#doesn't have any rules you can just have fun with it

[yuujispinkhair]

I WANNA BE YOUR ENDGAME – Chapter 10

🏒❤️ A Hockey Romance feat. modern!Sukuna

Pairing: HockeyPlayer!Sukuna x Reader (female) Genre: College AU, Hockey AU, fluff + smut Playlist: I wanna be your Endgame Word Count: 4k Warnings: 18+, smut, cigarettes, alcohol. Fuckbuddies to lovers. Reader is a creative writing student. Sukuna is an ice hockey player + history student. This story will have approximately 14 chapters. Minors don't interact. Header by me. Divider @/benkeibear

MASTERLIST

SUKUNA'S POV

He doesn't know how he got into this mess.

Sukuna was never the type to develop feelings. All he ever knew was casual sex. Just a little meaningless fun with no strings attached. Hell, he always thought he was somehow the broken twin who wasn't even capable of falling in love!

But look at him now. He is lying in his bed, wide awake in the middle of the night, staring restlessly at his ceiling because he can't stop thinking about a certain someone. You were here a few hours ago, and Sukuna's pillow still smells like your perfume, and it's driving him fucking insane! He wishes you were still here in his bed, in his arms, your naked skin pressed against his, your fingers tracing his tattoos while you joke around with him and occasionally steal a kiss.

Fuck, he wishes you stayed the whole night again, and he could wake up with you snuggled tightly against him as if his arms are your favorite place in the world.

Sukuna likes it when you spend the whole night and stay for breakfast. It's something he feels he wouldn't mind at all if it happened every night. It's a thought that is so ridiculous that it makes him laugh a low, humorless laugh.

Itadori Sukuna always had his rules. Never get attached. Never stay the night. Never let someone get too close.

But he broke all of those rules for you.

He wants to have you here. All the time. He wants to hold you every night, wants to roll onto his side behind you, and wrap your smaller body in his big, warm embrace. He wants to wake up to your soft, sleepy smile. He wants to have sleepy, lazy morning sex with you that ends in both of you laughing and joking around, making him feel alive even before he has his first cup of coffee and his morning run. He wants to make pancakes for you and walk to class with you, maybe hold your hand while doing so.

Sukuna groans and sits up in his bed, the ruffled sheets pooling around his hips as he runs a shaky hand through his messy hair.

"What did you do to me, princess?"

He asks the empty room, huffing as he rubs his face. It's so ironic what is happening to him. Sukuna has the reputation of being a fuckboy and a heartless asshole who ends things the moment his little fling tries to stake a claim on him. The campus bad boy who only does one-night stands and casual, meaningless sex. The guy who broke so many hearts that he knows there are whole hate groups dedicated to him on Instagram and Facebook.

And now he is the one losing his sleep over someone. Now, he is the one yearning. And his fucking reputation is making things even more complicated because, seriously, how can he expect you to give him your heart when he is known for being such an asshole?

A grim laugh escapes his lips. It's no use lying here and trying to fall asleep with all that on his mind. Sukuna gets up and walks over to his window only in his boxer briefs, not bothering to put on any other clothes, even as he yanks open the window and the chill night air hits his naked chest.

Sukuna hums softly as he sits on the window sill and lights a cigarette, shielding it from the wind in the palm of his large hand. He takes a deep drag, letting his head fall back as his eyes close and the nicotine fills his senses. He exhales slowly, opening his eyes to watch the cigarette smoke vanishing in the cold air blowing in from the street.

Sukuna's gaze lands on his desk and the stack of history books he borrowed from the library. He sighs and grabs the one on the top of the stack, flipping it open, his eyes scanning the page, hoping to distract himself with the descriptions of some Heian-era rituals. A topic that usually manages to keep Sukuna's undivided attention for hours.

But tonight, the words he reads don't register in his brain. Sukuna's mind strays to the smell of your perfume and your beautiful loud laugh, the way you looked at him earlier when he was on top of you and fucked you slowly, your eyes so full of something he couldn't put into words, but it made him feel all strange and almost flustered, and he had to look away, and instead lean down to kiss you with deep tongue kisses to make you stop looking at him like that as if you could see right into his soul.

"Shit."

Sukuna closes the book and stares at the dark street below his window.

He is such a fool.

The thing is, Sukuna really tried to suppress his feelings for you. He distracted himself with hockey, going to the gym even more often than usual, and lifting weights even more aggressively. Hell, he voluntarily agreed to binge-watch trashy horror movies with his brother just so his mind would shut up about you.

And when all of that didn't work, Sukuna told himself he would just fuck someone else to cure himself of those strange ideas that were filling his mind. He went to one of the many parties he always gets invited to, looking for a casual hookup. But he couldn't do it. Even just talking to another girl, one of many who wanted to join the long list of Sukuna's puck bunnies, felt wrong. Seeing her smile at him and flirt with him, so desperate for his dick, made the hairs on his arms stand up in alarm. And when she had the audacity to try sitting on Sukuna's lap, he had practically bolted from his seat and left the party in a hurry without looking back.

He had grabbed a bottle of vodka on his way out and drank way too much of it while he was sitting alone in his room, feeling like the world's biggest asshole (and for once, he wasn't proud of it) just for contemplating fucking someone else. It made him feel dirty. Like a cheater! Even though he wasn't even in a relationship with you, and nothing had happened between him and that random girl.

Sukuna had known right then that he was utterly and completely fucked.

Itadori Sukuna, fuckboy extraordinaire, was no longer interested in casual sex with various partners. He wanted to put his dick only into one person. He didn't want any one-night stands or casual flings anymore because fuck it, none of them were you. He didn't want to touch anyone else or let them touch him! It felt wrong even thinking about it!

And that's where he is now. In love for the first time in his life, scared out of his mind, and absolutely at a loss at what to do about it.

This is new territory to Sukuna. He knows sex, but he doesn't know this! Sure yeah, he wants to fuck you 24/7, wants to fuck you so good the only thing you remember is his name and nothing else, but it's not just that. Sukuna wants to spend time with you outside of having sex.

He wants to sit in the library with you on your little study dates as he has begun to refer to them in his mind. He wants you to visit him in his dorm not just to fuck, but to sit on his kitchen counter and chat with him while Sukuna cooks for you. He wants to meet up with you for coffee at midnight, tell you about hockey tactics, and listen to you tell him about the current story you are writing, hoping that when you write a love story, you think about him.

He wants to see you at all his games, dedicating his goals to you and getting his good luck kiss the night before each game. He wants to see the worry in your eyes when he gets slammed into the boards, wants you to kiss his bruises and dote on him afterward.

All those things make Sukuna feel so strangely warm, even in the most chilly hockey arena. Even lying in bed with you snuggled into his side and watching hockey videos with you on his phone is something that makes him feel happier than he ever remembered being.

It's a mess. He is a mess! Sukuna, who is usually so in control and smart about everything, suddenly feels like the biggest fool because this is something he is completely unfamiliar with. It's terrifying!

All his life, Sukuna was quite literally the King of the Ice. Unfeeling, cold-hearted, not interested. He didn't let anyone in. Always wore his cocky smirk and arrogant attitude like a shield. But then you came along.

And ever since you sneaked your way into his life, Sukuna catches himself, letting his mask slip when he is with you. He catches himself smiling at you instead of his typical smirk. He catches himself laughing genuinely with you, unrestrained and free. He lets you come to his room and stay there as if you belong there. And he hopes you want to belong there. In his room, in his bed, in his arms. He hopes you want to be his just as badly as he is yours.

He doesn't know what got into him when he told you about his past. That's another of Sukuna's rules: He never talks about his past! He doesn't think anyone deserves to know the real Sukuna. They can have this version of him he wants them to see. The rough, bad boy, the star athlete, the fuckboy the arrogant asshole.

But somehow, you make him spill things he has never said out loud before. Hell, Sukuna even catches himself telling you stuff he never even said to his twin brother! His own flesh and blood!

You changed him, and it makes him feel naked like never before. Stripped of his carefully applied mask. Vulnerable.

But as scary as that is, it also feels strangely good. Sukuna feels comfortable with you. It's such a new experience. He can just be himself, and you like him anyway. He suspects you could already see through his mask even before he got careless and let it slip. You seem to be able to read him like one of your books. Sukuna prides himself on his analyzing skills, but he thinks you are really good at those things, too. At least when it comes to him. You never let him push you away with all the stupid shit he says. You seem to find him funny, laughing loudly about his dry humor and arrogant remarks.

You are so close to him. You are his friend. And yes, that's a big fucking deal!

For as long as Sukuna can remember, he has never made friends. His grandpa always told him and Yuuji to go outside and play with the other kids. "It's important to make friends. Look at me. I am old and lonely, and when I die, I am sure only you two brats will be at my funeral. Don't end up like me!"

But Sukuna, who had always been smart, strong, charismatic, and good at anything he started, found that he had failed at that one thing. He didn't know how to make friends. He had just bullied the other kids and pushed them off the slide or threatened to beat them up if they didn't give him the soccer stickers he was collecting. He had always known how to make people fear him, admire him, or a mix of both. But he had never made a friend. His only friend has always been his brother.

But you? You are his friend, and it blows Sukuna's mind.

It blows his mind how you sneaked your way into his life and into his heart. And now everything feels different. He feels different.

Being Itadori Sukuna used to be lonely. Yes, he is the star player of the ice hockey team and, therefore, one of the most popular guys on campus. But those are just superficial connections. None of those people know him for real. But it's not like Sukuna ever cared. He didn't mind being alone. He didn't like most people anyway! He didn't need anyone besides his brother!

But now? He likes you. And he likes spending time with you. He wants you in his life. He feels so much lighter when you are with him. He misses you when he hasn't seen you for half a day! It scares him how much he needs you.

"Ah, fuck!"

Sukuna groans and throws the thick book across his room, not feeling better, though, when it hits the wall with a loud thud and falls to the floor, where it lands next to his hockey bag. Sukuna stares unseeingly at it as he takes another deep drag from his cigarette.

He is fucking scared. Sukuna, who is never scared of anything. Sukuna, who looks every rival fearlessly in the eyes before he takes them down. But this... this thing with you...these feelings he suddenly feels. This is scary.

Why do people act as if love is easy? It fucking isn't! It means someone has power over you. Power to hurt you. Power to utterly destroy you.

Fuck. Sukuna never thought it would come to this, but he is beginning to regret his life choices. Because Sukuna knows his reputation, and he knows you know it, too. And the whole fuckbuddies thing he asked you to do is just more proof of the kind of guy he is. Why would you be willing to give your heart to someone like him?

He is about to spiral more when the door suddenly gets pushed open, and Yuuji stands in the doorway,

"What the fuck was that noise? Did you throw something?"

Sukuna huffs, flicking the cigarette butt out of his window as he jerks his chin challengingly towards his brother,

"Why are you even still awake, brat?"

Yuuji shrugs,

"I was re-watching Human Earthworm. But this is not about me! What's up with you? Why are you throwing your precious history books?"

The way Yuuji says it is what gets to Sukuna. The worry in his twin brother's voice. His wide honey-colored eyes trail searchingly over Sukuna, trying to find out what bothers him, trying to help him.

And suddenly, Sukuna doesn't care about keeping up appearances anymore. Fuck it, this is his twin. This is the brat who has been attached to his hip since they were born three minutes apart. The only person who ever saw Sukuna cry, when they were seven, and Yuuji had chickenpox, and Sukuna was convinced he would die, and it scared him so much that he sobbed like an idiot at his brother's bedside.

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, looking away from his twin and out over the nightly street as he murmurs,

"I like her."

Yuuji makes a "Ha!" sound that sounds way too triumphant and then adds,

"Yeah, I know."

Sukuna's head whirls around, and he stares at his twin incredulously. But Yuuji just rolls his eyes and shrugs,

"Come on! It's obvious! I see how much time you spend with her and how you smile when she is with you! You let her sleep in your bed and invite her over for dinner! It's so cute how you act around her!"

"Shut up, brat! It's not..."

Sukuna doesn't get any further because Yuuji interrupts him, grinning broadly at him,

"You are both so cute! To me, it's like you already are boyfriend and girlfriend!"

And Sukuna's half-hearted denial gets stuck in his throat. He stares wide-eyed at his twin. Just hearing his brother say those words sends a surge of adrenaline through Sukuna. The same feeling that fills his veins before every game. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Fuck. It should sound scary, but it doesn't. It sounds good. It sounds like everything he wants.

Sukuna sighs, hiding his face in his large hands and rubbing it desperately.

"I don't know what to do. I don't want to fuck this up."

"You won't fuck it up, man. She likes you too, I am sure! Just tell her how you feel."

Sukuna says nothing but just huffs softly and stares unseeingly at the wall behind his brother. Yuuji makes it sound so easy. As if it isn't a huge deal. As if this isn't the first time that Sukuna has felt anything like this. He clicks his tongue, and his hands automatically grab his cigarette pack again. Long fingers with black painted nails pull out another cigarette, which he brings to his lips with shaky hands.

Sukuna lights it and takes a deep drag, waiting for the nicotine to fill his veins before he sends his twin a glare and rolls his eyes in annoyance,

"Just tell her how I feel? Tsk. Do you have any other super smartass advice, brat?"

Yuuji makes an incredulous noise, about to complain, but Sukuna stops him by sighing and then adding softly, without looking at Yuuji,

"What if she doesn't want me like that? Or what if I fuck everything up? It's not like I am boyfriend material. The whole campus knows that. With my reputation, it would be no wonder if she runs."

"Oh, shut up, idiot."

Sukuna hears the shuffling of feet and then confident footsteps so very similar to his own before he feels his twin brother's body push against him, joining Sukuna on the windowsill. Yuuji bumps against Sukuna's leg and reaches out to ruffle Sukuna's hair, reversing their roles for once.

"Look at me, Kuna."

Sukuna makes an annoyed noise in the back of his throat, but he sighs and turns to look at his brother, the hand holding the cigarette pressed lightly against his forehead.

Yuuji looks at him with that infuriatingly compassionate look in his honey-colored eyes, always treating Sukuna with so much kindness and genuine affection, whether he deserves it or not. Even Yuuji's voice is soft and gentle, understanding, when he tells Sukuna,

"You won't fuck it up. I know you are scared you will break her heart because that's all you ever did to girls. But it won't happen this time, Kuna. I know it. I know you. She is too important to you. And as tough as you like to act, you have a soft spot for the ones you love. Even if we are very few people. But if someone manages to break through your defense and find a way into your heart when you would do anything for that person. And she definitely broke through your defense."

Yuuji laughs good-naturedly and pokes Sukuna's chest with his index finger while he adds,

"It doesn't matter what you did before she came into your life. It doesn't matter that you used to think you would never fall in love. You changed. You have found your person. And that's all that matters. Not your past or what you used to think about relationships. All that matters is what you'll do from now on. And come on, my big brother is always the best at everything he does! So I know you will be an amazing boyfriend if you let yourself walk that path."

There's a lump in Sukuna's throat all of a sudden, and he gulps hard, feeling lightheaded somehow at hearing Yuuji say all those things. Sukuna does the only thing he knows to do in that situation and pats Yuuji's finger away, acting annoyed, even though he feels like he is overflowing with gratefulness for having such a good little brother.

Yuuji chuckles softly, patting Sukuna's hand away, too. His lips lift in a mischievous grin, a grin that is far too similar to the one Sukuna sees in the mirror. Sukuna steels himself for trouble right when Yuuji opens his mouth and adds in a sly tone,

"And if everything I just said wasn't enough to convince you, ask yourself how would you feel if she graduated and moved away and lived a life without you? How would you feel about that? Or if she starts dating another guy right in front of your eyes because you never told her how you feel, and she thinks you don't like her that way? How would that make you feel?"

And suddenly, blood is rushing in Sukuna's ears, and a vein is throbbing in his temple as he stares at his twin. Now that was a fucking eye-opener!

When that Gojo brat tried to hit on you, Sukuna saw red like never before in his life. The thought of seeing you with Gojo or any other guy makes him feel sick to his stomach. He doesn't want to lose you. He could never get over it if you dated someone else because Sukuna was too much of a coward to tell you he likes you.

You're his girl, and Sukuna is your boy, and anything else sounds like a cruel joke! And he realizes right fucking now that it's in his hands! The only way to make you hopefully stay with him is to be honest with you.

And yeah, that is a fucking scary thought. Opening up about his feelings, baring his heart to you on a silver platter, sounds like the scariest thing Sukuna ever did. But the thought of seeing you walk away because Sukuna wasn't man enough to tell you how he feels is scarier than walking up to you and dropping his mask and confessing how he feels.

Sukuna reaches out to clap his brother's broad shoulder appreciatively, wordlessly thanking him for the much-needed pep talk and advice.

He knows what he has to do now. Fuck it! He is Sukuna! He is the fucking King of the Ice! He is someone who laughs fear in the face and wrestles it to the ground, and works his ass off to get what he wants, no matter how big the challenge is!

He won't act like a scared little boy anymore! He will tell you how he feels!

"Hey, princess."

Sukuna walks up to you, where you are grabbing some books from your locker, looking far too pretty and sexy in the leggings and oversized sweatshirt you are wearing. You jump slightly at hearing his voice behind you. It's so fucking cute.

You turn around as Sukuna stops in front of you, looking up at him with big eyes and a little grin as you greet him.

Sukuna smirks at you as he reaches out to ruffle your hair, a move that always earns him the cutest little squeal from you and a half-joking, half-annoyed roll of your pretty eyes as you pat his hand away. But as always, you cannot stop the happy smile from spreading over your face. The smile that always makes Sukuna's heart feel a lot warmer.

He is so smitten it's embarrassing. But judging by the way you giggle and wrap your small hand around Sukuna's biceps, leaning closer so your face and tits press lightly against his arm while you smile up at him, Sukuna can easily pretend that you feel the same way about him.

Well, he will find out if he is right soon, won't he?

He walks you to your creative writing classroom, carrying your books for you while inwardly giving himself a pep talk, the same one he gives himself before every hockey game. You can do it! You will get anything you want! You will reach your goal. You are the fucking King of the Ice, man!

Sukuna stops in front of your creative writing classroom handing you your stack of books, his lips lifted in a lopsided grin as he cocks his head, silently applauding himself for how casual he manages to act even while his pulse is fluttering nervously and his muscles are all tensed up from how scared he is to fuck this up. But his voice comes out in his usual lazy drawl when he tells you,

"We have to work on your ice skating skills. Meet me at the arena tonight at ten."

You hug the books to your chest, tilting your head and blinking up at Sukuna with a little confused frown on your pretty face that he would love to kiss away right this fucking second.

"At ten? But is it even still open that late?"

"Let that be my problem, princess. So, are you coming?"

Sukuna shoves his hands into the pockets of his black jeans, one eyebrow raised expectantly as he grins at you. If you say no, he will literally start pouting and use every ounce of charm he has in himself until you say yes.

But he doesn't have to worry. You laugh softly and nod,

"Of course, I'll be there."

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 😭💗💗 I had the time of my life writing this chapter from Sukuna's POV!! It always hits me right in the feels when I do that because it makes me feel so close to him.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and all the things that flow through Sukuna's mind. If you haven't already done it, please listen to "Novocaine" by The Band Camino because it describes Sukuna's turmoil perfectly. While working on this chapter, I listened to it on repeat, and also "Tequila" by Dan + Shay, because it also describes this YEARNING, I think. Oh god, I am so in love with him, it's not even funny anymore 😭😭

Sighhhhh, he really likes us, hm? 😵😍

In the next chapter, Reader will meet Sukuna at the ice hockey arena, but it's a bit more than just the private ice skating lesson that she expects.

Thank you so much for all the love you give this AU! It means the world to me and makes me so happy! I wish you all a Happy New Year! 💗💗

Reblogs and comments would be very sweet.

[mimimui]

how they spend nights with you

includes: bakugo, midoriya, todoroki, kaminari, shinso, monoma

tags: gn!reader, you're in the same class as them, established relationship, fluff, i used to strictly be a bnha author (??!) and i just missed them so much

a/n: it's been over a year i think (ᵕ—ᴗ—) my writing might be ass rn but i promise i'll lock in soon!!!!!!!! i genuinely miss writing, but as soon as i entered a higher level of education, i lost all free time and couldn't continue writing. but ur fav hc writer is back!

katsuki will not stay up later than 8pm on a school day because he cares a lot about his rest, but if it's a weekend or you're on break, he'd be willing to stay up later with you.

he doesn't care much for the dorm rules, especially since you're his partner anyway, so he will definitely stay in your room past curfew. curse those who catch him in your dorm late at night. what are they going to do?

he's up for whatever you want to do, honestly. movie marathon? self-care night? cleaning your room? he'll do it all. he might jokingly complain here and there, but he's truly relaxed around you. he'll spend nights however you'd like.

everyone knows that izuku isn't one for sleeping early. your nights consist of watching him train outside the dorm building, or sitting on the floor of your room exchanging notes.

if you wanted to do something fun, he wouldn't refuse, but he'd be going back to his own room at the end of the night. not because he doesn't want to sleep with you, he just does it out of respect. your rooms' beds can only accomodate one person comfortably, and he doesn't want to disturb you!

he's more of a morning person, really. so if you'd like a jogging partner or a breakfast buddy, he's up bright and early with you.

he knew that getting into a relationship meant spending a lot of time together, but shoto hasn't received much affection before, so he wasn't quite sure where to start.

when you first suggested spending nights in either of your rooms, he didn't see any problems in it. he quickly got used to this routine, and he always expects to see you at his door after dinner time. you mostly only talk about the happenings of the day and your plans for tomorrow.

neither of you initiate sleeping together at the end of the night, but he isn't opposed to it. he's thought about it, of course, but he won't say anything until you say something first.

denki will match your energy in anything. if you want a quiet night, he'll just be by your side as you both scroll through your phones. if you want a more fun night and do something, he'll be up and at 'em as much as you are.

he is the best person to try new things with because he's just as curious as you. if you want to sneak around the kitchen to make up a new snack, he would be your little flashlight to help you out.

he definitely glows a little in the dark, so if you want to sleep with him, you have to cover him completely with a blanket. he jokes that it's because he's the light of your life, and even if that's true to you, you'd never let him know it. he might glow even brighter.

hitoshi has a hard time falling asleep, so he's grateful for your company every night. he usually asks you to come to his room, but if he feels especially awake, he'd go to your room. you mostly just watch movies together until both of you feel sleepy enough to lie down on bed.

the first time you asked to sleep in the same bed, you didn't think it'd be the last time you'd ever have to. sleeping together is a must now. you have no choice, he loves sharing a bed with you. he thinks it's a good thing to have someone warm next to him as he tries to sleep. it's comforting.

fyi, he has one pillow on his bed. just a single one. so... good luck!

neito needs to see you every night. every time, without fail, he will always end up at your door. you don't even need to do anything together, he just wants to be in the same room as you.

he won't sleep with you if you don't want to, but he's always excited when you ask him to. not because he's planning anything malicious, he's just really happy to be so close to you. to hell with the rules, he will stay in your room if it's the last thing he'll do.

he will probably get in trouble for staying in your room more than in his own, but he wouldn't care much for it. you're his partner, so it's worth getting into a little trouble.

thanks for reading (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

[serkeru]

This is something I couldn't have put any more eloquently or as a matter of fact. I have so many thoughts on the subject at large but to zoom in on a particular topic, how to cook up a world building in fanfiction.

Something I read somewhere in a crossover fanfic, I think it was a MCU one, was that the author was trying to follow the rules in universe, like if a villain was shown and stated to be a genuine threat in one universe, then they absolutely were. E.G. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.

And so with that as a guideline I noticed how some fanfics seemed to follow "the rules" from their respective works and some didn't. Whether that be by the premise of the fan work entirely such as fixit fics or not. So that does make me wonder sometimes if the person saw the same things I did in a story when it comes to missing the mark on plot, characters and themes.

With the cooking metaphor you actually gave me a bit of insight into the how and why this can happen. Sometimes a writer can make a similar mistake to the text and misconvey what they were trying to accomplish. Other times it's a very talented writer who comes up with something genuinely compelling but it doesn't fit the world that the rest of the audience knows from the original. And that's fine, a lot of the time I know fanfiction to be a labor of love or a release or a fun little thing the author had an idea about and wanted to express.

But when it comes to fix it fics I also see misunderstandings not just in how to cook a meal, but in what kind of kitchen it was made in. If it was a mess of a place where the workers were treated unfairly and the food was awful, then yeah, that makes sense as to why some things seemed rushed and unfinished. Like with one of the previous trope talks, Tone Armor, sometimes ratings for certain audiences affect how and why things are written.

I think my general point is that there is often a lot more context behind a work that made it the way it is, and that ignoring those factors can lead to a dissonance, like with Lotus, or a fun add on that the network censors wouldn't have let through.

You mentioned in a previous ask about Arcane that wanting to do something better can be a great motivator, but recently I've seen a lot of discussion about fanworks created out of "spite" like Spiderman Lotus or that Transformers fan film. Do you think these come from different feelings, leading to their end result, or that the motivation just needs to be handled carefully?

Ah, I see the confusion. When you have ideas for what a story could do, and then the story goes in a different direction and bypasses what you thought it would do, that can be an incredibly useful motivator for using that unused inspiration for telling your own story. Taking someone else's completed artwork and saying "move over, idiot, I'll show you how it's done" is a recipe for hubristic self-immolation.

Setting out to "fix" someone's work has to be approached very carefully. Artistic criticism is a complicated skill, but it isn't treated that way. Especially in the age of the internet, several wildly different things have been conflated under "criticism", and I think that's why spite-motivated "fixes" almost always end up tripping on their shoelaces and falling flat.

Art critique - "fixing" someone's work - is about figuring out how to make the art the most effective version of itself. Determine what it's going for, and make suggestions for how the artist could improve the execution of that goal. Clarify a confusing moment, change the score a little to be more emotionally impactful, break up the pacing with moments to breathe, tighten up the pacing to maintain the frantic vibes.

However, the broad perception of what art critique is has been bundled together with several other forms of criticism, including snarky reviews (a judgment of quality rendered after a work is completed and aimed at prospective audiences so they don't end up wasting their money), general knee-jerk mockery (it is easy and fun to score points off of other people's sincerity via a little casual bullying), critical analysis (taking apart how a story works to learn from it, a useful approach for other artists trying to improve their own skills) and, of course, fanfiction.

Ahh, fanfiction! If you don't like a story, you can just take the characters, setting, premise, worlbuilding, and the general shape of the plot - ignoring the fact that at this point you've borrowed about 80% of the work that went into building the original story already - and then you can just make the characters do what you wanted instead. If you think Spider-Man would be better if everyone was miserable and grieving a dead buddy the whole time, you can do that! Two hours of misery for everyone!

This approach is ostensibly trying to accomplish what art critique does - to make a better version of the story. But in practice, it's almost never interested in interrogating what the story was actually going for. In fact, it's actively scornful of what the story was going for. It doesn't take it apart to see what did work, it just says "I didn't like that and I could do better" and produces something trying not to be like the original it disliked.

I kind of think of it like this. If you ate a meal and you were like "there's not enough salt in this," you would not produce a better meal by focusing exclusively on loading it down with all the salt you could find, even if you were starting with all the same ingredients. Do you understand how they were put together to begin with? How the meat was brined, how the vegetables were cooked, what seasonings went where? Do you think all it needed to make it work was salt?

So you get fanworks that do indeed focus on the part that the fanartist thought was missing. You get Spider-Man Is A Sad Jerk For Two Hours. It accomplished what the fanartist wanted, but it fails in its true goal of being Like The Original But Better, because it never actually made the effort to understand what made the original tick. Why do people like Spider-Man in his other movies? Well, there's lots of reasons that work for different audiences - he's funny, he's good-hearted, he's graceful and well-choreographed, his fight scenes are fluid and exciting, his dynamic with the people of New York is lively and comedic, he's hapless and hurting but he always tries his best, he gets knocked down but he always gets back up-- there are many reasons to like these stories. But if all you can focus on is what you wanted them to add, you'll have a lot of trouble parsing out what functional elements you'll need to carry over into your fanfiction to not lose the core of what made it actually mostly work.

If all you focus on is accentuating the bits you wanted them to do without recognizing the parts that were working fine, you end up with a heaping plate of salt.

✨ as the ask states, this post is very specifically about spite-motivated "I can do it better than the writers" fanworks and not fanfiction in general ✨

[outofthemouthsof]

15 day BL Challenge part 2 - day 27

Back to @slonekaru ‘s part 2 of the 15-day BL challenge (a sequel to an earlier one started by @negrowhat ) !

Day 27: Top 3 BL Kisses?

For my own sanity, I'm going to do only 2024 shows. Even then, I could not get it down to less than 10! I divided them into two ways of defining "best":

Best kisses as in most thrilling in the plot:

Wandee Goodday. I should've been pissed at how long they used that no-kiss rule to delay gratification, and many were, but for once I was delighted to be strung along. They did it amazingly well in my opinion, and the payoff was perfection.

(gif from @namtan )

Meet You at the Blossom. Of course I held my breath wondering if there'd be an actual (consensual) kiss, and when it came, and was so physical (snot and all) yet tender, I was on the floor.

(gif from @khunkinn )

Jack & Joker: U Steal My Heart. When they finally FINALLY come to a place where they can confess and kiss, it's wild. At first I was like "War slow down--you're going so fast you're not actually kissing." Then Yin stops him, holds him back for a few seconds, and goes in much slower and more exploratory, and I realized it was completely deliberate the way they did it--Joke was so frantic to finally be able to express his love that he had no finesse or patience until Jack calmed him down. Incredible arc in just a kissing scene.

(gif from @thisautistic )

AntiReset. I cannot tell you how many times I rewatched their kiss by the lake. The interplay of robot-human, student-teacher and servant-master all adding these layers to their dynamic, and then both of them silently agreeing to treat the kiss like a bit of research, Yi Ping's flustered looks afterward and Ever 9's delight that they had a shared joke--it was so many kinds of fun and sexy.

(gif from @alejunsu )

My Love Mix-Up. Although I found the show overall to be a let-down, I truly appreciated the first kiss! Unlike Cherry Magic, I didn't mind the original Mix-Up not having kisses. At the same time, I loved the cheeky way the new one starts the kiss under a cloth, as if they're going to fake the audience out, and then the cloth falls and we get to see it after all. So cute!

(gif by @chinchillion )

Best kisses as in best actors at portraying kisses:

Billy & Babe in The Sign. Any, all, every kiss between them is phenomenal. I know, I've watched each one dozens of times.

(gif from @forcebook )

Sailub & Pon in Pit Babe and This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans. See note above.

(gif from @wanderlust-in-my-soul )

Jes & Bible in 4 Minutes. They had to portray three completely different love stories, and the kisses in each reflected the contrasting vibes with subtle perfection: awkward and giggly, artful and cynical, and soft and romantic.

(gif from @namtan )

Fort & Peat in Love Sea. I mean, no two actors seem as completely comfortable with one another physically. They go AT it with kissing (and everything else), giving the most convincing portrayal of shameless, uninhibited, uber-horny lovers of anyone this year.

(gif from @thisautistic )

Bas & Fuaiz in 4 Minutes. These two were a close second, and the complexity of their dynamic that they had to portray with far less screen time and far fewer episodes was truly impressive.

(gif from @jimmysea )

[ghosttownryder]

haha i just finished my secret santa(s) event and now making it about the twst freshies!! for those who don't know what it is, it's a secret gift giving game. usually it is done with your irl friends, however you can host an online session with artists/writers :]

yuu is the one hosting for the festivities and approaching winter break holiday coming up. christmas probably doesn't exist in twst but in yuu's world it did, so they're bringing it over to celebrate with the other first years!! (i mean winter break does exist so they're utilizing that)

read more below !! vv

of course, none of the first years have ever heard of this game. once yuu explains the rules of the game, the freshies are interested to see what the others are going to get for them. is it going to be awful? or is it going to be really good and they can't be outdone like that? unfortunately grim and yuu are too broke to participate so they'll (read: yuu) be organizers and handle any questions or arising situations.

after writing everyone's names, shuffling it, and handing each slip of paper one by one, it's mainly 2 types of reactions: obvious or poker-faced. yuu quickly gets their attention to organize the time and to prevent the others from peeking into each other's paper; they settle on giving gifts before they are whisked off to winter break, back in their own homes.

minor issue: they forgot to impose a budget. oh well, it was a minimum spending budget anyway.

fast forward to a day before everyone's scheduled to leave through the darkness mirror, and yuu hears a knock on the door. sebek is the first to arrive, followed with ortho and jack right on time, and epel a mere moment later. ace and deuce arrive a little bit late.

ramshackle's not entirely too festive in yuu's opinion, but with DIY crafts, it's the best they and grim can do. yuu notices how some presents are wrapped nicely while others... there certainly was an attempt! it's endearing to see the effort put into it though.

and without further ado, grim decides to pick on someone to make them go first. a few laughing, scuffles, and a lot of unwrapping presents later, the freshies all present what they got!

ace -> limited queen of hearts collector's edition card deck along with the regular edition (from ortho) ace was shocked because he tried to get his hands on it before but failed and gave up

deuce -> crochet bunny and chick (from sebek) deuce thought of it as him and his mom and nearly teared up

jack -> a mountain load of apple-pear granola bars + its recipe (from epel) jack immediately unwrapped a bar to eat it in literally two chomps

epel -> high quality applewood roasted beef jerky in different flavors (from jack) epel was fighting demons to not rip into it right there and then

ortho -> intriquitely designed clock (from deuce) ortho got curious of its mechanics and detailing and got analyzing

sebek -> warm customized pj set + bathrobe (from ace) sebek really enjoyed the set's texture, quite a luxury

yuu's really happy for the 1st years, but they all surprise yuu back with presents of their own! they gifted yuu something similar to their own giftees.

Ace -> customized pj set + throw blanket (where he got yuu's measurements is a mystery) (he asked rook)

deuce -> working clock that doesn't require much maintenance and doesn't break often

Jack -> a lot of non-perishable food

epel -> a harveston cookbook, boxes of apples, and a handful of apple-pear granola bars

ortho -> straight up appliances like a toaster, microwave, heater, etc.

sebek -> crochet plushies--mainly a cat, hen, and mouse. (cat for grim, hen because my yuu's named chicken in the game, and mouse for mickey (he doesnt know))

incredibly touched, yuu is happy that they thought of them while going shopping. they weren't even aware the freshies would do this! at ramshackle, there's nothing but fun festivities and the holiday spirit (not the ramshackle ghosts)!

[tavsianus]

WIP Tagging Game!!!

Rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Tag as many people as you have wips. People send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

Thank you for tagging me, @allmightskitten ! But, because I'm into 19 other fandoms with almost a 100 WIP, I'm not gonna write them all here. Since I'm also more into One Piece these days, I'll share some of them instead!

☆☆☆

This world is a wasteland (where nothing can grow) - DQ Brothers & Law

I've been working on this since this poll, and the first chapter is almost finished! This is a DQ Brothers fic that focuses on Law and his new life with the Donquixote Family who happens to be the mafia. He gets adopted by Doflamingo (not because of the goodness of his heart, mind you!) and gets closer to Rosinante as they try to survive. I've planned to make it 9 chapters (and already drafted what'll happen at each one), too.

2. Fools & Clowns - Buggy/Mihawk

What the hell is Buggy supposed to do when he suddenly encounters the infamous Marine Killer - Dracule Mihawk - who also seems to decide to mess with a lowly pirate like him for some reason? (Or, Mihawk tries to flirt but Buggy thinks he is getting threatened, which causes a lot of frustrations to the swordsman.)

This is going to be a fun, silly little fic with lots of misunderstandings.

3. I love you anyway - DQ Brothers

Rosinante is a freeloader who lives off of his brother's back because of his inability to keep a job (he really tries but they keep firing him for some reason!) but Doflamingo loves him regardless. (Or, Doflamingo has attachment issues and makes it Rosinante's problem, even if he doesn't know it.)

4. Flesh, blood and all that other nonsense - DQ Brothers

When Doflamingo came to them with Homing's head, the Celestial Dragons decide to humor him and say that they would let only one of the brothers back in; the choice was his. What would Doflamingo do now?

5. Lovesick - Buggy/Shanks

For the first time in his life, which wasn't that long, mind you, Shanks had gotten to see an actual prince. He had blue hair that he had never seen before with a red nose to match. He was the cutest boy that he had ever seen! He knew then and there that he had to be friends with the other. (Or, a pirate boy and a young prince meet and fall in love, and decide to run away together. Roger and his crew was not included in the making of this plan, tho.)

6. Outrunning Fate - Buggy-centric

What if Buggy had been a slave before being rescued by Gol D. Roger and his crew?

7. Sickly Sweet - DQ Family (focusing on Homing's Wife)

The love of a mother is unconditional, which meant she would do anything to make sure that her boys were happy and safe, even if it meant giving herself up little by little. (Cakeverse AU)

8. No better version of me - Buggy & Shanks (Maybe even Crocodile??)

"What the hell?" Shanks mumbled in confusion. "What is wrong with your wanted poster, Buggy?" The other boy's bounty had been substantially increased to 1,000,000 Belli after their visit to an unkown little island had ended with them fighting with a marine ship and the writing had changed from 'Dead or Alive' to 'Only Alive' as well. Which was strange, considering that for the Marines any pirate was the best if they were dead. Even Roger and the others were flabbergasted with this sudden change! Buggy took the poster out of his hands, almost causing it to tear along the way and stared at it, looking just as pale. "….Oh shit." (Or, Buggy has a secret that he is dead set on to keep it hidden but life doesn't seem to follow his wishes as he is dragged back to a place that he hadn't thought that he would ever return.)

9. Just a bite, that's all - DQ Brothers & Law

I'm not going to spoil too much but this'll be a Zombie Apocalypse AU where DQ Brothers find a lost Law when trying to survive together (Rosinante is happy to see the kid but Doffy, well, not quite. He doesn't like to share.)

10. and now you'll see (that there's not much left of me)- DQ Brothers, Law

This is a Medical horror AU where Doflamingo forces Corazon to go under a *procedure* after his betrayal. He's angry at his brother but he'll be damned if he lets him go away from his side.

11. No idea who you are meant to be - Buggy-centric, Roger, Xebec

There's a rumour going around that Xebec is still alive and planning an attack. Roger and Garp meet once more to talk about this threat. Everyone in Oro Jackson is nerveous and all serious, but neither Buggy nor Shanks have any idea why or what is going on.

(You guys probably know the theories about Xebec, tho I was SHOCKED that there were no fics about it or with him and Buggy. That needs to change real soon!)

☆☆☆

These are some of the WIP's I'm planning to finish first! See any you're intrigued by?

Again, thank you for tagging me, this was fun! I'll tag @veroinfaciem @viviancurtis @acescorazon @peaceshire @portagas-chan @drheartstealer @the-bar-sinister @aimbutmiss @lumiolivier @pointycorgiears @emma-cowboylikeme . I thought you guys might like this! I hope you won't mind the tagging.

[fairfoxie]

That's exactly it; rules need context!! I like the way you've expanded upon the context in which the rules would make sense.

I've had a lot more thoughts about this since I originally posted it, so uh, prepare for some tangents.

I like allegories to online safety in the sense that it really is up to your own discernment to tell the difference between a nasty trick and a genuine offering of peace and friendship, in the same way you would between a sketchy email and a real job offer. Both come down to a moment of "does this feel right? Or does this feel off?"

As for entering the circle. In material reality I have watched people step in and out of circles and nothing happens, because it's bold of people to assume that the circle was even activated in the first place. Internet safety isn't all that relevant if you don't know how to turn on the computer. I think it would be a rare kind of human who could step into a circle in the right state of mind to be able to activate it themself or even just access the otherworld from the material plane. Otherwise people getting lost through portals would be a more common issue.

Some people spend their whole lives trying to contact the Fae and just never get through to them. It takes a lot of psychic tuning to even get to a point where any rules would become relevant. Again, you have to turn on the computer and open your browser before internet safety needs to matter.

I will openly admit this; my connection to Faerie is weak and I often lose it for a time. I have lost my belief before. In those times I have no connection at all; I am sleeping internally and operating by the rules put before me by humans. And even now with restored belief and strong community, I find the hammer of doubt to be more effective against any kind of entity out there than any iron talisman. By closing one's mind to even the possibility of an entity, one severely limits the power it holds against them on the material plane, no matter how real it is.

Sarah only escapes the Labyrinth when she remembers that Jareth holds no real power over her except that which she gives him. At this point the whole underground world vanishes and Sarah is safe back at home again. What's more, she can still call upon her goblin friends when she needs them.

Think too of The Last Unicorn, who was viewed as a horse by most people, to the extent that Mommy Fortuna had to use her illusions to make people see a false Unicorn, right where the real Unicorn stood. It takes a certain way of seeing the world to even get close to seeing things for what they are.

And hey, maybe the Fae would pose just as much of a danger to someone who doesn't believe in them. That person still only needs fear what they understand. If two people are struck by lightning, only the one who believed in God was being struck by God, the other was a victim of chance.

Anyway I'm rambling and not sure if this makes sense. But it was fun to write. We are all on our own journeys.

Anyone else get annoyed at faery etiquette guides like this that only cover what you don't do? I feel like it contributes to the fearmongering that elemental spirits are all jumping at the chance to scorn and enslave you and it's simply not true. What's the point of making a guide to interacting with the Fae if all you're gonna say is don't do this or this or this like okay but what do you do???

I've always had better luck with taking my cue from nature. The wind will show you where to go. The birds will guide your senses if you listen. If you see an interesting stump or tree compliment it. Most common tree spirits are close to humans and actually like to be thanked and appreciated. Listening is often more important than looking. A genuine smile goes a long way. If you get a trick played on you, laugh it off, it's all in good fun. Faeries appreciate a good sense of humour, childlike wonder, and carefree singing. Let them approach you rather than approaching them. If you close your eyes and rest for a moment, you will hear the whole forest breathe, and feel more connected to Spirit than ever. And as for what you shouldn't do, don't bring your phone! It interrupts your aura and makes you appear more threatening.

THESE are the things I had to learn on my own that have actually been helpful on my journey. I hope they help you too.

[spotaus]

🔥 character design owo

Ohohoho~ unpopular opinion on character design.... (<- Guy who realized they are actually very basic with opinions-)

I think the best one I've got relates specifically to furry/anthro designs, but my opinion is that the Furry style that gives the animals Human bodies/muscles/thin and short fur is less exiting.

Personal preference obv, but I just get so sad when I see a unique animal (or even a wolf) get reduced down to human body w/ the animal head. Adding a lil more flab, or new proportions, or extra joints where they belong won't kill ya! Make their posture a bit silly! Even realistic styles can be stylized w/ this if they want to!

[codecicle]

wanted to apologise for possibly being someone who fucked up ur tl with 18+ slime posts (coming to grips with how tagging works on this here webbedsite!) please take my sincerest (anonymous) apologies ur a cool goober 🙏

ay man it's alright!! really!!! i understand most of the 18+ people are coming from websites like twitter or tiktok so they don't quite understand how it functions :-) if you ever need a tutorial or any help with understanding the culture here, shoot me an ask! it's insanely different from other social media and i completely understand its weird to adjust to and navigate. peace and love + have fun with your slimeposting ✌️

[ilovettrpgs]

rip Magnus Carter you would have loved causing problems for the general public and also not having mad cow syndrome

[florainkingdom]

"I'm just going to hope he lets my sister do her job real quick so we can bounce after that. The longer I'm gone the more likely it'll be that Fate notice's I ain't in Flora anymore and try to start messing with things he shouldn't." Blitz hoped his sister would simply let him do the talking to get in and out as fast as possible. By now he was sure Fate was getting annoyed with whatever he was seeing from that eye, so it'd only be a matter of time before he directly checks what he was doing.

"Whoa, talk about a throwback from my first days being a cosmic being. Maybe I'll keep most of the story to myself as I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me, though let's just say the I broke the 'wheel' that they said I had to follow. I never really liked rules or being forced to do anything. I certainly don't like forcing anyone to do anything either. I got a LOT of hate for doing that." Blitz was also a raging ball of fire in the early days. He was more evened out these days.

"Yeah, you don't gotta that. Let's say the last few decades of my mortal life weren't that fun." Bltiz was going to leave it at that. "Well, if I ever visit maybe I could ask him to throw some stuff at me, see if my skills are still sharp, safely of course and if he wants to." Blitz hasn't had a challenge in a while, mainly because he was staying under the radar. This did run the risk of his instincts becoming dull so sharpening them couldn't hurt.

"I think I did? When I was mortal anyway. I'll be honest, memories getting a bit jumbled and hard to sort after a certain point. I have a journal that copies my memories, helps me keep track of my past." Blitz would have to see if he did have any kids at one point. "It's the nature of change, and it will always be rebellious. After all, the nature of the universe isn't as neat and orderly as most think. It's chaotic, unpredictable, and doesn't play favorites."

She only smiled when thinking of the little caretaker and his obsession with the clock. The thought of him angry made her laugh a little as she couldn't imagine him being upset. No he was probably incapable of being angry at all. She doubted he could be upset, or take offense. Though the keeper himself? That was a different matter and she doubted either of them would wish to upset him. But as he was lost and missing right now that should not be a fear t all.

" You have no need to fear the Caretaker, he's quite incapable of becoming upset or angry. Though that might stoke her fire more then if he did grow angry "

She mused softly as she stirred her own Tea and simply smiled at Blitz and his offer. It was kind of him to wish to interfere like that but, it was just that. No she had consigned herself long ago to this path and there was no going back now. This was the way of it, and perhaps it was her place as a primal that she understood that so well.

" I fear trying to become involved would have dire consequences... the universe rarely likes its will being defied. No this is simply how it is... and the great wheel of balance must turn. The age of us primals comes to a close... a new age is coming, and it is my hope that the new gods will do better then we did. "

She gave the young god a stare as her flames crackled about parts of her as she considered his words carefully. Being immortal, was not as much a boon as he believed. Oh there were plenty of ways to punish him that did not involve death--- plenty of cruel ways that would leave him a sad shell of who he was. She did not wish that on him, nor anyone else.

" ... there are far worse things then death child, do not tempt the fates to remind you of it. As for this dream realm, nothing here is truly real, unless you believe it to be. None of it can cause you true harm... unless Lord Morpheus deems you a threat--- then it can be very real... and i pity any who earns his ire within his realm. "

She gave him a smile and placed a finger on her own cheek as he suggested she tell her not to do such a thing.

" AH you do not have children do you? i fear mentioning it at all will only make the idea stronger. I will only speak to her on the subject should it become needed... best not to plant any ideas in her fool head. Why children are so insistent on being defiant i will never know... but always so rebellious. "

[lord-squiggletits]

pharma really is such an interesting case. one thing i’ve always felt with pharma is that he absolutely doesn’t want consequences. and facing up to it requires a lot of looking at and showing people what he’s done and you know. the consequences. i mean hell he’d rather start a plague than say “hey i got coerced into doing a very bad thing by the djd”

I do understand what you mean about Pharma not wanting to face consequences, but on the other hand, I kind of understand why Pharma made a plague rather than admit to medical malpractice/murder? Because like, the thing that I don't see brought up often enough with regards to Pharma is that blackmail... is blackmail. Like, as someone who's unfortunately been on the receiving end of blackmail, the entire point of blackmailing someone is that you corner them into doing bad things by convincing them that they CAN'T turn to an authority figure to ask for help. Like, the person doing the blackmailing generally convinces the person who's getting blackmailed that if they try to reach out for help, the law/authorities/etc either won't care about their predicament or will punish them for the bad thing they did that they're getting blackmailed about.

I kind of feel like (and this isn't an attack on you, just a commentary about the nature of blackmail) when someone like Ratchet looks at Pharma and says "but you could've called for help or shut down the clinic or anything!", it kind of ignores the fact that...... when you're being blackmailed you're fucking terrified, and people who are terrified generally don't jump to the most rational, safe solutions possible? When you add in the fact that Pharma was blackmailed by Tarn of the DJD, notorious hater of Autobots and fanatic leader of a torture club, it's not hard to imagine that Pharma was both afraid and in pain (or threat of pain) while at Delphi and thus wouldn't be thinking straight about it.

I don't know, like. Yeah, on one hand Pharma made a plague and killed a bunch of people to try and cover up his crimes and maintain his career. But he didn't just do it for ego related reasons, he was also almost certainly facing threats of torture and death.

[holytrickster]

idk i think it's so funny I went down a survival horror game rabbit hole when a) I'm too freaking anxious for horror games I will make myself cry, b) it was all PS2 stuff which is extra funny bc I've never even played on someone else's playstation let alone had one, i was always a wii kid lol. but now my brain is like ah yes. time to consume everything I can about games I can't even play and that are stupid expensive/hard to get now

[unproduciblesmackdown]

billions is really on one constantly like you gotta love how there's the wordless presentation of This Man & This Woman as like an image of epic power couple &/or pr for the Wholesomeness of this man to have the Family Values in having a wife & possibly even kids, and being fictional media, most of the time this comes up as Staged Material from actors for this Media, especially given that generally both parties will be preexisting Roles With Dialogue. and then when it comes to winston & their granting us their clearest most elevated least questioning/critical exercises in "this is Telling you that winston is inferior" in a) successful violation &/or b) successful-violation-born information that they recognize as Inferior & expect you will too....really a moment's pause sometimes remembering that since they couldn't be bothered to stage anything for winston & instead we got a) photos provided from will roland of himself from his real life or b) pics they didn't need to get rights to, in this case they show us selfies from a real-life-and-by-then-married-couple, and it's This that gets "well so of course this is another Recognition Of Inferiority presentation" and not "well isn't that nice, epic, &/or wholesome, or even just matter of fact" like. really unbelievable of them and steph wessels gets to cameo as someone who Of Course dumped this guy because [well just look at him we're right back to exactly 4 seasons prior in 3x03 where we're supposed to know winston isn't epic b/c if wags is there you're supposed to be projecting on him, thanks, & when the one thing you can take issue with being an apparently accidental misgendering, there's Nothing to take issue with in that in the face of this it's crickets from wags who's otherwise dying to kill winston already. awesome. but i mean. well just look at him. we Hate winston.] like and billions is off the rails like "b/c he's so bad at sex" like yeah i think nothing says Good At Sex like the nexus of "has never tried learning anything about sex" & "has never been told their sexual partners might benefit from their learning about sex" Hell yeah. but only those born with the good bodies (winston wasn't! btw! which we all Knew 500 thinking emojis) deserve to have sex and this is also an extremely epic thing to say in this zero critical lens Celebration of killing the autistic guy for not sufficiently staying an exploited object kept silently shut away in your possession but out of sight & mind.

literally unironically Extremely Normal of them where "normal" is expected to be synonymous with a [neutral to good] context, as it "normally" is lol, but we Do have a critical lens out here. just like amazing you brought his real life then even all the more recent marriage into things held up for us as more fodder for Why We All Hate Winston & Want To Kill Him which also always hinged on "well just look at him" which necessarily hinges on a real life person's form to be looked at (or heard, given that we know people don't always react to his speaking voice as "neutral" and this is just another aspect of people's bodies) while meanwhile it's like yeah delightful stuff actually. or who cares b/c the Context doesn't have to be "does this role seem personally appealing?" for the Question that doesn't need to be "do we want them dead or are they someone who can do whatever they want or someone who has to forever endure and support the previous and can do whatever they want that doesn't conflict with this" and then 500 zillion words to say about this actor who was only supposed to be Quant Kid 2 Who We All Hated & Killed for one scene in one ep getting a recurring role (to still only ever be hated & killed as far as the writing was concerned, for the overwhelming Mostly) b/c of this je ne sais quoi & of course still Acting as though this role is as much a person as any of the other roles, wow, can't believe this was found to be so Talented & Delightful & Essential despite still only seeing the role as [guy we hate & kill] & having no intention of like giving him an arc ever but we really want more of this. and then inevitably be really preoccupied about his dick like not in a "haha. pwned them in turn b/c that's gay" but like of course in being Superior it's like yep preoccupied with the inferior parties' sexuality & your own being superior too. his dick is bad and he's not tall enough and well just look at him, no wonder he was dumped [shows you an image from actually having good times with his eventual wife] like obviously. billions with their autistic character like how do we step it up from the episode where some guy yells the r word at him amidst like the threats and harassment and assault? well more of that plus surveillance and even more personal intrusion but also someone says he's effectively a child and then we enjoy validation of our eugenicist presumptions i guess about his sexuality and body and most like random details of personality (never stop pointing out that somehow that He Likes Puns is more evidence for how Objectively Hated he is) and this episode has no other point than revelling in all of this and considering this to also be like "yes this all makes wags look Epic, which is worth an episode ever, all the more so as 1/12th of a series finale season"

[umilily]

ended up buying a cute fish game

long shot asking this here, but anyone ideas what to get for the birthday of a 3 year old that you’ve never met in person?

[prokopetz]

I think a lot of folks in indie RPG spaces misunderstand what's going on when people who've only ever played Dungeons & Dragons claim that indie RPGs are categorically "too complicated". Yes, it's sometimes the case that they're making the unjustified assumption that all games are as complicated as Dungeons & Dragons and shying away from the possibility of having to brave a steep learning cure a second time, but that's not the whole picture.

A big part of it is that there's a substantial chunk of the D&D fandom – not a majority by any means, but certainly a very significant minority – who are into D&D because they like its vibes or they enjoy its default setting or whatever, but they have no interest in actually playing the kind of game that D&D is... so they don't.

Oh, they'll show up at your table, and if you're very lucky they might even provide their own character sheet (though whether it adheres to the character creation guidelines is anyone's guess!), but their actual engagement with the process of play consists of dicking around until the GM tells them to roll some dice, then reporting what number they rolled and letting the GM figure out what that means.

Basically, they're putting the GM in the position of acting as their personal assistant, onto whom they can offload any parts of the process of play that they're not interested in – and for some players, that's essentially everything except the physical act of rolling the dice, made possible by the fact most of D&D's mechanics are either GM-facing or amenable to being treated as such.*

Now, let's take this player and present them with a game whose design is informed by a culture of play where mechanics are strongly player facing, often to the extent that the GM doesn't need to familiarise themselves with the players' character sheets and never rolls any dice, and... well, you can see where the wires get crossed, right?

And the worst part is that it's not these players' fault – not really. Heck, it's not even a problem with D&D as a system. The problem is D&D's marketing-decreed position as a universal entry-level game means that neither the text nor the culture of play are ever allowed to admit that it might be a bad fit for any player, so total disengagement from the processes of play has to be framed as a personal preference and not a sign of basic incompatibility between the kind of game a player wants to be playing and the kind of game they're actually playing.

(Of course, from the GM's perspective, having even one player who expects you to do all the work represents a huge increase to the GM's workload, let alone a whole group full of them – but we can't admit that, either, so we're left with a culture of play whose received wisdom holds that it's just normal for GMs to be constantly riding the ragged edge of creative burnout. Fun!)

* Which, to be clear, is not a flaw in itself; a rules-heavy game ideally needs a mechanism for introducing its processes of play gradually.