#genuinely. i just like writing darker stuff or whatever

[olderthannetfic]

I find it really sad when proshippers partake in "cringe culture" so to speak. you can't build your platform on anti-harassment and then make fun of people for being into something you deem stupid/trash/etc.

Like, I know in my mind that proshipping is more about anti-censorship and being pro "darker" stuff so to speak, and that it's not REALLY built on "we shouldn't make fun of people for reading/watching Stupid Stuff" but shouldn't the two be connected? I'd honestly argue that the latter argument is a stepping stool to the former?

Because how can you reblog "all ships are good ships" "ship and let ship" and then make fun of someone for being for an adult who still ships Steven Universe characters? How can you post "RPF is fine" but then make fun of that person on stan twitter who's a bit too into kpop rpf?

just makes me sad. The people who have made fun of me for the most for my MCU hyperfixation are my fellow proshippers. I've unfollowed people for posting book-tok screenshots that are clearly just mocking the OP for the fact that they read Colleen Hoover or whatever.

And I'm not talking about privately shittalking something, or just hating something in general; I'm not not even really talking about laughing at the *media/media creator itself* and criticizing it. I mean, I myself still laugh at the "read another book" Harry Potter meme (which, if i really need to add a disclaimer, i am DEFINITELY not talking about people who think it's weird and fucked up af that some people still like JKR as a person because. . .how can you at this point?). Moreso I mean people who claim to be SOOOO anti harassment and SOOOO pro-all-forms-of-art-even-'bad'-art (whether the art be bad in a moral way or in a creative way, whatever "art" "bad" "moral" and "creative" even MEAN because it changes with everyone.)

Obviously no one is going to like every single piece of art ever, and it's, imho, really human to be a "hater" to some degree! I just have a problem when someone genuinely makes fun of the FANS of something or thinks that someone is less intellectual just because the someone in general likes Disney/Twilight/Taylor Swift/Hamilton/whatever. No one gives af if you think a certain writing or acting style is cringe, but if you think the fans are cringe, that says more about you than it does about the fandom.

(also as a send off -- all the 'yous' i said here were general, def not directed at anyone on this blog. I'm just venting and this seems like the best place to do so where people will agree with my words.)

--

[scamera-writes]

Eating Your Love

Contains heavier topics (content warnings in the tags)

I’ve never loved something with half my heart I only love fully, whole-heartedly if you will

I love like jumping off a cliff and not knowing if there is water below. I love like a gun with two barrels and one bullet and laying it in your hands with my eyes closed. I love like sipping at poisoned wine and knowing you have the antidote under your tongue. I love like a knife to my sternum and trusting you to wrap your hands around it.

I will stare into your irises and give you my heart Still warm with love and blood The shades of red mix on our palms And I will leave fingerprints on your cheek

A gift of my undying willingness and trust A sign of my hopefulness and passion A desperate ask for you to place your heart in my hands A wish for a returning love to cradle to my face

We can place them on the table And sit and eat together Sipping at glasses of blood While our hearts pump in synchrony Staining the porcelain red

Your teeth will chip the chalice And I cut my tongue in your mouth. Your lips will spill smoke And I will let my lungs fill with gray ash.

I will leave my chest seeping with blood A gaping hole to my missing organ Sticky and raw flesh, red in my love for you Torn bones cutting your fingers when you touch me

So that when you drop my hand and my heart I can place it back in my rib cage Stitch the wound closed with kisses And wait for another to pour my love out onto

-Eating Your Love (By me)

[azurlily]

Guess whose not dead?!

(This is an actual post with a character, just scroll down to the pink bow if you don't want to read this.)

I was in and out of the hospital for a long time. I'm sorry I haven't been writing, but I'm doing so much better. I've closed requests so I can catch up on the ones I currently need to do.

I also wanted to mention some of the newer works(that AREN'T being requested) that I plan to make will probably be either smut or darker stuff. It's a way for me to cope and I enjoy writing altogether.

Yandere!CEO x Fem!Reader

Morena(yan!ceo) x fem!reader

Synopsis: You're a young woman working in the tech industry, you know people(mostly men) don't take you seriously. Due to the constant stress of needing to be better (just to be considered good) you are constantly anxious and jittery, you've also developed a depressive mindset and you consistently struggle with taking your medication.

You just got a new job by a large, female owned, tech company! You thought you'd feel better and you wouldn't have to deal with a toxic environment. You were dead wrong; your boss is a bitch and expects constant perfection and no less. You were just barely able to make it under her radar, until she starts going through files- and you find yourself in her office with a deal you just aren't allowed to refuse.

Not like you can refuse a demon after all?

TW: Non-consensual kissing and physical touch, somewhat mentions future kidnapping.

The reader is kissed(while under a spell that takes away will-power from their body) and is forced to sign a contract against their wishes.

You stand quietly, with your hands in front of you- clasped together so tightly you'd think you were about to get in your knees and pray. But no, instead you were ready to beg to not be fired.

That's what this was right? You were getting fired and your horrible, asshole, bitch-faced boss wanted to say it to your face. You could cry, you almost did on the way here.

Yet as much as you wish you weren't in this situation, as much as you wish you could repent for whatever you did; you genuinely have no idea why you've been called here. You've never gotten a write up, all your reports are clean and bug free, and you work well with seemingly everyone.

You stand face forward, staring at the woman who decides wether you get to eat for the next month. The same woman who while you hate her, you can't -no you won't- deny her beauty. You-

"Hello?! Do you hear me or are you too busy pissing yourself to pay attention?"

You look down, wondering if you genuinely did pee yourself, only to see dry pants and floor. You look back up at her and she gives you the look of someone who both wants to laugh and yell(not in the good way).

You wondered if there was something who had tried to sue her for how rude she was. I'm sure there could be some sort of case, as long as there was proof. Hell, even witnesses would do.

"Sorry, ma'am. What exactly is it you called me for? Has my team done something wrong, did we miss some meeting, or did-"

She stands up, slamming her hand on the desk so loudly it echoes. You nearly jump out of your skin- was she going to hit you?!

"Be quiet. I can't handle you prattling on like a cow. I'm not firing you, nor am I firing anyone on your team. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Oh and please- call me Miss Morena. Thank you."

Oh she is definitely a condescending bitch.

You thought for a moment, 'quite the opposite'. So you aren't getting fired, hell you may be getting a raise! Maybe Morena wasn't so bad of a boss. Maybe she just likes hard workers.

"Thank you, ma- Miss Morena. If I may ask: does this mean I'm getting a promotion?"

Morena smiles, not the smile you give someone when they're right about something. The smile you give when you're a fox, and you've just cornered the bunny you've been trying to catch.

"Yes, a promotion of sorts. I actually have a contract for you, but I can give you the gist and read the rest to you later."

Morena pulls an inch thick stack of papers from the desk. She sets them aside with a pen and slowly steps out from the desk. Morena signals you to come closer, but you only take a few steps forward. You could practically feel how badly this situation was going to go.

As Morena got closer, you began to feel more compelled to make eye contact with her. Like someone was whispering into the back of you mind, telling you to look up. To look into the beautiful blue eyes that Miss Morena holds. To never look away; keep your eyes on hers.

Don't look away from me. I always get what I want and that isn't changing anytime soon, little rabbit.

"Well I've been looking over employee information and I noticed you moved from very, very many jobs before you got to this one. Never staying in one place. I never really liked people like that, and from what I've seen, people like that have done the same with my company. Now I hope -very strong word here- that someone with skills like yours wouldn't do something to this company. I hope that you'd stay, willingly of course. You would stay willingly, right?"

Of course you would, you never had any interest in leaving. You planned to stay past the one year mark, past the time where everyone would get raises in order to ensure you were getting a that this place was a good opportunity. You loved it here, you loved you teammates, your boss, you loved the office building itself.

"Of course I'm staying, Miss Morena. I would never leave."

The words coming out of your mouth felt robotic, they felt like you were lying to yourself and others. Like you were in your body, but you weren't the one speaking.

"Good girl, now go over to my desk and sign you name on all of those papers. Don't read them, you don't need to. You can put all your trust in me."

You did exactly as you were told, you signed every paper with you signature. You didn't even think, your body was moving like second nature. You had this warm feeling in your gut, this safe and controlled feeling. You like feeling like this- don't you?

You hear some shuffling behind you and yet you can't turn around to see what's going on. You only hear a voice.

"You know while your under I guess I can explain. You can't really yell at me or try to run away, so I can speak my peace. You're going to be the newest human I suck the life out of! But hey, for the next few months you'll get to live lavishly and without fear of anything. Other than me of course!"

Your brain registered what she was saying, but you couldn't respond. What were you doing to do? What could you do?

"Come here bunny."

You turn around and walk straight into Morena's arms. She gently grabs your face, you just noticed three of her fingers on her left hand have been filed down. Meanwhile the nails on her right hand, as well as her pinky and thumb on her left, are long and colorful.

Morena pulls you closer to her, her lips ghosting over your mouth. You feel her press her lips to yours and you get an overwhelming feeling of disgust wash over you. You feel nothing but utterly dirty as she kisses you, you feel like someone's just stabbed you and is trying to clean the wound to make themselves feel better about the act.

Your eyes are wide open the entire time, so you watch Morena go from kissing you deeply to pulling back in what looks to be shock. Her pupils dilate slowly, her eyes relaxing and you see nothing but black take over.

"Oh...oh you're much too sweet to kill."

Morena gently moves you head to the side pressing her tounge against your neck. You feel her shiver and watch as she pulls back with a dark smile on her face.

"I take back what I said about you enjoying these next couple of months. . . You'll get to enjoy such pleasures for the rest of your life. With me."

You let your body process her words this time, you don't know how to react. Instead you feel your eyes wet themselves, your expression hadn't even changed. And yet, you were crying. Morena notices almost immediately and you watch her face distort itself into a disdainful look of annoyance, until it twists into one of sadistic pity.

"Oh, shh, bunny. Hush now, stop those tears. I'll take the spell down once were home, in my home you wont be able to run away. So you can have a tantrum all you want there. I know you don't like me right now, you maybe even hate me, but give it some time. You'll realise you need someone, and I'm the best you'll be getting for the rest of your pathetic human life."

Everything goes black after that.

[teardrop-scales]

Matchup for @babulejka

I match you with...

Macaque!

I think you two would be a genuinely healthy and good couple.

Macaque could definitely use someone like you. Your kindness, cheerfulness and politeness as well your energy and optimistic outlook would contrast well with his more quiet, snarky, sassy and brooding nature. You two give me a "miss sunshine and mr grumpypants" kinda vibe, and that's good honestly! It's one of my favorite ship dynamics XD

You said you have an elegant and lady-like kinda vibe as well, and these vibes also seem like something Macaque would be into for some reason.

Considering both your styles and your looks compared with Macaque's style, I think you two would be an aesthetically pleasing to look at couple. I can't really put into words why, but I think your clothing styles would fit Macaque's general vibe.

Macaque is very attentive and observant, so he'd give you some rings, earrings or brooches that he thinks you would like, or just ones that reminded him of you. You wouldn't even have to say at any point to him that you like that kind of stuff, he would notice on his own because he actually pays a lot of attention to you.

Generally I feel like Macaque is the type of person who quietly notices and notes down in his mind what kind of things you like, so he knows what kind of gifts would make you the happiest.

Macaque admires you for having so many interesting hobbies and passions.

He is a theater kid for sure, with his love for dramaticness and shadow plays, and you have a few hobbies that kinda match that.

He is amazed when he learns that you do ballet. You better believe that he will be at your every show if you participate in that sort of thing, in exchange that you come to his shadow plays as well, of course.

I mean, you literally said you organize puppet theaters! And Macaque is into shadow plays, which is also a form of theatre! I'm sure that's only one of the many topics you could talk to each other and bond about. If that doesn't prove that you two would be perfect for each other, I don't know what will lol.

He'll try to get into some of your hobbies. They are so creative and interesting, like I said, Macaque admires that very much as a theatre kid himself.

I headcannon that Macaque, like you, can also play a few instruments and sing quite well. And considering his storytelling during that one shadow play episode, maybe he would be good at composing songs too and writing poems. So I can see the two of you having music sessions, just playing your instruments and singing together. Macaque would also definitely offer to help you in writing songs and such.

Macaque is a demon and a celestial monkey; he's pretty strong and has a good stamina, so he'd gladly try to get into your hobbies such as fencing or archery and practice with you.

But he wouldn't try horse riding. Just... No.

Like you, Macaque also wouldn't probably limit to just one or two love languages and instead would try to show his love in different ways. Although he may be a little shy and distrustful of physical contact especially when you're the one initiating it, since how much trauma this guy has and what he's been through... So you'd have to be a little gentle and patient with that, but he'll come around and understand that you won't hurt him after some time.

Your love for nature and fascination with the world around you was probably one of the many things that made Macaque fall in love with you. He would gladly take you for walks around Flower Fruit Mountain and introduce you to the little monkeys.

And he has his shadow portals! Which means, he can take you all around the world basically. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to see or experience, just say the word. Your wish is his command.

If you start talking to him about space or oceans or just any topic that you're interested in, he'll listen to you while staring at you with a soft smile.

Surprisingly or not, I think he would like your darker sense of humour. I feel like it could match his snarkiness and his brooding nature.

He knows you're stubborn, but he wouldn't let you overwork yourself. He has a silver tongue when he wants to, so he definitely would try to coax you into taking a break, and preferably spending some free time with him. If that doesn't work, well... He's much stronger than you, so he'd probably just take you into his arms forcefully and drag you away from your work lmao.

Oh, and he'd definitely eat anything you bake or cook. If you bake cookies or something similar he'd probably try to steal some before they're even ready, just to mess with you. He'd use his shadow portals and do it when you're not looking. We all know he's pretty sneaky.

A.N: I know I haven't mentioned all your info and your hobbies, sorry for that, but girl, you have SO MANY of those, if I mentioned every thing this would be too long I think XD. Hope you're satisfied.

[writermask-0807-backupblog]

A/N: for @nunezs-stuff who requested this! I sincerely hope that I’ve done your request justice, and apologies for the delay. There might a few mistakes since this is my first time writing yandere. And I also sort of may not have met your OC’s personality quirks, but hey, I tried. Hope you enjoy! 

Warnings: probs super Cringe cus it’s my first writing yandere, definitely ooc Genya (ngl he sounds like Bakugou 😭), possessiveness, kidnapping, yandere behavior, different forms manipulation, mentions of being locked inside a house, chained, etc etc, you know the gist. 

When he first meets you at the selection exams, Genya finds you insignificant, another hopeful face in a sea of others- an obstacle in his path. 

Then that indifference to your existence turns into annoyance because you’re like a mosquito he can’t crush, constantly on his heels and by his side, chattering on and on about one whimsical thing or the other, and although he’s made it sure that you know he “doesn’t want your stupid friendship goddamnit!” you just smile gently in response, undeterred by his anger. 

Still, for some reason, you stick by his side through thick and thin despite his insults and his unwarranted anger and his rough edges, and slowly, the annoyance turns into expectation.

As slow as it is, Genya begins to expect your constant  presence by his side, he begins to expect the shape of your mouth curving into a smile just for him, and he, begrudgingly, begins to accept it. 

Then the acceptance begins to swell into something more, something like attachment and something else he can’t yet discern. 

You begin to make him feel… different.

You with that soft voice and meek eyes, you with that gentle touch and saccharine sweet smile that makes his heart wrench for someone reason, and the first thing Genya wonders is, is he sick? 

The answer is yes, yes he is. Lovesick for you, that is. 

Genya doesn’t accept it, at first, doesn’t want to ruin what he already has with you, but he knows that these feelings won’t go away either. 

So he shows his love for you in subtle ways. 

Whenever Genya sees something you’d deem cute, you’d find it by your bedside table by the next morning, and you know it’s him, judging by the furious red dusting his cheeks and ears when you next see him, and you wisely decide not to poke him about it, so instead you just grin, brighter than before. 

He’ll share his food with you if he knows you skipped a meal, and whenever you’re feeling down, he’ll try his best to cheer you up, so “quit sulkin` around!” 

And although he looks disinterested to any outsiders, Genya makes sure to hang onto your every word as you talk, even though it’s probably about cute, pink things you like or some other airy topic he probably won’t understand much. 

And then the lovesickness bleeds into something unhealthily darker. 

Genya genuinely believes you’re not something he deserves, but he’s selfish, and he wants to keep you for himself, because he knows good things in his life are fickle, and never last long. 

So when he sees you chatting with Tanjiro, with that same soft, tender smile that’s meant only for him, Genya decides that while he’s not worthy of you, nobody really is. 

Nobody but him are allowed to see you. To touch you. Nobody but him are allowed to see the way you smile, or hear the sound of your laughter. 

You are his, and his alone, so he wards off anyone else who wants to talk you, all bared teeth and jagged scars and growling voice. 

See, since it’s not an if when you’ll get into fights about his possessiveness, and rather a when, he’ll weasel his way out of it by manipulating you in whatever way he can. 

He will lie, guilt-trip, gaslight you and victimize himself, and since Genya is quite insecure- in himself, in your relationship, half of it is not even a lie. 

He’ll also probably use his guilt about the whole Sanemi incident to convince you be with him. 

And that’s not even the worst of it. 

Since you’re both demon slayers, and your soft-spoken demeanor makes him think you’re a little bit weaker than the average slayer, he’ll try to get you to quit. 

And when that doesn’t work, and you get injured in a mission, Genya takes it upon himself to, in his mind, protect you. 

(He knows you won’t willingly quit the corps so he’ll knock you out if he has to, and keeps you in a house he’s made his own, just for this reason only.)

You’re granted the freedom to do whatever you want to  inside the house. 

Since he doesn’t have any estates like the Hashiras, he will take you outside with him by his side so you won’t be able to escape, his hand resting on your lower back or on your arm, a reminder that you’ll never be able to escape, not with him around. 

And, well, if he finds anyone else trying to help you escape…

He’ll make sure they’re not around to help you out a second time. 

Overall, you have no chance to escape, because he’s barred the windows, made sure to lock all the doors in locks strong and heavy enough for you to not be able to break. 

Hell, he’s even chained you inside your room, just for an extra measure. 

This is all to ensure that, you’ll be by Genya’s side forever. 

“I love you, I love you, I love you, goddamnit! Why can’t you understand that?! This is all for you. This is all for you, so why are you looking at me like that?!” 

FIN-

[twistedastrology]

Outer Planets & Affliction: What destroys a man.

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

gonna talk abt a much darker topic today bc i feel like it and it's absolutely fascinating to me from a very morbid perspective (which happens a lot 4 me)

im gonna start this off by saying this is mostly focusing on extreme cases/what Could happen due to outer planet affliction, none of this is definite if u have afflicted outer planets bc it depends on the severity of their affliction and how many good counter aspects u have to them that help u heal!! :)

to start, the outer planets to me are Saturn to Pluto, so let me give u a quick rundown of what I think these planets are responsible for when they're heavily afflicted:

Saturn - Destruction of the will, the snuffing of one's inner, driving fire.

Uranus - Destruction of the mind, losing your cognitive function, going insane.

Neptune - Destruction of the spirit, loss or lack of intuition, feeling lost within your own life.

Pluto - Destruction of the body, the vessel decays and lacks the strength to repair itself.

i wanna say as well that all of this essentially came to me in a vision from god, i genuinely had no basis in my head initially, i was just rambling to myself in my head and all of this clicked and then it genuinely made sense and i even had evidence to back it up, so i wanted to post abt it because i love dark stuff like this (my blog name isn't twisted astrology for no reason- i mean like the reason was bc it was a play on twist and twisted transistor by korn But yknow it gains reasons as i go on-)

let's go over why each planet destroys what they do:

Saturn destroys the will because it rules over time and persistance- Capricorns are more often than not very driven people, Saturn grounds them and gives them the stability and willpower to see things through. A strong Saturn is often manifested as a very powerful driving force, as the planet often acts an incredibly crucial pillar, if not the foundation in a person's chart.

Uranus destroys the mind because it's the higher octave of Mercury. It rules over innovation and change, even higher thought. A strong Uranus is often an indicator of a genius in whatever area of life the planet is placed into. Thus, when afflicted, it completely shatters and even lacks this potential altogether.

Neptune destroys the spirit because it's known as the planet of spirituality. It's the planet of our higher self and our shadow self, it's our connection to the planes of existence beyond our own. A strong Neptune is often indicative of enhanced intuition, and can even mean the person has a heightened level of awareness of their place in the world and where they're meant to be in life. So naturally, an afflicted Neptune means a complete lack of perspective and the loss/lack of the ability to realize there is more than the self, making one feel lonely, inadequate, and lost.

Pluto destroys the body because it rules over death, transformation and rebirth. It even rules over destruction itself, and its connection to death gives it an inherent connection to the physical body as well. A strong Pluto can manifest as a strong will, but also as a higher pain tolerance because of that. Therefore when it's afflicted, the soul's vessel lacks the ability to transform and regenerate itself effectively, and ultimately will crumble to pieces throughout the course of life.

OK- lemme write normally now instead of all fancy n shit 😮‍💨 But what's my evidence to prove all this-

well someone i know has very heavily afflicted outer planets, mainly saturn, uranus and pluto, but neptune was kinda roped into the affliction as well- and all of this checks out.

saturn especially hits him hard, which also makes it all karmic so idk wtf bro did in a past life but it had to've been Bad bc he's got some SERIOUSLY afflicted outer planets like jesus fucking christ- and like i dont wanna talk too much shit on here but he's insufferable to say the least and, probably bc of the afflicted saturn, will not do the work to fix it.

would genuinely hate to be him on his death bed like 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

ANYWAY-

like i said initially tho this does not mean if u have a kinda afflicted uranus, ur gonna go insane!!! no sir!!! it's just abt the extremes n stuff and what i have literally seen happen with my own eyes- i think most people have enough soft aspects to get them into the process of healing, maybe not even soft aspects maybe just solid placements- it's all subjective, rly-

but this is also a really good way to talk abt the Power that these planets have- they are NOT to be fucked with bc when afflicted, they can obliterate you and your entire life tbh- i dont think they Want to unless you somehow have beef with them but overall they are just incredibly powerful planets and i truly think when reading someone's astrology chart, you GOTTA look at the outer planets bc otherwise you're missing out on SOOOOO much crucial information.

i always say that i think outer planets, whether in transit or in a natal chart, have the absolute MOST impact on a person despite being so far away.

far away ≠ lack of impact.

i hope this was interesting to read or at least thought provoking bc i absolutely LOVE dark topics like these, probably my moon/neptune in my 8th house tbh- i mean im genuinely fucking petrified of tornadoes like lilapsophobia type shit but i still put that image here because i unfortunately think they are really fucking cool at the same time (ive had multiple nightmares where tornadoes have killed me. but like........ they're kinda cool......and i hate them........)

anyway!!!!! thank u for reading this far into my yapping session 🙏🙏

[saccharinemeat]

hi! VERY strong anti here. trying to be civil. just genuinely asking, why do you like proships. genuinely. why. what makes them so good to you? to me, they, well, make me feel nauseous and gross. sometimes even violated depending on what it is. what about these, honestly, gross ships is so good to you? what makes you think they're good? i'm not looking for an argument. just,, answers.

Alright, I'll answer in good faith here, because i really appreciate not picking a fight or an argument

First off, please, don't say , "you like proships" proship doesn't mean "problematic ships", it means "pro" (as in favor of) shipping, that is to say, it's an anti harassment stance on letting people do whatever they want, based off the old fandom saying "ship and let ship"

you dont need to like problematic ships to be proship, you just need to be against harassment of people who enjoy darker or more 'edgy' media, and that's it

As for you question in itself, it's complicated, some problematic ships i enjoy stem from my own trauma and family issues, particularly my abusive mother. Reading and making content with parental incest gives me comfort through the fact that its an inconditional , codependent love. In fiction it feels comforting, but i know reality is way different first hand.

For age gap ships, theres a whole aspect about having someone take care of you, and also again, love regardless of situation, plus there is self insertion as it makes me think of back when i was a teen and had crushes on older people. I couldn't act on them, and I knew that any adult willing to date a child is no good. But within fiction,you can write about it and it would be harmless, generally speaking

For dead dove or more problematic stuff,such as abusive relationships, theres again the desire for love no matter what, and the situations those develop in, are usually trauma bonding for the involved characters

Now, these are not the ONLY reasons i enjoy such ships. There's also the aspect that i just like some of them aesthetically, or i see their chemistry in a romantic light, Or i have a streak of sadism towards a certain character.

Another reason is the potential for interesting fan content, particularly fanfiction, wholesome ships are sweet and cute and can be hot even, but it's all very by the book. The exploration of their emotions, thoughts and actions in messed up situations is more interesting to me

For sibling incest particularly, i just feel that they're usually developed in such a way that it can easily be seen as romantic, since we spend so much time with them, and seeing them fight and bond and laugh and promise to be together, that it just clicks different

and, It's understandable that you feel nauseated and grossed out by a lot of these, in fact, there are problematic ships and tropes i hate and despise, despite the fact that i love other messed up content for example

- I hate bully/victim ships

- I hate uncle/niece ships

- I hate cheating stories

- I hate forced feminization

- I dislike enemies to lovers

- I dislike anything involving characters I consider too young

- I dislike vomit and sick fic

a lot of people love these! but i dont! some of them make my skin crawl! but i dont go and yell at them, i dont comment on their things, I just block them and move on, and focus on the stuff i DO like ,which is what i generally suggest

Fictional exploration of darker stories is okay, and generally harmless. I know the argument that it can be used to groom people, but truly, that's not the fault of the content or its creator, the blame is fully on the groomer.

Also, if we started banning or bashing things that can be used to groom others, we'd have to ban stuff like plushies, candy, adult collectionists of cartoon merch, comics, books,etc etc

ANYTHING can be used to groom a person, if there's a groomer targeting them. nothing is safe if there's an actual pro contact pedophile with the intention to groom a child. The only way to prevent these things is to be taught about them, and to learn to not take life advice from fanfiction, which should be a given.

Like seriously, think about it. let's see, a safe hobby, non fandom related....

okay, imagine theres a minor who's very interested in learning about history and historical maps of the world.

This kid joins an unsupervised group online, and talks about wanting to make friends, and does make some nice, age appropriate friends

They feel generally safe online

Then,a groomer targets them, befriends them and brings up the fact that they collect maps, and they love history just like the kid.

then moves into talking about 'old customs' and starts planting the idea that old societies were in the right about child marriage and so on, until they actually gets what they want, and commits a crime.

The groomer didn't need a fanfic to convince the kid

they just needed to manipulate the child into trusting them, using whatever the kid liked.

who do you think it's at fault here?

the kid? the history book? the group? the internet? Nope.

It's the groomer's fault for targeting the child

and it's the parent's fault for not teaching online safety to their kid.

[blazehedgehog]

How DID FNAF get so popular in 2014? (God, that was 9 years ago.) Was it just a right place, right time thing?

A bit, yeah.

I think it's pretty clear from the popularity of Halloween that kids like to be scared (and to scare each other). There was a whole market that a lot of studios either forgot about or never tapped into.

Because, like, when you think about "horror for kids," you think about, like... Grabbed by the Ghoulies, or Luigi's Mansion, or even that one Haunted Mansion game Disney put out.

Games that are absolutely more silly than scary.

But we were in the era of the "creepypasta," which was undoubtedly dominated by kids between the ages of 13 and 18 writing about how their Sega Genesis was oozing blood or they had summoned Jeff the Killer by calling his number at 3am or whatever.

And this was after years of top Youtube Let's Players cutting their teeth on games like Amnesia and Cry of Fear. Kids were now intimately familiar with actual horror. They were hungry for sterner stuff than the typical idea of what kids could tolerate. Googly-eyed skeletons and technicolor sheet ghosts weren't cutting it anymore.

Five Nights at Freddy's was laser focused at this demographic: characters and a premise even adults find scary (uncanny animatronics turned killers) married with extremely simple gameplay that's all about building up to what is effectively somebody going "Boo!"

I currently live with my brother and his family, and he has twin sons. They're six years old. When it's time for bed, they give hugs to everyone. And when it comes time for my hug, every night for the last year, they try to sneak into my bedroom so they can jump out and shout "Boo!"

And when they do manage to surprise me (either because I play along or because they genuinely come in so quiet and secretly that I do not notice), it is one of the greatest things for them. They'll go bouncing out of my room and one will proclaim to the other "I GOT UNCLE RYAN!"

Even six year olds like the "Boo!" It's universal. The ultimate, most primal form of prank.

And despite trading in dark themes (dead children and a conspiracy to hide their deaths), there's no blood in FNAF. The violence is, at most, implied. And since the lore was deliberately obfuscated, its darker themes are gated by how deep you're willing to dive. Younger kids who might not be keen enough to figure out the easter eggs and hidden story elements are spared, whereas older kids can devour theory crafting videos until their eyes cross.

I don't necessarily think Scott Cawthon did everything deliberately. He's on the record saying FNAF was kind of a last ditch effort for him to be successful at game development, after all his other (Christian/Educational) projects were non-starters. I think certain parts of FNAF were probably more a happy accident. But he did land in the right place, at the right time, with the right game for what an audience of 13-18 year olds was most likely to connect with at the time.

And in the bigger picture, it was like the popularity of characters like The Crypt Keeper, Jason Vorhees and Freddy Kreuger finally came home to roost. Those were characters of the late 80's and early 90's that found surprising popularity with kids of the era. Growing up I was both amused and terrified of the myriad of Freddy Kreuger merchandise, and they straight up made a Tales from the Crypt saturday morning cartoon. From something that aired on HBO at 10pm and routinely had nudity and quite a bit of gore.

Even if their parents never liked it, kids have been getting scared by adult horror for decades.

Now, with FNAF, it was literally Good Christian Fun™ with enough of an edge to it that kids didn't feel like they were being talked down to.

[thorniest-rose]

hello 🖤 out of curiosity what kind of stuff do you consider dark? because i want to write dark stuff for steddie but don’t want backlash. i wonder if what I consider dark is too much, but to know there was an audience for certain things would really help me to go for it. ( for example i love age gaps and want to do 30-40 year old Eddie with teen Steve: dad/babysitter, rockstar/groupie, motorcycle daddy/runaway, teacher/student [dare i say stepfather/stepson sksksk] etc. but have received crit for like, 2 year difference ) and i wonder if it’s the content itself or how it’s handled? because when people write age difference/incest without highlighting how creepy the older one feels it doesn’t *feel* dark if that makes sense. (your eddie is clearly aware of what he is so there’s dark energy to it) but maybe im wrong. i would genuinely love to hear your thoughts. 🖤🖤

hi there!! oh this is such an interesting question, thank you so much.

So what do I consider dark? It's difficult in a way because everyone has different thresholds and comfort levels when it comes to fic, I have a very high threshold and not many triggers. For me, dark fic that I'm interested in reading and writing includes dysfunctional, destructive relationships where there's obsession, jealousy, codependency and control at play, but where both people like it, and don't want to change or have a healthier dynamic or set firmer boundaries. Sometimes I like reading fic about relationships that are abusive and I enjoy reading and writing fic where there's dubious consent (or even non-con) and BDSM relationships where there isn't good etiquette and where there aren't standard things like safewords. Like I love when the sub belongs to the Dom and the Dom calls all the shots and says they know what their sub needs. It's not how relationships should be irl of course, but it's all fantasy.

I love age difference fics too! I would love to write a fic with teen Steve where Eddie's in his 30s, I think that would be so wrong and hot. Like I love all the things and dynamics you've mentioned in your ask! And I think it's such a shame that people feel too frightened to write dark fic a lot of the time, or that they've been made to feel gross and weird for wanting to explore dark and more complex dynamics. Or even just enjoy things without feeling judged for it. So I'm sorry that you want to write fics like this but feel like you can't because of potential backlash. And I wish I could advise more on what things could cause backlash and what won't, because in the past I've had so much hate and abuse for things I've written but in this fandom I've had hardly any abuse at all, so it's really hard to quantify.

I would say this, completely genuinely, that I think you should write whatever you want because you shouldn't have to censor yourself or repress what you want to write. I can guarantee there will always be an audience for it, and people who will be so excited to read darker fic and dynamics. It might be a smaller audience, but it'll be very enthusiastic, and that'll make it completely worth it. If you want to be cautious too, you could have an ao3 account that's separate to your main account to post dark fic, or you could moderate comments. And if you do get shitty people, ignore them and delete any abuse you get. I've found in the past that it's when I give people air and try to engage with them that they get worse. But when I completely ignore them, they get starved of oxygen and give up. And usually if people say anything, it's just a small group of nasty people too, it'll never be as many people as you fear it could be.

There's also the chance that no one will say anything mean and people will love your fics! And if you feel passionately about your ideas, you should go for it! I'm on the cusp of posting a fic that's pretty dark, where intoxicated Steve is being used by multiple men for sex at a party, and the fic I'm writing with Azriel is probably the darkest fic in this fandom, it explores so many uncomfortable topics and will be so dead dove. And because of that we except it to have a smaller readership than a lot of other fics, but we also know the small group of people who do read it will love it, and that makes it so worth it. Plus it's so freeing to finally write a dark fic without feeling like I have to restrain myself, so you should feel free to do it too.

So please, I hope this has helped and encouraged you, even a little. And if you do write any of these fic ideas, let me know because I'd love to read them!!! <3

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

🔥 give me two , one about shipping , one about following / unfollowing — all good if you don't have an ' unpopular ' opinion per se ! just happy to hear your thoughts

✧ ━━ 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃 "🔥" 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐏𝐎𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝙼𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙿𝚃𝚂

I'm really glad you said that the opinion doesn't actually have to be unpopular because I have no idea what's considered a popular opinion or not (☛ ´∀｀*)☛ I know I'm always writing on here but I genuinely know nothing about anything on tumblr outside of the circle that I'm in, and I don't really take part of fandom except at cons. So I'll just list a few things I guess and we'll go from there ━

I don't like the idea of characters "deserving each other". I think what matters most is that the feelings are mutual and not one-sided. Not only that but sometimes people use this as a way to justify horrible things happening to said ship or between them? I dont know I'm just not a fan of the connotation.

Shipping real people feels ... icky to me, and like an invasion of privacy. I know a lot of idol/ k-pop companies push it, though. I'm not talking about "oh they look so cute!" I mean like ... 20+ minute analysis videos. If someone made one about me I'd be horrified so ━ I can't really support it being done to somebody else, even if it is innocent at heart, the feeling behind it is just ... not good.

I genuinely can't stand it when a ship that's going to inevitably be complicated and rather fucked up gets turned into a purely fluffy relationship. Granted I enjoy fluff as much as the next person, and anyone can show tenderness towards those they love, but my goodness please let the characters continue to be messed up.

Thaaat being said I can’t see any enjoyment in watching or reading two characters mercilessly abuse one another in a nonconsensual or purely hateful way. Play fighting, both being equally weird and mirroring eachother or general bickering doesn't count - obvs - but if a ship becomes abusive I'll step back from it. I know I know! But Egg you JUST said "keep the relationship and characters fucked up"! Yes! I did, and that doesn't mean that that messed up relationship is abusive or horrible for those characters specifically because its something they both enjoy/willingly take part in. Continuing about this because this is for my own tastes: Its okay to enjoy darker ships and toxic ships! This doesn't mean the person who is enjoying the content believes abuse is alright.

I find that stories that only revolve around romance tend to be extremely dull to me a lot of the time. There should be an idea of where the story is going without romance included, and if the ship comes along then it does. I think those are the ships that tend to feel the most natural since the characters interact without a specific romantic end goal in mind, which makes it all the more sweet when they do come to recognize their feelings as its come from them and not the destined plot ━ I just like it that way though and people can like whatever, y'know?

Possessiveness in ships is like ... very hit or miss for me in how it's portrayed. There's certain instances where its fun but others where it makes me wanna die. Mutual possessiveness/obsession though? Ohooho that is fun to play with, so long as it doesn't become abusive or unbalanced/unwanted by one of the parties. Man - tsk - idk anymore I feel like my opinion is so all over the place but like this all spins back to the toxic abusive relationships being a no no for me like as long as the insanity is consensual between two adults that both like it ? Yeah - that's fine. Does that make sense? I could probably go into stuff about Vladibin with this ( me and borb were talkin about it ) but I won't because I will go on forever and this is already WAYYY longer than I originally intended.

As for unfollowing it's ... whatever to me? There's obviously mutuals that if I lost I'd be really confused/wondering what happened + sad about it but I would still keep my distance; but for the most part I'm unaffected by it ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ I used to care a lot but I grew out of that within like ... 4 months. I know people grow out of their likes and what they want to view, or that they assumed my blog was something else and upon it not being what they wanted, unfollowed - which again, is valid! I don't know I just don't think unfollowing is anything personal ( like, 95% of the time ofc there's always the small percentage that is ). Don't harass people who block you or try to get around the block, things we've heard a thousand times. ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭ ̀ˋ I think though, that if you have been mutuals/friends with someone for a while and plan to unfollow - I think it would be most polite to message said friend to briefly explain why; especially since so many of us have anxiety sometimes it seems like an unfollow means the other party hates the other. It's just nice if you have a history with someone, not necessary, just polite (ง ื▿ ื)ว

[threehuskiesinatrenchcoat]

Oh my gosh, Graves knowing Alejandro likes him and using that to his advantage!!! I am!!! So fuckin!!!! On board!!!!!! I generally only write fluff despite loving to read angst and this genuinely makes me consider breaking that rule.

Imagine after the betrayal, Alejandro is slowly coming to terms with the fact that another lover has betrayed him (the trust issues are gonna skyrocket) and Graves keeps up the flirting just to get under his skin? Him mockingly calling Ale by the cute nickname he had for him? Trying to rile him up enough to make him spill secrets?

In a very dark version this could definitely go into the direction of '141 never finds Alejandro and Graves keeps and breaks him through manipulation and just general mind-fuckery'. Do with that what you will :D

Going back to Spanish, in the version where Graves got forced by Shepard to go along with the betrayal bc idk Shepard was threatening the shadows or something, Graves could maybe secretly inform Alejandro about it and stuff (we ignore that translators exist or maybe the situation doesn’t allow it). And Shepard would be none the wiser that Graves spilled everything to the "enemy".

Also no worries! I know life can be a lot, so no pressure to answer anything I send you immediately. Hope you enjoy the bird :)

okay but the _impact_ it's gonna have on him because he was so sure he's not going to make the same mistake again and here he is. 141 being a little shocked because they didn't even know and rudy feeling so bad for him and trying to talk to him and get some weight off of him and i feel like alejandro would just brush everyone off and wallow in this hurt and anger by himself. and he would definitely feel so guilty for compromising them. because, again, he was so sure that this time is going to be different and he was wrong and it's on him. and everything graves does after this would _definitely_ get to him on a personal level even when he tries to keep the professional cool. like we all saw what valeria's words did to him and that was after some time had passed, in these circumstances he'd definitely lose it

but also. i am so gonna think more about the dark version. this made me think of another idea purely for the sake of a little ooc darker more unhinged version of alejandro?? imagine like. alejandro that just goes along with whatever graves says. maybe 141 couldn't get him out in time and he just decides that they gave up on him for the sake of the mission. maybe graves' reasoning got to him and he tries to help and convince others but no one listens because rudy did once and valeria still did what she did and they're not taking that chance again. maybe he's just so done and tired and hurt after this that he goes along willingly. maybe all of the above in that exact order so it has a bigger impact. i like twisting good characters to the darker side okay. the things that would get them to abandon their principles even if it's out of character are fun to explore. and maybe i enjoy the thought of alejandro becoming graves' right hand man guard dog a little too much?

and the last idea is pretty cool actually! like, what if they're monitored really closely to make sure he will comply. he could disguise some hints as some friendly meaningless banter too in hopes that no one would bother to check. like he at least tried to do something so the whole thing wouldn't turn into a total disaster. and the rest is up to alejandro to get it right, keep his emotions in check and not get furious, and discuss it with 141 to form a plan that hopefully involves helping both sides

[legionofpotatoes]

I’m saying this as someone who’s only exposure to Dune pre movie was a porn parody flash game, and a blog article about said flash game arguing that it was one of, if not the most faithful Dune adaptation of the time…

How the FUCK, do you not see this whole thing and think… “wow, these people are fucked up, and should not be emulated or looked up to in any real way.” Or “wow, this feels like a Manifest Destiny space AU.” Or “the main character being a privileged white kid who manipulates the religion of the people native to the planet to perform a coup by way of monopolizing and bottlenecking a resource necessary for FTL while ALSO exploiting those same native peoples feels like a bad time all around.”

I’m serious when I say the, again, porn parody flash game, where you play as Paul and the whole point is to monopolize the the spice market and create a harem while you were at it, imparted quite well, that the entire scenario was fucked up for many different and varied reasons.

While also being super horny about it

As much as I agree with your greater point, my joke was targeted mainly at younger dudes. The ones that don't necessarily try to parse "meaning" in anything they look at; but ones that will readily internalize all that dramatized and glorified imagery of jingoistic heroism in whatever context it comes packaged in. time's a flat circle! I choose to find it funny for now.

Listen, in the general public consensus, for all intents and purposes Dune is "just another blockbuster movie". its aesthetic trappings very much project a facsimile of your standard hero's journey monomyth. That is just inarguable fact, right? Lanky ass dude gets literally "chosen" and put on a prepared path to messianic glory against his will; his eventual acceptance of that mantle is the entire conflict of dune 1. he ends it by finally heading "into the desert". SUPER shitty optics when you discern the geopolitical allegory of it all, but also the music swells and the short-term pieces of the conflict are set in very black-and-white shades so like. The surface-level plot motions have been fulfilled in very traditional ways. Most young boys won't look further.

There is some lip service hinting at a darker destiny with his visions and his mom's turmoil, but that very much isn't the central POV of the storytelling. And there wasn't a lot of fremen empathy packaged into the ideation either, at least to my eyes; his father's ethos was considered the kind one. and he simply chose to follow it. the rest - all the fucked up implications you mention - are just seedlings for later payoffs. HOPEFULLY.

even the books sort-of interrogate the manifest destiny bullshit much later, when his crusade grows beyond his control and becomes genuine nightmare stuff. again, all of this despite the writing always being on the wall from day one, I don't disagree with that.

I just find it fascinating how well Dune wears both the monomyth and the summer blockbuster coats on its shoulders. I hope that it doesn't buckle to their demands and actually gets to the heart of the issue without too much undue pathos. And that's the mystery of it all for me; so far, the first film is set up to go either direction tbh, and I am very curious to see how it all unfolds. Ergo, your potential fight club 2.0 cocktail mix. It's all just very interesting.

yes, I did write five entire paragraphs without asking about the porn parody flash game. something at the back of my mind tells me that I still shouldn't.

[shadethechangingman]

happy birthday!!! 🎉🎂 if you could create your own fourth world imprint, what books would you include in it?

THANK YOU!!! and thank u for the question:

id love to say just new gods!!! but well thats such a toss up....

lightray solo. theres an article floating around about DC characters who've never received solos and it remarks that while Lightray is overdue, writing a genuinely nice hero would be too hard for most authors and ive been so mad forever

mister miracle source of freedom... 2!

mini about the brandon easton/fico ossio version of orion :D would want to make way for an original orion solo though by the end. maybe they can meet

mokkari and simian in a similar but darker vibe to BUG! or like a The Brak Show thing. id take the allreds back for that even

anthology style with stories from all 3 mister miracles and support cast. would like to see michael avon oeming do some art here

OBERON PRIDE SPECIAL ONESHOT

forever people always. i didnt read past their first solo so i dont know where i would go with that though!

i think a female furies solo that isnt uh like that could be cool. one based on the original series though. i think knockout could still be involved because she IS a villainous mirror of barda and i think should represent the rewritten personalities given to the furies in later comics

jimmy olsen should team up with don rickles again (i never read this issue actually. sorry) jk though i like Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen as a concept always though. his too-good-for-him love interests should unionize though POWER GIRL x BLUE FORAGER 2k23. joke. maybe

young gods as an anthology maybe? or just anything with a general new gods cast, revision of jovita?, id like to see tradd moore draw a lightray story but not the one i listed below, black racer!, silent comedy with fastbak getting into shenanigans, atinai! seagrin! erm TT can explode but i like jog i would see him again, complete wyldhearts connection to fourth world im sure some other stuff

whatever happened on earth-51?

another anthology -> multiverse/AU... maybe address the "theyre the same in every universe" bc thats obviously not truueeee

ive had an idea for a lightray-centric book for years now of him escaping one of desaad's labs deep underground with a half-dissected father box that he doesnt really trust but is his only ally, while orion searches tirelessly for his lost friend while someone (maybe kaiyo?) plays mind games on him. well i think itd be fun

yay thank u for the ask :D

here is a WIP drawing of fastbak:

[ID: Flat-coloured image of Fastbak from DC Comics, flying on his discs. There is an air trail behind him spinning in a loop. End ID]

[spirit-of-a-kiger]

Any ideas on what the Empires SMP Season 2 characters’ worst fears are?

You know that fun trope where some demon or whatever brings the main cast’s worst fears to life? I wanna write a fanfiction where that happens to the ESMP season 2 characters, but there are very few that I’m actually sure what to do with. Even some of the content creators I do watch I’m not 100% sure about.

I’m going to go ahead and put what ideas I do have under the cut, but I’d appreciate suggestions for any of ‘em!

Pixlriffs - I always forget he exists. That alone should say how much I know about him. I’ll probably watch some of his videos before writing this fic so that if nothing else, I can at least get a feel for his personality and the way he talks and stuff.

Joey - I remember seeing a Tumblr post saying he was afraid of skeletons, but that might’ve been a joke.

fWhip - I’ll be honest, I’ve got next to nothing on this one. Maybe a cacophony blaring in his ears?

Gem - I’ve only seen her first episode so far, but I’ve heard people point out that she sleeps more than anyone else on the server. So, maybe she’s afraid of the dark. I was thinking this can manifest with her vision getting darker and darker until everywhere she looks is pitch-black.

Lizzie - Everyone finding out she’s a cat.

Jimmy - Becoming a toy that can barely even move on his own. So, kind of crossing the whole “toy” thing over with helplessness/loss of control.

Joel - Uhhhh... make him short? Weak? I don’t know.

Oli - Put him in a cage, maybe?

False - People being mad at her (and maybe attention in general). I initially thought of the demon making everyone’s tempers flare up every time they interact with her, but I’m not sure if I want it to be able to directly interfere with people’s minds. Instead, maybe it can shoot arrows at the group or something and try to frame her for it.

The thing is, though, I’m not sure if I genuinely wanted that limitation on the demon’s powers or if I just thought of it because people being magically compelled to yell at her every time they notice her makes me uncomfortable. Chickening out is for the characters, not the author! /hj

Scott - I was thinking the demon could pluck out both his eyes, but then the idea of blindness went to Gem, so unless Gem actually fears something more than the dark, I’ve got literally nothing. I want to avoid repeats if at all possible to keep things interesting.

But then, I really like this idea still because a lot of the changes I’ve thought of happen gradually (for example, Jimmy turning into a toy, assuming it’s the wooden dummy kind, is foreshadowed by his jaw aching slightly, while Gem starts off merely squinting), and Scott might be able to see the magic at work, so I like the idea of the demon plucking out his eyes to prevent any spoilers from him.

Sausage - The assassins from his kingdom of origin finding him.

Shubble - The witch academy finding her? Like I said, I want to avoid repeats, so if we’re going with something like that, I will give it to either Sausage or Shubble rather than both. I think Shubble is more likely to have more variety in what I can choose - for example, maybe she can fear her magic either not working at all or getting waaay out of control, and I can give the “scary people from their past finding them” thing to Sausage?

Katherine - The idea that maybe she is, in fact, cursed? Don’t know how this would manifest, though, since as far as I’m aware, her curse pretty much only affects her own kingdom.

[infizero]

one day i will make a beautiful full rewrite of sonic forces like ive always dreamed of doing since i was a 14 year old girl

(ok so um. i started writing stuff in the tags and it accidentally got so long i went far beyond the tag limit. whoops. so this is just an actual post now. read more for my insane sonic forces rewrite ramblings)

i want to so fucking bad. every time i think about the wasted potential that is forces it makes me so depressed ToT i cant help but love forces despite it being garbage. the soundtrack is banging, the character customization is fun, i LOVE infinite, it attempted a darker story like the good ol days..... its so fucking bad but there were so many cool ideas and it drives me insane

also its one of the few sonic games i've actually played firsthand. purely because it was free on like the playstation game pass thing or whatever its called. and i did genuinely have fun with it even if it was pretty easy. also for the longest time of me being a sonic fan, forces was the latest mainline game. that era is when i got into sonic so idk. i cant help but look fondly on it even though its writing choices drive me fucking batty

while thinking about all this i came up with an interesting idea. so. there's something so fucking cool to me about infinite and the avatar's dynamic like. the way that infinite, despite his powers... him being a mobian and that scene of him flying right beside you and stuff..... idk its like he feels more on your level then some like ancient god villain or whatever.

that flying side-by-side scene esp inspired this but ANYWAY. what if, to make him AND the avatar character more interesting.... they were like. childhood friends or something. or just knew each other in the past in general. that would add SO much depth to their interactions within the game of like. infinite calling them weak. flying side by side. infinite's whole classic "character trying to reinvent themself" thing.

like infinite is using the power of the phantom ruby, trying to become strong because shadow called him weak and everything <- which btw this motivation has gotta change/be expanded upon cause this shit is still so silly. shadow called him gay and that's infinite's whole motive. cmon now we can do better than that

ANYWAYS. but that desperation from infinite to become an entirely new person - changing his name, wearing the mask, etc etc. that could become even more interesting if you add someone into the mix who knew infinite BEFORE his transformation.

and i know i know the avatar is supposed to be able to be projected on and stuff whatever whatever. but like idk man. plenty of protagonists have pasts that are part of the story even tho they're customizable. and besides it wouldnt be like a full backstory for the avatar. just the fact that they knew infinite once upon a time. and maybe something happened that split them apart or something. idk. but whatever happened between then and the events of the game wouldn't be elaborated upon, so you'd still be able to come up with your own story for your character if you want to.

and then the avatar's presence in the story could present a conflict for infinite. maybe despite him trying to act like he doesnt care, he like. hesitates. or lets the avatar go at some point. or something. and that gets him in trouble with eggman <- on that note. MORE CONFLICT BETWEEN EGGMAN AND INFINITE. im a little fuzzy on that aspect of the game but from what i can remember that never really goes anywhere. i want infinite being fickle about eggman's orders to MEAN SOMETHING!!!!!

also. i guess infinite could still ambiguously die at the end. but he'd definitely survive and show up in a later game, a la shadow. i need him to. my special boy.

anyways but going back to the avatar and infinite. i rlly think this could make both of them far more interesting than they are now. infinite rlly doesnt have like. an arc over the course of the story? hes just kinda. there. we get his backstory but in the present he kinda just. fights you a few times and then he dies. the end. this would actually give him something to do during the story, even if it was just like. brooding over why he let the avatar go or something.

and like..... i feel like forces SHOULD focus a lot on infinite? at least more so than the actual game did. like it doesnt have to be a shadow sa2 situation where like the whole game is centered around his story but i honestly... wouldnt be opposed to that either. like the war stuff is not that interesting im gonna be real.

also btw OBVIOUSLY the whole "sonic being imprisoned and tortured for 6 months with zero consequences" thing would be changed. that shit is so stupid and pointless. idk for sure if i'd just get rid of it outright or alter it, but probably the latter. cause like it IS actually an interesting scenario: how would these characters react to sonic being presumably dead? (long-term. 06 does not count LOL)

like that genuinely is a fascinating scenario to explore but i think one of the main things is that it would have to take place soon after it happened. none of this 6 months later amy wistfully going "sometimes i still dream sonic is with us....." shit, that is so dumb. WHAT is the point!!!

i'd want the story to start like fairly soon after sonic gets captured. and it wouldnt just be "sonic characters act as war generals" simulator. if we're doing this we are going ALL in. full focus on the characters' emotions and mental states which fluctuate over time. at the beginning they're hopeful but as more time passes with no sign of sonic and them losing more and more land to eggman, things start to crack. that could genuinely be so interesting to watch as long as it was treated with the actual seriousness it deserves instead of the cop-out edginess with no repercussions that the actual game has.

speaking of this part. TAILSSSSSSSS tails in forces was the wasted opportunity of the century. im gonna be real after having so much time to think about it, i really dont think that tails cowering after sonic was defeated was THAT egregious. i definitely think it could've been handled better, considering he had both beat chaos before and thought sonic had died before, BUT. tails is, at the end of the day, still a little kid. no matter how much hes grown and everything, thinking his big brother is fucking dead is probably still gonna fuck him up big time!!!

i also think that the idea of tails out on his own is SO fucking interesting and i am so mad every day that they barely did anything with that. maybe tails DID stay with everyone else at first. maybe after enough time everyone else presumed sonic to be dead and tails got upset because he knows sonic can't be dead, he always comes back, he did last time this happened right? and he left one day without telling anyone, attempting to try and find sonic himself.

and then he comes across omega all trashed up, and him fixing him, oh, idk, ACTUALLY MATTERS? (crazy i know) omega gets fully restored (plus some upgrades, of course) and it becomes the two of them against the world. throwing in a little craziness here but what if omega sticks with tails bcuz tails (who is definitely um. a lil more fucked up from everything) promises that hes directly interfering with eggman here, and that he'll actually allow omega to full on KILL eggman if/when they get the opportunity to. (tails is not fucking around) i just really need these two working together to be a thing.

rouge and shadow could also be MIA. i dont know if i'd want them as part of the larger resistance, they'd probably just be trying to help stuff on their own, but maybe at some point they'd realize that shit is really fucked this time and the only way they'll be able to stop eggman's reign of terror is by joining forces (lol) with the larger group. power of friendship and teamwork and all that, as is forces' main theme.

anyways. this is kind of all ive got swirling in my brain right now. i dont know how i'd tackle sonic's imprisonment itself. i definitely dont want to be in a position like the canon story where sonic should 100% be traumatized by what happened. bcuz i feel like thats probably a bit much lol... so maybe keep him imprisoned that whole time but get rid of the torture. idk, if we want to really get crazy with it we could throw in a whole thing where its like hey eggman why arent you just killing him? isnt that what you've wanted to do this whole time? funny how you're... keeping him alive like that. isnt easy bringing yourself to kill this kid you've basically watched grow up huh? even if he is your biggest enemy. idk that could result in way too much going on. but it could give a reason for sonic being kept alive + a reason why his imprisonment wasnt too crazy bad. just spitballing here.

ANYWAYS ANYWAYS. for real thats it I NEED TO GO TO BED. good god. maybe i'll rb this post at some point with more ideas if i have them. hell maybe i'll even write this whole thing someday..... regardless. GOOD NIGHT NEW YORK CITY!!!!!!!!!!

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

A couple of months ago I started Mark Watson’s novel Eleven, and then, to be honest, I got distracted by a bunch of Daniel Kitson stuff. Which I feel a bit bad about, because based on a number of off-handed half-joking comments he’s made, I think Mark Watson has sort of spent his entire career being afraid that would happen. My apologies to Mark Watson on that one; it’s an unfortunate fact that we can’t all be Daniel Kitson, and the one person who does get to isn’t even enjoying it. But Mark has his share of advantages; Daniel Kitson could not do a show that would last 24+ hours, or organize an entire online festival in the name of making comedy accessible (quite the opposite, in fact, and I am genuinely grateful to Mark Watson for taking the anti-Kitsonian stance on comedy’s accessibility).

I almost wrote that Daniel Kitson couldn’t write this novel, but actually I think he almost could, and I mean that very much as a compliment. The layers of interconnection. The jumping around between timelines and perspectives to make you gather up the story in seemingly disparate pieces, making it all the more satisfying when they fall into place and you can look at the whole puzzle. The messages about community and overlapping lives and people affecting each other through proximity. The overexplanations of consequences and meaning. Daniel Kitson probably wouldn’t have written the character whose prominent stutter was one of several traits that emphasized why he was such a pitiful figure, but other than that, it turns out the themes that make me drop whatever else I’m doing for a Daniel Kitson recording were in this novel all along.

I’m at my parents’ place for Christmas at the moment, and finally sat down long enough to finish the book. I read the first 150 pages a little at a time over several weeks, and the last 150 pages in about a day. The pace really picked up in the second half, as the network of connections got bigger and more complicated, and some of the treads started tying together. I love watching threads tie together.

I wrote a post just after starting the book that said I was immediately struck by how the writing style reminds you, almost every word, that this author studied literature at Cambridge. “Oxbridge” is an adjective that’s almost never used positively, and rightly so in many ways, but a novel is the appropriate place for someone to show off how well they can pick out words and put them together, so it’s a good thing this time.

It's so nicely written, the details all picked out carefully. Certain things get described in unusually flowery terms, like one character’s Geordie accent, and I liked that. Overemphasis on little things made it feel like it was written from a closer perspective, following the main character in the specific things he notices.

I first got this book along with Frankie Boyle’s novel (which I’ve only just started, after finishing the Mark Watson one), and when I first got them, I posted something silly about getting novels from two authors who have some deep-down fundamental similarities but are diametrically opposed in many ways. You know, one of my attempts to fit real life into the sort of nicely woven narrative that gets written about by Mark Watson and Daniel Kitson. I compared the quotes on the cover; the Mark Watson book used one that called it “gentle, compassionate, unusual, and thought-provoking”, while the Frankie Boyle one got called “a twisted Caledonian take on Altman’s The Long Goodbye”. Contrasting adjectives that might tell you something about the authors behind them, I thought.

That’s relevant to how the book turned out, because, like with Mark Watson’s comedy, it ended up going darker than its fairly soft and easygoing surface suggested. I often think about a comment Mark Watson made on a podcast once, about wishing he had a better “killer instinct” in his stand-up routines, being willing to stay in the tough subject matter he takes on instead of undercutting it. This book backed off from that a little bit; an author who was more confident in their killer instincts might have written a few parts of this book more intensely (that author could just be a more recent version of Mark Watson, I think he’s developed that skill much more in the last few years). However, there were several parts of Eleven that didn’t back off at all, went every bit as dark as Frankie Boyle or Daniel Kitson or anyone else would have, and it was done with all the care and skill that Mark Watson puts into everything else. It felt like an overall very good book with flashes of more intense brilliance.

The characters felt so much like real people, the settings felt like places I know, the situations and choices felt realistic. I don’t want to spoil it, but I’ll say the mysteries that drew me in did end up with satisfyingly interesting answers. My overall rating is reducing complex and subjective works of art to numerical value is fucking pointless, but this was a damn good book that I should have finished sooner.