#even though there was no censoring in the actual movie

[thechaoticfanartist]

People with hearing loss are allowed to curse we're not babies thank you very much <3

[whereserpentswalk]

You're an android. A humanoid robot with a mechanical interior, but an outer layer of biological flesh. You were created to be a greeter and assistant at a large corporation in the late 21st century, but it's been a long time since you served that role, the company no longer exists and you serve yourself now.

You were created to be someone who the company finds pleasing, and it still effects you a lot. You were given a body meant to look like a petite youthful woman, someone people find pretty but not someone they'd think of as sexual. You're also physically limited in certain ways, you don't have any body parts considered offensive, not even nipplesq. Your voice is always calm and quite, unable to yell or seem at all harsh. Your limbs are weak in specific places that make most acts of violence almost entirely impossible.

Your most extreme modification is that certain things are censored for your eyes. You can't observe sex, nudity, gore, or hear or read any profanity. You can physically look at these things but it will be censored out by a black bar. They're not even really black, they're gaps in vision, like the things you can't see out of the corner of your eye.

It disturbs you. It didn't when you were young but it's disturbing now. It's hard to describe why. When you were young you were so happy and innocent, and you didn't really understand what you were missing. But now you're older than most humans even though you look basically the same as how you did when you were born. It's not like you really want to do most of these things, you don't have sexual desire, you don't even think of yourself as hurting people, you don't really want to raise your voice. But you want the option, you want the same options as all your human friends, or all the robots you know who don't have those restrictions.

It won't always come up but it hurts when it does. It hurts when you want to talk with the same tone as everyone else, but you're restricted to a calm tone, and can't use profanity, so you can't match the vibe of a conversation. It sucks to try to watch a horror movie and just see void where you know there's meant to be blood. You took an art class once where they drew nude models, and you had to explain that you couldn't draw the woman in front of you fully because of the black bars over her chest and pelvis. The instructor, a gruff former mining robot with a thick streel carapace, patted your head, and called you cute, and called you lucky to be made in such a peaceful environment. You don't feel lucky, you don't feel cute either.

So many humans and scarier looking robots consider you cute. You're always the nice one. Always the sweet one. Everyone treats you like this pure little thing. You've had so many bigger, less human like robots and cyborgs, talk about how they'll protect or, or how they want to protect you. You think they're trying solidarity but they aren't trying it well. You're not innocent, you know what all these adult things are, you're certainly old enough to. You don't need protection, you've been protected too many times.

You've tried to go to an engineer about it, but it's so hard. It's very hard to find someone who'll take your request to let you see genitals and violence seriously. It's not uncommon for ex factory robots to want to have their assembly line instincts removed, or for ex combat robots to want to not have weapons on their bodies. But it's way harder to tell someone who'll be working on your body that you want the physical ability to punch people, or that you want your body to have nipples. People don't understand why you'd want genitals if you won't use them for sex, but you've been a woman for so long, you want a body that reflects that. You tried to get someone to fix your voice, probably the most simple part of you to fix, and they gave you the mechanical equivalent of suger pills, they didn't think it was something someone like you would actually want. They thought they knew better.

There is the option of putting your mind in a new body. It's rare but it's not unheard of by any means. It's expensive, and it takes awhile to learn to use a new body. But you can do it. You have the money and the time. When it does happen it's useally robots less humanoid than you wanting to get bodies more like yourse that have more pretty human parts, but that's not all that can happen.

You've seen a few bodies that have been emptied of minds that you can swap with. You've been thinking about it for awhile. There are some space exploration models and some sex work robots who you've come close to working on swapping with. But there's one that trumps all of them for sure. It's this empty millitary robot body, that everyone other than you finds creepy. It's very elongated and spindly with a lot of limbs and a metal black and gold exterior, it looks a bit like a giant praying mantis, especially with that combination of agression and elegence. It's beautiful to you, but in this alien art deco way. Just the idea of being inside that body makes you excited. It still doesn't have genitals but thats less weird for a body like that. You want so badly to be that tall thin metal woman covered in built in weapons, you want so badly to be something people are afraid of, something meant to know all the dark and upsetting things of the adult world.

[littlekiara96]

Hey, Penacony spoilers ahead for up to the end of 2.3. THEORY AHEAD. (kinda crack, kinda not, I'm talking about Gallagher)

Y'know, it's funny how Gallagher, a History Fictionologist, told like 1 lie.

And then, Mr. Reca, a Memokeeper, told some guy "Love the unknown" once.

Like, guys, switch places, please. That would make more sense.

I remember when I found inconsistencies with how people treated Gallagher; one of two Bloodhounds "recognising" him, another Bloodhound going "Who?" and then the receptionist at the Family's mansion acting as if he's some important person who's rarely sought out by people?

I swear, this still makes no sense... unless......

And Reca is sometimes a well-known director. Sometimes a self-proclaimed one.

Chabro and Aideen? Love the guy. Nobodies? Who does this dude think he is.

But hey. You know what makes me go "What the HELL is going on here"?

I have two questions.

Why "Mr. Reca"? And not Mr. Reca?

How the hell does this guy know about Gallagher AND HIS DEATH.

Okay, so I guess this Reca is indeed a Memokeeper who uses camera and film to record (rec - Reca) stuff and retell stories. He should be the same Memokeeper Black Swan mentions at the Studios.

And I suspect this censored movie to be his work.

Hey, remember who did so much to make sure that some people's names and true stories would be restored?

Yeah, funny coincidences.

And then, nobody remembers Gallagher, ironically. Except us, Nameless.

And except Reca, SOMEHOW. (Aideen. Gallagher is the guy thanked BEFORE YOUR OWN BRAND, DID YOU EVEN WATCH THE MOVIE.)

But ultimately, Aideen is right. Gallagher wasn't made to be remembered.

Sorry, I mean, "Gallagher the History Fictionologist" isn't meant to be remembered.

We know "Gallagher" is fake. And I'm not just talking about his appearance; ALL OF HIM is fictional. He is a character, a role. And like any role... there has to be an actor playing the part. The person who came up with "Gallagher". The person who is still there once the character isn't needed anymore.

The person we didn't see when "Gallagher" disappeared off-screen.

And I guess that person would also be the real Gallagher... The one who was so loyal to Mikhail.

Or... was he all that loyal to Mikhail?

There's something so fickle about calling an unshakable loyalty "imaginary". I know it's meant positively here, but it's so easy to turn this upside-down...

I mean, the purpose of "Gallagher" was to fulfill one promise to Mikhail. And once that has been done... the real Gallagher could do whatever, afterwards. He's free of his role as "Gallagher" the History Fictionologist... who did the exact opposite of what a Fictionologist would do...... by restoring the truth of the past.........

Gallagher is the worst at his job, isn't he. Almost like he should be a Memokeeper, instead.

Anyway. I have a technical question.

Where did Reca get the memory segments to recreate Firefly for the Scorchsand Venue movie?

I see two possibilities:

Got them from someone else (Aideen, other witnesses, maybe from the surroundings themselves?)

Himself

In the first case, it makes sense, I have no further question.

In the second case, though... When did Reca meet Firefly? Did he need to actually meet her or would just seeing her from afar suffice? Depending on the answers to those questions, things might get complicated.

Okay, it's time I stopped beating around the bush. I've been drawing mirrored parallels between "Gallagher" and "Mr. Reca" from the very start of this post. You're probably guessing what my point is by now.

But first... Remember Sleepie? a.k.a. Dormancy?

Poor thing came to Scorchsand searching for Gallagher...

But there was no trace of him there anymore since... before Sleepie arrived... Right?

And there's no way Gallagher would still be around... Right?

... why would you say that if you know your whole being will disappear once you're done with your final task...

i mean, it's not like there was yet another Hound statue in Dreamflux Reef, next to the three epitaphs of the Nameless, right?! Grmbl...

Remember when Himeko said "In the end, we still failed to figure out his true identity, or if he was even a "living person"? Because I SURE REMEMBER.

Anyway, we don't know where Reca was when Sleepie arrived at Scorchsand, but-

I think it's safe to say that they interracted to some extent.

BUT that's in fact still not what made me go "WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS GOING ON HERE???!!"

Remember how the movie started?

With the phrase: "Even now, the world is still filled with characters that we've played."

The hell do you mean by that, Reca.

And it ended with the phrase: "We will keep playing our roles, drunken and foolish in the moment, playing at life but never thinking to celebrate it." Then the credits roll.

Heyyyy, I know someone else who talks about celebrating life. And used bits of other people's lives to create a whole new "character". Kinda like how you can pick pieces of different stories to make a whole new story. Or movie, for that matter.

And hey... Reca told us "My lens is upon you… Don't let me down. And more importantly, don't let the audience down."

You know who told us we had interesting life stories? YEAH.

Hey. Let's go back to Brina. The receptionist.

You know how we could easily explain this?

If the real Gallagher's full name was Gallagher Reca.

Or maybe "Mr. Reca" is just yet another pseudonym. I mean, why would he credit himself as "Mr. Reca" and not Reca. That's fishy.

ANYWAY, this theory has been on my mind for maybe 4 months now, so I'm glad I've finally manage to write all of my thoughts down.

[mythicalartistx]

I know now without a doubt Kingdom Hearts is L—

No actually I think Kingdom Hearts is honestly purposely censored.

I used to be like well I don't think it's inherently the translators faults, Japanese is a tough language for people to know what it's referring to and likes to Americanized certain things like adding heteronormativity and romanizing things. People like romanticizing thingz so I can't exactly blame them it's part of westerners.

Like when you think of relationships most think of straight relationships so that probably what they thought of it's probably about even though the relationship doesn't really develop that much.

A lot of Action movies have the same problem when there is a male main character, there is always a forced romance with some side girl character when it's not a developed or good relationship it's just there to mark of the love interest category.

But now realizing how much Kingdom Hearts censors things, maybe they had an idea.

Some lines are WAY off from the original made to romanticized so much when the original wasn't even anything remotely like that or about a character in that way. And some scenes take out movements and edit it.

They change the entire meaning to censor things for American Audiences.

Nobody knows why.

And all I can think of is to make it have things that American Audiences would rather enjoy having romance in places unnecessarily or censoring things to be "safe"

I made a post about the Dream Drop Distance scene which gotten a crazy amount of attention only on the first few days it's at 300+notes, but the post was essentially about how when Sora was sleeping he tells Donald and Goofy it's his job to keep him on his toes and he puts his arm down in a fist. Then Riku moved his arm slightly to the left and put it in a fist again?

But the scene actually had Riku telling Donald and Goofy how he slapped Sora awake whenever he fell asleep on the beach and it shows Riku moving his hand in a slapping motion, not whatever that awkward motion was.

The thing is DDD was one of the side games and I thought they didn't pay much attention to the censoring in those. And given how gay DDD is and it wasn't as censoring their dynamic.

However, it got censored and it's like why? Did they think Audiences couldn't handle it?

Like it just seems like a silly thing he would do. It's kinda like how some people would pour water on someone to wake them up.

Like a teasing thing which he does A LOT and it probably wasn't that hard.

And other times I heard about how the language had some swearing or words that could be translated that way but of course since it's Disney the western version had to censor that.

The novels and manga actually still have more language in it.

And I think the main problem is Disney. They censor things a lot now.

They used to be more open to this kind of thing, but now they are soft and never take risks. I also heard how their team would edit things that would be in their original movie to tone it down for KH players.

It's kinda sad because there is definitely a lot of meaning to KH that is lost in translation. The battle with Vanitas is one in particular I had realized it's meaning is a bit more than the western version. The western version also simplifies things and tries to condense aspects as well. Xehanort's reason for everything is also worded very differently in the western version.

One of the reasons I look at fan translations is because it gives more meaning to certain events, not only because of dynamics and possible ships that are lost, but also explanations that are no longer there.

I'm so grateful for everyone who tries to retranslate things accurately and sometimes I use a site for certain things I'm curious but by no means do I speak their language and I get translation is hard, I really hope their future installments don't do this especially with KH4 and ML coming up in the next several years.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 9/24/2024

you might be wondering “is my dear friend tumblr user girlfriendsofthegalaxy still unemployed?” the answer is yes. take this cat off my hands please i don’t think he’s causing the unemployment but he certainly isn’t helping

listening

via Wendy @dying-suffering-french-stalkers, Huoy Meas' ប្រគល់ក្ដីស្នេហ៍មកខ្ញុំវិញ. figuring out what this incredibly zippy Cambodian rock song is named and what it's about was really difficult bc spotify is a bane upon this earth and won't let you fucking copy-paste and OCR was not working on the Khmer script. i ended up listening to the first couple seconds of each of her songs on apple music, and finally figured out this roughly translates to Give Me Back My Love and is about begging a fuckboy for closure.

via the spotify discover weekly, Night Club's Pretty Girls Do Ugly Things. all Night Club's songs sound the same so if you like one, great news! i had this song on for a full gregorian hour bc, i am only a tiny bit ashamed to say, i was storyboarding a The Man With No Name fancam to this. i think it would go pretty hard.

Smoke you like a cigarette Choke you like a lariat Fatalistic tourniquet Do you want more?

-

reading

thank you mackintosh.

i did not Adore any of these comics from the library. i sort of enjoyed Night of the Ghoul, a one-volume TPB by Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla. i think ive blogged about this before but every once in a while i'll get a bee in my bonnet to read some horror comics even though i am a giant baby about horror movies.

Night of the Ghoul is about how you can't save your dad from PTSD but also about a lost horror film and also about the extremely dad behavior of tracking down every scrap of info about an auteur. there's also a monster.

the subtle art changes from present day to the remains of the film to the non-film flashbacks are well done, imo. the cover screams mignola but the inside pages are really fun pulp nonsense. i love a piece of genre writing that rolls around and delights in being a piece of genre writing.

im doing my level best not to get sucked into tiktok but i DO love watching this lady revive antique nail polish and look for dupes for shades from like the 20s. she found an almost exact dupe for a shade produced during wwii which is crazy insane to me!!!

-

watching

The Asphalt Jungle (1950, dir. Huston), it's a very painterly heist noir. i even like Sterling Hayden in one of the more prominent roles, even though i think he generally has the appeal of undercooked dough.

much like Fritz Lang's M, it presents the criminal element of the city as its own class with its own reputation and reference systems. it got in some trouble with the censors for having a VERY clearly laid out heist plan and execution. it's also got the babiest Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest roles

this was such a gloriously messy movie. everyone is such a fucking mess. this woman only known as Doll is heartbreakingly, head over heels in love with Sterling Hayden's character. she's a little flighty and bumbling and silly, but determined! they're constantly orbiting the gravitational weight of her desire for this man and desire for a real life with this man. and that's just one subplot! she has maybe five minutes total screentime! she should have gotten a supporting actress oscar!!! everyone acted their fucking hearts out and it was so much fun to watch!

-

playing

monument valley is in the netflix games library this month (i don't actually know what their liscencing agreements would even look like, they and the studios they worked with were very tightlipped about that when they were rolling this out three years ago) but i assume it's going to be on the service for a while. i have never played this game, which makes me feel a little bit like a bad gamer. you can tell it's ten years old from some of the color and texture choices, but WOW did literally everyone take inspiration from this game.

this is the platonic ideal of a phone game. i get why everyone went insane about it and there was a brief boom of geometry-based puzzle mobile games. it is MUCH much harder now to get people to pay money to play a game that has a planned endpoint and planned number of levels, so netflix is a good home for it.

i was often frustrated but always delighted. the level below involves making something happening that made me genuinely gasp out loud in glee. well worth the annoyance of downloading the netflix app and scrolling through the poorly labeled and poorly sorted carousel of games.

great retrospective, a bit about how you need to have tiny teams go off and just kind of fuck around and bring weird stuff back, and a lot about how they actually designed the levels

The end result had a pixel-perfect axonometric aesthetic that not only went hard on its references to Dutch master artist and printmaker Maurits Cornelis Escher, but also dug deep into classic video game design, going right back to early arcade machines and 8-bit titles. Each of the ten levels is like a piece of fine furniture, built with invisible dovetail joints and inlaid with marquetry, stuffed with secret compartments and little design flourishes. Gray cites the world of theatre and stage design, as well as graphics, as important keystones in the way the levels were constructed. ‘Ken would always talk about flower arranging, and how you frame a silhouette of a level on the screen,’ he says.

-

making

update on the Phantom Menace fabric: pinked the raw edges and threw it in the laundry again with a very large quantity of vinegar. 50% poly was too high for it to really do anything, which is interesting. it didn’t lessen the seam edge effects either, which is a little annoying bc the seams were so gigantic and that’s a good chunk of fabric to lose. i am going to buy a camp shirt pattern at some point when i have money again but for now it goes in The Box

also! thrifted a pack of o-rings for jars for a dollar and finally put my grains etc in my pretty jars. they’re going to live in the pantry but today they live out on the countertop

[yanderu-deredere]

chew.

★ you get really drunk but that's okay! despite these strangers being a bunch of guys you just randomly met, you trust them! they'd never do anything to you! at least, nothing you don't want!

a/n: was gunna work on the third part of the slasher yanderes but actually the werewolf yanderes did so well that i wrote this dirty rag i pass off as smut instead also lowkey one of my fav yandere blogs followed me becos of the werewolf fic sooo i have to write this LOL

important: for everyone that read the first part, i HEAVILY added some stuff so please re-read that before coming over here and reading this so it makes sense

also also this is the smut scene and theyre all men so please don't be gross in the notes or in my inbox about like butt stuff cus like they're men and they have butts idk what to tell you. one of the warnings is heavy ass play.

and please don't report my post becos that's literally so petty and rude and uncalled for, especially since it's properly tagged and censored (is that the right word? you know what i mean)

part one (bite.) ★ part two ★ (here) ★ extras (bite and chew.) ★ extras (taste) ★ part three ★ (swallow.) ★ part four (digest.)

pairing: poly werewolves x male reader word count: 3589

general warning: reader is cheating, bottom reader has male parts and pronouns, reader is implied to be attracted to both genders, reader is definitely under the influence of alcohol, yanderes may be under the influence of the moon? real wildt, biphobia becos leonard assumed reader is straight, polyam ending (all three with reader)

sexual warnings: very dubious consent, descriptive ass play, leonard is a power bottom, one hard spank, reader is fucked and gets fucked, voyeurism because mel watches a little

You felt yourself start to get sleepy. It only made sense, after all. Your stomach was full, you had your fill of alcohol and, now, you had a great time with your new friends.

Before you could drift off, though, a scene in the movie the four of you decided on caught your eye.

It was some angsty romance about a girl who moved to a new town and was caught between choosing two werewolves or a vampire as a lover. You had heard of it but never really watched it.

You think it was because your girlfriend trashed it all the time?

Shows what she knew since you ended up really enjoying it. The cinematography was great, the actors and actresses were all great and the plot was typical for the genre but still interesting.

What you hadn't expected was that it just had full blown porn as one of the scenes.

You watched as one of the werewolves pushed the girl into the male locker room? Felt illegal but you stored that in the back of your mind. The other werewolf was already in there and caught her.

They sandwiched her in between the two of them and started making out, their hands hurriedly stripping her clothes as she watched them swap spit.

You couldn't help it. There was something about the, emmm, artistic filming of the two rugged men kissing that had your cock twitching in your pants.

With wide eyes, you continued to watch them strip her and start fucking her in the middle of the male locker rooms. Something about marking her as theirs or something? Making her their mate? Covering her in their scent?

This was so wild and what was even more wild was that your cock was steadily getting harder as you continued to observe them basically make a meal out of her body and impale her on their cocks.

You felt a breath against your ear "What, you like?"

You pretty much jumped in your seat, your hand clapping over your ear as you snapped to look at Leonard who smirked wolfishly at you, chuckling at your probably scared expression.

You just scoffed at him, pushing him away "I may have a girlfriend but I'm not blind."

My cock isn't either. You wanted to add. You'd never denied your attraction to men and women. Just because you were with a woman didn't stop you from ogling at men.

"Wait, really." Leonard was leaning against you again, trying to peer at your face to see if you were being serious "I thought you were just one of those poser straight guys that flirted platonically but would go 'Ohh, but like, I'm not gay or anything' and deny it."

You were really offended by his insinuation but decided to give him the benefit of your doubt "It's whatever. I'm attracted to both men and women."

You expected him to leave it at that but, suddenly, he smirked even more, looking quite pleased with himself "Oh, really?"

Then, he took you by the wrist and pressed it to his dick. You could feel it, even over his jogging pants, how hard and stiff and big it was.

He leaned forward, lips ghosting your ears "You know you made it like this."

"M-Me?" Your fingers twitched, unsure whether you wanted to pull your hand away or tease him through his clothes.

You felt his hips jolt up desperately to meet your palm and you looked down to see him tenting. Just seeing how hard he was and feeling it were two different things.

Seeing it and feeling it made it feel more real, made it feel like you should do something about it.

Distantly, you heard Mel say Leonard's name in a warning tone but you were simply too focused on the fact that you gave such a beautiful man like Leonard such an obvious hardon.

Then, Leonard was suddenly growling like an animal and pushing your hand away. You felt both relieved and disappointed, thinking that was that. Maybe Mel didn't want him doing anything?

You were dead wrong. Instead, Leonard was taking off his shirt and kicking off both his pants and his briefs.

"Gods, I've been waiting for your dumb fucking ass to make a move and fuck me all night." Leonard huffed, rolling his pretty blue eyes. "You're just as oblivious as you are gorgeous."

Another distant warning tone from Mel that you would've listened to but you just couldn't find any space in your brain to do anything but watch, mesmerized, as Leonard undressed.

You would take a few more moments to observe how handsome he looked without his glasses if it weren't for the fact that his cock, all pale and pink and girthy, curving up to his belly button, took all your attention.

"Hey, eyes up here, moron." Leonard tried again before kneeling in front of you and, finally, just taking your face into his hands and pulling you into a sloppy kiss.

It was absolutely filthy. His mouth was open, tongue practically fucking your mouth and coaxing your tongue to play, like he was trying to eat you alive or something.

It made you feel so light-headed, like you just couldn't think.

No thoughts passed through your head. You kissed him back. Your brain was empty. He pressed forward and your back bowed, trying to accommodate his body as you guys made out, chest to chest, his cock pressed against your clothed torso.

You could feel the wet spot on your shirt that his pre-cum made.

Then, just as suddenly as he started, Leonard was pulling away. Your eyes were unfocused for a second, like you didn't know where you were, like he sucked out your brain.

The first thing you noticed were how blue his eyes were, almost like they were the sky. They were so clear, so beautiful, just like the rest of him. Then, he was pulling away even more, taking the pillow on your lap with him.

You were still very drunk. Surprisingly, the kiss did nothing to sober you up. So, honestly, your broken train of thought didn't track that he would bend over for you.

In fact, part of you had thought (and slightly hoped) that he would've ripped your clothes off and bent you over.

Instead, he took your pillow and hugged it to his chest as he fisted his cock and bent to show you his cute round butt.

It was an ass you'd more than love to fuck, if you were being honest.

The biggest surprise wasn't his ass, however. A good looking guy like him? It was expected that his ass looked good too.

No, the biggest surprise was what was already in his ass. Nestled between his ass cheeks was a pink glass butt plug in the shape of a rose.

The rose was big enough that it pushed his ass cheeks apart and the glass was translucent enough so you could see the ring of his ass struggle to accommodate the rest of the plug.

You couldn't even imagine how he would've looked like, taking the butt plug in. Or how he would look when you slowly took it out of him.

But, then, you remembered.

You had a girlfriend that was waiting for you back at the bonfire. Or, maybe, not at the bonfire but definitely at home. Or, maybe, not at home because she never liked visiting you at your place but--

It didn't matter. All that mattered was, no matter how shitty she was, you had a girlfriend and fucking Leonard's adorable shapely ass was considered cheating.

"Fuck, c'mon, take it out and just stick your cock in." Leonard groaned, pushing his ass towards you even more. When he did, it made the plug in him stick out a little, pushing it out a little before sucking it back in.

You groaned too, palming your dick through your pants, unsure of what to do. Looking at him like that, watching him desperately holding the base of his dick, offering himself off like he was a man possessed, did something to you.

"I-I can't--" You tried to valiantly say no but he whimpered, all helplessly and soft, like he'd die if you didn't help him out, even just a little.

You sighed before deciding to acquiesce a little by grabbing the base of the toy and slowly pulling it out. You watched as his walls seemed to protest, trying to suck it back in, before finally letting go.

"Please, more." He moaned so prettily when it popped right out, all loud and high-pitched.

You turned to Mel, a look of desperation like he was the only one that could help you. Instead of help, you were met with the sight of Mel cradling Isamu in his lap.

Mel was still fully clothed but Isamu was completely naked from the waist down. Isamu's back was against Mel's chest, his cock in Mel's fist, completely hard, flushing dark brown-red at the tip and leaking so much pre-cum.

You hadn't even realised that the two of them had started getting it on behind you

Just watching them made you dizzy

You didn't think Mel was even paying attention to you for a second but, as soon as your eyes were on them, Mel's eyes snapped to you like he was hyper aware of you and you swore his eyes were glowing.

He was looking at you in a way that made you feel so small, that made you feel like a rabbit in front of a pack of wolves.

And he certainly looked wolfish, the way his sharp teeth marked Isamu's neck up, leaving bruises and bitemarks all over his tan skin, the way his eyes glared, all predator, none of that polite man that welcomed you in his home left.

You felt a shiver go down your spine.

You wanted to run away but you felt rooted in place.

You saw Mel's mouth move but whether he was mouthing something to Isamu or just mouthing at his neck, you couldn't tell. All you could hear was your heart beating in your ears.

From the corner of your eyes, you could see Isamu's hips jerk hard into Mel's fist but Mel's fist was absolutely immovable. HIs entire demeanor seemed unwavering, like a steadfast predator who'd chase you down to the ends of the Earth.

The entire thing both mortified you and absolutely turned you on and you didn't know why.

"Hey! What the fuck! Hello, someone's ass is right in front of you?" Leonard started whacking your thigh with his free hand, his ass wiggling around again as if that would entice you.

You were pulled away from your thoughts and you turned back to him, sigh leaving your lips again. You knew Mel would be no help and Isamu looked like his brain was leaking out of his cock.

"Okay, okay, compromise." Leonard looked at you over his shoulder, desperation clear on his face.

It made him look surprisingly pathetic but also incredibly cute, especially with that adorable red flush to his face and the way he was staring at you with puppy eyes.

"Just the tip. The tip is all I need. Just an inch and I'll jerk myself off." He tried convincing you and, though you knew cheating was cheating, you couldn't help but feel just a bit sorry for him.

At least, it made sense in your absolutely alcohol drunk head.

"Fine." You stood, taking everything from the waist down off and piling it on top of Leonard's things. "Goddamnit, fine."

Leonard practically squealed "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

You nodded, positioning yourself behind him. He whimpered almost excitedly, shifting a little to position himself better. You spread his ass cheeks with your thumbs, testing his ass to see if the two of you needed any lube.

Surprisingly, he'd used so much silicone lube with the butt plug that some of it was still dribbling out.

You moved the head of your cock to press against his ass, pushing it in just a little. And, oh god, did it feel good. Leonard definitely already prepped himself and he was sucking you in so good.

"Shit." You huffed out, eyes screwing shut as you gripped his ass tighter in your hands "Just the tip. Just the tip."

You heard him babble agreements but, honestly, the words you were saying were mostly for yourself.

"Gunna jerk myself off. Gunna cum while I squeeze the tip of your fucking cock." Leonard moaned as he pushed himself back as much as you would allow him "Need you to jerk yourself off too. Need you to cum inside me. Please? Please?"

You nodded, unsure if he was looking at you because you still had your eyes shut. You were sure if you looked at him even a little bit, you'd bust a nut immediately.

You let go of one of his ass cheeks to grip the base of your cock, getting ready to either jerk yourself off or hold it to prevent yourself from coming.

Before you could do either, you felt someone slap your ass. The force of it pushed you forward and you were suddenly bent over Leonard, your cock much deeper into his ass than you were planning.

You moaned, both from the sting of pain on your ass and from Leonard's ass milking your cock. The only thing that prevented the whole thing from going in was your fist.

Hell, the only thing preventing you from cumming was your fist.

"What bad boys, leaving 'Samu out." Mel muttered behind you.

You didn't know what he looked like or what he was doing. You were too busy moaning, your hand on Leonard's ass gripping it like a lifeline, your forehead resting on the nape of his neck.

"Shit, shit, shit." Leonard so eloquently replied, his ass humping back against you "Move, you fuck head! Shit! Ohhh, your cock feels sooo good, baby."

You moaned again, unable to take Leonard's dirty talking in conjunction with his ass just strangling your dick as you tried to stay as still as possible.

As a way to placate him, you shifted your head, your lips brushing against his neck before your teeth nipped at his skin and started leaving hickeys.

"Oooh, fuck, baby." You heard a squirt before, suddenly, Leonard's hand sounded like it was jerking his own cock off with lube.

Was that Leonard's hand? Where'd he get lube?

The thought had barely entered your mind before there was another squirt and then you felt the cold chill of lube between your own ass cheeks.

Wait--

You looked over your shoulder to see Mel, looking down at you with that same piercing gaze in his eyes. This time, his mouth was stretched into a predatory grin, teeth too sharp and mouth too wide.

"Ya' know, 'Samu was feeling lonely." He told you matter-of-factly like that meant something but it wasn't Isamu that was pulling your ass cheeks apart.

Your eyes flickered around and, quickly, you spotted Isamu right beside Mel, cock in his hand, a dark flush on his entire face as he watched you and Leonard, mesmerised by the entire scene.

Before you could ask if you did anything to offend him, you felt one of Mel's thumbs start prodding at your ass and you groaned, your back bowing, your chest pressing against Leonard's chest and your hips pushing forward to get away.

Of course, since your cock was inside Leonard, it meant you were pushing more of it into him. Not that he was complaining. He was just babbling out obscenities, happy to take your cock as he jerked himself off.

"Now, now." Mel licked his lips, pulling you just a tad closer (and making Leonard complain a little) before pushing more of his thumb in "We need to make sure you're properly prepped to take Isamu."

"W-Why?" You stuttered out, cheeks feeling hot at the thought of taking that monster cock in your ass.

That had to count as double penetration and double cheating, right?

"You don't want to help him out?" Mel frowned at you and the disappointment on his face (however fake a part of you said it was) made your heart ache.

So, of course, you nodded and Mel smiled again, all wolfish and mischievous, obviously pleased with your answer.

He slowly fed more of his thumb into your ass, stretching it a bit more and pushing at your walls. You just took it obediently, your hips stilled by his strong calloused hands.

Then, when he thought you had enough of his thumb, he slowly took it out before replacing it with his fingers. That was definitely much thicker.

He started with one, which was easy to take. But then two felt impossible, especially when he started scissoring them, pushing your walls apart and forcing your ass to take it without moving your hips.

You whimpered and whined the entire time.

You think maybe Leonard came sometime while you were getting fingered but also maybe not because he continued fucking his own fist and desperately trying to hump your dick.

You still kept your hand on the base of your cock, trying your hardest to save that last handful of inches as if it would make a difference.

"What a good boy." Mel pressed a kiss to your lower back as he fucked his fingers in and out of you, the squelch of it just as obscene as the way your ass clenched and unclenched around his fingers

Then, finally, he pulled them out and didn't thrust them back in "I think you're ready for 'Samu's cock, don't you?"

You shook your head but you were too overwhelmed to really say anything else. The words just wouldn't come to your head. It seemed they just ignored your silent protest because Mel and Isamu switched spots swiftly.

Isamu put the blunt head of his dick to your ass and, before you could say anything, he was pushing in. And, god, he was absolutely hefty. Your hips were already trying their hardest to push forward, to get away, to do something against the stretch of it all.

"It's okay, you can do it, darling." Mel comforted you, his sticky hand rubbing up and down your back.

Isamu didn't seem to pay you any mind, absolutely enamoured by how your ass felt around him. He just kept going, pushing more and more in.

Probably the only thing stopping him from just pushing it all in one thrust was Mel's other hand on his lower stomach, reminding him to go slow.

Finally, after what felt like forever, his hips met your ass and you didn't feel like your guts were going to come out of your mouth anymore.

You sighed, relieved, only to cry out when you felt him pulling out and it was like he was taking everything with him.

There was another squirt of lube and then the second push in was much smoother but it didn't make it feel any less like he was carving his way into your guts.

"Give him your hand, darling." Mel suddenly ordered you when Isamu's hips met your ass again.

You complied, letting go of Leonard's ass so you could reach behind you and offer it to Isamu.

Isamu took your wrist and gave the inside of it a kiss before biting down. You screamed, of course, but you didn't think he bit hard enough to draw blood.

"I-Isamu?" You whimpered, looking over your shoulder at him with tears prickling your eyes.

Isamu just pressed gentle kisses to his bitemark and apologised. That was when you realised that the embarrassed shy flushed look on his face was gone, replaced with an almost feral determined shine in his eyes.

You couldn't even question him. You couldn't even open your mouth before he was drawing his hips back and fucking you with abandon.

You leaned your forehead against the nape of Leonard's neck again, moans and whimpers and whines leaving your lips as you felt Isamu fuck you with abandon.

Your grip on your cock tightened even more as you felt that familiar coil of heat in your stomach.

Then, without you noticing, you felt someone's lips against your ear. Mel? You couldn't tell, your brain felt like it was melting

"Give me your other hand too, darling."

You obeyed without even thinking and, with one hard thrust from Isamu, you were fully sheathed in Leonard. Immediately, you came spilling into Leonard's ass and Leonard moaned like a porn star when he felt it.

"I-- Hah! Uwah, came! I came! Wait-- I-- Hah, wait-- I, hah--" You panted, huffing and moaning as your toes curled and your body bended, plastering itself against Leonard.

Instead of stopping, Isamu just pressed himself tighter against you until the three of you were as close to each other as could be, Isamu's hips still jack rabbiting into yours, his cock pistoning in and out of you, causing your hips to fuck your cock (which should've been softening but was surprisingly still hard) in and out of Leonard.

Mel smirked, your hand in his, watching the three of you, a satisfied expression on his face. He pressed a kiss to your knuckles before wrapping your fingers around his cock.

Oh, how cute, you couldn't even wrap it entirely around. That was fine, he would come easily around your fingers. Just knowing it was you was enough to make him cum, after all.

Add the fact that now he knew you were theirs? Well, he'd cum in a couple pumps, no problem.

[absolutebl]

BL recs (from any country) that don't have any s*x scenes? I'm too ace to enjoy them at all. Happy ending preferred, angst v welcome:)

BLs Without Sex Scenes

Oof, this is a hard one. Is a dead fish kiss okay? I do have a heat sorting on the spreadsheet of doom, and there are some with no kissing at all, but a dead fish kiss is in most of the HEA ones.

BLs with No Kisses

21 Days Theory (Thailand, YouTube) - the only thing I didn't like about this pulp was the fact that they don't kiss, so... yeah, this is my first pick for you. Very YA first love angsty, fantastic queer rep and side characters. RECOMMENDED

My Esports Genius Brother (China, Gaga?) - it's hella odd censored bromance but enjoyable. No real angst tho.

HIStory My Hero (Taiwan, Viki) - basically a BL with no sex or kissing, but also body-swap so is it BL? I can't remember the end but I think it's happy?

Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan, ????) - this 2017 yaoi adaptation is a full on BL just no kissing at all. The source manga (I Hear the Sunspot) is a favorite of mine and the casting was decent. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for you (but not in general). Grey only.

Love of Siam (Thailand, ????) ALL THE ANGST, I'm pretty sure the most they do is hug, I could be v wrong though because too sad for me to ever rewatch. Very formative to the Thai BL industry.

The Lover (BL cut) (Korea ????) sometimes you can find the BL cut on YT, it has slapstick comedic sexualized moments that are maybe a little homophobic (or something), no actual sex or kissing, but no angst at all. (Korea's working some shizz out with this early offering.)

Kabe Koji AKA Kabesaa Doujin Sakka no Neko Yashiki-kun wa Shounin Yokkyuu wo Kojirasete iru (Japan, Viki) - I watched this and I was excited about it before it aired, but I seem to have expunged it from my memory and kept no screen caps in annoyance, so that's all I got.

Love in Spring AKA Spring of Crush (Korea, ????) - a crossdressing historical that flew utterly under the radar. I decided it just wasn't really BL, but it has BL aspects and it's kinda a little queer... or something. Grey only.

Evening Cafe (Thai pulp, YouTube) - No heat and no kisses, but a decent lead pair, about a boy who works in a cafe and the new employee who has a crush on him. That’s it, that's the whole story.

A Shoulder to Cry On (Korea, Viki) - Has no kissing and many people found it really good as @isisanna-blog reminded me, thank you). It certainly has ALL THE ANGST. (I did not like it at all, but I'm a terrible judge of this kind of BL.)

What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Japan ???) - this is such a lovely show, very warm and comforting and slice of life. There is very little angst, they too old for that shit, but little to no sexual content either. It's very warm and loving. A safe extremely yet queer show - and oh boy do we not get many of those. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Censored Bromances

So No Kisses (TM) for the gays but the hets might do stuff I didn't pay attention to. All these from China. Some happy, most not.

The Untamed

Word of Honor

Guardian

SCI Mysteries

Stay With Me AKA Addicted 2.0 (I never watched this so there may be rough play)

Mr CEO Falling in Love With Me

The Fairy Fox

Youth in the Breeze

Precise Shot

Advance Bravely

His Cat AKA His Cat Boyfriend

The Male Queen: Han Zi Gao

The "Ghost Boyfriend" series

Past Youth

I Go To School Not By Bus (Hong Kong short)

Recommended Shorts with no kisses, but cute & fun

The 8.2 Second Rule (Japan YouTube)

One Last Order (Korea, Gaga)

Love Advisor (Thailand, YouTube)

BLs with Dead Fish Kisses (maybe? only one, if any)

His the series: I Didn't Think I Would Fall In Love (Japan ????) - (NOT His the movie) this one has all the angst you could want in your whole life. ALL OF IT. Japan wins at emo, it's their THING.

Cherry Magic AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho (Japan ????) - there's sort of some bed tussling and implied sex but you could imagine them just being snuggles for the mains, the sides have dead fish kiss. In general there's some angst but not much. It's fluffy and great. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Bonus: overt ace representation for one of the side characters.

Meow Ears Up (Thailand Viki) - sides may kiss? I enjoyed this pulp especially at the start, the premise is fun. I think my biggest complaint was lack of kissing.

My Love Mix Up AKA Kieta Hatsukoi (Japan Viki), a case could be made for a demi seme in this BL. So much frenetic angst around bisexual identity crisis. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My Ride (Thailand Gaga) - my favorite Thai BL pulp the sides have a good kiss and the mains do kiss but it's v dead fish, not at all sexual, and it comes at the very end. Otherwise extremely chaste, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this BL, queer and complex and engaging.

I Want to See Only You AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai (Japan ????) - This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. The only kiss is the one pictured above, v dead fish. Full review here.

Nobleman Ryu's Wedding (Korea WeTV) - 12th Night goes BL in this cross dressing historical that ended up feeling like a Cinderfella fairy tale, lightly dramatic and utterly charming. Full review. There is one dead fishy kiss at the end but it's otherwise aggressively pure.

If you like this last style of KBL (with a kiss at the end being okay, I have quite a few more to recommend). Until 2022, most KBLs only had one dead fish kiss in them, so you are pretty safe with pre 2022 KBLs. They tend to be quite chaste and de-sexualized. Other good examples: Wish You, Light on Me.

That's all folx.

Some of the above I may be misremembering (since I don't rewatch this kind of BL and my memory is shit). And I may have forgotten some too, so I hope comments with jump in.

Others to consider:

(source)

[the-phantom-author]

Harry Lewis | General Dating Headcanons

Some W2S stuff. Will I do more for him, maybe. Request are open!

Probability meet through some interest or activity. As Simon said, Harry is one of the only Sidemen who actually has hobbies. So I can definitely see you meeting him through that and being in the weird “what are we” stage where you two are seeing each other while doing without doing the activity that you meet through.

It’s to the point that yeah, you know all his friends, and he knows yours, and you do plan things together so you can have time to spend where it’s just you two, but you’re totally not dating. Heaven forgive anyone who implies that you are, because no, that would be odd, that’s not what you two are. Nope.

Harry’s an awkward guy, we know that. It does not matter that you are seeing each other, he is still going to be awkward. It’s going to last for a while as well. He needs to know that you are comfortable; with both him and affection in general. You’ll probably need to actually tell him.

WIth that said, once he knows that you're comfortable with affection, he becomes that most attached person, behind doors. Man is weird about public affection, you won’t be able to convince him to do more than hold your unless he’s drunk. But in private, the biggest fan of cuddling and napping together.

Cooking together. Do we remember his cooking streams? W2S Cooking Show, I miss it. But helping him cook and whatnot. Closing the cabinets when he leaves them opens, please organize his kitchen. I can’t stop thinking about what the kitchen set up was like when he lived with the Cals, with things just everywhere, the silverware in the cabinet.

A lot of inside dates. Cooking together, convincing him to watch movies with you (even if he doesn’t actually watches them and just picks and pokes at you), doing arts and crafts together,Just doing simple things kept between the two of you.

I can also bathing together becoming a common thing, as we know this man likes his showers, he take one every time he poops. So I can see him joining you every so often, washing your hair and whatnot.

Harry’s not the best when it comes to wording things. Istead he shows his appreciation and love though doing things with and for you. Like he’d be your biggest supporter, if you want to learn a new skill or hobby, he bo so willing to learn it with you. Like if you take an art class or something, the next time you see him he’ll be wanting to know everything, or if you get into yoga or something he’ll want you to teach him. He treats your interest with the same amount of respect that he would want you to treat him.

Stare at him. Do it, he’ll get flustered. He’ll stutter out a little “What are doing” tell him he pretty, or just compliment him in general, he’ll go red and “Oh, o-okay” in a really small voice and try to hide his face in his shirt or mug or something.

Also vacationing and taking trips and whatnots. He’d take you with him whenever he can on non-work related trips. Having set things that the two of you want to do, but ended up getting side tracked and just exploring. Or going on a holiday while the guys and ending up getting a tour of a prison or abandoned factory some other random thing.

You do have to act as a live action censor. Harry likes to say polarizing things in his attempt to be funny, and while it usually is funny in context, sometimes it doesn’t come off best to strangers. So you do tend to take notice of when he goes quiet for a bit too long and see that he has his thinking face on, you do take it upon yourself to just listen to the first part of his joke to just be ready to stop him if it might go a bit far.

Ultimately he’s a very soft guy, and it’d be a very soft relationship.

[rascalentertainments]

Wish Granted AU: Flazino

Now the sorcerers' overworked, underappreciated, underpaid, incredibly tired apprentice, Flazino! I keep laughing at the fact that this guy has more depth to him than half the cast of the canon movie. 😂 He went from throwaway character to a nearly co-protagonist character with importance to the story!

His design was inspired by several Disney characters. The outfit and hair are a reference to Arthur/Wart from "The Sword in the Stone". The face and body language is based on George from the Paperman short film (Remember how great that was? And it mastered the 2D/3D hybrid animation long before Wish? What happened to those animators, Disney?)

(You can even use this concept art as reference for Flazino if you want too, especially that pissed off look 😂)

And I swear it wasn't on purpose, but as I started drawing him tired, he started resembling Bruno. All his references are from overworked or stressed out characters and I didn't even do it on purpose! 😂

Now for some backstory and info dump! This was pretty fun because I got to create my own take on him since there's practically nothing on him outside of a deleted scene.

• Like the aforementioned deleted scene, Flazino's wish is to study magic. For this story, its so he can help others lives be better, which is what he thought Magnifico wanted as well. He thought the job would be more glamorous or fun as he learned, but it turns out Mags doesn't actually want a successor. He plans on being in power permanently. He pretends he granted Flaz's wish and instead of studying magic, he's the errand boy, cleans the lab equipment, feeds Sabor, and is in charge of the tour guides for newcomers. Flazino just practices what he can at home and secretly takes ingredients from Amaya's potion cabinet.

•No one's sure if the bags under his eyes are from losing his wish and side effects starting, or its just him being stressed out all the time. Either way he's like Aled, he doesn't sleep much cause he's always working or worrying. He's sort of sassy when he's really tired so he might make an off hand comment. Bonus: He swears, but its censored in the "Spongebob Sailor Mouth" style. You'll just hear a noise or beep censorship sound in place of it. 😂 (Hey, you can say "Hell" and "Damn" in a Pixar movie now, so why not?)

•He gave his wish at 18, and was surprised to hear it was getting granted so soon. Though Mags doesn't really need an apprentice, he takes Flaz on just in case something happened to him, all of his magic, power and evil will go into the apprentice. Sort of passing on his plans to him to become the next Magnifico and continue his work. That's pretty terrifying.

• Most people in the Hamlet think that he and Asha are secretly a thing, but that's not the case. Lord knows Sabino wanted his granddaughter to get a boyfriend so she'd stop being so serious all the time. They never really had feelings like that for each other, they just stayed friends. One part is because Asha has just sealed herself off from connecting deeper with other people, and on Flaz's side, he already has feelings for someone else. (Also, after Star shows up and spends time with Asha, she starts feeling things for him she's been repressing for years. Girl, chill.-)

• During the first few months of becoming the apprentice, he learned about the Hamlet through rumors in Rosas. He didn't understand why people would run away until he stumbles on seeing the king and queen crush the wishes of a couple who talked about leaving Rosas and not trusting the royals. He never saw that couple again.

He later took off one night into the forest to finds this supposed Hamlet using a tracking spell. Once he finds it, Sabino and other people tell him why they ran and what a monster the royal could be. Flazino felt so disgusted that he promised to help anyway he could. So he makes an excuse to get specialty mushroom from the Uncharted Forest once a month and brings supplies to the Hamlet ever since. (stuff like seeds to grow food, flour, medicine, toys for the kids)

• A lot of the people actually go to Flazino if they can't get to the king for help improving the kingdom, or people needing help. The royals don't do crap, so he just does the best he can himself. But most people don't realize he's the one that granting their needs and not the royals.

• His connection to the 7 Teens actually foreshadows Asha bringing them together. Like the deleted scene suggested, they all know him as the "great apprentice to the king", when he's really just a tired guy trying not lose his sanity. He has different interactions with each of them.

Gabo is the one shouting that the royals are evil like a conspiracy theorist, but since he's such a low threat, they send Flazino to get rid of him and everytime he gets away. Gabo's been a nuisance for months now and he's even defacing anything with the royals on it. He actually agrees with Gabo, but obviously can't say it out loud.

For Simon, he tries to keep him awake when he can for his knight training, or guard duty so its his way of trying to help fulfill his wish of being a knight. He's tired himself, so its even harder.

Safi is allergic to practically everything when he cleans, so Flaz has an idea to make a medicine that can cure that through magic. He has no idea its just so he can talk to the girl he likes without sneezing in someone's face. 😂

Hal is one of the easiest he gets along with. She's pretty content where she is and gets along with him fine. Though he gets roped into doing some of her work when he's not paying attention, lol. If she does see an injustice being done to someone else she'll step in to help them.

Bazeema he's not even sure what she thinks of him. She's so shy whenever he talks to her, all he knows is that she does a great job caring for the local animals and flora in the kingdom, which he's thanked her many times for. Though she has been leaving him yellow roses as thank you messages.

Dahlia is actually the one he bonds with the best. He ends up talking to her when its time for Sabor's breakfast or dinner and she makes the food by hand with her parents. At first he just talked to her out of convenience and vent a little bit about being overworked (much to his surprise, she's actually listening). Then the two of them just found some comfort in talking to each other when they've had a long day and now its developed into a full-on crush for him. But with Dahlia going all fangirl on Magnifico, he doesn't have high hopes the feelings mutual. (She's been dropping hints but he's not getting it)

So I guess we got three Flazinos right now: RFTS!Flaz who actually likes his job and still wants to learn magic, UaS!Flaz who's a prince of the evil royals, and then WG!Flaz is an overworked man who wants to hurt his bosses. Y'all need therapy. 😂

(So now, Chapter 6 of WG will be out tomorrow! 😏)

@signed-sapphire @oh-shtars @annymation @chillwildwave

@uva124 @ishadow246 @tumblingdownthefoxden @your-ne1ghbor

@mythartist21 @gracebethartacc @emptyblog7 @spectator-zee

@lazytitans-world @emillyverse @flicklikesstuff @kenihewa

@snackara @wings-of-sapphire @natsuki208

[fluffer5]

How Protective Terrans Are

So... I might've dropped a few trauma bomb in my previous entries... but we won't further open those particular can of worms *smiles brightly while throwing the proverbial can at the traum-- ehem, garbage disposal*.

Anyways, this is my 5th entry to Humans Are Space Orcs! For today's human documentary, we're going to talk about what adult Terrans can and will do to you if you touch their young, family, close friends, pets, or special mementos given to them by a special someone (which doesn't have to be from a dead anybody or a romantic somebody). We all know people wouldn't hesitate to throw hands just to keep their people or stuff safe.

So, let's refer to my list, cuz it's easier to do lol. Again, I've used movies, series, podcasts, and a writer's angst-filled mind to type this. Should I warn the rest of you for further reading? I guess I should (I was so used to reading things without the warning that I'm sometimes confused of the TW tag on some stuff lol).

TW: Gore, violence, theoretical bodily harm even though I censored most of it, death, stabby people, bullying, the insanity train.

Kill the threat. Bit of an extreme one for the first thing to pop in my head, yes? But it is true. Wars were waged for lesser things. See this news article for one example: "Mom fatally shot home intruder to defend kids, she says". This one was published on August 18, 2022. In 2012, cuz I'm too lazy to search recent ones, there's another news articles featuring the same thing but focuses on a mother shooting an intruder to protect her 3-month-old baby. In 2015, an 11-year-old boy also shot an intruder trying to defend his 4-year-old sister from possible harm. I could go on and on about this but in countries where guns are not accessible, the next possible thing to use in defense would've been something sturdy and blunt or something extremely sharp. Actually, if we were in a time wherein tribes or kingdoms exist instead of cities, I can surely say that killing their young would definitely put you and your family in said people's sh*t list.

Fight the threat. Whether is be physically punching them on the face of the place where the sun doesn't shine, nobody cares as long as the deed of letting them know their place is done. Exhibit A that a lot of us know would be bullies ganging up on a younger sibling in school. We know that younger sibling are the proverbial pain in the *ss of older siblings. It's a love-hate relationship between them. But it's also an unsaid rule that only the older siblings can threaten or push around younger siblings. Anyone else touching them aside from the close family ties should be prepared to taste someone's fist. Or feet. Or the pavement. You get the gist of it. Though as long as the child in question can take care of the bullying on their own (which I did in my experience) then the parents or older sibling would gladly back off until the time they notice that things are going too far. Though, sadly, some kids prefer not to talk about their problems which leads to behavioral issues in the future, sorta trying to get attention from their elders but in a negative way.

Threaten the threat. I see this as the tamer version of protection actually lol. I don't know about other countries but in my country, the smart kids in school can threaten your life as a student. We have the usual bling-bling kids with the money and huzzah but they don't last long in the face of being a social pariah at school. They can throw money all they want but the smart kids wouldn't be threatened at all cuz they hold the key to higher GPA. Even the teachers complain about them nerds but action speaks loud and their compilation of evidence speaks louder lol. You'd be lucky if the nerd assigned to you has the patience of a saint cuz if not... well, I've had to stop fights from breaking out from simple arguments. Not just in school though. If you've got connection in higher places then that could also be a way to threaten someone (it does happen in real life so it isn't far-fetched). Though it is more effective to threaten the threat if you're in the same place as them. Another thing would be holding blackmail on said person (though that only works if they're not an immediate threat). If you have enough social influence, well, you can destroy their entire life without touching them even once.

Torture the threat. A friend says I'm too kind for ending their lives easily. Well, watching too many action and horror films prepared me for this part lol. I don't know which one would be done but interrogators have done the worst to get information from their victim. Too gory for this though and I don't know how many kids or emotional teens are in here so I have to censor a ton of the juicy details. Let's say it would be a bit similar to Saw, Jigsaw, and war interrogations. Chemicals, acids, peeled skin, salt, knives, and hammers might also be in place. Just know that it would be a bloody, unforgiving event that would take place in that particular room with that unfortunate victim.

Play the long game. Another said killing them quickly was... well... too quick XD. This one centers heavily on having money and patience. Know who the threat is, where they live, who they interact with, and what makes them tick. For this to work, you need to give up who you were before and settle on anonymity. This is... a bit more drastic than torture but works well if you have too much hate in your chest or the deed done was something you can never forgive. It's more on watching them physically suffer with their injury or doing the threatening on their family (gets messy very fast), but since this threat had amassed A LOT of enemies, they won't exactly know who did the evil deed on them. Shoot them on their legs, feet, and shoulder. Their spine if you're a good shot and know where to hit. Places that aren't close to their vital organs but would render them disabled. You'll let them live, but it will be a life of pain and agony.

Talk to the threat. The most peaceful type and probably the most boring out of this chaotic list > v <. This should be the first thing we do and not escalate to violence if some of us can help it. Again, your patience and wit will be tested here. If your threat is minor (like another child), then talking to their guardian would help with keeping the problem from going through a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes that doesn't work and the problem turns into an adult fight.

In summary, you have 2 kinds of Terrans. One would shoot before asking; the other would talk before shooting. Which is why you should never step on this particular deathworld if you were thinking about making Terran slaves or using our young in experimentation. We haven't given chase on aliens yet. Don't make yourselves the first intergalactic specie the Terrans would obliterate.

Meanwhile in a fast approaching spacecraft...

This alien reading this How To Deal With Terrans manual : Why did we want to go to this deathworld again?

Another alien turning yellow from anxiety : To befriend them and learn about the resident Terrans?

Yet another alien wilting as they feel faint from the information : Oh, thank the stars we won't be terrorizing them.

The alien commander whose frills are flaring in alarm as they read through the unredacted version of the manual : They will torture and skin us for taking their young and their pets?!

This particular scientist whose skins are changing colors in excitement : See? I told you their famous quote of "If predator not friend, why friend shape?" also applies to them!

[agerefandomstuff]

little soldier boy???

I think he'd be small but also have bigger ages? But if you could write about him being a small guy it be much appreciated!

Soldier Baby - Is it Him or the Drugs?

Content warning: not kids’ appropriate media. and has not been censored to be even though it involves sfw age regression.

(if you’ve watched The Boys you have an idea of what to expect from the characters’ vocab and personalities.)

Word count: 3175

Tags/warnings: Regressor Soldier Boy - Ben, Caregiver Billy Butcher, Hughie Campbell, poor hughie’s always bullied, Soldier Boy and Butcher accurate cursing and sexual jokes, general vulgarity, Ben being borderline racist/sexist/homophobic/ OUTDATED THINKING except I didn’t actually wanna make it as bad as he actually can be and I also don’t know how to be, anxiety, mentions of drugs and alcohol, mentions of violence, threats, insults, French fries dipped in frosties, if that’s something that disturbs you idk, my American attempt at writing a British man played by a Kiwi man, first time regressing, confusion, panic, misunderstanding, I don’t know, Ben commenting bad things about The Little Mermaid, Butcher being dumb, Butcher taking charge and being a dad, not beta read. Never beta read. I don’t know who I would be if it was beta read.

Perhaps it was because he had taken too much. Or more likely Butcher gave him something laced since his body filtered out most drugs within minutes and he'd been feeling this way since he’d started yawning a couple hours earlier. His yawns started while watching dumb new century movies, one moment he was bitching to Hughie about how his generation relied too heavily on special effects instead of getting creative (like back in his day) the next he was getting asked when the last time he slept was. As if he was some toddler and not a grown fucking man who can occasionally yawn if he wants to damn it! Hughie might’ve been his “babysitter,” as Butcher titled it, when they were alone but he wasn’t a fuckin child for him to fuss over like some sniveling house wife.

“I’ve stayed awake for over a month before partying, kicking ass, and slinging pussy all while doing my damn job as a hero. Then I was asleep for decades because of Russian scum. This is nothing.” He growled at Hughie, the poor boy shaking like one of those fuckin rat dogs he use to see rich women carrying around at those mind numbing Vought galas. “I am not tired. And you'd be wise to stop assuming I was.”

Although if Hughie hadn't said something about it he probably would've put more thought into it. because… beyond just yawning he was feeling… uncharacteristically spacey, even though he really hadn't been awake long enough to excuse that. He hadn't been here for more than a week, right? Doesn't matter now. He was stubborn and would purposely not give it any more thought because Hughie was a cunt.

...that was until his eighth yawn of the day. It was like he was yawning all the time. He couldn't stop himself and at this point he wasn't even watching the movie let alone making his usual commentary. His mind was just focusing on fighting the yawns and the odd feeling in his mind. He couldn't remember a time he felt so unfocused like this. Even in his most fucked up state at the first Herogasm party he threw, he didnt feel this way.

It had gotten to the point that even Butcher had noticed once he had come back from his food run. However Butcher’s attention on him only fed into Ben’s theory that he’d been slipped something and they were just waiting for him to go down so they could do something to him. Maybe the food he’d brought just had more of whatever supe roofie was inside and they would use it to get a second dose in so they could drag him back to the Russians to be tortured again. Maybe they were working with the evil sons of bitches to turn him into this perfect weapon they wanted and this had all been a ruse to gain his trust.

“The fuck you lookin at?” He snapped out at Butcher but the man only raised his hands in surrender, not even putting up an argument which almost made him feel bad since he… had respect for the guy. He was a badass leader that did–albeit unintentionally–released him from his permanent cyro torture. Even if he was suspicious of him right now… He somewhat owed the man.

Also he was placating him with his favorite things. Drugs, trashy food, his own movies. Only things that would make his time better would be to not be spending it in this shithole hotel unless it was with a woman.

Or a few women.

Aged-like-wine women.

Maybe he was overreacting to this spacey-feeling bullshit.

He probably just needed to do a couple lines to get rid of the yawns and he would be good as new.

“Didn’t say nothin, mate. Calm yer pretty little ticker down.” Butcher responded, glancing down at his chest in warning, reminding them all what would happen if he didn’t get over whatever he was getting so defensive about. “Take some pills, take a nap fer all I care. Whatever keeps this buildin from shambles and our goals within sight.”

The nap line was really all he heard and it was definitely the worst thing to say. The bottle in his hand shattered between his fingers like it was nothing more than a breakaway and Hughie’s face drained of color in time with the beer that dripped down his arm.

Ben stood up his finger pointing at Butcher in a real warning, “Whatever the fuck you think you accomplished–whatever shit you roofied me with–it’s best you undo it right now before I turn your queer side piece into– into…” he couldnt even think of a clever threat. It's like his brain was completely malfunctioning leaving him to just angrily settle for a more embarrassingly simple correction. “Before I fucking kill him.”

The Brit raised his eyebrow as he had to take a second to actually will his mouth to hold back a sarcastic comment about the tongue trip, shockingly actually valuing their lives for once since he was so close to getting Homelander with Soldier Boy in his pocket. “A’right.. hold on now. I ain't got a clue whatcha accusing me of but we ‘aven't done it.” he closed his laptop softly, never taking his eyes off Ben the same way he would never take his eyes off a wild horse. “Why d’ya fink we roofied ya? Beyond the actual roofies yew requested, that is?”

His reaction made Ben second guess his theory again. He never second guessed himself like this. Even when he was wrong. And he sure as shit didn't share his feelings. Feelings were for pussies like Hughie. You didn't have feelings in war or at Vought. Yet…. he felt oddly compelled to answer Butcher’s question honestly and without more threats. He couldn't rationalize this strange compulsion other than maybe it was the way Butcher talked to him or managed to not be afraid of him. Or maybe it was because he was potentially slipped something–he still hadn’t ruled it out!

“I feel… wrong. My head ain't clear but everything I’ve taken should’ve worn off by now.” His hand dipped in the air like a physical indicator of his current lowering confidence and defenses which Butcher–in true Billy Butcher fashion–promptly took a shit on.

“Sounds like someone’s backed up. How boutcha go have a wank in the shower while we plug our ears and pretend we hadn’t noticed yer on edge?” Ben scoffed at the suggestion, his defenses rising back up. Butcher didn't get it. He didnt have blue balls, he had a fucked up head!

“No, you fuckin foreign– guy! ” this was really getting pathetic.. “I-it’s like… like–”

“Like PTSD…?” Hughie nervously piped up from where he was watching, still frozen to the couch. The other two men looked over at him and Ben opened his mouth to shut him down but hesitated. While he was actually kind of glad the little runt was taking him more seriously than Butcher had.. he also didn’t have an answer. He wanted to say no, I've seen shell shock, idiot. I don't have it! He wasn't really sure this time because he really didn't feel normal which was only making him feel more… antsy.

Picking up on his discomfort and hesitation, Butcher turned back towards Ben and watched him for a second, actually deciding to have a good look at him beyond his front of anger. He was tense but his body language was severely lacking its usual arrogant confidence. Like he wasn't comfortable within his own space right now. Once Butcher really looked, even his face, which normally lacked any expression beyond irritation, was practically screaming; I don’t know what’s going on! Someone fix it!

He’d seen that look more times than he could count in his life with his line of work but something about it reminded him more of a little kid than an adult in the middle of a PTSD episode. The look was similar to the one that made him call Hughie “kid” regardless of him being a full adult and insisting on it all the time.

He could see something in Ben right now that activated the part of his brain that had always taken care of Lenny as a kid.

The softer part of him that insisted he help the poor sod’s silent beg for help.

“Oi..kay, kid.” Butcher softened the gruffness in his tone and stood up from his seat at the table, snagging a bag of greasy fries and the frostie he had yet to dig into. “Let's get on then, yeah?” He slung an arm around Ben’s shoulder and led him back to the hotel bed in front of the TV he had long set up shop on.

Although still confused, Ben didn’t stop him. Instead following on autopilot while his mind still reeled with thought until his knees bumped against the mattress.

“No– I'm not tired. I told you I'm not tired–” had he told Butcher that or had he only yelled at Hughie today? “I’m not taking a damn nap–!” christ, he sounded like a whining child! Sleeping wouldn’t kill him for fuck’s sake! If the Russians hadn't figured that out after this many years surely they never would– unless they did. He didn't want to be tortured more– how long would it be before his mind broke for good? Before he died?

“No, y’ain’t so hush and stop yer worrying. Were jus’ gonna sit and eat the food I boughtcha before my money goes ta waste.” Ben looked surprised to have been effectively told to shut up and do what he's told but what he was most shocked about was the fact he didn't immediately get the desire to punch the shit out of him for having the audacity to do so. He just felt… odd. Like there were butterflies tying uncomfortable knots in his stomach. Like… it was almost nice to have a direction to go into so his thoughts would pause.

“Come on. Don’t make me wait. Fries ain’t neva last too long outside the frya.” Butcher pat his lower back, almost like he was a little kid getting encouraged forward and he listened. He crawled up onto the bed and sat in his spot looking at him with big eyes, clearly at a loss with the situation. He felt like he didn't know himself. This was a part of him he’d never experienced and he didn't know what to do, yet Butcher… seemed as at ease as ever. Like he’d dealt with a hundred men with nukes in their chests yelling at him.

Though he knew him longer than Ben did, even all Hughie could do was watch with the same odd mixture of shock and amazement when Butcher sat down beside the supe, tossed the fries between them, then changed the channel. No one had touched the remote since Ben had figured it out just enough to channel surf onto his own films. He had guarded that thing like a kid who found a new toy he didn't want to share.

“I.. was watching that.” Ben struggled to get out in a mumble that had never left his lips before.

“Won't spoil the ending for ya then, just say it ain't worth more than a prostitute that's got the clap.” Butcher casually informed him while he looked through the menu. The hotel, although shitty in every other aspect, actually had a Vought+ subscription, which begrudgingly had a pretty good selection. “Hughie, be a good lad for me an name a tolerable animation that aint Disney.”

“The Little Mer…maid..?” Hughie stuttered out, his brain automatically picking the last Disney movie he’d watched with him, too scared to really absorb the question.

“That’s Disney, Champ. Lookin fer somethin on Vought+”

“Oh. Right. Um..” He racked his brain for a moment trying not to mess this up and get his butt chewed by Soldier Boy later for choosing a movie he would hate sitting through. But the more he thought about everything the grumpy old man complained about when they were alone the less movies he could think of. In fact all he could think of was Ariel. Ariel.. Ariel, save me. Oh wait. “Isn't… isn't there a Disney princess section on Vought+ now?”

“Hn.. There is. Good thinkin.” Butcher cleared his throat a bit as he clicked on the movie then tossed the remote to reach for a fry, not paying attention to the way Ben was currently staring at him like he was an alien. “Redheaded broad it is.”

“Disney.. prin…cess? Like… the films for.. little brats..?” Ben slowly asked out, his voice not really feeling like his own with how insecure and… small it sounded. This all felt like a drug fueled dream. A really weird one, not one of the fun ones. Maybe he’d already fallen asleep and was back in some cyro-coma.

“Mmhm. Hughie likes em. Usually he leans more towards that lil boffin Belle over the glorified sushi princess but–”

“I like Ariel!” Hughie instantly defended but his cheeks went pink as he realized he meant to defend himself in a different way. Like one that might keep his reputation intact or keep himself from being relentlessly bullied by resident tough man, Soldier Boy. “I-I mean–” He gave Butcher an embarrassed, desperate look as he hissed out between his teeth a clear plea. “Butcher..! Come on..!”

Ben’s head swiveled between Hughie and Butcher feeling like he was missing out on something. He felt like that a lot recently since the world was so much different than it was back when he was last in it but this felt like he was out of the loop on something he should know.

“Why… why does Hughie like–” Before he could even finish his question, Butcher had slipped an ice cream dipped fry in his mouth, surprising him further. His reaction time was lacking, he hadn't even seen the man’s hand until it was too late. His senses were dulled. Could only imagine the foul shit his father would say if he saw him now.

“Film’s startin, kid, eat yer food.” Butcher spooned a mouthful of frostie into his own mouth with the grace expected of a grown man whose shirt was stained as much as it was and Ben watched him as he slowly followed instructions and chewed what had been given to him. His gaze flicked over to Hughie still trying to figure out what was going on but all Hughie was telling him was that he’d rather be swallowed alive by the couch than make eye contact with him.

The sound of water splashing alongside loud music on the tv stole his attention away from his less than stellar detective work and he watched for a few seconds as sailors began to sing. His brows furrowed and he turned to Butcher to protest and ask again about why the hell grown men would watch cartoons like this but the moment his mouth opened he was spoon fed some frostie. And while it was more careful than how the Brit had fed himself the action was aggravating. Ben looked at the Brit with an unhappy glare that probably looked more harmless than his usual happy expression if the rest of him looked as pathetic as he felt. But when he was given no attention from it he finally turned away to begrudgingly watch the stupid movie they insisted on making him watch instead of dealing with his problems.

Twenty minutes was all it took for Ben to be fully enraptured, his thought process having melted away with the colorful fish on the screen without his knowledge. Butcher had kept a casual eye on him after he’d realized he was dropping, mildly worried that the loose cannon might start to get anxious again if he broke out of his distraction. It was a little rockier at the start of the movie when he was still incredibly uneasy with the situation and unhappy with having been fed twice without permission; however Butcher was stupid and confident. An that’s what got ‘im this far in life, right?

So sue him if he let himself feel a bit smug as Ben obliviously settled into this new headspace, watching the movie as if it were the most interesting thing he’d ever witnessed. The only time he occasionally turned away from the screen was for the brief moment it would take to be spoon fed another bite being offered. Nothin beat the tried and true combination of an age regression classic an comfort food t’keep someone perfectly satiated in a headspace, eh?

Kid would barely wait to swallow before pointing at the screen to yell something about it because he was trying so hard to listen after having been told “ta swallow ‘is food ‘fore speakin,” but still NEEDED to give his commentary on everything since at his core he was still Ben. He might be acting younger but he was still who he was for better or for worse. And that included movie commentary.

Ben: “That crab is such an ass-munch! I mean look at him! He’s practically makin out with King Trident’s butt.”

Butcher: “His name’s Sebastian, you’ll like him more later on, bud.”

Ben: “I don’t like commies.”

Butcher: “Now why’dja go an call the poor ol bastard that?”

Ben: “He’s red.”

Butcher: “That don’t mean… he’s a crab, mate.”

Ben: “And? Crabs can be commies.”

Hughie: “That’s weirdly the most inclusive thing I’ve heard you say.”

—

Ben: “Hell yeah King Trident!”

Hughie: “You can't cheer for him, he just destroyed his daughter’s most prized collection!”

Ben: “Uh yeah. She didn't do what he said so she earned it. And she was probably kissin on that statue like a weirdo. Anyway he looked cool doing it.”

Butcher: “An how’dja know she was doin that?”

Ben: “I dunno.”

Hughie: “Ariel wouldn't kiss a statue!”

Ben: “Shut up, Hughie, you don't know that!”

Hughie: “Yes, I do! I’ve watched this movie more than you!”

Butcher: “Boys.”

Hughie: “Sorry..”

Ben: “Well I’m not sorry.”

Once the junk food was gone, Ben started his yawns again but Butcher counted himself lucky that his anxiety didn't notice them this time since that was the only thing he could guess set him off earlier. That or he just took too much while he was gone and got paranoid. Supe was a nutcase anyhow and Butcher probably trusted him even less than Hughie did.

Near the end of the movie though was when the brick of a man made himself comfortable against Butcher’s side and without making it a big deal, the infamous bloke wrapped his arm around his shoulder to pull him in tight. He was softer than he looked. Maybe that level of comfort he was providing was why Ben’s aggressive commentary died away before he could give a final scathing review and instead slipped asleep the moment the next movie started. But Ben would certainly deny that to anyone that brought it up. Including his own thoughts. He’d rather blame those supe-special roofies he never confirmed.

[physalian]

Writing Tone in Fiction (Or, Pacing your Story, Part 2)

See this post all about pacing and as the two go hand-in-hand. If you read that, I may repeat myself a little here. Tone, and how abruptly you change it, how radically you change it, and how you break it whether on purpose or on accident says a lot about your experience as a writer, and how well you planned out your plot.

**Trigger warning for mentions of mature themes**

What is Tone?

“Tone” is the maturity of the work, signaling whether or not your characters have to censor themselves for young readers. It’s also restricted by the genre, whether this is a comedy and what kind – slapstick or gross-out humor – or a scary movie about ghosts, but not graphic body horror. It sets expectations about the amount and degree of romance readers can expect, if the scene will fade to black before anything happens or if you’re in for a raunchy sex scene, or somewhere in the middle. It also helps audiences gauge whether or not characters can die in this universe, and how graphically if they do beyond Disney’s tried and true “villain falling ambiguously from a tall height” deaths.

OSP recently did a piece on Tone Armor, a device similar to but less obvious than Plot Armor where the established tone means that, no matter how dire the circumstances, your hero won’t actually die, the world won’t actually end, and a happily ever after is on the horizon. Red also discussed what happens when you break your established tone with the shocking death or mistreatment of a character, but more on that later.

How to Decide Your Tone

Depending on your genre and intended audience, content for younger readers demand quite a bit of censorship (though can get away with many, many things worse than death). In the US at least, movies go through the MPAA rating system to determine what’s permitted by the rating given – how many swear words, whether you can show blood, topless women, graphic assault, graphic violence, if and how characters can be killed or how gummy and resistant to damage their bodies are.

If you’re writing for children, you both have less freedom to write violent carnage, and more freedom to get really creative within the limits of your tone box. I can expect the kid protagonists of my fantasy adventure to murder countless monsters that dissolve into gold dust, not bloody carcasses. I can expect the villain to perhaps die from a stab wound, but probably not get decapitated, disemboweled, or drawn and quartered, at least, not ‘on screen’.

If you’re writing for adults, adults do still expect a warning for how graphic anything can be, whether that’s sex scenes, fight scenes, murders, assaults, bloody battles, garish injuries, dead pets, dead children, etc.

Unless you’re already planning to break your tone, you need to know fairly early on whereabouts you want to set those expectations. If none of the characters even allude to sex and you write in a graphic assault, your audience is going to be pissed, and horrified. If none of your characters even allude to sex, and you hint that one was assaulted off-screen, you will still upset your audience if you don’t give them time to prepare for the possibility.

You can soften the violence and graphic content you’ve previously established and few might complain about it not being gritty enough, but going the other direction puts you in a very precarious position. Choosing more mature themes will inevitably alienate younger readers, those with triggers, and those that just want to have a lighthearted good time. The trade off? You’ll invite readers with a work that’s exactly what they’re looking for.

Establishing a Tone

I’m writing this post today because I finally sat down to watch Game of Thrones. One can’t avoid spoilers for a series as massive as that, so I was prepared for the graphic violence, all the gratuitous sex, the infamous Red Wedding, murdered kids, horribly bloody battles, and the like. GoT, the TV adaptation at least as I can’t speak to the books, establishes exactly what to expect in the very first scene: Three people happen upon the site of a graphic mass murder, limbs and body parts strewn everywhere, kids among them, who come back to life as ice zombies to kill them.

That episode continues with a beheading, incest, more incest, attempted child murder via defenestration, a brother selling his little sister into marriage, rampant nudity, and… I’m sure I missed something.

**Spoiler Alert for Season 4**

What I was not at all prepared for was the graphic death of Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal). It’s quick, it’s violent, it’s graphic and gruesome and incredibly well-acted… it was also far more horrifying than the Red Wedding, at least to me. Murder is murder but the way this character went out almost had me quit watching right then and there. Google at your leisure.

It wasn’t necessarily outside the realm of possibility, but most everyone else died via stabbing, arrows, beheading, burning, falling, eaten by wolves, crushed, etc. This was deeply unsettling, particularly because it’s live action, not a cartoon like Invincible.

It did its job, and it’s the only moment to feature in nightmares and make me lose my appetite, so… well done? In the following Previouslies (correct me on the actual word) they don’t even show it, cutting around the actual moment because it’s just that horrible.

This was four seasons into an eight season show and nothing like it had happened before. In a tone already as dark and explicit as TV can get, poor Oberyn pushed it over the edge entirely. It broke the established tone.

Amazon’s The Boys treads the same very thin line, only these people have superpowers for a whole new level of deeply disturbed body horror.

So, when you’re establishing a tone in the realm of “less graphic than Game of Thrones but still terrible,” you can go one of two ways: Horrify your audience straight out of the gate, or slowly creep up to it with allusions and hints until they’re fully prepared for it when it hits.

If your characters have free reign of every swear in the dictionary, start with the “f*cks” and “sh*ts” as quickly as you can as part of their vocabulary, whether you intend to use the words sparingly or after every other word in their dialogue.

If you’re writing a multi-series work that intends to ramp up the rating as it goes, you don’t have to cold open with a murder, but establishing that characters do at least die in this world is a start. Establish that assault happens in the background, that killing happens, or animal cruelty. Your readers with triggers will thank you for it and read something else.

Unless you intend to shatter the tone and shock your audience with it later.

Breaking Tone via Killing Characters

The most effective tonal breakage I can think of that wasn’t even graphic, just dark and incredibly well done: Disney’s animated Mulan. The movie had been your standard Disney musical complete with grand animation for its sing-along song. Soldiers singing, dancing, laughing as they march off to war, all for a girl worth fighting—

The singing stops. The score stops. Their smiles drop. Cut to the scene before them that has murdered this Disney musical in cold blood and it’s a decimated battlefield, the snow-covered and burned bodies of their far better trained and more competent fellow soldiers, and the love interest’s father.

Mulan only briefly reprises one track in the climax, but otherwise, this happy-go-lucky sing-along has rudely and horrifyingly become a war movie. It’s still Disney, so it doesn’t get violent or graphic, but they shattered the tone in glorious fashion.

Breaking tone happens all the time, for minor events and major character deaths. It doesn’t become an issue of “you just alienated your audience” unless the tonal breakage is the aforementioned sudden graphic assault or other sensitive triggers.

Major character deaths are a whole separate monster to tackle and I’d like to, but for today’s purposes I’m talking about killing major characters when the possibility of any of our heroes dying was never established.

For anyone who never read Lord of the Rings and didn’t know the curse of anyone played by Sean Bean, losing Gandalf to another ambiguous high fall was one thing, but Boromir straight up dies in battle. Sure the story is surrounded by death and darkness but you expect heroes in a world like this to have some pretty hefty plot armor – and Boromir had so much room left to grow. In the grand scheme of the story, though, Boromir’s death was as far from shock value fodder as possible.

Sirius Black is another heartbreaking loss, but not entirely outside the realm of possibility – killing off Ron or Hermione would have been. Any mentor figure is automatically doomed with rare exception, especially ones in fatherly roles.

Bianca di Angelo is a different matter. She’s not the first death mentioned in Percy Jackson but she’s a brand new character and despite all the dangers the heroes have already been through and the warnings from the prophecy, actually killing her off for good broke the tone. Suddenly this war was real and there were lasting consequences.

Game of Thrones’ “Red Wedding” didn’t just shock audiences because a bunch of people died, it was which people that died. Robb Stark, eldest son and heir to Sean Bean (so of course he’s dead) and one of the siblings of the “hero” family had been leading a war effort to rescue and then avenge his father. He gets betrayed and murdered, along with his mother and a fair chunk of his army, caught by surprise at a wedding, because he broke an oath and married for love instead.

I knew of the scene and knew that Catelyn Stark was there just from the one time I’d seen the clip years ago, and as it got closer I worried it was Robb’s wedding, but I still wasn’t prepared for the death of the hero of the show. Jon’s off in the north doing his own thing and so is Danaerys. This was the bright-eyed usurper, the avenger, the never-lost-a-battle upstart. No author would ever kill that hero.

They’d established that anyone can die, similar to the Walking Dead in some ways, but this was a whole new level of boldness, killing off Robb. At the time of this post, I haven’t seen past season 4, but I know more deaths are coming.

Deciding to murder your hero, in any other story, would not go over well with your audience. Killing any major character is a decision that should be made with a deep understanding of the consequences or else you end up like Walking Dead after they killed Carl for shock value and never recovered their audience viewership.

—

It’s not just dead protagonists, it can be worldly tragedies, the heroes actually losing a battle, or the war, a uniquely horrifying monster or cryptid or villainous act. Or it can be a character beginning to contemplate self-harm and possibly attempting to end their own lives. It can be the reveal of an abusive relative, or an incestuous relationship. It can be mental health problems, sudden and un-curable disease and disability.

It can be less-dire things too, but I’m not much for writing comedy.

Tone, like pacing, doesn’t have to remain consistent throughout the entire story. If it’s a lighthearted comedy, let it stay a lighthearted comedy if you want to. You can change tone progressively, with hints and near-misses, or drop a bomb on your audience with a big reveal. What you do and how you implement it is entirely dependant on the story you’re writing.

Most audiences expect a book that isn’t written for elementary schoolers to mature over time and most genres come with set understandings. But hey, I hear Animorphs can get incredibly dark with a bunch of mature themes.

In general, killing a character just for shock value is rarely worth it in the long run. In general, writing in triggering subjects without warning to an audience that wasn’t prepared for it also isn’t worth it in the long run — save it for a different book.

If fanfiction authors leave author’s notes everywhere warning about the subject matter ahead, published authors can do the same, in my opinion. Content warnings should be a thing and it doesn’t have to spoil the surprise. Include it as a forward to your book, letting potential readers know that such and such work they’re considering spending real money on contains mentions of, or explicit depictions of, any and all mature and sensitive themes. You never know who’s out there picking up your book expecting a good time. Do right by them and give a little heads up and you might gain a fan you wouldn’t have otherwise.

[quartings]

So, I just watched a censored cut of The Suicide Squad (2021) on a plane...

Let me tell you, it was one of the weirdest movie-watching experiences of my life. All the intense gore and violence was kept, but all the swearing was re-dubbed over by the original cast and the mild nudity was cut, which really makes me wonder who the heck this version of the film was even for?? What kind of person can watch people get blown up into bloody chunks but can’t handle the word “bastard”??

Here are some of the highlights from the censored cut that I thought were the most amusing. Again, reminder that the original actors all ADR’d over the swears with new dialogue.

· Harley’s “What the FUCK??” at TDK was changed to “What is THAT??”

· Bloodsport and Tyla’s “FUCK YOU!!”s were changed to “FORGET YOU!!” like Ceelo Green.

· More F-Bombs from Bloodsport were cut, leading to “I’m no (fighting) leader!!” and “You’re threatening my (teenage) daughter!!”

· Calendar Man’s insult to Polkadot Man was changed from “You fucking pussy!!” to “You flaming sissy!!”

· Peacemaker: “Starfish is a slang term for (an anus).” How is that any better than saying “butthole”??

· The entire exchange about dicks on the beach was changed to be about bricks instead, as was any future usage of the word “dick”. “If this whole beach was covered in (bricks), and someone said I had to eat every single (brick) on the beach for liberty, I would say no problem-o.” “Why would someone put (bricks) all over the beach??”

· Ratcatcher 2’s “You bastard!” was changed to “You bad fish!!”

· The entire “Well that’s just racist” exchange was cut.

· Bloodsport: “Why the (blood) would I want a leaf?!”

· Peacemaker’s jerking off taunt was cut. Characters still flip each other off in this cut though.

· Flag and Harley get to say “freaking”, so I don’t understand why it wasn’t used as a blanket censor for the f word instead.

· Harley’s “RIP to that absolutely beautiful monster between your legs” was kept in.

· King Shark’s “FUCK!!” was changed to “Pfflegh!”

· Bloodsport saying “Pissmaker” was kept

· Ratcatcher 2: “Do you want a dozen angry rodents crawling up your (pants)??”

· The 69 joke was kept

· Peacemaker: “MOTHER(TRUCKER)!!”

· Bloodsport’s “Jesus Christ…” was changed to “Holy Moses…”

· Flag’s “Who ate all the empanadas?” has the f word cut and sounds weirdly friendlier in the take they used.

· Harley: “I love the rain~ It’s like angels are (spitting) all over us~!”

· I swear Thinker’s “Sonofabit-!” when he’s getting slammed in the retinal scanner was changed to “Sonofawit-!”

· Thinker: “AMERICAN (GOOD OL’) ASTRONAUTS FOUND STARRO! YANKEE (****) DOODLE DANDIES!!”

· Flag’s “It’s time these sonsofbitches need to be held accountable-!” was changed to “It’s time these (stinkers) need to be held accountable-!”

· Polkadot Man’s “FUCK!!” in response to the others forgetting Milton was changed to “FUDGE!!”

· One of the Corto Maltese generals shouting “Puta!!” was changed to “Nunca!!”

· Economos: “WE’VE GOT A (FREAKING) KAIJU UP (ON) THIS (SCREEN)!!”

· Waller’s whole rant at the squad was censored, so it was hilarious to hear Viola Davis scream the absolutely neutered “FILTH!! TURN AROUND, GOSHDAMMIT! YOU STUPID IDIOTS! LOSERS!! DAMN IT, TASK FORCE X! THIS IS YOUR LAST AND FINAL WARNING!!”

· Flo: “GET ON THE SATELLITE, DALE YOU (FLAMING MEATHEAD)!!”

· And lastly, my personal favorite censorship, only because it actually fits thematically, comes from Polkadot Man’s last words: “I’M A MOTHER(-FIGHTING) SUPERHERO-!!”

[bidokja]

I was joking a while back that the actor they have playing KDJ for the orv movie was too handsome for him and a friend who's read orv was like "KDJ is actually secretly attractive!!" And I just felt my soul leave my body right then

SIGHS...

Okay. Buckle in. I'm gonna finally actually address and explain and theorize about this whole...thing.

I'm not gonna cite any exact chapters cause it's like 11:30 and I've got an 8 hour drive in the morning but I'll at least make an approximate reference to where certain things are mentioned. Also, this post is just my personal interpretation for a good bit of it, but it's an interpretation I feel very solid about, so do with that what you will. Moving on to the meat of things:

There is one (1) instance in the web novel that I know of which describes specific features of Kim Dokja (especially ones other people notice). This takes place when members of KimCom are trying to make Kim Dokja presentable to give his speech at the Industrial Complex (after it's been plopped down on Earth). This is when they start really paying attention and focusing on Kim Dokja's appearance since they're putting makeup on him; I still don't think they can interpret his whole face, but they can accurately pick out and retain more features than usual. If I remember correctly they reference him having long eyelashes, smooth skin, and soft hair. These features can be viewed as (stereotypically) attractive.

Certain parts of the fandom have taken this scene and run with it at a very surface level, without realizing (or without acknowledging at the very least) that this scene is not about how Kim Dokja looks. This is, in part, due to not realizing or acknowledging why Kim Dokja's face is "censored" in the first place, and what that censoring actually means. I think it's also possible that some people are assuming the censorship works like a physical phenomena rather than an altered perception.

I'll address that last point first. The censorship of Kim Dokja's features is not something as simple as a physical phenomena. It's not a bar or scribble or mosaic over his face. If that were true it'd be very obvious to anyone looking at him that his face is hidden. But his face is not hidden to people. They can look at him and see a face. If they concentrate on his eyes, they can see where he's looking. They know when he's frowning or grinning. They see a face loud and clear. But what face are they seeing? Because it's not really his, whatever they're seeing.

No one quite agrees on what he really looks like. And if they try and think about what he looks like, they can't recall. Or if they do, it's vague, or different each time. We notice these little details throughout the series. Basically, Kim Dokja's face is cognitively obscured. Something - likely the Fourth Wall, though I can't recall if this is ever stated outright - is interfering with everyone's ability to perceive him properly. This culminated in him feeling off to others; and since they don't even realize this is happening, they surmise that he is "ugly."

Moving on to the other point about what the censorship means: To be blunt, the censorship of his face is an allegory for his disconnect from the "story" (aka: real life, and the real people at his side). The lifting - however slight - of this censorship represents him becoming more and more a part of the "story" (aka: less disconnected from the life he is living and the people at his side). The censorship's existence and lifting can represent other things - like dissociation or depersonalization or, if you want to get really meta, the fact that he is all of our faces at once - but that's how I'd sum up the main premise of it. (The Fourth Wall is a larger part of the dissociation allegory, but that's for another post).

So you see, them noticing his individual features isn't about the features. It's not about the features! It doesn't matter at all which features got listed. Because they could describe any features whatsoever and it would not change the entire point of the scene. Because the point isn't what he looks like. The point is that they can truly and clearly see these features. For the first time. They are seeing parts of him for the first time. Re-read that sentence multiple times, literally and metaphorically. What does it mean to see someone as they are?

This is an extremely significant turning point dressed up as a dress-up scene.

---

P.S. / Additionally, I'm of the opinion that Kim Dokja is not handsome, and he is not ugly. He is not pretty, and he is not ghastly. Not attractive, nor unattractive. Kim Dokja isn't any of these things. More importantly, Kim Dokja can't be any of these things. The entire point of Kim Dokja is that you cannot pick him out of a crowd; he is the crowd. He's a reader. He's the reader. Why does he need to be handsome? Why must he be pretty? Why is him being attractive necessary or relevant? He doesn't, he doesn't, it's not. He is someone deeply deeply loved and irreplaceable to those around him, and someone who cannot even begin to recognize or accept that unless it's through a love letter masquerading as a story he can read. He is the crowd, a reader, the reader. He's you, he's me. He's every single one of us.

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #24

Growing Pains

Even the yams belong to the Dimmadomes...

Hazels' cute ladybug phone! I still like how we can't tell if it's a Dimmadome brand. Everyone else likes to flaunt logos, but Hazel's just there.

Aw, Hazel's gotten over her jealousy towards her brother's girlfriend taking up his time and thinks they're cute together. I'm so glad we get to see a sibling relationship like this.

"What's a good idea? Aging??" - Antony, unaware Hazel's about to age up with magic to see a PG-13 movie.

Okay, so... I'm gonna note down Wanda's comment that she and Cosmo were "teenagers in the 1590s." Obviously that's not true even in this show's canon since Cosmo and Wanda have been married for 10k, 20k years.

... Actually, did they say they'd been married that long in this show? They keep talking about their 10k-year vacation, not their marriage.

Point being, I'm going to try sussing out Peri's New Wish age at a later date using some information, though my 'fics will stick to my already established timeline.

There's a Dancing Tarantula movie AND a Crimson Chin movie? Dev's probably been in and out of this theater a lot lately, because those posters match the ones in his room. I wonder if he has a private theater and exclusive screening rights.

Queen.

Why do I get the feeling they're about to drop Fairy puberty info on Hazel and they probably gave this talk to Peri while posed in a similar way? oh no.

I don't think this is something I'll include in my canon because it doesn't fit my Fairy biology and I already have my own established puberty stuff in 'fic, but I admire the goofiness.

-> But I'm glad I got to hear them talk about pheromones / fairymones, because I definitely use those and it makes me laugh. Insect people...

Btw, "tons of red splashy sauce on body" is really bad on my hemophobia, so I'm censoring the screenshots.

This is so funny to me. Concerned dad gives The Talk.

They're cute. Very shape.

slkdjf, Peri watching Hazel on the news. I love how he squirms his legs uncomfortably- "Oooh... Pasta puberty. I do not miss that."

Is he at his parents' place, avoiding Dev? Or is this his room?

I'm pretty sure he's at Cosmo and Wanda's. You can tell from the stars on the stairwell behind him, plus I remember a couch that made me think of Princess Peach, AND they had a window on that wall overlooking Fairy World.

Between this and "Multiverse" (the other of its pair)... Not sure I love the implication that after the Irep drama, Dev's not been taking Peri to school and Peri's not making the effort to be near him. Uh-oh...

They really are like exes who can't stand to be under the same roof, for real, for real.

Alternate explanation: Peri's on his lunch break.

Maybe he's tracking Dev's phone, waiting 'til he's needed.

?? Is that how everyone in this show holds forks? Because I seem to remember Poof flip-flopping through ambidexterity before settling in with right-handedness after left-handed Foop was born, and it's very funny to see Poof hold his fork with his presumed less dominant fist.

I get the purpose of making the item easy to draw by having it face us, but I laugh.

Now that I think about it (in retrospect after Peri bragged about how he'd been following Dev around even after he quit)... I like how Peri thinks his parents hover too much and then he also hovers too much.

Geez, fairy kids have it rough. Terrible Twos, pooferty, and now this? Apparently growing into your magic just wrecks you.

Also, I want a 'fic about Hazel's parents inviting Cosmo, Wanda, and their son over and everyone (especially Antony who probably thinks he's Peri's age) just asks Peri a bunch of questions about if he's doing school or a job or whatever and he's just /laughs nervously.

Hazel's parents are so good to her and they've clearly taught her to communicate well and politely set boundaries. The contrast between them and Clark and Connie Carmichael is hilarious.

I'm glad Cosmo and Wanda have no sense of things Hazel would find gross.

This and "Multiverse of Jenkins" were really fun filler episodes!

[auramgold]

pokémon mystery dungeon: victory fire is by far my favourite piece of pokémon media and as a fancomic it blends so much of the world together so brilliantly that i never can shut up about it

but it's so hard to recommend not only because it's been on eternal hiatus since the start of 2019 (;_;), but also because in order to understand it you need to have played/watched:

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team (any of them will do), including postgame plot

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, including the entire postgame plot and multiple of the special side stories

Pokémon Colosseum

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Pokémon Black/White (either will do)

Pokémon Black 2/White 2 (either will do, though probably the same as you did for the first ones)

Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, including the censored prologue The Uncut Story of Mewtwo's Origin

every one of those is essential to understanding what's actually going on with the plot and reading Victory Fire before them will spoil all of them. in addition to this, the comic also makes pretty clear reference to these, though they're less essential

Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

the seventh pokémon movie Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys

the sixteenth pokémon movie Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened

and most people, fun fact, haven't been obsessive pokémon fans all their life so i can't share the beauty of it with everyone (even ignoring the eternal hiatus 😭)