#either way it kind of feels like people who are just writers on here don’t talk about their ocs much

[ninjaaa-go]

I need to talk about my ocs more

[charmedreincarnation]

Dream life before the EOTS challenge

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Hello beautiful people! I totally get it- as the end of the school year approaches, I understand there's this huge push to finally tap into our dream lives before the beginning of the next school year. But here’s the thing, I don’t want you all to get too caught up in the timing. Instead, I’m excited to share with you a mix of my favorite techniques that can truly help you tap into your dream life, as we should!

Consistency is going to be your best friend here, and naturally, feel free to adjust these to better suit your preferences. I’ve got this strong feeling that this challenge is going to be particularly impactful for those who thrive on methodical approaches and have been searching for their calling for some time now. the journey to your dream life isn’t about rushing or meeting arbitrary deadlines. It’s about finding what resonates with you, applying it with dedication, and allowing your things to unfold in its own way. Use this for anything… your dream life, shifting, the void state, it does not matter ! Just Remember, the journey to your dream life isn’t about rushing or meeting arbitrary deadlines, please be kind and patient with yourself !

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What we will be using this challenge

1.I am 100% sure technique

2.living in the end

3.reverse psychology techniques

4.Questions technique x SATs

5.optional* lucid dreaming

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1.This is inspired by @gorgeouslypink ‘s challenge but…

Every morning, as soon as you wake up, either say or write or think "I am sure that I will [insert desire]. Anytime you think of your desire, think or repeat that affirmation to yourself as a reminder. You don’t have to do it a billion times. Once is enough and move on with your life. Another tip is, one of my first shifts was by using the 5 sense method while listening to music. Affirming while listening to your favorite song or sound is basically a hack to get you into your desired state.The key is to do it while listening to a song that makes you feel euphoric and in the morning to revise your mind while it’s in theta state ! Just during those times !!! don’t parrot affirmations if it stresses you out

2. You should be "living in the end" in whatever way inspires you. I encourage you all to create your vision boards on Pinterest if you're a visual person, and really immerse yourself in the joy of knowing this is your life. Those are your pictures.

If you're more of a writer, script your success story that you'll send to me, or write a thank you note to your favorite blogger. In the draft, mention how you used this technique along with whatever else you're doing. Write with the conviction that it's real.

For those aspiring to be YouTubers, film a mock video. If you envision yourself becoming a TikToker, start drafting video ideas. And if your dream is to be an actor, do practice runs of your favorite script, if you’re going to be an entrepreneur, draft your business ideas and proposals and draw inspo from your favorite successful entrepreneurs!

Guys, fulfilling yourself and living in the end should be fun! Embrace your inner child, remember how easy it was to believe in Santa Claus even when you were with your mom buying gifts. To become famous like the kids on Disney, all you had to do was desire it and practice making the Disney sign with a wand. Let's bring that love back to manifesting.

3.If you're someone who likes vaunting or affirmations, instead of just parroting affirmations, use the reverse psychology method! Talk about how tired you are of succeeding, how you want to wake up in your CR not your DR, how you're tired of waking up in the void, how lucid dreaming every night by accident ruins your sleep schedule, etc. Do some of the vaunting in front of a mirror, I don’t know theosucholgy about it but vaunting with convections in front of mirror looking straight into my own eyes always brought me results in days.

4. Before bed, think about what you want, imagine being there, and start asking yourself creative questions. Really picture yourself in that situation and take part in it as you answer. One at a time, slowly, we'll get into each question by thinking up answers and feeling like we're really there.

The whole point is to immerse ourselves in the reality of this state as we paint the portrait. Ask yourself whatever questions, then imagine that scene. It doesn’t matter if you do 40 or just 1. Ask yourself what it’s like to enter the void state every night and have a scene of you living your dream life doing whatever you want. Ask yourself what it’s like to be a girl who shifts reality while people fight over resources in the 3D, and imagine yourself in your WR (Waiting ROOM) or DR (Desired Reality) living your dream life. Ask yourself what it’s like being someone who is wealthy in the top 0.001% and imagine a scene of buying expensive things, checking your bank account, and making lunch with finer ingredients. Again, it should be fun; it doesn’t matter how specific or vague the questions are, how long or short the scene is, whether it’s one scene or 100 scenes. Fulfill yourself in SATS (State Akin to Sleep). Whether we do this before a nap, after you wake up, or before you go to bed, it does not matter. Pair this with a nice Subliminal with good music if you desire

5.Combine this with anything from my lucid dreaming guide that resonates with you, or just assume you’ll have a lucid dream and read all the ways you can shift/manifest/or enter the void through in my LD guide!

I know how busy everyone is; this shouldn't take a lot of time, nor should it feel pressuring or like a task. We all deserve our dream life and, most importantly, we all deserve to feel fulfilled as we embody the people we truly are. During this challenge, be kind to yourself, remember why you’re doing this and who it’s for—it's for you. Be persistent and have patience, not just to be a good follower of the law but to be good to yourself! We all can do it; I know it.

[honeyhotteoks]

After that absolutely delicious ateez dom/switch/sub analysis, we need the separate Yunho dom analysis, please ♡ (no pressure)

no pressure as if i wasn’t kicking my feet excited to answer this the minute i saw your ask lol

okay once again, below the cut, lots of yunho dom analysis specifically around his kink list too though because there are reasons i added all of those and i figured it would also be fun to get into.

see this post here for the full ateez dom/switch/sub analysis and disclaimers that apply here too!

okay! so hopefully this all makes sense, but truly yunho is my ult and i’ve spent an insane amount of time headcanoning him for all the writing i’ve done, so please forgive how in depth this may get. i promise i’m not weird delulu i’m just a writer with a muse in this man.

general thoughts / evidence on yunho as a man with big dom potential:

natural leadership - yunho is a natural leader, and that’s been pointed out several times throughout the years in various pieces of content, though most recently in the fortune teller video. this is a role that i think he naturally gravitates towards, and leads me to believe that he is the type who will step up if there’s not a leader in the room, or will guide if someone needs guidance. i think he likes to feel appreciated and needed, but doesn’t necessarily need a bunch of fanfare or attention for doing so, which to me is such a quality in a good dominant. someone who wants to guide and lead his submissive, but doesn’t need everyone to know it.

his gaze - something you’ll notice if you watch yunho carefully is that when he needs the members to quiet down or when he’s trying to communicate something without words, all he needs to do is look in just the right way to get what he wants. most often you can see this with mingi and wooyoung when he levels them with a look and they either stop ‘misbehaving’ or fall apart into giggles. this is one of those things where i think you can see he’s kind of exuding masculine dominance without ever having to say anything or cause a fuss.

his propensity to tease - okay so he’s a joker, and a classic older brother, but that isn’t the thing that makes me think big dom potential. what does though is the ways he needles on a specific thing that riles someone up and just keeps applying pressure. mingi is a great example, if you watch the way he talks to him and calls him princess, particularly during his birthday live… that is the epitome of a dom. you can see other examples with other members, but you can also see it with atiny. in the live when he said he liked to hear atiny call him “yunho-yah” in a whining tone was pretty revealing. also since he’s become aware of the hotteok hand kink, he keeps playing up hand content. that is certainly something the company is doing to drive engagement, but to hear him tease about it on lives? the tone tells me knows he’s getting a flustered reaction and he enjoys it.

jealousy - this is a brief one, but he’s quietly jealous as fuck in a possessive way. just reference the live where he talks about his brother or the one good looking manager, you can see it underneath the teasing that he’s like okay no focus up. that’s someone who in a relationship would have to handle feelings of jealousy and could potentially channel that into a d/s relationship.

caretaking / gift giving / silent support - yunho naturally takes care of his members and staff, there’s a lot of stories about him getting up early to get coffee for people, being an ear during tough times, being thoughtful during holidays and birthdays, etc. and i just think in general that’s a quality that means he enjoys caring for his loved ones. in a d/s relationship, that’s such a key point of a good dom as they are trying to support and guide their submissive and ensure their needs are met.

pain tolerance - there’s a lot of clips where you can see yunho taking pain or discomfort and just eating it, and while i don’t think that implies he enjoys it, i do think that implies a certain level of control. that is a key quality in a good dom, especially in much harder scenes when they are supposed to be providing the guardrails, punishments, and safety nets.

emotional intelligence - i truly don’t think you can be a good dominant if you’re lacking in emotional intelligence and yunho has that in spades. i’m not saying that means he is a dom, but i am saying it ensures me he would do well at it or have the proper level of emotional intelligence for the role.

the kink list breakdown

rigging / shibari - he’s incredibly tactile and good with his hands, and after all those clips of him with the wire from imot and ropes from outlaw….. my thought is that yeah that’s promotion, but watch him move the ropes and cords. i think it comes naturally to him, but what’s more is that this is an ultimate form of control and dominance over a partner. i think he would excel at the slow preparation, the methodical nature of binding, the photography he could take of his sub tied up with different knots and colored ropes, and then the ability to control their pleasure or pain from there is something the rigging would allow.

edging / orgasm denial - another form of control. if he’s guiding his submissive through the experience of orgasm, then confirming their compliance by only letting them orgasm when he says is full control. i also think it plays into the idea of teasing, something that would leave his sub whining and begging.

pleasure / overstimulation - it’s the exact inverse of the above but the principles are the same. control, but also pushing his submissive’s limits.

praise - there is no way this man isn’t telling you how good you’re doing while you do it. yunho is ultimately a soft boy, a boyfriend boy, a husband boy, so no matter what hard kinks he has the potential to play with, i think praise and kindness is a huge hinge back to the relationship and the very real emotions underneath it all.

degradation - i personally think this would be done with a softer, teasing vibe. not meanly calling his submissive a slut, but more so from a corruption angle… something like …. “my fingers in your mouth get you this wet? listen to you whine, my good little slut” etc.

breeding and pregnancy - this one is a little self indulgent but that being said…….. my read on him as quite traditional hits this for me. yunho as a natural caregiver translates pretty heavily for me into yunho wanting to provide for his future partner, and he’s extremely close to his family and family oriented. if yunho wants children, i could see him loving the idea of intimacy that getting his partner pregnant would provide. and i think in general that could manifest in the idea appealing to him in general. i think also there’s possessiveness in this kink that could appeal to him - the idea that he claimed her body, that the changes visible in her body are something he did, etc.

impact play - his hands were made for spanking, next question… no but actually this one is something i want to call out. spanking hits control, punishment, aftercare but it also is something they some submissives need and helps ground them. pain in general can be like this, but as i think yunho would not be full blown into sadism, spanking would fulfill that need for them both.

restraints - again, another opportunity for control. we’ve touched on ropes, but i also think he would enjoy pinning a partner down, someone he can fantasize about being on the more submissive / innocent / corruptible side

free use - i mentioned in the original post this being an extension of the traditional idea. i just want to emphasize again, this is not in any way from a misogynistic angle whatsoever. what i’m talking about here is specifically an extension of his control, within this idea of possession and consumption. i could see yunho being the type of guy who would love to come home and just push his partner’s skirt up before dinner, or hop into the shower and just take his partner against the wall. i don’t think he would be into free use in the super extremes of this kink where his partner is like completely passive / truly available at EVERY moment, but some version of this i can see.

fingering - look at his hands, he’s going to make his partner squirt and he’s going to make his partner suck on his fingers and beg for it, next question.

oral - this man has an oral fixation. watch the way he touches his lips, the way he bites, the way his tongue is constantly present, how often he puts things IN his mouth? he’s absolutely going to be the type to just hold his partner down and eat her out for as long as she can take it.

omorashi - this one is a little off the wall but walk with me here. omo isn’t piss kink in the way that a lot of people might assume, it’s specifically about bladder control. this is one of those kinks that fall right in line with aspects of his dominance and personality so i’m saying if this hit for him, i’d believe it. the idea that he would control his partner’s ability to use the rest room to facilitate a scene, and then use that discomfort against them while he pleasures or edges them, verbally degrading and pushing his submissive to begging and pleading? yep. now some people with omo stop there and it’s all about the control, but if he took it a step further to actual bladder release i think you could imagine the way he’d comfort and praise his submissive through it. and once again, ultimate control.

corruption - listen…….. this catholic boy??? i will die on this hill. i think while yunho’s a good guy and wouldn’t actually care about things like body count or experience, especially with his person, i do think that he would lose his god damn marbles at the idea that his partner has only ever been with him or has only ever experienced certain acts with him. as a guiding presence, a caretaker, and a man with a jealous streak? this just makes sense. the idea that he’s the reason why you’re a begging crying mess for his cock? iconic. the idea that no one in the world knows what your body looks like but him? he’d quite literally cum and die.

breath play - hands. but also control, you get it.

somno - ultimate control but also it’s his submissive placing the ultimate level of trust in him and i think he would take it exceptionally seriously. it’s a responsibility more than anything to ensure that his partner is cared for and feels safe through that experience. also think this plays a bit into the corruption kink and when i mentioned in the previous post that he would enjoy being called daddy…… you put those dots together. (though to be perfectly clear i do NOT mean age play whatsoever)

cockwarming - i think this is something that’s actually quite comforting for some submissives so i see it as less of a kink and more of a sex act that he would engage in with his sub to be caring and tender and help ground them. similar to what spanking does, it helps ground some submissives and this is something he would want to provide. just picture his sub resting against his inner thigh, cock in mouth just resting on the tongue, yunho petting their hair and soothing them.

size kink / size training - i dont mean he wants a “small” or “thin” partner, i mean this from the corruption angle. he would enjoy slowly working his sub up to being able to take his cock comfortably in….. many….. different holes.

throat fucking - see above lmao

and good god could i talk about dom yunho and aftercare but that’s a whole other post lmk if anyone cares haha

[loganhowlettshousewife]

animal

chapter 5.5

friendly reminder that i am not a writer, i'm just a girl who loves logan howlett and wanted to write something exploring his animalistic side since i so rarely see it done. my first language is also not english, so please do not be rude when giving me any feedback.

warnings: swearing, mentions of blood, introspection

series masterlist │my masterlist

“did you mean it? when you said you would want me even if i was more like,” a pause, “like an animal?”

you hum, cuddling further into his side, chasing the warmth of shared body heat. “of course. i kind of miss it, actually. there’s something weirdly attractive about you acting on just pure instinct, you know?”

he doesn’t know, actually. his entire life he’s been told to behave in a certain way - there were those who wanted him to be an animal, a violent killer with no human morals or thoughts to interfere with his orders, and those who told him he needed to reign in the feral aspects of his mutation, who called him a monster for the way he was born.

even amongst mutants he wasn’t always treated well. they had interesting abilities, beautiful things that belonged in movies or books or fairytale stories. they could control the elements and create things from practically nothing, while he only knew how to destroy. he brought chaos and bloodshed everywhere he went.

he was the kind of mutant that made people uncomfortable, the kind of mutant people saw as a freak of nature, a mistake. people like him were the reason mutants would never be accepted within society. he was too violent, too dangerous, too much of a threat.

they would fight for mutant rights, but turn right around and tell him to hide who he was, to be gentle or kind or better, whatever they decided that meant. because his nature made everyone uncomfortable.

and he understood that. because logan hated himself as much, if not more, than they all seemed to hate him. he’s always hated his instincts, hated how it made him feel, hated the way he felt that he couldn’t always control himself, hated what they made him.

so he’s always hidden parts of himself, never fully revealing who he is to anyone. in return, he finds people who love him, or at least who claim that they do, and the need for acceptance that presses down on his heart lessens into a bearable weight.

it was why he’d been so ashamed when he’d started to regain his memories, flashes of his past showing up in his dreams. for months he’d acted on his natural instincts with you, every lesson he’s ever been taught temporarily erased from his mind. he’d allowed himself to be wild, feral, a disgusting beast that doesn’t qualify as human. a monster.

and yet here you are, telling him that you find it attractive, smiling at him as if he hasn’t spent his entire life running from himself, being hunted down for his mutation for one reason or another, either to kill or to use. he’s a weapon to some, an uncontrollable animal to others, a mutant to be trained for a new purpose every time someone new finds him.

but to you, he’s just logan.

you don’t run or hide from what he is, you accept him with open arms. and that’s terrifying, the trust that you’ve placed in him, because all he’s ever done is hurt people, and you have absolutely no defences, nothing to protect you when he inevitably fucks up again.

he doesn’t think he’ll be able to let go of everything he’s taught himself just like that, let go of the control he’s spent centuries honing and perfecting to allow his instincts to crawl to the forefront of his mind. not after so long. but it physically hurts him to hold back at times, and the thought that maybe he’s finally found a place where he doesn’t need to deal with that pain, a place where he doesn’t need to hide - it makes the constant ache in his chest lessen just the slightest bit.

he’s still traumatised and plagued with horrible memories, anger still runs in his veins like blood, but all of that feels easier to cope with when he kisses and bites at your neck, scenting you, claiming you. and you let him, giggling with your hands in his hair.

your scent is happy, bright and warm like a sunny afternoon. he’s making you happy like this, the animal in him is making you happy like this.

taglist: @mystiquesvendetta @raeinyourdreams @babey-fruit-bat @meetmypointlessaddiction @kneelforloki @deaky-with-a-c @hypermarvellove @littlepeanut03 @the-ruler-of-death @aliengutzstuff @misscrissfemmefatale @mynamesstevenwithav @teaganthemorningstar @blackkatzz @leryg0 @fries11 @forksloree @i5uckersblog @dragovegogrimborn @quillycrow @melday0105 @just-a-little-cellist @scorpiosaintt @akasha157-blog @insanesosciopath @eridektbh @trickstergabriel69 @lord-bingus666

[theabigailthorn]

Hey I made a post a few days ago and someone referred me to you so I’m here to ask for advice and guidance because I’ve been in acting for years and it’s my life passion (stage acting specifically) but I’ve realized this year that I am a trans woman and I don’t know what to do about it because I feel like there are next to no opportunities for me in the community if I transition, especially when it comes to musicals and really anything during early transition. I’ve just started college and feel like now is the time to start pushing for hormones and whatnot if I’m going to transition but I don’t know if I should because I feel like there won’t be a place for me in the career I want anymore. I’m at a point where I could change career paths but I don’t really have anything else I want to do I’ve always just loved acting. So anyways I don’t know what to do and I’m kind of asking anyone for help who might listen or have valuable insights if you read this thank you for your time<3

Mm, this is a tricky one. Are you in Britain? If so then I agree that opportunities are thin on the ground, even more so than for cis people in the industry. I also don't think that's likely to improve quickly. Apart from a dearth of jobs, it helps to be realistic about the risks. I've had people in Britain tell me they straight up won't work with trans people, which is illegal but there's nothing you can do about it. I've had chats with other trans actors who feel there's a hard ceiling in Britain on what you're allowed to achieve, and it's a lot lower for us than it is for cis actors.

The British acting industry also has a chaser problem. One of the consequences of the widespread dehumanisation of trans people in this country is sexual abusers find we make good targets - we're already systemically vulnerable and many people don't care what happens to us. I've seen talented trans actors drop out or contemplate dropping out because they were sexually assaulted by a writer or director. A lot of cishet people still find it unspeakable that straight men prey on trans girls. As a purely hypothetical example, let's say there was a man with a history of being very creepy to women, especially young actresses, who went around sleeping with trans women in exchange for empty promises of work, and who also assaulted trans women at auditions for his big project, who everyone in the British entertainment trans community knows is a creep, who then went on to win a major award - wouldn't THAT just make you want to scromit?! 🙃 Purely hypothetical of course. This elite consensus that trans people are 'violable' also extends to less horrific but still awful things like cis people stealing our work, which isn't hypothetical and did in fact happen directly to me.

If you're in the USA then I think there's cause for optimism, depending a bit on what happens in November.

On the other hand, something they told me at drama school is "In order to have a career you must be two things: 1) Unique, and 2) Good to work with." So perhaps your transness will be your unique selling point! There's really no way to know until you try. And it wouldn't restrict you from making your own work either: look at people like Piss Carnation, who are doing well in fringe theatre! I remember having the same feelings about my own transition: I thought it would be the end of my career. So far the opposite has proven true, which is lovely! There's a lot of luck and privilege involved in that outcome though.

For me, acting is a calling - it's the closest thing I have to spirituality - I couldn't not do it.

[jewelsli]

DC X DP X Captain Marvel/Shazam

So I had this idea for a dc/dp crossover (mostly about billy and danny). Anyway, Danny and Billy are both children around fourteen years old, both are posing as immortal heroes to the Justice League, and both have huge responsibilities that the fate of the universe depends on (Ghost King Danny). In conclusion, I think they would be SCARILY good friends, honestly brothers really.

Here’s how I think it would go (I’m not the greatest writer so bear with me)

Billy had just returned from his latest mission, and not the fun beat-up-some-badguys-then-go-home kind, he had been off-world (and off-dimension at times) near constantly for the past few weeks in some greater beings version of a joke, and had missed the latest JL meeting. He was currently stepping out of the beta tubes after getting what? Four? Hours of sleep. He shook his head, glad that I’m his powered form he couldn’t feel tired like Billy did(and less glad about the faint chattering of the Gods in his head).

‘Okay, time for the meeting!’ He thought with sarcastic joy in his head, pulling his features into a soft smile. He walked down the halls to the meeting room, it may seem like he was going at a fast pace, but compared to how fast he could go, he was currently a snail. He hovered(no not literally) outside the door for a moment before brightening his smile and walking in.

“Hey guys!” He said joyfully, glad to see he wasn’t the last to arrive, “sorry about not calling in at the last meeting, my communicator broke and I wasn’t exactly able to get in touch without dropping everything and I couldn’t … do that.” He paused as he noticed a new person at the table, which he vaguely recognized as one of the possible recruits for a new member. Something about them seemed… different, not in a bad way! But still-

Batman grunts… uh… he could never tell if that was good or bad, he looks up at the masked vigilante and waits for him to say something(I mean it was 50/50 whether that was the sentence or if it preceded it) “Marvel,” ah so this was one of the times it was followed by a sentence, “I expect your reports by the next meeting,” darn it “This is Phantom, he was introduced to the League while you were away.” He says with a nod at the new member, who smiled and waved at him. Billy waves back, it would be rude not to right? And sits at his normal spot, which is near(but not directly next to) the white haired hero. He sat still for a solid five seconds before becoming bored, if he knew how these meeting went(and he did) flash would probably show up a minute or two late, leaving about… ten or so minutes. He mentally sighs, turning to face Phantom.

“So…” he says before he can even think of what to ask, the other looking towards him, “Phantom huh? Are you a ghost of some sort?” He asked, he wanted to assume so, but then again Phantom girl wasn’t a ghost, so he might not be. And he would have to be a pretty powerful ghost to be seen by normal people, or maybe he was invisible? No he could tell that the others could see him- and he was getting off track, thank goodness for the speed of mercury or else that train of thought may have stopped him from seeing the other’s answer.

Phantom nodded, tilting his head and then saying “yeah, everyone keeps assuming I’m an alien for some reason? Do you guys not interact with ghosts that often?” Marvel thought for a moment, “The main members don’t really, but The JL dark does, deadman is a member and he’s a ghost. Have you met him yet?” He asked in return after answering his question.

Phantom’s eyes widened, “Deadman? I’ve heard of him but we haven’t met.” He responded, his face stretching into a smile that was bordering on inhuman. “I have yet to meet another ghost that’s a hero, all the ones I’ve met either fought with me or don’t leave the realms,” he sighed. Now it was Billy’s turn to smile. “The realms? As in the infinite realms??? Aw man I’ve been meaning to visit but I haven’t count the time! What’s it like? Does it really have the most diverse population of magical creatures? What about the new ghost prince? I’ve heard he’s much better than the old king!” He spouted with maybe a little bit of speed of mercury, and he really did want to know more about the ghost prince, he had to meet him later.

Before a (surprised looking) Phantom could answer, the meeting was started, he hadn’t noticed the people filtering in until an apologetic speedster sat down between him and the ghost.

Finishing up the meeting, oh gods finally, Marvel could feel how tired Billy was. He stood up to leave but was faced with Phantom looking at him, oh woah he was really tall for being so skinny as tall as he was!(and he was eight feet tall!!!).

“How do you know about the new ghost prince.” Phantom asked in a voice slightly below a normal volume, Billy looked him over, he didn’t seem hostile, just curious, so he thought back to try and remember. “Oh uh, I guess I was informed by some of my… coworkers” he said carefully, hey he couldn’t go ‘oh yeah the gods in my head told me and I’m the champion of magic’ he was trying to avoid the league learning that for goodness sakes!!!(sue him if he didn’t want the magic users of the league to never talk to him normally again or gain more attention from Batman). He saw phantom’s eyes narrow, “These coworkers must be pretty high up on the power chain if they know, the new prince kept the change from the old king to him restricted to those who needed to know,” oh, oops? Wait how did he know then? “So are you in one of these upper circles then?” Marvel asked, getting a small smile from the other, who responded with “Something like that, and who are you getting this info through?” He said, not letting him redirect the conversation as he had hoped he could. “I have a contact from the rock of eternity” he said quickly, hey it was kind of true, he did have contacts there and marvel was the reason why he knew. Phantom made a small ‘:o’ face and simply said “Oh” before glancing at a nearby clock and sighing. “I WILL be asking about that, but until then I have Infinite Realm duties, higher circles and all that.” He muttered the last part before leaving through the window of all places.

Marvel glances at the clock himself and cursed(internally, he would never curse in this form), speaking of the ghost prince, he had a meeting with him.

Yay I did it :D!!!

[mcytfanfictionappreciationweek]

Runs from January 21st to January 27th, 2024

7 days of fanfiction appreciation for all our fandom writers!

Everyone from all corners of MCYTblr are welcome to participate. No matter how large or small your favorite SMP or creator is, there is a space for everyone.

Many fandom events focus on providing tasks for artists and writers, but very little are made with the people who enjoy and appreciate that work in mind as participants. Lurkers and enjoyers and love posters are just as important to the fandom, so this is a space for us to do our thing and spread the love 💗

How to Participate

There will be 3 kinds of planned activities hosted on this blog, but there is no single correct way to participate, as long you’re uplifting others. The activities and prompts are meant to be a guideline and source of inspiration. You don’t have to burn yourself out by participating every day or in every activity.

Keep this space positive and abide by standard fandom etiquette. Be mindful of tags and if you don’t think you’ll like a work, don’t click and read it!

Share the love; one goal of this challenge is to help authors who’ve been overlooked feel appreciated for their contribution to the fandom. If you’re up to it, try and use this challenge as a way to break from your comfort zone and uplift others who you haven’t seen get any attention yet.

Note: This doesn’t mean to not send love to any ‘bigger authors’ whose work you admire, and we are not entertaining any discourse related to the size of one’s following.

Use the tag ‘mcytfanficappreciationweek’ for your recommendation lists related to this event and we will reblog them here!

Activities

(Under the cut!)

Reading and Recommendation Challenge

Find a fic that fits the theme of the day and give it a read/comment! Then if you’re up for it, share the recommendation in a post on tumblr and use the event tag. You can make individual posts for each day, or create a wrap-up at the end of the week.

It is both allowed and encouraged to engage with fics whose authors don’t have any linked social media presence. This is not exclusive to authors on tumblr.

January 21st (Day 1: Something New)

Read and comment on a fic written by an author whose work you’ve never commented on before

January 22nd (Day 2: Hidden Gems)

Read and comment on a fic that currently has no comments

Or, feel free to share and recommend a fic whose only comment is your own

January 23rd (Day 3: Underrated Blorbos)

Read and comment on a fic centered on a character of whom you’ve never read as a main POV (the less fics the character is tagged in, the better!)

January 24th (Day 4: Rarepair Extravaganza)

Read and comment on a fic with a character relationship tag (that’s central to the fic, no cheating with ensembles!) that has less than 500 tagged works

For fandoms with <1000 works, use 50 tagged works as a threshold (or your best judgment)

For fandoms with <100 works, use 5 tagged works as a threshold (or your best judgment)

Can be either romantic (using the “/”) or platonic (using the “&”)

January 25th (Day 5: A Blast from the Past)

Read and comment on a fic that was last updated before 2023 (complete or in progress!)

January 26th (Day 6: Canon? Who is she?)

Read and comment on a fic with any ‘Alternate Universe’ tag of your choosing

Canon divergent fics or split timelines count!

January 27th (Day 7: Procrastination Termination)

Read and comment on a fic that you’ve had ‘saved for later’ or opened in a new tab but never got to reading

Or, finish catching up to a multichapter fic that you fell behind on and comment on it

Author Interaction

Send authors who are active on tumblr questions about their work! Ideas/prompts for each day are written below.

January 21st (Day 1: Something New)

Ask an author about future writing projects or ideas that still only exist in their head

January 22nd (Day 2: Hidden Gems)

Ask an author about one of their least-kudosed fics

January 23rd (Day 3: Underrated Blorbos)

Ask an author about something they’re excited or passionate about

January 24th (Day 4: Rarepair Extravaganza)

Ask an author about one of their favorite ships (romantic or just a platonic relationship!)

January 25th (Day 5: A Blast from the Past)

Ask an author about past fandoms they may have participated in or their journey as a fic writer in general

January 26th (Day 6: Canon? Who is she?)

Ask an author about an AU or headcanon of theirs

January 27th (Day 7: Procrastination Termination)

Ask an author about their writing process

Love Posting

Too shy to reach out to someone you admire directly? Write them an anonymous message in our inbox and we will post it and tag their blog for you! (Please be sure to include their blog name so we know who to tag).

Note: If we suspect that your message is back-handed or being hateful towards another group in the community, it will be deleted. If you believe your message was deleted in error, feel free to send this blog a DM about it.

And finally…. If you are an author remember that even if you don’t receive a message or new readers during the course of this event, you are still a valued member of this community. With the size of our fandom, it is impossible to give every single author their due recognition. You are appreciated for your contribution to this fandom, and every fic that is written makes our fandom a more vibrant, wonderful place to be. We love you for the time and effort you put in the art of your creation and we are privileged that you choose to share it for us to enjoy!

[nadvs]

Hello! Im the anon who asked for a fic with rivaly at college 😍 OMG! I love what this turned in to. You are an incredible writer!! I hope you know that. You have me hooked. You write dialog amazingly. It feels so real. Never stop writing!!

Can you write something about when she get jealous? Maybe when he is in the NBA?

Hope you have a great day!

Love from Sweden

HIII omg it’s such a good premise!! i remember being in love with it the second i read your ask 🙂‍↕️ thank you so much 💘 i’m so touched that people like the au and want more of it 🥹

based on this fic

» au masterlist

rafe can get wildly, intensely jealous. and while they often joke about how similar they are, that’s one trait she doesn’t share with him. until he gets signed and moves away.

he doesn’t have as much time for texts and calls. he’s training with his new team, working up to the season. she gets it. or at least, she tries to.

she already had unwelcome thoughts swimming in her head when he had been signed to a team states away about him getting lost in the fame and potentially being unfaithful. she never worried about him cheating before. and she hates that she’s doing it now.

but she tries to keep it in. things between them are already tense. accusing him of something just because she’s insecure isn’t fair and will likely just push him away.

then, she visits him. they share their first i love you’s. they’re in a good place.

but when the season starts, that’s another story. it’s surreal seeing her boyfriend play on tv on such a massive scale, thousands of seats surrounding the court filled. she’s so happy for him and whenever the camera focuses on him, she can tell he’s nervous and she loves that she’s the only one in the world who knows it.

but then between periods, she catches glimpses of his team’s cheerleaders before the cuts to commercial. and she can’t lie to herself that these girls are beautiful. and she wonders if maybe he already lived out the college fantasy. maybe now that he’s a professional player, he’ll have his eyes on professional cheerleaders. or really, any girl, because she’s sure he could get any girl he wants.

as the season goes on, because she likes to keep up with the nba on social media, specifically him and his team, her tiktok automatically shows her videos and edits of her boyfriend, some comments from fans about how he’s the next best thing, but most from girls going crazy over how hot he is.

it puts her into a funk. he sees gorgeous cheerleaders at every game. he gets comments on his instagram from beautiful girls. the internet is losing their mind over him. how can she possibly compare?

so, the next night she’s on facetime with him, she can’t hold it back any longer. after they talk about their days, she starts to pick at a string on her shirt, looking down.

“so…” she says. “do you ever get a chance to talk to the cheerleaders?”

rafe looks at her with knitted brows. she’s been off since she picked up the phone, seemingly mad at him. it’s not like them to not be direct.

“baby, what’s wrong?” he asks.

“nothing,” she lies. “just wondering if you ever talk to them. they’re good dancers.”

he hates the way her lips are turned into a frown, her eyes off the screen.

“i only wanna talk to one cheerleader and she’s pretending she’s not mad at me right now,” he says.

this earns a smirk from her.

“they’re all so pretty,” she says. “i’m not blind. and you’re not, either. there’s no way you haven’t noticed them.”

“i moved here to play,” rafe tells her.

“and you know girls online are going crazy for you,” she continues. “don’t act like you haven’t seen all the comments on your instagram.”

rafe studies her image on the screen.

“you know you have nothing to be jealous of, right?” he says. he hates to admit it, but it’s kind of flattering, especially because she isn’t usually the intensely jealous type. it shows him she still wants him.

she sighs. of course he sees right through her. not like she’s being subtle anyway.

“i do, though,” she says. “and maybe it’s stupid to talk about because i’m annoying you and making you feel like i don’t trust-”

“you’re not annoying me,” he interrupts. “you’re being really cute, actually.”

“cute,” she scoffs, her eyes still low.

“look at yourself on your phone,” he says. she rolls her eyes and obliges, gazing at her reflection on the screen.

“now what?” she mumbles.

“if you can’t see how beautiful you are, maybe you are blind,” he says.

“stop,” she laughs softly. “it’s not that i don’t trust you. it’s just that… it has to feel like a waste to be getting all this attention and ignoring it all because of some girl back home, doesn’t it?”

“some girl,” he echoes. “you think you’re just some girl?”

she shrugs. his chest aches.

“you’re my best friend,” he says. “i wouldn’t fuck this up for anything or anyone in the world. you’re it for me.”

her vision blurs with tears. she flattens her lips together and finally nods.

“sorry,” she says weakly.

“for what?”

“for being so jealous.”

“i already told you it’s cute,” he says. she smiles again.

“i love you, okay?” she mumbles.

“i love you, too, okay?” he teases.

they talk for another hour, then she tells him she needs to go to sleep so she’s not totally exhausted for her morning lecture. he has the day off the next day, so he stays up a bit longer on his phone after they hang up.

when she wakes up, she sees hundreds of instagram notifications on her phone. rafe posted a photo of them from the last time she visited, tagging her with the caption: All I need.

before she even gets out of bed, she’s crying. because of how good he is to her. because he’s telling the world he belongs to someone already. because she’s sure that he loves her just as much as she loves him.

[ladyloveroll]

(These are my ACTUAL notes from my friends birthday party full of people who absolutely did not know who the fuck Itachi and Kisame were or how pairing names work or what a ship is.)

Writing kisaita (on and off) for 15 years

Never get tired of the ship

Excellent, friendly people in the fandom to keep making content (Cynni)

Presentation is less about the specific ship and more about the general qualities that make their ship S-tier. You may find this echoed in your own OTP, IDK.

Powerful, badass characters who can kick anyones asses no problem, as depicted where they are casually taking a stroll after Kisame (who still has his little fo-hawk) casually takes down the four-tails

Kisame is noted as the ‘tail-less jinchuuriki’

Itachi is clearly a fucking powerhouse, we don’t need to debate that

Working with strong characters means you are more easily able to portray their weakness and explore that side of them since that rarely gets screentime

Auxiliary, not main characters

Main characters are harder to write because they spend a lot of screen time accomplishing their goal and doing Plot

Auxiliary characters are more malleable, and morally gray ones especially so

Depicted here are Itachi and Kisame, separately, being ordered by their villages to kill their own people. They carry this order out, but do not particularly like it. Nor are they particularly loyal to their own villages, despite carrying this order out. It’s hard to say where their loyalities lie.

The answer is WITH EACH OTHER OBVIOUSLY

Any ship that has a timeskip has LOADS of canon-verse material you can work with, especially if it feels like the characters have changed or their dynamic has changed.

For Naruto especially, WTF are Kisame and Itachi doing for three years? Clearly neither of them are out capturing jinchuriki. They aren’t seen lounging around Amegakure or Akatsuki headquarters. They are just traveling the world. Probably doing hits. Probably hitting on EACH OTHER WOOOOOO

Long time skips mean a few thing: 1) Canon divergence, 2) Canon compliant, 3) pre-time skip, 4) during time skip, 5) post time-skip; and that’s not even the AU’s

They clearly haven’t made any other friends during this time either so lots of relationship to explore

The Naruto franchise is notorious for retconning. Probably because Kishimoto (the writer) was pushed to create at a pace that was impossible for any sane or healthy man to keep up with.

Fanficition writers can take advantage of this poor writing by interpreting the character in a lot more ways than if the character was solidly written.

There are a lot of different ways Kisame is written, and accepted as so

Itachi less so but we don’t have time for that

Retconning allows you to take a writers mistake and turn it into utter brainrot that ten other people (me) will reblog every 3 years

This one is kind of specific, but if you like angst then OH BOY this ship has a lot of potential for it

Any OTP that involves an angsty edgelord and a sadistic tagalong can indulge in either EXTRA ANGST and be able to balance out the angst with humor

The KisaIta ship has 4 great themes about it:

Redemption

Acceptance

Forgiveness

And Existentialism of course

Dynamic:

Sharkboy / lava girl

Edgelord / goof

Leader / follower

Maybe old? / a touch too young

Respect for each other

S-tier OTP because of strong themes and repeatable dynamics

Kinkfest here we come

S-tier OTPs must be able to withstand an intense variety of smut writing

Powerful level = able to handle pain and dish out pain

Body things? = more positions

The Shape of Water was one of the single best thing to happen to the KisaIta 18+ fics because (even though it existed before the movie came out) a lot more readers were into it now

Also, Kisame makes this ship work more than Itachi. He is fucking DEVOTED

at this point I was running out of my 10-minutes (THEY HAD THE AUDACITY TO PUT ME ON A TIMER) so i just backfilled the rest of the presentation with fanart and memes i like

Why do I like KisaIta?

I mostly write smut

They’re great at smut

I also like angst

They’re always great for angst, either character

Also look at them they are hot AF

Beefcake service-top vs. ‘shaped like a katana’ masochist

Healthy dose of hurt-comfort

They’re extremely flexible to write and so there’s a lot of stories you can create

thank you for not reporting me to the powerpoint police

[yaut-jaknowit]

hihi !!

I don't know if you've already been asked of this, so like... Sorry if you have lol, but pretty please can we have a part 2 of Blood in the Water? Thank you writer person 🙏

— : 🥀 anon

Blood In The Water Part 2

Character: T'a'yta (Male Yautja) x Mom!Reader

Word Count: 4736

Summary: Those three days fly by quickly. Everyday, you overthink the whole dinner. Your children try to help in their own oblivious ways, but you can't help it. Before long, the day arrives and you aren't prepared.

Author Note: This is one of the couple times I've been asked multiple times to write a part 2. AND I LOVE IT! I love to write guys. Love it. It's a passion. Never apologize for asking me to write. It may take me a month to get it down but I'll do it!

Part 1

Masterlist

Ao3

Over the course of those three days, you were able to get your car back from the middle of nowhere. Thankful to have your father pay for the tow and major issue. All it was the distributor cap that can completely fried itself. The worse place for it to do that. Like an angel sent to protect you, T’a’yta was there to pick you up and save you. One of the few people in your life who’s done something out of the kindness of their heart.

Now, you had been freaking out what to make him for a dinner. It was your own stupidity who hadn’t thought about asking him what he likes. You had just let him leave. Not even a way to message him to make up for your mistake. So, you had to fall on what were probably stereotypes.

Meat.

T’a’yta looked like a predator. The fangs, claws, the muscle his body is corded with. He reminded you of some hunters from ancient civilizations with what he was adorn with. Basic metal armor that’s decorated with skulls and bones. One skull had been used as a pouch for something on his side. You never got the chance to fully look at everything he carried in that moment. The most important thought was to get your children home safely. T’a’yta allowed for that to happen.

On the last day, you had gotten home from a stressful day of work. Not a second had gone by as you tried your best to think of a dish that may entertain T’a’yta. You didn’t think he would truly care about what you feed him but it was your conscious that drove you like this. To prove to yourself you can take care of yourself, of your children, of a family.

Blame it all on that scum of a husband you had. It was all his fault for the way you feel currently. Not once were you good enough for him. No amount of food or flavor of food. No amount of love. No amount of bedroom time made him love you the same way after you gotten pregnant.

This was all his fault.

Wasn’t it?

Your knuckles turned white while gripping the counter. A cook book sat freely in front of you, opened to a random page. Yet, your eyes never took in a word.

“Mama okay?” Shawn called out to you and pulled on your pant leg. Instantly, you were snapped out of your thoughts. A façade of happiness plastered to your face before you pivoted and knelt down to pick him up. Shawn giggled and gripped onto your shirt.

“Of course, baby boy. Mama is perfectly okay. She’s just thinking about what to make for T’a’yta.” It was a lie. But, you didn’t want them to worry about you. You had to be the strong one here. The only one that stayed behind to take care of them. All they had was you in their lives.

“Pancakes!” Simon screamed from the living room before unsteadily sprinting into the kitchen. He stopped on a dime, nearly pushing himself head over heel. His eyes were on you with a crazed smile on his face. “Pancakes!” Your shoulders sagged. The tension leaving them.

Shawn was set back down on the ground. “Simon, sweetie, I don’t think T’a’yta will like Pancakes. He seems like the one to eat meat,” you explained to both of your children. Simon’s face twisted with his classic thinking face. It was dangerous for either of them to think so hard. They are trouble makers.

The second eldest, Simon, pumped his fists into the air. “Pancakes with ham…buger!” Even in your darkest times, your children knew how to make you smile. You snorted with a shake of your head. “Yeah, he eat that.”

Oh sweet child. You pet the top of Simon’s head. “Sweetheart, that’s not…” you trailed off when an idea hit you. Burgers. Maybe that was a fix to all of this. T’a’yta doesn’t seem like the one to have eaten much of human food. He wasn’t from around here. Anything you feed him would be new and hopefully exciting. God, why didn’t you think of that earlier instead of overthinking the entire situation?

With a sigh, you glanced towards the door. If that’s the case, you would need to run to the store. Money was a bit short at the moment, but it was the least you could do for T’a’yta. Treat him to a special meal for all of the trouble you had put him through. After thinking about it, you were craving a good burger. One of the things you could cook deliciously.

“Alright you two. We need to go to the store for some food, okay?” you told the two of them before preparing for going outside. This included getting your children ready and in their car seats.

This may get you weird looks but you placed both children inside the cart. Simon loves to wander off on his own and get into trouble. A lesson well learned. Shawn liked to stay pinned to your hip if he could. Unless Simon coaxes him to run off each other. It was safer this way for the two of them to have them in the cart. Neither could they knock things over and grab items they didn’t need.

The cart pushed around the isles of the store. Both of your children were enticed by the selection of bread and kept trying to say the names of them. They decided to make it a challenge to see who can saw the word the best, roping you into the game. You were able to multiple task with playing the game and grabbing the cheapest hamburger bread you could find.

Off to the next item on your mental list you had made. Of course, you had forgotten to write a list or even bring a pen or paper to make said list while here.

“Mama, look! Look,” Simon shouted and pointed at something on the end of the shelving units. It was multi colored gold fish. Ah, shit. “Want. I want!” Those are his favorite snack.

You pulled out the mom look both children know so well. “We have some at home. You can have some when we are done here.” Your voice turned stone cold. The last thing you wanted was a crabby child before having a dinner with T’a’yta.

Simon’s face twisted with a pout as he looked at you. His arms folded. Any other moment, you would’ve taken a picture because he looked so cute. Yet, the crowd of people made you want to snuff this issue as quickly as possible.

“Do not give me that face, mister. I will not tell you again.” The toddler age was the worst you’ve dealt with. The had big emotions and didn’t know how to deal with it. Neither did you. You were just trying to survive with your head above the water.

But, the child didn’t relent.

“You seem to fail at every step you take. Can’t even make a child listen to you.”

The hairs on the back of your neck stood up. You felt the way your chest seized as that familiar voice washed over you. You wanted nothing more than for the floor to spilt and swallow you whole.

There was no need to turn around and see those eyes you once were in love with. The same love that was reflected back onto you. Until the moment, he found out you were pregnant. All because of him.

Your knuckles turned white on the handle bar of the cart. Simon instantly read off of your energy and calmed down. Both of your children looked at the man standing behind you with their tiny eyebrows furrowed.

You slowly turned around and had to force yourself to still at the sight. There, in all of his glory was the man you never wanted to see again. Never wanted to speak with. A reason why you never wanted child support from him. Not that he would pay.

“Robert. Hi.” It sounded so force. The small smile on your face just a façade for the storm of emotions building inside of you. “Funny seeing you here.” Out of two years, to run into him after so long was a miracle. His job never worked with your schedule so it was impossible. That you thought of.

There she was. His new wife, pinned to his side like a trophy shank. No way were you jealous but you were disgusted he had decided to choose someone so young and fake at the same time. Freshly eighteen years old. Like the day she turned eighteen they got married. That poor thing.

His eyes roam over your form, taking note of basic clothes you were wearing. Disgust evident in his eyes. “You’ve changed,” he stated with hidden mockery. You knew he was thinking ‘not for the best’ after that. If only you could smack him so hard for his words.

“Kind of happens when the scum of a father dips on his children, leaving the mother to take care of twins,” you snarked back with venom in your voice. No one around was the wiser. Neither were your children as they stared dumbfounded at your change of energy.

The wife sneers at you. “Can’t blame a man when the woman can’t find the gym. He needs beauty in his life,” she retorts. You gritted your teeth, fists shaking at your sides. It took everything in your power not to leap across the space between the two of you and rip her apart. She doesn’t know the scum she had decided to marry. How he’ll leave her the same if she becomes pregnant. You almost felt bad.

“She could find the pantry just fine though,” Robert laughs then kisses his wife on the temple. “Any time I would look at her, she always would have some sort of snack.”

If only he knew the troubles of recovering from twin births. How defeated you were afterwards. How exhausted without the aid of your husband who was supposed to be there.

Knives pierced your heart. After all this time, it shouldn’t hurt, shouldn’t bother you. No amount of time can heal the wounds that ooze from your open heart.

How could the man you loved be so cruel?

Nothing could keep you here. There was no winning this two verses one. They would knock you down if you stayed until you had nothing to stand on. You decided to be the bigger person. You spun around and pushed the cart away. They cackled something else at you but the fuzziness in your ears made it hard to hear.

Darkness suddenly took over your vision. You skidded to a stop. Many other patrons were voicing their confusion and asking if anyone knew what happened. There was a shrieking scream before it cut off behind you. Your heart instantly pounded hard against it bony cage. You whipped around but all you could see was black.

Lights flashed back to life. You squinted through the pain. Only to notice that Robert and his wife weren’t where you last saw them. An uneasy feeling boiled in the pit of your stomach.

For the rest of the trip, you hurried along and got home in record time. Safely. Always safely with your children in the car. You tasked each kid with a small item they could carry up to the apartment. Simon was ecstatic. You carried the rest of the bags up the stairs and entered after both of your children.

All of the bags were placed down on the counters. Simon and Shawn looked up at you before holding out the tomato and onion your gave them. You thanked them with a sweet smile and took the items from them.

The earlier events still haunted you like it had happened a second ago. Their nasty words biting into your heart, tearing it into pieces all over again. All because you were the parent that stayed, the parent that took care of the children. Who cares that you gained weight. Who cares if your body wasn’t as tight as before. Yeah, your boobs hang. You’ve got too many stretch marks to count. But… gods, you do care. It does hurt to know you weren’t pleasing to anyone. That the person you’ve become, despite how strong you were, wasn’t good enough for anyone.

Tears pooled in your eyes. It took everything in your power not to break down sobbing in front of your children. They were your strength. They held you up. They made you strong. They made you into the person you were today.

With that strength, you sucked down the tears and stood back up. Only to jump when a hand lands on your shoulder. You whipped around with a fist flying. It was caught mid air in a firm but gentle hold.

“Ta-ta!” both of your children screamed and launched themselves at his legs. Each one taking space on their own respected leg and held on for dear life.

T’a’yta stood there, maskless, with a sheepish look to his older features. The Yautja cleared his throat and scratched at the back of neck. “I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you,” he apologized genuinely. Your racing heart started to ease up after realizing it was just him.

Then, what your children had said finally hit you. Oh shit. Okay, they need a new nickname for him besides what sounds like them trying to say boobies.

“Simon, Shawn… let’s not use that name.” Quick something easy for two, two years old to say. “Why not Tay-Tay? Yeah, that sounds much better!” Easy to say and for them to remember. Even you are struggling on saying his name.

Instead of using the first nickname, they listened to you and started to calling him that. Okay, one thing had gone right today. You smiled up at him and finally greeted him. Yet, a coppery scent caught you off guard. T’a’yta said your name again and brought you from your stupor. “Shit, sorry. What were you saying?” Today had been so weird and horrible. You were probably all messed up in the head.

The alien had paused for a moment to stare deeply into your eyes. Heat flushed to your cheeks when you noticed. You cleared your throat and turned your head away. T’a’yta blinked then leaned down and picked up each child. They were set off to the side. You spotted out of the corner of your eye his muscles tensing, as if he was ready to move closer to you.

“I got some food today,” you distracted him and moved around the counter towards the fridge, taking a bag with you. “I didn’t know what to really cook for you. Since our pallets may be different. But, I chose hamburgers. They’re really good, I promise.”

He stopped from advancing into your space and picked up his head to stand a little taller. “They sound good,” he agreed and eyed you carefully from his spot. You hadn’t missed the way his eyes narrowed on you. Were you wearing your heart on your sleeve or something?

You had to force the smile on your face to ease his nerves. Not that it worked. Just fake it until you make it. Or die trying.

“Yeah,” you agreed with a nod of your head. “They are. Plus, you can add so many different types of condiments and toppings to a burger. It’s the best.”

All of the non-dinner foods you picked up at the store were placed into a dinky fridge you had in the apartment. For once, your refrigerator looked somewhat full despite what a drain it was on your bank account. You pushed those dark thoughts to the back of your mind. Today has sucked enough. There’s no point in wallowing in it. Better to enjoy the rest of the day.

Before long, you had gotten well into cooking. Both of your children know when you’re in the kitchen, cooking not to step foot in there. That was one of your big rules you had to establish for them. They could ask for a snack or water. But it was meant to keep them from getting underfoot. There had been a time when you had accidentally kicked Simon into the cabinets. You felt terrible for so long after that. Even to this day.

Best thing about having someone else over, they could entertain Shawn and Simon for you. Every time you would glance over your shoulder, there was T’a’yta. He would be on the ground, even on his belly, playing with toys. Both of your boys were happy to have him join, more like beg for him to play with them.

There wasn’t even time for you to say he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to. One look at you, T’a’yta was in the living room, immersed in their world.

And that pulled at your heartstrings without you realizing it. Would your life look like this if Robert had stayed with you? Stayed through the thick of it? Not in this poor apartment. In a real house. With a father in their life that loved them.

Instantly, you scolded yourself for going down that dark path again and returned to finishing off the burgers and getting everything prepped. The condiments and sliced vegetables were set out for you and T’a’yta to use. You first made up the plates for Simon and Shawn, remembering what each child likes and doesn’t like.

Those plates were set down at the table where there booster chairs were. “Simon, Shawn, dinner is ready!” In union, they whined and gave you a pout. All to prolong their play time. One look at them had them coming towards the table. You swiftly put them in their chairs and strapped them in, letting them go to town on their cut up burger pieces and sauces.

T’a’yta entered afterwards. For such a towering beast who could barely stand at full height in your kitchen, he was silent. Even on the squeaky, old floorboards. His blue eyes were calming. You motioned for him to make his pick first. “Go right ahead. Eat, take all what you want. It’s the least I can do for you,” you urged the alien to take what he wanted. Not that you could pay him or cook for him well. But you still at least did something to show your gratitude.

His brown brows furrowed. He shook his massive head. The grey-blue tresses swayed at the movement. “No, you are to go first,” he retorted and refused to move from his spot.

“What? No,” you denied and crossed your arms. “You are a guest in my house. You deserve to go first.” It’s etiquette for an average person housing another.

The alien was unmoved and unbothered. “You brought the dinner home and made it. You deserve to eat first.” There was something in his eyes that solidified the knowledge that he wasn’t going to budge.

As much as you are stubborn to the bone, today had drained of the fight. The last thing you wanted to do was chase him away. Maybe this would encourage him to come by, stay for a while. Maybe enjoy a drink or two with you. Talk, be friends. He was nice and kind. You didn’t want to lose that.

With a reluctant sigh, you picked up a plate and prepared a burger in a way you loved. This was your only day in months you were able to indulge in yourself. Why not treat yourself the way you deserved? After the events today, you deserved it more than ever.

In the corner of your eye, you didn’t miss the slight quirk of his upper mandible. You pursed your lips before sitting down at the dinner table with the plate. This burger looked absolutely delicious.

Clearly, Simon and Shawn felt the same way. Half of their burger had been consumed so far. You snorted with a shake of your head at their antics.

To the right of you, T’a’yta took up the last remaining seat available in your small dinning room area. His size easily ate up all the space there, making you feel crowded to the wall behind you. Not that you minded.

Until that coppery smell in the air returned. It was clouded with T’a’yta’s natural musk. But that solidified the idea it was coming from him. He smelled like blood. What was he doing before he got here?

You tense up instinctively, due to your human nature as prey in the presence of a predator. You faced the burger on the plate and used it to distract yourself from what was coming off of him. It unnerved you with good reason. Without any good evidence, you decided to brush it off and under the rug until there was an opportunity to bring up. Plus, you didn’t want to ruin the moment.

The brown Yautja stared down at the burger before picking up and bringing up to his mouth. This had to be the first time he’d ever had a burger. This time, you spent the extra money to get the good patties. The flavor was in the meat and seasoning you had put on them.

Both of your children had nearly finished their own food by the time T’a’yta brought the food to his mouth. You reached to the side and wiped off some sauce on Simon’s face. T’a’yta bit into it and chewed. The way he ate wasn’t exactly what you had thought. Not that you had thought about it actually. Seeing it happen right in front of you was different though.

When he made no looks of disgust, you were relieved. Actually he looked pleased and quickly took a second bit. Your shoulders released all of the tension they were holding onto. You finally start to consume your own when Simon and Shawn whine to be let down.

T’a’yta was on his feet before you could even will the thought into existence. Despite the size difference between his hands and the plastic buckles, he made quick work of them. Each child was carefully taken out of the seat and onto the ground. You stared at him, lips slightly parted. He had done that… without you asking.

Fuck, why was your heart racing?

“You, you didn’t have to do that. I could’ve,” you explained to him, now feeling a little guilty the guest had to do that for you.

“No. You eat your food. I have it right here,” he argued and left no room for butting back at him. He had shut you down so quickly in a polite manner that you didn’t know what to do. You flapped your jaw a little before clearing your throat and returning to your meal.

Once dinner was finished, you were ready to get up and clean up the rest of the dishes when the plate was stolen. Right from underneath your nose. You tried to grab it but T’a’yta only had to lift it up slightly higher and step away. “Hey! What are you doing?”

The plates were set down in the sink. Then, his massive form came back over to you. You didn’t have a chance to complain when his arms scooped you from underneath and lifted you up. The wooden chair left your bottom. T’a’yta carried out of the dining room and into the living room where your children were playing.

He set you down on the couch and pointed a sharpened finger. “Stay.” He pivoted on his heel and marched back into the kitchen. You sat there. You kept blinking blankly multiple times and moving your lips.

“Huh?!” you absolutely flabbergasted at his stern but kind actions. Why in the world was the guest doing this? And why was is working?! Your confusion aided T’a’yta. He was already in the kitchen and scrubbing away at the dishes when you got to your feet and raced after him.

“Hold up, mister. This isn’t how this wor-ack!” you attempted to scold him when he picks you back up and tosses you onto the couch.

A finger was pointed at you. “I said stay.” T’a’yta spun on his heel gracefully and marched back into the kitchen. You played the same game and earned the same results. Until, finally, you got the point after the four attempt. Fine, if he wants to do them, then be your guest. You huffed and crossed your arms, sinking further into the couch.

In their own world, your children played with their toys in the middle of the living room. You decided to turn on the T.V. to distract yourself from T’a’yta doing the dishes. That little… If your boys weren’t present, you would’ve said some choice words. Because he was the guest. It was your duty as the host to care for him. The least he deserved.

It didn’t take him long before the dishes were cleaned and set on the drying rack. God, he even cleaned them instead of filling up the dishwasher. T’a’yta wiped his hands dry and walked back into the living room.

“You didn’t have to do that… thank you,” you voiced your gratitude to him. A small, genuine smile graced your features.

T’a’yta stood up a little taller. “You made the food. I clean up. It’s a fair deal.” Though, in a way, he was right about that. You still felt guilty for just letting him clean the dishes. Even if you put up a massive fit about it. The alien was standing directly in front of you and looked down at your form curled up on the couch.

Nervous under his intense gaze, you played with the edge of a blanket while looking down in your lap. “Was it good?” you asked him with a timid voice. T’a’yta knelt down to your level and used a hand to tilt your chin back up. His blue eyes bored into yours.

A soft purr started in the back of his throat. “Very.”

With him being this close to you, the coppery tang in the air came back. Your brows furrowed. It felt like you were missing pieces of a puzzle. “Why do you smell like blood?”

Despite being asked such an insane question, the alien acted no different. His mandibles twitched a little. “I took care of an issue that was bothering you,” he stated anonymously. Your confusion only deepened. What did he mean by that? What problems were you were having? He hasn’t been around to know if you were struggling much besides your car.

“At the store. Those worthless oomans were bothering you.”

Freezing cold water washed over you. Robert and his wife. The blackout. The scream. You tried to move back, deeper into the couch but it was pointless.

“The names they called you. Such a disgrace of a donor. That is no father.” Of course, everything he said was right. Everything Robert had put you through. But you weren’t expecting for T’a’yta to outright say it. “He isn’t worth your tears, your sorrow.” You hadn’t even noticed the tears that pool in your eyes.

“Y-you killed them?” you gasped and looked at his with terror. T’a’yta simply nodded his head. The entirety of your body should’ve froze. Yet, there was a small part in the back of your mind that consumed the knowledge. T’a’yta had killed Robert and the scum. They were gone. You wouldn’t have to worry about seeing them ever again. They would never be in your life again.

Maybe, you were a little happier than you had originally let on.

His thumb stroked your cheek. You knew you should’ve pushed him away, ran, called the cops. But… there was that small part of your brain that whispered to you. The voice only grew louder and louder too. He had killed them. For you.

Strangely, this is the greatest thing someone has ever done for you.

“Do you want to stay around for awhile?” you blurted out, trying to overcome your anxious thoughts.

T’a’yta grinned and glanced over at the clueless children. That’s when you realized what position you could ask him to take. They do need a father in their life.

“Yes, I will.”

Special Tags: @justanaveragenerd and @sweatymusictree

[olderthannetfic]

Yeah, no, this recurring "if you posted it to the archive you OWE ITS PRESENCE TO US FOREVER" take people keep regurgitating is some absolutely entitled bullshit no matter how you dress it up as ~*respect for art and the artist.*~

Ok, I never wanted to wade into this never ending wank about deleting fics because I didn’t think I had anything to add, but this comment in the comment section of one of the most recent asks on this topic sparked something for me. Probably it’s not even an original thought, but here I go.

Is it ok if an author doesn’t like their book any more, so they just start going into libraries and destroying copies of it?

That’s a bad analogy because the library paid for those copies and the author was presumably paid for their work? And also it wouldn’t even be legal for the author to do that? I hear you. I still think it holds some merit in terms of helping us think about this in terms of libraries being a place of preservation for the community, which is how people who are complaining about fics disappearing view fic archives (thus, “archive”), but I do see the flaws in the analogy.

What if a friend crafted you something as a gift, and you absolutely love it and treasure it, and you tell them so at every opportunity. Is it cool for them to take it back and throw it away because they don’t like it any more?

That analogy makes it too personal and doesn’t really work because “people should just download copies of every fic in anticipation that the author might delete it, and authors aren’t breaking into people’s houses to steal back copies of fics they have saved”? Ok. That’s fair. But I think that analogy at least conveys how personal the disappointment of a fic disappearing feels for many fans. Especially if they voiced their support to the author, it’s a big bummer when the author receives that support and then turns around and says “well I don’t think it’s good enough any more, and I’m taking it down so no one can enjoy it.” But I agree, that’s not a perfect analogy either.

How about an analogy I think I have heard before, one in which an artist created a piece of art and donated it to be displayed in a public space for the community to enjoy, then subsequently decided they wanted to remove it from view and destroy it. I think even if they were legally within their rights to do it, most people would still look at it as a pretty lame thing to do. This analogy doesn’t fully satisfy me, because public art on display doesn’t feel fully analogous to fic in an archive for me, and depending on the piece and the setting there may not be the same expectation that it’s going to be preserved there.

I think all of these analogies taken in combination kind of start to convey why this is a big deal to people. And as many have said, it’s not that we don’t acknowledge it’s the fic writer’s prerogative to delete, or that we feel entitled to the work, or that we don’t realise we can and probably should download our most favourite fics. None of that changes the fact that to take down a fic is taking back a gift and removing something from a community archive dedicated to preserving that media. Anyway. This is my beer-fuelled rant complete with three separate analogies that really contribute nothing to this very done-to-death discussion. I’ll go be quiet now.

--

Eh. I don't think people are confused in quite this way.

Some of them are upset because a few "Never delete!" people actually say aggressive or aggressively stupid things.

A lot of them want to never feel judged, and that includes by hearing that other people are upset.

But a poisonous and idiotic breed of them don't value fic and are mightily offended that other people do.

I get these clowns on here all the time. I haven't blocked all of them, but they're all dumbasses and they all sound the same. "Ooh, it's just casual!" "Ooh, I'm so mature for not having feelings and it totally isn't a mental illness symptom, how dare you?!"

Listen, dudes, wanting to destroy your hobby stuff is not a moral failing. But treating your hobby as "just a hobby" and "It doesn't matter" means you're a boring person. Come cry in the notes, but it won't be any less true.

Art is something to be passionate about. Preservation is something to be passionate about. Life in general is something to be passionate about.

Destroying art is sometimes part of art. Thinking it's pretentious to care deeply, however, makes you a loser.

[cynthiav06]

With Percy, we know that he hates going to school and his goals don’t really line up with Annabeth’s, but Annabeth is kind of forcing him to do it with her because he can’t say no to her. Say Rick didn’t make Annabeth Percy’s entire personality, what do you think he would’ve done in the mortal world rather than go to university?

I was checking my drafts cause I am trying to catch up on all the asks in my inbox ( as I said in one of my earlier posts I was in middle of a medical situation so I have at least a month of backlog) and found this draft.

The funny thing is I had already written most of the post in the draft version, and this ask wasn't even being displayed in my inbox, so I was very confused as to when it was from.

But it's such a good prompt and a sort of controversial question in the fandom, so I wanted to post it asap.

Percy doesn't like studies, but he knows the importance of it, so I am sure he will finish his initial college, probably either in the science or arts section. We know at one point he got better grades than Annabeth at one point so he certainly isn't quitting studies and doing way better than what people expect. He also wouldn't like just staying at home and doing nothing (I am looking at certain Percabeth stans here), so he definitely would be doing one job or another.

1.

I don't think he would study marine biology like most believe. After a conversation I had with someone who had taken the course, I am convinced Percy wouldn't like it. It's heavily based on chemistry, and we know how much Percy is affected by sea creatures being mistreated or caged, so having to study marine biology wouldn't really be something he would choose.

2.

An interesting twist would be if he chose to be a writer like his mother.

We all know that Percy writes or at least dictates and narrates the first five books, which are written and narrated entirely from his perspective. Moreover, there are books on Percy just narrating his own sarcastic takes on Greek gods and Greek heroes. What if he did actually catalogue his own adventures in those books as a sort of manual for other demigods on how to deal with certain monsters and gods and such.

Through Percy's thoughts, even as 12 years old, we can certainly say he has advanced vocabulary despite being dyslexic and given how much he admires Sally, why wouldn't he be interested in following her footsteps. Sure, he has trouble reading, but that's not to say he wouldn't love expressing his thoughts through humorous retelling of his own adventures which he can pass as fiction to normal readers but actual experiences in demigod world. Who doesn't want to know the exploits of Percy Jackson?

Plus, it's a good money hack. And don't for a second tell me he wouldn't. Sally petrified Gabe, and then they sold his statute to a museum as a sculpture and earned money off of that. So Sally would definitely encourage it, and Percy would even follow through on it just for shits and giggles and the added benefit of helping demigods and earning money.

[I literally want this to happen just for the Godly reactions. I am all for god slander, especially Zeus slander. Poseidon would be half laughing at the book and half worried cause of the sheer catastrophes his son seems to fall into almost on a daily basis.

Apollo would be having a grand time, and Hermes will be half depressed and half impressed throughout. Overall, it would be hilarious all around, and it might finally make the gods feel a bit more accountable . It's literally the Reading Percy Jackson Series trope, and that's always fun.]

3.

One other option is that Percy will get into environmental preservation, specifically the protection of Rivers and Seas from pollution by actively involving himself and others in its cleanliness and purification. He would also run Beach cleanliness programs.

I think he and Grover would become environmental activists and would definitely get into preserving forest areas and other places where nature spirits dwell frequently. I can see them doing it a lot, long-term wise, too.

4.

I think he would kind of like marine explorations, but that might cause his powers to be somewhat exposed, so he might not do that, but it's a possibility.

That's all I can think of. I would like to hear everyone else's opinions on this.

[twincovesgame]

Romance in Twin Coves

Something I've been thinking about while working on the script for Twin Coves is how the romance works. I think I've talked before about how the romance in the game isn't just about flirting with the ROs enough. It's about who the MC is as a person, and thus not all ROs are going to fall for every MC. (You will know about halfway though the game if your MC has caught your desired RO's eye.)

I read an article awhile ago about treating romance in games like kindness coins vs a house of cards. (The article was here, but it now directs to a 404 page sadly.) With kindness coins... you just say the "right" thing the correct amount of times and voila romance unlocked. And that's a fine way to do romance. Certainly makes it easier on the writer. But that's not really how romance... works.

Saying the "right" thing to someone 15 times in real life doesn't equal romance. What about who you are as a person? What about who they are? Do you have things in common? How do you treat other people? Just complimenting someone, saying flirty things, and giving them a gift isn't how real love works.

Something I'm trying (emphasis on trying) to do in Twin Coves is have the romances be based on more then just saying a nice thing to get a point towards winning over the RO of your choice. The choices the MC makes throughout the game outside of the romance also effect the romance. Even little things like the song they pick in the car.

Of course, some ROs are easier to woo than others. That's true to life as well. Some ROs already have feelings for the MC, so there is probably very little the MC could do to ruin that. Some ROs are quite determined to keep their feelings out of it, and will take more effort. Not just flirting, but getting to know them and them getting to know the main character back. Building up a sense of trust. There is one RO who is very difficult to romance. I think it may even make some players mad as there is a very strict requirement for entering into a romance with him I don't think some players will want to make. (Actually, there's probably a couple that fit this description.) However, that's also true to life. Some things are deal breakers, for either the MC or the RO. Good news: there's eight other routes to pick from!

And, in a similar vein, not every route is going to appeal to everyone. You may have thought Eli was hot, for example, only to realize he's not for you once you get to know him. Or maybe a route you thought you'd hate will surprise you. That's definitely happened to me a few times. I put off a route thinking I wouldn't like the RO... only for that route to become my favorite.

This is also why there are no flirt indicators in the game. Because there are no kindness coins. I don't want players to think about choices as right or wrong - only as what's true to their MC. You may be surprised as to who you attract. Also, any option that is romantic is going to be pretty obvious. I also don’t want players to feel they have to make a certain romantic choice to win their RO over. Whether you go in for a kiss or feel it’s more true to the MC to wait… the RO isn’t going to be secretly keeping score on you.

(I am keeping score though. Just don’t look too far behind the curtain. Point systems are the only way I know how to program. I just don’t want it to feel like a point system, ya know?)

And for those who just wanna kiss everyone, goddamnit!! There is always the walkthrough 💙

[fairuzfan]

I don’t ask this expecting you have THE answer or that there is one, but I follow a non Palestinian white man on insta (in addition to many Palestinian folks in diaspora and in Palestine) who mostly shares things from Palestinian ppl/sources.

He has several times criticized / shared criticism of charity dinners, music festivals etc raising funds for Gaza with the perspective of, it’s not appropriate to have a dance party or dinner while people are undergoing genocide, but also that in this moment, art isn’t resistance because there needs to be physical resistance, blockades of weapons, etc.

I’ve seen this echoed from some others especially critiquing white folks trying to claim “joy is resistance” right now, which makes sense to me, but i also wonder if it’s reductive to say art or music is not resistance because I feel like it can have a lot of power especially alongside social movements… was wondering if you had thoughts on this or perhaps knew where I could look to learn more.

Please ignore if this is too much, and thank you

I think things like writing and illustration and music feeds into the spirit of revolution and is necessary in that way. You have to energize the masses somehow, and to ensure that your message spreads as far as possible. A good way is to make art, or to sing a song, or write a story.

That's why Wisam Rafeedi wrote his book and different resistance factions make posters and videos — to spread their ideas and garner support among the masses.

It's not as important as putting yourself in immediate physical danger to incapacitate the colonial entity — but I think for Palestinians and other colonized peoples, they do need to make art to really process their thoughts. Of course there's a difference when a Palestinian in Palestine, a Palestinian in the diaspora, a nonPalestinian ally of color, and a NonPalestinian white ally do this. I won't deny that there's a nuance when it comes to this.

But writers who write about Palestinian Liberation historically have been assassinated because of how they participate in liberation actions and also spread ideas of liberation themselves. I don't know which white guy you're talking about but I feel like this is mostly a conversation that should be led by Palestinians if we're talking about Palestine because they understand the nuance of saying statements like "the only resistance is physical." I understand what he's saying to an extent but that does erase a lot of Palestinian resistance the past few decades by making sweeping statements like "art is not resistance" and kind of simplifies the issue at hand.

Charity dinners and galas and that stuff... I don't know what I think about them, I think that people are going to do it either way so my opinion doesn't really matter. Hey, if you're going to raise thousands of dollars for Palestine, I'm not going to stop you at all. I personally think you should try to avoid posting pictures and stuff like that from the gala itself if you're going to host one just out of courtesy.

I guess overall what I'm trying to say, art resistance becomes physical a lot of the time. I think its really reductive to say "art isn't resistance" and also personally insulting considering I have family members and friends who were journalists, creative writers, and artists and killed/targeted for their work.

Here's this article by Fargo Tbahkhi about the role of writing during a genocide that might be a good read. They also mention how Israeli propaganda (calling Palestinians "human animals"/"Amalek" as an example) is specifically a use of culture and writing to energize people to commit genocide. An especially poignant part that I completely agree with, and am trying to get at:

Palestine requires that we abandon this catharsis. Nobody should get out of our work feeling purged, clean. Nobody should live happily during the war. Our readers can feel that way when liberation is the precondition for our work, and not the dream. When it is the place we stand, and not the place we shake ourselves towards. In this way, what the long middle of revolution requires, what Palestine requires, is an approach to writing whose primary purpose is to gather others up with us, to generate within them an energy which their bodies cannot translate into anything but revolutionary movement. This is what Boal modeled for us in his theatrical experiments, which were dedicated to empowering audiences to act, to participate in a creative struggle to envision and embody alternatives. For Boal, theater was not revolution, but it was a rehearsal for the revolution, meant to gather communities together in that rehearsal. Creative work readies us for material work, by offering a space to try out strategies, think through contradictions, remind us of our own agency.  

[mayabruhbruh]

What do you think of the possibility of Will and Chance happening? I feel like it would be really poor writing tbh but I feel like they will give Will a different love interest because they’ll try to make all of the audience „happy“ But that would just truly not align with the writing so far I feel like.

Love your analyses btw<3

THANK YOUU! That's so kind :) And great ask! This is definitely a topic that the ST fandom needs to discuss.

The default question when people have little to no hope in Byler is, well, who the hell is Will going to end up with? Because it’s become increasingly evident that they’re trying to set him up for a romance. The “im not gonna fall in love”, the “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls”, even the gif shown above. It all can be interpreted to mean that Will is going to find his person soon.

So... to be completely honest, I had no idea who Chance was until this ask popped up and I had to look him up💀. It’s been a while since I’ve been on here, so I’m a little rusty on the deep lore lmao. So, in the off chance that others might also be confused, here’s a (rare) gif of him I found.

I think that’s him with the Hawkins cap on the right. Correct me if I’m wrong.

I’m not sure where the rumors that this guy was going to become a bigger part of the show came from, but that seems highly unlikely to me. I feel like they would have either hinted at it in the fourth season (like how they’re giving Patrick here quite a sizeable role so that he’ll be memorable to us later when he gets vecnafied) or they would have announced him as a more prominent character already like how they did for s5 with Holly, that one new kid character, and also how they did Amybeth for s4. Idk, maybe it’s unreasonable to think they would have to do that, but it feels quite too out-of-the-blue. Especially for a character that would take on the role of becoming our central character’s love interest, which is a BIG DEAL. Especially if it’s queer lol.

Secondly, I firmly believe that it would be a disservice to Will’s own desires to meet someone new.

Will said this explicitly in the van scene, and as of now, we’re still under the impression that Mike is his person. Forget about Mike’s issues and feelings for a second, and think about what Will is saying here. He feels like a mistake for being different, but Mike makes him feel like he’s not a mistake at all, that he’s better for being different. Mike gives him courage to fight on. Fuck. Tbh, it makes me wonder how long he’d felt this way. As a byler, you might be inclined to think his feelings have been on for forever, but narratively, he could have easily just realized his own feelings very recently, most likely sometime between season 3 and 4. It doesn’t mean the feelings weren’t there before, but realistically neither Will nor the general audience were aware of it before now.

Moving on.

Has anyone heard of the rule of Chekhov’s gun? It’s an incredibly clever and widely-used tool in screenwriting and storytelling in general that helps to clue the watchers in for what’s to come next.

Think of Lucas’ wrist rocket in season 1. When they introduced it as a flimsy-looking, no-good weapon that he’d put too much pride in at first, it gives us a good laugh and we move on. But really, it very meticulously set us up to subconsciously anticipate to see it again later. That’s what Chekhov’s gun is all about. Set-ups, foreshadowing, hidden treasures.

Another great example would be the painting reveal of s4. Obviously, after finding out that Will was painting something, bylers immediately figured it was for Mike and BEGGED and HOPED and PLEADED that we’d be able to finally see it, but to the general audience it was just another something that they’d have to pick apart and realize was actually of importance as the season progressed. (It’s also a good way of showing that the writers are fully capable of engrossing the entire fan base and general audience in his and Mike’s story. Just knowing Will had painted something and that it was for Mike created this sense of PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IT IS AND WJATS GOING ON and whatnot that watchers are simply so susceptible to it’s insane.)

Okay, back to the van scene. Will’s confession.

Now, I’m not saying that the writers intentionally used this foreshadowing tool for us to find and understand immediately. There are plenty, plenty of instances where writers use Chekhov’s gun principle and it flies over peoples heads purposefully. What I’m trying to say is that, thematically and narratively, they would never have introduced Wills feelings for Mike if not for it to have importance to the story, or for nothing to happen with it at all. It’s a set up. And a maddeningly good one, at that. Because queer stories already do tend to fly over people’s heads, and also because there’s the added drama between Mike and Eleven that makes it seem quite impossible for any of these feelings to be addressed in the midst of such emotional chaos. But whatever. I think I’m rambling.

Basically, whether they end up together or not, whether Mike reciprocates these feelings, Will is forever established to be in love with Mike. The confession was simply too grand and emotional and earnest for him to just switch up abruptly next season when he meets someone new that he might have a better chance with. Even if there were to be a whole new arc for him where he learns to let go of Mike or something crappy like that, it would be terrible writing on their end and poor use of a well-set-up Chekhov’s gun reference. It would be like introducing the gun in the display case in scene one, then two scenes later just tucking it away into a storage closet for the remainder of the story. Like… what?

And plus, it’s HIGHLY unlikely that Will would end up with that sort of storyline next season when he’s literally WITH Mike for presumably a majority of the time (based on the set pics so far).

So that’s my debunking of the Chance rumors :) and I didn’t even get to mention how incompatible they’d be just naturally as characters. Chance, a Jason-following jock that hates Dungeons and Dragons, fantasy and nerdy things, and willingly assisted in beating up the Hellfire Club when they were trying to find Eddie. What about that at all screams Will’s type? And if you’re thinking “unconventional couple enemies to lovers”, just don’t. This isn’t a rom-com, especially for a queer plot line lol. I think it’s safe to say there’s no “chance”😉 that they will ever happen. And either way, it’d be a bummer if they did. Cus it would just be Will defeatedly settling for someone that isn’t Mike.

UGH! It makes me sad that the one thing that is firmly being teased by the writers (Will’s love playing a major role in the plot to come) is constantly being questioned and framed as different questions. “Will Mike reciprocate?” “Does this mean Mike and Eleven break up?” “Who will end up with who?” SHHH Frankly, to me this is already a win. It’s become obvious that Will having feelings for him will come up again soon, and the rest of the evidence that accounts for Mike’s end already speaks for itself, so I prefer to just sit back and watch it all unfold.

Again, thanks so much for the ask!! This was so fun to dissect and feel free to keep sending questions into my inbox. It might take me a second to post my response but I’m determined to get through all of them. Love you guys!! <3

[txttletale]

Your discussions on AI art have been really interesting and changed my mind on it quite a bit, so thank you for that! I don’t think I’m interested in using it, but I feel much less threatened by it in the same way. That being said, I was wondering, how you felt about AI generated creative writing: not, like AI writing in the context of garbage listicles or academic essays, but like, people who generate short stories and then submit them to contests. Do you think it’s the same sort of situation as AI art? Do you think there’s a difference in ChatGPT vs mid journey? Legitimate curiosity here! I don’t quite have an opinion on this in the same way, and I’ve seen v little from folks about creative writing in particular vs generated academic essays/articles

i think that ai generated writing is also indisputably writing but it is mostly really really fucking awful writing for the same reason that most ai art is not good art -- that the large training sets and low 'temperature' of commercially available/mass market models mean that anything produced will be the most generic version of itself. i also think that narrative writing is very very poorly suited to LLM generation because it generally requires very basic internal logic which LLMs are famously bad at (i imagine you'd have similar problems trying to create something visual like a comic that requires consistent character or location design rather than the singular images that AI art is mostly used for). i think it's going to be a very long time before we see anything good long-form from an LLM, especially because it's just not a priority for the people making them.

ultimately though i think you could absolutely do some really cool stuff with AI generated text if you had a tighter training set and let it get a bit wild with it. i've really enjoyed a lot of AI writing for being funny, especially when it was being done with tools like botnik that involve more human curation but still have the ability to completely blindside you with choices -- i unironically think the botnik collegehumour sketch is funnier than anything human-written on the channel. & i think that means it could reliably be used, with similar levels of curation, to make some stuff that feels alien, or unsettling, or etheral, or horrifying, because those are somewhat adjacent to the surreal humour i think it excels at. i could absolutely see it being used in workflows -- one of my friends told me recently, essentially, "if i'm stuck with writer's block, i ask chatgpt what should happen next, it gives me a horrible idea, and i immediately think 'that's shit, and i can do much better' and start writing again" -- which is both very funny but i think presents a great use case as a 'rubber duck'.

but yea i think that if there's anything good to be found in AI-written fiction or poetry it's not going to come from chatGPT specifically, it's going to come from some locally hosted GPT model trained on a curated set of influences -- and will have to either be kind of incoherent or heavily curated into coherence.

that said the submission of AI-written stories to short story mags & such fucking blows -- not because it's "not writing" but because it's just bad writing that's very very easy to produce (as in, 'just tell chatGPT 'write a short story'-easy) -- which ofc isn't bad in and of itself but means that the already existing phenomenon of people cynically submitting awful garbage to literary mags that doesn't even meet the submission guidelines has been magnified immensely and editors are finding it hard to keep up. i think part of believing that generative writing and art are legitimate mediums is also believing they are and should be treated as though they are separate mediums -- i don't think that there's no skill in these disciplines (like, if someone managed to make writing with chatGPT that wasnt unreadably bad, i would be very fucking impressed!) but they're deeply different skills to the traditional artforms and so imo should be in general judged, presented, published etc. separately.