#anyway this is my soapbox for the night

[curiosity-killed]

the one thing i will say on the Trump verdict is I'm seeing a lot of posts about basically "how can we let a FELON run for PRESIDENT (and/or vote)" which is making me feel very "don't make me tap the sign" about why folks who've been convicted of felonies also deserve the right to run for office/vote and how creating categories of people who are not allowed to run for office/vote is a great way to incentivize pushing political opponents (or members of marginalized groups) into those categories in order to disenfranchise and disempower them

[vinelark]

I failed to submit multiple homework assignments because I spent my midnight study time reading bbts instead. And you know what? Completely worth it, have a croissant.

✨🥐✨

Genuinely saved my day when I felt terrible on multiple occasions, I appreciate you so much.

hell yeah! i’m a homework hater (as in, hater of the concept of it on principle) so i support you doing something fun instead of a few assignments.

and i’m so glad it has brightened your day ❤️

[murderballadeer]

determined that the thing i hate abt texting is waiting for the response bc like it's supposed to be instantaneous that's the promise that comes with that technology so then when someone doesn't respond for a few hours even though in and of itself that's normal like nobody would find that weird with email or actual letters but when it's texting there's an expectation. so like having to send a text and then just Wait for a response makes me sooooo anxious and i want to throw my phone in the sea

[britomart]

bro i’m so tired bro i’m not even kidding bro i have like no energy bro i’m so sleepy and tired like bro i gotta sleep i gotta crash bro i’m eepy fr proper eepy bro come to bed with me brother like bro i’m so tired

[honeydots]

🥀Where The Wicked Go ✧ nilezura | completed | 1.2k ✧ Rated T ✧ Summary: Nohr is about to invade Hoshido, and Niles knows something is bothering Azura. But she asks Niles to trust her—and if he does, she'll tell him everything.

[basketonthedoorstepofthefbi]

Big Hands (Spencer Reid x Fem!PlusSize!Reader)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!PlusSize!Reader

Summary: You and your boyfriend, Spencer, are getting ready for a night out, when your insecurities start to get the best of you.

Word Count: 1531 -- it's just a lil guy

Warnings: Body insecurities, maybe a little bit of a big-girl-soapbox

A/N: I definitely wrote this very quickly this afternoon because I literally just felt like it. This is just a short lil one for the big gals who just want someone to notice them.

Anyway hope you enjoy! Thank you all who have commented/reblogged/liked my last fic!!

-

Your jeans hugged your curvy hips as you tugged them up to your belly button, covering the bottom, larger part of your stomach. You were tall, for a woman, but not taller than Spencer. He was, what, 6’1”? You stood around 5’9”, so he still towered over you, still had to look down at you when he spoke, still had to crane his neck to whisper in your ear. 

You were wearing a flowy, sage green blouse. Why were clothes so hard to find for a larger girl? It was all cold-shoulders and obnoxious patterns. You just wanted something that flattered your body type and made you feel sexy. Apparently that was just a ridiculous request. This blouse was cute, but modest, with a ruched, fluted bunching of the fabric in the middle. The collar was low-cut to accent your breasts, but the sleeves were long, which was annoying. You were going dancing tonight with your boyfriend and his coworkers. You didn’t want to show off all of your body, by any means, but you wanted to look hot. Who could blame you? And it was also going to get hot, temperature-wise. Long sleeves just didn’t feel like the most pragmatic choice. 

Sometimes you just gave up and went with the best option. And this blouse, that made you feel like you were going to a casual church event, not to a bar, was, unfortunately, the best option. 

You inhaled sharply and shrugged your shoulders as you looked in the full-length mirror hooked on the back of the closet door. Your hair looked really cute - the two biggest pieces on either side in the front were braided and dangled in front of you, effectively bringing your hair out of your eyes but also provided something to give your hair a little pizzazz. Your makeup looked great - a simple, subtle smokey eye and glossy lips. Your black boots looked good, peeking out from your wide-legged jeans, which hugged your hips and, honestly, made your butt look really good. 

It was just this stupid shirt. And maybe you were getting too much in your head about it. But you were transfixed on it, hating the way the sleeves bunched up a little, how the bottom half flowed beneath the ruched fabric, effectively covering your stomach, meeting your jeans and the top of your thighs. The color was too muted for a going-out top - you wished you could wear something more exciting. 

You sometimes wished you looked like Emily or JJ, or had the self-confidence to rock loud looks like Penelope did. But then you remembered that you were who you were for a reason. You looked like you simply because that was what you looked like. And there was no point in wishing you looked like someone else. 

Plus, Spencer was really into your body. He was nearly always staring at your breasts when you were in private, sometimes to the point where you had to snap your fingers in front of his eyes to garner his attention. 

It was flattering. You didn’t mind it if your boyfriend objectified you a little bit. He was respectful about it. 

“Y/N, are you about ready?” Spencer walked into your bedroom as you looked at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes met Spencer’s and you saw his neutral expression turn into a full-fledged grin, biting his tongue and all. “You look really nice,” he said, and you shook your head. 

“I look like a chaperone at a middle school dance,” you frowned, tugging at the fabric of your blouse in some illogical attempt to make it look different. 

“What?” Spencer stood behind you in the mirror. His chin basically met the top of your head, like too puzzle pieces. One hand rested on your hip, while the other slowly brushed your hair to one side so he could press a kiss to your neck. “I think you look great,” he added. 

You immediately felt tingly and your knees wobbled at the action. “But I’m not dressing for you,” you said, your voice instinctively dropping as Spencer’s lips trailed down your neck. You were having trouble concentrating on what you were trying to say. “I’m dressing for me, and I want to look cute. I can’t believe you’re even going tonight. You don’t dance, Spencer,” you pointed out, your self-control somehow beating out your desire for Spencer in the moment. You broke away from him and turned around to face him. 

“You do look cute, Y/N. I don’t understand what the issue is?” Spencer’s head cocked to the side as he looked down at you. “Also, I’m going out tonight because you want to. And I’m trying to keep an open mind. I might enjoy it.” 

You were proud of him. When you started dating about six months ago, he would have simply politely declined an invitation to a night out. And while you didn’t love going out every night, or even every weekend, for that matter, you did enjoy a night out occasionally. 

Regardless, he still didn’t quite understand what you were feeling about that damn shirt. “The issue,” you began, heaving a sigh, “is that I’m insecure about my body. Like any woman. You don’t get it, because you’re a man, and you literally have nothing to be insecure about.”

You knew the words were incorrect the moment you said them, but something kept you from backpedaling. You watched as Spencer shook his head, letting a small laugh escape him. “You could not be further from the truth,” Spencer pointed out, and you knew he was right. Men had plenty to be insecure about, and it was, in some ways, even more difficult for men to express those feelings. 

“Well, I think you’re perfect,” You let a small, playful smile creep onto your face, and Spencer rolled his eyes as you used his own tactic from earlier. He stepped towards you and his hands found your waist, contouring to match your curves. He knew them so well now, he could probably draw a map of your body with his eyes closed. 

“I appreciate that,” Spencer said, his voice a little softer as your eyes met his. His head dipped down, and you thought, certainly, that he was going to kiss you, but instead, his lips stopped just barely by your ears. You could feel his breath on your neck, and a shiver ran down your spine as he spoke. “You might be insecure, Y/N, but I am, too. You’re just human.” 

“What are you insecure about?” You found yourself asking, pulling your head back to look at him properly. Now you were curious. 

“My hands, mostly,” Spencer removed his hands from your waist, holding them palm-up, as if to present them to you for the first time. 

“What’s wrong with your hands?” You asked, placing your palms atop his. 

“They’re really big,” Spencer said timidly, and, admittedly, they were. But just by comparison. Your hands fit into his with plenty of extra space. You used your index fingers to trace his palms. 

“They’re not too big,” you told him, and Spencer just smiled down at you, shaking his head, like he was just humoring you. “I love your hands,” you continued. “I love that you can put your palm over an entire half of my face,” you said, guiding his palm to your cheek and grinning when his skin touched yours. Spencer’s thumb brushed your cheekbone. 

“And I love your body,” Spencer replied, and you just pursed your lips and shook your head. “No, Y/N, listen to me.” 

You let out a frustrated little exhale through your nose and let him continue. 

“I love the way you look. But I wouldn’t care if you were any bigger or any smaller. Because I love you. I’m attracted to you, to your mind, to your sense of compassion, and to your body. I love the way your hips fill out your jeans, how your stomach looks in your yoga pants,” he said. “I love the way you wiggle your toes when we’re watching something funny on TV, how you do a little shimmy in your seat when you’re eating something you really enjoy,” he explained, mimicking the movement. You looped your arms around his neck. “But mostly, I’m in love with your personality. How you challenge me, how you seem to bring out the best version of myself.”

You let out a wistful sigh. If this were a Jane Austen novel, you would have swooned. But instead, you used your grip around his neck to bring his face down to yours and kiss him. It was slow at first, then a little more intense, and when you finally pulled away, your forehead rested against his. 

“You ready to go now?” Spencer asked, and when your eyes opened, you saw that he was smiling down at you. 

You shook your head, a mischievous smile spreading across your face. “Not yet,” you said, your hands sliding down his arms until your palms met his. You tugged him in the direction of your bed. “I want to show you how much I love these big hands.” 

[cassafrasscr]

Because I'm having a bad fucking chronic pain day, and feeling some type of way about it, I'm gonna rant more about Ashton.

Can we talk about how Ashton talks about their pain? Or rather, how he doesn't?

I think Ashton's actually mentioned actively being in pain, like... 3 times in the 86 episodes they've filmed so far? The first time that I can remember is during/immediately after Imogen and FCG delved into their mind and actually experienced what it's like to live in their body.

The second time was in the second episode of the Issylra arc, when the group is packing up to move towards Hearthdell, and Ashton mentions off-hand that he was in pain the night before.

And then the third time was e86. When Ashton collapses after dropping his Titan form, and Orym asks if they're okay, Ashton’s response is along the lines of "I'm fine, it just hurts."

You know what Ashton says a lot more often?

I'm so tired. I'm exhausted. We should really take a rest first. Can we please take a fucking rest now?

It seems subtle at first, but as someone who has chronic pain it hits hard. 'Cause most of the time that's exactly what I say.

Because when you're in pain all the time, the healthy/abled/non-chronic-pain-havers around you don't want to hear about it. It makes them uncomfortable.

Being in constant pain and giving voice to it makes you a whiner. A complainer. A wuss. A flake.

Have you tried yoga? Or drinking more water? Or the current fad diet?

So instead, you learn to allude to it in ways that won’t make the ableds uncomfortable. For me, a lot of the time, that takes the form of:

"I'm just really tired."

So, seeing Ashton pushing themself well past their limits to keep up with their friends and doing what the other Hells want - only to end up completely nerfing themself with 2 points of exhaustion... hits very close to home. Especially seeing most of their friends completely disregard their pain until they couldn't anymore.

Orym is really the only one who consistently shows any consideration for their chronic pain - and the boundaries and limitations that go with it. I only had a handful of friends like that when I was younger, and I treasured every single one of them.

As the kid who always got left behind to walk with a chaperone on field trips because I couldn't keep up with the other kids... it brings back a lot of that frustration and hurt to see it playing out like this for Ashton, but also validates it in a way I'm profoundly grateful for.

Anyway. That's all I have to say about that at the moment. I'll climb down off my soapbox now.

(Really slowly though, 'cause my knees are fucking killing me.)

[dionysianchub]

Hi! Was just wondering if I could ask for some advice! Long story short I recently realized I was into soft feedism as a male feeder! I brought it up to my partner who LOVES to eat and eating already makes her feel so happy well we tried to connect food and pleasure and unfortunately it brought up trauma and insecurities! Well we are conditioning her to become a hopelessly addicted fvck toy already so I decided to start trying to subconsciously condition her to connect the two! I think it’s going good within the last week I’ve been praising her when it comes to eating lots of you’re doing good or good job when she finishes asking if she’s excited for her meals or snacks as well as praising burps and telling her she’s a good girl when she eats until she says she’s full which latley she says that then has a couple sweets on top of it! She’s starting to mindlessly moan while eating eyes rolling back and all! As well as eating more than she ever has before and now I can visually tell she’s more rounded and stuffed throughout the day this past week with no complaints like before!! Also the past couple days specifically when I’m pleasuring her I make sure to do lots of belly rubs during especially during cumming or orgasms! In fact last night I’m pretty sure I caught her rubbing and kneading her stomach by herself while I was pleasuring her! Do you think these are good signs? Also do you have any tips?

I have to be honest, this sounds Super Duper Not Okay. I actually put my phone down and came back to this to read a second time, just to make sure I wasn't misreading, and it sounds like you're saying that you're trying to subconsciously coerce her to be okay with something that was very traumatic for her, without her express consent. I truly, sincerely hope I'm misunderstanding the situation; because if I AM reading this right, this is intensely fucked up and something that is never okay to do to your partner. CNC is great and can be very pleasurable, but the key is the consent and verbal communication of intent. She may be happy right now, feeling like she can eat whatever she wants and is getting praise for it, but if Feedism was already triggering for her, it is likely to be problematic down the road. Best case, she decides she's okay with it, but you tricked her into it. Worst case, she's having a bad day or is already down about something and realizes that she's gained weight, and it retriggers that trauma she already expressed - the trauma you chose to ignore and take it upon yourself to condition her without her input. Based on her current responses, she very well could be into this, but weight gain can still be deeply traumatizing for people who have experienced fatphobia or abuse. I myself spent years unlearning the things that were inflicted on me to feel comfortable as a gainer, and I STILL have my off days. It is so, so important that she has a voice in this.

I always tell people Feedism is, in my opinion, one of the most extreme kink/fetishes you can have, because most other kinks can be put away in a drawer when you're done, or washed away in the shower. This is permanent. The subject of the weight gain has their body physically and visibly altered, in a way that can be traumatic and severely detrimental to their long term health. You have to make a conscious choice to do it anyways.

I really do hope that a word or two were left out that would help me realize this was her decision too, and if that's the case, I am very sorry to have soapboxed at you - you can let me know, and I'll be happy to give my input based on my own experience bringing partners into this space.

But if anyone reading this thinks the above is ok, the thought I want to leave you with is that this is exactly the scenario - that maybe (hopefully) only a fraction of a percent of us actually do to our partners - that gives everyone outside this kink the impression that we're evil, manipulative, and creepy. If you do this, they're not wrong.

[ecoterrorist-katara]

I really liked your meta about bloodbending, this is a big ask but how do you think that the whole bloodbending storyline could/should be rewritten? It’s clear that the writers are using bloodbending as a metaphor for slavery but it rarely comes across that way, and poor Hama was failed spectacularly by the writing

hello anon! thank you for this fabulous question & hope you don't mind that it took me ages to get to it.

TL;DR: I think making Hama into a serial killer/abductor was a terrible narrative choice. If it were up to me, Katara would have a (child-friendly) ethics discussion about bloodbending with Hama, who then joins them on the Day of the Black Sun. After the war, bloodbending becomes a lynchpin issue when the North attempts to colonize the South, but Hama and Yugoda find healing uses for bloodbending in the kerfuffle.

But first, my "ATLA bungled colonialism themes" soapbox: to me, bloodbending is a metaphor on two levels. The storyline about how Southern Waterbenders are captured and then transported to the FN certainly seems to reference the Transatlantic Slave Trade, like you said, though without the labour exploitation aspect; the storyline about Hama and bloodbending feels like an allegory for guerrilla resistance in general. Imo the narrative kind of cheapened these potential real-world connections by making The Puppetmaster a spooky Halloween special with a dash of “an eye for an eye” parable. The narrative's treatment of bloodbending, and Hama, feels like an unintentional reflection of “unacceptable” colonial resistance and "dark" knowledge of the colonized (fearmongering around Vodou etc). A common colonial narrative is that the colonized are sinister and underhanded for engaging in things like guerrilla warfare, which is either too violent or too cowardly depending on what’s more convenient for the colonizers’ narrative at a specific point in time. I think ATLA’s approach to bloodbending reflects this general sentiment, especially since Hama is drawn as this creepy Hansel & Gretel-style witch, a keeper of a sinister / untrustworthy / threatening type of knowledge. I also really don't like the part of the story where Hama became a serial abductor out of this indiscriminate thirst for revenge. While it's possible in real life for a colonized, incarcerated person to make those decisions, and good fiction can explore that effectively, a children's show is not the place. ATLA's target audience and general tone couldn't handle all the complexities around that, so they turned Hama into a cartoon witchy villain. Groundbreaking.

Anyway, I think the start of The Puppetmaster is actually very promising. Hama's story, and the children's discovery of her SWT roots, was touching. Katara's growing sense of unease at discovering the "darker" uses of waterbending (taking water out of flowers) is interesting. Katara is the perfect character to explore the intricacies of "how far is too far in colonial resistance." Because she's not a pacifist, like Aang, but she's also not a total pragmatist, like Sokka or Suki, and she cares about the fates of random people more than Toph. She's angry and compassionate in equal amounts.

I would love a conversation between Hama and Katara about bloodbending -- not in the dead of night while Katara has to protect her friends, but where Hama talks about the genuine hopelessness she felt in the Fire Nation prison. And Katara could talk about why she thinks bloodbending is wrong -- taking away someone's agency -- and Hama can ask Katara what she would've done in that scenario; maybe she can point out that she could have made the FN guards kill each other, but she only made them open her cell door, so it was the least violent escape she could have done; and I think, framed that way, Katara would have started to see bloodbending not through a lens of fear and disgust, but sheer pragmatism, and realize that all bending can be good or bad.

During the war, I think Katara and Sokka could convince Hama to join them on the Day of the Black Sun: Hama, for the first time in decades, has hope, and she gets to see some of the people who used to be just little kids when she was kidnapped from her home.

After the war, bloodbending would become a hot button issue in North-South relations. I could easily see the Northern waterbenders being horrified at bloodbending, in the same way Medieval Europe & puritan America have been horrified by witchcraft and other feminine-coded knowledge. I could envision the Northerners using bloodbending as justification for why women shouldn't be allowed to waterbend, and justification for why the South is backwards and therefore needs the North's influence (which would also tie nicely into the North and South comic). While Katara is busy with the political BS, Hama is swapping notes with Yugoda the healing master, and then they would eventually arrive at the conclusion that bloodbending could be used to heal.

(I can't take credit for the "Northerners horrified at bloodbending" idea, btw -- colourwhirled's Southern Lights has a storyline around it.)

Anyway, Hama deserved so much better. I like seeing her in AUs where she never had that stupid "kidnapping FN civilians" plot, like the aforementioned Southern Lights, or Lykegenia's The Things We Hide (which I read earlier this year and loved!). Hama and Jet's storylines are why I don’t trust ATLA’s politics, nor the politics of its creators. As much as I love Zuko and find his redemption arc to be an incredible story of a conscientious objector in the heart of the empire, Hama and Jet should have also gotten their redemptions too.

[prodbyton]

stepping off my perv!riize soapbox because fwb!Eunseok crept into my mind. fwb!Eunseok would be such a trip. he's super great in bed (duh) and is just such a sweetheart that people would expect you to fall for him. it wouldn't even be difficult to do. he's everything a girl could want in a man, yet you still never saw him in that way.

Eunseok on the other hand... (anyone that has been around you two for longer than 2 seconds: so, you're in love with her, right? Eunseok: nuh uh!! same person: fuck you mean nuh uh!?) he's literally obsessed with you. he's always texting you. always buying you random presents. you know how there are a million and one couple holidays in Korea?? he's not so subtly celebrating everyone with you. like,,,, the couple allegations get crazy, but EUNSEOK'S the one embarrassed about it when it's his fault in the first place.

you never wanted to cross the line bc you knew going into this that it was just sex and occasionally hanging out. the more often you two hung out, the more you started to fall for him. you started to push away, but he kept being so sweet, kept seeking you out, kept buying you gifts, kept taking you out for fancy dinners, kept loving you.

the whole situationship thing reached a peak one night after another lovely "not a date" date with Eunseok. the second the two of you entered his apartment, he had you pushed against his door, his mouth crashing into yours. before you know it, he's hitting it from the back in a half-assed doggy because you can barely hold yourself up, it feels so good. the closer you get to cumming, the more wobbly your arms get. that is until you give up and flop onto your belly. Eunseok fully pushes himself on top of you, his chest to your back. all you can hear is his breathing, groans, and babbling in your ear. he just kept repeating "you're so good for me" "you feel so good" "needed you so bad". you started to zone out, focusing on how good you felt, until you heard the words "i love you so fucking much" pass his lips. you both froze. he pulled out and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. you turned over and the first thing you saw was how red his ears were. you go to touch his shoulder and he turns around with red eyes and starts rambling about how sorry he is and how he crossed a line. you kiss him to shut up before whispering a soft "i love you too" back.

okay,,, this ended up wayyyyyy more fluffyish and longer than i intended. anyways, here's kinda pathetic!fwb!Eunseok! coming next: maybe perv!Sunchan? maybe perv!Anton? maybe something else entirely??? I DON'T EVEN KNOW!! 😱😱

-🎀

eunseok losing the idgaf war deep in pussy is crazy but real af… like he’s so in denial about his true feelings in fear of you not feeling the same so he doesn’t even realize how the fwb turned into a situationship until he’s wayyyy too deep to turn back, and his nonchalant act coming to bite him in the ass the minute he gets a slight realization that he’s so close to having you but could lose you so fast of he didn’t act now. he’s planning on taking you out and then confessing but he gets so distracted by your beauty and then once he’s inside you those three words just leave him without him realizing and you’re both like 🫣🫢🤨

but this whole time you were waiting for eunseok to finally just claim you as his instead of playing with your emotions like he’s been doing these last months, like who takes their fwb to a 5 star restaurant and gives her a hello kitty money bouquet… eunseok lock tf in please

also the dick? is fire…. you aren’t going anywhere when eunseok fucks you completely stupid every time even when he’s slow, forcing you to look at him while he makes you cum basically a soul tie atp and he doesn’t want you fucking other people, even if you two weren’t together and he’s not fucking anyone else either. tells you his cock is the perfect fit for your pussy and anyone else would be a waste of time <3

after his pussy drunk confession you two talk it out and finally make it official and he finishes what he started and goes back to giving you the best dick of your life as your boyfriend 🙂‍↕️

kinda looking forward to perv sungchan but ill take all your ideas no matter what they make me lightheaded in the best way possible 🎀 anon

[c-e-d-dreamer]

You bringing back that Cassian hair fic and your tags on it have me giggling. Clearly so passionate about our fave bat boy's hair! But you're right and you should say it 🤭

You know what, lovely Anon? I am passionate about it 😌 Like listen, this is absolutely the fandom hill I am willing to die on even if it's just me and like 4 other people, and I will not apologize for that!!!

I will say, the people who I was talking about this with yesterday (and thus sparked the reblog) are fandom friends, and they're lovely people, and they had no malicious intent in this joking and teasing instance, but I do think there's a wider fandom problem of lessening Cassian's character.

And I know what you're thinking, "but Caty. You shit on canon Cassian all the time." And I do! But that's still my boy!

He's a General. He leads whole armies. He has intricate military knowledge, strategy, probably history. Nesta notes in ACOSF that he has a lot of books. Like Cassian is smart. He is a smart dude. But I've found that often he gets cast as like the fandom comedic relief. Like you watch the skits on TikTok and they're fun, but Cassian will always be played as the Big Dumb Boi(tm). He's the head empty himbo. And now we're adding that he's unhygienic too? That he doesn't wash and doesn't care about his appearance/doesn't even try? No thoughts in his head and no care for the hair on that head....

Like please leave my boy alone 😭

Plus, Cassian's a bastard! And I know people often point to that as like further proof he's not doing much because he literally couldn't as a child and obviously had more important things to worry about while in the snow. But I actually think it had the opposite effect! Cassian isn't exactly a proud bastard. We see in ACOSF that it still affects him, that he thinks Nesta deserves a prince like Eris over lowly ole him.

I think Cassian learned something from Rhys. He learned something being raised by Mama Night. And I think he puts in the work to present himself in a way that reflects his status, his station now. He is standing there as The General(tm), and you better damn put some respect on his name!

And I know there's jokes to be made about SJM's choice to make Illyrians workout and sweat in leather of all things (🤢) and how Cassian is always in them and does he even own any other clothes? But I think that's part of it too! Him always in his Illyrian leather is part of him presenting as the warrior, as the General.

And mmm now I'm thinking about a fic where similar to Cassian seeing Nesta with her hair down and what that signifies. But it's Nesta seeing Cassian without the General mask. No leathers. No siphons. A little bit messy and not put together. So soft... So vulnerable.... Jots notes for Cassian Appreciation Week....

Anyways! This answer really got away from me, didn't it? So rambley. I've completely lost the plot and the point. But yeah, I'll just step down off my soapbox now.... 😅

[chavisory]

just found your account and so sorry about these anons. for distraction: you have the mic. now tell me everything about the x files.

Oh, anon, this is so sweet of you. Unfortunately I don't remotely have time to tell you everything about the X-Files...this is a show layered and impactful enough to have inspired an entire realm of scholarship, including several very good books.

If for some reason you haven't watched the X-Files, and are at all curious about how television got the way it did over the past 30 years, you just must (as well as Twin Peaks. Modern media simply could not be what it is without these two shows). There's a reason it's 30 years old and people are still completely obsessed with it.

But some specific things about the X-Files that I wish other people were more obsessed about:

What can Kurt Crawford's backstory possibly be?

What was Jeffrey Spender's relationship with Samantha like? What happened between Spender and Mulder between the original series finale and the revival?

What's the thesis being developed with regard to all the Vietnam vets who are characters on this show?

Poorboy! Poorboy! Why don't more people clock that Poorboy is the longest-surviving alien shapeshifter defector from the colonization project?!

Also Arthur Dales. He's so good and I love him so much.

Do we think the revival was signaling really hard that Jackson has a living older half-sister still out there? Because I think it was.

And this show's relationship with its autistic characters is... fascinating.

And possibly my single most controversial opinion about this show? The mythology makes sense.

Anyway, thank you for this soapbox. I hope you have a nice night.

Anyone else--I would deeply welcome any and all yelling about these or other X-Files-related questions.

[trulybetty]

Sunday Week In Review XIV

How's everyone doing? I skipped out on last week's update since it was a really slow week on all fronts for all the things for me last week. Things picked up a bit this week - but I'll be honest, I'm having a hard time finding my feet around here at the moment and finding a groove to get into.

Not sure if it's that time of year, a bit of a writing lull or what - but I've been a little meh, not in the sad sense - more like I'm a petulant child offered six different things and I turn my nose up at all of them because I don't know what I want lol.

Also trying to figure out a system for getting through my TBR list, right now it feels like it's out of control and there are only so many I can read in a week. Especially since I want to get through some of my physical TBR pile and dedicate a couple nights a week to offline reading.

Anyway, enough about me seemingly channelling Baby Truly™️ - on with the recap of the last two weeks!

T R U L Y   U P D A T E S . . .

I did a second round of the 'First Sentence' ask game, which I absolutely adore! If you haven't done it before, I very much recommend it! If you do this, tag me so I can come throw a sentence at you!

Round 2

tim x cagney (f!reader)

jack x reader (f!reader)

joel x Charlotte (OFC)

dieter x bryony (OFC)

jack x reader (f!reader)

frankie x clementine (OFC)

W H A T   I   R E A D . . .

Delta Landscaping (Triple Frontier) by @rhoorl Jess' series has me on tenterhooks for every update and then on the edge of my seat waiting for more! This last update we entered the start of Frankie's arch and while it pulls at the heartstrings, I'm so here for it and what's to come next! Also, Benny entering his Rocky era (Jess didn't write this, I've decided it) is something I'm also very much ready for!

Paranoid Hearts (Javi P.) by @goodwithcheese This series. This series is just something else and I finally got my ass into gear to get caught up, and while on the one hand, I'm sorry I started so late on the other hand I enjoyed this smorgasbord of Javi and Tabitha.

he makes life better (Joel) by @wildemaven This is such a warm comforting hug of a fic that just seeps into your bones, that makes your toes curl in softness and you re-read more than once. This is everything fluff should make you feel and I adore each and every last part of this and will be re-reading this.

Headshots (Marcus P.) by @secretelephanttattoo I was not ready for this to end, but El gave our boy Marcus the ending he and his Ella deserved and it was both spicy and sweet. If you've not read this yet, I suggest you do. Also, peep her forthcoming wip... 🔎

Thrash Metal (Dieter) by @morallyinept Jett is back with another delectably mouthwatering smutty one-shot with our favourite deviant Dieter Bravo. This is sinfully indulgent and a must-read and one that lends itself to definitely more than one read.

Six and a half minutes - Frankie's version by @avastrasposts This one calls for a breakout of the Hot Ones gif for sure, because this was the mood the entire time I read this. If anything, Frankie is not one to back down from a challenge...

Medicine (Joel) by @goodwithcheese I was so excited to see Megan had written for Joel that I had to drop everything to read this over my coffee the other morning. I love everything about the dynamic between these two and how Megan illustrates the deep affection they have for one another through their actions as we all know our post-outbreak Miller is not one quick with his words. I hope this isn't the last we see of Joel here!

M E M O R A B L E   P O S T S . . .

Heidi’s amazing mood board inspired by Sequins! 😍 I’m still in absolute awe of it and I love it so much! I think it's going to get a spot on my work desk this week! 💕

These thots had started off as Joel Thots, but have now morphed into Tim Thots and I'm not mad about it... might share a little snippet later 😏

@morallyinept's 'Ode to Writers' this week - I'm going to refrain from getting on my soapbox here (I'd be here all day) - but the table is not finite, it's infinite. If you're not inching your chair down to make room for another chair, or pulling the spare chairs in from the garage, then maybe you need to re-evaluate your relationship with this community.

E N J O Y E D  T H I S  W E E K  . . .

Finally watching ‘Strange Way of Life’ and getting to live message my thots to @rhoorl as I watched - it was a cinematic dissection.

Date night with Mr. Truly - we spent the entire two hours wondering what people do on dates aside from watching their phones and waiting for a call to say your kids are out of control and have taken over Nakatomi Plaza. But needless to say, we had fun, I even ate a meal without someone else's hand in it.

Amazing moots being mooting awesome 🙌 - I'm thankful every day that I get to interact with some wonderful people and have found a lovely corner of this hell site to play in a sandbox with some amazing people 💕

S P E C I A L M E N T I O N . . .

Check out this writing challenge that myself and a group of people that I'm lucky to call moots created that we would love for you to join in on! Everything about it is random and everyone starts with the same parameters and everything else after that is up to you! So excited to see what everyone does with this!

Do I know anything about Javi Pēna? Nope. Am I going to join in? Yes I am! 🙌

See you January 1st to dive into all the fics this challenge I hope produces! 💛

T H I S  W E E K ' S  J A M . . .

Thank you to @gnpwdrnwhiskey for inspiring this week's selection after she pointed out the parallels to Chiffon that I haven't been able to get out of my head since.

Hope everyone has had a great week! Here's to a great week ahead and I hope its a good one full of obnoxious drinks of choice and soft places to land and enjoy.

[passerine-parable]

So tumblr is just kinda the place where I ramble personal thoughts on a semi-anonymous soapbox and it is 3am and I can’t get back to sleep for some reason so I’m going to ramble.

Growing up I only ever did one sport and that was taekwondo. It was fun, and I learned a lot absolutely, but little kid me did not really ever train outside of class. I grew out of that, carried on in school, and I eventually got to this point where it was just a given— Fin doesn’t really do sports. Fin can’t even really catch a baseball if you throw it at her

——

I’m pretty obsessed with fencing right now. I think about it a LOT. Probably annoying everyone in my life who is not also actively a sword wielder. Fencing feels so right to me on a practically spiritual level.

I’m also actually training for it, and I’m training pretty hard. These past six months are the first time I’ve ever willingly set foot in a gym.

Had a great practice last night. My friends say that I am improving. All I know is that certain movements feel more natural and I can actually hit them sometimes.

I get home, settle for bed, and check for a potential bruise, (because one of my friends likes geometry, and they stabbed me fairly sharp in perfectly symmetrical spots, and I thought they might find that interesting) and there is a muscle there, that wasn’t there previously. I keep discovering muscles, places with strength across my body that weren’t quite so obviously there before.

And it’s not like I’m some body builder or whatever. I’m not trying that hard. I also have a lot of work to do. But my arms have visible muscles and my brain knows how to use them. Im curious if I might be able to draw people a little better because I genuinely know how my own arms work now.

It’s just really, really cool. My friends have pretty radically changed how I walk, how I stand, how I move. I’ve been a part of changing that too.

To be loved is to be changed and all that I guess.

Anyways, if you’ve read this far, thanks for reading, and if you are a quiet artist person who wishes for more, maybe this is your sign to take up fencing or some other weird niche sport.

[avaantares]

AVA rants about FFVII localization (again)

I know I have more Opinions about media localization than the average person, but I am frankly baffled by the extent to which the FFVII franchise changes words that are already in English in the original Japanese to different (and often less appropriate) English words for no reason whatsoever.

I mean, in a game that's a thinly-veiled soapbox about ecological responsibility, did we REALLY need to change "Monsters," a word that accurately describes dangerous mutated creatures that are largely the result of humans screwing up the environment, to "Fiends," a word that refers to evil spirits? Do they think Americans are too dumb to know what a monster is? What benefit does that change offer?

Or sometimes changing the word is understandable, but then they choose something that's not an improvement. I can see wanting to change "Feelers" (the Destiny Tadpoles), because it sounds a bit odd, but "Whispers" is no more comprehensible -- in fact, it makes even less sense for something that detects and responds to changes in the timeline.

A few more from last night's Rebirth play session that struck me as especially arbitrary, just off the top of my head:

World Report -> World Intel

Battle Simulator -> Combat Simulator

Biorat -> Toxirat (but it... it poisons you. Y'know, exactly like the Bio spell? It's right there in the name, guys)

Ancient Matter -> Protorelics (my guess here is that they didn't want players to associate the items with 古代種, which gets translated as the Ancients in English, so this one might get a pass)

...And that's leaving aside the whole saga of NPC names, nearly all of which are changed from non-Japanese names to other non-Japanese names (e.g. Green -> Billy, Val -> Vash, Aniyan Kunyan -> Andrea Rhodea, et al.). The ones that date back to the original game can be slightly forgiven because '90s localizations were Like That, but many of these are new characters for the Remake trilogy. (There's also my whole beef with altering characters' personalities -- because sweet girl-next-door Aerith wasn't edgy enough and needed to swear more, I guess? -- but I've ranted about that plenty in the past.)

Anyway, I'm getting a ton of Japanese language practice playing this game, because the English subtitles are often saying the exact opposite of what the Japanese dialogue is and using completely different names for people and things, so I have to pay attention.

[knifesxedge]

If i was anorexic and ppl on the internet started drawing me fat id fr kill myself

hi! i’ve never gotten anon hate before so please excuse me if this is weaksauce but I AM ANOREXIC. LOL. I’M A RECOVERING ANOREXIC. embracing favorite characters of mine being fat and that being a good and positive thing is HELPING MY RECOVERY. first of all. just so you are perfectly aware that i’ve got skin in the game.

SECOND i think it would be beneficial for you personally to take a step back and think about what it means about your worldview that if you played a character and then someone online drew that character as fat you would kill yourself.

what does that mean about the way you view fat people? what does that mean about the way you view yourself and your body? because it’s not healthy to cling to this idea of thin = good and fat = world-ending tragedy because guess what? things change. your body changes. i was thin in high school. and not happy with the way my body looked anyways. i starved myself. i calorie counted and ate under a thousand calories a day. and it didn’t make a damn bit of difference because i still gained weight. my body changed in college and it didn’t matter how much i railed against it and let it completely rule my life, my body changed anyways. so think about it: if you become fat, if your body changes and you gain weight, will you actually want to kill yourself? because that is something to see a therapist about!

third of all. let’s pretend for a second that we’re on the same page and i think mcr and the killjoys are one and the same (i don’t. they’re fictional characters played by the band members in the videos, but let’s pretend). i don’t want to speak for all people with anorexia. i won’t claim that right. but i will say that gerard has spoken about his experience with anorexia, and about recovering from it. there are song lyrics on hesitant alien that i, as a recovering anorexic myself, can relate to. and i think it’s awfully convenient that the people who scream and cry about people drawing gerard’s character specifically as heavier forget that gerard’s weight has fluctuated up and down over the course of his life. you look at pictures from when gerard was in college and they look different from the revenge era which looks different from the danger days era which looks different from the hesitant alien era which looks different from 2019 gerard who looks different from gerard now. and not just because of age but because people’s bodies change as they live their lives. and it’s always people like you who either ignore that gerard WAS FAT in 2019 because they’ve since lost weight or woobify it to the point of saying asinine shit online to make yourself not look like a bad person. i don’t think gerard would be offended by me drawing his fictional persona as a fat person. but even if he was, frankly i don’t care, because that character does not equal the person playing them, and lbr it would be very weird for an actor to get offended at a random person online drawing their character differently from the way they looked in the canon media.

anyways. i’m not responding to this because i particularly care about your opinion. i’m busy over here working on myself and my mental health and learning that my body does not equal my worth as a person. but i do have hope that someone, even if it’s not you, anon, will read this and reconsider how they’ve been thinking about themself or other people. i’m not going to pretend like i still don’t have bad days, or that i’m in love with how i look, that i’m a paragon of mental stability, self-confidence, or body positivity. but i WILL say that i at least can recognize the way that constantly retreading the same socialized ways of thinking about fat people is unhealthy not just for people who are currently fat but for EVERYONE. because we should all try to be kind to others and to ourselves.

anyways. speech over. i’ll get off my soapbox now. have a nice night, anon 🩷