical  edge  because  that's  just  the  kind  of  person  he  is  —  i  imagine  my  replies  kind  of  like  his  own  internal  dialogue,  just  adjusted  to  be  in  the  third  person.  (  this  becomes  very  obvious  when  he's  thinking  about  kazuha  and  he's  referred  to  with  eight  different  pet  names.  )  i  also  prefer  writing  in  present  tense  as  opposed  to  past  tense,  but  that  might  be  more  of  a  personal  choice.  i  think  it  makes  it a lot  easier  to  convey  emotion!

the  only  other  thing  i  can  think  to  add  is  vocabulary!  expanding  it  is  probably  the  best  possible  tip  i  can  give.  a  lot  of  the  time  i  feel  like  i  passively  learn  new  words  just  through  reading  and  writing  with  other  people.  it  helps  keep  my  posts  from  becoming  too  repetitive  and  just  generally  makes  every  other  suggestion  i've  made  much simpler.

i hope this helps!

[sam-glade]

Happy WBW! Sorry for such a late ask!!

What languages are spoken in your fictional world(s) aside from English/the common tongue/etc.?

Ella! Thank you for the question💜

Even though the story covers a small-ish continent, everyone speaks effectively a single language. Sure, there are regional phrases and words, but with enough patience any two people can understand each other. Here's a real-life example of how it works.

However!

We're dealing with a long-lived (effectively immortal) race, and I'd say the more interesting linguistic variations are across time. Specifically:

Up to about two millennia ago (15-18 generations*), the language spoken was in a way telepathic. It relied on shoving the impression of what you're trying to convey into other person's mind.

Pros: Anyone can understand what you're saying.

Cons: People who grew up without speaking it, hate it with passion. And they can't speak it. They have no idea how to do the telepathic thing.

So of course I'm inflicting it on my relatively young cast.

Anyway, the way this developed is as follows:

In the dim and distant past, children used to speak 'mother's tongue' composed of sounds, and have 'mother's names', likewise spoken out loud. When they reached adulthood, during their first shearing ceremony, they'd pick a name in the 'adult's' language (now known as Elder Speech - that's the term I'll use for it from now on).

The adult names used to be of the form 'The Flutter of Wings of Larks at Dawn' or 'The Glimmer of Starlight on a Spider's Web in the Forest'. In Elder Speech it would be a single image shoved into your mind, and would take a split second to convey.

Similarly, a simple statement like 'I ate an apple' could convey how clear the memory of the apple was - was it small or large, red or green, sweet or tart, etc. You'd inflict the impression of eating an apple on someone.

However, this required a lot of concentration and practice.

And was, of course, a Faff.

In time, 'Mother's tongue' ended up being spoken by adults as well, for simplicity. It meant that regional accents had developed, but was Less Faff. At the same time, people who have grown up speaking Elder Speech, found themselves translating their names into common tongue (and mourning the loss of nuance).

The 'Flutter of Wings...' became Skylark. The 'Glimmer of Starlight...' was then known as Starlight, and later as Atterius of the Moon-and-Star, the White Dragon and the First Prince ('Moon-and-Star' became his house's/family's name). A lot of the names of old cities are now very literal, like 'City of Light' or 'Gale's Rest' (for the capital cities of princedoms), and old characters started using their old names as surnames/epithets. Hence, we now have Claren Nightingale, Katya the Catnip, Mikkel Amberblade, etc.