#but like. who else is gonna make that comparison?? its so fucking niche

[silverselfshippingchaos]

I'm so glad that all my interests are so drastically different from each other because I think I would have an anime nosebleed and die if I ever saw S.eifer drawn in the C.ody R.hodes outfit

[galacticnova3]

its commendable how you make the lor lookalike who eats exclusively people and has little interest in doing much else seem like the better option in terms of which of the meat boat duo would be more pleasant to spend time with

It’s all about the specific ways that they’re fucked up.

Lon is evil and sadistic and has a body count at least bordering quadruple digits by now. They don’t have some kind of personal grudge toward sapient beings or anything, though, and when they kill someone it’s never personal or something they think much of. Given their experience you can also at least count on it being a quick end to meet if you’re unfortunate enough. They’re an intelligent mimic and that makes things more complicated than just being your average run-of-the-mill box with teeth that has over time come to adapt to the specific niche of preying on intelligent beings that would avoid any predators they readily identify. Being a sedentary ambush predator isn’t really ideal for them— they need to problem solve and plan and just generally Do Things in order to stay stimulated and be their definition of comfortable and happy. Yet they aren’t particularly interested in socializing outside situations where there is some benefit to it; even with Iru they aren’t usually the one to initiate conversation or work particularly hard at continuing them. In short, there’s no deeper underlying motivation for what they do other than simple hunger, instinct, and boredom. They don’t know any other lifestyle, nor are they interested in changing, but at least they’ll probably leave you alone unless they’re actively intending to kill you.

Iru, in contrast, is a total noob in comparison. He doesn’t enjoy the hunt like Lon does, as his main avenues of stimulation are social or interest/knowledge based. Though he does it, he still doesn’t like the whole killing process despite it not bothering him as much as it used to; nonetheless the hesitation is there, so between that and his personality you’re dealing with someone who won’t really hide his intent but will still try to strike up casual conversation as well. Early on he probably apologized for what he was gonna do before asking his soon to be victims for pointers on how to kill them and procrastinated via conversation. Really, that’s where his obnoxious nature really shines through. Imagine being a soon-to-be-victim of a serial killer who won’t stop talking about how hot women are and how unfair it is that they don’t think he’s hot and how great he is. He also asked if it would be better to throw you at the ground really hard or hit you against a big rock or what because like he was still pretty new to the whole killing and eating people thing and couldn’t stomach just biting your head off or something. And he gets annoyed when you don’t talk with him or respond in ways that aren’t screaming or crying or other means of expressing that you’re fearing for your life. So like not only do you have plenty of time to dread dying, but you’re gonna be spending your final moments with a guy who looks like shit and ass and doesn’t know how to read the fucking room and has a British accent.

[mogai-sunflowers]

Maybe im too meh about alot of things and this is kind of a vent

but i honestly hate that nowadays (mostly white) people wont reblog an important post about privilage in society or a post with links about a crisis cause the op dosent 100% align with someone elses opinions despite the fact that post has nothing to do with it. Like awhile back i saw a black person's post spreading around a bunch of super important links regarding the buffalo shooting and how to help the families just to see some white mogai individual refuse to mess with the post and yell at their other (white and poc) muturals for reblogging it cause op didnt specfically support emojipronouns. Like i understand that that makes them nbphobic and emoji pronouns are important but there is a bigger issue here that is very important. They refuse to support people unless they can slide themselves into their perfect image of a perfect progressive person which is why it takes so long for news to meet this community.

Im not saying you should never vet your sources and you should give notes to bigots but when it comes down to huge issues like racism, mysogny and communally-external lgbtphobia, wether or not that one person likes mspec lesbians, endogenic systems or neopronouns dosent really matter. Its about information reaching as many people as possible, the rest is infighting smaller issues that are very niche and dont matter in comparison. Im a poc, i use neopronouns, im an mspec lesbian and im a collective but im not gonna pretend someone whose only exclusionary view is not liking pnc gays/lesbians to a raging racist. Our community needs a bit of reality check concerning what is big issues and what is small issues and the mogai/liom communities are an echo chamber wether we like it or not. Internet discourse and national law are 2 very different problems and i see alot of abled white people conflating the 2 because they get all their news and live their lives on tumblr. I know because i used to do that, once tumblr wasnt my main app anymore, i learned alot more about the world around me.

I'm not saying you or anyone else is over-reacting btw, im just tired of seeing people comparing xenogenderphobes locking people out of nonbinary servers to anti-immigration laws and Trump's walls. There significantly more damage from one than the other and the comparison is always done by someone who only faces the lesser issue.

Ill just sign myself off as 🌿

i completely agree. i've seen this before too and it pisses me the fuck off, like I saw a Black person talking about fandom racism and how to support Black people in fandoms, and people were like "but they dont support bi lesbians" and it's like??? okay yeah that sucks but that's not relevant to the actual issue here and it's very disrespectful to ignore someone's input on their own oppression just because they have one opinion you don't like. like, just the other week, a bunch of white queer people started attacking a Native Two-Spirit trans guy who was talking about what's currently going on regarding the ICWA, and this person was reblogging the post saying not to listen to him because he asked not to be called queer because he thought it was a slur and im like. get out of your fucking ASS jesus fucking CHRIST. and im not like, saying that to try and distance myself from whiteness, i've caught myself having that kind of chronically online mindset before and had to evaluate myself. just agreeing with you anon, it's massively stupid the way people, especially in the mogai community, prioritize interneet discourse over things like structural racism and queerphobia. it's bullshit.

[colorisbyshe]

fanfiction and popcorn movies and netflix shows that remain culturally relevant for 3 and a half minutes that are like... thematically empty and serve as just escapism would be fine if we as a culture were also investing time and money into... literature and other media with depth and cultural criticisms and harder themes to grapple with

and while on one level i understand why people get overly invested in the former (when you live in a capitalistic society with too little free time, when you’re worn down and just so fucking tired, why not go for media that feels EASY and is often cheap/with a low barrier of entry), it still is really amazing to me that instead of just owning that (”yeah, since i only an hour a day that isn’t work or cooking or cleaning or child care, i’m gonna use it to truly relax and turn my brain off”)... so many people need to inflate the value of their escapism media

like it’s FAR from a perfect 1:1 comparison but it’s like people who mostly consume “junk” food (that isn’t bad on its own, is much more accessible and easy/cheap to make, and is much less time consuming) if they pretended that their microwavable lean cuisine is like... fine dining and actually the MORAL choice of consumption. it’s not enough to just... like it... it has to be better even though we can all admit that like... fresh, nutrient dense, and complex food is the ideal for everyone

like when you are ONLY consuming “junk” media, it’s technically better than consuming nothing at all (hell, reading comprehension actually benefits even from texting let alone from 100k fanfiction, though... this isn’t often apparant) but the IDEAL is a mixture of both. where fanfiction and mcu films are like..  a side dish

like, no, not everything has to be complex or even DECENT, but when it’s the only thing you’re consuming... that’s when it’s a problem.

i mean it’s also a problem when your side dishes are like truly fucked up and heinous shit or military propaganda a la the mcu but i’d be more trusting of people to “handle” that “critically” if i knew they were also consuming content that WAS critical of that content

but some of you legit only consume empty media and then posts about empty media and nothing else. and then are convinced that since it’s technically not mainstream and niche (it’s not anymore) that means it’s counter culture and progressive when it’s not

[bigskydreaming]

I’d say the thing about some characters lending themselves better to some stories than others actually can apply to the Batfam as well, and is a sign of how well-developed they actually are. I know I’ve ranted in the past about the tendency to try and fit the Batkids into niches like the smart one and the angry one and all of that, but in terms of story TYPES, I think they do have certain niche-like feels that mean some of them are better suited to certain GENRES of story than others.

For instance....I didn’t love Grayson, but that was more due to the overshadowing circumstances and the fact that I just think King and his writing suck. A lot. But the basic premise was not at all out of Dick’s wheelhouse. He IS well predisposed to kinda globe-trotting, spy versus spy, switching disguises like they’re outfits, making the most out of his ability to make friends everywhere he goes and turn enemies into allies.....those types of stories. Not saying these should be his only stories, by any means, or that he can’t center in all kinds of other types of stories, but I’m just saying, these kinds of stories do have more of a Dick Grayson feel than they do various other Batkids.

Similarly, Jason is better suited to gothic horror types of stories than the others, just in general. His history with the Lazarus Pit, his general disposition, his THEMES, like....they speak to the same kind of aims and tones that gothic horror both births from and embodies.

This might just be me, but to me, Tim is best suited to kinda oddball, off the wall sorta stories, and that’s part of why I’m so meh on him just being shelved into the uber-genius, mini-Bruce, heir to the best detective mantle kinda thing. I’ve spoken before about how much I miss 90s Tim, but to me, Tim was always at his best, and at his best-defined, most feeling like uniquely HIM, when he was playing the underdog. When he was just this well-intentioned kid who plunged into this world that was so much larger than viewing it through his camera lens had prepared him for, but he had spunk and determination and he wasn’t about to back down or let anyone think he was in over his head so he was gonna make it through whatever the superhero life threw at him even if flying by the seat of his pants the whole way. So to that end, I mean, I think Tim is at his best when just dealing with totally WTF kinds of stories. The cross-dimensional capers, the time travel mishaps, the ‘great, I was abducted by aliens on my lunch break and now apparently I have to save planet FUBAR with nothing but my pocket knife and scathing dry wit.’

I would fucking kill for Cass at the center of noir type stories where its like, idk, the Maltese Falcon and she’s the jaded but still optimistic-at-her-core PI when trouble walks into her derelict office wrapped up in an eggplant shawl and the name Stephanie. Maybe its just that I don’t think there’s enough focus on the fact that Cass is SMART and she’s as much a detective as any of the family, does plenty of investigative work and if she’s heir to the cowl she’d be just as good at the mystery side of things as Bruce is, but just......noir stories just FEEL like dappled shadows and eerie shades of blue and black with hints of moonlight spilling through slatted blinds and all of that just screams Cass to me, faint notes of jazz in the background, a wry smile on her lips as she plays her informant like a fiddle when chasing down clues.

Duke is another globe-trotter in feel to me, like his backstory and his family and his stories with the Outsiders, like, I really want to see Duke on more superhero teams than just the Outsiders now that that’s over, because he’s better suited to stories not confined just to Gotham, I think? Like, Duke fits the conspiracy theory chasing niche to me, like, his character really comes to life when pursuing leads all across the world, digging into his past, his family’s past, seeing how it all connects to various mysteries of the DC Earth that are generations old but still affect the present....like I don’t know how many people have read Planetary, but that to me is a PERFECT fit for Duke, and I would love to see him with his own Planetary style team or even just part of one.

Damian is best suited to coming of age stories, which sounds vague, but the thing is, it really is its own genre. So much of Damian’s character, the best parts I think, are about Damian FINDING himself, DEFINING himself......he more than any of the others, debuted so clearly defined by his origins, his parents, who he was CREATED to be.....and so he more than anyone else is perfectly poised to star in stories that are all about him breaking away from that mold, from parental expectations or preplanned destinies, or even just searching for things to define him on his own terms rather than through the eyes of others. Stories that are about choosing your own path, making a self-realization or having an epiphany about who you truly are or what you want to do with your life....that to me, is Damian’s best niche. Again, doesn’t mean that other characters can’t be great in these kinds of stories as well, just that if I’m pairing one character to one genre they lean into best, this is what’s that for Damian, IMO.

Steph is a bit of an oddball for me, and I don’t quite know how to describe this, but she’s best suited IMO to those kinds of stories that like......there’s not really a specific NAME for this type, but you know them when you see them. The best comparison I can think to make is like.....the kinds of stories Harley Quinn stars in? To be clear, I’m not drawing parallels between Steph or Harley or saying they’re the same kind of character at ALL, I’m just saying like.....Harley is another character who overall is very hard to pin down in specific concrete terms, but nevertheless is centered in various stories and adaptations that are nevertheless very clearly HER.....and that’s the kind of thing I picture for Steph. She fits that niche that isn’t really a niche for anyone BUT her, because nobody else can summon that type of feel for it......the kind of story that you can’t switch anybody else in for her because the story only works with her specific kinda....energy. Bleh. I really wish I could describe it better, like its very clear in my brain, but its a story that’s more of a kind of FEEL than it is a specific description? If that makes sense like at all? LOLOL. Whatevs.

And Babs, like, I would love love love to see her centered in a proper cyberthriller. I mean, they’ve done stories kinda like that with her as Oracle, but not to the extent I’m thinking. I mean just full on cyberpunk dialed up to 11. Give me Babs enlisted by the JLA because Brainiac is loose in the internet and she has to go into cyberspace utilizing different avatars of herself and calling in allies as needed as she relentlessly hunts a villain through landscapes of data she maps and molds and turns into traps. Babs hyper-fixating on her task, her hunt, to the degree that she has to be reminded to pull herself out at times and take care of her physical needs, has people grounding her so she doesn’t get lost in cyberspace and the lure of it all, this place that’s her domain and where she shines the brightest. And so it balances that razor edge that makes for the best cyberthrillers IMO. The ones where all the possibilities of the future as embodied in technology and cyberspace are balanced with the necessity of remaining human, of being human and with roots and history embedded outside of it, in the real world. And with there being a clear juxtaposition between the two even as the protagonist goes back and forth between the two extremes of their existence, the physical and the ephemeral.

Anyway. Like I said, you can mix and match and its not like Dick can’t star in gothic horror and Jason can’t do off-the-wall dimensional hijinks or noir detective stories and Tim and Cass can’t do coming of age, etc.....its just in terms of what I was talking about, how some characters lend themselves MORE easily to certain kinds of stories than others.....this is how I perceive the various Batkids.

[ixnova]

Pathfinder x SO hcs

SINCE NO ONE ELSE IS REALLY DOING IT i GUESS i’LL HAVE TO PROVIDE IT MYSELF. GOTTDAMN AND Y’ALL CALL YOURSELVES A FANDOM. (I kid.)

He’s your friend first, boyfriend second.

Like he just genuinely cares about you romantic or not.

Literally info dumped everything on you the first day you two met, explained APEX, his goal to find his creator, etc.

Get’s a lot of dating advice from Mirage and the interwebs, is completely cheesy with it because of this.

Gives you flowers and gifts in excess amounts until he kinda learns for himself how to handle a relationship.

You’re his first and probably only.

Will take you on dinner dates and such even though he can’t eat. He just enjoys watching you eat and chatting to you while you eat.

Great for Netflix and chill, he loves watching new tv shows and such. He really wants to know what happens next but will wait for you.

Probably does too much “research” online and becomes paranoid about losing you sometimes.

Doesn’t get the concept of sleep but knows you need it and will keep you company while you sleep. Maybe move his charging station into the bedroom.

He can be cold or warm depending. Metal is naturally cooler to the touch but he’s warmer towards his core where his computer screen is. You can hear his fans going if you listen closely enough.

Not actually comfy to cuddle with, but you’d get used to it and find a position that works. Very chunky and bulky. Sometimes he puts pillows and such between himself so you can rest better.

He can actually wear certain clothing even tho he doesn’t need it. Got a few jackets from APEX and such, but they have to be oversized to fit him, so bonus for you when you steal them.

Honestly why steal them though just ask and he will give them to you, he doesn’t need them.

He’s not one to scare easily by normal means but he has his limits, will hide behind you and curl up with you when he does feel threatened. Lightning storms are one of the niche things that gets to him.

Always down to make you laugh, Will rehash jokes constantly, borderlines on telling dad jokes. Somehow he manages to get a chuckle out of you every goddamn time.

You love it though, you know you do.

He’s completely infatuated with you simply because you’re human. He likes seeing how you react to things, learning how you operate. He’s just interested in humans in general, but something’s special about you.

He’s not really sure what the emotions he feels really are, but he supposed based on research, “love” might be the closest thing to describe it.

Not many would expect it from his bubbly personality but he’s actually easily jealous when others flirt with you.

We’re talking rehashing some trash talk insults he learned online telling someone to leave you alone and go away when he’s had just about enough of them pestering you.

one of the few times hes actually mean, instantly feels bad about it later though... but not sorry.

You’re his. He doesn’t mean to be possessive and he doesn’t freak out when you’re out alone without him, but it’s just like, he’d like for you to be his.

He’d take you ziplining for fun sometimes, if you’re not afraid of heights.

Prepare for having to answer lots of questions, he’s curious about everything and if you’re spending time with him you’re gonna get the brunt of it.

Also expect to be told completely random facts, he loves learning about stuff!

“Turtles can breathe through their butts, how interesting!”

Would probably tell everyone that he’s dating you, even random strangers.

He’s called out to you live on APEX a few times making sure you’re watching or dedicating a win to you.

It’s a bit embarrassing but he means well.

“Everyone! This is my girlfriend!”

He’s just proud of you man.

He’d also be super supportive of you and whatever you’d want to do in life.

and when that doesn’t work out he’d be there to cheer you up.

Brings you all of your favorite things, including himself of course.

No more tears, let’s go watch our favorite Netflix show.

Takes pictures of you all the time without you even knowing, benefits of being a robot.

He just saves them for personal use, to look at when he misses you. Nothing weird though, its not like he watches you sleep or anything!

He thinks you’re beautiful all the time, even when you know you’re not at your best.

He just really, really likes you. He hopes you feel the same.

There that should fill the void for awhile. But while I’m here.... NSFW under cut.

As we all know, it’s canon that he can fuck. Of course he’d put that knowledge to use in a relationship if you were okay with it.

Probably learned about sexual intercourse while browsing the web and found porn or something.

Maybe picked it up from just learning about humans in general and with that comes information on mating patterns.

He’s extremely inexperienced though, so you’d have to personally show him how things are done.

He’d draw comparisons to videos and such he’d seen online, so at least he’d be aware if he was hurting you or not. Which he’d never do intentionally.

Your first time was probably extremely silly and awkward, but it was alright.

He doesn’t exactly have a dick or anything, naturally anyway, but he does have hands.

If you like being fingered you’re in for a real treat, he’s surprisingly good at that.

He’s always intrigued by your moans and like seeing how your body reacts to his touch. Sometimes he tries new things just to see how you’d react.

Even though he doesn’t really get much out of it, knowing you’re enjoying it is all he needs.

Extremely lame at dirty talk, he’s just too nice. He will read scripts and repeat quotes from online porno to try and get you going but it just falls flat because its rehearsed.

Probably would be best as a dom, no, he’s decided from watching videos and such that he wants to be the dom. Submissive just doesn’t suit him.

I can’t express how bad he is at dirty talk though, its funny. “I’ve been very bad.” “What? Who said that? I think you are doing wonderful, friend!”

Maybe later on you’d experiment with strap ons, or maybe someone in this wild universe can customize him a dick attachment. 

That’d get a bit more interesting, he’d again reference what he’d seen online and try to go down on you.

He gets to be closer to you this way, and its odd because he likes it though he can’t explain why.

Those handles around his screen and such are GREAT to hold onto while riding, FYI.

He’s a robot so he never runs out of energy so he can go for as long as you want to, and then some.

He might forget himself once or twice, perhaps get a bit too into it, but all you have to do is say stop and he will instantly drop everything.

He loves your body, he loves every inch of you, expect metal hands to explore and violate every part of your being.

Oddly enough, sexual intercourse really gets his motors going. Perhaps another one of his many emotions is possible arousal.

You’re often going at it above the sheets or in a colder room, he WILL overheat eventually.

You’ll have to pay attention sometimes, he won’t tell you he’s overheating for fear of ruining the mood, or interrupting your enjoyment.

Bondage? BDSM, yeah he’s heard of it. Maybe he’s itching to try a few things with you, if you wanted.

He’s not into the cuffs and whips though. Oh no he has a very special kind of kink.

Ropes are fantastic, you can zipline with them, grapple onto stuff... Tie people up.

You ever seen those very intricate rope art porno? Yeah.

Yes he uses the ziplines rope.

He’ll never tie it too tight though, just enough to keep you in place.

He makes cute patterns with it while he’s tying. small hearts, sometimes ties roses into the design.

You are a canvas and he is the artist, he’s quite proud of the tie when he’s done.

He’d much rather gaze at you and admire his work than fuck you sometimes when you play like this.

Extremely big on after care. He’ll cuddle you and tell you how well you did and that he enjoyed it too. He’d make sure you’re okay and tell you that he loves you!

Although he’d never hurt you purposely, sex is always a bit rough with him no matter how gentle he is. You’ll always have a few bruises here and there. Around the hips, thighs, wrists, it’s just the nature of the beast.

You kind of dig the markings though.

[permetscore]

After finishing the Bloom into you anime and getting into the manga, I‘d like to start reading more other manga, especially Girl‘s Love, but with certain popular stuff being rather fetishistic (eg. Citrus) I wanted to know if you had any recs for any actual good GL manga? Bonus points if there is more plot than just „its a high school romance between girls“ (like I love BIY, but that semi-plotless highschool romance most romance manga seem to have going on gets boring quite fast)

OH IM GLAD YOU LIKED BLOOM INTO YOU its definitely one of my favorite more popular series lately!

ok so i have good and bad news for you. the good news: the vast majority of yuri is not fetishy and is in fact very very sweet and soft. bloom into you weirded me out at first by comparison to most yuri, if that tells you anything

the bad news: plot is uh... not gonna be easy to come by lmao. most yuri is either high-school romance or adult-office-lady romance with very limited Plot beyond the emotional dance of romance. the series i like that tend more towards plot are largely going to have less of a yuri focus as well, as a result. 

before i get into specific recs, the main place you wanna read yuri manga is dynasty reader. theres a LOT of evil shit on here (mostly doujinshi - in my experience original manga tends to be better) but what i like most about dynasty is everything’s properly tagged. that makes it MUCH easier to avoid anything too evil! just be sure to always check tags before clicking on something

now for some specific recs. first, since there’s less of them, one’s with plot:

revolutionary girl utena: the classic, so classic you mightve already seen it. i’d recommend the anime over the manga, although i’ve heard the manga’s like, fine. about a girl, utena, who aspires to be a prince, and through a series of bizarre after-school duels, becomes engaged to the “rose bride” - whatever that means. the lesbian romance is integral to the narrative, technically, but its nowhere near as overt as i expected when going in. if you want onscreen kissing, you’ll need to watch the bizarre spinoff movie which is good but, bizarre, and a very different retelling in a lot of ways. also be sure to read a full trigger guide for this series if you need - it deals with a lot of abuse. 

shoujo kageki revue starlight: no one fucking listens to me so no one has watched this but its incredible. uses a lot of the same themes as utena, but in a more... explicitly magical girl way, i suppose. i kind of describe it as “utena & pmmm for the faint of heart”. lots of duels and singing shenanigans, with a lot of heart. don’t be fooled by the typical moe designs, i was pleasantly surprised by how unsexualized this series was. my only downside is i think its purposefully vague about being ACTUALLY gay. all the girls are paired off, and like, its pretty obvious but... if youre really tired of baiting, this show might be a bit much for you

a lifeform in puberty - vega: one of the few sci-fi yuri i’ve been able to find and really enjoyed. there’s two chapters, but imo its best read as a one-shot unless more chapters get scanlated soon. about an alien defender and her crush!

qualia the purple: another sci fi yuri, this one’s uh.... it’s a lot. falls into the weird niche of manga from the 2000s that focused a lot on deconstructing difficult philosophical concepts. i CANNOT stress enough that this requires a lot of trigger warnings. child abuse, graphic violence, body horror, etc. the main character becomes largely unsympathetic after a point, but i was so fascinated i had to keep reading. again, the yuri is minimal, but is the driving force behind.... everything the fuck else this series does. 

after hours: this series has been licensed by viz so you cant find it like anywhere online, but its available in most book retailers. its 3 volumes, and its about 2 young women putting on a... rave essentially. the older of the two is an experienced DJ and brings the other under her wing as a VJ, its fun. not AS plot heavy as the others, but it has an explicit goal outside of the romance, so i guess that makes it count?? anyway this one’s a huge favorite of mine. 

those are the main plot intensive off the top of my head? now heres some other just, big faves:

lonely wolf lonely sheep: short but wonderful! this one deals with themes of self harm and homophobic abuse from friends, but ends well

kase-san and its ongoing sequel yamada to kase-san: sweet gardener girl falls in love with the track star - and she falls in love back. high school romance with its typical tropes, but its so wonderful its worth it. the second series is about them in college! i’d also highly recommend the OVA that came out for it last year - it covers most of the major plot points of the first series

still sick: my favorite series currently being released! about two office coworkers, one of which is very into writing yuri doujinshi, and the other is... i’ll let you find out. beyond the romance it’s about art block and letting yourself create honestly and earnestly. it’s really really lovely and i’m looking forward to more!

cirque arachne: about two circus performers. short but sweet, and beautiful art!

and i could. recommend a lot more but i hope that gives you a good start!

[kinsbin]

Movie Night

Title: Movie Night Ship: Johnny Cage/Alexys [Self Insert/Canon] Word Count: 2058 Summary: Johnny and Alexys plan for their annual movie night, with a selection of good monster movies and a plan to kiss during all of them. Pure fluff.

A/N: A commission for @bad-blue-moon-rising! She’s slowly getting me into mortal kombat and it is a TIME

Movie nights were, more or less, a tradition now.

Alexys would call it a testament to their relationship, in a peculiar sort of way. The endless entertainment both herself and her boyfriend seemed to garner from the animated or live-action features always drew them closer together. It was important to how they first met and, hell, it would be important for the rest of their time together certainly. There was something about being able to forget about the outside world that warmed her heart. Of cuddling into a pile of blankets with her boyfriend and being able to exist only in that pure bubble of momentum and delight. The mere idea brought a smile to her lips as she imagined a life where they could be together comfortably. To always have movie nights. To be...she dared say normal...but what life was normal with Johnny Cage?

Her thoughts were interrupted when a hand fell against her wrist, pulling her back against a strong chest as a chin rested on the top of her head. She could feel the taught muscles of the body against her go lax the moment they made contact, the warmth of their shared heat nothing short of delightful as she exhaled outwards and smiled. Reaching up, she felt the arm around her and squeezed it, half hugging the being behind her in the best way that she could as she also tried to focus on the hot popcorn bag she had been pouring into a bowl before hand.

“Johnny,” She managed out through a small fit of laughter that only seemed to grow as his lips descended on her neck, “I’m trying to make us popcorn!”

“And I’m trying to kiss you,” He purred back with a smirk that she could feel on her neck, “Looks like we’re both doing pretty good at what we decided to try, eh?”

“Easy for you to say! You don’t have hot butter near your fingers, now either help or sit on the couch.” She giggled and smacked his arm playfully. Johnny laughed back at her before relenting, raising himself upwards and off of her body so that he was at her side rather than behind her. Alexys looked up and admired the face of the man before her, muscled with a curved and perfectly kissable jaw that she loved and adored so much. Without his signature sunglasses covering his eyes, she was able to note the soft laughter lines that trailed from underneath his pupils to down on his lips, admiring their movements as he stretched his face between words and expressions. They were always so fascinating and, somehow, so melancholy to see on him all at once...it was interesting.

“Hey, Ripley, you’re spacing out on me.” He joked as he snapped his fingers in front of her, drawing her out from her momentary enamorment of his face. HIs grin was wider now than it was before, “I know I’m good looking but, dang darling, you’re gonna make me blush if you keep those doll-eyes up on me.”

Alexys felt her face heat up with intense redness, her gaze pulling itself away so that he wouldn’t catch the effects it had on her as a whole. He did, however, because he was just that good. Because he was Johnny Fucking Cage. And he bit back a laugh as he instead returned to hugging her, his lips this time finding her cheeks and nuzzling into her temple with a purr, “Don’t be so embarrassed, doll, I think it’s incredibly adorable. Goes with the rest of you~.”

“Stop being a sap and tell me what movies you brought over,” She laughed it off with a grin, turning to kiss his nose in retaliation. After a moment of sputtering and laughter over the sudden kiss attack he had been the victim of,  he recovered by removing his hands from her in a gesture of surrender before reaching around to the messanger bag he had set unceremoniously on the ground before wrapping himself around his lover. When he rummaged through it, he eventually pulled out two DVD cases with a wide, delighted smile.

“Aliens and Big Ass Spider. Classics.”

“One of these things is certainly not like the other,” Alexys managed out with a bubbling laugh over the ridiculous title of the second one, admiring the way its cover displayed its concept almost too perfectly. A large, comically photoshopped tarantula whose eight legs were busy crushing cars as people ran in mock terror was organized on the front, along with the name of the movie in comic sans font and the head actors who, surprisingly, were no one Johnny actually knew. Well, not so surprisingly perhaps. It was a very niche movie.

“One is a cinematic masterpiece filled with beautiful acting, a strong female lead, and a fearsome inhuman foe ready to kick the ass of everyone in its way,” Johnny declared, “And the other is Alien.”

Alexys cackled at the comparison, her hand flying over her mouth to stop the laughter as she shook her head. Johnny’s own laughter echoed heartily against the kitchen as they shared the moment of giggles together. It was moments like this, she admitted with ease and delight, that she loved these movie nights most of all. The feeling of laughing with the man she loved, the strong earthen defender who had somehow fallen for her...It was almost normal. A sweet sense of normalcy that she had craved time and time again amongst fights and bloody fists and watching him come home with blood that wasn’t his across his torso...It was something else, certainly.

It was almost homey.

“Go put it on the TV,” Alexys sighed, “I’ll finish getting the popcorn.”

“And the soda!” Johnny called out before exiting the kitchen to the living room with a grin, sending a sharp wink her way before complying to set up their featured films. Alexys smiled as he went, watching him as he began to juggle the two DVDs in his hands, knowing she was staring behind him. Knowing that she knew he was showing off. She laughed again before gathering the popcorn up into its bowl and melting some butter to go with it.

The snacks organized and balancing precariously in her hand with some sodas, Alexys meandered her way towards the couch, where Johnny had already set himself up comfortably, DVD in and remote in hand prepared to hit play on the feature whenever his girlfriend gave the okay. He reached over to nab the sodas from her, smiling as she sighed with relief and was able to put the popcorn down with no spillage to its contents. “Gotta say, doll,” He joked while putting one of the buttered popcorn pieces into his mouth, “You know how to butter me up.”

“That joke was as corny as these kernels.” Alexys chided with a laugh at the joke either way, making Johnny grin and lean forward to press a kiss to her cheek, which she accepted happily with a hum of approval.

“So which cinematic masterpiece are we watching first?”

“If we watch Alien first, it’ll only enhance the pure artistry of Big Ass Spider,” Johnny reasoned, the shit-eating grin on his lips stretching further when Alexys rolled her eyes and shrugged to indicate that she was fine with that order of business, perhaps even a bit happy to be putting off the lesser horror movie for a couple hours longer as she pushed herself closer to Johnny and snuggled up into is side. Johnny felt the tips of his ears glow a bright red at how close she was, at how he could feel her body press on him, and he could only cough between a subtle remark of how he was going to press play.

The movie started in the way it always did, for they had seen Alien together more times than Alexys could actually count on her fingers. She considered it a bonding movie in one way or another, the joy to which the both of them had in quoting the entirety of it line for line and laughing at the parts that  did not hold up to modern day cinematic standards was a delightful way to offset the true tension and terror the Xenomorph could instill upon them to that day. Alexys felt Ripley’s lines falling from her lips, word for word, while Johnny seemed to read for everyone else. It had been their fifth time watching it together when she had acquired the teasing nickname of ‘Ripley’ by her star of a boyfriend, happy to hear her quote words in and out of the comfort of their home. Happy to hear her excited about whatever she was talking about.

Happy to be with her.

The thought still rustled in the back of her mind, making her blush at the mere idea of it. Someone like Johnny Cage somehow liked her...It’s how most people would view it, wouldn’t it? When she had met his friends, their first impressions had been something along that nature but now...now? Their shared banter of movie quotes and bad jokes had everyone nodding in understanding. An appreciation to how well they got along permeated the friendship circle endlessly as they continued to stay together.

Alexys leaned in further against Johnny’s chest, her breath hitching as the climax of the movie set itself into place and Ripley was facing off against the Xenomorph at long last. The music score crescendoed darkly, emphasizing the already dark parts of the room around them. Johnny watched her out of the corner of his eye, biting back his own smile at just how cute she looked pressed up against him. How her eyes grew wide with tension and excitement and her tongue darted out to lick at her lips while she waited for the part she knew was going to happen occur full force. Her excitement warmed his heart, in a strange way.

His arm found its way around her shoulders, bringing her close to his body and giving him a chance to haphazardly hug her. Alexys startled at the touch, blushing brightly but smiling as she snuggled into his body. He pressed his head to the top of hers, kissing and inhaling the scent of her soft hair as they watched the rest of the movie together. Against her, he whispered softly:

“You know it’s popular to kiss during the scary parts. Distracts you from the actual scare.”

“We’ve seen this movie like ten times, Johnny,” Alexys teased, “What are you, a teenager?”

“Maybe at heart,” He laughed back, “But maybe I just really want to kiss you right now. Did you think about that?”

She averted her gaze biting back a smile with a thoughtful hum for comedic effect. Johnny laughed, but used the moment to lean in and capture her lips in a kiss. Alexys squeaked, but accepted it. In the background, the final fight scene echoed against her eardrums as Ripley and the Xenomorph attacked one another. As they fought for survival. In the meantime, she put her hands on Johnny’ chest, feeling the solid muscle underneath the loose shirt he wore. Feeling how careful he was being with her, keeping his hands on her shoulder and hips, to bring her as close as possible to him while he kissed her.

When he pulled away, she was breathless. Alexys felt the warmth of her face as she looked up at him, the only saving grace of the embarrassment was the fact that she could see the red tips of his ears and nose as well, showing just how in love he was with her. Showing just what she made him feel.

“I love you,” He finally murmured out, pressing a new and more gentle kiss to her forehead. Alexys sighed with a content breath, snuggling into his chest and reaching for a piece of popcorn, popping it into her mouth and closing her eyes for a moment to relish in the shared care they had for one another.

“I love you, too.”

[dadmilkman]

i never really post on here personally because i migrated to twitter a few years ago and the appeal of tumblr left me shortly after but ive talked about this topic ive had on my mind on twitter a lot already and ive bugged my friends in their dm’s too much but i still need to get it off my chest so im gonna talk about it some more anyway

in november this past year i messaged an artist hosting a secret santa event pledging to participate, and the next day they sent me back saying, no, i cant participate, because my art looks “too traced”

i dont post my art on this blog much anymore since i started posting it on my sideblog but i do draw fairly often and for years, for YEARS, one of the things that has contributed to my horrible, horrible depression (besides like, everything else) is my very bad habit of comparing myself to literally everyone and everything else. its taken me a long time to start trying to break this habit and not feel bad about my own abilities or skills in comparison to other people, and to this day im still struggling with it. art has been a personal battle for me, as it is for anyone who creates things regardless of what it is, and ive given up, sometimes for months or years at a time, only to eventually come back and start drawing again and then hate how far behind i felt because of all the time i spent not improving any at all.

so fast forward from 2012 where i “seriously’ start drawing to the start of last year, after going through maybe 3 hiatuses where i didnt draw for over 6 months, to where i finally bought my own tablet (after borrowing off my girlfriend or just drawing with pencil) in april and started actually seriously drawing again, all summer and during school even i was just drawing out the ass, all the time, i was putting more shit down than i had for a long long time and it was bad but i was real proud of it because i was creating things! and thats what ive always wanted to do, is just put stuff out in the world. to make things with any sort of permanence. so all last year i was really pleased with my progress and i was even getting better at drawing faces and coloring so i was real pleased.

so i get into a few new hobbies during the year and start following a bunch of artists on tumblr, or blogs that promote other artists, because id gotten to enough of a point where seeing other people accomplished at art didnt make me feel quite so bad about myself as it used to - i was able to look at other peoples success with pride on their behalf and not anger or jealousy. and at this point id start liking a little bit of my own attention, so i make a separate art blog dedicated to my art and my characters. and theres this one artist i really admired. they draw nothing but their oc’s, which is also nothing but what i draw too, and they were popular and everyone liked their characters and they had lots of artists friends they could talk with and do trades with and it was and is everything i wanted to be. i wanted to be that sociable and liked and known, even if it was just among a small group of friends in a small part of a niche interest, i wanted to participate in something.

so i see this secret santa i really want to join, hosted by none other than this artist i look up to, quite a lot. id sent them a few anons before with various questions on things and felt comfortable enough to message them and ask about joining the secret santa. i was finally comfortable enough in my artistic abilities to want to join, too, which was huge for me. so i message them, and wait for them to message me back.

and they do , the next day, and its to immediately tell me that my art looks too traced and that i should “stay away” from their art trade. as any aspiring artist will tell you, tracing photos is good. it helps you get muscle memory and learn perspective, anatomy, blah blah. as long as you dont do anything with it or pass it off as your own.

but tracing photos or god forbid other  peoples art and then posting it online and saying “look at this thing i drew all by myself arent you proud!?” is entirely different, and obviously isnt something ive ever fucking done, but its what they wanted to accuse me of, saying i was being deceitful and that other people in the trade would be mad if they knew. so, no, ive never done that. i never said ive never traced photographs before, i do it all the time to practice poses and anatomy and then i send them to my friend and say “ha i drew my characters doing this thing” and like, thats the only light of day it sees.

but apparently this artist was and still is under the impression that everything ive ever drawn was traced, as if i never put any work into anything. i do. i dont even know how to express that statement enough. i do . i do put hard work into the stuff i make. i practice and i draw and i sketch and no, im not fucking great at art, but it makes me happy and i can draw my ocs and thats really all i want to be able to do, so when someone comes to me , someone i looked up to and admired , and accuses me of being a liar and a fake, it hurt.

and of course i tried to explain i dont trace my art? i used photo references, a lot. sometimes ill take a photograph of myself to use as a reference too. i have a bunch of pvc pipes in my room i use when i need a ref of someone holding a staff or sword so i can make the angles better. i have a reference blog i use heavily and most of the time the outfits i draw are from stuff i see models wearing and want to put my ocs in. but i dont trace it, and that accusation hurt. the only thing i ever “trace” when i draw figures is a stick figure on a pose, IF im having trouble, like this 

and then the rest of the drawing, the lines, the hair the clothes the face, whatever, i draw that free hand, its not like i sit there and trace a whole photo or drawing? and if i did im not gonna...post it online and pretend i did all this hard work? and this is all the same thing i said to this person, i admitted to doing this stick figure technique, and that i sometimes trace photographs but i use it as a mechanic to help me improve anatomy accuracy and not as a cop-out for doing my own work and ive never passed off someone else’s skills as my own like they were insinuating. i mean, is this tracing? ive seen self taught and professional artists (and artists/photographers like senshistock, where i get a lot of refs) use this or a similar stick man figure approach when trying to draw people. i never thought i was doing something deceitful , and not to mention i dont even do this with every thing i ever draw. just stuff with weird angles or if theres a specific pose i want to capture correctly. i cant tell if this criticism reminds me too much of the argument circa a few years ago that using references or photos of any sort at all was cheating, or if this is genuine criticism and its a practice i shouldnt use anymore. which i havent been doing anymore anyway.

it was so infuriating to be confronted with this and have the whole argument portrayed like i was a sham and i was duping people on purpose. “stay away from the art trade” was their exact words. it hurt a lot and it still does, and its still killing my confidence every day. ive been trying to move on from the whole thing but when someone you admire shoots you down like that, i just dont know how to keep going knowing them and other people they apparently talked to about this are looking at my work thinking im a cheat. this has been on my mind nearly every day for 3 months and its killing me.