#ego competition

[eldritch-bf]

The needle and syringe is a phallic object, re-animation is penetration, and the reagent, created by a gay trans man, is… no I shan’t say it.

[chloesimaginationthings]

William Afton into the FNAF-verse

[brbarou]

weird girls with multiple personas....i love you....

[sprucedarkstache]

Well folks, here it is. The final result.

And the Markiplier sexyman goes to Dark! Our edgy man who’s been with us since good old 2013.

Thank you guys all so much to everyone who participated. This has truly been a really fun experience. Who knows? Maybe I’ll bring it back for next year? Only time can tell.

Once again, thank you guys so much. Have a great rest of your night!

Oh, and also @markiplier we were always right. The data doesn’t lie.

[blood-orange-juice]

I suddenly groked why Childe's friendship with the Traveler is important to me. It makes him look more inhuman.

Same with his attachments in general. It all looks so sweet on the surface but this is *not* how humans handle attachments.

Humans are awkward, and afraid to admit they like someone, and they want reciprocity, and they are careful about how a new person will affect their life. They are very cautious about placing their trust in someone even if they like them. They often lie for the sake of maintaining the relationship.

And then there's this guy who loudly declares you a friend the moment he starts liking you enough, expects nothing in return and seems to trust almost blindly (personally, I think it's calculated risk rather than that, but it still removes the usual weight of trusting someone). Who is honest and straightforward in ways that don't really benefit him. And it's not exactly hero worship (he has that towards Skirk and Capitano and we know it looks differently), he just sees someone like himself in the main character.

His other relationships (siblings and Her Majesty) could have been interpreted in multiple ways but his attachment to the Traveler establishes those as genuine and more on the warm side too.

(and more weird)

We also get reminded that he isn't nice even when he likes a person, he still has his weird ideals and obligations and doesn't compromise on those.

If he was a brooding loner or someone more sociopathic in his approach it would be too easy to clock him as a traumatised kid or at least a flawed human. The way he relates to the Traveler very clearly establishes him as more than that.

I've also seen takes on how he doesn't really love his siblings, he just wants to be the best in everything and that includes being the best older brother. That would be awfully human, too, I think.

It's a subtle distinction, fae beings can be obsessed with beauty and perfection but not with being the best. A desire to be the best is a narcissistic dynamic, it's painfully human and rooted in insecurity.

(he says and shows multiple times how he doesn't seek narcissistic fuel at all, even on an average human level. he seeks improvement but doesn't really care about winning or impressing other people

he's also committed to doing the best he can without being worried about perfection in the current moment)

He loves them dearly and he's doing what's best for them as he understands it, but it doesn't matter whether they love him or whether anyone else including them thinks he's a good brother.

So we once again get a lovely paradox with him. Everything is the opposite of what it seems.

Could be read as a different form of trauma or just arrogance, of course, but also it connects him to other Abyssal beings (Elynas, Durin, Caribert to an extent too. one could say Enjou as well). Horrors of Teyvat love with no reservations but also it doesn't mean what you think it means.

[solarstarss]

we need more speech and debate au fics. oh sports au? how about the sport of the mind. this is peak academic rivals to lovers. how about competing against your years-long rival in every tournament where your job is to prove how wrong they are in a 5 min speech? the tension. yes lay out your arguments and then watch as i refute them all and then make out with me

[aunhinged]

Sherlock and House crossover AU

Sherlock: I switched John’s phone language to Icelandic. He’s been trying to translate texts with Google for the last two hours.

House: I changed Wilson’s ringtone to the sound of a cardiac monitor flatlining. He nearly had a heart attack.

Sherlock: Efficient and thematic.

House: I aim to please.

John (to Wilson): We could just... ignore them?

Wilson: Ignoring them only makes them try harder.

[mrkmciver]

Your Real Competition

[lord-squiggletits]

Honestly it annoys me that pride, ambition, and generally having a big ego are always villainous/evil-coded personality traits because personally I think if you genuinely are a prodigy at what you do you are 100% within your rights, perhaps even deserving, of flaunting your skills and being proud of the fact you can do something that only a small fraction of other people can do. Is it even ego at that point if you genuinely are as good at your field/skill as you say you are? Are people not aware that becoming a prodigy at something is something that takes lifelong sacrifice and practice sometimes to the point of giving up on having a normal life, relationships, etc even potentially destroying your own health???? God I fucking hate how pride in your own skills and ambition are so villain coded all the time. As if it's evil to want to be good at something and be recognized for what you rightfully earned

[batsplat]

Valencia 2013: Marc Marquez is asked about his best victory that year as well as about Valentino Rossi's season

[silusvesuius]

this tree from my new drawing looking goated afffffff 👑👑

[twistedappletree]

Actually obsessed with the idea of Jin Ling trying to teach Lan Sizhui archery and getting smug as hell because he finally found something Lan Sizhui isn’t an instant prodigy at but at the same time, he sees how determined Lan Sizhui is to learn it and can’t help but love teaching him and wanting to see him succeed so they can hunt together

[bestworstcase]

Not to be weird or anything but...there was admittedly a time where I've doubted a lot of your takes on Salem, the direction of the story, etc. Scoffed at them, even. But V9 has really led me to reevaluate RWBY in more ways than one with unreliable narration literally being a core function of it's narrative, and reading your analysis and meta has helped deepen my own appreciation towards the show than ever before. And dare I say it, I think I'm a Salem Truther now jsshjshjshshj So all of this to say I'm glad you're a part of this community, genuinely. And I'm always eager to hear your thoughts on the show and on storytelling as a fic writer. I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to write this ask now, but it's something I've been meaning to say for a good while, lol

<3

jrhdfgj the salem truther situation has been really kind of wild because frankly i spent like two years going “no… there’s no way… i am reading into small details and hanging MASSIVE assumptions on a grammatical quibble… there’s no fucking way.” i was so prepared to be let down by volume nine.

’cause the thing is, like, this is what i do. right. points at my blog header. that little gremlin has all the characterization of a soggy scrap of tissue paper in canon and i made a salem out of her. give me an evil witch and i will invent a salem out of whole cloth if i have to, every time. like. i won’t argue it’s textual when it isn’t but i will write the elaborate au about her in my head if nothing else.

this is My Thing.

salem’s the first time i’ve ever felt like. i hadn’t gotten any further than “oh yeah i’m going to be so normal about her once i finish digesting i can tell” before the lost fable slapped me with the richly interesting emotionally complicated tragic backstory i normally have to make up myself and i was like… excuse me?? and then the next episode was the bait-and-switch “villain mauls the messenger except no she doesn’t and when she loses her temper she sends everyone out of the room before exploding the windows” scene and i was like IS THAT ALLOWED.

this has never happened to me before!!!

so it has been. uh. WHACK to get v9 going okay here’s every expectation you had met and surpassed. grbfxhk there was one point when v9 was first airing while i watched an episode—can’t remember which—and pulled the gf over to go “i am right. about everything?!” because it was so shocking to me.

i was so ready to be like [sighs] ah well, there’s always time does this. and then enjoy the rest of the story for what it was. jrhfhfjdks what do you MEAN they’re writing it for ME

thrilling!! still shocking!! the salem screeds will continue until morale improves 😊 

[choco-1601]

Do u think John never talked about Arthur’s sickness in front of him out of respect for Arthur’s feelings?

[sprucedarkstache]

[bedforddanes75]

hello who wants filth. maybe nobody but its here anyway. IM SCARED