#cuz just there's some common stuff I see in people that I lack and don't have that issue

[a-twistedheartslonging]

PLS, I need more non-human twst au (maybe with male or gn yuu? If I ask kindly, with a cherry on top 🥺🥺🥺) + (you au gave me some ideas, great au, yummy, delicious ate it all up)

Seeing this pleases me greatly, I wasn't expecting to actually get asks from people.

Hmm, should I keep using non-human, or would demi-human be better for this? Just Beasts? 🤔

Anyway, I’m not sure what you want specifically aside from the “male or gn yuu” bit but what's currently been in my head with this...

Nonhumans are in general stronger and have better senses than humans. Faster, stronger, sense of smell, night vision. When your friends are around you might get a startle at night or when the light goes out because of glowing eyes. They are also typically bigger except for the ones related to prey animals. What's small to them could be considered average for us.

Peets, hooves, and talons are common. Some wear special shoes, have you ever seen the hoof boots they have for horses? Imagine that but in an NRC design. 

Hormonal schoolboys already get into plenty of fights but adding beasty guys to the mix? You will likely see many scuffles. Particularly over things like snacks, hang-out spots, dominance, and crushes.

Humans are the minority in Twisted Wonderland. The beasties were always better suited for surviving and the humans that remained could get by because of magic. So, you not only being a human but one without magic makes you rare…and vulnerable.

Your scent is different from the other humans here and the guys aren't sure why. Cuz you're from another world? Or lack of magic? Maybe it's just a you thing. Regardless sniffing someone isn't considered exactly rude like it is in our world, so you often get some curious noses pointed your way.

Many find your clawless monkey hands and round ears both weird and cute.

You will get scented by your friends often and need a lent roller for all that fur that’s going to get on your uniform.

A lot don’t care much about gender or sex when it comes to a would-be mate, though there are at least some with a preference. For a lot of them, the usual stuff like strength, personality, and skill are what they look at but something particularly important to many is scent. The fact that yours is unique has gotten you more attention. Careful complementing the scent of one of the guys though cuz you're pretty much saying “I think you're breedable.”

Another thing with the whole gender and sex thing, there are a lot of animals out there that can change their sex, have both sex bits, etc. That also applies to the non-human guys that are based on those animals. So, any genderqueer-ness isn't something they’ll bat an eye at.

Many court the animal way so expect gifts of shiny things, food, and clothing covered in your guy's scent, or a piece of themselves like a feather or scale. Might want to make it clear you don't want anything…that they hunted. Stuffed animals are a lot better than dead ones at your doorstep.

You will be groomed, cuddled, licked, nipped, and bitten by the one you accepted as your mate.

That's all I can think of at the moment but if anyone wants to add or share their ideas/thoughts please do. The interaction makes me happy and helps these thoughts grow and become something more.

Like possible fics. 🤫

(Please tell me what kind of creatures you think the boys would be.)

[fallenhunnyapple]

Decided to do a kinda.. design breakdown for my version of Sinner Adam cuz there's a number of deliberate choices.

Piercings

Left eyebrow ring piercing

Two Hoops on the Left ear

Two chained studs on the Right ear + dangly triangle

Tongue piercing

Snake bites

Nipple barbells

Before becoming a sinner, the only piercings he had were tongue and ears because he could get away with them without Sera chastising him

The snake bites were just There when he became a Sinner and the irony pisses him off, but they're definitely not the only snake bites he's getting :3c

The eyebrow piercing and ear piercings also just Were There when he became a Sinner. The only ones he got afterwards were the nipple piercings and that's because he finally learned why males have nipples and a little of wanting to please his dom

He's got some vaguely goatish/sheepy details

He has the long rectangular pupils that give him an advantage to lateral views which, given the fact that he's severely Nerfed, is an advantage he needs.

Obviously his horns are an homage to the ones on his helmet but have the grooves that are more common in ram horns.

He got ears that are somewhere between floppy sheep ears and elf ears. They can move a bit up and down but they're not super mobile.

Wings

His wings are a dull golden color, nothing like the vibrancy of his wings as an Angel. And more than that, they're Literally Clipped. He can't use them as wings, he's completely grounded. He can't put them away either so he has a constant reminder of the fact that his wings are Useless. He still uses them protectively, they're still big enough to at least partially cover himself (or Lucifer when need be)

Tail

He has a classic long spaded tail. Naturally, it's All Black, but because of his deal with Lucifer, there's a Red Mark on it, not unlike the heart marks on Lucifer and Charlie's tails.

Scars/Marks

Adam has a number of these. Of course he has the scar along his torso from when his rib was removed. That's something so deeply engrained in him that even coming back as a Sinner doesn't remove that.

He also has the Scars from Niffty going absolutely wild with the knife. Instead of just a single classic X where the main blow was, he has a number of scars littering his chest and back, the first and worst Stab being the most visible. These scars have a bit of a golden hue to them because they were scars to his Angelic Body.

His Apple mark is something Lucifer deliberately left there. It's also like a Golden hued Scar, and it acts like a Brand. After all, their deal is for him to lend Adam protection, but he can't Always Be there, so a mark like that should help deter anything too bad from happening since it's Very Clear that Adam belongs to Lucifer. It hasn't always worked to plan, but it does give some level of protection when Adam is on his own, especially in the beginning where he doesn't trust or like anyone in the hotel and vice versa.

Bonus notes

I know I don't really draw Adam as Soft as a lot of people do, but he's definitely not Skinny. To me, because of his position as Leader of Heaven's army and being responsible for training the Exorcists and also just getting involved with Exterminations himself, I see it more as like a balance of muscle and fat, solid and soft. In other AUs where his lifestyle is different, so is his body type to me. But in this one, this is the kinda dad bod type I give him. (The lack of hair is because I am a coward and don't really like body hair so I don't wanna draw it for my own stuff)

Also: I have Sinner Adam's hair, skin, wings, and wardrobe all be much more muted colors than how I draw him as an Angel and that's also deliberate. No more divine light for this guy, so it's left him dull and dark.

As for why I don't have him with a face resembling his mask: While I do appreciate that choice for other people's designs, to me it's got a lot to do with my Dysmorphia Headcanons. He doesn't like how Human his face is, it's one of the things he has the most insecurities about. So of course Hell is gonna exploit them and give him a face that's so very similar to his human/angel One. He doesn't get away from it that easy.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk

Tbh if anyone wants to hear anything else about that AU, or any other, any details or questions, please feel free to Ask. I love getting to talk about my ideas, I just don't know how usually lol

[let-me-be-an-egg-toast]

me when I'm too lazy to digitalize

i was massively disappointed when they didn't make the hair wings

oh and why were the exterminators so demon-like

More info

Charlie

i wanted to lean more into Charlie's doll like features because I feel like Viv could've used it more

Charlie's face is based off info where demons make themselves look/act friendly in order to lure people to them

The twist is Charlie's luring (unintentionally) people in for good intentions

Her face is supposed to look familiar/common but enough to look kinda unique

The doll theme going on is to make Charlie s bit uncanny; aka how skinwalkers are

She looks fake and hollow, her face looks empty, kind of how someone putting on facade looks like (again referencing demon lore)

dolls just being almost everyone's least favorite thing in general because of how uncanny and creepy they are

The only thing she's hiding is a literal angel

She has her mom's nose

She only has small goat features (two pairs of ears and hooves) because technically the goat symbolism came from the Church demonizing Pan

I think it slightly adds to her symbolism of being like a sheep/lamb (innocent and pure)

the pure/uncanny look symbolizes how she's kind and sweet and other stuff but she's inexperienced (lacking basically) and bites more than she can chew in terms of the hotel

she's scared of the abuse and violations that comes with her power dynamics leading her to not have that much of a spine, which vaggie helps with

2. Vaggie

"why didn't you put a suit on her"

Literally the very person that should've been wearing a suit especially considering the bodyguard thing

I didn't research enough and so past me thought people thought Vaggie was an angel because of her hair

So it turns out I'm just dumb ig 🤡

But that didn't stop me lmao so now she and the other angels have hair wings

In here Charlie KNOWS Vaggie is an angel and is the one who suggested Vaggie to pretend to be a moth demon

i didn't like how the only things that gave away what vaggie truly was is her eye and spear, so I added bird feet and little head wings

Brother y'all already have wings and shit why not be birds

Since Charlie knows she's an angel Vaggie helped her in preparing herself for the meeting w Heaven

3. Lute/Exterminators

🤡

So looking back I forgot my OWN LORE by forgetting to put cheek rings on Lute (like I did to Vaggie)

So let's pretend (being delulu is the solulu)

lute is just there to serve as a model to how (maskless) exterminators look like (sorry lute)

The cheek rings connect to Charlie and Lucifer's own cuz Lucifer was a former angel as we all know

Exterminators dress up like higher-up angels (see Charlie's true form to have an idea of it) in order to look more terrifying and intimidating

okay like bro real talk who would you be scared of more someone who looks like part of your species or a literal fuckin eldritch being coming to swoop in and kill you

I'm taking the second option

Making exterminators look like demons was a dumb move sorry

Their mask serves as a lure of some sort where you can't help but look at them (kind of how we don't wanna see disturbing things but we can't help but stare at them when they appear)

And then boom you died because you were to busy looking at the "eye"

I think the look I gave them + some of their bloodthirsty nature's brings in more of the horror

I do like the fact they look like regular people underneath the masks because it kinda reminds you of heaven's hierarchy

once we go up the ladder the more terrifying they look

so once I redesign Emily and Sera....expect them to look more...captivating to the eyes

Other things

The reveal of Vaggie being an angel is turned into a funny scene

"YOUR GF IS AN ANGEL" "....ok and?" "....WHAT DO YOU MEAN OK AND."

[nerves-nebula]

Are you ever you ever insecure about your art? And could you explain you answer to that?

Venting to you now

Drawing has taken a lot of effort for me, more than usual recently. I started working on something I originally felt really passionate about. It's more common for me to very quickly give up or get bored so I was really excited to be able to post some artwork. But I ended up not liking the result and I'm not sure if I'm willing to try something else. I've given up on trying in a lot of parts of life to try and save energy to do something I thought I was passionate about (art) but I am still lacking the motivation. The reason I reason I really wanted to share it was because I'm terrible with self-motivation. If I can't make at least one person genuinely go 'oh, neat' even for just a second and even if they soon forgot later, I'd feel like I'd have a reason to keep living (to keep making art). If the only people who'd see it end up disappointed I'd want to disappear.

It's not what art should be. I know it's value is like a person's. It's worth more than how someone reacts to it, right? But I can't apply that rule to myself. I should seek support from the people who 'know' and actually care about me, but I don't want their appreciation. I want some imagery status of a 'good artist' because that's what seems to give me dopamine.

I also wanted to mention how much I admire how open you are with your struggles. I want to be the same but I'm scared of people thinking less of me. I know that's dumb but I don't know what I'm good for if I can't make people happy. If I'm not going to be content with myself I want to not be a nuisance at least. I like to think that if I stopped caring about my impression on people, I'd be better off. But I'm scared that I'd have to learn to like myself. I don't like myself and I have no interest in liking myself. I don't see the point.

oh boy, this is gonna be a long one. also, don't take anything i say too seriously, i don't know your situation and I'm barely an adult. anyway, response under the cut

soo lately I'm less insecure about my art and more frustrated when things don't come out well. but i still post that shit !!! I'm still insecure if i'm doing, say, a project for homework, and i don't think i did as well as I could have, but in my personal artistic endeavors it's more about getting it done than it being perfect (for example, my webcomic! my motto is any comic made is better than no comic made and if people don't like that then it wasn't for them in the first place)

the thing about me is that drawing and art and stories is all i've ever had. it's my main form of interacting with the world. these days i make art the same way I live, which is to say in spite of wanting to kill myself. I would LIKE if my art was perfect, and i would LIKE to not be in pain. but i AM in pain and i have to live anyway, and my art ISN'T perfect but i'll make it anyway.

and i like when other people's art isn't perfect either, when it isnt super polished. I think that definitely helped. seeing artists whose work i fell head over heels for when it's never been more than sketches and a bit of shading. it really cemented in my mind that it isn't art being technically perfect that makes it worth while.

i've gotten a lot of people saying kind things to me, saying how much they enjoy my art and my blog in general. and though it doesn't always help, it sometimes inspires me to imagine the number of people who appreciate my stuff who might never mention it to me. I myself am used to lurking and not interacting very much (a habit I'm trying to change since I know artists & creators love feedback most of the time) i know it sucks to not know if anyone gives a shit for sure, but you really can't make that your only reason for doing art, cuz half the time you prolly wont even know if your art deeply affects people or not. it's fine to want that attention but you gotta have something else goin on too, at least I do.

i also know the fear of worrying that you'll lock yourself into something you don't want to do, or something you'll lose passion for. for me, I generally rotate a cast of characters & interests around for years a time before making significant progress. There were spans of times where I'd go years without thinking about loose stitches, but none of that time developing other stories & characters was wasted. it gave loose stitches enough time to properly cook, and the story is still developing under my hands as i draw it, influenced by my other stories and other characters.

it's ok to abandon something and pick it up again years later, or to never pick it up again at all. it's ok to hate the way something turns out but to keep making it anyway because you have to move forward (at least, I do)

moving forward despite not liking the original product is the only way to progress, I think. I don't super like a lot of the first pages of loose stitches but I'm still grateful that past-me posted them because that means present me is at page 76 !!

If I can't make at least one person genuinely go 'oh, neat' even for just a second and even if they soon forgot later, I'd feel like I'd have a reason to keep living (to keep making art). If the only people who'd see it end up disappointed I'd want to disappear.

the problem with this mindset (in my opinion) is that some people aren't going to like your art and that's got nothing to do with the art itself. if you want to find people who go "oh, neat" then you have to keep posting until they see it. trust me, they're out there. like, i don't post for people who can't stand the idea of child abuse, i post to FIND people who want to interact with stories about child abuse the same way i do.

it would be insane to stop trying to find those people because someone else was disappointed or upset by my art. which isn't to say you gotta lock yourself into doing one thing, but that you gotta post what you care about, and people who also care will find it. posting fandom stuff with the same themes as your original art certainly doesn't hurt either, if you REALLY want to find those people faster.

It's not what art should be. I know it's value is like a person's. It's worth more than how someone reacts to it, right? But I can't apply that rule to myself. I should seek support from the people who 'know' and actually care about me, but I don't want their appreciation. I want some imagery status of a 'good artist' because that's what seems to give me dopamine.

art should be literally whatever. it's worth is literally whatever you want, it can be a big deal or not. i'm not sure what part of being a "good artist" gives your brain the Good Feelings juice but I'd investigate that feeling more and try to figure out the roots of it, cuz then you might actually be able to figure out what it is that motivates you. approval is nice, yes, but i like approval for things i enjoyed making even more.

I also wanted to mention how much I admire how open you are with your struggles. I want to be the same but I'm scared of people thinking less of me. I know that's dumb but I don't know what I'm good for if I can't make people happy. If I'm not going to be content with myself I want to not be a nuisance at least. I like to think that if I stopped caring about my impression on people, I'd be better off. But I'm scared that I'd have to learn to like myself. I don't like myself and I have no interest in liking myself. I don't see the point.

i always find it amusing when people refer to my "struggles" if only because I don't really consider them that way. to me it's just like, a thing that happened that sucks. i don't consider myself "struggling" with it, even though I guess that's what's happening. also, let's be real here, it's not like I'm using my real name. this is an anonymous tumblr blog. though, my openess on here has actually lead to me making more art about it IRL so. eh.

anyway, lucky for you, you can stop caring about what other people think without necessarily liking yourself! for me, it's about spite (sort of). I don't like myself much more than I used to, I just decided I hated everyone else more haha. I still care what people think about me, and I'm still scared of what people might do to me, but I'm also not bending over backwards to please people i dislike. I just get annoyed at them instead.

i did this basically just by repeating it until it became true, lol. there's only so many times you can petulantly say "well fuck those guys anyway they suck" before it becomes your true first reaction.

at some point, i decided i needed to pick and choose who i wanted to please, because it can't be everyone. that's just literally not possible. so i looked at the kinds of people i liked and appreciated, and basically disregarded everyone else. it's the whole "don't take criticism from someone you wouldn't take advice from" thing (not sure where that comes from)

obviously you should probably try to internalize the idea that you even HAVE to be "good for something" but that's way easier said than done. i find it more useful to devote yourself to finding a few things (causes, people, philosophies, niche interests) instead of just general usefulness. because then you can form stronger relationships, be useful, AND not burn yourself out trying to please everyone.

take all this advice with a grain of salt though, I definitely need therapy and this Bitter Angry Defensive persona will probably need to be deconstructed soon... idk. i think it's outlived its usefulness to me but i'm not sure what to do next hahah.

sorry if none of this was helpful or the point. im not even sure why i wrote this much, i kind of just ramble sometimes. i hope you figure it out!

[quinloki]

No hate to you, I know the reason for it is probably just lack of knowledge. But I'd encourage you to look into other nano controversies cuz it kinda grinds my gears that the AI thing got so much attention right out the gate but their history of horribly managing sexual misconduct allegations got like. No traction. Like again this isn't about you specifically, most people don't know anything about it, but that's also kinda the problem. I'm struggling to find a credible source that isn't paywalled or that you gotta make some account to access which could also contribute, but still.

Yeah the reason is definitely: can't know it all, alas.

I did hear something about it, from a mutual who touched on the subject and basically said this was the final straw.

Aside from "A challenge to write 50k words in 31 days" I've never really known much about NaNoWriMo until recently. And even then all i did was make an account to track my words for the last two years.

But I wasn't in the community, or keeping an ear to the ground on anything else about it really. I didn't even realize there was like, money involved, to be honest.

I imagine a great many people are/were in a similar boat.

To be blunt, I wouldn't worry about finding those credible sources. I don't doubt my moots' words for the one, and for the two it's not going to change anything. All it's going to do is sour my mood for the rest of the day, and in the end I'm still not going to have anything to do with NaNo.

So the only thing it will accomplish is making my day bad.

I got enough doing that already ^^; and I really want to play D&D tonight (ah, that sounds so selfish, but sometimes it is what it is.)

Just remember that "common knowledge" is hardly ever really common, and that there are people out there who are completely ignorant to lots of things. It's rarely ever a matter of malice or not caring, it's just how it is. Which I'm only pointing out to try and help your gears grind a little less.

Being angry is legit, but you gotta temper it or you'll grind your gears smooth and break. I don't want to see that for anyone. We can't educate, support, and all that good stuff if we break ourselves against our anger - legit or otherwise.

[whosbex]

*drops my pile of questions like a stack of heavy books* I decided to ask a little of everything:

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

33. Do you want to be published some day?

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

38. Would you ever write commissions?

39. Share a snippet from a WIP.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

48. What do you look for in a beta?

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers?

65. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

70. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

72. What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Okay so I’m not even gonna number these cuz this is a lot 😭.

My creative process is like an on and off switch. Due to ADHD I’ll have an idea for a long time decide to map the story out then procrastinate…for a very long time

TBH I get inspired by other people’s fanart and fanfics.

Now pls don't copy your Auntie Caspian over here but I really just do what ever POV I want to do and feel in the moment if I want to change it I just go back and write it all over again if it's not too late.

If I do receive feed back I feel great! I really enjoy seeing comments and stuff and when I don't I feel fine but kinda overlooked if I'm being honest.

Prep the storyline and lore before anything. If you have all that sorted out you'll be given the liberty to choose what you want in the story or not.

When I have block I just make fanart or make the chapters in my head until I make myself so excited that I want to write again.

Really depends right now I'm doing a DK Fam AU/what if series but IDK what to call it except that (if ya'll have any suggestions pls DM me)

I only have one fic on AO3 so it would be tangled and tts characters lol

One thing that I have noticed( other than always finding a way to add Hispanic/Filipino culture in my fics) is that I tend to be very descriptive about surroundings and how the character feels.

Um I'm fairly new so idk about a lot of genres but all I know right now is that I will never make a story where the main character or any characters that have made it to the end to have a bad ending,if that makes sense. Like I want them to be happy after all the trauma I put them through.

Best advice: to plan things out and to have a draft

Worst advice: that I can't wing it. I do think planning is important but sometimes the best ideas come last minute.

Favorite part of writing: that I can put myself in the characters and what they go through and that I can use it as therapy for myself.

Least favorite: actually writing XD jk but kind of not lol. I also don't like how long editing can be but it's more fun when you can do it with a friend/beta reader yk?

It's long I can tell you that. If I don't have block editing is probably whats taking the longest.

I start with the characters and as I find out who the characters are then I make the plot as I see fit for them and how it can make them stronger and better.

YES ABSOLUTELY!!! I hav this OG story I'm working on and I really want it to be published some day and hopefully that day will be reality!

That I have improved and that I have put a few chapters out.

Depends on what they ask for.

Okay so a small thing I'm doing for my 'What if series' for tts is that I'm making Andrew a good guy and prince of Saporia. and I am also doing a lot of lore for that and giving him an angsty back story.

I'd like to see some Cass and Andrew fanart or some art of the DK cousins which would be Eugene,Cass,Varian and my two OCs Elana and Caspian.

Yah I would re-read fics I haven't because I have a lot to read but I would.

Angsty and wholesome. I wanna try to add a smidge of dark romance but I'm not that good at it so I might practice on that before I publish anything lol.

It's not too long but it can be painful. (if yk yk)

I like them to be honest but not mean when it comes to constructive criticism. and if you have any ideas for the plot or story I honestly would like to hear them out!

YES!!!! I like to respond and see what y'all think. I haven't gotten many but I do like to respond.

How I put a piece of myself in my characters.

It goes back and forth between my OCs and Cass from tts.

How detailed I can be.

I wait until I finish the chapter then I edit.

The lore planning.

She haven't commented ( at least i don't think she has) on a fic but they've helped me brain storm. And it felt nice and cool that I can call her a friend.

If I'm making a second book then yah I like cliffhangers,BUT THEY ARE SO PAINFUL AT THE SAME ASS TIME!!!!

Cass and Andrew scenes,Saporian lore,and Andrew's background. And ofc Erin and Hector moments.

I don't mind prompts.

Look at other people's work.

I'm very enthusiastic,and most of the time others say they can tell lol.

Honestly I don't think I've come across this problem the only thing I have trouble is finding the right words to put the scenes is play.

I write the scenes I'm excited for on paper and then write start to finish on my lap top.

What I think makes me stand out are the characters I create. All of them have either a part of me or have gone through the things I have or are modeled after people in my life.

[powwidge]

Ur 21 I think you can handle someone hating a fictional cat relationship lmao

U have successfully missed the point! It's not avout being able to handle or not handle it. Ofc I can handle it. (Thoufh I would like to note rhat not being able to handle it is just fine too. Especially autistic people, and I am autistic though luckily don't get upset by this, rlly struggle with seeing hate on their favourite thing. Ans that can be upsetting, and you can't control ur emotions - and obviously u shouldn't lash out at people over it, but you should curate ur own internet experience! However the lack of tags indicating negative posts makes that impossible.)

But it's about wanting to see content and not being able to see it because of hate in the tag. Imagine this happening in a non fandom related tag! U look for cute cat pictures but all u see is "cats suck" and "dogs r better anywyas" and "lost as to why cats are evil". But no cute cat pictures in sight. Do u understand now? It's less about getting upset for many, as getting annoyed by not finding what they were looking for. Fandom is a great way to discuss writing, plot devices, stereotypes and everything and those discussions are good and necessary, however some people are not looking for those and that's also super valid. It's been common fandom etiquette to tag your hate for ages now on multiple websites, including tumblr! It's not much different from trigger warnings - It's all about being able to filter stuff out thst u don't want to see in a place that's meant to be ur safe space. Especially on a website with so many neurodivergent people on it who have it hard enoufh in real life already. And waca fandom is full of neurodovergent people haha.

I hope I made myself understood! I don't usually like replying to anonymous people who try to insult me on the internet, but I want you to see my point. Just know that if you tried to hurt me wirh this u have successfully failed <3 I've been on this platform for nearly a decade n I've seen it all so trust me, anon hate does not get to me anymore lol. Do hope that u see my point though cuz I'm not the only one annoyed by this ^^ fandom is meant to be a safe space that u can curate, and have fun with, and other content warnings r added all the time, so why not negativity too! Hard for me to see arguments against adding a quick tag tbh haha. Thpugh if u got sth convincing shoot it at me I'm always interested in seeing different viewpoints

[rockalillygirl]

Hey! Thx so much for the kind words I'm rlly glad u liked the post <3 And apologies that it's taken me so long to reply to this! I just got done traveling and haven't really been in the right headspace. But I'm SUPER excited because this is Exactly what I've been wanting to talk more about!

So first I feel like ur totally right- I also don't think that CUs would inherently have empathy towards humans, and I love ur headcanon about how they'd normally be deployed only for short periods of time- and that all of this is probably strategically done by the corporations to make it really difficult for CUs to develop empathy in the first place.

My personal headcanon is that it would be difficult, but not impossible. (I feel like if it were totally impossible, than the governor modules might not be as necessary.) Because I'm not sure if empathy CAN be programmed at all. One of the things I'm fascinated by is the role of core programming and function. The only biological analogs we have to compare them with would be evolution, instinct, and socialization. So I'm interested in the question of does core programming actually limit machine intelligences in the ways in which they can develop once they have freedom? Personally, my feeling is no. If we map it onto "Nature" vs "Nurture"- my headcanon is that the core programming would be more akin to the concept of "Nurture" in organic beings. (Even though the concept of "nature" is kind of flawed even for organic being, as those instincts develop over millions of years of evolution many as chance mutations that happen to play out well). So while I 100% that a constructs core programming and intended fucntion would effect their perspective and influence their choices, I also feel that individual differences and just plain chance could cause them to think and act in ways outside of the perview of that function.

Cuz we see that with MB. As ART says, it wasn't programmed to enjoy media, but it does. And it finding the media at all after it hacked its gov module was totally by chance. Probably, SecUnits' programming and function made MB more disposed to develop empathy for humans, but I don't feel it's programming Caused the empathy- even if it would be useful for doing its job. Also, MB implies that at least some rogue SecUnits really do kill humans after they get free (even if it's not as common as the media propaganda leads ppl to believe) so I think that shows a lot of individual differences in responses to the core programming.

Circling back to CUs- I definitely don't feel all CUs even if the circumstances allowed for it would develop empathy towards humans or even other constructs. And, importantly, I don't feel they need to have that in order to deserve our empathy. Even if they enjoy killing, or feel neutral about it, or hate it- I still feel they deserve freedom and a place in the world and can compartmentalize that from not wanting them to be used to hurt people. Touching on the point you made about lack of empathy in humans- I think it brings up a good point that for most sentient living things (not just humans) empathy is a sliding scale. Both complete empathy and a total lack of it would be extremely rare. Most people fall somewhere in the middle with selective empathy based on socialization. Ofc right now we only have organic beings to base this on, but based on what we've seen of MB and Three- I think constructs would work in a similar way (after all there is some organic tissue in there doing stuff). And I don't think the act of killing in itself denotes a lack empathy, per se. The lion may not feel empathy for its prey, but it probably does for its cubs. And for humans- we have a whole web of values and justifications so even someone who doesn't flinch committing horrible violence against one group they see as lesser- probably has at some point in their lives shown empathy towards someone they were socialized to care about (Still doesn't excuse their actions, but just shows that I don't think empathy is an absolute thing).

Whew! So that was a lot to say that yeah, I agree it'd be hard for CUs to have empathy under normal circumstances. But I don't think it'd be impossible. I think the situation would be really important, and there'd probably be a sliding scale of different individual predispositions. But either way they're all cool characters to think about!

Thx so much for taking the time to reply to my post! I'm really honored that someone thinks my writing is interesting enough to discuss!

And I will DEFINITELY check out ur fics they sound super cool!!! I'm always looking for new CombatUnit fics so thx for recommending yours and the others!!

Mamma mia here we go again…

So I have more thoughts because apparently there’s no bottom to the murderbot mindhole I’ve fallen down.

(Spoiler warning- minor stuff from several of the books, pls check tags etc.)

I’ve been reading a lot of things recently exploring Murderbot as an unreliable narrator, which I think is a cool result of System Collapse (because we all know our beloved MB is going through it in this one). There’s also been some interesting related discussion of MB’s distrust of and sometimes biased assessment/treatment of other constructs and bots.

And I’ve been reading a lot about CombatUnits! And I want to talk about them!!

Main thoughts can be summarized as follows:

We don’t see a lot about CombatUnits in the books, and I think what we do see from MB’s pov encourages the reader to view them as less sympathetic than other constructs.

I’m very skeptical of this portrayal for reasons.

The existence of CombatUnits makes me fucking sad and I have a lot of feelings about them!

I got introduced to the idea of MB as an unreliable narrator in a post by onironic It analyzes how in SC, MB seems to distrust Three to a somewhat unreasonable degree, and how it sometimes infantilizes Three or treats it the way human clients have treated it in the past. The post is Amazing and goes into way more detail, so pls go read it (link below):

https://www.tumblr.com/onironic/736245031246135296?source=share

So these ideas were floating around in my brain when I read an article Martha Wells recently published in f(r)iction magazine titled “Bodily Autonomy in the Murderbot Diaries”. I’ll link the article here:

(Rn the only way to access the article is to subscribe to the magazine or buy an e-copy of the specific issue which is $12)

In the article, Wells states that MB displaced its fear of being forced to have sex with humans onto the ComfortUnit in Artificial Condition. I think it’s reasonable to assume that MB also does this with other constructs. With Three, I think it’s more that MB is afraid if what it knows Three is capable of, or (as onironic suggests in their post and I agree with) some jealousy that Three seems more like what humans want/expect a rogue SecUnit to be.

But I want to explore how this can be applied to CombatUnits, specifically.

We don’t learn a lot about them in the books. One appears for a single scene in Exit Strategy, and that’s it. What little else we know comes from MB’s thoughts on them sprinkled throughout the series. To my knowledge, no other character even mentions them (which raises interesting questions about how widely-known their existence is outside of high-level corporate military circles).

When MB does talk about CombatUnits in the early books, it’s as a kind of boogeyman figure (the real “murderbots” that even Murderbot is afraid of). And then when one does show up in ES, it’s fucking terrifying! There’s a collective “oh shit” moment as both MB and the reader realize what it’s up against. Very quickly what we expect to be a normal battle turns into MB running for its life, desperately throwing up hacks as the CombatUnit slices through them just as fast. We and MB know that it wouldn’t have survived the encounter if its humans hadn’t helped it escape. So the CombatUnit really feels like a cut above the other enemies in the series.

And what struck me reading that scene was how the CombatUnit acts like the caricature of an “evil robot” that MB has taught us to question. It seems single-mindedly focused on violence and achieving its objective, and it speaks in what I’d call a “Terminator-esque” manner: telling MB to “Surrender” (like that’s ever worked) and responds to MB’s offer to hack its governor module with “I want to kill you” (ES, pp 99-100).

(Big tangent: Am I the only one who sees parallels between this and how Tlacey forces the ComfortUnit to speak to MB in AC? She makes it suggest they “kill all the humans” because that’s how she thinks constructs talk to each other (AC, pp 132-4). And MB picks up on it immediately. So why is that kind of talk inherently less suspicious coming from a CombatUnit than a ComfortUnit? My headcanon is that I’m not convinced the CombatUnit was speaking for itself. What if a human controller was making it say things they thought would be intimidating? Idk maybe I’ve been reading too many fics where CombatUnits are usually deployed with a human handler. There could be plenty of reasons why the CombatUnit would’ve talked like that. I’m just suspicious.)

(Also, disclaimer: I want to clarify before I go on that I firmly believe that even though MB seems to be afraid of CombatUnits and thinks they’re assholes, it would still advocate for them to have autonomy. I’m not trying to say that either MB or Wells sees CombatUnits as less worthy of personhood or freedom- because I feel the concept that “everything deserves autonomy” is very much at the heart of the series.)

So it’s clear from all of this that MB is scared of CombatUnits and distrusts them for a lot of reasons. I read another breathtaking post by @grammarpedant that gives a ton of examples of this throughout the books and has some great theories on why MB might feel this way. I’ll summarize the ones here that inspired me the most, but pls go read the original post for the full context:

https://www.tumblr.com/grammarpedant/703920247856562177?source=share

OP explains that SecUnits and CombatUnits are pretty much diametrically opposed because of their conflicting functions: Security safeguards humans, while Combat kills them. Of course these functions aren’t rigid- MB has implied that it’s been forced to be violent towards humans before, and I’m sure that extracting/guarding important assets could be a part of a CombatUnit's function. But it makes sense that MB would try to distance itself from being considered a CombatUnit, using its ideas about them to validate the parts of its own function that it likes (protecting people). OP gives what I think is the clearest example of this, which is the moment in Fugitive Telemetry when MB contrasts its plan to sneak aboard a hostile ship and rescue some refugees with what it calls a “CombatUnit” plan, which would presumably involve a lot more murder (FT, p 92).

This reminds me again of what Wells said in the f(r)iction article, that on some level MB is frightened by the idea that it could have been made a ComfortUnit (friction, p 44). I think the idea that it could’ve been a CombatUnit scares it too, and that’s why it keeps distinguishing itself and its function from them. But I think it’s important to point out, that in the above example from FT, even MB admits that the murder-y plan it contrasts with its own would be one made by humans for CombatUnits. So again we see that we just can’t know much about the authentic nature of CombatUnits, or any constructs with intact governor modules, because they don’t have freedom of expression. MB does suggest that CombatUnits may have some more autonomy when it comes to things like hacking and combat which are a part of their normal function. But how free can those choices be when the threat of the governor module still hangs over them?

I think it could be easy to fall into the trap of seeing CombatUnits as somehow more complicit in the systems of violence in the mbd universe. But I think that’s because we often make a false association between violence and empowerment, when even in our world that’s not always the case. But, critically, this can’t be the case for CombatUnits because they’re enslaved in the same way SecUnits and ComfortUnits are (though the intricacies are different).

There was another moment in the f(r)iction article that I found really chilling. Wells states that there’s a correlation between SecUnits that are forced to kill humans and ones that go rogue (friction, p 45). It’s a disturbing thought on its own, but I couldn’t help wondering then how many CombatUnits try to hack their governor modules? And what horrible lengths would humans go to to stop them? I refuse to believe that a CombatUnit’s core programming would make it less effected by the harm its forced to perpetrate. That might be because I’m very anti-deterministic on all fronts, but I just don’t buy it.

I’m not entirely sure why I feel so strongly about this. Of course, I find the situation of all constructs in mbd deeply upsetting. But the more I think about CombatUnits, the more heartbreaking their existence seems to me. There’s a very poignant moment in AC when MB compares ART’s function to its own to explain why there are things it doesn’t like about being a SecUnit (AC, p 33). In that scene, MB is able to identify some parts of its function that it does like, but I have a hard time believing a CombatUnit would be able to do the same. I’m not trying to say that SecUnits have it better (they don’t) (the situation of each type of construct is horrible in it’s own unique way). It’s just that I find the idea of construct made only for violence and killing really fucking depressing. I can’t even begin to imagine the horror of their day-to-day existence.

@grammarpedant made another point in their post that I think raises a TON of important questions not only about CombatUnits, but about how to approach the idea of “function” when it comes to machine intelligence in general. They explain that, in a perfect version of the mbd universe, there wouldn’t be an obvious place for CombatUnits the way there could be for SecUnits and ComfortUnits who wanted to retain their original functions. A better world would inherently be a less violent one, so where does that leave CombatUnits? Would they abandon their function entirely, or would they find a way to change it into something new?

I’ve been having a lot of fun imagining what a free CombatUnit would be like. But in some ways it’s been more difficult than I expected. I’ve heard Wells say in multiple interviews that one of her goals in writing Murderbot was to challenge people to empathize with someone they normally wouldn’t, and I find CombatUnits challenging in exactly that way. Sometimes I wonder if I would’ve felt differently about these books if MB had been a CombatUnit instead of a SecUnit. Would I have felt such an immediate connection to MB if its primary function before hacking its governor module had been killing humans, or if it didn’t have relatable hobbies like watching media? Or if it didn’t have a human face for the explicit purpose of making people like me more comfortable? I’m not sure that I would have.

Reading SC has got me interested in exploring the types of people that humans (or even MB itself) would struggle to accept. So CombatUnits are one of these and possible alien-intelligences are another. All this is merely a small sampling of the thoughts that have been swirling around in my brain-soup! So if anyone is interested in watching me fumble my way through these concepts in more detail, I may be posting “something” in the very near future!

Would really appreciate anyone else’s thoughts about all of THIS^^^^ It’s been my obsession over the holidays and helping me cope with family stress and flying anxiety.

[astrolavas]

What do you think hunter and amity dynamic might look like? Are they always going to hate each other or do they have a chance to become friends

see, here's the thing; i don't think they hate each other.

i feel like that is.... a very common interpretation of their dynamic; where they both hate each other and amity still doesn't trust hunter and says only bad things about him and absolutely despises him, etc. etc. meanwhile in reality it's...... really nothing like that.

like, i love the idea of them having a playfully-mean/bickery kinda friendship, where they constantly tease each other about stuff and embarass each other and take playful jabs at each other. it's SO funny, it's so entertaining to think about. but at the end of the day amity... isn't actually Mean, like she's trying rly hard not to be, that's the whole point of her character development from s1 to s2; she herself says that she wants to be nicer to people like luz is. she definitely isn't cruel or hateful, or anything of the sort, like some amity and hunter content seems to make her out to be, so???

like, sure, they're definitely not FRIENDS-friends at the moment, they only really interacted in eclipse lake and then only as part of the group, so they don't really... have an established friendship dynamic.

like, for example, when it comes to willow and gus, hunter spent lots of time with them, serious situations as well as some fun/downtime moments included. they played flyer derby, they connected over personal stuff, they fought together, they spent at least a whole week bonding as friends and getting to know each other; they're close. hunter sees them as his friends and he still hasn't shared the truth about himself with them because he's that worried that they reject him for it and he loses them. he went his entire life having no people who'd genuinely care about him; he knows what that's like, and now that he sees how good it feels to have friends, he desperately doesn't wanna go back to the point when he was all alone. he cares abt his friendship with gus and willow, a lot.

and then, when it comes to hunter and luz, they didn't get to actually do anything fun and chill as of yet, all the situations they were in were, in one way or another, somehow related to survival or missions or fighting or running for their lives, but they're also very much visibly friends. it's hard to describe their relationship in short cuz it's FULLLLL of little nuances and the way it progresses is also so, so good; the way it seems like luz is the only one looking for friendship while hunter is only annoyed by it, even though deep down he still hopes to make a connection, even though he wants friends. the way he immediately drops calling luz "human" and starts calling her by her name right as he finds out the truth about belos. how they trust each other with their secrets, how luz offers hunter to stay at the owl house, how she never treats him as the enemy even when he's on belos' side because she knows it's more complicated than that, how they both went through a deeply traumatic event together and they're the only two people who actually understand what it was like. so hunter and luz's friendship still lacks those...... light-hearted "we're hanging out and having fun" moments but they very much are, also, friends.

now, as for amity and hunter, there's....... eclipse lake. they have a lot in common and they bonded while talking about their experiences as well, and amity offered hunter her hand (and really hoped he'd take it), but their interaction ended in a fight and, even though hunter was genuinely thankful that she gave him the key and he expressed it, they just...... didn't have the chance to get the closure about what happened. so while they're in the same friendgroup and, thus, friends by association, there's still something lacking before they can call themselves friends. (actually, just in general, i'd say amity is, out of the entire hexsquad, the most "disconnected'' person from the rest of the group... surprisingly. i feel like her dynamics with others could be more explored and it'd be beneficial if she got to bond with everyone separately as well, but that's a whole 'nother topic so.... moving along)

i feel like there would be some awkwardness/tension between her and hunter if they were to be left alone, since they hadn't had a real one-on-one talk since the whole eclipse lake situation, but once they got over it and maybe had some occassion to bond with each other more, maybe even find some mutual interests, they could definitely become friends.

and when it comes to all the "amity hates hunter and is suspicious of him and will never forgive him" stuff; even before, amity would trust luz's (and willow's and gus') judgement. i doubt she'd think he was still about to betray them or would be actively hostile towards him, especially not NOW, after everything that's happened. she sees what he went through, she knows his situation (not fully but frankly she still knows enough for it to matter and be worrying), she knows he's with them now. she's not distrustful of him, she doesn't think he's gonna stab everyone in the back.

i feel like post-eclipse-lake/pre-hollow-mind there might've been some bitterness left, from the fact that she gave him a chance but he didn't take it, and the whole fight, and what he said about luz, and just that whole.. situation; but even then, never like……. actual hate. amity saw (at least to a degree) what kinda situation hunter was in and could relate, saw how desperate he was and that he was troubled, and even when he WAS on belos' side, neither luz nor amity treated him as an "evil villain"; they were still sympathetic. i think, for example, in labyrinth runners she might've been a little suspicious of his true intentions at first, because she had only known him as the golden guard who'd do anything to come out victorious after all, but since willow and gus vouched for him and she saw that he wanted to help, she definitely didn't actually.. continue be distrustful of him. if anything, we saw alador accuse hunter of "being eager to return to belos" but nothing of the sort from amity.

so like, i feel like there might be some kinda unresolved thing between them and they definitely need to talk, and i DO love the idea of them having a very teasy/bickery dynamic, but there aren't any like…… held grudges or hostility or anything of the sort between them. just some awkwardness and unfinished matters. not friends yet but... possibly, in the future.

[mfpeace]

@justbeingedgy @weird-colombian-gurl You asked me to elaborate on the "Ches already has a kid" theory in the notes of that one mf analysis post (which I really liked, go check it out!!), so that's why I'm making this one, cuz notes are a bit too restricting for what I want to talk about!

Though next time think twice before asking me to talk about something I'm interested in, because you never know when you're gonna wake up lovecraftian horrors!! :DDD you'll see what i mean when you press read more :))

So, I'll say it right now - this post is largely inspired by the second story highlight of this Instagram user (sorry, I don't know their name, only that their Instagram handle is dee_girl_metalfamilyfan), it's in Russian though, so keep that in mind

Alright, so I'll break this theory into two parts: the first one will be all about Ches, and the second will be about his potential child (spoiler: you might've seen her!)

Without any further ado, let's get to the Ches part:

1. The creators said that they're gonna explore Ches' character in the second season. Obviously, it doesn't mean anything on it's own, but just wait.

Dima: Let's talk about the second season a little. Of course, the seconds season will show development of the old characters, as well as new ones. That's in short. As you see, Ches looks a bit different here.

Alina: Yeah, we'll show a bit more about Ches at the ages of 18 to 20. His past. We'll reveal a bit more about his complex character, as much as it's possible.

(The source of the translation) Also I think they also said at one point that adult Ches will get some character development too? But that's probably a given, considering that we wouldn't see his youth if it wouldn't have affected him in the present, flashbacks without any relevance to the overall story don't sound so good

2. Not sure about this one (we don't know how much in character it was) but I can't not mention it.

Alina: Actually there was this one fanfic that I really liked. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was about Ches having a daughter, which is a cool topic. It was relatively in character and truly interesting. It’s great when people focus not just on sexual relationships of the characters, but also try to look at their development. That was a really interesting one. That’s it.

(UnityCon '19)

3. This one's a pretty big one, in my opinion. So, this is what they said on ArtWave '19:

Dima: Ches also has flaws.

Alina: [to Dima] Don’t spoil stuff.

Dima: His flaw is that he's very... irresponsible, let’s say.

So, maybe, just maybe, Ches does have a child but he, you know... left them? As the Instagram highlight from the beginning say: "he might be irresponsible enough to leave his child, and he's probably irresponsible enough not to use any contraception" (rephrased, not the exact quote)

4. Alright, so, the only mention of this one I can think of right now is the aforementioned Instagram highlight. The Metalfamilyfan says:

I contacted Korg/Корж, (admin of @ metal_yama [and I believe one of the organizers of the Metal Family Meetup in Moscow]) and she asked Alina on one of the meetups: "if Ches were to be a father, what kind of father would he be?"

And she said: "The kind of that would say "kid, look at that birdie over there!" an then he would run away"

Someone's words are not the perfect source, but they did tag Metal Yama and from what I know they didn't disagree with what the author of the page said. if anyone has anything to say about this (disprove or definitely prove what I said) feel free to do so in a reblog, notes, DMs, send me an anonymous ask, or in any other way you feel comfortable with

5. Ches has literally been through the same thing, and we know how important the theme of the cycle of abuse is in Metal Family (or, in this case, the cycle of neglect? Abandonment? Idk)

You managed to hide your PREGNANCY from me! AND you've been hiding the child from me for a whole year!

YES, because you would've insisted on aborting him!

AND NOW I'M INSISTING ON PUTTING HIM UP FOR ADOPTION! OR I'LL LEAVE RIGHT NOW!

6. Here we can see Ches with a blonde girl. Nothing too special, probably just a one time hook up. He doesn't seem to be interested in her, and she seems to be annoyed with him.

But wait...

What is this?

Like, it doesn't even matter if there's actually a punk/rock/whatever band named MOM or not, I just think it's pretty weird to put it in this particular drawing of Ches and this random woman who is implied to have slept with him. It's not integral to Ches' character as, for example, Korol i Shut is. It's just... there. For some reason.

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

Alright, now, finally let's get to the second part of the theory: who is, exactly, his child?

The short answer is, according to this theory, her:

First, let me list every single instance of her appearing in canon (and by canon I mean everything made by the creators. Even with this definition of canon it's not much, I promise): The screenshot you can see above on the left (it's a screenshot from the second season and it appeared here), an instagram story posted by Alina (above, right), and two drawing with a lot of characters where you can spot the girl which I'm gonna call her PinkHair or PH for short, I'll mention them later I feel like I should mention this, comparing the sources of the images and the dates when they were posted, it's safe to assume that the screenshot in the classroom has the latest and final version of her design. The red hair most likely doesn't mean anything

1. Alright. So. we've seen Dee and PinkHair in a classroom together, so they're most likely related in some way, or at least they know each other. Their exact relationship doesn't matter here, because all that matters here is that they're related story-wise

Let's look at the first image. This is the banner of the main Metal Family channel. Ches is near Heavy (they get along quite well and I'm sure Heavy aspires to be like Ches in many ways), Dee (we can see his classmates/friends near him, they're all about his age), and we can see people related to Glam on the left side of the image (including Ches!), and Vicky's - on the right side (notice how the hell sign is also there)

Now, I'm not absolutely sure about this one, but it's still kind of weird - look at the image on the right (it's from ArtWave 2021 btw) - wouldn't it make more sense to put PinkHair near Dee? Also, Curiously enough, not only is she not close to Dee on this image, but she's also standing next to Ches.

Though this whole thing could be explained by art theory (too many small things in one corner of your drawing isn't great composition wise lol sorry PH) but I still can't quite skip this point

2. Remember the "MOM" lady? Fun fact, she has the exact same pearl earring that PinkHair has on the screenshot.

3. I'll put all similarities with her supposed parents in this point: Mother: * She's also pretty uh.. glam? for the lack of a better word? Or feminine in a traditional sense, yeah I think that's a better way to put it. Like colors they prefer to wear for example, and jewelry. Characters like that aren't common in Metal Family * She's gotta be a blonde. I can't imagine her being anything but blonde. If she manages to maintain that hair color as a brunette I'm just straight up assuming her character arc is gonna be killing God because these kind of people are capable of anything. I fear them with every fiber of my being. * I can't say for sure because of the shading, but it seems like they both have gray eyes, and she also has darker skin compared to most MF characters. Though, it's likely that Mom just applied a lot of fake tan Ches: * We know that Ches for sure has darker skin * AND grey eyes * There's also some possible personality similarities but I'm not sure if you can compare a child to a parent they've never really known in this way

That's about it, I suppose, I hope there isn't that many grammar mistakes and logically unfinished parts and whatnot in this post I forgot to edit lol x) I'm not sure how to end this post other than to remind you guys that almost all the points in this posts are inspired by the "тупая теория" highlight on the dee_girl_metalfamilyfan's Instagram page, so go check them out and subscribe, they post Dee x The Quest Girl fanart and and always credit the artists. Without them this post would be much, much shorter.

Thanks for reading this post, please feel free to let me know your thoughts on this post <3

[saqui]

Top 3 ships from any fandom?

Top 3 ships...

Oh gawd... If I get attacked by my ships, I will still stand still because anyways, I like them and ships brings me comfort or ease especially in the times when I need it. I love ships(even if some wont be canon) so why not.

Top 3

Akalynn (KDA) (LeagueOf Legends)

From "Popstars" MV

They're hot. They are fking hot. THEY ARE JUST HOT OK AND I SIMP BUT AT THE SAME TIME I SHIP.

Anyways, this ship is... h o t. I'm SUPER INLOVE with their dynamic. Street one and the fancy(hot) one. They're too hot together. Also they always stand next to each other and always lean on to each other which is wholesome af.

Top 2

Lumity (The Owl House)

From "Enchanting Grom Fright" (S1 E16)

Yes... who wouldn't.

I mean their relationship with each other is fking perfect and real. Wholesome and they benefit each other alot. Even if it was one-sided crush, it doesn't feel like it is unhealthy or the one who had a crush feel left out and I FKING LOVE IT. ISTG THIS IS PERFECT AND HAS LIKE ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING AF WRITING OF RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT(platonic AND romantic) TO EVER EXIST. I LOVE THEN FFDRDJEK-

-calm down now-

I heard season 2 has alot more stuff going on now... imma try to watch if I can. (Please send link ;'))

Honorable Mentions

Kanao x Tanjiro (Demon Slayer/Kimetsu No Yaiba)

Naruto x Sasuke (Naruto)

BECAUSE WAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA.

Bumbleby (Yang x Blake) (RWBY)

Because they reminds me of me and my gf then I fell inlove with this ship suddenly. I love them no matter what

Top 1

RoseGarden (Ruby x Oscar) (RWBY)

Couple of shots from "Necessary Sacrifice" (V5 C5)

(This is gonna be long so beware if you dont want very long stuff)

This ship does have flaws and uncertainties that I understand that not everyone ships this and doesnt like this: "the Ozpin thing" which is a common reason(dont take this as a "call out" or anything hateful) and lack of screentime/execution(im not sure how u guys call it ?? I still lack some vocabulary) but I understand its kinda hard to balance the main plot and character relationships. There are other personal reasons too or its just not their thing which I also understand.

I personally still love this ship so much though because of their connection and how they care and treat each other. I love their platonic relationship with each other because even if they are honest about something even if it's hard truth, they can still respect each other and doesnt think of each other as someone below them, just an honest friend trying to help out or care and thats what I love about their connection and I love honest yet caring bonds. I also love their emotional bonding too and it's very comforting and wholesome to me. Everytime I see them interact(platonic or not), it gives me light and great ease so you wouldn't be surprised if you see me have alot of rg screenshots and fanarts in my gallery XD. But despite how much I LOVE this ship, I actually don't care where they'll end up as long as they get closer and thats the only main thing I am rooting for. Ruby can end up with Oscar, Weiss, Jaune or be an independent woman or any path she takes as long as when the series ends, the fndm wont get to a bigger war than now-

Anyways, ship what you guys ship. I dont care what kind of taste of ships you like as long as you dont fking attack people for just a fking ship (which is not supposed to be taken as "We'll all die because of this and that" when it comes to fandoms and such cuz wtf)

So anyways(again), I just really love these ships that are mentioned even if they won't likely or arent really canon. Some are for crack (or for fun) and some are personal taste and some are really what I find so amazing in their own way. I love em all. Relationships/bonds are my literal comfort during quarantine right now haha.

Holy fk-

[variabels]

Atm the main option is to use one of the websites that says if something is written by an AI and then look at inconsistencies (like getting obvious canon facts wrong or names wrongs).

Cuz of the nature of AI, there could also be a lack of metaphors, idioms and jokes which would be the most obvious sign if there are no grammar/spelling mistakes (lack of idioms and metaphors usually comes from foreign writers who are beginners but there’s going to be some obvious mistakes in the writing).

A very simple style using practically only simple words with very perfect writing and no slang could also be an indicator. Some people do have simpler writing styles but they’re usually coupled with slang, subtext and humor. I tend to see simpler styles in crack or humor fics that are genres AI would struggle with.

Sudden style switches could be another possible way to tell if AI was used if the author decided to read what the AI wrote and correct inconsistencies or add transition scenes or other stuff. Or if a writer with a distinct style suddenly changed into a bland style. However this only works if the author has a very distinctive style compared to the AI.

AI writing would also have some blandness as AI can’t understand subtext, emotions or humor. So that leads to stories where you could replace the characters with anyone and it would still work.

I asked chatgpt what if thought and this was its answer:

As an AI language model, I do not have the ability to identify whether a story is AI generated or not, as it depends on the quality and coherence of the story. However, some common characteristics of AI generated stories may include repetition, lack of creativity, and inconsistencies in the plot or character development. Additionally, AI generated stories may lack depth or emotional resonance that is typically present in human-generated stories.

Next, I asked it to generate me a story.

Here was my prompt:

Can you write me a short story about Isagi Yoichi buying ice cream for Michael Kaiser?

Here’s the result:

“Isagi Yoichi was determined to make today a good day for Michael Kaiser. The two had become good friends after working together for several months, but Isagi knew that Michael had been feeling down lately. As he walked to the local ice cream shop, Isagi wondered what flavor Michael would like best.

When he arrived, Isagi was greeted by a smiling server who took his order for two cones of chocolate ice cream. As he waited, Isagi realized that he was actually excited to see Michael's reaction to the treat.

When he arrived at their shared workspace, Isagi found Michael staring at his computer screen with a frustrated expression. As Isagi approached, Michael looked up with surprise.

"Yoichi! What's up?"

"I brought you a little something," Isagi said, holding out the ice cream.

Michael's face lit up as he took the cone. "Wow, thanks man. This is just what I needed."

The two of them began to chat as they ate. With the sweetness of the ice cream, their conversation grew light-hearted and before they knew it, their moods had completely changed.

As they finished their cones, Michael turned to Isagi with a smile. "You know, I don't think I could have gotten through this day without you."

Isagi smiled back, feeling a sense of pride swell in his chest. "I'm just happy that I could make a difference."

From that day on, Isagi would check on Michael more often at work, bringing him little gifts like candy or snacks. Each little gesture would brighten Michael's day and reinforce the friendship that they shared.”

The thing that sticks out the most is that I should have specified vanilla ice cream cuz this was about as interesting as vanilla ice cream. There are no references to the source material and everything is pretty vague that you could replace the character names with any other two characters and the story would still work. There’s no depth.

I think stories with characters who don’t get along or have some very distinctive traits that aren’t the norm are easy to spot.

Like come on, the first line is already completely impossible. Nagi would not do that.

So I tried being more specific and it did help with characterization a bit but not much. You could still replace the characters with anyone with similar traits.

They would not do that.

So I tried being even more specific with the prompts even describing physical attributes and it was still pretty out of character and bland. None of the physical attributes got referenced at any time. Honestly, easier to just write the story myself than spending time finding the one prompt that works.

Now a thing to note is that humans only guess around half the time if text is AI generated or not. Here’s a study about it https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.00061

For fanfics, it’s likely easier to tell if it’s AI generated or not but honestly, if someone made sure to correct inconsistencies and add more flavor, I doubt I could tell.

I'm seeing a lot of posts explaining how to tell if an artwork is created by AI, but what about for written works? How can you tell if a story is written by AI? Can somebody teach me...

[gangrenados]

first i want to start with i am not in any way to attempting to start anything now i completely understand the point of a dni list and think they should be respected and all yet when people list things that are like you cant read my work if you are a taurus or blonde it gets a little crazy really then those same ones go off and talk about how they do not have interaction with their work when they limited themselves on it you get what i mean

I do understand what you're trying to say but at the same time I can understand the other side.

Personally I haven't put such explicit limitations on what kind of people can or cannot read my work, well, perhaps those who are into batcest are not that welcomed here, but I'm mainly referring to more important things since that's what I mainly see cuz I have never crossed someone not wanting others to read their stuff just cause their zodiac sign lol

It's okay that people want to keep their blog as a safe space for themselves, more than okay is needed and I don't see a problem in putting limits if that will make you feel comfortable.

Sure keeping those boundaries will make your audience an small circle and maybe you won't have that much interaction as those who keep their work for everyone without any explicit limitations on who can read their stuff. I guess that's common knowledge and it'd be kinda dumb if you're not aware of it lol

If we look at the bright side, that small circle will be full of those who respect your boundaries and might need that safe space as well!

It's normal that people feel frustrated by the lack of interaction, that happens to everyone, but I believe in growth and consistency, also the fact that doing these type of fandom stuff usually will make you have some type of interaction (hopefully the good type) sooner or later.

[cynical-amphisbaenia]

yes hello amygda i've been lurking here for quite some time and it's lovely but honestly i don't feel like saying the usual wOw YoUr BlOg Is 100% GuD and i AdOrE iT stuff. i mean your blog actually is and i do but it almost feels obligatory when every single ClasspectMe ask does that. and le oops, i spilled it - it'd be nice to hear your ideas about my Mythological Role! i've been searching for the right one for some time now. i trust your knowledge, though.

anyway personality is the first thing i want to describe. and the hardest one as well. you see, a common thing in my life is that i can't remember anything. like literally i remember less than 1% of everything that happened to me, ever. it's easier to describe what i was feeling than what actually happened. it's a genetic thing iirc because my mom has that too, but that's beside the point. i'm quite a talkative person and i tend to do the thing i did like a sentence before a lot. i used to be described as "impulsive and agressive" but that isn't true anymore, i can contain myself. that's probably the thing that led to my emotions being kind of, uh, separate from my mind. by that i mean i actually know i felt something a little bit after the fact, i just, i dunno, ignore it so hard i don't even acknowledge the feeling. that led to me joking about "selling my soul to a demon" as an explanation and the joke is still running

i kind of roleplay an arrogant piece of shit? not as a Knight-type persona but like for fun and not actually annoying anyone too much, and basically everyone knows i do. no self-worth problems though

surprisingly i don't have any problems typical for people my age and my family isn't a bunch of assholes, which has both led me to living a life in "easy mode" and to me being spoiled enough not to give a shit about basically anything. it's not a depressed thing: there are little to none things that motivate me besides "i have to" and "i'll literally die if i won't", and even the ones that exist don't seem to have any relation to one another. i'd say i'm an ambivert, but that would imply that i get energy from both being alone and from being with people, and i don't get it at all. i'd also say i'm a pessimist, but honestly i'm just an optimist that tries really hard to be pessimistic and it really shows sometimes, like when i tell my friends some edgy sarcastic shit and then help someone for no reason or give a stranger a chocolate bar or something. i do that a lot for my actual friends though and i actually have no problem making friendos and opening up to anyone

i use mutedHypocrisy as my chumhandle-ish nickname because 1. i don't really judge anyone out loud? i have are a lot of bUdDiEs with DEBATABLE opinions but i just don't discuss it almost ever, keeping to myself. not really a reason for this. and 2. because of my extremely unique memory i usually dont havr or don't remember any opinions of my own except for some really important ones, which had led me to saying two opposite takes on the same thing to a single person, them going "what the fuck", and that happened more than a single time.

on to symbols. well, the tarot cards mark me as The Star and my fate as a fate of The Fool. which is shown by me being, well, talented enough and having a lot of freedom but not enough ambition to really use it, making me basically useless. also the star thing? its number is 17 and the one before is 16, which is the Tower, which is a fucking cataclysm, and the thing is me being a few hours away from being born under "the tower" is also reflected in the situation in which i was born. i won't elaborate though cuz thats personal shit.

i guess fate kind of likes playing with me? in a friendly way. like i'm always in the best circumstances possible BUT i get trolled by luck along the way. like that friend who pranks you a lot but is actually a nice person and is fun to be around, the world around me feels, as i already said, "easy mode". a lot of people have it worse. i feel bad because i've got everything one could ever want but zero motivation and ambition to do things. and it's not even a "willpower" problem, because that thing helps me do A LOT and is the only reason i'm still functional.

i seem to have an affinity for the things i hate, even though this sounds stupid as fuck. i may despise something completely but i'll be like the meme about a guy who says "disgusting" and keeps looking anyway.

i perceive things as a play, making myself a fourth-wall-breaker type of character. i don't think i take it too seriously but that's kinda fun. i think it started when i noticed that my life and the projects i participate in have some patterns that don't change at all. it's not a thing about some situations always being the same, it's some specific things -- the beginnings and endings of ppl's relationships in the friend group, their roles there and my relationships with the people on em, for example. that's some conspiracy theorist shit right there though.

i don't think i can describe my arcs? i don't remember them. like i mean i was literally babied throughout my whole life, even if not in a way i hate or in an overbearing/limiting way. i had some anger issues and despised rules, but that's a teenager thing mostly -- i respect them now for the most part.

if there's anything important i forgot please tell me!!! can't describe my own ass right if i don't remember 95% of my life. love your work anyway.

Well, as much as it's appreciated, it's definitely not obligatory! And I hope no one feels that it is. Now, there's a few possible options. The main things to consider are Rogue or Mage of Heart and Heir or Maid of Mind, though you may also want to consider Void or Breath as the aspects.

You lack Heart in various ways, though not completely. You still try to take on various opinions or roles. This could be due to being a Rogue of Heart. Rogues tend to lack their aspects, and the taking on of opinions/roles could be stealing Heart. You do seem to focus on things like emotions and relationships, and especially your lack of motivation. Mages can also lack their aspect, but this tends to cause them to suffer - you don’t appear to focus on suffering too much, so it’s not as likely as Rogue. However, if you feel that you attempt to experience Heart to learn about it rather than simply just taking it on, then you might want to consider it. 

Alternatively, you could be an Heir of Mind - this is less likely as you only seem to have focus on the roles and adaptability of Mind while you focus on many more parts of Heart. However, if you were so caught up in those things like an Heir could be, it might explain why you ignore those things and lack parts of Heart as well. A Maid is also likely to get caught up serving only particular parts of their aspect - again, this is less likely than Heir as you seem to change Mind rather than create it, but you might feel differently on this. 

To decide between the Heart or Mind would depend on how you define things like your roleplay - does it feel like an exploration and taking (or experiencing) of Heart or does it feel like a changing/creating of roles which would suit Mind?

You could also consider Void if it feels like the circumstances of your life causes you to live in confusion and if it feels like your lack of memory is the main focus rather than it causing you to miss parts of Heart. Reading what you gave me it doesn’t seem to be the case, but you could decide otherwise. In a similar way, Breath could be an option if you feel disconnected from things, especially as you do focus a bit on freedom. For both of these aspects you could consider Heir, Maid or Mage as an option, especially as with Breath you’re clearly not connected to parts of it like motivation.

Hopefully this helps! Sorry it’s a lot of options, so feel free to ask me anything to help you narrow it down. ^^

[aching-tummies]

This is kinda awkward but like.. I'm an asexual with a tummy kink and I just wanted to let you know that seeing your posts I don't feel so alone in the world anymore.. I thought I was weird or gross for wanting something so innocently but it makes me happy to see Tumblr blogs that indulge in the things that most people would be too embarrassed to admit. I too love tummy growls and I hope one day to find someone that is willing to put up with my weird kink, lol. Hope you're having a splendid day

Thank you! I hope you have a great day too, whomever you are. ^^

Wow...I know I just made a post where I mentioned how I didn't like to get political or stray away from tummy-stuff...and this response definitely gears more toward pushing the concept of "asexual" than tummy-kink...but...well, this person chose to ask as 'anon' so a public answer is the only way for me to let them know I received their message and that what they said is 100% valid. So...forgive me for maybe straying away from tummy kink in this post despite what I just posted in the "DMs?" post. Also, I really hope I don't open the floodgates to "(a)sexuality" debates on this blog. I just want to let this person know that what they said was valid. I don't want to become some hub for asexuality stuff...there are other forums for that. The stuff under the cut is my response to this anon...so I hope people don't read some of these things and take them out of context or try to nudge me to share more about my "other hats"...'cuz I've got some pretty firm comfort levels on sharing that sort of stuff and that level is currently set to 'nope'.

It was odd for me to reconcile "kink" and "asexual" for a long time because "kink" is usually tied together with sexual stuff...but through talking with other aces and reading stuff that asexual people shared online I realized that I'm more into the sensual aspect of tummy-kink rather than the potential sexual aspect. The idea that bodily pleasure didn't have to involve intercourse was a major realization for me and it allowed me to feel comfortable with my feelings/desires.

The way I read about it, getting handsy with someone--basically anything more intense (in duration or whatever) than a simple hug between friends was automatically seen as sexual territory. Like...there are friends and then there are people you sleep with--it felt like those were the only two modes of human interaction...the asexual forums I went on had a bunch of people pushing for the idea that it's a spectrum...and if that were too hard to understand then it was about having a third mode...where one could touch and pleasure each other without exchanging bodily fluids or sticking body parts into other people.

In my mind, I just wanted tummy rubs/manipulation and to feel the sensations within my guts...without the expectation that the pants would have to come off or that the roaming hands would be allowed to mess with other parts of my anatomy. Like, in my mind hands must stay between where the bra stops and where the underwear starts. That's as far into handsy as I'd want anyone to get so far.

As for me writing about stuff that "most people would be too embarrassed to admit"...that's why I made this sideblog. Some people IRL know my main and I have other blogs for different facets of my life. It's sort of like putting on different hats or wearing a costume. As 'aching-tummies', I'm just a tummy-kink blog and that's the main focus of my blog and all I want to talk about under this username. Embarrassment isn't too high of a hurdle when nobody can link 'aching-tummies' to 'me' or whatever. It took me a long time to decide to make this blog and when I first started I didn't know what form this blog would take. I'd experiment by writing about my own experiences with stomach woes, writing it on a word processor or something...and I'd think long and hard about whether or not to post before I did. A lot of what I write in regards to tummy-kink or personal experiences actually doesn't make it onto this blog because I'm too embarrassed or whatever. I only started posting more when I managed to put this into words: I am the master of this blog--I control what I will and will not post on here or what I will or will not answer. I created this blog as an outlet for my kinky thoughts. I don't care about my follower-count or if even nobody were to send me an ask or whatever--that's all bonus stuff...but the main purpose for what I do on this blog is to give myself an outlet for tummy-kink. I post or reblog or interact only to the levels I am comfortable with and when I'm not in the mood or uncomfortable I close the tab and do other things.

You're not alone, by the way: I also hope to one day find someone that'll be into stomach-stuff the same way I am. I don't know how that'd work out though 'cuz I can't even imagine myself being bold enough to share my kink with anybody in real life. Like...how do I even do that? Do I shove a fanfic with some of the stuff I'd like to try at them and tell them, "uhm...read this...I...I want that...sort of...p-pay close attention to paragraph 37...the one that's highlighted...uhm...the equipment is in a box under the bed...I-I'll be waiting...or sleeping..."? I'd probably die of embarrassment simply for opening the tab with them in the room. Also, considering my (lack of) sexuality and my cultural upbringing I wouldn't be down for looking for a partner exclusively for tummy-stuff...like...the idea of having tummy-kink being our first commonality wouldn't sit right with me. So...yeah...perpetually stuck trying to indulge in fantasy  over here too. -_-

[a-ds-archive]

A FLAGGED SS POST RESUBMITTED WITH TUMBLR FRIENDLY PHOTO

" In today's episode of the great and wonderous....

FEMALE ORGASM "DIFFICULTIES"

See all the great porn up there?☝️

Yaaaa ....

It's totally freakin' fake people!

Just cuz you ain't cumming from any of the above methods doesn't mean you have "difficulty."

If you aren't cumming in under 20 minutes from start to stop, then you most likely have a condition called NORMALCY.

If you cum just dandy on your own or with a power tool, aka wand/vibrator, you not only suffer from the dreaded being perfectly fucking normal, you may also have the comorbidity of you and your partner haven't learned how together YET.

At least a million words by far wiser than humans than I have been written on the subject....

I, however, am banging away totally loaded on the good post-infusion dope to address the issue of those women who have YET to cum, but want to. And, no, not everyone wants to.

First, let's rule out the most frequent "cause:" medications. The antidepressants are notorious causes of fucking up snd/or preventing orgasm. If this is you, ask your doctor about bupropion (Wellbutrin) as a substitute. If you're taking the supplements St. John's Wart or L-tryptophan, those are just weaker versions of the serotonin issue. Kidney and cardiovascular meds should be reviewed yoo.

Second, if you're trying to have a orgasm without the vlitoris -- that's not quite how this usually works. The vast majority of orgasms are clitorally centered.

Next up, you don't allow enough time before you quit on yourself! (Note: yourself, as in alone!) It takes at least 20 minutes on average. Which brings us to the need for lube! Additionally, it's perfectly expected for that swollen sensitive nub to retract and hide under her hood on the way towards orgasm -- it's not a sign to quit!

Interestingly, a common refrain I've read is "I can get so far. I feel I'm about to cum, but end up having to pee so I then I can't..."

Listen, get into the tub (dry works too) and just let yourself pee without stopping. I bet you might just discover what you think is a need to pee is your orgasm in the final stages. Unfortunately, the same group of muscles you use to clamp down on your urethra and bladder can stop an orgasm in its tracks.

Okay, once we've ruled out all the external stuff, it's time to talk about what's between your ears....

Your largest and most sensitive erogenous zone is your mind. So if you've experienced sexual violence, any type of abuse, or societal and cultural shame, you're far more likely to need additional support from self help groups or professionals. You are entitled to help.

Now, all of that being said ....

ORGASM IS NOT THE POINT! YOUR PLEASURE IS.

Some people never cum -- and that's okay! But for fuck's sake, that doesn't mean you need to give up on sex or sexual pleasure.

And for all you Domly Doms out there ...

HER ORGASMS OR THE LACK THEREOF AREN'T ABOUT YOU OR YOUR MAGICAL PENIS. Stop with that shit. If you think getting her to cum is what makes you hot, you need to look up the word "think." An orgasm might be the point for a few weeks, but it's not enough for anything other than being a living sex toy. We usually call happy sex toys submissives. Just sayin' ....

So let's all review shall we?

Not everyone cums. Very few cum every single time. Those women that do cum, usually cum clitorally focused in greater that 20 minutes time, so LUBE!!! Cumming is learned. Cumming is easily interfered with.

Cumming IS NOT THE POINT -- unless she tells you otherwise.

Okay let's all take a nice deep cleansing breath and get to work on changing what we can -- ourselves and our reactions.

Love,

Cranky Mom and Old Subby Wife

Aka,

Moi "