#i really don't know how to describe what they're doing

[lila-went-missing]

Hiii, saw you wanted some requests for Sevika and I've had this idea bubbling up for a while. Imagine Vika with a reader that's normally experienced, yk has fucked one or two people before and it's not a sex god, and they're growing insecure about sevika never starting intimacy even after months of dating, so they think it's because they're not as good as the girl's she's been with before. Idk just thought that'd be good

I'm kind of obsessed with this, ngl. This isn't the first smut that I've written but it is the first smut that I've posted on here so feedback is always appreciated. Y'all will never guess... it's not proofread. Again. Enjoy my lovelies! X

Warnings: Smut (obviously), mild angst but nothing too horrible, mentions of body image issues but readers body type isn't specified or described.

Fem reader, of course, with female genitalia.

At first, you didn't think anything of it. She probably just wanted to take things slow with you. You weren't as experienced as her so she probably wanted to take her time.

That made sense for a while.

But now, after eight months together, you haven't had sex once. More importantly, she hasn't initiated it.

Realistically, you know that it's fine. There's plenty of reasons as to why nothing has happened so far. But that voice in the back of your head is doing a fantastic job of convincing you otherwise.

Sevika was kind of a sex symbol before you two got together.

She'd been with countless women, she was a regular at Babbettes. Her name was uttered on the streets like a sacred prayer.

You, on the other hand, have only been with two people: your ex, and a drunken one night stand that was less than satisfactory. So you did have sexual experience, but not nearly as much as her.

Honestly, it's starting to worry you.

Did she not like you? Was she not physically attracted to you? Was there something wrong with your body? Were you not showing enough skin?

Thoughts plagued your mind night and day. You were stuck in constant turmoil. It was impossible to stop your own brain once it got going.

It was taking everything in you to focus on the stove and not burn dinner.

You flinch at the sound of the door closing. Heavy footsteps sound through the house, approaching the kitchen.

Sevikas thick arms wrap around your midsection, her face making home in the side of your neck. For a long time, she doesn't say anything. The only sounds come from the meat sizzling in your pan. Moments like this make it easier to not think about the painful lack of aw sex life between you two.

Her lips purse, pressing small kisses against your skin. She hums against your neck.

"What are you cooking doll?" Her voice is muffled against your flesh but you understand her all the same.

"Spaghetti." You feel her smile.

"My favorite.." She mumbles. You hum a small "Mhm" before focusing back on the seasoned beef and water you're waiting for to boil. Her arms tighten ever so slightly, one hand slipping under your shirt. Her thumb caresses your bare skin.

It should be sweet but it really just drives the nail into the coffin for you.

Your voice comes out before you can stop it.

"Why won't you have sex with me?" You regret it the moment it leaves your mouth.

"I- woah, what? Doll what do you mean?" She honestly sounds baffled.

"Forget I said anything, please. It doesn't matter."

Her hands gently grab your shoulders, turning you around.

"No way. What are you talking about?"

You shake your head. "It's stupid.."

"It's not stupid if it's bothering you." She reassures you.

"It's just, we've been together for eight months, and we practically live together. But we haven't done anything. I know you don't have an issue having sex because half the undercity talks about how good you are and I just don't understand. Is there something wrong with me? Am I not appealing to yo-" Your rant is cut off by her lips. Her hands are holding you like glass, one on your cheek, one curled around your hip.

"There is nothing wrong with you." Her voice comes out as a soft whisper. "I'm sorry I made you feel like there was. I just knew that you don't have as much experience as I do. I didn't want you to feel rushed, or forced."

"Rushed? No, you could never.. I thought you just didn't want me that way." She immediately shakes her head. She kisses you again, more urgently this time.

Her hands grab anywhere they can, pulling you in. They're on your hips, waist, groping your ass.

"I do want you." Then they're picking you up and lifting you on the counter. "Let me show you how much I want you?" All you can do is nod as her lips trail down your neck. Her touch dances over your body, removing your top.

Her mouth follows soon after, sucking dark bruises into the skin on your neck and chest. She takes a nipple in her mouth and swirls her tongue around it. A low whimper leaves your mouth at the new, but not unpleasant, sensation.

Her right hand copies her tongue's motions on the other, pinching and pulling. Your body trembles against the counter with need.

She moves away from your breasts, kissing and licking down your stomach to your navel. Her hands unbutton your pants. She looks up at you as she lowers herself to her knees, silently asking for permission. You nod your head. You don't trust your voice. Your pants are off in seconds and thrown somewhere in the kitchen that you'll worry about later.

Her hand splays across your stomach and gently pushes you to lay against the tile. It's cold against your bare and burning skin, your back arching off of it but she keeps your hips pinned down.

You gasp as her teeth nip at the skin of your thigh. A breathy laugh leaves her.

"Shut up.." You mutter.

"Didn't say anything."

Your eyes roll in fake annoyance but you don't get the chance to reply as the cold air hits your bare cunt. Her thumbs pull your lips apart, admiring the sight before her.

"Fuck doll, you're so wet. All of this for me?" Her voice is husky between your legs and it stirs something delicious in your belly.

"Yes, all for you Sev.." She chuckles. Her teeth take the hem of your panties and drag them down your legs. She kisses your hips and navel, sucking hickies and marking you as hers.

"Please, Vika. Need you.." You whine. You can't bring yourself to care about how desperate you sound. You're sure that you look even more so from her position.

It seems, though, that your prayers have been answered because as soon as the words leave your mouth hers is back on you. This time it's between your legs.

She licks a long stripe up your pussy before stopping to suck your clit into her mouth. A loud moan reverberates from your chest as you lean your head back into the counter. Her tongue kitten licks at the bud before suckling on it like shes trying to nurse herself.

You've had people eat you out before but never this well. You don't think it could get better than this.

She moves down, opting to fuck you with her tongue instead. You definitely understand the appeal now. You've given yourself plenty of orgasms but this is the fastest one has risen before.

She feels it in the way you clench around her tongue and moves back to your clit. Her fingers fill up the now empty space, fucking into you in a gently but rough way only she could manage.

She's eating you like a woman starved and with the lack of sex the two of you have had she may as well be. If you didn't know better you might think this is her last meal.

Gasps and whimpers leave your mouth in a desperate way you can't stop.

"Fuck Sev.. ngh~ m'gonna cum, please.."

She smirks against you once more, speeding up her ministrations.

"Come on my tongue baby, make a mess on me." Her voice is muffled against you cunt, vibrations travel through your clit with her words.

You last maybe thirty seconds longer, hand tangled in her hair, before releasing over her tongue.

She laps you up, milking you for all that you're worth. She's never tasted anything more delicious. Her mouth doesn't let up until your whimpering from the overstimulation and pushing her head away.

She looks you in the eye as she sucks her fingers clean before kissing back up your body. Her lips lock onto yours and you can still taste yourself on her tongue. It makes your head spin in a way you've never felt before.

When you come back to earth, her hand is running through your hair.

"I'm sorry I made you believe that I didn't want to do that." She mumbles. "But now I may need it to be a daily thing." You giggle at her words.

"It's okay. I wouldn't mind honestly." She helps you sit up, a large hand cupping your cheek. "You didn't get to cum.." You whisper as you lean in closer.

"Don't worry about me, I'll get my fill later." The look on her face tells you that this isn't over. "I'm going to change out of these clothes. You just worry about dinner okay?" She slips your panties back on along with your shirt.

You nod, sliding off the counter. You wince at the mess you made but she's already wiping it up. Her lips meet your temple as she mutters a low, "I love you."

"I love you more." She shakes her head, chuckling before walking back to her room. You feel much better now, and you really can't wait for what she meant by "later".

[poorlittleyaoyao]

WRH expressing baseline interest/concern for his sons and being at least somewhat displeased out loud that they died, combined with novel!WRH who is not blackmailing WQ or WN and in fact favors them both because their dad was his favorite cousin, makes for an interesting contrast with our other resident supervillain JGS. Sure JGS doesn't have a canonical torture hobby for kicks, but WRH is capable of caring about other people, so?

Technically speaking, WRH in drama canon might not have a torture hobby! He has a demonic cultivation hobby, and he has people torn asunder by his legion of I Can't Believe They're Not Zombies, but if he's also torturing people on the side, we never see it. Meanwhile, MY seems to be serving WRH in the exact same capacity as he did NMJ; WC describes MY as being "a new right-hand man" who is "highly favored," and WRH commends MY for his strategy when battles (seem to) go well for them. JGS might well be the only one of JGY's bosses in The Untamed who makes him murder people beyond what one would expect in a war! YIKES.

But yeah, on rewatch, I was really struck by how much WRH genuinely cares about his sons? Not in an indulgent way; when WC fucks up, WRH rebukes him for his carelessness and doesn't accept whining excuses. (ex: when WC tries to blame his failure to intercept Wangxian & Co. at Dafan Mountain on WQ interfering, WRH snaps back that it's WC's own damn fault WQ interfered since he endangered her people.) But he doesn't ever force them to do something they REALLY don't want to do, as JGS does repeatedly with JZX. And I can't see WRH keeping his sons' killers alive on the off-chance they proved useful, as JGS does with WN. We see WRH become distressed at the news of WC's death; we do NOT get a similar scene with JGS even though we very pointedly get one with Madam Jin.

In fact, the one time we see one of WRH's kids actually afraid of him is in one scene prior to the sack of Lotus Pier, when WRH strikes at WC after WC tells him the Xuanwu of Slaughter is dead. In that scene, he's visibly ailing from a resentment-induced qi imbalance and isn't able to get treatment because WQ is in Yiling, and it's clear from WC's concern and shock that this is UNUSUAL. His behavior is due to the effects of the resentment on his body and spirit.

...And now that I typed all that out, you know who that sounds an awful lot like? NIE MINGJUE, who is annoyed at and stern with his little brother's fuckups, but doesn't become violent until he's got ancestral curses fucking up his blood. Ahhhh. AHHHH.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Thoughts on a prince of life?

Sure! Class = character arc and Aspect = base personality traits.

The most common misconception around Princes is that they lack their Aspect - the opposite is actually true! Princes suffer from a toxic overabundance of their Aspect, and boy do they make that everyone's problem.

It's really fun to describe Eridan as hopeless and Dirk as heartless, but if you actually drill down into their characters, you'll find that Eridan's major issue is having too much Hope, while Dirk's is having too much Heart.

Eridan is a hard-headed idiot who simply does not listen to other people, defining his own reality irrespective of the input of others. Cronus shares these traits to a lesser degree, and Jake, a Page (so, starting in deficit of their Aspect) is the opposite in a way that reinforces that Eridan is running at 200% Hope while Jake is at -100%. Jake is famously wishy-washy; Eridan takes hardline stances at the slightest provocation and you can't convince him otherwise. Jake has no standards when it comes to movies; Eridan is a hipster who castigates Kanaya for being into Twilight.

What is Dirk? He's solipsistic. Heart governs the self, soul, and identity, and Dirk has way too much of that. He's highly occupied with himself, the persona he projects, his own feelings and desires. I personally believe that Hal is a wholly separate, unique entity from Dirk, but he's a Mind player (Mind players suffering from lack of personal identity, which ties into how even Hal considers himself to be a splinter of Dirk), so he offers a good look at what equal and opposite character traits might be: where Hal is genuinely manipulative, constantly playing mind games with their friend group, Dirk's version of "manipulation" is actually incredibly straightforward - he just outright tells Jane that she'll be a puppet leader and he'll be pulling the strings. Hal criticizes Dirk for being a needy, emotional wreck when he starts dating Jake, and the glimpse we see of it is a very Heart-esque "don't worry about me or my feelings, what do YOU want to do? 🥺🥺🥺". And, of course, his self-loathing - he can't help but see all his own flaws, a Heart ability echoed by Nepeta's uncanny intuition regarding peoples' true selves, intentions, and desires - and he can't help feeling burdened by himself, his splinters, his identity.

Thus are Princes burdened with too much of their Aspect, put to poor use. Moreover, they bear a great sense of duty or responsibility, some driving anxiety guiding their actions. Dirk is the most anxious of his party over their lack of progress in the game (and inability to MAKE progress), while Eridan's obsession with genocide ultimately stems from his duty to prevent genocide on a daily basis by feeding Feferi's lusus. The "good of the species" has always been on the very forefront of Eridan's mind, and he's a wreck about all the sacrifices he's had to make to that end.

Because they have such strong, overwhelming personalities, and are motivated by an anxious sense of duty and responsibility, they're very difficult to dissuade from their path of self-destruction. The class is very masculine in this way - it's hard-headed and arrogant, its players having a penchant for declaring that it's "my way or the highway," that they know best. Eridan and Dirk are both associated with toxic masculinity, with Hussie explicitly saying that the worst parts of Dirk - his intellectual aggression and penchant for mansplaining - are the parts that made it into LE, while he also explicitly calls Eridan a proto-Caliborn and makes mention of his poor behavior around women specifically.

Thus Princes are on a marching path to self-destruction, since ultimately, any pursuit fuelled by their egos and anxiety isn't sustainable. This is where they "destroy their Aspect" - they destroy themselves; without intervention, Princes will eventually run themselves so ragged that they - and whoever is unlucky enough to be in the same room - come crashing down, removing themselves, and their Aspect, from play. It's one of the greatest disasters that can befall a team, something very difficult to recover from - Eridan kicked off murderstuck, and removed Hope from play (the Page of Hope even has his dreamself killed - Hope is dead, indeed); Dirk's trickster diatribe shattered the group friendship dynamics, and they were never fully able to recover, especially Jake. It's also implied that the great disaster that Mituna tried to prevent was Kurloz's Prince meltdown, something he ultimately failed to do; Kurloz taking charge of the team's blackroms means that the dancestors simply don't have any, and contributed to their stagnation - he removed Rage from play.

This makes Princes sound very volatile and dangerous, and they are, but no moreso than any other Class at its worst. At their best, however, Princes are the ultimate obstacle removers, whatever those obstacles might be. Their toxic overabundance means that, while they lack the delicate touch other Classes may have, they can harness it into a razing, overwhelming force, the true form of "destroying with their Aspect". Eridan at one point had a prophecy to destroy LE, and with Hope's gamebreaking ability to make the impossible possible, it's very well within his capabilities to have bypassed LE's unconditional immortality, had he been able to self-actualize. If Brain Ghost Dirk had had more time, it's possible he could've killed Aranea, even though she was wearing the Ring of Life.

Their senses of duty and responsibility make them very reliable, powerful allies if they can be knocked out of the Prince Downward Spiral. They're the first to rise, last to bed, and tireless in pursuit of the greater good and Ultimate Reward. And they just also kick a ton of ass. It's good to have an asskicker in your corner when you need one.

Speaking of Life...

Life players are stubborn optimists, though this doesn't mean they're good-natured. Feferi is outright defined by her stubborn optimism, no matter how dire her circumstances, even as this leads to some not-so-savory results - like her insistence that the Horrorterrors are friendly and nice, completely ignoring how traumatized Eridan was by Gl'bgolyb, or her desire to remake Alternia with casteism fully intact. Meenah literally refuses to listen when people try to tell her that the immortal, invincible demon is immortal and invincible, and only Cronus can dissuade her from thinking the Condy is the coolest, sexiest, awesomest thing ever. Jane is a skeptic who refuses to believe that her friends are from the future, or even that Crockercorp is evil, insisting that they're just messing with her and that, as heiress, she'll be fixing it up someday.

So we see the other character traits they tend to share, especially at their worst - while Life players do often have a focus on helping others, on forward progress and betterment of themselves and society, the catch is that they tend to be doing so in a selfish way - Meenah's bullying was motivated by her desire to galvanize her party into action and self-actualization, but was also just cruel and done for her personal pleasure and love of violence (let's also note that her main target was the lowest caste immigrant girl). Feferi wants to stop state-sanctioned murder, but only because she loves taking care of things like they're pets and she finds them adorabubble (casteism is still Very Much A Thing on Beforus). Jane wants to make Crockercorp better for people, but she still very much wants Crockercorp - and consumer capitalism as a whole - to keep existing.

Which is the last Life trait I want to touch on - its players tend to be very stable and "normal" (that's the word Hussie uses for them), but in doing so, they tend to naturally prop up the status quo, even if that status quo is harmful for others. That's the dark side of Life players - they're very normal, but normalcy can be, in itself, harmful. They love forward progress, but tend not to notice the people that progress tramples. They like to take care of others, but on their own terms.

So a Prince of Life takes form. This is someone who is, more than most Life players, duty-bound to protect the weak and heal the wounded - whether or not the weak and wounded WANT that. Life players already have a tendency towards self-satisfied, overbearing personalities, and the Prince class would likely exacerbate that, even as Life's stability mitigates the Prince's anxiety somewhat.

Their meltdown, then, would likely not come from a well of anxiety, like other Aspects, but instead from a feeling of being spurned. Princes have a tendency to push others away with their difficult personalities, and a Prince of Life would likely not take very well to others pulling away from them, since they're likely to be heavily convinced of their own righteousness. Life players have a tendency to push forward even if it means trampling over others, and a Prince of Life at their lowest would feel the need to take matters into their own hands. Class is subject to Aspect - Eridan's destruction ultimately took the form of making something fake real (magic) - so a Prince of Life would have a self-destructive meltdown in a way befitting of a Life player - perhaps they unleash a zombie apocalypse, a plague of locusts, or summon so many vines and plants that they drain the life out of the rest of the earth - and even the rest of the team.

So our Life player is probably strongly obsessed with forward progress and making everyone into (what they deem to be) the best versions of themselves. Life has associations with genetics and biology (the Condy's experiments to give herself other psionic abilities is likely an expression of being a Thief of Life), so our Prince of Life probably has a penchant for some Frankenstein-style mad science, and/or a pursuit of "genetic perfection." You can quickly see how a Prince of Life becomes a dictator-esque character, even verging into the territory of eugenics, and how easily they'd be able to convince themselves not to listen to the complaints of their team, as they simply "know better" than everyone else, and believes themselves to be acting "for their teammates' own good".

Princes are burdened by their Aspect in excess - Life, with its associations with normalcy and status quo, means our Prince of Life feels some great pressure to conform. A high school Mean Girl, an influencer, or an HR-type position would suit them. This is someone who is overbearing about pressuring others to conform, but ties a lot of their own self-worth to how well THEY conform. Given Life's associations with genetics and biology, it's likely for them to be obsessed with all the latest fad diets and cosmetic surgeries. It's a pretty fundamental part of Prince psychology that, while they often feel satisfaction from moving their goals forward, it's difficult for them to truly feel relaxed, happy, or content. Thus, while the Prince of Life would project an air of easy confidence and self-satisfaction, and being a Life player does take the edge off the Prince Anxiety, the Prince of Life is still a fundamentally unstable and unhappy person at baseline.

In doing so, the Prince of Life would remove Life from play - all progress would stop dead in its tracks, and helpful resources would crumble to dust. Prince meltdowns are often a party's turning point, and very difficult to undo without fully changing the past, and a Prince of Life is no exception.

But a Prince of Life whose party is able to get through to them, who's able to have their beliefs challenged and comes to realize that the right way forward is one walked with everyone's input, not just their own personal view of the greater good, is an incredibly powerful ally. Again, Class is always subject to Aspect, and every Aspect still has things it can do even if the Class is not well-suited for it - Doom players always have prophetic visions (Mituna can see the future even though he's an Heir), and Life players always have a healing touch (the Condy, a Thief, could still extend the Helmsman's life). While being a Prince would make them less well-suited to heal than perhaps the party Sylph or Maid would be, their abilities are still intrinsically based in Life - perhaps they're clumsy to heal minor wounds, at least not without inflicting weird mutations, but they'd still have the capability. I imagine a Prince of Life would be able to grant very powerful buffs to their teammates, pushing them to their physical limits, even if there's a crash afterwards. They'd also be, in general, an utter menace on the battlefield; I see vines erupting at their command, crushing buildings in an instant. I'm also imagining medic from tf2 lmao.

I love princes hahaha

[adriberry]

The Meta of Magic in Twst

I apologize dearly for the more concentrated amount of Twisted Wonderland posts today, but I just have a lot of thoughts and feelings after my sister recently got back into the game and we've talked a bit about the story.

It's been hard to organize my thoughts on what I believe is the true origin of magic in Twisted Wonderland. I've wrote a lot of notes about it myself, mostly to use in fanfiction. I'm especially concerned with just how the characters we know as villains in our world are regarded as savors in Twisted Wonderland and why characters like Silver, Rook, and Kalim have golden, glittery cosmic magic while all other characters at NRC have purple, inky cosmic magic. The recent canon origins of magic as told by Lilia to Silver in Book 7 have confirmed some of my theories, so I want to structure my thoughts around that and will probably do so in multiple parts.

I'm sorry if you want to keep spoiler free, but this theory hinges on a few lines of dialogue in a portion of Book 7 which was recently released on JP server.

The Wish

Silver said Lilia once told him that the origin of magic came from a wish- a deep desire to change the world.

Yes, it's cheesy the way Disney things usually are. No, I don't think this is a direct reference to Disney's recent movie Wish (which really is a bunch of Disney animation references, concepts, and themes in a trench coat trying to convince the public it's its own solid Disney Movie, but that's it's own post).

Since the very first Disney animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, characters have been singing about wishes and dreams and their deepest desires. Throughout the 100 years of the company's lifespan, it's been touting that dreams are possible if you believe. Disney characters wish on stars and in wells and while belting to no one in particular but the horizon. Disney characters wistfully describe great loves and adventures that they have in their dreams that they chase to make reality. Dreams and wishes are the main theme of every Disney story, so it only makes sense for those to be the strongest themes of Twisted Wonderland.

I've already had a theory that Twisted Wonderland would follow a similar storyline to Fantasmic, so if you'd like to see my take on why the dream hopping in Book 7 is so appropriate now, you can go read the other post. But wishes are a different thing entirely.

There are 3 NRC students whose cosmic magic always got me thinking: Silver, Kalim, and Rook. Most characters' cosmic magic is purple with black specks in it. For these three, their magic is glittering gold. At first my reaction was, "Oh, cute. It's because they're not based on villains!" but this is Yana Toboso we're talking about. She does most things (save for too similar designs for faces) with a reason behind it. And fans have already picked up on a different pattern where Silver, Kalim, and Rook match the knight, pawn, and rook pieces on the chessboard in Leona's room respectively. Why are these characters singled out? Why are there visual differences between their mechanics and the other characters?

On Magic...

Well, I do think it has to do with the fact that they aren't based on villains but it's less of an aesthetic choice than I first thought. These twst characters are based on Disney characters who put faith in others, trust their hearts, and do what's right for no other reason than it's what should be done. And Silver, Kalim, and Rook all do the same. Rook lives authentically even though he spent so much time hiding his true self. Kalim loves Jamil despite the fact Jamil tried to kill him. Silver wants to end the generations long tensions between humans and fairies. They aren't exactly self serving and, though I love all the NRC boys very much, the rest kind of are. Crowley says as much in the Prologue when he praises MC for being able to get Night Raven students to work together for once.

So I think there are two kinds of magic which stem from the idea of "the wish." There is light magic which depends on what's essentially faith, trust, and pixie dust, and there is blot.

We're introduced to magic for the first time via Crowley. Crowley is revealed to be unreliable very quickly as he obviously is taking his sweet time trying to figure out how to get MC home if he really is at all. Based on fan theories and evidence in the text, he might actually be hiding his true identity from us. But in we don't have any of that information in Book 2 when Crowley talks about overblot, so we trust him when he shows us how blot works.

Crowley claims blot generates when using magic. The magestones Ace, Deuce, and Grim are newly given turn dark as they do a bit of magic for themselves. Crowley explains that those with a lot of magical potential need to be careful not to use too much magic or else it'll have negative effects, much like Riddle in Book 1. According to Crowley, overblot happens when you overuse magic.

But Book 2 has a contradiction in it: Ruggie is doing all the magic heavy lifting. He's constantly using his Ultimate Magic to act out Leona's plan. He uses a potion to triple his power and creates a massive stampede of people with magic, but who is the character who overblots later on? Leona- who doesn't use any of his magic until just before he overblots. He doesn't use magic, but he is brought to the brink of desperation and reminded of all his fears and insecurities.

The Blot

Crowley told us too much magic at once causes overblot, but we've seen seven times now how that's not actually the case. Each overblotter was brought to the brink. They were desperate, scared, anxious, isolated- these negative emotions brought them to overblotting. And though their lives were at risk, each overblotter was at their most powerful in the midst of it.

In each case, the person in question was close to achieving their ultimate goals. Riddle wanted perfection and order. Leona wanted to finally be worthy of a win at any cost. Azul wanted power over others because he had been isolated in the past. Jamil wanted freedom and to make his achievements known. Vil wanted real recognition. Idia didn't want to feel lonely again. Malleus wanted to keep his family together. In the moments before they overblot, their dreams are snatched away from them. In desperation, they have nothing else to lose.

Using blot doesn't necessarily lead to overblot, but increases the risk. It puts the user in a position where they're more vulnerable to fears and depression. It's why Crowley's advice for clearing blot in a magestone is just to rest, eat well, and take care of yourself- all ways to self care when you're mentally unwell.

To use light magic- the magic of the wish and the dream- is to put trust in others and to use joy and positivity and hope to achieve your goals. Using blot to the point of overblot is giving into desperation and fear and isolation.

And that is why Silver, Kalim, and Rook are the chess pieces: they- or their magic rather- are the key to defeating Malleus. The day will be saved by hope and joy and friendship. It's so very "my friends are my power" and so very cliche Disney and I can't wait to read up to the very end.

[darkfictionjude]

Okay so I know this is a touchy subject already especially since certain people have already been bitchy about it before, but sometimes Crowny is genuinely difficult to play as. I feel super conflicted about them since they're the literal personification of "damn bitch you live like this?"

Realistically, progress isn't linear and different people get different results even if they do the exact same thing, but as of now it feels like they aren't really allowed to improve at all. If you study you're still mediocre leaning towards bad in terms of understanding. You try to workout you see absolutely no results, not even the tiniest bit. When it comes to the other characters, it's always one step forward and two steps back. When you give them a hobby or try to get them to pick up a skill they find little enjoyment. When people bother them they barely fight back or even argue, and when they do it's like a sarcastic quip or a grumble at most. By the end, they haven't even made a dent. These don't make them less of a person and it doesn't make them a failure since the world is quite literally out to get them, but it's like they aren't allowed any satisfaction in their life. (Yeah it's been like a month, maybe barely scratching two in the current timeline so maybe this contradicts what I first said about progress but I'm dumb as hell)

It's wild to go from the side quests, backstory segments, interactions with the ROs and then Crown family just for all the hype to fade when there's a segment with just Crowny all alone. I know that there's a reason for why they are the way they are, but I literally have to take breaks from reading their solitary moments sometimes because it seems to drag on. I know things aren't easy in this universe, I know the world is supposed to be cruel and unfair, but like can they at least get a cake for their efforts? Or a hug? Or be able to sleep through one night and wake up well rested?

I hope I'm not sounding like an asshole or a insane here. Personally, they're relatable in a lot of aspects. I may not have had supernatural shit going after me, but I had a lot of issues that many of their experiences brush way too close to. It's just the way it's presented that makes them feel like they're like the random piece of chewy cartilage in an otherwise perfectly cooked steak, unpleasant but I'm gonna eat it anyway.

I literally just wrote a whole ass book complaining, but I at least wanna say I do love your work, Crowny included even if my words seem to say otherwise, and I'm super excited to see what happens in the timeskip since i know this is like JUST the beginning. I'm like seriously praying my tone is coming off the right way if that's even possible. If you read through all this thanks. I'm not gonna hide behind anon because I at least wanna be able to explain myself if this comes across wrong.

but like can they at least get a cake for their efforts? Or a hug? Or be able to sleep through one night and wake up well rested?

Well no 😭😭

And that comes from the fact that they are self loathing, depressed as hell and have virtually no support system while dealing with things that they aren’t mature enough to handle, actually their mental health is getting far worse which is by design

I feel like perhaps some readers have not realized just how depressed crowny is. All the things you described about them finding little enjoyment, etc., are key markers of major clinical depression

I feel also people did miss the fact that crowny kind of exploded in the library they didn’t shut up, they didn’t let it go which I think is a positive because this is the first time they’ve have enough to say “enough”

Sorry but I like my things slow burn 💀 that Halloween party is meant to be a breakthrough for them and I think perhaps it’s been glossed over by some because what happened to James has gotten the most attention and the final moment in the woods. Crowny outed their “friends” for the first ever and fought back against their tormentor in only one single night. James for all his issues did the one thing that broke the camel’s back and pushed Crowny over the edge, all 7 episodes have led to this

Crowny is meant to fall before they come up that’s how I wanted it because realistically someone could not handle all of this without losing their mind. It has barely been two months, Crowny has only seriously hit the main plot in episode 4 which in the current timeline was about 3 weeks ago (from episode 7)

Truly the progress that crowny did make in episode 7 should have taken longer, people with crowny’s issues spend years in therapy before they feel they have the right to fight back.

There’s a reason episode 7 is the midseason finale. It’s not only about the plot but about crowny themself….

Dw you’re tune is fine I can usually tell when someone doesn’t think before they write 😭

[marzipanilla]

Sometimes you just have to be a lil shit about a piece of media you enjoy in a loving way lol dumpster fire (affectionate)

Been watching OSP stuff again 'cause I was talking about one of their Superman vids and how they mention Invincible in it, and just that some of the ideas of the Superman concept really should come back around for the Mark narrative but they are def going farther and farther as things progress from what could have been an interesting Superman-esque origin in Mark. And like, do your thing, but it was clearly a reference at the start, so... why NOT lean more into it?

I know I've seen chunks of BTAS and Batman Beyond, but it's all so blurry in my brain from so long ago. I remember enjoying the shit out of them! It's why I'm having a treat with Justice Leauge rn. Bc it's like, have I see this before? maybe? at some point? Like I have the vaguest recollection of the opening credits. Zero memory of Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onnz ?? the fuck ?? lol) having so many abilities. like damn bro. you cool asf! The very simple visual worldbuilding of all Martians being nakey bc THEY'RE SHAPESHIFTERS WHY WOULDN'T THEY BE loved it

Lazy shipping. And like.. just horny shipping. Like okay, I can be down for a UST narrative, but if you want me to buy these people have more than a case of the Horny for each other, they need to be able to describe something about each other they actually like. (I also have a whole ass rant about the Gift Of Jewelry in media -eyetwtich-) And Mark and Eve are constantly in interesting situations actually dealing with ethical shit and they could have spent so much time talking about Chicago and what cleaning up there would have meant to them, and how they operate as heroes sort of outside the establish groups for whatever reason, and they could have very naturally gravitated to each other! It really is a HS crush in this iteration !! bc the moment Mark looked at her he was just like ! oh ! hero is cute girl ! and then.. had a very intense relationship with someone else and then immediately turned around and was presented with this one. It has technically been months in the time span of the narrative, but the fact it was all shoved in and carried off RIGHT ON THE BACK of his very intense break up with Amber just feels awful. Let the boy breathe jfc.

So many people are talking about Mark supposedly improving but still not improving and it HURTS bc yeah. The narrative is really just like ACTUALLY- and it's so frustrating bc, your character can improve and the situation can still be deadly! Doc Seismic doesn't need some stupid line about things changing! They DIDN'T he's still an old man with bracelets. They just STAYED FLOATING IN THE AIR and waited for his back up to arrive and then pointlessly got into fist fights with the monsters instead of immediately going to rescue the other heroes. I can get Mark sort of zeroing in on the fighting bc he doesn't really work with other people that much, but Eve ??? why the hell isn't saving the others your priority?? The fight could still have played out badly without them needing to be stupid! Mark having to protect Eve while she works ! Them having to be on the back foot so that the people in the sack things don't get squished while they work ! You don't have to be dumb to fail. And so far it really feels like everyone is acting SO STUPID and they HAVE To fail bc it's so hard when it's like ?? the same ppl you've been fighting ?? since day one ?? Is Killcannon gunna show up and shoot you through a building now ?? I'm sorry??

We really need a Debbie/Nolan flashback that's about their dynamic and NOT their dynamic as parents. Like what was your vibe as a couple!! Love that you're horny for each other, but why did you fall in love??? Of course I am also just like CAN I PLEASE GET ONE DEBBIE FACT THAT ISN'T ABOUT THE MEN IN HER LIFE. Also, pretty sure anytime she has been around Paul the convo is in some way, actually still about Nolan and it's WILD bc damn is it really moving on if he's present in Every conversation??

Invincible (derogatory) Invincible (affectionate) depends on the time of day.

Like there's no way Cecil ISN'T using it to his benefit! But him actually caring somewhat, even knowing he would STILL betray and sacrifice the kid in a heartbeat. just. yeah. Mentor Cecil/quasi father Cecil. might happen.

The several convos we've had about trusting Cecil are SO WEIRD bc literally anytime Debbie has talked to him she has been like I DO NOT TRUST YOU and then five seconds later she's all That Bitch Lied : / and it's like ??? yes ?? you said he would ?? five seconds ago ??? why are you surprised ???

FR you don't get history classes about colonialism and police states but WE WILL make you watch teletubbies and learn about the magic of friendship! Killing is BAD kids ! Don't do it ! (unless the GDA tells you to)

While I'm not too familiar with the DCU- your batfam meta posts are intiguing- so in transfering some of the broader strokes from them- I think you tackling a 'Mark isn't Nolan's biological son' fic would be fascinating. Sort of a step to the side of the 'what if Mark never got his powers' fic that sometimes pop up in the fandom

OOOOOO chewing on this currently, hm, the much a distinct flavor of exactly what you’re talking about, but the potential for more family drama depending on WHO knows. Does Mark know?? Is he waiting every day only to be crushed? Does he confused non-Debbie features with Nolan’s? I suppose I’m not the most enthusiastic about non-power AUs, but I think there’s something very fun to explore about Mark having to settle with, if he knows all his life, he will never have powers? I think the trajectory of his dreams will obviously shift, I can see him still having that distinct fatherly idolization, but perhaps embraces being useful to the GDA? Cecil’s number one intern—only intern—curtesy of nepotism, ha! There is something tickling me about Mark taking the Robin Route/Role for the Teen Team in terms of having no powers, just insane skills, BUT there’s something way more delicious about intern Mark when s1e01 happens and Mark tries snooping around to find out the truth about what happened to his Dad.

I wonder if, with Mark having a whole another father, if they’re more or less distant relationship, depending on WHEN Nolan entered Mark’s life? Like if Debbie met Nolan later for this, or just for fun, they dated once, separated (Mark being born during then), then they happened to stumble into each others lives again and Mark’s already been born, anywhere from tween to teenager so there’s a gap in how close they are. I feel like one important aspect of the whole Family Drama is how close they’re supposed to be, a functional, loving family turned upside down? So I wonder what more distance does. I wonder how Nolan copes when his family is entirely human and he can’t project onto Mark.

I love thinking about these, omg.

[deaddove]

the plum in the iron vase on ao3—

baoxiang/third prince

rated E

iron widow au verse. no iw spoilers

ayu uses his concubine-pilot as a vehicle to have gay sex (don't do this)

baoxiang uses his brother's imminent mortality as a vehicle to have gay sex (this is fine)

[aethersea]

it is funny though how kids' shows are so so so careful about death, no one's ever killed except MAYYYYBE the big bad, all those random side characters are fine, here have a quick shot of them before we leave just so you know they really did survive that 50-foot drop into a stormy sea,

and meanwhile kids' books nearly all agree that it's not an adventure until it has a body count.

[sysig]

Cards 👏 cards 👏 cards 👏 (Patreon)

[seaofreverie]

GUUUYYUYSSSD !!!!!

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

KIMONO MY HOUSE VINYL!!!!!!

Also funny story which is that when my brother took these to the cashier he said something like "oh... Sparks... they were here one year ago"

[monstermoviedean]

coworker was going on and on about the importance of regulating your nervous system today and i'm thinking 1) you don't know what that means and 2) if i were a teenager and someone told me to regulate my nervous system i would start throwing things. frankly it's hard not to throw things when hearing that as an adult.

[fvckw4d]

The concept of queerbaiting annoys me. I was told that it refers to a work of fiction pretending to cater to a queer audience but then pulling back from it to avoid alienating homophobes, which is an incredibly specific thing. But a lot of people seem to think that it instead means "any time there's any gay subtex, metaphor, or ambiguity" or "whenever something from 1995-2012 was being a normal amount of homophobic for the era."

[icewindandboringhorror]

There's always a slight yearning in the back of my mind wishing I had been born in the right place, time, family situation, income level, etc. to have just lived in one single house for my entire life. Imagine being born in a place that still suits you, even through all of your personal evolutions and etc. The idea of deep familiarity with an area because you've lived and explored it for 40+ years, being encased in a web of memories and connections. Being able to clean out your old childhood bedroom and find personal artifacts, to dig in the yard and remember. I know those lives can still be plenty imperfect, but there's just something so seemingly solid and stable and Grounding about it that I sometimes wish I could have.. (At least from my outside perspective as someone who's moved around a bit geographically and even within the same area, never lives in the same house/ apartment /etc. for more than a few years usually.) Like... having a place that is printed upon, fully your own, rather than chronically a visitor, every thought of a space always tempered with the notion that one day soon you'll have to pack it all up again, etc. There's something peaceful about the permanence.

[exoexid]

the suyeol lore is so crazy

[here-there-were-dragons]

my mother is absolutely convinced of some nonsense conspiracy theory that (in her words) "originally humanity lived in peaceful all-woman societies of goddess worshippers who took care of eachother and lived in harmony, while males were roving loners that had no society and never cooperated. that changed when the men banded together and overthrew the peaceful woman-dominated societies, and enslaved us all." and, according to her, this is proof that a woman-dominated world would be innately more peaceful, and that men are innately violent and evil and should be either barred from holding any legal power or leadership roles or at least should be (again in her words) "gelded like bulls" to remove their testosterone before even being considered for such a thing.

she also evidently believes that the problem with all religions today is primarily that they aren't "goddess worshippers", because she seems to think goddess religions are inherently peaceful and pure too and seems to be especially obsessed with "Isis" in particular. the very very few times she's openly considered it unambiguously bad for some population or another to have been exterminated (she's got a bad case of devil's advocating genocide brain), she's gone out of her way to make up some crap about how said people were a peaceful society of goddess-worshippers, almost always of isis. delusions of isis-worship seem to be the only thing that ever causes her to consider any arab or middle-eastern culture, society, or ethnicity to be relatively uncomplicatedly undeserving of extermination, in fact, because every fucking time she doesn't immediately start devils-advocating it and making remarks about how "the rest of the world should box them in and let them blow eachother up" it's when she's whinging on about how whatever specific micro-ethnicity she's thinking about are or were traditional persecuted isis-worshippers.

the sole major exception to her weird fixation on isis worship justifying worthiness of life is the whole israel thing going on, in which she has consistently made very obvious that literally the only reason she's against the genocide of palestine is because it gives her an excuse to even more openly hate jewish people than she already did. and honestly i'm not sure even that's true because i think she's made some offhand remarks about palestinians having probably been peaceful isis worshipers before the jews infected them with christianity or something anyway.

so for the last, however fucking long it's been i've been constantly having to listen to her go off about how this behavior is in the jew's blood or whatever and that they literally invented all genocide because somehow the concept didn't exist before them and wouldn't have ever been invented by the rest of humanity without those jewish aliens dropping it in i fucking guess apparently and she furthermore goes on about how every single genocide and mass-oppression movement in history is directly inspired by them, ESPECIALLY the nazis, and THEN i have to listen to her rant about how, basically, wwii was something they entirely brought on themselves by "dominating the economy and treating everyone not them like shit" and the nazis were just "using their own tactics back at them". and then she goes on a rant about how the people the original jews exterminated back in the day (aka the first ever genocide, which they invented, because jews invented genocide and hate according to her) in the middle east region were peaceful matriarchal isis-worshipers.

and then she starts making comments about arabs being backwards and palestinians either being mysogynist muslims that should be boxed in to blow eachother up with everyone else or secret peaceful isis worshippers corrupted by men's cruel hand, sometimes in the same sentence, entirely dependent on which group she's more in the mood to hate at the time.

it's exhausting. beyond exhausting. her sole purpose in existence seems to be to have the singularly most exhausting set of politics physically possible to fit into one person.

just, sometimes i think, if there really is anything at all to the incredibly stupid and inexplicably popular idea that anyone or anything has a Purpose tm to exist for, i feel like my mother's purpose is to be walking proof to me of a Type Of Guy That Is Real, cause i sure as fuck would have trouble inventing this mess if it wasn't standing right in front of me spewing confusingly bipartisan hate. all of her thoughts and opinions are these long winding nonsense chains that feel like if that man carrying thing sketch about the friend with confusing politics was a person. on meth.

[uncanny-tranny]

Hi 💛 I wanted to ask you something, it's been bothering me lately: I've always known that I'm attracted to people regardless of gender. At 15 I called it bisexual. At 17 I started using the label pansexual. Came out as a trans man at 23. I'm now 26 and I'm not sure if bi or pan work for me anymore. I know that I'm still attracted to people regardless of gender, but my experiences as a man in society have made the label gay resonate a lot more with me. Is that okay? What does this mean? Confused

It means whatever you want it to mean. People all across the queer community have used "gay" as shorthand for decades now (maybe including queer people you love). If you just don't vibe with bi/pan on their own, then you don't have to have them on their own. There's nothing wrong with being bi or pan, but there's also nothing wrong with feeling like that doesn't quite encapsulate your relationship with your queerness.

Basically: