#i just want to make cute little sidebars...

[nyctoheart]

the universe.... is at my command....

sorry for the unconsensual genshin impact but I would love if Jiminy's Journal looked even slightly more like this

[rachaelthemes]

Ocular — Version 3

Preview // User Guide // More Info & Install

your favorite sidebar theme just got an upgrade, babeyyy

I went to update Ocular to make it NPF post-compliant and then my hand slipped and I redesigned the whole thing lmao. here's a brief update about Ocular 3; if you're looking for a full list of changes between versions 2 and 3, click the "Read More" below)

Ocular comes with the following features:

Colors: easily change the color scheme of your sidebar and posts using any colors you want

Post sizes: 400px, 500px, 540px, 600px, 700px

Sidebar: can be on the left, right, or above the posts. pick from a list of sidebar sizes, header image heights, and avatar shapes

Fonts: 20 different fonts, sizes 13px to 18px

Background: solid, gradient, full-size image or repeating image

Links: choose either regular navigation or drop-down navigation. unlimited custom links (visit the help desk FAQ for a tutorial) and ability to rename home, ask, submit, and archive links

Endless scroll, custom ask box text, Tumblr's full-width controls and search bar, optional header, avatar, and favicon images

if you already have Ocular installed, version 3 should be coming at you as soon as the update passes the theme garden. if you installed this theme with GitHub, you'll have to re-install manually.

now let's get to the fun stuff. what's new in version 3?

wow, do I have some updates for you!

1. goodbye color schemes, hello post background and text colors

you can now directly control the color of the posts rather than relying on color schemes to do it. want your posts to be a very specific shade of navy? all yours, buddy. go wild (make sure it's readable tho)

2. hello, color schemes! wait I thought we got rid of that guy

a lot of the color schemes I made became redundant now that the new post background/text color options exist. if you were married to the old color schemes, all of them can be recreated using those options. so the new color scheme options are as follows:

"My colors" — uses the colors you picked for post background/text

"Light preset" and "dark preset" — sets the posts to white with black text, or off-black with white text

"Translucent" — uses the colors you choose for post background/text, but makes the post backgrounds semi-transparent. there are NINE different translucent color schemes, ranging from 90% (only slightly see-through) to 10% (VERY see through)

3. navigation dropdown option

you can either use the sidebar links like they were before, or you can turn them into a cute little dropdown (helpful if you have lots of links or links with long titles!) you can enable this using the "use dropdown navigation" setting. you can also customize the label for the dropdown using the "dropdown menu label" setting. for instance, the dropdown on my blog currently says "oooh you wanna click me"

4. RIP google fonts I always hated your load times

decided to stop using Google Fonts and instead I'm providing the font files directly in the code. this will help speed up load times drastically when using custom fonts, plus I don't have to use Google. win-win! there's quite a bit of coverage overlap with the old fonts, but some of them that were too similar to each other got the ax. I also added all of the system fonts as options (hit classics like Arial, Georgia, and Comic Sans MS are now available TO YOU!)

5. more layout, sizing, and spacing options

the sidebar used to be either on the center-left, center-right, or above the posts; now it can go in the top-left or top-right! you can now control the border radius on the posts and sidebar. the header height, sidebar width, and post spacing all have additional options.

6. some options have been renamed for additional clarity

"background color 1" -> "background color"

"background color 2" -> "gradient background color"

"background" -> "background style"

"font override" -> "use body font everywhere"

"title" -> "sidebar title"

"description" -> "sidebar description"

"ask box text" -> "custom HTML above ask box"

7. removed some options

you win some, you lose some. I removed the uppercase sidebar links, theme credit, and inline media spacing options, mostly for redundancy reasons or because they produced unclear results.

8. as previously stated, now NPF-compliant

Ocular was ALMOST compliant with Tumblr's new post format, but had a few tweaks that needed to be ironed out. they're now ironed.

9: now user-friendly right out of the box

I updated the default color and content options, so new users installing this theme will have a much easier time using and customizing it immediately. no more ugly ass green background!

10. and finally, new JS

I had to rewrite some of the javascript for this theme, which turned into me rewriting ALL of the javascript. doing so meant that I could eliminate dependencies on third-party JS libraries and run the whole thing on plain JS. that should improve load times!!

bonus: custom CSS can do some nifty stuff now

want to change the size of your avatar? you can do that now! just do this to your Advanced > Add custom CSS section

super helpful if you're using the Avatar shape: Uncropped setting and you need your image to be a specific size (like a pixelated GIF)

for more info, check out the Ocular user guide. thanks for reading my updates!! hope you all have a fantastic start to your 2024 ❤️

[224bbaker]

So, hypothetically speaking, if someone had never been interested in Sherlock Holmes before but wanted to get into it because of Fawx & Stallion... Where should they start?

Oh my GOD, anon, so upset we didn't see this until now because what a great question and also, our show inspiring someone to go check out Sherlock Holmes?? Deeply upsetting for our characters but SO exciting for us!

Hopefully since you sent this you've just dived in to the stories--because, honestly, that's how both of our writers got into them as kids, and also because despite what roughly 40 contradicting scholars will try to tell you, the timeline is nonsense and Watson's continuity doesn't make sense (we have made our own peace with this and addressed it in-universe because we didn't want to go on deep-dives to decide what puns we were allowed to use for the place we're at in the timeline it's fine, we're fine).

However, just a quick sidebar before we jump into The Stories--if you would rather start with an adaptation than the original ACD stories themselves, there are two options we'd recommend as starting points that are pretty true to canon while remaining engaging in and of themselves:

The Granada TV series with Jeremy Brett and David Burke/Edward Hardwicke: It rules, and most of it's on YouTube! Highly recommend their Solitary Cyclist, Speckled Band, Scandal in Bohemia, and Blue Carbuncle (we may be biased towards the early, David-Burke-Watson entries). These actors and sets are what we picture when we read Holmes.

For an audio adaptation, the 1989 Bert Coules radio adaptation, which you can get for a single credit on Audible in full and has basically the whole canon! Incredible dramatization work that preserves the stories and really deepens the character work in a way that we're obsessed with. Big fans!

If you're liking the vibe of these, you'll probably like the stories themselves! In which case, there are also awesome online book clubs like Letters from Watson that have great communities here on Tumblr (just peruse the tag, it's super fun!), and also over on Discord.

SO. If you're still here and looking for our direction on the stories:

If you just want to start with what is/will be relevant to Fawx & Stallion, we recommend:

Our goal is that our audience doesn't NEED to have read any Sherlock Holmes to understand anything in F&S. We'll hopefully lay things out or give context clues. However, we do have little jokes for the fans, and in season 2, some subtext may be a bit clearer, or have a bit more weight, if you've read some of the stories.

A Study In Scarlet: I know, I know I know I know, Holmes fans, the Utah Mormon stuff, I get it, BUT. Holmes and Watson meet in this one, and it's incredible. The first few chapters of them meeting, starting to live together, going from roommates with a mutual fascination to, through Watson's unintentional insult of Holmes's writing and a fateful invitation to a crime scene, actual friends, are electric. It's a crime (pun intended) that we have so few dramatizations of this in the canon era (we're trying to fix that), we love it so so much. Sacrilege, but, wikipedia the stuff in the middle, enjoy the fantastic meet cute that bookends the thing.

Hound of the Baskervilles: Happening during the events of Fawx & Stallion season 1. I don't need to tell you this one is a banger, we all know this. Less Holmes content than you expect, but a GREAT setting, mood, and roster of suspects, and a thrilling, well-paced mystery with some great Watson.

The Final Problem: Occurs right before the events of season 2, and though you again don't need to have read it, some stuff might hit better if you have, particularly in the back half of the season. High recommend. On the same note, The Beryl Coronet is also mentioned a few times, which is the case right before this one.

Ok, with that out of the way, we highly recommend:

The "Jump Around To Whatever Short Story or Novel Sounds Cool" Approach

This is the move, in my opinion. As I've said before, the timelines are nonsense, you CAN try to get into the weeds of continuity as we have and there is delightful madness to that, but would I recommend it as an intro? No. They're short stories! They're serialized! Treat it like a TBS rerun series at 1 AM and just pick one that is on/sounds cool!

Now, if you want our PREFERENCE? There are different genres of Holmes mysteries, different types of mysteries for different preferences, but we're going to recommend one particular sub-genre of Holmes mysteries that we find particularly fun/unique: The "It's Not Necessarily A Crime Yet But the Vibes Are There" Mystery.

We love these. They're the best. Not depressing or gruesome off the bat, usually starting with some whimsy at Baker Street, these stories usually begin with a client coming to Holmes and the following interaction happens

CLIENT: Um, hi. Honestly it's pretty silly that i'm even here. It's probably just a Weird Thing, you probably don't-- HOLMES: No no no please tell me I love Weird Things. CLIENT: Ok. Well. My boss/guardian/brother/[insert-person-who-has-power-over-them] has been doing this Thing where he [insert extremely weird thing that again, is not a Crime, but the vibes are there]. It's kinda weird. HOLMES: Yeah, super fucking weird. CLIENT: I know! But it's not a crime, so I don't know, you're probably not interested, I'm just a [not rich not male not high class not privileged identity] so there's really no point in checking that out-- HOLMES: No girl (gn), we are DEFINITELY checking that shit out there's a crime in there somewhere and we're gonna find it!

And we're off! If this sounds interesting to you (and it SHOULD), check out: The Solitary Cyclist, The Red Headed League, The Copper Beeches, The Greek Interpreter, The Speckled Band, The Stockbroker's Clerk, The Musgrave Ritual, The Resident Patient, and honestly probably some others we're missing because it's REALLY common.

Other fun Holmes bangers:

Holmes overworks himself and Watson takes him to the country to rest, only to solve ANOTHER FUCKING MYSTERY: The Reigate Squires

The Christmas One!: The Blue Carbuncle

The Dancing Men: I don't have a fun little thing for this one it's just a banger and the Granada Adaptation rules!

The One Where Sherlock Holmes does NOT fall in love with Irene Adler but does get completely owned because 1) he thinks women don't get up early, and 2) he wanted to have a sleepover with Watson: A Scandal in Bohemia

There are a ton, and hopefully you'll find one that you like and just jump in!

[geeky-politics-46]

Kinktober 2023 - Day 6

Sex Tape with Doctor Stephen Strange

"A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words"

Smut - Explicit content - NSFW - 18+ only!

Summary: You are feeling self-concious & down on your appearance, but Stephen has an unconventional idea of how to make you realize how sexy & beautiful you really are.

Warnings: Smut (NSFW) - 18+ ONLY - body image issues, voyeurism & exhibitionism via photo & video, dirty talk, swearing, pet names, oral sex, creampie, vaginal sex, slight daddy kink, a bit of fluff & a little angst.

You weren't even sure what had triggered your self-image issues at the moment. Honest to God, you were just sitting in bed watching a YouTube video, pursuing the sidebar recommended videos when you started comparing yourself to other people.

It didn't matter if it was just a random ad or a promo for a TV show. You started sizing yourself up to all the actresses, models, and even some normal people. No matter who it was, you felt you couldn't compare.

Your stomach was too big. Your butt was too small. You were too short. Too plain looking. Hell, sometimes you weren't even sure how you compared to average. You didn't think you were hideous, but you forever felt like the ugly duckling. Like the potential to be beautiful was there. It just never blossomed. Or, like you sabotaged being pretty by not having enough restraint to eat better or lose weight. 

For once in your life, you wanted to be the bombshell. You were too weird to be the girl next door. You always fell into the quirky/cute and funny category. People fell for you once they got to know your personality, but you knew that never once had you stopped a guy dead in his tracks across the room. 

In an effort to make yourself feel smaller, you dug around for your massive old sweatshirt. The one you wore whenever you were feeling sad. The material had piled up in places, and it was starting to get holes in others, but the super stretchy material still felt just as big and cozy as if it was brand new. The dark eggplant purple color was also somehow soothing compared to the mostly blacks and grays of your daily wardrobe.

You had settled back in, deep in your own thoughts, when your partner entered the bedroom. You had been with Doctor Stephen Strange for a while now. Long enough that you had more or less informally moved into the Sanctum. You got to spend more time with Stephen and didn't have to pay rent. It was a win-win. The only downside was that you couldn't hide from him when your inner demons reared up. 

You didn't even realize he had been talking to you as he changed out of his sorcerer's robes and into his sweats for bed. It wasn't until he sat down in front of you and lifted your chin up to look directly at him that you realized you weren't paying any attention to a thing he was saying. 

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

You hated the genuine concern on his face. He spent his days literally saving the universe, and here you were trapped inside your own spiraling thoughts. 

"Nothing is wrong."

You said it while staring down at your hands. You were never good at hiding things from Stephen when you were face to face.

"Even if I wasn't a brilliant doctor, MD, and PhD, I know that's your 'I'm sad' sweatshirt. So something is definitely wrong." 

You closed your eyes and shook your head, trying to jiggle loose the thoughts that were waying you down. Not wanting to waste Stephen's time with your shallow worries. Yeah, he was your boyfriend, but he had plenty more vastly important things to do than talk you off a self-image cliff.

"It's stupid, Stephen."

"Don't care. You've listened to me say stupid stuff plenty of times. This just makes us one closer to even."

You rolled your eyes at him, and you knew he wasn't about to give up. Stephen was the most stubborn person you had ever met. In fact, his stubbornness was part of why he pursued you for so long before you finally agreed to go out with him. If he was set on finding out what was bothering you, nothing would stop him until you told him.

So after another moment of trying to get him off the topic, you finally relented and told him what had you feeling down. Shrinking down farther into your sweatshirt as you spoke, fumbling for the right words. Letting the cozy fabric serve as its own kind of armor.

"I don't even know what got me thinking it, but I'm just feeling down on myself. That there just isn't anything about me physically that is special. I don't think I'm ugly, I just don't get why you bothered to even give me a second glance. Let alone what keeps you interested. You are the great Doctor Strange. You are so hot, Stephen, and I'm just me. I'm just plain. I'm chubby with stretch marks. You are gorgeous. You could literally be with the most beautiful women in the world."

You could see him almost flinch when you called yourself plain and that you doubted how enamored he was with you. Even if he knew it was only a passing thought, he never wanted you to question his love for you. Ever.

When it took a few moments for him to say anything in response, you immediately started to take it all back. Not wanting to drag him down into your funk with you.

"See, I shouldn't have said anything, I'm just having a bad night and -" 

Stephen cut you off with a passionate kiss. The kind of kiss that could make you forget your own name. Cupping your face in both of his hands before pulling away from your lips to place several more small kisses on your forehead and in your hairline. Gradually adjusting so he could pull you closer and wrap his arms tighter around you.

"First of all, I love you so much you don't even know. So don't think for one second I would rather be with anyone else. Second of all, I know that you don't necessarily see what I see when you look in the mirror, and you don't even have to believe me, but you are gorgeous. Do you not see that half the other guys practically trail you around like puppies? Rogers turns bright red when you smile at him, and it's a wonder Barnes and Wilson haven't followed you home like strays yet."

That made you laugh. You did know Steve had harbored a crush on you before you started dating Stephen. Tony had let that spill one night after a party. Both Sam and Bucky were such flirts all the time with everyone. Of course, they always acted sweet on you. You assumed it was just them or their way of being nice. You would have to pay better attention next time you saw them, though. Just to see. 

"If one of them does follow me home, can I keep him?" 

You squinted your eyes and pouted your lips at Stephen. You loved giving him a hard time, and he loved giving you one right back.

"Absolutely not. Even if they scratch and howl at the door all night long. I'm the only one who gets to keep strays, and that only applies to America. On a good day, maybe Parker."

You giggled and shook your head in agreement. America was definitely a great addition to your little family. It did lift your spirits a little thinking about all of that, but it still didn't leave you feeling better about yourself. 

Stephen could see the way you were picking at the skin on your hands. Like you were trying to pick away the self-consciousness or what you felt were imperfections. It was a habit he noticed you fell into when you were extra hard on yourself. So, in an effort to distract you and stop you from picking at your skin, he took one of your hands in both of his.

"Do you remember the day you held my hand the first time? Do you have any idea how terrified I was? I was terrified that you were suddenly going to realize how broken and ugly my hands are. How damaged I am, and realize just how below your own league you were dating. Still are, by the way, so maybe I shouldn't say anything. You are the sexiest most beautiful woman I have ever met, inside and out. Every inch of you is incredible and perfect to me. I thought that before you even said a word to me, and getting to know you, and falling in love with you has only made me more sure. There is no one in this universe I could ever find sexier or more special."

"Tell you what, I have an idea..." 

Stephen stood up from the bed, moving over to shut the bedroom door. Throwing the lock, too. Now that you had a teenager running about the Sanctum, it was better safe than sorry. Then, he pulled his phone from his pocket. Setting it on airplane mode as he walked back over to you.

"How about I show you what I see? Give you some actual physical proof of how beautiful you are? A picture is worth a thousand words. I imagine some more revealing, naughty photos would be worth even more."

You chuffed at him and raised a questioning brow at his suggestion. 

"Stephen, are you seriously suggesting that I let you take naked photos of me as a way of making me feel better about myself? Are you sure that isn't just gonna make you feel better?" 

His signature cheeky grin was plastered on his face, and his bright blue eyes were twinkling with mischief.

"Can't it do both? Besides, you know I've asked before for something I can enjoy when I can't have you with me, and I think you look perfect right now. Already in our bed. Already cozy and dressed for bed. Few layers to take off. This is the you I want to see when I'm not here with you."

He came over to where you were still sitting on the bed. An extra swagger in his step and a grin because of the blush you were now sporting. He started to pull teasingly at the hem of your sweatshirt with the hand he didn't have his phone in.

"Come on, take this off. I want you to see how sexy you are. I promise I will let you delete them if you want, although I certainly wouldn't mind keeping a couple for myself, but I want you to see how you look when it's just you and me. Right here, in this bed. The version of you that only I get to see, at least I do hope it's only me. A woman who puts all those supermodels and Playmates to shame. Even first thing in the morning. A goddess if one ever existed, even with bedhead and morning breath." 

Layer by layer, you let Stephen slowly strip off your clothes and arrange you on the bed. His fingers and lips adoring every new inch of skin that he exposed before proceeding to take picture after picture. Lovingly caressing every spot you deemed less than perfect. Letting him talk you through pose after pose. Some were simple and basic, normal poses. Some a bit more sultry with little left to imagine. The less clothing remained, the more bold he got with your poses. 

As your impromptu photoshoot went on, he also tried to distract you from feeling self-conscious about your body coming into view. Sometimes, by making you laugh. Sometimes, by getting a goofy look on his face as he just kind of stared at you. Almost awestruck. 

"You really have no idea how much I fantasize about you, do you? How much of my day I spend trying not to think about you? How when we first started dating, I felt like a teenager trying to control his raging hormones because all I could think of was this. What it would be like if I got the privilege to get this beautiful, incredible woman naked in my bed. That I swore if I got you here, I would never let you leave. I hate that someone ever made you feel like you are anything less than gorgeous, whether in your ratty sad sweatshirt or all dressed up. Although, this, no clothes at all, is definitely my personal favorite."

You tried not to tear up at his genuine sweetness. You could feel your cheeks blushing at his statement, too. You buried your face into the pillow you were holding before softly turning and peeking out at him from the side. Only to find him waiting for the moment you locked eyes with him to take a photo. 

In a sudden burst of confidence, you bit your bottom lip and rolled onto your back. Letting the entirety of your body be on display. Laying back and resting your head on the pillow and stretching your arms up overhead, your legs spreading on their own. You closed your eyes and arched your back as you inhaled deeply. Like you were a cat basking in the warmth of the sun. 

Your mind was completely clear of all thought until you heard a stuttered breath from your lover. It was a sound you had never heard Stephen make before. It sounded like he was looking at a priceless piece of art or one of the seven wonders. He sounded like he was in awe. Like he was in awe at the sight of your body and your beauty.

You were about to dismiss his, what you were sure had to be, over embellished praise, but then you opened your eyes. You were rendered speechless by the look of utter wonder on his face as he let his cerulean blue eyes wash over every inch of you. For possibly the first time, you saw him really seeing you, and it melted any remaining self-doubt you had in that moment.

You immediately reached out to pull Stephen to you. Wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him sweetly. Rubbing your nose against his and whispering loving thanks against his lips.

"Thank you, Stephen. I love you, and even though I don't necessarily see what you see, you always make me feel beautiful. Why don't we take a few pictures together, or maybe a video or two? Maybe I want something for when you aren't here too." 

Stephen's eyes darkened at the suggestion. You had your suspicion that Stephen had a bit of an exhibition kink. You had sent each other pics before, a short video clip or two, and sexted all the time. You knew the idea of filming the two of you fucking would intrigue him. A wicked smile found it's way to his face. 

"Oh sweetheart, you have no idea how many times I've thought of you asking that or that I've thought of asking. Are you really okay with filming us fucking? Of course it's just for the two of us. Sorcerer's honor. " 

Stephen started trying to fiddle with the phone, trying to figure out the best way to set it up to film the two of you. Finding it hard to concentrate after you started leaving kisses on his neck. Stopping to bite and suck at the spot just below his earlobe before continuing to whisper his darkest desires in his ear.

"Well, Stephen, actually the idea does get me a little hot. Maybe if the video turns out really good, a few seconds or minutes can get leaked to a naughty site or two. Anonymously, of course. I don't want to share you with any other woman, but I wouldn't mind showing off all the ways I worship you. Let everyone see how lucky I am. Maybe get some outside opinions of how we look together." 

Stephen's eyes practically rolled back in his head at the thought. He never would suggest it himself, but he kind of loved the sound of that. Of the world getting to see how good the two of you looked together. Of seeing how well you both fit together. How your bodies were made for each other.

He scrambled off the bed using the pile of books on the dresser to create a tripod to set up the phone. Hitting record and making sure the bed was centered in the frame before coming back to join you in the sheets again. He used his magic to strip himself of his clothes. If you two were going to make a sex tape, he was gonna put some extra showmanship in it.

You couldn't help but giggle as you reach your arms out towards him. Stepben didn't waste a minute before he started crawling up your body. Teasing and nipping at your bare skin and making sure to snuggle and rub his goatee against you. Your hands immediately grabbed in his dark brown hair, loving how soft and full it felt in your fingers. 

As your lips connected, you both groaned in pleasure. Your bodies grinding and rubbing. Letting your hands roam all over Stephen's body now that you had plenty of him to touch. You could feel Stephen's cock already erect between you. Truth be told, taking those photos of you had essentially acted as foreplay for him. He was ready to go by the time he was setting up the camera. 

You moaned when you felt his hard shaft slide against the crease of your hip, so close to your sex that was starting to ache for him. Your legs reflexively spread even more on the large bed, and your nails scraped down Stephen's sides. 

"Is there something you want, baby? Tell Daddy what you need."

A sly smile on his face as he spoke. Loud enough to make sure the camera heard. Descending back on you and starting to kiss your neck. Sucking a patch or skin into his mouth hard enough to ensure you would bear a mark the next day.

Your brain finally coming back into focus when he playfully bit the same sensitive spot. His bright blue eyes met yours, and he gave you a cheeky wink. 

"Come on, pretty baby. Don't get all shy on me now. Not after you let me take all those naughty pictures of you. Plus, this part was your idea, after all. So you better speak up."

A soft groan pulled from your throat as you arched your back and ran your hands up his strong arms. Letting your fingernails scrape along his shoulders. Leaving little red scratches marking him as yours. 

"Want you, Stephen. Want you to fuck me. Pretty please, Stephen. Fuck me like only you can, baby."

He rewarded you with a deep kiss, letting his teeth nip at your bottom lip before he started working his way down your neck. Stopping to whisper a "that's my good girl" in your ear before continuing down to your collarbones. Raising his voice once again so it would be audible on the video when he started speaking again.

"You know you are the only one I want to fuck right? This is the only body that gets me this fucking hard. Your's is the only pretty little pussy I dream about filling up every chance I get. Want you full of my cum all the time. Want everyone to know you're mine." 

You felt over the moon as Stephen started to kiss his way down your body. Stopping and spending a little bit of extra attention every time he hit a spot that elicited a gasp or moan. Making you arch your back to give him access to every inch of bare skin you could.

He momentarily popped back up to kiss your lips. Suddenly taking your hand in his and lowering it so you were cupping his hard length. Letting his hips rut forward as you started to eagerly massage his hard cock. Already moving to sit up, anticipating taking him in your mouth, only for him to push you back down on the bed.

"Nope, I'm not done with you, baby, lay back. Just wanted you to feel how hard you got me. Feel how much taking those naughty photos of you turned me on? And they are all mine to enjoy, just like my cock is all yours to enjoy."

With that, he promptly began working his way back down your body. Coming to rest between your thighs, pulling your legs up over his shoulders. Leaving small nips on the sensitive flesh of your inner thigh and rubbing his facial hair against your skin to tease you.

A soft "Stephen, please!" escaped from your lips as you impatiently waited for his lips and tongue to work their magic on you. Feeling your hips thrust on their own when you felt him blow against your wet cunt. Making your sex flutter and clench. One of his favorite sights. 

"Make sure you don't hold back any of those pretty noises darling, want to make sure everyone can hear. Look at the camera as I eat you out, baby." 

You followed his instructions and let your head turn to the side. Keeping your eyes open as you stared into the lens. Trying to fight the inkling of self-consciousness tugging at the back of your mind. 

Those thoughts vanished completely the moment you felt Stephen's warm tongue make its first pass through your folds. All you could focus on was the feeling of his mouth on you. The scratch of his goatee against your most sensitive spots. He was taking his time. Lavishing your cunt with long licks and sucking kisses.

Stephen was a perfectionist, and that translated into every aspect of his life. Including sex. His photographic memory helping to make sure he knew exactly what way to lick and suck at your pussy to bring you to climax in record time. Only using his fingers on occasion. He could get you there with his mouth alone. Tonight was clearly going to be one of those nights.

Your back arched as he suckled on your clit. Keeping your gaze locked on the camera lens. Making sure to give Stephen the sights and sounds he wanted for your video. A long moan falling when you felt his tongue thrusting in and out of you. Hitching your legs up higher and farther apart so he could go deeper while letting your hips start to rut against his face.

As soon as he could feel you getting close to orgasm, Stephen pulled away and pounced on you once again. Wasting no time before he started to slowly thrust his hard cock into you. His lips biting at your neck.

He growled when you whimpered at the feeling of his cock bottoming out inside you. Holding perfectly still and letting you start to squirm beneath him. Wanting you to beg him to move. 

"Tell me what you want. Want you to say it again. Say it to the camera, sweetheart. Tell them why you're whimpering."

Your face now contorted into a pout as you tried so hard to get any sort of friction. Stephen's hips pushed flush to yours, holding you firmly in place.

"Want you to fuck me, Stephen. Need you to fuck me hard. Make me feel good, daddy. Please make me cum. Please."

He smiled and kissed you deeply. Bringing his hands to cup your face and giving you another moment of sweet intimacy before he gave you what you wanted. Pulling away and pulling your legs up over his shoulders. Scooting you just a little so the camera would be able to see his cock stretching and filling you. Once he had you right where he wanted you he began thrusting. 

"You asked for it, sweetheart. You turn me on so fucking much. This is just gonna be the first time I make you cum tonight. I'm not gonna stop until you feel like a goddess. My goddess." 

You reached up to intertwine you fingers with his as he started fucking you harder. Leaning forward so your ass was slightly lifted up off of the bed and his tip was pummeling that sweet spongy spot on your front wall. Making you clench around him each time he hit it. Your voice coming out in little squeaks and the sound of skin slapping punctuating Stephen's movements. 

You could already feel your orgasm building when Stephen moved to bring one hand down to begin rubbing at your clit. Pulling his cock out long enough to smear some of your wetness on the swollen bundle of nerves. Your cunt immediately clenching around him as he started tracing small circles there with his thumb. 

"That's it, my love. Can feel you getting close. You better cum soon because I'm not gonna be able to hold on much longer. Wanna fill you up every day. Mark you as mine. Inside and out. Fuck, baby, I'm gonna cum."

Stephen's own dirty talk getting the best of him. His head dropping down to watch his cock slamming in and out of your drenched cunt. Your pussy gripping tight around him sending him over the edge. His thrusts getting faster and his fingers on your clit mirroring his hips.

He let out a deep groan as he started cumming inside you. The feeling of his warm thick cum filling you triggering your own orgasm. Your cunt drenching his cock and his cum filling you completely. Your moans mingling in harmony with Stephen's. Your hands that were still clasped gripping each other tighter. 

Stephen's body falling onto yours and your lips meeting for slow, sweet kisses as your highs continued to ebb and flow. The sensations slowly fading as you came back down together. The feeling of Stephen's weight on top of you lulling you closer to sleep. All worries and neuroses disappearing and receding back into the depths of your mind. 

You were with Stephen, and Stephen loved you exactly as you were. He only had eyes for you, and he would love you no matter what. Even on days when you couldn't see your beauty, you knew he would help you to see it. Even when you didn't love yourself, he would give you enough love for both of you.

Eventually, Stephen rolled to the side and pulled you with him. Settling you under the covers and holding you close. Pressing kisses all over your face as you floated in the twilight space between waking and sleep. Not moving or pulling away until your breath settled into a steady rhythm that told him you were close to sleep.

Then Stephen stood up and went over to the phone. Stopping the recording and bringing the phone back over to the bed. Setting it down on his nightstand and purposely not setting his usual morning alarm. He wanted to sleep in with you tomorrow. He would deal with Wong later.

You were too exhausted to review the products of your photoshoot right now, but the next time you were feeling down or self-conscious, Stephen would be ready to show you just how beautiful you really were. If you still didn't believe him, maybe he would bring up the idea of an outside opinion like you suggested. You would have the world drooling over you, and he would get to gloat that you were all his.

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

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[lowkeyrobin]

MCYT ; you ride a bike

includes ; tommyinnit, ranboo, badlinu, nihachu, & quackity

warnings ; language

I love passenger princessing my mom on her trike so here's this

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

he's absolutely mortified to get on the back with you at first

you convince him to just ride him around the neighborhood nice and slow and he over time gets used to it because you suggest going short distances on it rather than taking a bus and stuff

he grows on it though

his helmet has some stickers on it, one literally says tommyinnit.store in bold font 💀💀💀

either holds on the sidebars thatre there for him to hold or around your waist

he finds the wind against him therapeutic

the butterflies when you turn around and ask if he's okay, especially when it's dark and cold

constantly snapping jack, freddie & tubbo pictures of him on your bike/riding around with you/where you go

posts a lot of pictures on his Instagram

most of them are you & the scenery

"do you wanna learn how to drive a bike?"

"no???"

he unironically loves shouting at shit drivers who cut you off or try to get you killed

"WATCH IT ASSHOLE! YOU ALMOST GOT US KILLED, USE A BLINKER NEXT TIME!"

loves going over bridges

if he has somewhere to be after a ride, he'll gladly show up with his hair a mess and ass hurting since you need to put a few more pounds of air in his seat LMAO

"okay, so-"

"Tommy, why are you limping?"

RANBOO

he's 50/50 on being scared and wanting to get on with you

they man up and just do it after lots of reassuring

so many pictures lmao

litters his helmet with stickers and white marker doodles

has a sticker of the boober particle + one that just says ranboo.fashion in comic sans

he finds the air against him very therapeutic

loves going down backroads and finding new restaurants

always taking pictures, mostly of you

loves wearing his R800 jacket cause it keeps him warm + free promo

makes "I'll jump off rn" jokes

likes spreading his arms out like an eagle and will yell over the engine LMAO

loves bumps even though they'll hurt immediately after

FREDDIE BADLINU

you ask if he wants to come and he shrugs with a yeah

his first ride was at night so he got to enjoy all the lights and night life

takes a bunch of pictures and videos and sends them to Bill or Tommy

changes his insta bio to "my biker partners passenger prince" + bonus points if that's how he softlaunches your relationship

convinces you to go through a drive thru

eating lunch in the sun was a 10/10, will do it again

takes some cute pictures at stops/lights where he's leaning onto you a bit and he holds the phone in front of you to get both of you

wears dumbass hoodies/jackets w the dumb shit on the back to make ppl look at him weird or smile a bit

he'll show up to Tommy's live show (part of the bit) with messy hair and come on stage and tommy will look at him confused

Freddie asks him what's wrong and tommy just points and circles around his hair and the crowd laughs

"I was with my partner"

cue the laughing

"wait what?" Tommy laughs

"we were riding around the city before we got here, sorry"

NIKI NIHACHU

she thinks it's so cool, trust me

but like Tommy, she's very nervous to get on at first

you take her for a little ride around a parking lot and she's like "Okay I liked that let's actually go now"

her helmet has all sorts of stickers on it, but they're placed to look cool

there's a snake hide looking one down the middle and some cool patterned ones on the sides

she loves the wind in her hair and the feeling of being free

loves taking pictures of the scenery and even using you as a model

loves posting those pictures online for her fans to see

her editor fans always edit the pictures you two take together when you're out and about and whatnot it's so cool

you custom made her a leather jacket that fit her aesthetic

and she's super attached to it

she'll change her insta bio to "that one biker chicks girlfriend" LMAO

she spoils you like you're the one with the large social media platform its adorable

ALEX QUACKITY

"SINCE WHEN THE HELL DID YOU RIDE A BIKE???"

he thinks it's really badass tho

he'll gladly jump on with you

he's honestly scared after getting on but loses the fear pretty quickly

lovesss holding his arms out like a bird it's so fun to him

constantly asking you to tighten his helmet LMFAO

he finds it really entertaining in general

although if he's not wearing a full face covering helmet and wearing one of the head covering ones, you'll have to listen to his wailing later

his hair isn't long enough to completely pull back and the wind obviously tangles it up bad

so you gotta sit him down and try and carefully like de-matte his hair

he loves taking pictures and posting them tho, especially ones of you LMAO

sometimes he'll go the extra mile to give it a corny caption too

you change his insta bio to "passenger prince of the year"

always feels a little special and giggly when you ask if he's okay, especially when it's getting darker and much colder

"I told you to just wear the-"

"I know! please just do it for me! it hurts!"

"either grow your hair out or wear the other, lex"

[houndfaker]

I really think the ship is cute I've been messaging my friends about it!

How does Elise react when Kotone describes the situation in her world... And perhaps the members of Team Sonic?

THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO HEAR AW LOL ive gotten super unhinged about it super fast so seeing the enthusiasm for it really means the world 🥺

this is a bit of a tricky question because i think it depends on Which point in p3’s story that the details come out but ill give the best answer i can

so generally speaking (partially for the sake of how i want things to pan out) i actually don’t imagine team sonic getting too deeply involved with kotone; she knows them and is friends with them for sure! but im not sure she’d confide in them about all the stuff going on with her, at least not beyond a vague explanation about how the whole persona thing works. even with that in mind, though, i think they, or at the very least sonic himself, can gather that she’s got a lot on her shoulders. being sonic, he’s pretty loose about it, but he encourages her where he can. he knows what it’s like.

elise on the other hand i think is someone that insists on carrying the weight of kotone’s problems with her if she can

(sidebar: since this is post-06 being deleted from the timeline, i imagine that although she doesn’t remember what happened, the Feeling of what she learned from the time she spent with sonic sticks with her and so elise is a much more emboldened person when she meets kotone; it’s a little bit of why the comics ive been doodling center around a lot of elise making spontaneous moves where she’s honest with how she feels)

if we’re going by earlier on, i think it’s a bit run of the mill to elise even if the concept of tartarus and the dark hour are rather whimsical. kotone and her friends are essentially parallel to the heroes of elise’s reality; those who fight back against the mad genius doctor eggman and his droves of mischievous machines are like sees who fight back against these ‘shadows’ that prowl the night. i think a big point of attachment between them is that she and kotone are both in serious leadership positions as teenagers.

and if we’re going by ‘post-ryoji explaining the end of all things’, although it takes quite a bit of time to get kotone to the point where she feels comfortable enough to unload any of her baggage on a single other person she cares so much for, i feel the mounting stress of the approaching fall of humanity all but forces her to come clean because she just can’t hold onto it all by herself anymore, she doesn’t Want to for once in her life. she thinks elise has a right to know as one of the few people in her life whos aware of What she does when the clock strikes 12.

and, understandably, elise feels…helpless. again, these phantom emotions from a timeline that’s been wiped, where she faces the end of a world and the fear that someone she cares so much about will be lost forever. there’s some of that desperate selfishness elise has shown briefly in the past, the idea that maybe kotone can bring the people of tatsumi port through her warp ring and let them seek refuge in soleanna. save a small portion of that world, at least, from what sounds like certain doom. but she knows it’s an absurd idea. and kotone can’t see it as anything but running away when she wants to fight harder than ever before.

elise would have to contend with her overwhelming need to protect kotone, that gnawing in her heart making her want to cling and never let go, keep the same devastating thing she can’t seem to remember (the loss of sonic, the loss of her Memories with sonic) from happening to her a second time. she’d have to accept that kotone is going to fight the world’s end no matter what. even if it costs her life. it’s so unfair. but it’s also part of what made her fall in love with that girl. she wants to fight for their lives so badly that she’d challenge the supposed inevitable.

that’s all ill say for now i think 🙏 i hope it’s a decent answer haha ive been thinking about these two really really hard

[greenerteacups]

Thoughts on sydcarmy? (figured i’d ask since you mentioned the bear in one of your asks.)

[normal person voice] THOUGHTS ON SYDCARMY? YEAH I GOT A FEW

To start from the beginning, I've been watching the Bear IRL as it airs, so I've been through all the hiatuses between seasons. And in season 1, I was the conductor of this ship. I was on the train basically from the minute they have that first bit of cooking synchrony in like episode 2 and my obsession with the coworkers-to-lovers trope perked its nose up, but I was promoted to captain when I saw the scene at the end where he grounds himself through a panic attack by thinking about her. Which — hey, by the way, sidebar? Directed to the writers of The Bear? I'm totally on board with the 'let's have more platonic bonds between men and women' stuff, I get why you like that story and want to write it, and seriously, platonic sydcarm, that's cool. That's awesome. But also: visualizing someone's face to anchor you through a panic attack — while in real life not at all inconsistent with platonic friendship — is an extremely loaded scene to drop in the middle of a narrative where the two characters in question have demonstrable chemistry and an intense but ill-defined bond, and your audience, which has been trained to close-read male-female relationships for signs of romantic interest, is going to read that scene as romantically intimate, if not sexual in nature. And they're not, like, ship-obsessed or whatever for thinking that. The visual language of your product does not exist outside of the cultural lexicon where it is being presented, regardless of your intentions. Anyway. [Sidebar over.]

Season 2, and especially the introduction of Claire, seemed to me like a Doylist way to address the SydCarmy train. The upshot to this is they do use this to talk about Sydney and Carmy being Weirdly Intimate Business Partners, and you get a lot of references to Sydney's jealousy, her disgruntlement with Claire, and Carmy's struggle to fuse the two worlds. The downside is that Sydney and Carmy no longer feel like the epic power chord at the center of the show, because Carmy's been shifted into this internal battle between Claire (who in many ways represents being Out of the industry) and Sydney (who, whatever else you can say about her, is very much In). And unfortunately for Claire, Sydney is just way better written. Like, I really did try to be fair to Claire, but it's not even close — and man, I didn't even feel like the writers were trying. Claire and Carmy's crush on Claire are introduced to the audience at the same time, and from there, she has zero scenes without Carm being either present or the subject of conversation. And like, that's so weird, on a show where almost everyone is rich and well-developed, and even the extended family in Fishes get little nods to their internal life. And I — I'm rambling. Point being, I think Season 2 took the wind out of SydCarmy's sails by making their dynamic antagonistic and strained by Carmy's obvious romantic interest in someone else, so I went into S3 with guarded optimism.

And then, like... okay. I'm a Sydney fan before I'm a SydCarmy fan, right? That man's cute and all, but she's the protagonist of this show for me. And at this point, I really do think the best thing for Syd is to get out of Carmy's orbit and go do her own thing. I don't believe in people being "too traumatized" for relationships to work, so I think a lot of the people blowing off Carmy as being "not ready" for love this season are full of hot air — but I do believe that Carmy's trauma is specifically impairing his ability to empathize with and care for Sydney, a fellow restauranteur and subordinate chef/protege, in a way that would make any iteration of their relationship satisfying to me. Getting him to that point would require the writers to dedicate a lot of storytelling and character development in a creative direction that they don't seem to be interested in. They are clearly interested in other things — worthy things! Cool things! Things that can make for a good plot! — but at this point, I was only interested in a version of SydCarmy that existed for about five minutes in the first 1/3 of the show, and it's time for me to face the music. I'm really excited to see where they take Sydney, though. I still trust the writers to do her justice, because they clearly know what a rare thing they have in her.

[letters-to-rosie]

for the fic writers ask (a bit late): 2, 3, 8, 9 and 41 please

it's not too late I like to talk lol

and I talked a lot so buckle in

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

my top 3 are "alternate universe - modern setting" (8/10), "alternate universe - college/university" (5/10), and "not beta read" (5/10, which is funny because 10/10 are not beta read lol)

and yeah, I can't say they don't represent me. when I was on ff.net I used a beta (my mom lmao) but now my grasp of English grammar is much better. I still miss stuff all the time (I found a word use error rereading something I'd published like a year and a half prior and wanted to scream lol), but it is what it is. even though I have professional editing credentials, it's really hard to edit your own stuff because your brain still fills in what it expects to see

re: modern setting and college setting, I started off my account publishing a couple college AU Fullmetal Alchemist one-shots; the only other college fic I had was my second prompt fill for the Arcane timebomb secret santa, where the prompt was to write in a modern setting. so that's all the college fics and 5/8 of the modern setting. another modern one is high school, since when I finished Arcane I felt a deep need to write Ekko in a high school setting because rarely had I felt so compelled by a single character. and the last two are the revolution universe, which is a funny story

idk how much I've mentioned this before, but the reason revolution is a modern setting is because I wanted to see if I could make an Ekko/Jinx roleswap work without the help of any of the story's magical elements. to restrict myself, I changed the setting. from there, developing modern Piltover/Zaun was just really fun. I took a lot of cues from the aforementioned high school setting fic I wrote and turned them up to 11. it has been and still is a fun ride, so I'm not mad about that choice at all

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

hmmmmmmm lol well line breaks! I like to make detailed little line breaks. some show up better on one platform than another (for example, the revolution telephone line breaks look WAY better on desktop imo), but I think they are cute

in terms of more trope-related things, I actually had a hard time for a moment. I went and looked at some fics of mine to try and find an answer

humor is one, for sure. big believer in laughing even on the worst day of your life. I think that's how I survived mine, and I think the characters I write about would be the same, finding something absurd or funny even when things are really bad

another one, I think, is attention to the mundane. I'm not a super detailed writer; purple prose isn't really my personal style. but I like writing about boring things. little things, you know?

the last one I'll bring up is setup and payoff. that's one of my personal favorite writing devices. I really enjoy putting the pieces in place and watching it all come together is always really satisfying. especially when combined with a focus on the mundane. like I have one story where Ekko's wearing a tie, and it matters.

8. What song would make a great fic (to either write or read)?

hmmmmm well I don't know if there are any I'd want to see just adapted straight into a fic, or nothing comes to mind directly. or maybe it's that the songs I am thinking of are more vibes than plot? well anyway, Willow's Symptom of Life is one I really like lately, as well as Sampha and Little Simz's Satellite Business 2.0, Kenny Mason's Firestarter (or Metal Wings tbh, or like the entirety of Angelic Hoodrat), and Isaiah Rashad's Headshots (4 Da Locals)

9. How do you find new fic to read?

scroll on a tag, or someone I know writes something and I go read it, and sometimes recs

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

honestly, I just want to write like myself, but the goal is to shoutout other people so I picked one from each other the fandoms I've read the most of on ao3

for Fullmetal, Swallows on the Beam is a long-time fave; the detail of the worldbuilding is really great, and I love the amount of thought put into a setting that isn't even seen in the canon material. the prose is just really lovely too. the author has done such an incredible job, and I need to go through and actually comment on all the chapters someday, but I have so much to say that I know it'll take me forever lol. but like how can a scene of a character touching another character's earring make me lose my shit? that is the magic of this fic lol. one of the most romantic things I have ever read

for Hunter x Hunter, I really love a thousand miles wandering; the Silk Road setting is just so unique! the prose is great, character work is great, setting is worked into the story in a great way. all feels like generic praise, but the whole thing is just so well-rounded in its excellence

for Arcane, my favorite has always been The Revolution Will Not Be Televised; just has such an infectious energy. it's fun, funny, and it takes this fantasy setting and makes it feel very real, which in turn helps the characters feel even more real than they do in the show, in some ways

[paranormaljones]

it's super slow at work so i'm gonna rant about dating and a dream i had last night.

i hate dating. my feelings are extremely unpredictable when it comes to romantic interest and that basically means that i'm super picky. the few times that i've gone out with guys, all of them have been very interested in me from the start while i'm in a place of being unsure how i feel about them, because i didn't know any of them beforehand. personally, i'm not willing to drag things out for a long time on the off chance that my feelings will change. if i don't feel "it" almost immediately, i won't force myself to stay in an unbalanced dynamic. i feel it's incredibly unfair to the other person, and it will only make breaking it off more painful for them if they've caught serious feelings and i haven't. i've been on the receiving end of rejection for letting my feelings build up longer than i should have, and i hate hate hate the thought of putting someone else through that. so i break it off quickly.

the most recent time i went out with a guy, which was a few months ago, he was very clearly catching feelings quickly. and he was very vocal about how much he liked me/enjoyed my company (but not in a creepy way). and unfortunately, i have so little experience with receiving so much words of affirmation that it scared the hell out of me. i never knew how to respond and i knew that i wasn't catching feelings, but sadly i think we could have been good friends in other circumstances.

he also made a few comments regarding my very visible adhd that made me feel . . . well, "fetishized" isn't the right word. but something akin to that. my various tics and adhd symptoms are pretty easy to spot if you know that i have adhd, and that did come up naturally in one of our earlier conversations. he made several comments about them along the lines of "that's so cute" and it never sat right with me. i don't think he had any malicious intent at all, he was always really sweet in our conversations and i think he just didn't know how it came across. unfortunately i wasn't brave enough to bring up how it made me feel; it was something else that i had never experienced before and i didn't know how to respond to it.

all that to say, for the short time that we went out together, our dynamic always felt deeply unbalanced. just like the last two times i'd gone out with someone. and i just couldn't stay in that with the vague hope that it would balance itself out.

it's made me realize that for me to actually get into a serious relationship one day, it's going to take a very specific kind of dynamic (and very specific kind of man) for me to really want to pursue that. it's almost certainly going to have to stem from a pre-existing friendship. platonic connections are so important to me and i need to have a very strong one in place before a romantic connection can start.

onto the dream that i had last night.

it was really vivid and unusual for me. it was one of those dreams that you wake up from and think "that's going to make me sad for the rest of the day." and it has.

i dreamed of a man asking me out. i can still picture what he looked like, slightly older than me with very dark hair but a few silvery streaks, like he was greying early (sidebar, i hope i go grey early because i always think it looks beautiful on others). he had soft blue eyes and a gentle voice and a very genuine smile. in the dream i had the feeling that i knew of him previously, but i didn't really know him. and that was a big deal, because when he asked me out i felt completely safe in saying yes. i think we went out to dinner and just spent the evening together. i can't really remember the details but i remember feeling safe and "perfectly, incandescently happy". it felt like we were balanced, equal. it felt like i'd found someone i'd been looking for for a long time. i even remember his name.

i woke up and felt that absence immediately.

stuff like that leaves me in such a place. because it helps to narrow down exactly what i hope to find in a future relationship, but it's also of course an aching reminder of what i haven't found yet, what i'm not sure i'll ever find.

anyways. the yearning levels are off the charts again today. and all i can do about it is overshare on tumblr dot com.

[yurisorcerer]

That was really good!

Gosh, I have many thoughts, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to articulate them given that I'm kind of tired at the moment.

So, my main love here is for the characters. I think people tend to sell Dungeon Meshi on its worldbuilding and I do get that (it's very complex and is quite well thought-out), but the characters are what really grabbed me. I don't think there was a single member of the main cast I didn't love. Laios is such a delightfully weird monster manual fanboy and I 100% agree with the people who say he feels neurodivergent and that this feels intentional. Senshi is awesome and it's very funny how the manga is extremely horny for him. Chilchuk brings a profound Divorced Dad energy to the cast that I think is great for bouncing off of the other characters. Izutsumi is interesting by how she contrasts with the earlier party members, I want to think about her role in the story more. I think she was kind of meant to give us an "outcast's perspective" of sorts? I think she's good at being that, but I feel like having blown through most of the manga in a few days may have hampered my appreciation of some of the more subtle aspects of her character.

Marcille, though, is my favorite; as someone who is also a really fussy eater and just kind of tightly-wound in general I found her really relatable. She's also super, super, super pretty and cute but we don't need to get into that right now. I cannot be the first person to point out how, when she becomes the dungeon lord, her behavior starts feeling extremely manic, right? I suffer from delusional episodes that include very difficult to ignore intrusive thoughts, and I thought the whole bit she went into about how being the dungeon lord feels felt very familiar in that respect, and it really hit home for me.

(On the flip side, having your desires eaten by the demon seems similar to depression. I've been there, too.)

Other stuff! I like the whole overarching theme of eating both in the literal sense and as a general metaphor for going through one's life. In the very last chapter Marcille says something to the effect of, perhaps this journey was to teach us to accept death, and I don't think that's necessarily the entirety of what the series is going for, but that's part of it definitely. There's a whole circle of life thing going on here. The manga is very....sensory? Lots of focus on taste of course but also scent and feeling. Lots of really strong imagery along those lines throughout the entirety of it.

I set the worldbuilding aside earlier but it is super neat actually, also. I still don't love the general conceits of a western-style fantasy setup, but I think this is honestly about as well as it's possible to do this material. Everyone has a motivation for their actions that feels inspired by experience and history rather than just Dwarves Do X and Elves Do Y and so on. There's a LITTLE of that, but not nearly as much as is typical for this kind of thing. In particular, I liked the orcs. Their usage as a symbol is perhaps somewhat fraught (I'm not the person to make that call either way), but it felt like it was coming from a good place and they're just treated so much better here than comparable people in other media, idk. It felt nice to me.

The art! The art is fucking gorgeous, like, if I wanted to get someone to read this manga this is one of the things I'd mention. The entire dungeon feels so wonderfully lived-in and ancient. You can practically feel the stonework in some panels. (Sidebar here! The anime is really good at capturing this, do watch the anime it's fantastic.)

Some other random stray thoughts:

-The circumstances she gets it in obviously suck, but Marcille's dungeon lord outfit honestly serves hard and everyone should get off her case about it.

-I ended up liking the captain of the Canaries a lot more than I thought I would. He's just an interesting character all around.

-I also really love Sissel / Thistle / apparently how you romanize this is a source of some contention. I feel sooooo bad for the guy. He just wanted to keep everyone safe! It's not his fault that his idea of keeping everyone safe ended up being influenced by a lion-headed demon from outside of reality and corrupted into a suffocating hellscape for those same people! OK maybe it's a little his fault

-I like the diversity in appearances across the characters. This is a thing I wish more manga did this well.

-Laios' kingly titles in the final chapter, RANKED from MOST to LEAST badass: 1. Laios of the Three Heads (based as fuck, makes people ask questions when they hear about you in a history book several centuries down the line), 2. The Demon-Eater (badass and very specific) 3. The Vegetable-Armored (basically gets the same reaction as #1, but with a more comedic lean) 4. Demon King Laios (this honestly seems pretty disingenuous but it is dope) 5. The Dragon-Slayer (very generic, also not even the most impressive part of what he did) 6. The Lord of the Dungeon (Crusader Kings 2 auto-generated-ass name) 7. Pervy Tallman (this sounds like a bad comedian)

-I want to kiss Marcille on the lips

-who said that

-haha I wouldn't mind the Canaries coming to arrest me am I right fellow lesbians

-who said that (part 2)

anyway yeah really good manga highly recommended. I'm not sure if it's a (get out the scare quotes folks) "Personal Favorite" per se, but it might become one over time. Usually such things take a bit to settle with me. The fact that I have any interest in reading it again is a good sign, though. 90% of the time when I'm done with media I'm fine with never revisiting it again. Dungeon Meshi I would very much like to revisit, both in the form of the anime that's airing right now and also I think I'd like to re-read the manga in a few years when I'm at a different place in my life to see what I think of it a little farther down the line. I liked it a lot, and I think it will stick with me.

[jadelotusflower]

Stargate rewatch: 1x20 Politics

We pick up right where the last episode left off, Daniel getting his shoulder wound treated and trying to explain the alternate reality to his sceptical team.

It’s funny to see the team not really believing Daniel because it’s still early in the run, whereas later on any of them could say the weirdest shit happened and the rest of them would just roll with it no questions asked.

Jack: “And you were there, and you were there, and there’s no place like home.” Daniel: “As a matter of fact, you were there.” Heh. Is Daniel just frustrated or did he not get the Wizard of Oz reference? Works either way.

I’m curious how the team thinks Daniel got shot by a staff weapon if it was all a dream though.

“Yes but the defining event, the death of Ra, took place in both worlds.” A bit of a logic leap by Daniel but hey, it’s what he does.

This is a clip show. I give SG-1 a lot of credit for actually making an effort with their clip shows, always building them around an in-universe plot to give context and cause. They’re still annoying to watch in these days of binging, but they’re as successful as they can be.

Written by Brad Wright (not including excerpts) and directed by Martin Wood.

“How’s our boy?” I find this very cute? Hammond really is the mama duck to SG-1’s ducklings, the epitome of restrained affection.

His absolute and obvious disdain for Samuels is also a real treat. He rolls his eyes!

Samuels is played by Robert Wisden, who was also briefly in Smallville as Chloe's father Gabe. Both shows were based in Vancouver, and both ran for ten seasons, so there's quite the guest star crossover.

In a private meeting with Jack, Hammond goes from “this is what I look like when I’m not laughing, Colonel” to almost laughing when Jack cracks another joke. I love Hammond so much.

I think Ronny Cox as Kinsey is actually the longest running villain in the entire show? Apophis finally bites it in season 5, but Kinsey makes it all the way to season 8.

“And this must be the drain through which the money flows” is such a great line for a pontificating blowhard politician, as is his hypocritical speech. You immediately know who Kinsey is, and you hate him even though he’s actually right about a lot of stuff.

“Oh you’re right, we’ll just upload a computer virus into the mothership.” lol, the shade at Devlin/Emmerich here.

We get a date for the Chulak mission - 10 February (presumably) 1997. The computer in the previous episode indicated it was December 1997 so assuming time was the same in the alternate universe, it's been approximately 11 months since the pilot which seems about right.

The purpose of the mission is described as “to rescue both Dr Jackson’s wife and her brother, and determine the Goa’uld threat” which is the first mention we’ve had of Sha’re and Skaara in a while.

lol, Jack looking to Sam to give the correct pronunciation of Goa’uld because he doesn’t want to.

Lt Colonel “secondary objective” Samuels being the one to read from Jack’s report about Skaara being chosen really twists the knife.

“Because what is right cannot be measured by strength.” Great Teal’c line.

Argos gets discussed and it’s mentioned that SG-2 made recent contact with them - a nice little background aspect of the show that they do check in on the worlds they’ve visited from time to time.

Much is made of the lack of benefit to the Stargate program - guess that wonder drug from Emancipation didn’t pan out? Or maybe everyone just wants to forget that episode happened.

Sidebar - with all the clips it’s obvious that Daniel’s hair has been getting longer throughout the season - irl because Michael Shanks’ hair was shorter and was growing it out as filming progressed to get that Daniel look, but my headcanon in universe is that Sha’re used to trim it for him on Abydos, and since her abduction he can’t bring himself to get it cut

There’s an ongoing metaphor by Kinsey for the Stargate being a Pandora’s Box that’s kind of apt, the box (jar) being a gift from the gods intended to punish mankind after Prometheus gifted them fire, with humanity as Pandora, eternally curious and unable to resist peeking inside.

The show never had a Goa’uld character who took on the persona of Prometheus, Epimetheus, or even Pandora, which was kind of a missed opportunity.

Samuels the slimeball is “sorry it had to end like this” and Hammond rightly tells him to gtfo.

Nice crossfade, Mr Wood.

The Stargate shut down, the threat of an imminent attack - all in all, a good setup going into the season finale!

[unpopularvivian]

When You Show Memes To Your Partner (An Edward x Toby FanFic):

Toby was peacefully sipping his favorite cup of earl gray tea while silently humming to himself. The bright sunlight beamed through the windows while little songbirds softly chirped outside. The Fat Controller had decided to give him and his husband, Edward, a day off. No shunting trucks, no stress, just a relaxing day for the both of them. Toby happily sighed, it seemed like a long time that he was given a break for once. It’s not like he complained about doing work like James or sometimes Gordon, it's just that he didn’t get to spend time with Edward.

“Ahhh~ Such a lovely day… I wonder what should me and Eddie do? Maybe go to the beach? Take care of each others’ kids?” Toby chuckled to himself a little. No, of course not. Edward had Thomas while Toby and his wife, Henrietta, had Percy, Phillip and Pluto. All four of them were really crazy to handle in their own ways. Just as Toby was tentatively wondering to himself, Edward was walking down the staircase, wearing just a light blue shirt with blue jeans, looking very tired as usual. 

“Hello honey, did you have a decent sleep yesterday?” Toby quietly asked the blue tender engine.

Edward grumbled a bit before replying. “Well, I don’t think ‘decent’ is the right word to describe it…. More like, ‘strange’....”

Edward poured a coffee jug into his favorite mug that was written “Fuck Off, I’m Gay and I Have Insomnia” on it before drinking it like it was water. “Anyways, I was thinking I wanted to show you something today.”

“What is it?” asked Toby curiously. Edward then put down his coffee mug on the countertop and went to grab his laptop from the living room. After a few minutes, Edward then placed his laptop on the table and opened it. Toby leaned to see what his partner was doing while Edward was busy punching letters into the keyboard. 

“What are you typing?” questioned Toby with a raised eyebrow.

“My favorite memes.” Edward replied back.

“Memes? What are they?”

“Oh, they’re just amusing or interesting stuff online. They are quite hilarious. If you understand them.” Edward smiled with a cheeky grin on his face.

After Edward was done typing in the word ‘meme” in the search bar, he then went to the images section and started scrolling through the page. Toby had a very confused and judgemental face while his eyes followed on the sidebar. After a few minutes of scrolling through, Edward clicked on an image of the Peter Griffin Death Pose and showed it to Toby.

“What the heck is that?!?” Toby exclaimed in surprise. “Why is this guy on the ground while posing like that?!?!”

Edward started laughing his ass off as Toby continued to question the image in hand with a lot of judgment.

“O-Oh…. That’s the Dead Peter Griffin meme….” Edward snorted as he tried to contain his laughter. “D-Do you like it?....”

“No! Of course I don’t!!!” Toby slapped Edward on his arm with annoyment. “Why do you people think it’s funny to make a joke out of somebody lying on the ground while they’re clearly dying?!!?”

“Well, you can’t blame me!!!! It’s the internet who did all of this!!!” Edward retorted who was definitely trying not to piss himself due to laughter. He then scrolled through the page once more before landing on the Yippee Creature image.

“Well, that's a peculiar-Uhhhhh ...Creature right there….He looks kinda…Goofy? For some reason?” Toby stated as he examined the image. “Although, I think he looks quite cute though! What a nice-looking fella right here!”

“Yeah, he does. People call him the ‘Autism Creature’ for a reason.” Edward replied. “He reminds me like Gordon, doesn’t he?”

“Oh yeah!” Toby chortled. “Especially him sometimes staring into the distance like that! That’s the funniest thing about him.”

For 4 hours, Edward and Toby were scrolling through viral images and memes, commenting and reacting to them. Sometimes, the reactions were funny, sometimes, they weren’t. And some of them had the couple with confused faces just by looking at them. When dusk had finally fallen, the Steam Team were at Tidmouth Sheds, sharing stories with each other in the sheds. 

“Did you guys know that Thomas got into another crash today?” Percy requested.

“Hm! Really?” Gordon asked with a boastful face.

“PERCY!!!!!” Thomas retorted back with frustration. 

“Now, you two. Don’t fight or else we’ll have an argument in our hands.” Toby calmly consoled the two. 

“What did you and Edward do today?” Henry asked Toby with a curious look on his face. 

“Well, I showed Toby my favorite memes on my laptop. The whole experience was pretty interesting to say the least. We even got a few laughs out of it.” Edward answered back.

“Gordon, you remind me of the Yippee Creature image after Edward showed it to me now.” Toby said.

Gordon was utterly baffled, he was utmost embarrassed that his best friend has compared him to a viral meme.

“WHAT?!?!?!” Gordon shouted.

Everybody started chuckling as Gordon’s turned redder than James’ splendid paint. Toby and Edward were giggling while the others laughed at Gordon hysterically. They both looked at each other endearingly as the moon twinkled in the dark night sky. Today sure has been a good day….

[dballzposting]

here’s how Yamgeta can still #win

Vegeta having gay sex with Yamucha is a one-time temporary thing but honestly if you were crazy enough then I could see how it could have longevity. Romance, even.

Like ...

Yamucha is an older bachelor with a swanky cabin and he KNOWS better. He knows better than to get attached. If he felt he and Vegeta were going too far with this then he would remove himself and be sure to remind Vegeta of his familial obligations. Yamucha has played this game before and he knows the risks; he’s not interested in having this get out of hand.

Furthermore, he, like, sort of hates Vegeta. He’ll never forgive him for anything but he has chilled enough to leave it as water under the bridge. He doesn’t care enough to still be MAD about anything really, but he WOULD be the first to jump in on a Vegeta Roast Session, and he wouldn’t suffer in the slightest if he never ever saw Vegeta again. He’ll concede that Vegeta really has seemed to change,. and he’s done much to redeem himself, but that doesn’t mean that anyone is obliged to forgive him for anything, and Yamucha, in the most honorable way, certainly hasn’t it.

Yamucha is a middle aged bachelor, yknow, he wears those yellow suits, yknow, and once he has a drink or two he can absolutely stand to talk to Vegeta to his face, and the two have even built up a platform of repartee over the years - something sarcastic and witty and dreadful, and it’s taken time for Vegeta to lower his guard enough to play this sluttenous game of talk, and for Yamucha to build in vegeta’s eyes a reputation of conversational fortitude. 

So, like, yknow, Yamucha is just Chill, yknow? He’s going with the flow. He’s playing the game with Vegeta because he can. He’s not, like, playing 4d chess or anything, he’s not conspiring, not planning his next move - he’s just going where his instincts take him. And it takes time, yknow, but eventually Vegeta thinks so little of Yamucha’s ability and so highly of his efforts that he finds himself at Yamucha’s swanky cabin past midnight, yknow? Like it’s nothing.

And so yknow, Ymaucha will have gay sex with Vegeta, sure, absolutely. It’s a bit funny, a bit cheeky, a bit sarcastic, and altogether so FRANK and forthright. Sleeves rolled up, hand of cards flipped and visible. 

And so yeah Yamucha will do all of that. And he’ll put his pants on and walk vegeta to the door after. “Thanks for visiting, really,” yknow. “Give Bulma my regards.” Y’know. 

and that’s yamgeta, yknow?

BUT .. TAKE MY HAND .. CONSIDER SOMETHING BEYOND .. 

what is Vegeta’s role in his family unit, even. I definitely feel like Vegeta spends a lot of time alone. He trains his son, he sleeps next to his wife, and he is always present for dinner. And most of the time he just, like, fucks off. 

And everyone seems okay with that, they forgive him for that. He doesn’t spend a lot of time with his family but they’re thankful for the time he does grant them (seen on an early episode of Super where he could not STAND being on a cruise with them so he flew away at the end, and Bulma & Trunks thanked him for the time he gave rather than getting mad or sad at him.)

So, like, Vegeta could be having a secret life with Yamucha and no one would even know..? He’s just gone that often anyway. Training and sleeping and stuff. Shitting in the mountains. Going shoe shopping. Playing Minesweeper. ETC. So it wouldn’t even make a difference to his family.

Furthermore - what sort of affection does he give them anyway? Specifically his wife - how much affection do you think she gets from him, and how much does she expect? The thing about Bulma is that ..

Well okay, sidebar:

CHARACTER CORNER: BULMA

In the original dragon ball, in the first arch, Bulma wanted nothing more than to have a cute boyfriend. She couldn’t control herself around cute guys. So she was going to use the dragon balls to WISH for a boyfriend. 

...Implying that she couldn't find one herself.

Now hold on. Bulma is very pretty. She makes damn sure that you’re aware of that at every junction. And she’s rich. Why couldn’t she get a boyftiend?

It’s not that she felt that she couldn’t attract a cute boy .. it’s that she felt that she couldn’t attract a NICE boy. 

Many characters have expressed their attraction to her throughout the series - most of whom have been CREEPS, WEIRDOS, PERVERTS, ETC, and I recall a scene where she was being literally CHASED and HUNTED by two Red Ribbon Army goons in helicopters. 

She IS a desirable catch. And she has seen the worst in men because of it.

So, she was to wish for a cute and NICE boyfriend. Ok. Cool.

And then she met Yamucha and didn’t have to make that wish after all. OKAY. COOL. 

BUT .. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT?

I’LL TELL YOU WHAT. She wasn’t content with him.

She had him cut his hair because long hair wasn’t fashionable on a boy.

And she became irreconcilably IRATE with him for all the attention from girls that he indirectly garnered. It wasn’t even his fault, and he paid them no attention - but Bulma just HATED that he was desired.

She never even kissed him. 

She never even kissed him! So why did she want a boyfriend?

My dear: young Bulma, sweet 16, wanted a cute & nice boyfriend more than anything - but she’d been hunted and oggled and grabbed at for her looks, and she could not place her trust in her nice & cute boyfriend enough to actually interact with him physically. It’s a sensitive subject for her. That makes sense.

HOWEVER - there’s also the perspective that actually, it’s not a sensitive subject for her. She’s just Bulma, she’s rude and selfish and conceited and - she just wanted the SYMBOL of a boyfriend, she wanted to be a cute girl with a cute boy only SHE could oggle!

She wanted a TROPHY boyfriend! And she couldn’t have that when everyone was staring at and vying for her trophy. 

MY DEAR - This is why Vegeta works out so wonderfully for her.

He’s a trophy alright - unfathomably strong, ambitious, determined, etc. In his time, of a royal status. A tough catch, valuable in his scarcity.

and NO ONE ELSE WANTS HIM - Bulma can have him all to herself. 

FURTHERMORE - Vegeta is not a sexually-geared man, he’s barely even an AFFECTIONATE man - he’ll never request her kisses or body. She is free to give those only as she pleases, when she pleases. And, presumably, he’ll have her when she wants to give herself to him, becasue, well - what’s he to say? He’s virtuous and shy in this regard - what’s he to say?

Vegeta BARELY EVEN BUGS HER - she is FREE to live her life, work on her projects, live her passions, etc all without the prying attention of another. She’s free to be independent, which I know suits her. She needs a lot of time to herself to think and work and develop on ideas. And Vegeta needs a lot of time alone to think and train and focus. So it all works out splendidly really.

Vegeta doesn’t even know the first thing about her work. He can’t comprehend it. He can’t fathom it. Bulma is free to have her niche - and free to have her trophy husband, and feel secure that he is only hers, and he will be back at the end of the day because he has no where else to go, and he will scare off all the hoes with his unbecoming glower and unrelatable background.

But note that she doesn’t really need THAT much attention from him. She needs someone who makes her feel important, becasue she is important, and she can have that with Vegeta - she was his first, and he had never known soft affection like the stuff she showed him. She can kiss him on the cheek and see him blush and grow flustered, at any time. He’s sensitive in that regard - and that’s all she wants out of him: that when they are together, he’s affected by her, and that she is his everything.

In practice they don’t even spend that much time together.

Okay so anyway. What was my point.

My point was that if you wanted to craft a Yamgeta scenario with some longevity then here’s how you do it:

(^ music to read this post to.)

Vegeta, in theory, has time for Yamucha.

Yamucha definitely has time for him.

And Yamucha knows better, and he would freely warn Vegeta of the risk of their continued engagement (and if there is one word to describe their communication, it is FRANK - nothing is being unsaid, everything is being toyed with). But, also, he is not actually in a situation where he could push someone away that hard.

Yamucha is a lonely dude. He’s been even lonelier ever since Pu’ar went away to Shapeshifting University. He’s all alone in that swanky cabin, all alone with his The Romantics CD and his Caddyshack (1980) DVD. He keeps trying to grow his hair out but he keeps getting beguilded into letting the beautiful foxes who live in the woods cut it. He’s at the point by now where he can sense when he’s getting tricked by a fox but he’s so in want of a woman that he’ll let them do anything to him if they appear as a beautiful lady. And he fucking learns nothing from it.

(this is what I’m referencing every time i mention yamucha getting his head shaved by foxes BTW:

https://www.japanpowered.com/folklore-and-urban-legends/how-a-man-was-bewitched-and-had-his-head-shaved-by-the-foxes )

So, like, if Vegeta keeps coming around .. Yamucha will honestly let him. He’ll warn him and they’ll go back and forth in their meta-sarcastic witty way and Yamucha will tempt him with certain drinks or topics and he’ll watch Vegeta go along with it.

And it feels a little bit like ... Like Vegeta is responding to these bids for affection/attention. He’ll go along with it, he’ll bite back, he’ll leave with will and return with his head held high - the whole point, their whole dynamic from the start has been that Vegeta is better than this and is why he won’t be conned/tricked, nevermind the fact that his behavior would be less incriminating if he were to defer to it. So if Vegeta keeps bringing his self-serving autonomous self BACK to Yamucha’s cabin / to see him at Guy’s Night / to specifically find him in a conversation during a Z Team get-together -- WELL -- it feels a little bit like Yamucha is receiving some much-appreciated and meaningful attention.

He knows better - and he doesn’t want to be a homewrecker - but Vegeta has become fun to talk to, and he is finding increasing enjoyment in their interactions. He’ll always hate who Vegeta was, and he’ll never forgive him, but sometimes, at the most fearless and raunchy points, it’s delightfully funny to think that this is the same guy who pulled all that monstrous shit years ago.

Yamucha knows better, but ever since Tien told him that he wasn’t gonna marry him (SO SAD..!!!!), Yamucha is not in any position to snuff meaningful attention, no matter whom it’s from. 

DO YOU SEE MY POINT? Ok.

But why would Vegeta keep going back? Oh my god I don’t fcking know. Stop asking.

Vegeta

Vegeta is sort of afraid of sex I don’t know why he would ahve gay sex with Yamucha ... WELL it’s not that he’s afraid of sex. He’s not. He’s not afraid of anything. He’s not afriad. Please don’t put in the newspapers that he got afraid

He’s nhot afriad of sex. But he does only have sex with his wife a certain way. She has to be gentle with him. And that’s the way it was for a long time. That’s how she first serenaded and seduced him. He had never known tenderness - he had never known physical touch to be so .. gentle and careful. And he didnt know what to do about it. And that’s how it went down.

And Bulma likes to be the important person in people’s lives so that worked out fine for a long time, that she could have him melt. But, like. She’s a wild and energetic woman. Sometimes she wants to introduce some more FIRE into the bedroom. But often times he won’t really have it. He feels like, what’s the point ..

Like he could have a passionate fiery physical encounter with any of the damn fighters in his life. That’s not why he has a wife. FURTHERMORE - He has it wired into his brain so deeply to always BE GENTLE with Bulma because she’s a fragile human !! She wants him to get on top and make it sing and he’s like ... ERHM.... I’m sorry ... Could you ... be more specific ...?

And she wants him to just GO FOR IT to just FEEL IT but he’s afraid of going TOO wild so he just asks her to just lead instead please.

This is humiliating for him - like, must we speak of it..? Can’t we just make love in the moonlight? Must we articulate it with our voices..? Give it words..?

If she got rough with him then I think that it would scare him. If she grabbed his junk allof a sudden then I think that he would scream a little bit and flinch. IT’S JUST NOT HOW THEY NORMALLY DO THINGS YKNOW...?

LIIKE IDK .. If he’s not hardy and disciplined then no one is. BUT, LIKE. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM HIM? YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS:

1. have him lay you with a Face of Stone.. sort of tense the whole time .. defending against any sudden or rough movements ... there to serve .. ETC 

2. you make love TO HIM and have him really be there present & in the moment & this means not grabbing his fucking shit when he’s not fucking expecting it becasue that’s not what you’re supposed to do anyway and that’;s not where it;’s supposed to fucking go and your hands are for caressing him softly not yanking on his fucking shit like you’re shifting a car or starting a lawnmower BULMA

So yeah he just has it as a personal rule that he’;s not allowed to be rough with his wife becasue even if he trusts his disciplined self to not err, it’s still Rude to be rough with a lady, much less his wife who yells at / pussywhips him so well ...

Additionally, he doesn’t really respond well to her coming at him with more wild energy either. I think that fire and passion and sauce are one thing, and he does like her strength of character so, I doubt that he would dislike her fire, but - she can’t be, like, doing anything unorthodox. Passionate LOVEMAKING is one thing. DEPRAVED BEHAVIOR is another. And there’s a point where the skin and sweat and breath is just, like, any other day to him ... like ... i’m sorry ... am i making love to my sweet wife, or am I training in the gravity chamber? Am I absolutely ripping the skin off of it in the gravity chamber alone, or am I rotten enough that I’m having my wife do it for me? good grief. 

(^another song for listening and reading.)

PARAGRAPHS LIFTED FROM a “fanfic” on my phone where I had Vegeta lying awake in bed at night pondering the nature of sex because I wanted to develop on my head canon for how he thinks about it evidently: (i did impulsively post it once so if it looks familiar that’s why):

When his Bulma had first taken him in and shown him how to love, it was not something that he knew to expect, but it did not twist his head much either. He never knew that it could be the way it was because he had never thought of it; but after it had happened, it made sense by virtue of having transpired.

Afterwards, Vegeta had fled to the mountains, where he had stood at the tops and stared at the sky. One afternoon he had stared into the depth of the blizzard until it gradually lifted and gave way to the silhouette of the evening sun.

He had thought and thought and felt and thought, and decided that he wasn’t meant to understand all of the details of the liminal experience of Bulma’s bedroom. It was over now, and he could move on.

Bulma herself had a vulgar tongue. This is what Vegeta could not believe as natural: the things she would reference or suggest to his virgin ears. She would say things to get a rise out of him and then laugh as his face flushed.

Still, Vegeta had crossed his arms to the comments from his Bulma and from the rest of the filthy mouths on the planet: he knew that they were all vulgar, and that he was not.

. . .

He turns his head to gaze at his wife in the dark. He’s attracted to his wife, of course he is, ever since she had jabbed a finger into his chest and told him what to do. But he does not respond to her body the way even she does.

A great deal of Bulma’s self-esteem comes from the state of her physical assets - all of which she frequently insists are top-notch. Vegeta has always believed her, but he never knew how to corroborate her, because it’s not like he has seen hoards of naked women to compare her to, and it’s not like he would know what to look for.

There have been times where Bulma has grown frustrated with him because he was not giving her the answer that she wanted. She was wanting to hear something like, “you’re right Bulma, your boobs are so cute and lovely and perfect, and your butt is tight too;” but when Vegeta tasks himself to be truthful and vocal, the best he can squeak out is “the shapes of your body are important to me.”

She can only hear that romantic dribble so much before she wants him to tell her explicitly that her tits are better than anyone else’s.

Mostly, though, Bulma grows frustrated with him for other reasons, and Vegeta has never learned a way to speak with her that worked for him.

The state of Bulma’s body is very important to him, as is the feel of her skin on his, and the warm imprint of her silhouette on his vision, and the music of her voice, and the strands of her hair that somehow always end up on the shower walls. But Vegeta struggles to first articulate and then verbalize such tender sentiments, and he finds it impermissibly uncouth to compensate for his silence with raunchy smatterings. He would never speak to his wife that way. And he would never lie.

. . .

And his least favorite activities are the ones where his wife wants to make a game out of sex, where they play with each other and put things in weird holes. The first time she had tried to put her mouth on his member, he had gone soft in offense.

He loved his wife, and he loved to love her, and if she had never found him, he would likely find himself still strong, virile, ambitious - and sexless.

Ok. So as you can see, Vgeta is kind of an um uh. What’s the word. He’s .. frumpy? He’s vanilla. MOREOVER: He’d rather spar than make love but if he’s making love then he better do it right. Otherwise it’s besmirching to the other person, if it does not feel like something that he could not do alone. 

So. Awsome. Epic. 

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HIS HAVING GAY SEX WITH YAMUCHA /?!?1/

Um. I don’t know. This post has gone off the fucking rails. 

I think I’m going to completely contradict myself here. ARE YOU READY? Forget everything you just read. ARE YOU READY?

What if ... Vegeta LIKES to have gay sex with Yamucha BECASU it’s a bit more ... forceful? He can really put his hands on him. And it’s a NO STRINGS ATTACHED encounter - Yamucha & Veegag have no obligation to each other, they don’t love each other, theyre both men, it’s easy-peasy. 

And Vegeta can really put his hands on him & feel the scars of a warrior. He can really feel the weight.

Hey. Listen, man. Let’s try to salvage this post. Together. For the Yamgeta Nation. 

I feel like Vegeta & Yamucha could hang out and it’s not a big deal. Like their talk & general interactions are WRY, or witty, or playful; always frank, often sparse.

But, what have I just said to you. Maybe we can salvage this post after all. Tie it all together. What did I just say to you?

Vegeta .. is ... a bit of a serious lover. He’s not a floozy. He’s not a whore. He’s not confident or playful or GENEROUS with ANY affection or attention AT ALL. 

If he spent a night with Yamucha and he enjoyed it then he would not be rushing to pay him his disrespects. He may refuse Yamucha’s cigar offering post-event, he may admit that he feels sick, he may hurry to leave - but at Yamucha’s knowing and sagely “Yeah, that’ll do that to you... You better get going then. I won’t take offense,” vegeta stops.

and he’d be like “..could you?”

“What?”

“Could you take offense?”

“...I just said that I wouldn’t.”

“But you could?”

“...I guess?”

“...I’ll stay then.”

And vegeta would sit back down and stay a while.

And they’d sit in silence. Until Yamucha says “It’s a dangerous game yknow.”

“How do you figure?”

“Staying.”

and then there’s another pause, this one much more tense. And only then would Vegeta hurry to leave, wrench his coat on, ETC.

But that’s just, like, a first encounter. If he kept coming around - then he’d grow more and more comfortable with Yamucha. More playful. More sarcastic and saucy. He’d play the game just as well.

He’s not always coming around to have gay sex with Yamucha, he’s coming around to hear the ways that Yamucha will try to convince him this time. It doesn’t always work. Vegeta can’t be played, remember, and it’s all very up-front. 

Vegeta will come around becasue it’s something to do, Yamucha is someone new to talk with.

Sometimes it’s boring and Vegeta leaves.

Sometimes Vegeta gets bored of training alone and feels iced out of his own domestic affairs, so he goes to Yamcuha’s cabin, where yamucha is always trying to cook his own meal, and he’s always down for putting on Caddyshack and falling asleep because he’s kind of, like, 45 yrs old or something. 

You know everyone always acts like Vegeta can’t cook. But he can cook. How do you think he lived during his youth, traveling from planet to planet? He learned the best ways to cook meat, how to not burn out the fat grease, and what to do with the remainder. He traveled the cosmos and learned of the best spices and seasonings - and he may feel inclined to list them off and their planet of origin as he stands in yamucha’s cabin, throwing stuff inside of the wood stove.

Vegeta has known culinary delights in his time, by his own hand. The fact that there is black smoke coming out of Yamucha’s wood stove right now is not important. 

IDK.

I just have a lot of thoughts evidently.

Vegeta knows how love goes by now. He knows the patterns, he knows what’s permissible.

He knows to not take his gloves off lest to hold his wife or his children.

But after a while, he may take them off with Yamcuha, becasue he’s secure enough, in all of their frankness, that there is a suspension of legitimacy here that facilitates organic and of-the-moment interaction.

He knows that the loving and tender hold that a man takes with his wife is secret, sacred, and must not be desecrated by being repeated in another’s bed.

But in all of the frankness therein, Yamucha’s cabin has become a location of secret safeness, where anything goes, and nothing is too odd to face directly.

Vegeta knows what things mean - but, at the same time, he’s not necessarily experienced in .. what to show to whom. He’s only ever had one lover. And the cover of this cabin is secure. Surely, you can just .. behave as a lover would?

Yamucha, meanwhile, knows the drill, and is careful about what he shows to whom. And he’d just be so stunned and confused if someone like Vegeta was willing to cuddle up with him, to hug him or kiss him off of the lips, or smile at him with his eyes, or cook dinner with him, or laugh with him, or listen to him talk.

IDK. Maybe Vegeta could turn on the radio and listen to all those love songs sung by wantful women and emotional men and come to the realization that somehow, oddly enough, maybe those words are something that his sensitively specific heart understands more than he ever thought it could. Maybe it was that simple all along. Maybe this social shit and romance shit is easy. Maybe he just drinks bourbon at Yamucha’s cabin and then leaves long enough that he’s content to see him again when he does.

Do you understand ... have I put an image in your head yet...

Maybe it’s fun. Maybe it’s sweet. Maybe it’s senseless and boring and they keep their distance for a while. Maybe it’s senseless and freeing and vegeta keeps coming around.

LISTEN:

Their interactions have always been so frank. They’ve always put things into words, or obvious gestures, or risky smirks that convey the ambiguity of their affairs.

It’s always been .. up-front.

And there’s a point when you hear someone speak frankly enough that .. you hear enough. That you’re able to assume that you know them.

There’s a point where the words turn to silent gestures, and the silent gestures turn to genuine actions, requests and bids and - just, the thoughtless, selfish movements of a self-actualized animal. No words, but a world of communication, to and from, in and out. 

And, there’s a point in that where you may wind up being .. presumptuous.

If Yamucha told Vegeta that certain behaviors would be inappropriately romantic between them, then vegeta would be like, UM WELL DUH. Obviously. Not that I’d want to be romantic with YOU. I’m barely romantic with my wife. Only scarcely and in secret. Not that it’s any of your damn business. 

BUT .. as long as Yamucha doesnt say that .. Vegeta would just continue interacting with him physically. Because it’a sort of nice innit? As long as it’s not verbalized, it’s connotationless, and he’s been frank enough with Yamucha thus far that he thinks that they both understand the need to be true and odd and unexplained, and in fact, that there is frankness and comprehension in their silence.

Additionally: When Vegeta and Bulma talk, it tends to end in an argument a lot. They communicate better in silence. This is an intimacy that Vegeta is accustomed to.

And again. Yamucha is in no position to turn this sort of attention down.

So he says nothing of it.

He knows better. He lets Vegeta keep coming around. He offers him drink, smoke, time, and conversation. 

Vegeta isn’t keen on compromising himself, so he doesn’t often drink or smoke. Though he’s come a long way, he still isn’t the best conversationalist if there’s not a central string where he and yamucha can continuously poke fun at each other; but there’s a point where it’s not about the repartee anymore. Yamucha is very aware of when Vegeta starts to let him speak of more boring, personal, or even domestic things. It strikes him as odd, but he realizes that it’s not even about the substance of their words anymore.

Vegeta is just there for the atmosphere.

THANKS FOR READING THE POST

[boreal-sea]

WordPress themes that are Tumblr-like

Ok, so you've decided to make a WordPress blog. Now you've got to decide how to theme it, and there are a LOT of choices. Unfortunately, a lot of them will shorten your posts and force them to be read-mores. Others will just use photo thumbnails, or just the titles of the posts. If that's your thing, great! There are a ton of choices out there.

But for those of us who want our WordPress blog to look like... a blog... I've gone through ALL of the blog-themed Free Themes, and I've compiled them into a master post right here. None of these blogs will cut off your posts or hide images or do weird things like that. The colors are customizable, the reblog buttons show up, tags show up, it's just so nice. You can do sticky posts! You can add widgets and really customize your blog super easily, all for free.

(If you see little blue circle icons in some of these images, ignore those - those only show up when you are previewing a theme)

In order of best to worst, in my opinion:

#1: Independent Publisher 2

I'm using their example screenshot for this to really showcase how nice this looks; you can change the colors and add side panels like in Wilson and it has extra controls for how the blog posts appear. It's very nice. The only reason I'm using Wilson instead is that I like how the sidebar in Wilson stands out a little bit.

.

#2: Wilson

I love this theme. Simple, clean. I like that it has a side bar to add the widgets to built in. I added a search bar, as you can see. The only thing is, it DOESN'T show the tags on your posts, or reblog buttons. Other than that, it's perfect. But for those flaws, it gets second place.

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#3: Libre 2

This layout does different things if you include a header image. Colors are customizable etc.

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#4: Hexa

The Hexa theme is fun. It can do everything Wilson can do.

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#5: Twenty Sixteen

This is a nice clean blog with great sidebar content, if you like your sidebar on the right instead of the left.

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#6: Scrawl

This one has a nifty sidebar menu that pops out when you click on it.

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#7: Franklin

I like this one, it's simple and does what it needs to do without wasted space. This one comes with a huge banner you can turn off to make it usable.

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#8: Sobe

This one is really cute. Same customization as the others, with some cute icons. A bit of wasted space in the header, imo.

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#9: Tonal

Another highly customizable theme. Comes with all the same stuff, I just don't like it as much aesthetically.

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#10: Hew

This one is low on the list because it has a lot of wasted space, in my opinion. Still usable though.

.

And that's it - the top 10 best Tumblr-like WordPress themes!

[this-is-all-unreal]

My dear Friend

Part 10

Masterlist

No real warnings just a little spooky part. The rest of it is going to a mostly fluff. A fun idea I had about The Batfam going camping. I hope you all still enjoy it!

     The next morning was pretty standard. Breakfast was served and we all ate in mostly silence aside from the occasional sidebar conversation. Once almost everyone was done eating. Bruce told us all to stay seated. That he had something he wanted to say. 

       "I wanted to reward you all for your hard work and dedication so I have arranged for us all to go on a little family trip." He hardly finished his sentence before Tim and Dick high fived over the table. 

       "Alright! Are we going to Hawaii, maybe the Bahamas?" Dick asked as he leaned back in his seat with a big smile.

      "No, not that kind of trip. We are going outside of Gotham city limits to go camping. I figured it would be a good chance to brush up on some survival techniques." You could feel the excitement leave the air. There was a collective sigh. 

       "In what world is being away from my computer a reward?" Tim asked as he pushed his plate away. 

       "Yeah for once I'm with Tim. This is gonna blow, Bruce." Jason adds. 

      "You boys will have fun. Look, you don't see Margaret complaining." Bruce says as gestures to me down the table. 

       "Hmm? Oh I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention." It was a lie I realize but I didn't want to have to tell him how horrible this Idea sounded. He seemed happy about it. Jason laughed a little and stood up from the table.

       "You guys have fun playing boy scouts in the woods. I'll be protecting the city while you're gone old man." 

      "Fake a stomach ache. I can make you puke if he doesn't buy it." Felix interjected. It never came up before now but I guess he hates camping too.

       "I have already made arrangements for The Flash to do a few run throughs. This is a mandatory trip. Everyone is going, even Alfred." Alfred who had just walked in, eyes widened in surprise. 

       "I have to come as well Master Bruce? Oh goody." He says as he starts picking up the plates. 

       "Everyone go pack, no more than one backpack. Margaret stick around. I have something for you." Bruce says as he helps Alfred put the plates onto the serving tray.

      "Now's your chance quick tell him you don't feel well. You'll be a hero to the guys." Once everyone leaves Bruce gets up and reaches up in a tall cabinet and pulls out a gift wrapped in dark green and gold paper

       "Your birthday had passed by the time I met you so this is for you." He said as he handed me the gift. 

       "You didn't have to. I really appreciate it though." I say with a wide smile 

      "You haven't even opened it yet. don't say you appreciate it."

   Ignoring my friend I carefully unwrapped the box and opened it and inside was a stuffed animal of a turtle. He was so soft and his legs were filled with beads giving him some weight. 

      "You seemed to like the turtle figurine so I figured you'd like a bigger, softer one." Bruce said as he picked up the toy and handed it to me. I hug it close and can't help but grin. 

     "What does he think you are five?"

      "I love him, thank you!" I say as I stand up and hug Bruce. He was back to his normal unaffectionate self because he just patted me on the back and took a step away. 

      "Don't mention it, go get packed." I ran upstairs and pulled out a book bag Tim had given to me. I packed some clothes and a blanket. Of course I packed my new turtle who I still need to name. 

      "Don't bring that thing. The guys are gonna make fun of you."

       "No they won't. I want to bring it. He's cute." I say as I zip my bag. 

      I grabbed a few bottles of water and got in the van with everyone else. It was strange seeing everyone in such informal clothes. I don't think I have ever seen Alfred's knees. 

      Bruce was driving and Alfred was his copilot. We hadn't even gotten to the camp grounds and Alfred had already had us all put sunscreen on. Jason and Dick sat in the front row of the back seats and Tim and I had the farthest back seats. The ride was a little longer than I had liked but eventually we made it. We were surrounded by woods on all sides. There was a small building with stalls and toilets and sinks but no showers. Aside from that there was nothing. 

   The tents seemed easy enough to set up. Bruce and Jason could build a tent faster than I had ever seen. Dick and Alfred started on building a fire and Tim and I went looking for things we all could eat. He had a book full of local plants. He marked a few that looked less gross than all the others and the search was on. 

      "This looks like this thing we can eat but it also looks like this other thing that could give us a parasite so I think I will just leave it alone. How are you doing?" Tim asked as he walked over to me. Felix and I were picking berries from a tall bush. 

      "Alright you found mulberries! Here put them in this." He said as he sat a bucket down. It was like Felix was born to pick berries. He was dropping double the berries I was in the bucket. Tim came back with a few mushrooms he was 100% sure wouldn't give us all diarrhea and we headed back. The tents were in a circle around the fire and Jason had put a wire around the circle of tents. 

    "There we go. This way if anyone sneaks up on us we will know." He says proudly putting his hands on his hips.

     "Take that thing down, you are going to trip up a raccoon or something." Dick said as he grabbed one of the steaks in the ground that had the wire tied to it. The two squabbled over the wire as Bruce was roasting some hotdogs for everyone. Alfred took the berries and mushrooms to the restroom to wash them up. Meanwhile Tim crawled into his tent and pulled out his phone. 

     It was starting to get dark and everyone was still doing their own things while Alfred and Bruce fixed up some dinner. 

    I was sitting in a folding chair just staring off when I saw baby deer wobbling into view from the tree line.it couldn't be very old. I stood up and tried to get one of the guys attention but everyone was too busy and shooed me off. The baby deer seemed very interested in our camp so I slowly walked over to it. As soon as I got about six feet from it, it ran off. I followed the fawn wanting to see if I could find its mom. 

       "Careful Margaret. I can't see camp." I ignored him as I continued to chase this fawn who finally stopped In a clearing. I slow down and stand still looking at it. Their eyes are so big and dark. I slowly took a step closer and to my surprise it didn't run. I reached out my hand and petted its head. 

       "Don't touch it, it could have a disease or something."

        "It likes me, Felix look." I whisper. The deer didn't seem to be too afraid of Me. 

       "Oh look now you've done it. It's mom's here." I look around and see an older deer creep out from behind some trees. I pull my hand away and the fawn wobbles to its mom who licks its head. 

      "Here mommy deer. Can I pet you too?" I say as I kneel down trying to make myself seem as small as possible. She was even prettier than her baby. The mother stands her ground and just stares into my eyes. I looked past her and realized how dark it had gotten. Just as I looked away I heard a blood curdling scream making the deer run away. I stood up and looked around for the source but it had gotten so dark I could hardly see a few feet in front of my face. 

       "Felix? What was that?"

      "No clue but I don't want to stick around to find out." He said as he grabbed my hand and started to lead me through the woods. After a few minutes he lets go of my hand. "Don't freak out but we are lost."

       "What! How can we be lost? You never get lost!"

       "I said don't freak out! I'm going to fly up and see if I can see camp from the air."

       "Don't leave me!" I shouted but he was already gone. I looked around for a second then sat on a stump. I shouldn't  have chased that deer. I heard a twig snap so I looked up. I didn't see anything at first, making me assume it was Felix till I saw the big shiny black eyes of one of the deer looking back at me. It seemed to be peeking around from behind a tree.

      "Hey girl, is that mommy or baby deer?" I ask as I stand up to get a better view. 

       "Neither." An unfamiliar voice says.

Frozen with fear I stood there as the eyes looking right into my soul, seemed to levitate in the darkness. 

      "What are you?" I ask as I finally manage to speak.

The would-be deer steps closer into my field of vision but still seems to be hiding behind a thin tree. It was tall but hunching over. I could make out a long face almost like a deer's but it was only bone. The body was all black and almost blended into the darkness behind its form. Its limbs were long and thin, not unlike a spider's.

       "I'm daddy deer." It said as it wrapped it's arm around the tree it was standing behind. 

       "You're not real. I know this trick. I go running back to the camp and sound like a crazy person." 

        "But they all already know you are crazy." It spoke so slowly leaving me desperately anticipating every word.

       "All the same, just leave me alone! I'm not scared of you!" I screamed at it.

      "Liar liar pants on fire." It hummed. "Wanna hear a secret?" It asked me. The words rang in my ears. It's what the news lady said to me. I shook my head and turned my back to the creature. It laughed as twigs crunched behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck raised as it reached me. A hand fell on my shoulder and I turned around and slapped whatever it was as hard as I could. 

       "Ow Margaret!" A very confused Dick says as he holds his face. "I was talking to you and you ignore me now you're hitting me?" I looked past him and saw nothing but very dimly lit trees. 

       "You scared me. I'm sorry." I say sheepishly. 

       "I scared you? You are the one standing in the dark woods looking like an extra from The Blair Witch project or something." He said with a laugh. "Let's get going. Felix led me to you. He's a pretty useful little guy." He added as we started to walk back. I wondered if Dick thought Felix was a child like me. I never wanted to correct him though because hearing him talk about Felix like that always made me laugh.

      "He was the only one who didn't question it when I held their hand."

If Felix was with them then he couldn't have been the thing in the woods. I got goosebumps thinking about it. "What's wrong? You look pale."

       "Don't worry about it." I say softly. 

       "Hmm?" 

       "Sorry I'm talking to Felix." I say as we reach the camp. Bruce stood up and put his hands on his hips. 

        "I got lost." I say softly looking up at him. 

        "Your dinner is cold. Where did you go?" He asks as he starts making up a plate of cold food. 

       "I saw a deer and followed it. Then Felix and I started talking and lost track of time." I lied to him again but It was better than saying I saw a big creepy deer thing. Felix gave me a little shove probably because I pulled him into my lie. 

    "You were gone for hours. That's all you did?" Jason chimed in.

    "Hours? No I wasn't gone that long was I?" 

    "They all went out looking for you. I was ready to call for backup." Tim said as he sat on his phone still. 

       "That's weird. It didn't even feel like an hour." He was right, it didn't. 

      The rest of the evening passed by. I had my dinner meanwhile Jason and Alfred took turns reading out loud from some old poetry books. The evening was winding down and everyone crawled onto their own tents. Everyone had their own aside from Bruce and Alfred who shared the biggest one. 

      Getting into my sleeping bag was the easy part now I had to try and sleep. My new turtle friend was held tightly in my arms. I didn't think I'd be so afraid. Every sound was the creature in my mind. Every sound was something dangerous ready to pounce on my tent. Finally I couldn't take it.

       I got up and walked over to Tim's tent. To see if he was awake still. The jerk had put some kind of lock on the inside of his zipper. I moved onto the next one. I opened the extra large tent and crawled in. I didn't think Bruce or Alfred would mind if I slept in here. It wasn't five minutes before I couldn't take their unified snoring anymore. I moved down the line to Jason's tent. As soon as I opened the tent he shot up and looked at me. 

      "Can I sleep in here? I'm kinda scared." I admit as I get in. 

      "Sure if you want. And don't worry I brought this so don't be scared about any Intruders." He said as he pulled out a gun from his sleeping bag. 

     "Oh good Margaret, Jason has a gun. You must feel really safe now."

     "Are you sleeping with a gun?!" 

     "Well I'm not going to leave  a loaded gun in my bag now am I? That would be dangerous." He said as he laid back down and put his gun under his sweater he was using as a pillow. 

      "Nevermind, I changed my mind." I say as I get out. 

      "Suit yourself. You'll be thanking me for bringing this bad boy if a bear shows up." He said before closing his eyes again. I close his tent up and move to the last one, Dick's tent.

      "Great you guys can cuddle while he cracks some dad jokes."

      "Stop it, he's just a big softy. You shouldn't make fun of him like that." I say as I reach the last tent. I get in and Dick murmurs a little and opens one eye. Seeing it is just me. He rolls over and goes back to sleep. 

      Sleeping here was much easier than I thought. Morning came quickly and we all packed up. After a small breakfast we were on the road again. I never thought I'd be so happy to see the manor. 

Hey there! I'm going to try to do daily post but if I don't just assume a new part will be up the day after. I'm having alot of fun writing I hope you guys are enjoying the story. 😊

[chikaras-garden]

any advice you would give to someone who wants to start a writing blog? Any tips? Thank you 🙏

I have some more writing advice here, so I’m going to talk a little about Tumblr and being a content creator with this one. Just like with the last post about this, I’m really touched that you guys are coming to me for advice, and I’m going to do my best to do you justice.

This is not be-all, end-all, fail-proof advice, but just how I think about managing my own blog. Writer friends: feel free to chime in if you like!

Do it for yourself. Lame? Yes. Super important? Also yes. If you write things you’re not passionate about, even things you feel “meh” about, you’re going to burn yourself out fast. Your passion is infectious. What you love is obvious. That’s a good thing. Write what you want to read, and the audience will follow. The audience might be small—at first, it will be small—but your own joy in what you’re writing will sustain you as you grow. Happiness that lasts comes from within you.

Set smart goals. Not SMART like the concept a lot of us learned in school, but smart like logical. Do not, do not, set notes-based goals. If I ever hear any of you angels say something like “I want 1,000 notes on this post” I will find you and swaddle you in a blanket as punishment because that is not a goal conducive to your own happiness. A smart, logical, attainable goal is one that you are in control of. You can’t force readers to hit like or reblog with comments, right? So set goals that are focused on you: “I want to write 500 words today,” or “I want to make one post every other week,” or “I want to write a fic about this trope” are examples of goals that you can achieve on your own.

Take breaks. You know yourself and you know your limits; be honest with yourself about how much you can do, how much you want to do, and don’t force yourself to write more or post more just because you feel like you should. This is a hobby. Tumblr fame is not paying your bills or passing your classes; while having a hobby you enjoy will make real life more bearable, having a hobby that drains you is not worth it. It’s okay to post sparingly. It’s okay to step away from the blog for a little while. It’s okay to rebrand and change what you write about. It’s okay to leave Tumblr altogether.

Support other creators. Follow blogs like your own, reblog their work, participate in their events and ask games, and just pop over to other blogs to chat with the creators. Tumblr is a community more than most other social media, and it’s so important for the ecosystem for creators to interact with one another. Build each other up. Don’t participate in drama. The writers in this community are all genuinely such wonderful humans that would be happy to welcome you.

Now for some shorter tips and ideas:

Do tag research to maximize your visibility. On desktop, type a tag in “search tumblr” and compare the number of followers on the “related tags’ sidebar.

If you take requests, don’t feel guilty about deleting things that make you uncomfortable or don’t inspire you. No response required. It’s your blog, your happiness, your creative labor.

You might, however, want to try writing a little of whatever’s trendy when you’re just starting to grow your audience. Write a cute winter fic in December. Participate in kinktober or no nut November. Write about Jason Todd any day of the year.

If you like making your blog cute and aesthetic, do that. If you don’t, don’t feel like you have to. Your energy is best spent doing the things that you actually enjoy.

Post some things other than writing. Reblog some fanart or aesthetic things. Ramble about whatever’s happening in your head. Thirst. Your non-writing posts will develop a blog persona that helps readers connect to you as a person.

Let me know what your URL is if you decide to start a writing blog so I can support you 💋