#i just feel like a lot of pride month stuff focuses on being like out n proud which is obvs awesome but

[sanguinewolves]

anyway since its pride month i just wanna say. special shoutout to my closeted queer siblings out there. people who havent figured out their identity all the way and dont want to say anything until theyre sure. people who are/would be unsafe. people who just arent ready. people who are closeted for literally any other reason. i see you. i love you. <3

[pain-is-too-tired]

Will got how much he's willing to push himself too far for others from both Lee and Michael.

Lee was the oldest camper after Luke left. He took care of everything and everyone he could. He helped the Stolls fit into their roles, he did his best to keep others from joining Kronos, and he helped other head counselors who were struggling with their own mixed feeling about Luke's leaving.

Yet,Lee took it harder than most knew. He was head medic at the time afterall, who do you think kept an eye on Percy until he awoke after Chiron helped cure the scorpion sting?

Lee wasn't an expert healer in the way Michael and later Will was, but he was still a healer that took his patients seriously.

When Chris was found, and for a time Clarisse was sent to investigate the Labyrinth, Chiron a couple months in told Lee so he could help tend to the cursed boy when Chiron had to handle camp affairs.

When the rest of the camp were told about Chris, and he was moved to the infirmary, both Lee and Michael focused on trying to get Chris to not withered away. Trying to get him to eat or drink. Lee had to use Will to get Michael to head back to the cabin to sleep.

He spent the last few nights before his death praying to his father that Chris would pull through.

Michael was just the same. He spent many sleepless nights watching over his siblings after Lee's death. Soothing them from nightmares and helping them grieve

But he never dared showed his own grief,instead burying himself in his duties. He fought more with anymore who questioned or messed with his siblings. He broke up fights and chew those in it out. It caught to prove his worth to his siblings and especially to the other head counselors who he felt spoke like they knew Lee better than he did.

One the reasons he protects his rights to the chariot is because he doesn't want to feel like just anyone can boss him or his cabin around. That telling him to give up something his siblings earned just for their own pride annoyed Michael who's been going nonstop after Lee's death.

He only steps back when he sees something much more important is coming up, as he does again when he is a lot more lienant on Percy and Annabeth giving orders. As instead of trying to tell his cabin to give up stuff for their own pride, they're actually giving orders to Michael and his cabin to help save lives and the war.

He holds the line with his siblings against the Minotaur and army. He has to keep going as he watches his siblings die around him.

He dies armed with nothing but one last arrow and a plan. And I fully believe he was tried to fight Kronos himself on his own if he had no other choice.

It's no wonder Will learned to focused on helping others instead of himself. He likely watched his brothers wear themselves down to nothing for camp. Both giving their life for it.

He doesn't know anything else when it comes to being a head counselor. In his head, a head counselor's duty is to give everything for your cabin and camp. If Will doesn't give his mind and body, it's he really doing enough?

Just- ugh. The Apollo cabin head counselors giving all their energy to keep the camp running, only to burn themselves out.

Campers who knew both Lee and Michael seeing Will working away in the infirmary and immediately fearing they might lose him too.

In a way, it's easy to believe that the Apollo cabin is cursed...

They sure do feel like it.

[gabessquishytum]

Please consider either human au or retired Dreamling running a sex club. It's very popular and both Dream and Hob take a lot of pride in the place and are very hands on in different ways.

Dream is a dom that likes to make sure everyone is comfortable and safe within his establishment and tosses out anyone who causes problems and ensures that equipment is well kept and there are sanitation stations for toys and such readily available in the club. and Hob is a sub who always makes sure that there's water and snacks so that everyone can stay hydrated and feeling good. Both of them are almost always in the club looking after things and interacting with patrons, even if Hob has to kind of force Dream to actually talk and be social and not just making mental notes about what needs fixing or what could be changed to make things better.

Hob's favorite thing, though is the day at the end of every month when Dream spends all day in the office balancing the books and doing ordering. The office wall is shared with one of the free use playrooms and there a hole in it that's just Hob sized. He gets to have his arse hanging out on the playroom side, wearing a cock cage and being stuffed with all the cock he needs while he cockwarms Dream with his mouth under the desk on the other side. If he's very very good and doesn't distract Dream while he's working, he'll get to cum.

This is suuuuch a good idea, particularly love the idea of Hob and Dream being a little older here - they're like the mature kinky queer couple who survived a bunch of bullshit and came out the other side not giving a fuck about anything (and avidly taking care of all the baby gays + kink people who come their way).

Extroverted sub plus introverted dom is such a cute dynamic and I love the image of Hob happily cockwarming for Dream in the middle of the club. He's definitely doing a good job with the cockwarming but he's also holding conversations, being showered in kisses and compliments from friends, answering questions from newbies. Meanwhile Dream sits silently, sometimes hiding behind a magazine, tugging firmly on Hob’s collar when he wants him to pay attention. They're too cute together <3 and Hob really does like it when Dream makes an effort to dom him right down into subspace, so that he's incapable of focusing on literally anything except Dream. Everyone who sees Dream exerting his firm yet effective hold over Hob has to admit that it's deeply impressive - its the only thing in the world that stops Hob from yapping!

Their aftercare is always a private affair, tucked away in the office with Hob’s favourite snacks and cuddles on the black leather couch. They talk through their future plans, and Hob gets a nice massage (particularly if he's been on his knees at all). Hob listens to Dream’s soothing voice talking about all the new stuff he plans to order for the club... it's their own little bit of heaven, a dream come true, and they intend to enjoy it for many many years to come.

[fernshawart]

Prompts to develop a cane user character

Hey there ! You may know me for this post, how to write a cane user character :

Over the past year, this post has gathered quite a lot of traction and people seemed to really enjoy it, and I thought I could do more to help all of my writer friends out there ! This time, I decided to give you a bunch of situations a cane user may face to give you some directions to go with your story, and a few exemples to add-on to the idea !

These are overall very focused on young cane users because that's what I am, but I feel like they can mostly be used for characters of all ages.

The character just got their cane. How do they react to it ? The way someone first reacts to getting a cane can say a lot about them. Exemples :

- They don't see it as a big deal, mostly like yet another test to see if something may work. It's kinda like swallowing a pill when you're sick and thinking "here goes nothing". After that, you can also develop on them being very pleasantly surprised that it worked or to stay with the nonchalant style, make them think "oh. It actually worked. Guess I'll be using that from now on"

- They get uncomfortable. They don't want to be seen as weak and look at them using a cane as a kind of failure to be normal. They may even refuse to use it despite clearly needing it out of pride.

- They get extremely excited and immediately try to make it THEIR cane. If it's a metal cane, they play around with the sliding part and move it around a bunch to see how it works. They may try to play with it like a sword to get used to having it in hand (and may even accidentally break stuff with it). If they like colorful outfits, they may doodle on it or add a bunch of stickers/charms to it.

- They take it in front of a mirror and try to pose with it to fully comprehend that this is them now. They can struggle with their vision of themselves because seeing this weird stick always with them now is really weird. But on the other hand, you can also make them try a bunch of poses and have them think "wait ... This is actually really cool. I love how I look now"

See how they react to other people's looks. If a character has a cane, especially when they're young, they're bound to get weird looks. There's always someone looking at you obviously thinking "Why the hell are they using a cane, they probably don't need it" or "Oh no, poor them, they don't deserve to be in so much pain..." What's their reaction to it ? Exemples :

- They get angry. They confront the people staring at them with a "what are you lookin' at, fucker ?!" or just glare at them. They do NOT want to be pitied.

- They get playful and try to act as if these people are only interested in them by their physique. "Oh, I know I'm good looking, but you can stop staring at me darling~" if your character is kind of a classy cane user, it gets really fun to play around it and after a while, their confidence may get a real characteristic of theirs.

- They feel miserable. They don't want to be pitied just because they exist. They're walking outside for five minutes to get groceries and people are pitying them, and that hurts.

- They really don't care. They've seen it all, and don't let the stares affect them anymore. If they did, it would probably drive them mad.

One thing that happens ALL THE TIME with canes is that they fall. And overall, it's really funny to watch. Watching a cane fall down five times in a row is an embarrassing situation and can make some fun interactions ! Exemples :

- The cane user is trying to have very serious talk with someone else. They walk towards them, sits down in a chair, glares at them, puts their cane down against the wall and ... It falls. They put it back. And it falls. They can stay as serious as they want, the other person in front of them is no longer afraid of them.

- The cane user is taking someone on a date at a fun restaurant. They try to sit down on their chair and put their cane away and it falls repeatedly and they start panicking to make it stay up. Their date is very amused by the situation and finds it cute and/or charming.

- The cane user puts their cane against the wall and it falls. Their friend immediately goes to pick it up, but they stop them from doing so by saying something along the lines of "Don't bother. It won't stay up." Or "Heh, it can't fall any lower now."

Oh no, someone is trying to steal your character's cane for some reason ! Maybe it's because they think it was left behind by someone else ? Maybe it has a high market value because it's made of gold ? Any way, they will have to do something about it. Exemples :

- they grab the cane back and just beats the crap out of the thief. You know, it's not rare to see stories where grandpas use their cane to hit people as a joke. But it works ! It's a heavy stick, and often made of metal. You're bound to get some good hits with that.

- They immediately panic and/or cry. Canes can be extremely precious to someone, often because of emotional value. It's something you wear every day, you can easily get attached to it. A lot of people even decorate it, so loosing something you crafted yourself hurts.

- They heavily play the victim to either make the thief regret their action, or people get on their side. It can stem from a genuine emotion, but also from acting if they want to just use the situation to their advantage. Either way, if someone has the audacity to steal from a poor "defenseless" disabled person, the crowd will most likely help them.

- They can just ... Not care much. I mean yeah it was stolen and it sucks but you know, most canes cost what. 12$ ? They're annoyed but they won't make too much of a fuss about it, and running to catch the thief may not be worth it if their legs aren't really healthy.

You know, if your cane user is a little young, some people are bound to think that they are "too young to be disabled". How do they react to that ? Exemples :

- They heavily mock the person who said that. What, just because you think someone is too young to be disabled, they're no longer disabled ? Ha, I wish it could work like that !

- They reply with a good old "If I break your legs, I guess you'll still be able to walk ? Cuz you look too young to be disabled too."

- They get doubts and question if they're really disabled enough to wield a cane. Usually, people only use it when they have big problems or when they're old ... Maybe that person's right ... (No they're not, of course)

- They get extremely serious and explain their situation is nothing to be discussed by people won't don't know them personally.

And that's it for today ! I hope you enjoyed this little guide <3 if this gets a bit of traction as well, I may write more in the future ! Good luck to all of the writers ~

Oh and one more thing ! Feel free to link your stories down below for everyone to look, will it be a Tumblr post, an AO3 link, a google doc ... I love to see your creations, and I think sharing ideas with people is a GREAT way to develop more varied representation.

And if you want to thank me in a way or another, you can always take a look at my art on Twitter (@FernShawArt) !

[edgygayguy]

!!!JADE SHADOWS SPOILERS!!!

I played the quest and it was ok. Felt very polarized by it.

The Warframe baby is a very fucking crazy and unexpected idea, the consequences of turning a pregnant person into a Warframe are really interesting and I want more lore and I want it yesterday. It will probably take like 2 years to get back to that tho. I would be happy with just some relevant codex entries. Also the baby to me looked pretty ugly and idk why I focused so much on that detail, but the piece of cloth stalker held it in was just not it. Like why does it look like he knitted that for the baby in advance. I'd rather have the baby itself be more visually interesting and wrapped in just black.

The quest was way too short, if I wasn't following devstreams I would feel no attachment to Jade at all. She's just there and the only thing we know about her is that she and stalker are in love, had a pregnancy and then got turned into Warframes.

I still have a lot of questions that went unanswered. Did the orokin turn both of them into frames at once or did Stalker get turned after the fall? If so was it voluntary? Why does the stalker hunt the tenno so fiercely? We know now why he hates Warframes but weren't the orokin responsible for turning his love into one? My headcannon is that the conditioning the orokin used on the dax was very effective on him, he couldn't bring himself to hate the golden lords so he began hating the warframes and in turn the tenno. I think he voluntarily turned himself into a Warframe, but how? No idea, maybe he managed to seek out Ballas who decided it was a great idea to create a hunter for the ones hunting him.

We know that some frames didn't get piloted by a tenno, Kullervo, Jade and most likely also Dante. The stalker seems to be the same. These 4 somehow managed to maintain their sanity, unlike most of them. This is the only question the quest answered for me, but not really, it just solidified what we already knew.

I love the inclusion of the sisterhood and the dialogue from Parvos, Ordis and Hunhow.

While browsing through Tumblr I saw two popular opinions I didn't even consider.

The first one is that stalker should have been trans. At first I had no idea if people were serious about it or not. The only evidence I saw brought up is that stalker hates himself and in his dialogue with Hunhow there's some stuff that could be interpreted as trans allegory. The latter I do see on a second read, but the first one is just weird. Is deep self hatred on the level of Stalker really a prerequisite for transness? I'd hope not. People being mad about their headcannon not being realized in this instance is odd to me, yeah it is pride month but there's plenty of transness in Warframe already. Ticker and Sentients (especially Hunhow, a man who constantly reminds you of his womb) are the first things that come to mind. I believe that Warframe is inherently trans and has been since the begging. You control Warframes, you can easily swap between them and they are representations of both sexes (+Xaku and Equinox). After the second dream that gets even more reinforced, "dream not of what you are but of what you want to be". Transness is so prevelent in this game that the stalker not being trans isn't that big of a deal, it's not like all of this game's representation was hinging on this one character.

The second one is that Jade doesn't have autonomy, she's stuck suffering and exists solely to give birth. I believe this wouldn't be a problem to most if we got like 20 minutes of extra time in the quest, Jade herself and even smaller things like our operator's involvement felt rushed. From the flashback we see that Jade wanted the child, if anything the quest advocates for autonomy. They should have shown us more to make it more obvious. It was illegal for Jade and Stalker to love each other because of their caste, let alone have a child. If only the quest took a minute to shit on the orokin instead of hoping everyone does that themselves. While in our world the major issue with women's autonomy isn't "I can't have a baby" but "I'm forced to have a baby", I think that these are both sides of the same coin. The underline still is: a woman was stripped of her autonomy. The message unfortunately wasn't clear enough. Also it doesn't help that this is Tumblr and LGBTQ+ people don't usually have the best relationship with pregnancy. And we live in a world where people are being forced to have babies for literally no reason, so it's pretty logical that the thought of someone literally dying to give birth is very emotionally charged and polarizing.

No hate to people who think that stalker should have been trans (I just don't see it) and to people who think that the quest portrayed women's autonomy in a bad way, while I don't think it's the case the devs should have known better, speeding through such a relevant issue was not a good idea on their part. They should have made it clear that Jade really wanted her child and her autonomy was taken from her by the orokin (it would also have helped if we got more Warframe biology).

[nyaagolor]

Pride Month Headcanons

It's about time I organized these. Under the readmore bc I have a lot to say

- Salvatore and his wife are bi4bi. More accurately, his wife is bi and Salvatore isn’t putting a label on it because while he thinks he’s bisexual his only real world experiences with men are a single makeout session in a Lumiose club during a language immersion trip and lingering too long on some Instagram models’ posts about their abs. If you ask him about it he will not say he’s bisexual bc doesn't need anyone other than his wife, but he’s pretty sure he’s bi in his heart

- Hassel and Brassius have been together for almost 30 years but aren’t officially married. For a variety of reasons, mostly centering around Hassel’s family being a possible threat to Brassius’ safety, they decided to just keep it on the DL. They live together and are for all intents and purposes married, but never actually signed the paperwork. When people ask, especially strangers, they refer to each other as artistic partners or close friends, but anyone who knows them well is well aware they’re husbands. Most people assume they got officially married, and when the school finds out they beg the two to have a ceremony, even if they don’t sign the paperwork. Tbh I could prolly make a whole post on just them (and prolly will)

- Dendra is a lesbian, she‘s had a crush on Tulip for YEARS. Despite her usual extroverted and confident attitude she never confessed and has no idea if Tulip likes women, nevermind if she reciprocates Dendra's feelings. Tulip figured out Dendra is a lesbian but never realized her crush. Somehow.

- Eri and Carmen are girlfriends. The rest of Team Star admins took a LONG time to come around to this, since they think Eri forgave Carmen too fast and were worried Carmen was trying to take advantage of Eri again. They got over it though, and she’s been invited to their hangouts ever since

- Penny is trans I’ve talked about this like 26 times and have zero intention of stopping. She transitioned a lot over her suspension in Galar and has the most supportive family and friend group imaginable. Her body image is extremely fragile but that’s honestly just anxiety from general past bullying, and her new friends have helped immensely in that regard

- Sada and Turo are bi4bi this is a hill I will die on

- Iono is super tight lipped about her sexuality because of idol streaming stuff. Unlike most, she actually likes to keep people guessing, it’s like a game to her

- Every pride, Larry wears a rainbow tie. No one has ever been able to figure out if he’s LGBT or an ally or what. Rika’s running theory is that his Staraptor is gay and he’s trying to be supportive

- Geeta is a career focused person and never took the time to think about her sexuality. If you ask her about it, she won’t have a good answer and you might just make her short-circuit. I think kissing her would make her explode

- Ryme is aroace. I have nothing to say abt that specifically other than aroace people are the coolest and so is she

- Rika is Butch. She got top surgery and everyone is gay for her, myself included. However she has negative game. Pickup game pathetic. Cringefail, even

- Raifort is a lesbian but is only into really toxic women specifically. Genuinely just the worst taste imaginable. She is always complaining about how much she dislikes men as romantic partners and then is actively running towards red flags like she’s playing flag football

- Jacq is non-binary but is a little worried to ask if he can get his pronouns updated on the academy registrar. He’s sure it’ll be fine, but he’s perpetually stressed out and a liiiiil scared of Clavell. He/they enby king with enough anxiety to put anyone else in the hospital

- The academy is the most accepting place in the world. The GSA (which Hassel runs) is one of the most popular clubs, and cishet students and teachers will often sit in just to learn or support their peers. They go HARD in June, and are the official runners of the Mezagoza Pride Parade ever year

- A big part of the reason people feel so safe in the academy is bc there’s a ton of GNC people, both LGBT and not. Saguaro comes to mind, and is someone that a ton of students look up to. He’s cishet but could prolly crumble the gender binary in one hand. He would too

- [gestures vaguely at Clavell] he got smth going on. Idk what I haven’t thought abt it but something

[groven4]

Markiplier Egos with an Aromantic DA / Viewer

a/n: I randomly decided I really wanna get something out for aro week, so I've got a oneshot mayhaps involving a certain adventurer in the works, but knowing me that might take a while (if I even finish it all) and these tend to be easier for me. So, that's why this exists...not that you asked.

(edit: made one for Ace hcs.)

WILFORD WARFSTACHE

He wouldn't really care, but in like a supportive way.

He may not look like it, but the guy's got some common sense.

I can't see him as the type to ask a lot of questions especially if you're visibly uncomfortable around the topic. (tho ig he might if it's for an interview, not sure)

A big part of Wil's character is just accepting shit as it is and not questioning what you can't understand because falling down that spiral is ultimately unhealthy; so if you were to come out to him as any sexuality/gender identity, he'd most likely just accept you immediately and move one.

Expect to receive a lot of aro themed stickers on pride month though.

DARKIPLIER

Also doesn't care, but it's less him being supportive (tho he is) and more: it doesn't affect him, so why should he care?

Like you do you. Your love life is none of his business.

Quite frankly, he couldn't give a shit.

Though, he might find some relatability with you.

Despite how one might interpret ADWM, I cannot see Dark as an entity with the capability to feel much of anything. (other than rage, vengefulness, etc.)

There are some vague memories of past feelings from both Celine and Damien (and possibly the house entity, idk) mostly shown through his clear favoritism for Wil.

However, I don't think he really can feel romantic feelings, nor does he want to.

Being loved sounds nice, but ultimately it would just get in the way.

So having someone around that's kind of like him in that regard is almost nice...cathartic even.

You both like to watch 'marriage gameshows' (the bachelor, love is blind, etc.) over wine and laugh about how you'll never have to deal with relationship problems. (idc if that one's ooc)

GOOGLEPLIER

He can't really feel romantic attraction himself, yk being a robot and all.

If you tried explaining aromanticism to him he'd probably just be like: "Yeah, and??".

He's supportive in a sense, that sense being: you not having a partner would mean one less meat sack he has to deal with once he manages to get admin privileges.

BINGIPLIER

Kinda stumped on this one ngl.

I just can't find a reason why he'd care whatsoever.

He'd just be like: "Oh...siiiick, brah." with total Bill and Ted energy.

ACTOR

(edit: this is pre-wkm btw. idk why I did that, it doesn't really fit with the others that way. so I probably won't do it again in future hcs. sorry ig.)

I imagine it comes up at a party.

He starts asking you about your love life.

You tell him that you've never really been interested in that kind of stuff, and you probably never will.

What does he do?

...

He calls you boring.

...

AND THEN JUST FUCKIN' WALKS AWAY- like- ????

In all seriousness, he's mostly chill about it throughout your friendship, but it's hard for me not to picture him as the type to think you're just being naive and that 'everyone has to find someone someday'. (I believe WKM takes place in the 1920s, so like, what were you expecting?)

That is until Celine cheats on him.

It was just such a world shattering thing for him, he genuinely loved her more than anything.

It's not a complete 180°, he doesn't suddenly understand your lack of attraction from this, but one night you check in with him to find him wasted in his wine cellar and he's basically like: "You had it right all along, my friend. Love...Love is not for everyone. ...Certainly not the faint of heart."

Which like, you didn't choose this, but you were more focused on making sure he was okay at the time to care.

YANCY

A part of me wants to think he'd be a little confused at first just cause the idea of having to explain aromanticism and/or asexuality to him because he's just genuinely curious is really adorable to me.

However, the rest of me refuses to believe his friend group isn't entirely comprised of both people in the lgbtq+ community and hardcore allies who would happily beat the shit out of aphobes on a daily basis.

Not to say that they think of you as child-like because of your sexuality, but it's a prison family and you're 'fresh meat' so you're their little aro-bean now whether you like it or not.

Yancy especially is protective of you in an almost older brother type way.

So if after/during coming out to them (or just him) you mention how scared you were/are because you've had a lot of bad experiences or something, he's like constantly ready to sucker punch and/or ballerina kick anyone giving you flack over just being who you are.

He's always willing to tell you how valid you are when you need to hear it, and overall is just a really great friend.

...Even with the stabbing.

ILLINOIS

In an odd way, he almost feels...relieved?

Call it a humble brag, but literally all of his past work partners had fallen in love with him at some point, and while the attention certainly feeds his ego, that kinda thing just gets tired and even annoying after a while.

So knowing that'll never happen with you is actually a nice break from what he's grown so used to.

He's never had someone around who genuinely enjoys adventuring as much as he does.

And who isn't like constantly ogling him. (I mean probably anyway, idk what it's like to be aroallo)

Having you around may also cause him to start questioning some things about himself, particularly when you're explaining your orientation.

But that's a topic we'll be getting into at another time! (*wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* *stares at empty draft*)

He's still used to trying to fluster people cause he finds it funny and in general is just the kind of person to be a bit touchy with his friends (meaning: platonic hand holding, hugs, head/back pats, standing weirdly close a lot of the time just naturally, etc.), so if you're ever uncomfortable just tell him and he'll cut it out straight away.

You're both just kinda really good friends, and he's not at all weird about it like you thought he might be.

CAPTAIN MAGNUM

Supportive Pirate Dad! 10/10!

You definitely have to explain what it means to him, but he verbally accepted you before he even asked.

Kinda like: "That's great!...What is it?-"

Would have the crew sew you a flag if it would make you happy.

They are still pirates who have been sailing across the deep blue their whole lives with presumably no contact with the mainland however.

So unless you for some fuckin reason told them what it looks like, you can expect to receive a relatively small, plain black flag with the word 'Arrowmantik.' spelled incorrectly and somehow sewn on in perfect white Helvetica.

...

You hung the flag right above your hammock.

It is your most prized possession.

HEAD ENGINEER

Might be a little discouraged at first. His crush on you was a tad obvious.

But he figures it's for the best. You are the captain after all. Pursuing that relationship wouldn't have been professional in the slightest.

It does take a bit but he gets over it eventually.

He still genuinely loves you platonically/as a person, so things don't really change all that much.

You still have a strong friendship and work really well together.

He tends to go a bit overboard now about giving you personal space cause he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable. So you may have to reassure him multiple times if it wasn't an issue.

During when pride month would be on earth he might gift you little aro themed stuff, like a patch you can't actually add to your uniform for work reasons but love and appreciate anyway.

He may not fully understand how you feel, but he never stops trying to, and either way he's always gonna support you no matter what.

Your orientation could never change how much he loves and trusts you both as a captain and as his friend.

MURDOCK

He doesn't really care since it doesn't affect what you guys do, though he is openly accepting, especially if it seemed like you needed to hear that it wasn't something that bothered him.

In a similar vein to Illinois, he's strangely grateful.

He's not sure how he would've dealt with the situation had you developed a crush on him. Such emotions tend to get in the way more often than not in his line of work.

He didn't wanna have to kill you just to make his life easier. Taking a life out of necessity isn't as much fun, plus he'd grown a tad fond of you.

I like to think he cares quite a bit about your mental health, it would make sense given the whole murder thing.

So if you often go through periods of doubt or even internalized self hatred regarding being aromantic, he's gonna be there to help you through it.

He goes with you to pride parades and if anyone tries to tell you that you don't belong there, they're immediately getting put on a black list.

He got you a nifty little keychain once while you were there.

Overall, surprisingly wholesome.

a/n: I went back and forth on whether or not I was gonna use the pronouns I hc them all as using, but in the end I just said 'fuck it, appeal to general audiences, why not at this point'. I'm really fuckin' tired, dude. Just- HAPPY ARO WEEK! ig.

[aromantic-diaries]

Hey, so um... How do I know I'm aro or ace? I used to think I wasn't but Ig it's been getting difficult to feel romantic/sexual feelings. And if I am, what do I do with that knowledge?

Hi! I recommend checking out this post i made cause it has some stuff that might help you figure out if you're aromantic. Though it doesn't mention asexuality. Anyways, there are a couple of questions you should ask yourself if you're contemplating whether you're aro/ace and you're feeling unsure

When it comes to asexuality, there is the case where one might think they're attracted to someone while just thinking they look good. Aesthetic attraction is a thing after all, so think about whether you do feel sexually attracted to people or just find them good looking. There's also the case of finding the idea of sexual things appealing while not wanting to participate in them. It can be similar with aromanticism, admiring someone or enjoying their company and mistaking it for a crush is something that happens to a lot of arospec people who have yet to discover themselves. So the question is "Am I attracted to this person or do I just admire them" in both cases

Another helpful question you should ask yourself is "Do I want romance and sex or do I just think I want it because it's what everyone else wants?" It can be hard to recognize when you don't like these things when they're pretty much treated as the most important thing ever. It's everywhere and I remember not wanting to feel left out while also being put off by the idea of actually being with anyone.

There are some personal experiences that were signs for me, such as feeling annoyed at the overwhelming amount of romance in media, not really understanding the emotional connection, being freaked out by the idea of having sex, feeling isolated because my peers were getting into relationships and I wasn't, often feeling inadequate in my own relationship and feeling like I was lying to my partner about liking them, being uncomfortable with the idea of being attracted to people and wanting a relationship but not actually liking anyone . If you can relate to any of this, you could possibly be aroace

As for what to do, it's up to you. If you feel safe and have people in your life who are understanding and supportive, you can come out to them but it's your choice whether you want to or not. If you don't wanna come out and you prefer to keep it private, that's perfectly valid as well. You can always use the "I'm not seeking anyone right now I'm more focused on [whatever it is you're focused on]" card if someone's being invasive. Discovering yourself is scary at first but as you go along you'll get more comfortable and learn new things about yourself. The aspec community is generally very welcoming and can open up a whole new perspective, so I recommend seeking it out. Even if you're not aro or ace after all you can still learn a lot.

Anyways, I hope this was helpful for you and you can figure yourself out, however long it takes. Happy early pride month!!

[bigjimbopickens]

For me personally, I won't be watching Kevin's stuff for a while to come. It is less about him though and more about the community he's brought to him, a community that now thinks he is one of them. A community that will likely stick around now as well. I don't remember reading anything in his apology regarding the vitriol he allowed to spread (though turning the comments off was the right thing to do), and I'm still soured by the lack of response to you regarding the p*** claims.

In any case I'm heavily disappointed. I love Kevin. He's the only YouTuber I have any merch from. And while I saw this coming I'm anguished. It sucks.

- also an autistic trans man

When I said I wouldn’t talk about this anymore I lied I wanna respond to this. I am contributing more to the convo with this though.

I feel the same way as I’m sure many others do too. And I’m glad you brought up the previous bs that happened just 2 or so months prior to all this because I was going to but felt like it wasn’t necessary as the post was already long enough.

For those unaware, in November 2022 Kevin posted a sims 4 video where he recreated the original sims 4 cult, which the fandom mimicked in a way. He changed the rules in that one to ban werewolves, which was interpreted as “ban furries.”

I made a joke response to it using the fursuit I made of werewolf Jim Pickens and people took it wayyyy too seriously. I was harassed quite a bit for that because people take what Kevin says too seriously. And of course I was called a p*do over it too. That situation scared off a-lot of people from the community but my naive self thought that was as bad as it gets and wanted to fix it. I believed it was my fault. So I organized a raid to bring the positivity back and it worked. Until Kevin fucked it up again 2 months later. I’m not organizing another. I’m not fixing his community again, he broke it and I had no involvement this time.

I sorta let that one slide when really I shouldn’t have because it was just one user who was really causing an issue for me. And it also wasn’t Kevin’s fault that guy had issues. I heard that Kevin did vaguely mention it on stream but I didn’t catch it because I was flying that day. Coincidentally he did post his “I almost quit in 2022” video on the day of the raid, which I came across again and said half-jokingly “You should’ve.”

There is another situation similar that happened to me back in April 2021 that is somewhat related as well. It was during the first NoPixel stream when I did fanart of Grognak and people started getting mad over their pronouns in my replies. So out of spite me and another artist drew them with the non binary pride flag and people became horribly transphobic towards us. Other artists joined us and the mods banned whoever was being transphobic in the replies. So transphobia has always been an issue in the community unfortunately, I just didn’t realize it was that fucking bad.

I joined the community shortly after the pandemic started when the Tomodachi Life series had started and I wish we could go back to those days. It was so much fun. Kevin never does videos anymore about his characters and when he does they’re more challenge-based rather than lore/character focused. That’s a big reason why his sims series fell off so hard. Jim went from being this evil idiot yet genius cult leader to asexually reproducing 100 babies. With the last sims 4 video being one that started a fight in his community I have no idea how he’s going to continue it. I don’t even know if he’s aware of what happened to me. I know he saw the fursuit, he liked the tweet I made about it.

Oh man another long post. Damn I ramble a lot. But I think it needs to be said regardless. I have got to be the user of the community who got fucked over the most amount of times simply for existing haha. I am the embodiment of what the community seems to hate. Thankfully two other communities have already welcomed me so I don’t have to rely on this one as much anymore. I’m still thankful for all the good it’s done for me but I’ve never been in a fandom more toxic than the Call Me Kevin community.

I hope you’re also doing well, anonymous stranger.

[awkwardpasta004]

So after reviewing the stuff left from the world building, I’m starting to get into this mindset of “do I really need these things to start fleshing out my story?” I can see my story a lot clearer now, more than I ever have, and I’m trying to look at the world building to see what I actually need done so that I can hurry up and get to figuring out the history. The history is what will make the story fully click for me. I know it will. I can feel my story in my head, which has been a whisper for a long time, and now it’s finally getting louder and the fog is clearing. I just wanna get to it! But I need to make sure I have these last tiny bits of world building done.

I have a character name that needs to be changed, which won’t be hard since she’s pretty much the only white protagonist so I won’t have to do as much research for her than I have done for literally everyone else! That’s the challenge of being a white writer and wanting to write a story where the main cast is majority POC and everyone is pretty much queer. I mean I am queer myself but I wanna do everything justice and put out the story that I would’ve wanted to read as a teen. But most importantly, and this has always been my motivation since I first started writing poetry and short stories as a kid, is to give lonely kids a story with friends to hold onto. I mean I was a very lonely child and books gave me people to talk to when things weren’t going great at home and I wanna do that for others.

Man I decided to get deep there. I just have all these thoughts and feelings about writing and such and I’m too shy to do writing vlogs. Even though talking aloud really helps. I prefer to talk to someone about story stuff and I used to have my sister but we don’t really talk all that much (she’s horrible at answering texts). She was the one person who knew every detail of my series so it was easy to bounce ideas off her but I don’t really have that person to call anymore. I mean my bf chats with me about it but he doesn’t know all the details so I’ll be prattling on and he’ll get so confused. I feel like I should make a PowerPoint but then again I can’t just call him whenever I want cause he has other things to do. Bleeeeh. Oh well I’ll figure it out. I mean it’s why I’m typing now.

I’m wanting to get started on writing out the history and plotting the story so I can start doing NaNoWriMos but in other months besides November. Omg how fun would it be to start writing the first book to my queer fantasy series during pride month?! Hehehe that would be great!

Ok time to focus! Gotta do home stuff so I can apply to jobs and work on finishing my pre writing! I’m determined! May is the month for finishing my pre writing!

Oh last note…I am struggling not to keep reading Fourth Wing. Ik I’m not going to be able to listen to it when I go to the store later cause I need to keep my head focused. Yesterday I started my drive home on chapter 5 then ended my whole day on chapter 18 (I have the audiobook. I am not reading a physical book and driving)

[hbxplain]

Part 1.2: Pride

3,500 words - Tu, Tigh, Miss Lane briefly

No warnings

next chapter of seven lovely sins! i think this one's pretty cute. we get to see tu and tigh's relationship starting to develop, and watch tu battle with her own emotions--i don't think any of the other demons start liking their mortals as quickly as tu does... except for maybe ileao, who is secretly very soft.

anyway, here we go!

☼☼☼-

Tu looks at the date on the calendar, the 24th of May. It’s crossed off, along with every other date on this month.

She sighs and flips to the next page. She crosses off June 16th.

Okay. So things haven’t gone as planned.

The thing is, Tigh is really fun to hang out around. And with how much he and Sienne hype her up all the time, it’s hard not to get invested in the solid air construct she’s been working on for the past month. And Aeryn makes really great coffee, so maybe she spends half her time at CC Brews instead of cooking up new schemes to get Tigh to fall to his own pride.

Pride which he actually has absolutely none of, if Tu’s being totally honest. She understands why this is a cold case, now; the man breathes like he expects to have to apologize for it. Sure, he’ll infodump for hours about the very concept of eximium as the basis of all magic, or the various niche practices in use for training that magic, or whatever ridiculous new tech he’s working on. But it’s always with an unhealthy dose of self-deprecation, of “it’s really not that great” and “it backfired again yesterday” and “I wouldn’t have such high expectations” and “I just don’t want to make you think it’s anything amazing.”

Tu doesn’t get it. Sure, back when she was alive as a mortal, this tech wasn’t even being dreamed of… but still, even for today’s standards, his stuff is amazing! Sienne’s too, but where Sienne seems more focused on finding a safe way to augment her own body with tech, Tigh—who does plenty of augmenting research too, don’t get her wrong—does a lot more cutting edge eximium research. She still doesn’t completely understand what his current biggest project does, since he’s quite cagey about it, but she knows it has something to do with isolating eximium, which sounds groundbreaking as hell. Back in her day, they barely understood what eximium was—they just knew it was fucking important, because it gave them their magic.

Tigh, though, seems to understand each molecule. He knows where it comes from, what it’s for, its lesser-known properties, how to control and shape it—hell, he has jars of it in powder form on shelves along the walls, and he has a cube of solid raw eximium decorating his desk! Tu doesn’t know how a man like that can have such low self-esteem. Doesn’t he know he’s smarter than all of the scientists from Tu’s time combined?

Her phone dings. It’s Miss Lane—of course they wanted to style the ‘hellphones’ like smartphones, of course they did. “This is taking a while,” the message reads.

Tu scoffs. Of course they’d say that, as if they’d do any better. They just like being passive aggressive, Tu thinks.

“It’s a cold case. Chill out,” Tu replies. She feels very proud of herself, and then wonders if she’s ever made a pun before of her own accord or if Aeryn’s love for them is just rubbing off on her.

She scrolls through the news on her phone. There’s an article about a small section of a park becoming a protected landmark due to the fact that a popular magic user whose magic manifested as forced silencing had stopped a voice-based villain in that very park years earlier. Another article boasts how a famous magic family has moved to Clemen City so their son can get the best magic tutoring available. One more article about how a small village nearby was pleased to welcome a fire-based magic expert for a short visit before he continued his travels.

How can a world with so few magic users be so focused on magic? How can they favor magic over everything else when so few of them can actually do magic?

Tu loves her magic. Tu loves herself. But sometimes, just sometimes, she isn’t proud of either one.

☼☼☼-

Tu is sitting, alone, at a table covered by a tan tablecloth. She has arranged her silverware four times while waiting for Tigh to arrive, and she is getting bored.

At work earlier today, they were working on their respective projects—beside each other, of course. Tigh had been going on and on about some science shit, but Tu had been thinking “What makes a man more prideful than having a really pretty girlfriend?” so Tu had cut him off to say “Do you wanna meet somewhere after work? Just you and me this time,” and he had grinned and given her this weird, knowing look, almost like she and him were in on a secret together, and she’d said, “Great! What about that new landmark in the park, the one for the magic user with the anti-sound powers-” and he’d laughed and said “Hell no!”

And she’d blinked at him for a bit, just trying to process what went wrong, until he laughed again and continued, “Nothing against you, I just don’t like that hero. What about dinner?”

She’d been too relieved by the first aid he’d just applied to her bruised pride to care at all about how weird that was. She’d accepted.

And now here she is, and there’s no sound hero in sight (Tu can’t for the life of her remember that dumb hero’s name), but Tigh is late anyway.

“Table for two?” asks the waiter, in the passive aggressive kind of way that makes it clear he doesn’t think Tu’s second person is coming.

“Yeah,” Tu says, nearly a sneer with all the defensiveness that crops up in her chest. “He’ll be here soon. Give it a minute.”

She really doesn’t wanna have to go home and spend the whole night thinking about what went wrong. In a fully self-aware way, she’s not sure her pride could handle it. Also, she hates how much she cares. She knows this is just a job, that she’s trying to boost Tigh’s ego but shouldn’t be putting her own on the line. She shouldn’t be this attached, she shouldn’t be this invested, and she definitely shouldn’t be this vulnerable.

Tu glances at her phone. It’s only been half an hour since she got here, right on time, but it feels like longer. With a glance at the door and a long, tired sigh, she pulls up the messaging app to text Tigh something totally normal like “haha of course a big man like you had better plans,” except she can’t really figure out how to word it in a way that doesn’t sound bitter.

But then the elegant bell above the doors rings twice, and Tigh bursts through like he tripped over the threshold. “Hi,” Tu can just barely hear him saying to the wait staff, his voice interspersed with quick breaths. “I, uh- My friend Tu probably got a table—hopefully still has a table—uh, is she back there…?”

The waiter who’s been badgering Tu looks at Tigh like he’s seen a ghost. Tu takes great pleasure in the shocked bulge of his eyes. “You’re… late,” the waiter says.

Tigh huffs out a laugh. “Uh, yeah, trust me, I know. So…?”

The waiter shakes his head and points back towards Tu’s table, and when Tigh sees her looking at him, his whole face lights up and his entire body straightens. She can’t help but to wave at him when a tiny smile creeps onto her face despite herself.

“Tu!” Tigh says, hopping the railing to the raised platform her table is on. He slides into the chair opposite hers, and the chair’s legs rattle against the floor as it settles unevenly. “Hi, fuck, I’m so sorry!”

She laughs without entirely meaning to when he almost knocks the salt shaker off the table with his hand gestures. “Like the waiter said,” she says wryly, “you’re very late. I’m kind of angry, honestly.”

He grimaces, nervously playing with the tablecloth. “Yeah, I- You know what? That’s fair. That’s totally reasonable. I didn’t mean to be late, something blew up in my face, uh, literally, so I was running behind a little, uh, and anyway I totally get it if it’s too late and you have to leave.”

“You want me to leave?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “Wait, no, go back to the explosion thing-”

“I do not want you to leave,” Tigh says, groaning and running his hand down his face. “Sorry, yeah, I think the explosion knocked my social hardware loose.”

“You mean you aren’t always like this?”

“Tu!” he laughs, relaxing a little.

She rolls her eyes, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table. “Explosion?”

“Right, yeah, uh, my project kind of just… I mixed the wrong chemicals and then gave it way too much power.”

“Were you hurt?” she asks incredulously. She can’t believe he didn’t tell her the answer to that question first. She can’t believe she had to ask.

“Oh, uh- Well, not a lot,” he says, still showing her that stupidly genuine smile of his. “Might’ve knocked a few screws loose, y’know- That was a joke, by the way. I am not a cyborg. Uh, but I’m working on it.”

Tu laughs again, shaking her head. “What’s wrong?” she asks with a soft smile.

“Huh?”

“I mean, why are you talking at a mile a minute?”

Tigh’s eyes widen, his hands instantly falling to his lap. He looks almost stricken. “Oh. Sorry, my bad-”

“No!” Tu says quickly, a little too loudly in her haste. She wrinkles her nose and sits back, regaining her composure. “No, sorry, I was just… worried. It’s okay if you talk fast. But you sound kind of nervous, that’s all.”

Tigh’s posture slowly relaxes, and he nods in understanding. Tu finds herself relaxing alongside him. “Well,” he begins, slowly, “I guess it’s just…”

He’s nervous about going on a date with me, Tu thinks excitedly. She knows she shouldn’t be excited, but she is.

“I’m not the best at explaining things,” he says after a moment of pause. He’s looking down at his hands. “I’m just afraid I won’t be able to explain any of this shit to you without sounding like I’m speaking gibberish, and then you’ll lose all interest because of my shit explanations.”

Tu blinks. She narrows her eyes.

“…What?” she asks.

He tilts his head, the picture of confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Tu leans forward, just as confused. “What- What do you mean, explaining things!?”

“You wanted me to get you up to date on all the newest eximium research, right?” he asks, furrowing his eyebrows. When she doesn’t respond, he bites his lip for a second and then continues, a bit more uncertainly. “‘Cause I was talking about the eximium statistics for my project and you looked really confused, and then you cut me off and asked to meet up without Sienne. So I thought your last place hadn’t taught you any of the new-era eximium information, and you didn’t want Sienne to know you were confused, but you needed help. I- Was I wrong?”

Holy shit. He’s not even being prideful, thinking he knows more than her. He just saw she was confused, saw she wanted to be alone with him, and figured the most logical conclusion from those two facts together was that she wanted a crash course on science, without any embarrassment from the coworker she hates.

Good god, this man is an idiot.

“No, you were right,” Tu grits out, forcing a smile through clenched teeth. Maybe he isn’t interested in her after all. Then again, what kind of guy wouldn’t be interested in someone like Tu? Like, just look at her! Unless- “Are you gay?” she asks bluntly.

Tigh blinks. “…Bi,” he says simply. “Uh. You?”

“Also bi,” she says back. Huh. So then why the hell doesn’t he like her? No way he’s that insecure, he’s gotta at least know he’s good-looking, and the world’s leading eximium scientist to boot… Could it be that he’s really just a new brand of stupid?

“So,” Tigh says awkwardly, a light blush across his cheeks, “Where should I start?”

Tu sighs, resting her chin in her hand. “Wherever you want, babe.”

Tigh’s blush worsens—has she not used that term with him before? God, he’s dumb. “Right, yep, cool. So, skipping all of the old stuff you probably know and jumping right to present-day discoveries…”

“You know what?” Tu asks, on a whim. She’ll be here all night hearing nerd shit anyway, she might as well actually get caught up on all the discoveries that have been made since she died. “Start at the actual beginning. Tell me everything.”

Tigh looks surprised, but he shrugs and hurries on, his excitement growing visibly. What a nerd, Tu thinks a little too fondly

“Cool! Discovery of eximium, the first time humans realized we had metal in our blood…”

He talks for hours. Every so often, he says, “I’m not boring you, right?” and Tu says “No, of course not” even though she only understands about half of the words coming out of his mouth. God only knows why, but she doesn’t mind. She’s enjoying herself.

When they finally decide to leave—not because Tigh has exhausted his knowledge of eximium history, but because the restaurant is closing—Tu asks, “Split the bill?” and then starts rifling through her purse when he nods in agreement. Only after checking the inner pocket for the third time does she realize and admit to herself that she left her wallet at home.

“Fuck,” she says without thinking. Oh, god, how embarrassing. Tigh is definitely going to laugh at her. Fuck, she messed up—will she even be fit for the mission after this? There’s no way he’ll respect her after she made such an embarrassing mistake, she might have to tell Miss Lane she’s compromised-

“I can pay!” Tigh says, already handing his card to the waiter (a new one, since the other has long since gone home). “Buy me a drink from Aeryn’s sometime and we’ll call it even.”

He doesn’t say it snidely, like he’s judging her for not being able to pay. He doesn’t smirk afterward, like he thinks he’s better than her now. He doesn’t grimace, like he realizes she’s not worth his time.

“It’s fine,” he says gently, his voice carrying softly across the table and snapping her out of her panic. His smile is one of care, not cruelty. “Tu, I forget my wallet all the time. Can’t tell you how much I’d owe Nora if she ever held me to it.” He reaches across the table, lightly resting his hand over hers. “It was just a mistake, okay? Not the end of the world.”

“Not the end of the world,” Tu repeats, the fog slowly clearing from her mind. Her face flushes with heat when she fully comes back to herself, but she doesn’t feel as mortified as she probably should. Tigh makes it feel like it doesn’t matter. “Right, yeah, obviously,” she laughs, nervous but no longer scared.

At some point, the waiter returned with Tigh’s card. He squeezes Tu’s hand and then slips the card back into his wallet. “I can walk you to your car?” he offers.

She scoffs, trying to force up a playful tone to cover the dregs of her embarrassment. “What, you think I can’t take care of myself?”

He scoffs right back. “Please,” he says, grinning. “You could kick my ass into next week.”

“‘Into next week?’” she laughs, shaking her head and following him to the door. He walks backwards to be able to look at her, and his eyes crinkle with joy. “No one says that anymore!”

“Yesterday you called something ‘nifty,’ what the hell are you talking about!?”

Tu is still laughing when they step out into the parking lot. Tigh scans the pavement and then tilts his head, narrowing his eyes. “Hey, you did drive here, right? I don’t think any bus routes are active this late.”

“Nah, I just walked,” Tu says, waving off his concern. “On air. You know how it is.”

“Tu, it’s cold!” Tigh says, sounding exasperated. “And you’re not even wearing a- Jesus Christ, Tu, you’re a maniac.” Despite his words, he slips off his jacket and drapes it over Tu’s shoulders, and she feels warmth in her cheeks again as she pulls it tight around herself.

“Yeah, well, tough,” she replies, rolling her eyes and pretending her heart isn’t beating double time. She glances around the parking lot. “Anyway, looks like you didn’t drive either!”

Tigh pulls a ring of keys out of the pocket of his skinny jeans and presses a button on a car fob, and Tu hears a ridiculous vroom sound for several seconds before a hovering motorbike zooms around the corner and skids (metaphorically) to a stop in front of her and Tigh.

“You think so?” he asks with a shit-eating grin. She rolls her eyes again, and his smile turns softer. “Hop on, I’ll drop you off outside your apartment.”

Tu bites her lip, considering, but… well, why shouldn’t she indulge a little bit? Just because she’s Pride doesn’t mean she can’t have a little Gluttony, a little Greed, a little Lust, just for fun.

“Okay,” she says quietly, nearly a whisper. Tigh gives her a smile that makes her feel warmer just by looking at it, and then he puts one leg over the bike and dramatically revs the engine—such a theatre kid. He gestures for Tu to get on behind him, and she nods just to hype herself up. Then she hops onto the seat, immediately putting her arms around his waist for stability (just for stability, she swears) and leaning her head against his shoulder (that one’s harder to justify. Maybe she’s cold). “Helmets?” she asks after a moment, her voice muffled by his shirt.

“No fuckin’ way this bike is gonna let you get hurt,” he says, the most confident she’s ever heard him. “If you have so much as a scrape when we park, I’ll turn it into scrap metal.”

She’s pretty sure the bike can’t register threats, but then again, it’s clearly a custom job by Tigh. If any vehicle would respond to human pleas, it’d damn well be his.

“Fine, then. Show me what this thing can do,” she challenges him.

“Hold on tight,” he says playfully. She resists biting his shoulder just to be annoying, but before she can argue the pros and cons, he’s taking off.

The hoverbike flies across the streets, a foot or so off the ground at all times, the engine revving in a way that almost sounds pretty. When they come up too close behind another car, Tigh squeezes the handles and the bike rises further into the air, zipping over the car as though it were simply part of the road.

“Tigh, you criminal!” Tu yells over the wind, and Tigh’s laughter quickly joins her own.

“It’s not a crime if they can’t catch me!” he shouts back, and Tu laughs again and knocks her head against his shoulder.

“The cops would disagree!”

By the time they reach Tu’s apartment, it’s only been a couple of minutes, but Tigh’s hair is a windswept mess and Tu think she’ll be combing out tangles for days. All the same, it’s worth it for the glow of his smile, the rosiness of the cold air on his cheeks, the way he glares threateningly at the bike when Tu has trouble getting off.

“So?” he asks, a little breathless.

“So what?” she replies, turning her nose up.

He huffs, a smile on his face. “Tu, come on!”

“It was great,” she relents, too easily for her liking. “It was really, really great, Tigh. Thank you.”

His face flushes pink, and he looks down at his shoes. “Oh, I mean- Yeah, ‘course, you’re welcome. Any time.”

Tu can’t help herself. She leans forward, has to tilt her head up just a bit, and- and at the last second she redirects, kisses his rosy cheek instead of his lips, and quickly pulls back. She feels her own cheeks turning red, but she doesn’t let herself look away; she looks Tigh in the eye, now that he’s making shocked eye contact with her, and smiles confidently. “I might take you up on that,” she says. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” he says dumbly, his eyes wide as saucers. “Yeah, always.”

She shakes her head fondly and walks to the door of the apartment complex, buzzing herself in and heading toward the steps. She glances back just for a moment, long enough to see Tigh holding his hand over his cheek, looking totally shell-shocked even as a large grin spreads across his face.

The extra month was worth it.

☼☼☼-

taglist: @wildswrites, @ceph-the-writing-spook, @jezifster, @mallthologist, @original-writing

[foggyparadisecandy]

Ok ... instead of ... venting ... let's go for healing ... ugh ... so hard sometimes ... hah :(

I need to remember that my hangups with someone else are really a reflection of how I feel about myself. It's important to remember that when I'm feeling like I need to feel someone else's love ... the real issue is that I need to feel love for myself.

And this is most likely true for you too, if you have an Anxious Preoccupied (AP) Attachment Style.

So how do I feel the love for myself?

First, get your mind out of the gutter. lol FR, my sex drive is at an all time low these days so yeah ... that's fun as hell.

But some of the things that I've been doing:

Working out - getting fit. I lost 10 pounds (and ... sadly rising again) over the last four months due to "emotional turmoil." lol I'm taking this opportunity to turn the remaining stuff into a bit of muscle and feel good and healthy.

Focusing on work stuff. Reaching new goals. Changing some stuff around. I'm usually pretty fucking good at life in general and work in particular. I think APs have a great ability to set goals and get shit done. So ... I'm doing that. I want to fucking crush it this year.

Reconnecting with old friends. I sometimes forget how much I've helped people over the years. It's not the reason for connecting with people but ... it's kind of humbling to hear people say "Foggy, you changed my life. I'm not sure you ever knew because you are so nice and kind." I'm not saying this to sound like an egomaniac. It's just ... nice ... to hear old friends say so many nice things about me. God ... I didn't feel like I was doing anything so special - just being kind. It's powerful to remember that being kind has indirect rewards that you might never see.

Digging into old hobbies and finding new ones. Not sure where things will land with hypnosis or domming anyone ever again. It still wounds me to know K was miserable our entire time together. I can't say how much this bugs me. I don't blame myself but still ...

Meditating daily. Simple. I used to do this a lot when I was younger. I forgot how centering it can be.

Pride journaling daily. Same as above. It's actually a grounding piece to flip through my journal when I'm feeling I'm starting to spiral. I forget to do it sometimes. Need to remember and stop the nonsense.

Working on my mental health. So fucking hard. Miserable tbh. I think I'm going too fast at it. My therapist has told me I'm flooding myself. I'm such an emotional wreck some days. TBH anyone who has been reading this blog since late September (yes ... it has been that long) has seen the horror show that is my mind. The scary thing is I'm better now. How awful was it back then? God.

Anyway ... hopefully some of those things can help some of you if you are struggling and need to find ways to care for yourself.

If you have suggestiongs, comment or reblog or DM me - I would love to hear what works for you!

[romijuli]

okay i’m free of football let’s go, in order of posting date, also some series in here because why not

this ends up being more Which Ones Did I Have The Most Fun With in some cases but isn’t that what writing’s about in the end

The Kids Are (not) Alright:  (unfinished series, a bucket of eventual ships but current ones are tzmskz and kaoru/kumon, angst-y) my funky little jrpg au!!! not the first Big Ol’ AU Idea i’ve had for this fandom but the first one i started posting, for sure. i’m still working on the “main” fic for it, as well as some surrounding worldbuilding (help me) but i’m delighted by the stuff i’ve written for it so far, hehehe.

kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me three times: (one-shot, tsuzumisukazu, fluff with like a HINT of angst) “the kiss fic” as i so lovingly call it, hehehehe. this one was just plain FUN and one of my favorite ones to reread

Untitled Birthday Fic Series: (unfinished series by virtue of the premise, eventual tsuzumisukazu I’M SORRY I HAVE A PROBLEM, mostly a lot of musing about romantic feelings) a collection of, you guessed it, birthday fics, each delving into the brain of one member of my favorite little triangle. each of these focuses on one component ship i guess. LISTEN i just really like how these came out and i can’t wait to ACTUALLY FINISH IT,

ribbons, ruffles and bows: (one-shot, taiyuki, fluff!!) written for a pride month exchange!!! i just really liked writing taichi here. also i love using non-canon pronouns for characters i need to do that more often

on the concept of being “special”: (one-shot, jutsuzu, emotional hurt/comfort i guess?) one of my rpw pieces and apparently the one with the most kudos??? which is surprising because i never hear anyone talk about this ship???? hello?????? i’m not sure what it is about this one that sticks out to me, maybe it’s just something about writing the itty bitty rarepairs. they’re cute.

hello, stranger: (one-shot, tsuzumisu, what the fuck even IS this one’s genre) another rpw piece, the one i put the most work into and the one that drove me FUCKING INSANE WRITING IT. GOD. i affectionately describe this one as “indescribable au” because i CANNOT summarize what’s going on here succinctly enough. misumi can travel between timelines in his dreams??? but it’s super specific??????? anyway i DO love how this turned out and the comparative word count to the rest of my rarepair week collection is hilarious

third wheel: (two-chapter fic, tsuzumisukazu yes i know, Tsuzuru Is Going Through It) my tsuzuru writing is in PEAK form in this one my god. i don’t know if i’ll ever write him this well again.

What if (once I’m free of football) I made a list of my fave fics I wrote in 2022….

[gensuta]

GAMES WITH TRANS/NONBINARY REP!!

Happy pride month!! I love playing video games so I thought it'd be neat to share the many many games I've played with nonbinary and trans characters >:3

Sorry in advanced I’m copying and pasting stuff from twitter ;v; Also know that many of these games ARE on consoles, but if you buy them on pc/mac use itch.io if it exists. It gives devs more money!!

VALIDATE!!  There's a demo on Steam and Itch.io that you can play RIGHT NOW and also a patreon you can support and I highly suggest it ^o^ It's a lovely VN with several playable characters and rlly good writing

Extreme Meatpunks forever is so SO good omg. It's a VN/mech brawler where u be gay and fight fascists!!! Trans and nonbiney ppl are out here being badass af. The game has cws/tws built into the game ( which i love sm ) Also there's a ttrpg on Kickstarter RIGHT NOW!! 

Another game with nonbinary characters is an rpg called Ikenfell! It was one of my favorite games to play last year and the music and just everything? Honestly so good I'm def replaying it this year. It also has tons of good accessibility features!

ok but i wanna geek abt ikenfell just a smidge more  U DON'T UNDERSTAND 3 OF THE PLAYABLE CHARACTERS ARE NONBINARY <333 The strongest playable character also uses ze/zir pronouns and I think that's pretty epic

Ok so like literally every game I've played by @analgesicprod I've loved 100% And Anodyne 2? Everyone should go play it and I will keep saying it until everyone does. And yes there's a trans character in it <3 Drem my beloved <3  Go check it out!!

Another game studio I love is @pillowfightio !!! They worked on Later Alligator, We Know the Devil, and Heaven Will Be Mine. I highly recc all of them but esp. Later Alligator cuz like just look at Joanie. They're so cool.  

In the game Everhood gender doesn't exist <3 Literally multiple characters are referred to with they/them pronouns and the gameplay is very enjoyable 

 CW LOTS of flashing lights and I feel like there should maybe be more cws but I'm not sure what else to add :l I guess a warning is that Everhood gets into more serious stuff and I'll be honest when the game first came out I had to put it down for several days b/c I just wasn't ready for a lot of that stuff, but I honestly liked the game a lot!

I was debating on adding this bc while I love this game there's some issues. So Gnosia is like werewolf ( or among us if you will ) but more narrative focused with time loops etc. There's two wonderful nonbinary characters and you can be nonbinary HOWEVER ( minor gnosia spoilers. skip past if you want to avoid it) . . . For some reason finding out the AGAB of one of the characters is mandatory and I fucking hate that. It's so unnecessary esp for the world building that's been done. Also tws for the game: sexual abuse / assault, gore ( in only one scene ) (spoilers end) but yeah I still added it because the characters are so neat and strong for the type of game it is and without that bit I wouldn’t feel so :/ abt recommending it. It’s pretty fun ngl

Wandersong!!! The main character is nonbiney and I love them <33 It's such a lovely little musical adventure with such a nice narrative and!! Some of the devs just released Chicory ( which I haven't gotten to play yet ;v; ) but check that out too!!

Bravery Network Online is super fun!! It's a turn based rpg that feels really good and has two characters that use they/them pronouns ( Fel and Reed ) the character designs are sooo good and the game is currently in early access!

I never thought I'd see a claymation point and click musical featuring a nonbinary detective but Dominique Pamplemousse is just that Need I say more?

A personal fav I think about every now and then is Dad fighter 30XX!! Like who doesn't wanna beat up their friend's shitty dad in the parking lot of a dennys?? Also the win music is my FAV

SPIRIT SWAP!!! By @SoftNotWeak !!!! Super chill and pretty game by lovely people with a demo you can play right NOW!! This game makes me want to become a strong magical thembo

More games I’ve played, but am too lazy to ramble about

ROM:2064 ( game is amazing but i got mixed feelings tho bc the og devs aren't getting paid for it I think :/ )

A Year of Springs

Secret Little Haven 

A normal lost phone

Calico 

Celeste

Hollow Knight

Undertale

Deltarune

Monster Prom / Monster Camp

Hades ( all of supergiants games slap btw )

If Found

Here’s games I haven’t played but have heard about

Bugsnax

Diaries of a spaceport janitor

Hustle Cat

Tell Me Why

Our Life

Last Minute Love

Black Tarot

Apex Legends

World of Warcraft has trans npcs :0

Dragon Age Inquisition

Sky, Children of the Light

TemTem

Battletech

Death and Taxes :0

Flicker :0 ( roblox games do count! It’s always cool to see what ppl make in it )

Assassins Creed Syndicate has a trans npc

Verdant Skies

Wandering Wolf Trick ( I love nomnomnami’s games sm but haven’t played this one. Highly reccommend her stuff )

If you have any games you wanna add to this PLEASE please do and I'll add them!! And while you're here please support the Queer Games Bundle going on itch rn to support tons LGBTQ+ game devs financially (including me ) <3 Last little edit for now: I’d def suggest trying to find cws/tws for these games just in case I haven’t covered everything for the ones I did talk about <3

[firesofdainix]

Curious, do you think Lloyd would forgive Morro for what he did in canon?

Short Answer: It depends, but I like it if he doesn't because it's spicier that way

Long Answer: I've seen a LOT of Green Cousins fics, in which Lloyd and Morro have already buried the hatchet a long while, or are set in another alternate universe entirely. The 'green cousins set in a time past possession where Morro was forgiven is definitely not one of my favorite genre of ninjago fics (if you can call it that? Lol) because for me its just a lot of forced interaction and it barely is written naturally. (Except for @/peachyninjago 's fics theyre the best and only Green Cousins post-Possession fics I'd read 🙏🙏🙏) While I haven't dug deep into the fandom for actual in-depth Morro redemption fics (recommend me some because i wanna know how I'm doing), the duo, like I said, focuses on those things I've said before. It's fun to see them, but I also have this underlying problem (it's probably just me though) in which i internally have a lot of thoughts going through as I, well, properly read stuff instead of skimming over. For example, I wonder if Lloyd has forgiven Morro enough to the point he is seen willingly hanging out with him (and only him LMAOOO), but that's just me

In Splinter in the Blind Man's Eye, it's been implied, MANY TIMES, that being possessed by Morro was the WORST thing that happened to him. The feeling of now being able to control his body, how he felt so much guilt while Morro does a lot of immoral crimes with his own hands, and the traumatic moments in which he was caged in his own mind like a prison, forced to bear witness and become an audience member for Moro's own thoughts (implied that he also thought about murdering his friends in an explicit manner...). When he got out, he felt so weak and did nothing but watch as his friends suffer, and I KNOW he blames himself. He blames himself for being too weak to resist Morro, for letting him hurt his friends and family, for getting manipulated so he could involuntarily release the Preeminent from the Cursed Realm. He definitely holds a lot of guilt over Morro's actions, some of which he is not at fault for in the slightest. In short, he is both scared of Morro and feels like crap even thinking about him.

So, in a scenario in which he actually lives, after all the things he's done... I think Lloyd wouldn't cope with it. This man, ghost, had tormented him for what seems to be a few months, which left him so drained and exhausted. I have an inkling of a feeling Morro is able to show remorse and regret (his final scene in Possession tells us so, choosing death over being forgiven by his master with an accepting smile on his face) he's also bad at feelings and is heavily prideful. So, while Morro DOES try to show he's sorry, it'll take Lloyd a LONG time to forgive him, thanks to the memories he had made with him that were a lot unpleasant. There may even be a timeline where Lloyd *wouldn't* forgive him, cutting contact with him or being sort-of friends/acquaintances.

It's one of the things I've been juggling since the start of TAGOMJTR: how Lloyd and Morro’s relationship continues to grow, and how to develop it in a natural pace despite their grievances with one another. It'd be spoilers to say what actually happens... but Morro is still NOT even in the first step of making up to Lloyd.

[nkhrchuwuya]

moving in

bungou stray dogs | G | 830 words nakahara chuuya x reader / oc

the penthouse is already a great place to be in, but chuuya knows it’s different with you around.

you and chuuya are walking to the parking lot after a dinner date when you take his hand in yours and smile, with a soft blush on your cheeks, at your partner.

“let’s go home, yeah?”

chuuya blinks, the reality not yet sinking in. “what?”

you cock your head to one side, confused by his confusion. “…to the penthouse?”

it takes weeks for chuuya to figure out how to ask you to move in with him. that, of course, is definitely not related to the fact that he would get flustered with excitement at the mere thought of you living with him—and therefore left him distracted from thinking of how to pop the question to you at all. to calm his nerves, he has it all ready before you even said yes—the extra closet in his room, the additional pillows in his bed, the spare key.

god, he wants you to say yes. he just wants to come home to you.

the opportunity comes in a less than delightful way, in the form of serial assaults and killings in the neighborhood two avenues away from your home. he brings it up in conversation over a sneaked-out mid-work-day lunch—emphasizing that no, this isn’t the port mafia’s doing, noticing your stare—before reaching out across the table to cover your hand with his.

“oh, don’t worry about me, chuuya,” you say, smiling innocently. “i have double locks on all my windows and doors and i have that knife you gave me in my pocket when i’m walking home alone. i’ll be safe.”

chuuya shakes his head. “i’d like you to be safer.”

“there’s… not much i can do,” you say, frowning. “i know my contract’s ending with that place, but i can’t just up and leave.”

“i got an idea,” he offers coolly, like it had just popped out of his head instead of plaguing his thoughts for the past few months. reaching into his pocket, the spare key he always kept with him because this time i’m telling them i promise!, he flips your hand over and drops it in your palm. “how do you feel about a view of yokohama bay?”

you wouldn’t have figured it out if you hadn’t recognized the pass card for the vip elevator in his building.

“is this—” you gape. “are you sure?”

bewilderment fills his face. “is there a reason i shouldn’t be?”

“i mean, that’s your… bachelor pad. don’t you want a place to be alone?”

a bachelor pad? he hadn’t really thought of it that way, just a place to crash after a long day in the mafia. sure, it was beautiful, and he took pride in his place for all the hard work it took for him to even get a place like that, but—

it was different with you around. it filled with a color he never thought it was lacking, and he can only imagine what it would be like when you’ve left your personality’s paint streaks everywhere.

“idiot. why d’ya think i’m dating you? it’s because i prefer your presence over being alone,” chuuya explains, turning red with each word. you reflect the same shyness in your expression.

“aww, chuuya,” you smile tenderly. “of course, of course, i’d love to stay with you.”

it takes a couple of weeks to truly move you out of your little apartment and into his penthouse, between the packing and unpacking. he wants to celebrate on the very first night you’d brought a box over, but you snort and decline, saying “you might jinx it, chuuya!” and so he’d put aside his special wine for a different night.

so instead, he focuses on the influx of stuff, one by one. every box that arrived made him feel tender; made you feel ever so dearer to him. he’d been to your apartment more than once, of course, but it was different now, laid out in his living area while you apologize for the mess. chuuya shakes his head and calls you an idiot, continues to marvel at everything, thinking—

what did you keep with you, love? which are the things you treasure? will you tell them their stories—won’t you tell me more about yourself? which corners of your life can i make more of an impact, where else can i leave my mark?

so when you say:

“let’s go home, yeah?”

he feels his heart hammering in his chest faster than it has ever done before, because of course. that place is home. it is now, with your laundry in the basket, with your books on the shelves. with your array of pastel-colored cookware, your specialty cooking knives. with you everywhere he looks. of course it’s home, especially now that you would be with him.

you narrow your eyes at chuuya. “…to the penthouse?”

and chuuya flushes, stutters and stammers for a moment, making you laugh, before clearing his breath, before he says:

“yeah, love. let’s go home.”