#anyways I think what I wrote was good? And I like it? So I am sharing it

[the-fab-fox]

Okay so this has been something I've been chewing on for a long while. About making this post I mean.

This one is to those who actively ingest fanfiction but seem to think it's okay to just read free fiction that people have put time and thought and crafted prose for your enjoyment and do nothing in return.

All we ever ask for and all we ever want is for y'all to AT THE VERY LEAST hit that kudos button if you like the work. That is the BARE MINIMUM of what you SHOULD be doing. Especially all of you who say you're too nervous to comment or don't wish to be perceived. And if you don't want your account on the list, you can log out and send a guest kudos.

But as I said, BARE MINIMUM. If you loved the fic, if you got something out of it that left you feeling good and energized (or whatever angst does for y'all) then I want to take a moment and strongly urge you to comment, subscribe (if a wip), and bookmark those works. Did you know there's an option to even mark it as a Fic Recommendation? You can put notes in to and say why you liked it and things like that (DO NOT DO A RATING IN PUBLIC BOOKMARKS HOWEVER). And, you can indeed make them private! The writer still gets the number added to their stats but your bookmark we won't see.

Anyway, I now wanna turn your attention to Exhibit A:

This is a list of my best performing fics. Do you see the problem with this? The green highlights are the hits I've received for those fics. The red is the Kudos and comment threads. Now the kudos is obviously right?

Let's look at my number one fic right now, Accidentally in Love (a Malleyuu fic from Twisted Wonderland fandom). It's the seventh fic in a romance series. As you can see, it's doing great as far as hits, right? And I know it's an amazing fic from the comments I have received and just from rereading it myself. Note, I am probably the biggest bully to myself as @sunshineandteddybears and @mellosdrawings and @romantichopelessly can tell you in great detail. So when I am saying it's really damn good, you can probably trust it's gonna be pretty damn good. And yet, a fic that has 4K hits only has 119 kudos. And now to bring your attention to the comment threads. So honestly with how bad readers are on actually commenting (which by the way if you log off you can send anonymously as a guest—you'll have to put in your email address but we authors won't see that)... 107 seems pretty good right? But you guys don't see that. You see what's on the info for the story. Unfortunately, on the fic info at the top of the story, it counts every single comment (including the Author's). (The comment threads is just every single starting comment, i.e. the first comment received from each commenter.)

The thing is, I—and probably quite a few other writers—do respond to every single comment.

So that means where the info on my fic itself says 230 comments, in reality, I'm at half that when I subtract my half of the comments. So that's actually 115 comments from other people. So some people might see that 230 and think oh they got a lot of comments so I don't think they want to hear from me or I can't be fucked and they're already doing good so.

NO. NO. NO. Do not look at the numbers as a guide if a fic is good or not. Do not look at the numbers and think that we don't need or deserve to get any more. And finally WE WANT TO HEAR FROM Y'ALL.

Excuses need to stop.

Speaking of numbers. Here's my over all stats current on AO3.

In the 3 years on this AO3 account (I've had others in the past and accounts on ff.net and live journal. I'm an oldie fanfic writer lol. 21 years of fanfic. My gods. 🤣) It didn't used to be like this guys. Back in the day I'd get 12 plus comments on a chapter and this is on stuff a teenager wrote.

We have got to get back to the point of supporting each other and building each other up. Also while I'm at it, I have a huge beef with the fact that fanartists get so much more positive feedback and replies and comments, but the thing is, even their numbers are skewed. You can go into the notes of a fanart on here that has 10k notes to see they have maybe 100-1K reblogs (if that, I'm being generous) and maybe 10 or so replies (if turned on) and the rest are all likes. EVERYONE has been on here long enough by now to know that likes do nothing to get a post in the algorithm and tags only do so much. Reblogs are the only way their art (or our fanfictions for people who post them on here) gets seen! By sharing!

So y'all gotta get better. Yes, we write for ourselves first, but ultimately a story is meant to be shared with everyone and feedback should not be optional if you're actively reading the fics or viewing the art for free and enjoyed it!

TLDR:

IF YOU FUCKING LIKE A FANFIC. KUDOS AT THE VERY LEAST BUT BE BETTER. COMMENT. BOOKMARK. SUBSCRIBE IF IT'S A WIP YOU LOVE. (Like, comment and reblog if on Tumblr)

IF YOU FUCKING LIKE A FANART ON TUMBLR. COMMENT. LIKE. REBLOG.

DO BETTER AS READERS AND US WRITERS AND ARTISTS WILL GIVE YOU THE WORLD (AND MANY OTHER WORLDS TO BOOT)

That is all. Please reblog the fuck out of this if you agree.

(and tagging my current and last fandoms so this can get in fandom spaces where it needs to be.)

[prettypinkpuddles]

Research from afar

hi… yes i’ve been gone a while, it’s just because i’ve been to lazy to write or had no movement or ideas. but ive got one and i think im back

enjoy!

you had been given the chance of a lifetime, to go to Nathan and record its elemental properties to compare with that of Sumeru’s. you’d been here for months, made so many friends, and now it was time to leave.

when you first arrived, there were so much graffiti along the walls, graffiti was was far too high for an average person to reach. you furthered down the path to discover two girls. one was honey brown with pale blue hair, a top covering her chest and a lopsided skirt. she was smiling down at a short girl with blonde hair tied into a wide ponytail with a visor, sporty gear and taupe fluffy ears, much furrier than Tighnari’s. her cerulean eyes met yours and she gasped and waved to you.

“H-hello! are you a traveller?!” she called.

you nodded and walked up to them, holding your notebook tightly to you. “yes, i am! i’m a student from the Akademiya doing research about Natlan! could you help?”

that piqued their interest. they began to completely examine you. your clothes, how your hair was done, the little girl even looked into your notebook, with your permission of course. she pointed to the padisarah you had sketched out.

“that’s so pretty!” she smiled, “what’s it called?”

“a padisarah!” you grinned.

“it’s like a glowing hornshroom.” Mualani commented.

you grinned and looked at her, “could you show one one of those? for my research?”

“depends.”

a voice startled you. it was deeper and softer. you looked up, seeing a boy with lots of green accents and browned skin. his eyes were striking yellow and his muscles arms were crossed as he eyed you. a bit of suspicion washed over him before a new look overtook his face; you blinked and looked down at Kachina as she ran up to introduce him.

“this is Kinich!” she exclaimed, “he’s our friend.”

“hello.” you smiled.

“hi.” he said in a flatter tone.

“and yeah, it will depend,” Mualani continued. “are you afraid of the dark?”

“do you like adventure?!” Kachina jumped.

that started a journey of them taking you all through Natlan, showing you each of their tribes and customs. You wrote down so much that you needed a new notebook; of Mualani’s tribe and their famous hot springs, how amazing they felt after excursions through the tunnels with Kachina. she gave you a special white stone she said was good luck and you fastened it to your pyro vision.

Kinich’s tribe was probably the most dangerous for you, you had no proper shoes to climb mountains but you still tried anyways, much to Ajaw’s amusement.

“those delicate foot holders are no match for the mightiness of the great lands of Natlan!” he chortled as you lifted your foot onto the jutted rock to your left.

you grunted as you hoisted yourself up, “shut up! you stupid… pixelated…. lizard!” that got to him.

“LIZARD?!” he gasped, “you Dare call me?! The Mighty Dragonlord, K'uhul Ajaw, A LIZARD?!” he sprang up to you, got right in your face, red as a henna berry, and you fell.

you had no idea he could leave Kinich’s side with Kinich allowing it, it scared you so bad, you were now free falling from the cliff. you had to think fast, create something to break your fall but you didn’t need to. something grabbed you, swung you to the left in a quick motion and threw you up in the air again. it had to be Ajaw, he was going to throw you away like the trash he said you were. then you stopped moving.

you looked around. you were on the ground and in something’s arms. something much bigger than Ajaw’s tiny form.

“are you alright?”

you looked up, “Kinich?” you nearly fell out of his lap, but he snatched you closer to him, examining you. “i’m… i’m okay.”

he nodded after he felt satisfied, “that’s good.” he looked like he wanted to smile, then it dropped when Ajaw sprang in front of you.

“i knew it! i knew it!” he blabbed, pointing his stubby nubby at your face. “you fell, just like I said you would!”

he was often shit-talking you and everything you did, how you sketched out the saurian claw succulent that kinich gave you, how you walked, how you cooked the traditional food Mualani taught you, even when you were encouraging Kachina to bungee jump with you. you told her it was the best way to get her nerves out before the Pilgrimage, even though she was supposed to compete in a few months.

she ended up doing it, screamed her head off, but it was so much fun, you could see Mualani and Kinich smiling for you two as you soars through the air over and over. you screamed out and a huge, red hibiscus blossom appeared above your heads, bursting like a firework and Kachina squealed, begging to stop.

Natlan was probably more beautfiful than your home. all the color was beautiful, and yes you missed the green, but you got your fill through looking at Kinich. and the liter of yumkasaurs he was showing you.

you nearly squealed, “why did you show me these sooner!?”

“i’m sorry.” he said as you fell to your knees, hands outstretched for one the little green things rushing to you. it chittered and smiled wide, nuzzling into you with its floppy ears smacking your forearms.

you giggled and petted its head as it fell into your lap. “you’re such a cutie!” you cooed, seeing Kinich’s hand ruffle its petal-shaped collar. it smiled and pushed into his hand as you looked up at him, “do you have one of these?”

“no, but Kachina has a tetpetilsaur,” he replied. “i do not need a saurian.”

“because of Ajaw?” you grinned. he nodded with a bit of an eyeroll at the thought of the annoying thing.

Kinich turned to you, “would you like one? i think they would benefit your research.”

“a saurian?” you grinned and vigorously nodded as you looked at the whelp in your lap. “this one,” you whispered, “i wanna name her Pari.”

“like the padisarahs, from your home?”

you blinked at that, surprised he remembered and could say that, looking at him with a bit of shock before nodding with a smile. “yes, and the place that is for me.” you leaned to the side and leaned against his shoulder as you stroked Pari’s pale green fur at she purred.

your months-long journey was wondrous, you wanted to stay forever, but you knew you had to go back home and analyze the data with others from the Spantamad darshan. but you just couldn’t bring yourself to. your eyes filled with tears as you packed your bags, walking out of Mualani’s guest house to see the bright place you temporarily called home. temporarily.

as you walked with her to the stadium, you gave Kachina the biggest hug ever, smiling at her warmth as your eyes unfortunately landed on a blond girl with a white dress and blue accents.

“what?” Mualani asked you.

you shook your head, “it’s… i know her.” you said, “she’s travelled to my home before…. a lot happened.”

“ohhh, she told me that she’s been to most of Teyvat now.” Kachina chimed in.

“yeah….” you looked away from the Traveller, “she’s just… i can’t describe her.” you pulled the thought of her and Nahida from your head and looked down at Kachina, “i’m so sorry i’m going to miss you compete, but write to me when you win.”

she looked down at the floor, “if i win,” she corrected.

you bent down to her level and pulled her chin up, “when you win Kachina. i’ve got a feeling you’re gonna make it.”

Mualani nodded and took her hand, “let’s go get set up.” she looked to you and held out her hand. “i wanted to give you this necklace before you left, so you’ll remember to come visit me in the future.”

you gasped at the necklace she was holding. it was made of sprayfeather gills, expertly woven together to form a ring. you slipped it over your head and smiled, “thank you so much, i’ll visit you as soon as my research is over.”

“i’ll walk Y/n out of Natlan.” Kinich announced. the girls nodded and began to walk into the stadium together, leaving you and Kinich to make the journey back to where you started it.

people who recognized you waved and bid you goodbyes, some giving you gifts like seeds from the plants of Natlan, recipes for different dishes, stones of warm colors to bless you and your journey. even your yumkasaur had found you and was dancing alongside you as you approached the bit of water between natlan and the desert of Sumeru.

“i…” you tried to speak but nothing else came out.

kinich took your hand and glanced at you, “you don’t wanna leave, do you?”

your face scrunched and you shook your head, “ i was being strong for Kachina but i really don’t want to leave. this place is like magic, real magic. the people, the cultures so wonderfully blending together to create a unified nation. my saurian, my friends, even you… i simply can’t…”

kinich didn’t speak, his grip just grew stronger as he looked at you.

“i know, i know… i need to.” you wiped your face and sniffled. “i’m sorry, Kinich, i just-”

“don’t leave,” he commanded and pulled your face to him, “don’t leave without saying it.”

“saying… saying what?”

“how you feel, Y/N.” he said and you flinched. “i don’t want you to leave either, but if you must, at least tell em the truth, please.”

you could feel your heart quickening like when you’d get really close to him, you could smell his cologne, this woodsy, dark floral scent enveloping you both.

“say it.” he repeated.

you swallowed, “i love you, Kinich.” you nearly ate him, pulling his lips to yours to kiss him over and over, “i love you so much.” you said in between the kisses.

his arms found you, his fingers snaking into your hair and making your scalp tingle, “i should’ve said it that night, but i didn’t… i’m sorry.”

you two stood there, kissing and hugging before you started giggling. he pulled away a bit, asking you why you were laughing with that sneaky, low voice that would make you sizzle in your clothes, “i have to go, my boat will be here soon.”

he nodded and kissed your once more, then as you pulled yourself away, he kissed your hand. “come back soon, Y/N.”

“as soon as i get to my house, i’ll send a letter.” you replied with a smile, thinking how badly you wanted to see him again once you stepped on that boat. you thought of every moment with him, how you could’ve said it, when you were rock climbing, when you were alone camping, that night. but this was a good time to say it.

[steddieas-shegoes]

cw: mentions of scarring, canon-typical violence, flashback (not graphic), minor body horror (again, not graphic, mostly just emotional feelings about scars)

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

Everyone gave him weird looks when they walked in, quickly schooling their features when they noticed he was awake and watching them.

He didn’t know exactly what that was about.

They had him on a lot of good drugs.

But eventually he got weaned off them, and he noticed the pull of bandages on his side, and his arm, and his neck, and his face.

He was still unable to get out of bed. Still couldn’t even reach his arms above his chest for more than a few seconds.

But he damn sure reached up to feel the cloth and plastic surrounding his cheek. How had he not noticed for days? How had no one bothered him about it?

Maybe they had and he just didn’t notice. The morphine was one hell of a drug.

Wayne was soft, patient with him. Saw him touching it, saw the way his eyes filled with tears. He’d never been particularly vain, hadn’t cared much about what he looked like to others, but this felt bigger than that. This felt like he was changed in a way that everyone could see.

Add it to the list of things people could bully him for.

He cried himself to sleep, Wayne’s hand in his, silently comforting in the way he’d always done.

When he woke up again the next morning, he was alone.

It was the first time he’d been alone since the boathouse.

He could swear he heard bats outside his door, screams coming from the attached bathroom, flashes of someone dying on the ceiling.

He felt the sharp sting of teeth puncturing his skin.

He felt hopelessness creep into his bones as he gave in.

Maybe this time they would finish the job.

“Eddie!”

Steve Harrington’s voice broke through the thoughts, panicked enough to bring Eddie back to his hospital bed within a second of hearing it.

“Shit, are you okay?” He continued, hand brushing against Eddie’s bandaged cheek.

Eddie nodded once, closed his eyes, leaned into the touch.

He could blame it on any number of things if Steve felt weird about it. The morphine, the flashback, the loneliness.

“You’re okay, Eddie. I promise. Won’t let anything happen to you,” Steve whispered.

Eddie believed him.

He fell back asleep with Steve’s hand gently cupping the mangled side of his face.

If Steve could still touch him there, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

Steve came by every day, sometimes in the early morning, before visiting hours officially started, sometimes well after Wayne had left to get some sleep. He always smiled when he walked in, a genuine one, not the one everyone else gave that was so fully of pity and pain he couldn’t bear to make eye contact. He sat down on the side of the bed, not the chair like everyone else, not scared to be close.

And every single day, without fail, he would run his finger along the edge of Eddie’s bandage on his face, watching his own movements and cataloging any changes.

Eddie sat quietly, still, scared to put words to anything happening. Scared to tell Steve what it meant to him to have someone acknowledge his pain in this way. Scared to think Steve could mean anything by it.

It was easy to pretend Steve was doing this because he cared.

Maybe he did care.

But he didn’t care the way Eddie wanted him to, needed him to.

So he stayed quiet, still.

He watched.

He fell asleep while Steve talked about his day, the kids, what Joyce made Hopper do around the house.

He woke up alone most days, but that was okay, because Steve would be there eventually.

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

“You ready to get that thing off?” Wayne asked, gesturing to the bandage.

“Oh. Today?” Eddie suddenly didn’t want to ever be without the bandage. Removing it meant he’d see what was under it.

It meant seeing how much that place had ruined him.

The pull of the stitches hadn’t been as obvious with the pull of the bandage masking it.

But now it’s all he felt.

The nurse smiled at him as she put some antibiotic cream over the area, saying he would probably still have to keep it extra clean for the next week or so while the stitches did their job.

Wayne smiled at him in the way that meant he didn’t really want to smile at all, but knew Eddie needed him to.

Steve didn’t come.

Eddie didn’t sleep.

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

He woke up with panic in his chest and a silent scream in his throat.

He woke up with Steve’s hand on his face.

Gentle, soft, but a strong comfort.

“Promise I washed them first. They said we have to be careful about germs,” Steve said quietly.

“You don’t have to. I know it’s…it’s gross. It’s ugly. I’m ugly.”

Steve shook his head. “No. Not gross. Not ugly. Alive.”

“Steve-“

“You’re alive, Eddie. You could have your entire face held together by staples and you would still be a miracle. You’d still be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Well, Steve’s charm wasn’t an exaggeration, was it?

He wasn’t even sure if the skin barely pulled together could blush anymore, or if the heat that should be on his cheek was burning on the outside the way it felt like it was on the inside.

“It’s gonna be awful when it heals. I saw it in the mirror.” Eddie could feel every stitch in his jaw, the few that spread across the corner of his mouth and bottom lip, the ones that were nearly up to his ear. “I’ll always have a crooked face. The scar will always be huge. It’s all anyone will see.”

“Then they aren’t looking.”

Eddie bit his lip, eyes searching Steve’s. “But you are.”

“No. I’m seeing. There’s a difference. I see you. I see what you’ve survived. I see the mark it left on you. I know it wasn’t just the scars that cover your skin.” Steve leaned his head down, touching Eddie’s forehead with his own. “We all have them. And we’re all still here. Your heart’s beating. That’s all that matters to me.”

“Who knew you were so good with words?” Eddie smiled sadly.

“Robin says I’m just good at not having a filter.”

“She’s right as always.” Eddie wrapped his fingers around Steve’s wrist, turning as slowly as he could to kiss his palm. “You’re not scared of it.”

“No. Are you?”

“I’m scared that you’ll change your mind when it’s always there as a reminder of what happened.”

Steve kissed his nose, making him smile for the first time in what felt like years.

“I’ll have the reminder that I got you out of there. That no matter what, the bats couldn’t finish the job. That you were stronger and you made it.” Steve let his hand drop, but quickly laced his fingers with Eddie’s. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you to trust me, but will you? For today?”

“Just today?”

“I’ll ask again tomorrow.”

“And what? Every day after that?”

Steve smirked.

His eyes were glistening with tears, but Eddie could tell it wasn’t sadness or fear.

“If that’s what I have to do.”

They hadn’t even talked about feelings, not really. Nothing that made any sense to Eddie, nothing that they could define. A part of Eddie was still convinced he was in a coma and dreaming this entire conversation up.

But even the nurse had noticed the way Steve watched him, how he touched him, how he fought for him. She said he’d been a firecracker from the moment he carried him into the hospital, dripping blood on the tile, staining the halls with his demands for help.

Wayne said he barely left his side the first day, only doing so when the doctors had told him they would call the cops if he didn’t.

Erica even noticed how things had changed between them, stating that she refused to watch her babysitter and the only DM she had respect for make out.

But Steve held Eddie, made him feel like he could get out of the hospital bed and live a life that wouldn’t keep him running. Steve was there.

Steve might even love him. If not now, then some day.

And Eddie could trust him today.

He could probably trust him tomorrow.

“Kiss me?” Eddie probably shouldn’t. The stitches tugged when he talked, and another mouth anywhere near his wounds was just asking for an infection.

But Steve would be careful. He knew what Eddie could handle.

It was barely a kiss. A graze of the lips at most.

But it was the best kiss Eddie had ever had.

At least until tomorrow.

[aroaceleovaldez]

Mark Oshiro confuses me a little bit not going to lie. In the press tour for the first book all they ever talked about was how Nico is their son and Will is fine I guess. Then they said like 2 weeks before TSATS came out that they didn't understand Will's character at all and it's one of the main reasons why Will has so little POV.

Possibly unpopular opinion but I don't think it's a good, encouraging sign when the writer admits to not really caring about the deuteragonist or not even having a sense of how to write them...

Yeah, no. If you have no interest in 1/2 of the POV characters of your book, you REALLY shouldn't be writing it (or at least, not have that be a main character). Especially when the main way TSATS could have been improved is if it was primarily Will-centric instead of Nico-centric. Will basically had next to no established character prior to TSATS! He was practically a blank slate! But all the new stuff we got for Will in TSATS was so clearly disinterested and had no regard for his previously established traits (or the established timeline/canon). Which is annoying because fleshing out Will would have been the PERFECT opportunity to actually incorporate a lot of the topics that Mark Oshiro specializes in as a sensitivity reader, which was the ENTIRE REASON THEY WERE BROUGHT ON AS A CO-AUTHOR!!!!

As TSATS stands, there is no reason for Mark Oshiro specifically to have been the co-author instead of someone else. It's so clearly just a PR move from RR following the huge backlash Rick received due to his response to criticism on how he wrote Piper and Samirah (and Reyna and etc etc). This was immediately following Rick saying he wasn't going to write what would become TSATS because "it [wasn't his] place to." Most of the topics that Mark Oshiro specializes in either weren't relevant at all to TSATS or written very poorly (to downright offensively) in TSATS, so either Mark Oshiro wasn't doing their job or was not able to do their job for some reason, but either way it basically makes the theoretical justification for Mark Oshiro being the co-author/sensitivity reader irrelevant.

With Will, it was HUGE fanon back in the day for him to be trans. Trans!Will and photokinesis!Will were basically the two biggest headcanons for him (both largely popularized by Cherryandsisters). We know Rick is aware of this old fanon because he canonized photokinesis!Will. If we had gotten trans!Will, that would have been great! And then made sense why we specifically got a trans co-author! (Instead, if anything, TSATS canonized Will being cis.) If we had gotten Will being latino, that would have been amazing!!!! And also then made sense as to why they chose Mark Oshiro for the job as a latinx author/sensitivity-reader, versus potentially choosing an Italian co-author since Nico being Italian/Venetian was emphasized so much in the book (and done poorly! Yknow what they could have done to fix that? GOTTEN A SENSITIVITY READER FOR IT)! Based on the themes and focuses actually present in the book, it would have been most logical to get a queer, neurodivergent, Italian co-author or sensitivity reader who specializes in those three topics at least. But we didn't! So why was Mark Oshiro chosen instead when they only specialize in one of those topics? PR reasons. It's blatantly entirely PR reasons and no actual thought or care was put into this book (or, likely, TSATS 2 either).

It doesn't help that we're also actively being told that the published version of TSATS was a rough draft. Or that their editor blatantly isn't doing her job. Or that "The Sun And The Star" was the working title that they just kept cause they didn't bother to make an actual title. And that the final version is full of explicitly last-minute scenes that weren't checked over at all (the final Bianca scene, for one). Or the ACTIVELY ADMITTING TO SOURCING IDEAS AND INFORMATION FROM FANS! That last one is kind of important because at this level of publishing that is a HUGE no-no for legal reasons. You can get into a lot of trouble for that and there is a reason why it is Ye Olde Fandom Law to never try to pitch your ideas or headcanons to the source creator(s) and keep fandom separate from the creators. There is a REASON why Rick Riordan is so distant from the community these days and it's for PROTECTION AGAINST LEGAL REPERCUSSION. Mark Oshiro being the exact opposite while also ACTIVELY ACKNOWLEDGING sourcing concepts from fans does not bode well! It has to do with copyright stuff.

It's just. So. Sighhhhhhhh >->o <- me lying on the floor about all of this. It's sad being able to see the glimmer of what could have been at the very least a decent book underneath all this. If anyone involved in the process had actually cared just the tiniest amount.

[seasonalflowerr]

24? 👀

24. Holding onto you by Twenty One Pilots "I'm taking over my body, back in control, no more shotty I bet a lot of me was lost, T's uncrossed and I's undotted I fought it a lot and it seems a lot like flesh is all I got Not anymore, flesh out the door, swat!" HIIII ELLA HIIIIII. i have. gem and pearl for you!! this is the first time i've ever written them so i'm sorry if it's not great- but i know you're a pearl fan so i thought i'd try it out :D the connection between the song and the fic is kinda... odd... it's not the most obvious. i'll probably leave an elaboration in the tags/below the fic if you're curious. but i just wrote the first scene that came to my mind after listening to the song on repeat for like half an hour and staring off into space. i hope you like it and i hope you're doing well <3 thanks for sending one in! spotify wrapped ask game

Pearl is patching a hole in an old hoodie.

She hasn’t always been the best at sewing—but she could manage enough to fix tears or pull at a seam or two. The red fabric is set in a rippled little pile in her lap. Her elbows dig into it as she works, warm and pilled and familiar. The needle pushes through it, dragging with it the only thread she had available to her: a bright green. 

Pearl could manage. It’d do the job. 

The poor thing is.. riddled with random stains. It’s torn in ten different places, the cuffs loose and coming undone in thin strips; overused, overworn. 

She couldn’t understand what compelled her to take the thing out and fix it. It’d been shoved to the bottom of a chest. Even still, the moment she touched it again, a strange comfort overcame her. It didn’t feel bad, but it didn’t feel good either. 

All Pearl knew is that a few minutes ago, she hadn’t wanted to look at it for a while. But..

She pushes, tugs the needle through again. 

The fresh green pops against the dull crimson—odd, but not unwelcome. The little lip of fabric from a decently sized tear, slowly but surely, is reattached to its original home. It isn’t straight; in fact, the whole thing looks a little janky. It must be curling underneath, not flat enough. Ironing would be useless now; the damage was done. 

A weird buzz washes over her with that. She shakes her head and refocuses. 

Push, grab, tug. Gently. Not too gently though, the needle won’t go through. 

Then, if it’s too hard, the needle could break. The thread could snap. She’ll have to start over again, and again after that for sure—she didn’t have the gentle hands, it just didn’t feel like it anymore. But she’d manage, Pearl was always very good at managing. Especially when the cards weren’t good. But she’d fix this, she’d solve it by next time and-

And.. Pearl has sufficiently thrusted the sharp point of her sewing needle unfortunately far into her finger. 

She yelps, yanking the tiny sliver of metal out and shooting her hand out, shaking it a few times out of instinct. It throbs, she bites her lip. There are a few scattered footsteps tracking across the room. Pearl glances up. 

“Pearl,” Gem says, taking a knee in front of her and grabbing the assailed hand, “Did you poke yourself?”

With a throat too tight—-when did that happen?--Pearl can’t do much but mutter something and nod. Gem’s eyes scan over her hand, nose scrunched up and eyebrows furrowed in concern. She singles out the wounded finger and sighs. 

“What did I say about being careful?”

“I-I was careful,” Pearl says, clearing her throat a bit, “It’s nothin’. Just wasn’t paying attention.”

“Well, you should do that better.” Gem smirks up at her, obviously teasing. “You could lose a finger.”

Everything feels tight in Pearl’s shoulders. Gods, she’d really gotten herself worked up. She forces a breath. Out of Gem’s pocket comes a band-aid. She unwraps it quickly, holding some of the spare wrappings in her mouth as she wraps it around Pearl’s finger, careful not to push too hard. 

“‘ere we go,” she mutters between clenched teeth before dropping the papers into her hand, speaking clearer the second time around, “All better!”

At that, Pearl’s chest tightens again. It really isn't all better—the hoodie is still in her lap. The needle is long gone. Her finger hurts. She huffs hard, like a sob was hiding in the back of her throat and she wanted to keep it there. 

“Hey. What’s up?” Gem asks, her hand resting on Pearl’s knee, “I heard ‘I’m gonna patch my hoodie’ and then silence for like.. 15 minutes.” 

Pearl avoids Gem’s gaze, thumbing at a drawstring. “Just focused.”

“Sure, Pearl.”

“What?”

“How about you look at me and tell me that?”

She doesn’t. Gem snorts. 

“Come on,” her voice softens, and she takes Pearl’s hand in hers, “I can tell you’re upset.”

When Pearl does look up, she sees Gem’s green eyes staring back at her hard. Her friend’s face holds concern, though it’s buzzing behind pink cheeks and a half-smile that feels reassuring. Out of some habit—maybe instinct, Pearl smiles a little too; not too warmly, or kindly, but bitterly.

“I can’t sew this thing.”

“No?”

“No.”

“That’s okay. There are other things you can do.”

“No- I really should fix it. It’s such a mess.”

Gem squeezes her hand. “Pearl.”

“It can’t go back into the box like this, it has to be ready for next time.”

“Next time,” Gem starts knowingly, “Isn’t in the next five minutes. You can try again another day.” 

Pearl lets out a little frustrated growl, squeezing her eyes shut. Her hands shake. She can still feel the weight of the thing in her lap. Clearly, it won’t be easy to let this idea go. It didn’t help that Gem was also stubborn and wouldn’t let it go either. Not till Pearl came to a conclusion that would ease her distress. 

“...And who knows, maybe you won’t need it,” Gem says, glancing away as if she’s afraid she’s saying something wrong, “Things could go differently.” 

“But they won’t. We both know they won’t.”

Gem doesn’t like this response, visibly pleading. 

“Pearlll…”

“Gemmmm…” Pearl mimics, unable to hide her sad smile even as she tries (and fails) to distract, “It’s fine. I just- I can’t let it go today. I need to fix this.”

Gem narrows her eyes. 

“Okay. If you feel so seriously about it, we can do it together then.” 

Pearl’s face twitches, visibly taken aback by the suggestion. 

“What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? I let you borrow my thread already. Might as well let me help you at this point.”

Before Pearl can even object, Gem stands up and moves to Pearl’s side on the bench. She uses her hip to nudge at Pearl’s shoulder, a silent ‘move over’ before plopping herself on the seat next to her. 

“Gem, I can do it.”

“Oh, hush. Let me see it.” 

Gem’s hands dig into the red pile and Pearl feels her fingers clench it tighter before she realizes what she’s doing, and forces her hands to relax. Even as Gem pulls it apart slightly to get a better look, Pearl won’t let it go entirely. 

“Your stitches are too tight.” 

“You have other projects.” 

“They can wait. Here, let’s get a new needle and thread.” 

Pearl knows when she has lost a battle. Against the hoodie, against the Gem (those battles were particularly easy to lose). After a few minutes, Gem has managed to give Pearl a step-by-step refresher in how to mend something, even if she didn’t really need it. Pearl fiddles with a tiny gash in the side, near a seam. The needle feels a little less like a weapon this time around. 

Gem still prattling next to her, Pearl smirks down at their shared project, fingers and hands all tangled in thread and fabric. 

“...Thanks, Gem.” ~~~~~~ i have really strong feelings about Pearl's hoodie from Double Life being a metaphor for her mental stability and physical form. Especially after being broken down and left alone for a lot of DL. it's fine. i'm fine. i also love Gem not hesitating to, in a sense, help her put herself back together a little bit. yeah. idk if ANY of that came across but even if not, i thought this was a fun little snippet. :) - rose

[natasha-in-space]

So I'm replaying Ray's After ending rn, and it got me thinking that what I adore so much about Rika as an antagonist is just how damn scary she can be. I always found those who cause harm with good intentions (at least in their point of view) much scarier than those who hurt you with pure intention on hurting you. I think the best example of it is this CG in particular:

Look at that. Such a loving, gentle expression on her face. Probably kissing his forehead. Because she loves him. Heck, without any context, this CG looks even sweet, if you think about it. And yet, all that is while Saeyoung is forcefully sedated on a powerful concoction of drugs even a trained agent like him can't do anything about (and Saeyoung WAS definitely trained to deal with this sort of thing, hence it's mentioned that this is a 'special' kind of drugs). He looks miserable. Bags under his eyes, his expression pained and troubled, even his hair is paler than usual. All that as a direct result of her actions. But she's utterly blind to it. What's scarier, is that she knowingly shuts off her understanding of what's really happening. She's not oblivious to it at all. She just chooses not to see it that way. Simply because she doesn't want to.

Rika is the type of antagonist that will cup your cheek into her warm hand with the most loving of smiles on her face, all while you are getting elixir poured down your throat. Even whispering to you that you're doing great, that the pain will soon pass, and that she can't wait to see you reach the happiness she knows you deserve. I won't be surprised if she even cried genuine tears of compassion during some ceremonies for her believers. All while being the sole reason behind their suffering.

And that's... God, that's terrifying to me. I love that about her.

Rika Kim, they could never make me hate you

[sophiethewitch1]

www!reader WILL call batman a pussy for not killing on her private twitter. she does it like every other day. its cathartic

[shannonsketches]

He said "Fuck this shit, I'm out" I'm crying. Toriyama's Vegeta was so top shelf 🤌

(From Neko Majin Z Chapter 5!)

[sideblogdotjpeg]

"ultrus is right, i am weak and pathetic" / "callie believes the way she loves is fundamentally repulsive" / "all i ever cared about was being useful someday" . things i think about a normal amount

[perenlop]

i'm not exactly innocent of this and i am not defending her at all as a person, but sometimes when people criticize l!ly 0rchard, i can't help but side eye a liiiittle bit when they nitpick EVERYTHING about her writing... including stuff that i knowwww the average person wouldn't criticize a cis and/or male writer for doing.

and it bugs me more that you cant point that out without people going "omg its not transmisogynistic to criticize a bad youtuber!! look, we don't misgender her, dont we get a medal for that?"

[ilovedthestars]

here's the thing. yes, some pieces of art are "better" than others. there are many criteria you can measure that with--technical skill, creativity, clarity, conceptual depth, successful execution of the artist's intentions, etc., and i do think it's useful to clarify which ones you're using as a measuring stick. but like, of course you can evaluate art. of course you can be critical (in the "art critic" sense) of art. (among other things, that's one of the most important ways to get better at making art yourself.)

however. when it comes down to evaluating what gets to count as art. what art even gets to have a seat at the table. i will go to bat for the thing that isn't as "good" every single time.

you can say you think a piece of art is bad. you can say you think it lacked technical skill, or clarity, or conceptual depth, and you consider those important elements of a successful work. i might even agree with you. but if you think that means it doesn't matter, someone is going to die on this hill and it isn't going to be me

[hungnitan]

HSR x Fate UBW coming in Q3 2025 !

(I write these in mind for anyone doesn't know Fate series at all)

For now it's unknown will it come with stories or just skin or full pack with playable UBW character

Not long ago HSR had interview with FGO team, the magazine only release their Q&A but considering both side love each other project, these collab shouldn't really suprising. If there's suprising fact is why only UBW not FGO directly ? Since there is no info about collab details, let's make some analysis for now :

FGO especially Fate series is really big world ! If you need comparasion, it's not only Honkai Impact world but all Hoyoverse become one and you need to know at least a bit of each title to make sense about Fate series !

Continuing point above, which is the reason they gave us years for this collab ! Their developer consider years should be enough for player to quick read most Fate series franchise (lol)

Fate as whole already into their 20 years old now so it's kinda impossible for anyone to learn that series from start (even I only know fifty percent of it). So to make it simple, they just pick their well known franchise but not making players too confused about their world building which is Fate Stay Night. UBW is decent choice considering what's happened with other two.

If anyone need comparasion, UBW kinda like GGZ in term of popularity and reminiscing (lol) while FGO kinda like former Genshin in term of popularity.

I kinda saw FGO pretty desperate nowdays or maybe they're already out of idea to promote Fate series onward. For anyone doesn't know, FGO was the king of mobile gacha games but after Genshin release their revenue drop sharply and with more Chinese gacha games out lately, you can say now it's their lowest situations so to be honest Fate series feels like gonna dying sooner or later which is this collab came.

I can say for sure that this collab came from HSR side since those otaku ops growth like now while watching/reading Fate series (lol) so I think there's no way HSR or even Fate team will slack off especially for storytelling since it's Fate main selling (if there's one for collab later lol)

Onto collab prediction since it's specifically UBW, means the main character is either Rin or/and Emiya. Maybe anyone still not read questionable leaks but there's info this collab need two version to finish means there's at least four and max six new character avaliable later. Considering UBW stories, I can think of Saber and Gilgamesh or maybe Kirei can join the roaster too.

Now for everyone who doesn't know Fate series and need pointer for later collab, first please watch Fate Stay Night, it have three titles with same story premise but different PoV with different ending (Fate Stay Night 24 episode -> Fate Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works 1 movie -> Fate Stay Night Heaven's Feel 3 parts movie). Next it's Fate Stay Night prologue, Fate Zero 24 episode and you're good to breakthrough the collab only.

Sounds simple right, which is the reason they choose Unlimited Blade Works for collab. If FGO, you could swarm yourself with 9 years FGO lore materials + other works with and without "Fate" titles on it (lol)

[im-an-anthusiast]

Ditches and Spiders

God, his forearms ITCHED.  Ugh – they sang a horrible siren song, to which the only answer was the raking of claws, the bloody contact of skin and nails. Or whatever. He clenched his fists, twisting them, rolling his wrists, and watching the taut, lean, yet somewhat gaunt muscle flexing under his scarred skin. Calixte hated the scars so, so much. They weren’t ugly, contorting, or shredding, and they weren’t spirals of thorns or carved spines. They were “beautiful”, twisting, mending – spirals of petals and curving stems. Calixte always hated the mix of lily flowers curling up his arms in a monotone white of scar tissue. They made him sick. His entire lunch – half of a white chocolate granola bar – tickled the very top of his throat, acidically ghosting over the roof of his mouth. He ought to practice Magic again.  

He applied the Sepal Balsam. Almost half the container coated his forearms thickly, massively surmounting the blood below it. Was that... wait... quadruple- no, pentuple the recommended dose? Perhaps that was why he could feel his pain fade into such intense numbness so quickly that in mere seconds he could not feel his forearms at all – and could, in real-time, watch the open wounds, cuts, gashes, and lacerations riddling his forearms and climbing up his bicep close, and twist at themselves, forming sickeningly intricate floral shapes, layering onto those already there. What a disgusting toll he has to pay, really. And, sure, he could always not push himself so much or just wait for himself to heal, but how would he get better, then? The best around don’t just rest. No pain, no gain, after all! He just has to push himself a little harder, surely...! 

The gloves contracted around his arms. They squeezed and cried at the Magic pouring into them, pushing and lashing at his flesh. The gloves wrung his arms, and blood dripped out from their hems at his biceps. All for... him.  

The bouquet strained in his arms. The paper tore open at the pressure pushed into it, flowers spilling around his flesh. Ditch and spider lilies both wrapped around his forearms, slipping from his embrace one by one. All from... him.  

“Are you proud, dad?” 

[taruruchi]

"You two are dancing in a snowglobe 'round and 'round"

i finished this within half a day. and that's not usually possible for me. kinda insane ngl

[scorndotexe]

quite genuinely i am in awe of smut writers. i tried it once and nearly died of embarrassment and i'm not even particularly shy about sex.

[gotta-bail-my-quails]

gotdam being in bed really does make my brain work better