#idk its very distinct how they all react to it

[floorpancakes]

i refuse to let clamp off the hook for underutilising himawari's fucking fascinating character setup and traits but on a less serious level im obsessed with the concept of her as an instigator of chaos.

like she's way less airheaded than she seems and it doesn't come off like Default Airhead Girl Behaviour or even Default Girl Companion That Ships Her Friends primarily (like not as hard as some other series by comparison I mean she's very I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE by default) specifically she just seems like someone that thoroughly enjoys being a little shit in a sincere way and giggling at her dumbass friends and has a shade of high emotional intelligence about it all. like she's just girl of all time. she's i don't know where im going with this just take this low effort meme from when i watched the holic stage play on youtube this isn't a coherent thought it's like 2am ill come up with better thoughts later

[dekusleftsock]

I thought everyone was exaggerating when people kept bringing up the whole “bakugou says he’s Kacchan bc of kaminari” thing, but they actually believe that… what?

WHAT

Literally how do you guys function

AND THEY CALL ME DELULU???????

It’s such a stretch too. Like “oh yeah he said Kacchan no Bakugou in this movie” ITS NOT EVEN IN THE MANGA HELLO???

The whole reason Kaminari calls Katsuki Kacchan is because he’s making fun of him. It’s poking fun at the fact that Katsuki can’t say anything or get mad at Kaminari because then it would raise the question, “Well why can Midoriya say it?”

He literally side eyes him every time he does it but ultimately doesn’t react because he can’t. He can’t if he wants to keep up the act that he is uninterested in what Izuku represents, who he is.

SO WHY, IN THE EVER LOVING FUCK, WOULD IT BE KAMINARI?

WHO is present in this battle?

WHO is the person that made eye contact with him the second he woke up?

WHO is the one that grabbed his hand immediately upon Katsuki flinging himself towards them??

I don’t think THEY even believe it either, I think it’s just some way to cope and explain away the fact that this moment is inherently romantic.

Because I don’t think he’s making fun of the name Kacchan, I think he’s wearing it proudly. I don’t think it’s a joke at all. It’s a joke in the disbelieving way—the way you act when you’ve made an enormous accomplishment or won some prize, and you just can’t help but act absolutely insane at the fact. Because it’s funny that you’re here, in this situation. It’s hilarious in that disbelieving way.

Because he’s laughing at the truth, he’s been laughing at nothing this ENTIRE CHAPTER.

“Ouch! Haha! I’m so fast!”

“I can’t even stop! Ha! Ouch!”

Note: (I’m not using the official translations because for some reason they lack the maniacal crazed laughter and I’m confused as to why?? I even checked with pikahlua and they specified that there was laughing so…. I’m confused.)

What’s even weirder about this is the fact that afo also says (in pikahlua’s translations) “just who is this brat?!” Instead of “what is wrong with him” which implies less crazed bakugou ness imo. Confused as to why, again.

Because this can’t be happening.

Now, I know it could very well be him teasing afo and calling him dumb, saying basically “you’re too young/old to even know how to pronounce my name, use Kacchan instead like the child you are.” Especially since in the context of names like Katsuki’s, he has that tsu sound that can be hard for children to pronounce. (I’m not 100% on this but I’m pretty sure that the u sound is also meant to be silent since it’s a double consonant. So Katsuki’s name is technically pronounced “Ka-ts-ki”)

BUT IDK I THINK HES JUST FUCKED AND A LITTLE CRAZY RN!

That maniacal laughter at the fact that he’s in pain, the disbelief that he may even surpass Izuku, to me it’s holding a double meaning. The meaning that afo is dumb and needs to be treated like the child he is, and the meaning behind the fact that it’s a name Izuku owns for him. That’s his.

It can be both.

It’s not fucking Kaminari. It was never Kaminari. Even if you don’t read it as the second definition it’s still not about Kaminari.

But it’s also undeniable that it has to do with Izuku some way some how.

I also believe that the western side of the fandom is making an extra big deal out of this because, to us, we don’t really have a proper understanding of what a nickname like Kacchan means in its cultural context.

We can TRY to understand, comparing it to endings with ie or y given to children, and then sometimes going with that nickname into adulthood, but it still has its own distinct cultural context. Because a name like “Gracie” over “Grace” does to an extent sound childish, but I have a feeling that -chan has its own childish feeling. There’s a reason none of Katsuki’s other friends in middle school call him Kacchan, and there’s a reason Kaminari decides to make fun of him for the name in the first place.

I just think it’s important to use our thinking brains before we start yapping about things we don’t quite understand yet :)

Like it’s so unbelievably important to understand that horikoshi won’t tell you what’s happening in his story and why, he’ll show you instead BECAUSE HES A GOOD FUCKING WRITER

If it was about Kaminari, he would have specified, but he didn’t. He showed you that Kacchan is Izuku’s nickname for Katsuki, and he showed you that Katsuki cared more about Izuku than he let on for a long time. Just like he showed you that Izuku pushes down his emotions, showed you that Izuku struggles with projection and anger, showed you that Ochako was the one with this crush and not Izuku, and showed you that the feelings he had about Katsuki were deeper than anyone had realized.

He showed you parallels, he specified the important parallels that you absolutely had to see as a viewer (ex toga and ochako), just as he showed you the ones that were more subtle but still there (ex toga and deku). He showed you the pieces, and that doesn’t make his character’s underdeveloped or unspecified, that’s just how writing fucking works. “Good writing” DOESNT MEAN that you have to be pulled along through your baby steps with your hand held, the fact that you don’t get it is on you. Reading comprehension is a learned skill that has to be practiced over and over again, and that is not the writers job. The writer is only supposed to deliver you their story, and however you decide to misconstrue that story is, and hear me out friends, on you.

So I’m sorry if I’m tired of hearing arguments like “toga is a predator and Horikoshi wrote her to be horny”… she’s supposed to represent love. I’m sorry if the representation he made of love was uncomfortable for you, but maybe that’s the point? Because she’s an outcast? Because she’s supposed to be hard to empathize with, but that we have to empathize in the first place?

Arguments like “Katsuki was referencing a joke about Kaminari bc Kaminari said this in this movie” is just about the largest fucking reach I’ve ever seen. And I know, I know that when bkdk eventually get their implied or canonical ending that people are going to be mad. They’ll blame shippers for pressuring him, or they’ll say he’s a bad writer, or they’ll send him homophobic slurs because “how dare the character I see myself in be gay”. And I’m done with the stupidity and lack of common god damn sense.

So if you are going to be upset by the fact that you’re going to be proven wrong, then I again say, it’s on you.

[chipchopclipclop]

love ur baldurs gate 3 oc so much. idk anything about the game but i genuinely likes him. i wish hes a real character bc i would buy the game for him

thank you anon i know this message is weeks old but ily and also im going to use this ask as an excuse to dump information about him now (swagdor lore (swaglore)) for anyone who cares

general stuff;

hes 49 years old as of game time

necromancy wizard, learned scholar, heavy interest in the boundaries between life and death and undeath, researching different types of resurrection unrelated to god worship (just not a big fan of asking for favours yknow)

stoic even keeled personality, reacts neutrally or stone faced to most things (this does not mean hes uncaring, hes got a curious nature). he used to be very showy and loud when he was younger, he finds that now very embarrassing

used to be a leader of an adventuring band in his 20s, fell apart when his group were defeated in battle leaving him lone survivor, wasnt a necromancer back then

has a distinct lack of self regard, half of him believes he'll be more of use untethered to the chain of mortality (undead in some fashion, or just thinking his corpse more functionally useful) the other half is just still struggling with survivors guilt (lol)

wanders around looking for old crypts and tombs to help his arcane pursuits, do-good's alot accidentally while he does, though most people get scared of him when he reveals the necromancy magic so hes got a mixed reputation (has some sort of misnomer like The Specter of so-and-so that wyll probably recognizes and laughs about)

will go along with just about anything if it amuses him, and has a weird sense of humour. hard to catch off guard or fluster, he yes-and's people alot to see how far they'll go with something or out bluff them (sometimes this causes them to try and beat the shit out of him)

truthful about his feelings when asked, but rarely volunteers his thoughts on things of his own accord, this gives him a weirdly mysterious image at first to most people

treats his raised corpses with care befitting living beings outside combat, and used to even raise some for company even if they were functionally just puppets.

he likes skeletons more than zombies (smell…)

his fake in game quest line is called 'The Wandering Necromancer' and involves inquiring about his old adventuring days of times past and learning why he's so into skeletons. He eventually reveals his past and you can bring up his groups old misadventures (oh my god you were the backstreet boys???) and he is very embarrassed by it. He reveals his group was felled by a lich, and he never found their bodies so hes always been curious on a way to speak with them again somehow.

plot continues BLAH BLAH eventually you find out that lich is still around and swagdor's old friends are now in its undead service so you go to kill it <3 but on the way he considers if he should take the lich's place so he can have his old companions around again (even if they're in his undead service) and try to give them some semblance of new twisted life again. You either help him with the preparations (yay phylacterys) or go bro you need to Move On. Man. and instead choose to release their souls when the lich is killed.

swagdor is stronger as a lich but also becomes even more detached from concepts of mortality (his sense of danger is basically nill now regarding others... its okay if u die ill bring u back somehow :) <- unnerving smile) and also all his dead friends are talking to him in his ear so he's constantly got a sense of being away from everything.

unliched swagdor moves on properly and begins The Healing Process (better late than never king) and seems more present in current ongoings, finding a place he can really set his feet. He's also less obsessed with death but sees his necromancy instead as a means to help and speak with wayward souls of the dead.

useless trivia corner: his names swagdor bc i based him off an old div2 oc i made when i was playing that game with aqua, where i used one of the randomly generated names they gave me and put the word swag into it (lol) i now am using his div2 swagdor's adventures as a semi basis for his new bg3 versions background thats why his younger versions outfit is based off that one captain armour set i never took off in that game

[scoops-aboy86]

Window pt 1

Steve doesn’t realize quite how much he’s put on recently (or how enamored to a certain metalhead he’s become) and gets stuck in a window. 

Inspired by this. Part 2 from Eddie's POV is here.

rated: T | words: 2765 | cw: none | tags: chubby steve, pre-relationship, weight gain, steve’s bisexual awakening in progress

And, uh. Don’t have a couple beers and drive. But, like, it was the 80s, so. 🤷‍♀️ 

Maybe also don’t try to climb through a window when it’s the 80s and most people don’t lock their front doors anyway. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ 

(Would Eddie and Wayne lock the trailer, when it’s just as easy to pry a window open? I mean yeah Eddie has drugs in there but he clearly hides them well enough that even he can’t find them sometimes, so idk.)

Eddie isn’t home, but that’s okay; it’s an impulsive visit, as most of them are, so Steve knows what to do. He goes into it all confident and cocky because he’s pretty sure it’ll be easier than the other times he’s done it because the porch is right there, no drainpipe climbing required or nosey younger sibling to catch him at it with a look of annoyed disgust that will echo down through the years. 

Mike still looks at him like that, no matter how many free rides or free movies he and his friends manage to wring out of Steve, which is, in Steve’s opinion, really dumb of the kid. He doesn’t even like Nancy like that anymore, for fuck’s sake, get over it Mike. (And it’s easier to go off on a tangent in his head about Mike than really examine the comparison between climbing into Nancy’s room and climbing into Eddie’s, so Steve is just rolling with it.)

Anyway, the point is, he’s got this. He pulls the BMW up a respectful distance away so that Eddie and Wayne will still have room to park later in case he’s here that long, and all but bounces out of the driver’s seat into the warm night air. 

Maybe he should have thought about it a little more, because, as it turns out… he does not got this. 

“Do mine eyes deceive me? Is it the King Steve, what through yonder window breaks?”

“Hi Eddie,” Steve says flatly, unsurprised. He’d heard the van rumble up, and the distinctive squeak of the driver's side door. For the last hour or so he’s resigned himself to standing by on the old easy chair on the porch, chin in his hands where his elbows rest on the dresser just inside the window. At least it’s late enough (and Lucas managed to talk Max into summer camp this year) that no one else is likely to see him.

He can hear the grin in Eddie’s reply. “Hiya, Stevie. Mind explaining what I’m coming home to here?”

Steve doesn’t want to dignify that with a response, because fuck, isn’t it obvious? But he also doesn’t want to antagonize his friend and risk being stuck in this window all night—not that he thinks Eddie would leave him here, but Steve doesn’t want to deserve to be left. With a heavy breath out through his nose, he says, “I’m a little stuck here, man. Help me out?”

Almost immediately he feels Eddie step in close, hand on his right hip where it’s caught in the window frame, and maybe just a hint of warm thumb brushing over where the skin is pink and pinched. Steve has to hold himself very still to avoid reacting to that, not completely sure he didn’t imagine it anyway. 

“Out?” Eddie asks, sounding like he’s trying to calculate something in his head. “Or in?”

“Uh… whichever gets me unstuck faster, I guess?”

Eddie chuckles. “In it is, then. You must’ve been pretty determined to get in there and wait for me, you made some good progress here. I’m guessing you got to a point where you couldn’t get the angle right, huh sweetheart?”

“Jesus, Eddie…” Why did he have to put it like that? And why is it giving Steve goosebumps? “Look, I think if you just lift me by the legs a bit I can, like… walk forward on my hands, kinda, and—” He tries to demonstrate, but bumps the neck of the guitar with THIS MACHINE SLAYS DRAGONS scrawled across its front and makes a failed attempt at lunging to catch it, wincing when it thumps down against the floor.

“What was that?”

“… What was what?”

“Steve…”

“Okay okay, it was your acoustic, I’m sorry dude, I just… I’m pretty sure it’s fine.”

“She’d better be, Harrington. Lucky for you my sweetheart is still safe in the van, far from your clumsy fumblings, or I might have to call in the cavalry.”

Again Steve twists, trying to look at him, and something else falls off the dresser—he thinks it’s just some sort of magazine. “Liar. I know you wouldn’t call the cops on me, Munson.”

“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” Eddie shoots back. “I’d call Robin.”

Steve grimaces again. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“And Wheeler, too. Jon’s still in town, maybe he could be persuaded to bring his camera to document this posterior for posterity.”

Suddenly Eddie’s hands are on his ass, and Steve is torn between a vivid memory of trying to shove Dustin into a vent at Starcourt and a zing of nerves that should not be linked to his pseudo-little-brother in any way, and it’s all Eddie’s fault—

The first real shove catches Steve and his flatlining brain by surprise, jostling him enough that his elbows slip and he nearly cracks his chin on the cluttered dresser surface. “Hey,” he calls sharply over one shoulder. 

“Sorry sweetheart, did you need a ‘one two three go’?” Eddie pats at his ass with both hands, tapping out a little rhythm, and Steve has to restrain the urge to donkey kick him. 

“This isn’t funny, Munson,” he insists. “And some sort of warning would’ve been nice, yeah.” His tone is sarcastic, but his face is burning red, and once the words are out he has to bite his lip to keep from saying anything else. Not that Steve even knows what, there’s just… something, precarious, on the tip of his brain that might spill out his mouth if he’s not careful, and he doesn’t want to find out what it is like that. 

Eddie snickers. “It’s a little bit funny, but point taken. I’m going to give you another push here. Ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” What a fucking day. All Steve had wanted was to smoke up a little and hang out, like they usually do. And okay, maybe he’s a little grumpy that Eddie wasn’t even home when he got here— “Where were you, anyway?” he asks, grunting and trying to wriggle forward with every shove. Might as well talk, get his mind off the vice grip the window frame has on his hips. “You’re usually—oof—here when I finish a closing shift.”

“Practice ran long,” Eddie grunts back. After the first few rounds of ready steady go he started to get more serious and really put his weight into it. “That, and Gareth’s been having some… shall we say, romantic troubles lately, and needed consolation and advice.”

Steve feels a vague prickle of jealousy, even as he manages to grip the dresser edge hard enough to hold onto a fraction of an inch of progress. “What kinda consolation? Been smoking without me, Munson?”

“No,” comes the amused reply. “Just a couple beers. I do have other friends besides you and the monster hunters club, you know.”

Which really makes Steve’s face flame, because he… doesn’t. Not anymore. Not even a girlfriend; it’s like his heart’s not fully in it anymore and they can smell that on him. He tries to replace his embarrassment (Eddie didn’t mean it like that, Steve knows he didn’t) with determination, wrenching himself forward without regard for the way the window frame’s hard metal edges scrape against his skin. He doesn’t feel the full bite of it in some places, thanks to the knots of scar tissue the Upside Down had left him with on his sides, it’s fine. 

But almost immediately there’s a strong grip on the outsides of his thighs. “Woah there Stevie,” Eddie cautions, and he actually sounds concerned. “Don’t hurt yourself, man. We’ll get you out of here and get you caught up if you want, I have beer here too, alright? Just…”

“Just what?” Steve grumbles. He doesn’t know why he feels so stung, feels like Eddie ditched him—they didn’t even have plans for fuck’s sake. At most, they’ve had a string of casual hangouts roughly every other night at around the same time for a months now, but they’ve never really talked about it, never solidified anything. 

He tells himself that he wouldn’t even care if he hadn’t gotten stuck in the window like an idiot, but if that’s the case then why does this show of concern feel like a cooling balm over his temper?

Eddie sighs, but not like he’s annoyed. More like… he’s choosing his words carefully. “Just, uh… try to suck in a bit?”

Blinking, Steve tries to look over his shoulder. He can’t quite see Eddie, just out of the corner of his eye, but it looks like he’s chewing on his lip. Then he pushes himself up on the dresser and looks down along the front of his body to where he’s stuck, trying to make sense of…

Oh. His face goes hot again. 

The window doesn’t open very far, is the thing, and for the first time Steve fully registers that it’s not just his hips that are caught. Reddened skin peeks out from the bottom of his shirt, and some of that is because it’s ridden up during his struggles, but he also… makes contact with the top of the dresser, which comes up to about an inch or so below the frame. Now that he’s paying attention, he registers part of himself pressing against the metal of the trailer exterior, too.

He used to be pretty trim, but that had been back in high school and while running from monsters and dark wizards in an alternate dimension. 

When did he get a belly?

“Fuck,” he curses under his breath, and does as he’s told. 

Eddie doesn’t belabor the point, just gets his hands on Steve’s ass again with a “One, two, three, push.”

And it’s still a hard drag against his front, but it works this time. Steve jolts forward, too caught by surprise and still flustered, catching himself hands-first on Eddie’s messy bedroom floor and gracelessly flopping the rest of the way in. The carpet (or really, the layer of dirty laundry on top of it) doesn’t smell great, but he stays slumped there for a moment, recovering. 

At least he avoided landing on the acoustic guitar, though. 

“You okay there, dude?”

Steve groans. “I’m fine. That fucking window looked bigger from the outside, that’s all.”

Eddie lets out a disbelieving snort, then follows him in, shimmying over the narrow sill with an ease and silence that comes from years of practice. When he’s done, he leans his scrawny ass back against the dresser and spreads his hand in a tada motion. 

And Steve’s not dumb, he knows that he’s put on weight since the Upside Down. Since finally coming down from constant recurring nightmare panic mode. Yeah he didn’t realize it was so obvious, but he can admit (at least in the privacy of his own head) that that’s why he got stuck. 

He opens his mouth to say something along the lines of you don’t have to rub it in, but snaps it shut again when Eddie steps forward and offers him a hand up. The grip is calloused from guitar playing, strong and sure from slinging amps around—and he feels that zing again, phantom handprints on his ass. 

“You okay?” Eddie asks once they’re on the same level again. “You were really wedged in there, looked kinda painful.”

“I,” Steve starts, but stops when Eddie’s other hand lands on his hip. Which is not completely unusual… Eddie is a touchy guy, very hands-on with all his friends. He’s poked at Steve’s sides before, comparing their bite marks, and Steve hasn’t really thought about it much before now. 

Because that’s what trauma-bonded people do, right? The last party that had rounded up all the young adults, Nancy smoked with them and she and Jonathan had spent most of the rest of the evening cuddled up together, lining up the scars on their palms. 

Eddie’s thumb brushes the skin above his waistband, ghosting warmly over where it’s red and a little raw. 

“I’m fine,” Steve manages to say, but he’s not. His brain is going haywire—from the touch, from Eddie’s Bambi-eyed stare, from all the thoughts that have been pining around his head tonight and everything he’s pointedly not thought about too. (About climbing in a boy’s window. About being jealous. About hands on his ass and how it hadn’t been a bad surprise, and the thumb grazing deliberately over the swell of softness at his middle with concern bordering on reverence.)

Something in Steve aches, and it’s a familiar pang. It reminds him of how he used to feel whenever he looked at Nancy, before he had let go of the last scraps of that dream. Eddie seems more real, more touchable… He always is, when they hang out, and especially when they’re by themselves. Eddie is a touchy guy. 

“Yeah,” Eddie says slowly, distracted. He keeps running his thumb along Steve’s softness, drifting up a little further under his shirt until his pointer finger meets skin too like a dazed afterthought. His tongue darts out to lick his lips—Steve can’t help the way his eyes are drawn to the motion. “Yeah, you are… pretty fine…”

Not once, not for months, has Steve felt electricity like this in the air, under his skin, sparking at a simple touch. It’s why he stopped flirting with the girls who came into Family Video, even the ones who eyed him in a way he knew meant they were a sure thing. The way Eddie is looking at him right now, even though he’s…

Well. He’s let himself go, hasn’t he? And he knows it, kind of knew it for a while and just not thought about it because he didn’t think he had too, but it’s getting obvious now. Steve has never felt more self-conscious about his body in his entire life and, right while he’s in the middle of reconciling wanting to pout because his best guy friend was off having fun without him, Eddie just had to go and compliment it. 

Steve swallows hard. “You, uh. You think so?” He’s not fishing for complements, he’s not, he just wants to know what Eddie means. 

Still slowly, Eddie looks up at him through his eyelashes. It’s almost shy, which is so unlike the Eddie that Steve has come to expect, but his eyes are big and brown and a little wild in an achingly familiar way and Steve has to resist the urge to sway forward—

“Of course, Stevie,” Eddie says quietly. Is he afraid that they might be overheard in the empty trailer? Afraid to break the moment by speaking too loud? His hand is still just under Steve’s shirt, light little touches that Steve can’t help but find soothing, almost hypnotic. “Always.”

Steve wants to lean in, because he knows he’s not reading the signs wrong. 

But then, at the last second, he remembers what Eddie had said about having a few beers with Gareth. Probably just enough to be a little tipsy. But if Eddie is gay—and, like, Steve wouldn’t be surprised, he’s learned some of the clues from Robin and there have always been rumors—he’s not out. Not to Steve, anyway, and Steve… is whatever he is, apparently, which definitely warrants a phone call and possibly a bathroom floor confession to his platonic other half as soon as he gets a chance, holy shit… Suddenly everything feels delicate, like there is something there but one wrong move and it could shatter, and Steve doesn’t know if he could take anymore shards to his heart. Not these days, not if it’s Eddie. 

He just wants to be a little more sure first. Do this right, if it’s really happening. So, for now, he only says, “So, uh. Wanna smoke?”

Eddie smiles, dimples popping and eyes lighting up, and his hand gives Steve’s hip a little inadvertent squeeze as he bounces past him. “Yeah, we can do that. I’ve got a few joints already rolled, I’ve got snacks—” He’s already hauling his black metal lunchbox from under the bed and riffling through it, his bright enthusiasm making Steve feel warm all the way through. “Prop my baby back up, will you? Treat her right, Stevie, or I’ll be forced to rescind my offer of pretzels and bagel bite pizzas.”

“Wouldn’t want that,” Steve agrees with a chuckle, and does as he’s told. It doesn’t escape his notice that Eddie just mentioned some of his favorites for when the munchies set in. 

He’s going to figure this out, but for now they can just hang out like normal and have a good night.

[fenglianist]

for the fic ask game:

★ what was the scene you most wanted to write in "i'll use you as a warning sign (that if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind)"? what was the hardest scene to write?

✎ how do you think readers would guess a fic was yours if you posted anonymously?

(have a good day/night!! 💜)

tysm for the asks rose!! <3

I'll use you as a warning sign (fengqing xianle era sickfic)

★ what was the scene you most wanted to write?

the whole fic was so fun to write! but from the prompt, i probably most wanted to write the whole convo with xl where mq reveals he's terrified of losing fx

i love when a character is really angsty and terrified of losing the person they love👌 so fun to write. also i loved writing all the mq & xl scenes actually, bc i love mulian/xianle trio 😭 i also really love having xl be the supportive best friend in fengqing fics and the one who just Knows what's up with fengqing. i also had fun having xl tell mq to "just tell him" like how he told fx that in my first ever fengqing fic AKSJKS

★ what was the hardest scene to write?

tbh, the ending 😭 after writing all the delicious angst, i wasn't sure how & where to end it. especially after id made mq so angsty about how fx probably would never reciprocate his feelings, i wasn't sure how mq would react to fx suddenly reciprocating,, still not sure if what I wrote was a bit ooc in the sense of mq confessing so easily. and i kind of cut the fic short a little even though they could have gone on bantering for a long time, bc i was only planning to write 3k but it ended up 7k and i was running out of energy/steam djdhk so yeah i struggled with the ending and worry that it was a bit abrupt or that it switched too drastically from angst > comedic banter

✎ how do you think readers would guess a fic was yours if you posted anonymously?

answered this here on my other blog! im actually very curious if I have a distinct writing style bc idk if I do and I try to vary it when it's a different genre or different character's pov 🤔

aside from what I wrote in my answer in the other post, thematically id say maybe if a fic is angsty but ends hopeful with lots of emotional hurt/comfort? or sometimes another character telling the mc that they are loved or not a bad person? i really like writing those kinds of fics. just emotional "maybe i was wrong. maybe im not inherently unloveable and maybe happy endings are actually possible" kind of endings, after a lot of angst. also lots of nostalgia and reflecting on the past vs present..

ive also had readers tell me they can feel the emotions of the characters in my fics or that even my fluff fics make them cry so maybe that's smth distinctive?

(usually i only make a fic anon if it's smut or its a fandom i don't want to be perceived writing, or if it's Really really bad)

tysm for the ask again!! have a lovely day/night too <33

(send me an ask from the fic ask game part 1 or the fic ask game part 2)

[starfishinthedistance]

i have a question about your ptsd post (the one about how a lot of people have ptsd and don't realize it). (no pressure to answer this btw!! /gen. figured i'd ask bc you seem knowledgeable)

what if something traumatic happened but i literally don't remember the events themselves; only how i felt afterwards? could that mean i have ptsd? (i personally don't really think i do but i'm kind of confused about it so)

my memories really bad (maybe it's linked to the adhd? idk) and theres so much i don't remember at all or remember VERY vaguely, but my psychology prof said that your brain makes memories with strong emotions *more* memorable and vivid (hence nightmares and flashbacks and panic attacks as responses to severe trauma).

i guess i'm mainly confused about the distinction between symptoms of ptsd and how someone without ptsd reacts to reminders of trauma

Hiiii :)

So I obviously can't say for sure whether you have trauma/PTSD or not, or what it was if you do, but not being able to remember things is a part of PTSD, especially C-PTSD. As I said in the post, in the criteria there's "inability to recall key features of the trauma". But it's also common to not be able to remember a trauma at all, or only parts of it, and then for it to come back much later. That can be part of why someone might have the Delayed Specification (full criteria not met until at least 6 months until after the trauma). I myself have experience of not being able to remember a trauma that happen when I was 7-8 at all until it suddenly came back one night when I was 14.

If you dissociate (whether you have the Dissociative Specification of PTSD, or another dissociative disorder like DID or DPDR), it's likely you dissociated during those traumas, which prevents you from remembering things properly. That could be why you can't remember, because you could've been emotionally dissociated as well as sensually.

But it's also important to remember that while cortisol (the stress hormome that produces a lot during traumatic events) can enhance your memory of an event, or a specific part of it, prolonged exposure to cortisol can have the opposite effect and damage your memory of the event. The cortisol can impair the hippocampus' ability to recall memories. The longer you're exposed to it, the more risk you're at for not being able to remember the trauma well. This is why this kind of memory loss is very common in C-PTSD, because prolonged exposure to trauma is prolonged exposure to cortisol.

However the advice that I would give to you, and I think I've said this before but I'm not sure, is not to try to force your brain to remember. If you do have trauma, it will come back to you eventually. If you try to force it, you could trigger a severe flashback, panic attack or breakdown of some kind. Your brain will let you remember when its ready.

So you could have PTSD, just depends on how your experiences fit with the criteria.

And answering that last question is a little complicated because it depends on the person, some non-PTSD having trauma survivors don't react at all to being reminded, some experience emotional distress/physical reactivity but it doesn't last that long or have a big effect on their life. It depends on the person and their specific symptoms and experiences.

Hope that helps :)

[prozac-cat]

i think this has made me realize my thoughts on AI art (writing, images… whatever) has much more to do with intention and much less to do with effort or soul or ownership or what have you.

like i FEEL a visceral repulsion from so much AI art i see centered in conversations like these, but i studied this issue in a philosophy class like a year and a half ago and still had trouble figuring out exactly where i stand. like i’ll say AI art bad but i don’t really know what i mean by that, and i’ve seen plenty of pro-AI art arguments — most of them taking the same route this comic is — that are very convincing. i learned everything from somewhere. like existence to a degree is derivative. so how can i say AI art automating that process is fucked up and evil if i do it myself all the time?

anyway i think what OP did that’s cemented things for me is specifically using the term “ownership.” not to be anti-capitalist BUUUT… ownership, copyright, all very capitalist ideas. we have to know who owns the thing and who is allowed to sell the thing so the Right people make money. it’s undeniable that modern society (at least that i’ve been exposed to idk idk) has commodified art. if we hadn’t, how would artists support themselves? we show artists their work is valuable by assigning a value to it.

i don’t mind AI art when it’s done for the good of art, i think is what i’m settling on. i don’t even think i honestly care if i can tell apart people-art from AI-art (wherever that distinction lies). what i find myself reacting to and what i definitely care about is i think primarily that the Market ™ will determine that AI has made art so easy, so fast, that artists’ work is no longer valuable, and therefore no longer gets assigned a value. especially if its at the cost of expression. the james somerton types, who look at the humanities and see a disparate gap between effort and profit.

because (i fear) they aren’t looking at AI as a boon to art — they’re looking at it as a new way to cut costs, taking from artists they otherwise would have paid for their “property” to make something slightly to the left. and in the worst case scenario (which may or may not be realistic), this cuts down people who do genuinely care and leaves only people creating soulless (not in the human input sense — in the “this is generic and vague and not really impactful when you look closely at it” sense, which both AI and humans create) stuff.

i hate AI art when its opportunistic. i love it when it adds to our repertoire. and if i didn’t feel a very urgent dread that even improving it as a tool would just add fuel to the exploitative uses, i probably wouldn’t care very much. the ownership wouldn’t matter if it didn’t matter, you know?

i don’t know if a world where this isn’t an issue is like actually within reach — i would like to believe that it is, i’m not really Learnéd on government structure and i’m not going to be — but i would love it to be reality. the arguments that sway me are the ones that really seem to care about art, like this really beautiful comic. i want art to be super collaborative. i think that kind of thing is beautiful. & i think its ugly (but currently necessary) to think of it in terms of property and material value.

this might all be nothing. i’m still kind of hammering it out in my head, but its the most convicted i’ve been on the topic in like two years so i wanted to get it down. i’m gonna be thinking about this piece for a while.

"Original" Sin is what i've titled this piece. by me. sorry if you don't have "collapse long posts" enabled. I have many thoughts.

Transcript - References

[wolfsneedles]

i like how prophetic dreams and prophecies in itself different from visions are interpreted in different ways and in diff directions but also by different people for eg stannis and Mel, Rhaegar and dany or other targaryen kings. Jojen and bran, Cersei and Maggy etc...

Melisandre usually tumbles and makes mistakes she sees what she sees but not exactly she wants to see what should be accurate considering how her major azhor ahai is stannis, was a mistake and an error. However recently we know she sees snow in flames. jon. but im skeptical about him being prince that was promised or AA, when you have....daenerys right here. But she still commits mistakes idk maybe rh'ollor is lil unhinged and is messing with her, but no. i think she is prone to change and her prophecies change too. Mel doesn't stick up to one interpretation and pretty sure will leave stannis in long run if she believes who is AA to her.

But stannis, is stubborn and crude. As a skeptic and well part atheist, he took her words and religious ventures too seriously and has attached with the prophecy too vehemently as if he has to be AA at any cost not knowing prophecy can't matter in the end even, but its so funny to me he risked most of the stuff for red priestess who just came to her and is like, "ight u be the king cuz u have targaryen blood"

Jojen reeds dreams are like mostly about starks and wolves and how they will come back again and when bran and others ask him if what he sees can be changed, he says no. which means him seeing something can be finalized testament or something that will happen one way or other since starks coming back or wolves coming back, is like obvious thing since they have their might broken. Bran is currently well being trained by bloodraven so his views weren't yet in first books but evolved with time.

And my fav part is cersei's prophecy of valonqar and maggy. She is destined or was to marry king not prince and she would have 3 children while robert 16 bastards, and we never knew and it was strange to me how lannisters never acquired or were even mildly amused by idea of magic all the way but cersei going to a witch when she was in casterly rock with her companions was like a major twist for me since i never assumed her to be like that, however she knows her fate will end by valonqar and a young more beautiful queen (def dany) will replace her and take what she holds dear. However cersei's reaction to this prophecy when she herself asks witch to tell her fortune is volatile. She takes to anger and resists it from coming true. She even shapes her life and everything according to not letting the prophecy come true but it follows her to in a way that she does marry robert and has 3 children by incestuous relationship. At the very best however, she avoids it because she hates the truth of it. She steers away from it.

Rhaegar is a different matter to me. I like how he was born as melancholic and amidst grief during tragedy of summerhal and well overall, for me had tragic demise but he took the prophecy too serious differently than stannis even. He made sure to follow and correct it and apply it aptly on his marital life and social life. He even kind of got too carried away and dreamy with it that he didn't himself realise the situation changing with Robert's rebellion and everything happening. Rhaegar however we knew was kind of intellectual and sensual personality so maybe he took the targaryen grief of years of no dragons too seriously too. And in the end well...prophecy really didn't work for him and most of his actions failed him and those around.

Dany is so different in this regards tbh. She is part of two prophecies for me the 'prince that was promised' and AZHOR AHAI. and the last 'younger more beautiful queen'. I mean it's startling. Unlike her brother and even old ancestors of her blood, she intrinsically is tied to so many of these prophetic verses and proves on so many occasions especially after birth of dragons that she indeed can be Azhor Ahai or maybe - the best candidates for her. She doesn't really is obsessed with it or neither is she forcing someone to tell her fate like cersei and then meet the rejection with rudeness infact she kind of subverts expectations one has of glaring prophecy which everyone imagines to be a prince...or a man. But dany really isn't a man lol and neither a prince. Aemon did say too the translated prophecy can have error too and it was not really prince who is promised but could be well...princess if that's even the correct term. Her birth of dragons explained in numerous posts and metas is so phenomenal and makes her ever so wonderful and magical than her all ancestors who died in all tragic ways because they made the prophecies too tied to their lives and were utterly obsessed with it. They were reminiscing over grief of dragons but daenerys bought dragons that to, three back to world after stepping into drogo's pyre and performing a ritual she herself only realised in the end what she was doing and thanks to well MMD. She realized later but still did she realise how the stone eggs did exudate warmth and called to her. Im pretty sure all other targayens and their expectations and experiences were all in vain or went down drain. Dany on the other hand independently alone and on her own without help of anyone but only subtly joining clues and hints, sorted out and stitched the importance and relevance of it. The dragons and ritual. It was anyways a one time magical event too, no wonder her bringing dragons to world is written as " music of dragons" and night came alive with it in AGOT. (interesting that grrm says music of dragons and well rhaegar also liked playing sad music at ruins of summerhall, an emo prince yea)

And Daenerys doesn't really is tied herself to prophecy but most of the prophecies are tied to her. The Younger More Beautiful Queen one indicates at her..tbh and really no one including cersei and her knows about it. The AzAhai one also points to her because she was born in salts of dragonstone and smoke refers to birth of dragons and cracking of sound and smoke during pyre. The sword forged from flame can obv be pointed to drogon whose birth is like fire made flesh of a dragon hence that, and also when Xaro X Daxos says, of her dragons 'as flaming sword'.

but not getting into details of AA as dany because again, there are a lot of essays to it.

I just pointed out how stannis makes prophecy his and forced a little on people, how jojen trains bran too in a way and he still takes time to learn this green visions thing, cersei staggers away from it and damages people to not fulfill it or prevent it from engulfing her...but dany has no idea yet as far of any prophecy only a dream, and house of undying visions which she herself doesnt yet believe all so much we rlly dont know, yet she fulfills def 2/3 prophecies.

[chippedaxe]

𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔗𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

Title: 𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔗𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤

Warning(s): NSFW (minors dni), coarse language, monster fucking, slight size kink, demons, virginity

Pronouns: they/them non specified genitalia .

Synopsis: characters from the dsmp are monster hybrids, this is how their s/o (the reader) reacts to them.

Note: There's not rlly a reason for why I wrote this. If you guys disagree with me on these then that's okay, I just thought of these on the top of my head and I agree that my ideas could be better. (The title could also be better lmao)

2nd note (edit): there’s sfw but nsfw is included, just steer away from the nsfw content whilst reading if you don’t want to read it <3

Word count: 1.1K

* added cut for less clutter

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

c!Dream

sfw

- He looks like a weird kind of blob to be honest but it's a bit cute

- He looks like he's covered in bits of slime or some weird type of green goo

- You like listening to his weird slime noises that he makes, it sounds like plops and its absolutely adorable.

- He talks normally like a human as well but you like his weird slime babbling better.

nsfw

- He feels so warm on your skin, the feeling he creates while he's inside of you (or you're inside him) is absolutely amazing and so euphoric.

- Everywhere gets dirty during sex, splatters of green goo or slime will be covering the walls and sheets.

- I feel like he would be touch starved from being a monster, not many people would go around him I assume. So he'd react kindly to your lewd touches and your praise~

c!Sapnap

sfw

- He's a type of blaze hybrid, he has sharp teeth and horns coming out from his forehead. He grumbles a lot and growls sometimes but you think its really cute (other people find it scary though)

- you could never find your baby scary <3 Ever since you guys met he was so kind to you, he'd keep you warm with his blaze rods and fire too ^^

- Such a sweetheart, you love to listen to the rumbling of his chest whenever you two lay together. He would probably be avoided during summer however since he'd just make the heat unbearable (you make it up to him at the end of summer)

nsfw

- Imagine him fucking you with those warm blaze rods of his (not my original idea, someone else had it but idk their @ )

- He's such a beast, there'd be claw marks on the walls and the mattress would almost always get destroyed from sex. Sapnap just can't help making a mess when you're making him feel so good..

- He'd like to nibble on you and leave deep bite marks while rutting into you, maybe even use his fire on you for some temperature play if you'd like something like that.

c!George

sfw

- I feel like he'd be a bit of a shapeshifter and his shape would shift depending on a dream he has/ had.

- You can recognize him even when he's in a new state due to his distinct personality and because of his shades that he carries on him.

- He's a naturally tired creature so he sleeps a lot, often inviting you to come and join him lovingly.

nsfw

- You'd always be intrigued with his new characters, eager to fuck each of his forms at least once. Your relationship together is very creative and curious, you guys will try anything and everything.

- Most sex together is sleepy sex, his hands will paw at you tiredly and you will have to put in most of the work.

- He can and will give you wet dreams by choice.

c!Eret

sfw

- He's a type of hybrid like medusa, his glasses are on at all times because if he takes them off then he'll turn you to stone.

- You have never seen her eyes before but that's alright, you still love them heaps.

- They will 100% kill anyone who gets to close to you with just a death stare, reassures you with lies that the person will be okay. They won't.

nsfw

- His scales feel rough against your skin, it makes the sex feel a whole lot different and exotic though so you really don't mind it.

- Her nails claw into you to keep you in place as she ruts into you with their hips, not wanting to let you go for at least another hour.

- Wraps their arms around you lovingly to keep you two close to each other, loves having you close to them while you perform such a beautiful act together.

c!Karl

sfw

- Have you seen his old skin?? I imagine something like that but in monster type form, I guess that he'd also be extremely rubbery and stretchy.

- He can stretch his arms around you to give you amazing hugs, finds it hard to unravel his arms from you though.

- I feel as if he wouldn't be able to speak coherent English and his words would be broken speech, if he doesn't try to speak English then he will just be making his own goofy noises.

nsfw

- Would be able to easily stretch if you were going to put something inside of him, I feel like he'd act so cute and lewd with his monster squeals too!!

- Fingering with him is fucking amazing, sex in general is amazing with him, he'd be able to stretch and basically shape himself into the perfect shape to be able to fuck your hole.

- He could easily tie you or himself up with his stretchy rubbery arms, makes your sex life a whole lot more exciting.

c!Punz

sfw

- I headcanon monster him as a human that was possessed by a demon and is now slowly turning into more of a demon.

- Tries to make deals with you for your soul but you reject him every time, surprised when he offers his love for free, you accept that graciously.

- Can reign hell fire and will if so pleases, definitely burns people who get to close to you or the people who hurt you in any.

nsfw

- He's a demon, he is naturally very tempting, so it doesn't take much for him to get you into his bed. "Come on baby, you can ride me and pull on my horns.." He's got you right where he wants you.

- He's naturally very warm from being a demon so you guys will often have very hot sweaty sex, resulting in you guys being gross and needing a wash afterwards.

- He would be eccentric if you were a virgin, he'd be like "awe, for me? You shouldn't have.." and then absolutely devour and rail the shit out of you to make a memorable experience.

[eastgaysian]

this ones fully a haterpost with very little justification so its going under a cut

learning shadowheart and halsin share the same writer was like Oh so that guys literally just not good at his job i see now. halsin has the excuse of having much more limited content, a late introduction + potentially getting kidnapped for a significant portion of act 3, and his romance iirc was another added by fan demand thing which You Know How I Feel About That Shit By This Point. so its almost understandable that he doesnt demonstrate a single meaningful personality trait. you have one conversation with him and you get it. the fact that it's fully played as sexyfunny when he relates a story that is Objectively sexual trauma is just deranged though i think john corcoran should be taken out back and shot for that one

the thing is its been driving me crazy for months that i feel like im banging my head against the wall trying to get invested in shadowheart. i think there are interesting concepts with her character but they all just completely failed to land for me despite the fact she has so much To Do in the game (while as a character having surprisingly little agency). and i don't know, i think it's a little difficult to write a character like her where she is not only private and initially very uninterested in socializing but literally doesn't have a significant chunk of her memories, but i also think john corcoran is just a bad writer lol. insofar as 'shar inflicts shadowheart with pain when she tries to do something altruistic' is an interesting concept, imo it ultimately acts as a writing crutch instead of actually having her express moral conflict. it just kind of Happens and it's supposed to mean something, but the degree to which she meaningfully reacts to it, and you get the sense it has influence on her behavior, is so limited. it feels like so many of the traits shadowheart is supposed to have are just said about her rather than meaningfully demonstrated in what she does, every interaction stays at the most shallow and straightforward level. idk even minor shit like the fact she's supposed to be an animal lover. you get an approval popup for petting scratch/the owlbear cub and that's like.... it.

i dunno man. then there's a lot of stuff that just kind of... rubs me the wrong way, like the fact you can 'hatemance' her with low/negative approval and she has specific lines for it and this is unique to her, and it also being continually played as sexyfunny that she's interested in torture/has tortured people for shar in the past. combined with the halsin Thing its a bit. omg hot mean sadistic goth gf core. and her ability to demonstrate any meaningfully distinctive personality traits outside of that is so diminished.

bg3 doesnt even have good character writing half the time. the voice acting and animation are good but you people are just h[This user was eaten by a grue.]

[davids-cartoon-corkboard]

Duplicatnation

The fandom's already put in a lot of work speculating about why Qi Xiaotian (QXT) has abandonment issues and how that's probably connected to why we know nothing about his bio family, but idk if I've seen anyone mention what the clones can “tell us” about the situation? The way they each go off the rails offers a lot of insight!

The Porty Clone (PXT) is very much a child’s idea of how being an adult works- he stays up as late as he wants, doing whatever he wants, and nobody can tell him what to do.

He even sounds like a child protesting bedtime: “Aw but fifteen houws I’m so sweepy- that’s what you sound like!”

He’s the only clone who has discarded his work shirt, another indicator that he Does Not Like Being Told What To Do.

Though he’s more than happy to tell other people what to do, since he easily got those bouncers and the clone swarm to obey him.

This suggests whoever QXT grew up with was the “Drill Sergeant” type of parent: “I am in charge and you will do what I say; and I will punish you if you so much as insinuate you don’t like my decisions.” I suppose they could just be some run-of-the-mill shithead, but Lego Monkie Kid can probably get more plot mileage out of making them a villain.

---

The Artist Clone (AXT) is “older” than PXT; instead of throwing a tantrum to get what he wants, he conforms to what others want from him in the hopes that he'll be rewarded (or at least not punished) for acting "correctly".

“Pretty good? Pretty good?! That’s not good enough! You asked me to help paint your boat, and that’s what I’m going to do. I won’t stop! Until it’s perfect!”

Naturally, he gets mad when Sha Dali doesn’t follow the “script”. Sha Dali is “supposed to" agree that AXT needs to be better by fully devoting himself to the task at hand. “Pretty good” is a deadly insult- if “pretty good” is all that Sha Dali expects, then he must not think AXT can reach perfection, and if AXT can’t reach perfection, then he’s not good enough, and if he's not good enough, then why even keep him around?

AXT responds by doubling down, because he can be perfect! He does have value! He’ll make Sha Dali see that!

Not to be a God Damn Homestuck, but all these paint splatters are definitely supposed to remind the audience of blood. If QXT’s parent is a villain, they are not of the comic relief variety.

---

The Delivery Clone (DXT) is distinct from the other two in that he actually deviated from his purpose! If he’d followed the pattern the other two had set, he would have performed his purpose too well, delivering his orders so quickly and in such large amounts that the shop would have run out of stock and been unable to serve its afternoon customers. He ate all the noodles and outright fought with Zhu Dachu because he represents QXT during the "snapback" part of his life- his parent demanded more and more from him until he had no more to give, at which point he realized trying to satisfy his parent was impossible and started turning all that effort towards himself instead, with less than ideal results.

QXT’s parent would have considered him to be no longer useful after that and abandoned him, so DXT probably also represents food insecurity.

---

Zhu Dachu started yelling at QXT, Sha Dali wanted AXT to stop trying so hard, Long Xiaojiao wanted to leave the arcade- each clone reacted the same way. “My loved one is unhappy with me” turned into “they’re going to abandon me” turned into “I can’t deal with that happening again” turned into “if they won’t stay voluntarily, I’ll make them stay.”

Perhaps the person who raised QXT wasn’t actually his bio parent, but kidnapped him from his bio family because they sensed his Super Special Hero Potential or something.

That the clones briefly showed up in “This is the End!” suggests they’re more permanent than the average clone, so I’m curious to see if they’ll provide more info in the future.

---

I haven’t read Journey to the West, so I’m casting this question out to the fandom at large: are there any Journey to the West characters that match my description of QXT’s hypothetical villainous parent?

[ineffably-human]

here's the thing about 'queerbaiting', something I still think doesn't exist:

there are queer couples all over the place in media these days. most of them are traditionally sexy young adults, because most romance writing is about traditionally sexy young adults. but you tend to know what you're getting within a season or two. there's a distinct lack of queer slow burns in the traditional rom-com sense where you don't immediately know where it's going. if you've got a queer romance, then you've got a queer romance. most of the fanfare I see when something long-term goes canon is from 'animation lesbians': Catradora, Bubbleline, Korrasami, because the idea that animation is for kids (and Catradora's whole...deal) put their endgame in question.

but please consider: part of that is because in a M/F rom-com you know if they're devoting a lot of screen time to these two people interacting, that's your couple, and there's no doubt. the slow burn is HOW it's gonna happen, unless the show truly changes its direction halfway through, which is rare.

in a potential queer romance that doesn't immediately pay off, half the intrigue is sitting and wondering: if the writers realize what they're doing, if they're doing it on purpose, if this or that thing is symbolic or a hidden message, if that thing they said out loud is a joke or taking the possibility seriously. it's the ultimate parasocial 'does he like me or LIKE like me?' because it's baked into the experience itself that a little part of you believes it might not happen. I guarantee that there was never something with Jim and Pam or Jake and Amy where the actors/writers said something romantic about them in an interview and everyone went 'omg!! they were insane for this!!!' because there's nothing 'insane' about it, and there's nothing 'insane' about doing it for a queer couple either. we just don't EXPECT it yet.

the thing that makes a queer will-they-won't-they exciting for you is the exact thing that makes a queer will-they-won't-they potentially heartbreaking. I'm not saying it's bad to want it, just - understand that the reason you're reacting to That Very Intense Friendship and not the larger and larger offering of unambiguously canon queer media is because the potential 'taboo' of a queer pairing is like a mobius strip.

and half the time we're retrofitting a pairing. we want to ship, we find something shippable, we hunt for potential hints and dynamics accordingly. we are literally working in a different language than a lot of straight writers, and off a different set of endorphin rushes and emotional payoffs than a lot of straight viewers.

I can name maybe four shows that actually understood they had a queer fanbase and leaned into that fanbase while having no intention of paying it off. and almost all of those shows are like a decade old or at least started that long ago. some of them even clearly, vocally said they weren't writing a romance, people just didn't believe them or hoped they'd changed their minds. please name what you consider a clear example of queerbaiting that isn't Sherlock, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, idk maybe Gotham? (except does that even count if one of the pair is canon queer and the problem is they weren't taken seriously? I did not watch or Tumblr-osmose as much about Gotham.) and for whatever show you're naming, did they ever actually promise or even hint at queerness to begin with?

(I have remembered Loki after already posting this but I am like...torn on Loki. they said Loki would be bi and he is bi. him not getting with a man after being bi is not queerbaiting. it's a person being bisexual. and Disney being boring.)

I promise: OFMD didn't invent gay people, and there are shows on this earth that aren't Supernatural. I love hunting for whether they're 'actually gonna do it' as much as the next person, but understand why that hits a sweet spot that immediately canon queer relationships don't.

[phoenixyfriend]

#in gffa context i think its different for different jedi like you said- depends on how outsiders view you/how other jedi do/etc #in my own context. i struggle very hard to pick up the pieces of my own familys history and find my place as my greatgrandparents' grandson #bc they tried so hard to assimilate when they were essentially all but violently cut off from their culture. and here i am surviving #but like. i dont know that it informs how id write about jedi? idk. bc the jedi themselves clearly encourage connection to home culture #but the jedi as a people themselves also clearly have a 'jedi culture'- they have a distinct history; architecture; art; #jedi prize knowledge and wisdom in pursuit of justice; humility in dress and life; and peace with the universe #so i guess. how do you be both a jedi and of your people? where does that line lie? how do you balance that? how do people react to you? #the answers are going to be different for everyone #i think for the survivors of o66 their answer will be 'i am a jedi first' bc they had to hide for so long to live #but for a high republic jedi it might be 'oh!! thank you for noticing!! yeah i came to the jedi from-' and they might explain in detail #bc they want to be seen for themselves #anyways this is kinda getting really long so #and id be really interested to see other fans with different experiences discuss (via @ferusolinlands)

The way that a person's individual experiences of diaspora into the West can color their interpretation of three Jedi's collective and individual responses to outsiders asking about their planet of origin.

Oh my god I just. This is going to be very American-immigrant of me but listen.

The inherent trauma of being raised as part of a diaspora population without a fixed, concentrated community in an area that strives to have you conform and assimilate, bleaching yourself of all cultural roots. The desperation to cling to a home, an origin, because of how untethered the average White person is, in places like the US and Canada and Australia, so if you have any knowledge of a Home Country you cling to it. That kneejerk "I am not one of you, I may pass as 'normal' but I am foreign, I am Other, I am not you" that exists for those of us who immigrated young but were raised in the Home Culture, inasmuch as our parents could manage.

Many Americans cannot fathom the idea of not taking pride in Where You Come From. So many are unmoored in that sense, and substitute pride in their City or State, with cultural histories that are so much shorter. So many can't process the idea that balancing Where You Come From with Where You Are as anything other than an act of survival in the face of violence, because for so many, that Pride In Cultural Background is something that was stripped away generations ago, willingly or not.

(I can't speak for all, especially not non-white folks, but I'm sure there are related-but-different takes.)

So the idea that the Jedi can prioritize "I am a Jedi" over "I am from This Specific Planet" and it not be an act of violence or survival is unfathomable to people who cling so strongly to things like... dna ancestry tests and the barest fragments of what they can collect.

And I'm obviously coming at this from the perspective of someone who loves the Jedi, who fully believes in their specific messages and ideals, who trusts that they do do their best to keep their members tethered to their home cultures (Ahsoka's hunt on Shili, Barriss and Luminara's tattoos, Depa's piercings), but that the Jedi still prioritize "I am a Jedi" as their culture.

But. I think that, a lot of the time, when I see a Jedi take offense to "okay, but where are you from?" questions in fic, it hits a weird button to me, because... there are definitely real-world communities for whom that's a hot-button question, an insult, an act of racism, of Othering. Whereas my experience has always been excitement to share that no, I'm not from here, thank you for asking. Thank you for noticing that my name is Not This.

Is it different for human Jedi than it is for twi'leks? For Jedi of the galactic majority instead of an oppressed class? To what extent does a fic writer's relationship with the experience of diaspora impact this aspect of the Jedi, and how they react to other's questions of their origins?

(Please engage in good faith and be polite, thank you.)

[lesbianmarrow]

i finished legends of tomorrow 5.06 “mortal khanbat” it was nice :) not my favorite but a fun decent episode. felt a bit like a season 3 episode. i think there was just like a combination of small things that made this episode less enjoyable for me personally. but it wasn’t a bad episode at all. caity lotz’s directing seemed good (from what i can tell - i’m hardly a directing expert) and i especially enjoyed that one fight sequence that occurred early in the episode. 

mostly i was irritated by the charlie/behrad love drama. i do appreciate the opportunity to get to know a little more about charlie and see how she reacts when stressed, but i didn’t like the added romance complications. it’s not that the love drama wasn’t believable, bc it definitely was. i didn’t feel that charlie or behrad was out of character. i just found it kind of cliche and boring. charlie is such a dynamic character with such a unique perspective, and to slot her into this cw romance plot would just kind of do a disservice to the character. plus we already have one lovesick guy pining after a girl who doesn’t want him (nate), i don’t really need another one. at least it seemed by the end of the episode that they were just friends and both okay with that. i do hope it stays that way. behrad seems like a nice friend to have. 

the plot itself was okay. i am always a bit wary when this show uses asian characters or sets the episode in asia because it always feels like it’s going to be racist. this one didn’t feel terribly racist the way arrow often does but it still wasn’t ideal imo. i didn’t like that they killed that lady cop, and so gruesomely. and the accented english is always a choice. but you know it could’ve been a lot worse. i loved the electric scooter and how that became genghis khan’s transportation and weapon. i thought it was so funny and delightful. i loved when charlie stabbed him with the sword and stole his toothpick, definitely an all-time favorite charlie moment. 

i didn’t like the constantine stuff in this episode as much, partly because it’s just yucky to see him so sick but also idk it was kind of boring and predictable. like we know he’s not going to die but we also know he won’t be cured till the end of the episode......idk it just felt like it wasn’t as creative as it could have been. the message at the end was supposed to be that constantine realizes the value of friendship but the episode didn’t really succeed at making that hit as hard as it couldve i think. i guess the other issue is that gary is very one-note throughout the whole thing, like he just is kind of hysterical for the duration, and it gets stale. i do like that we will have constantine and astra working together apparently....i wonder how that will go. 

finally charlie and zari 2 meet :) i like that zari likes charlie’s fashion sense. it’s very different from her own, but it’s still its own bold distinct style and that’s something zari can respect. i might be imagining things but it definitely felt to me like they were both checking each other out. i also enjoyed when zari found out charlie can shapeshift and charlie started flirting with her. i know she was probably doing it in part to annoy behrad and drive him away, and that annoys me, but with that aside i thought it was cute. i couldn’t tell if zari was also flirting or if she just thought shapeshifting was really cool. i got the vibe that zari understood that charlie was flirting with her and she enjoyed that attention, but i’m not sure if she would consider herself attracted to women or if she identifies as straight. i guess maybe we will see. #zarlie for the win. 

so great to finally learn about charlie’s secret past. charlie breaking the loom bc she came to believe that everyone should be free to choose their own destiny is so her and so legends of tomorrow. just like snart! i literally love it so much. i suspect there’s more to the story that charlie isn’t telling, a personal reason why she broke the loom, but maybe we’ll find out later. i wonder what charlie’s sisters will be like. i am actually so psyched for this plotline. 

last thing i wanna mention is i thought it was so cute when ava didn’t understand nate’s euphemisms for sex. feels like this season the writers are pushing how silly they can be with ava and it turns out the answer is: very silly :p ok that’s all i have to say for now

[cloneslugs]

also i hate most things where the final challenge is like well batman now you must give up your mask mostly bc it plays out so cliche and imo is such a weird stopping point for batman's story (esp if it's a villain who i dont think would care but props to ak for making me believe that jonathan has enough reason to care his hope v fear thing was actually good) but ak did such an interesting followup for post game seeing everyone close to batman react, esp w the high security lock up people i find it interesting that most people take it as batman = bruce wayne (seen a lot w everyone at the gcpd who tell him theyll just stick w batman or keep it to lighthearted jokes) and its jonathan's whole thing of giving face to the faceless and bringing down the idol-hood of a hero/hope (his argument for it is slightly diff than what i would go for though. i see it less as "now you have a face to blame, to put failure to" and more of "giving batman an identity takes him away from being a hero/urban legend/myth and turns him into something lesser which is a man" which i think was kind of touched on but eh. second doesnt work as well when hes long established and people know hes real which is another reason i think later timeline stuff is shakier for me depending on how it plays out) but im interested in the viewpoints of the majority batman = bruce wayne vs how a very small minority takes it, both being the people who knew batman most intimately, joker and harvey, who both make a statement about "wearing a mask" joker is harder to pinpoint in this game bc he is just a mind thing and most of his stuff is said to just be edgy or mean (but you can also argue that it's just bruce's own thoughts gone through some twisted joker way of saying them) but even still i think he makes a clear distinction (even if incorrect) that between bruce wayne and batman, there is a mask and an act put up & that theres freedoms in one that arent available w the other (even if he means it in accordance to violence) i think harvey's is really very interesting, idk as much for his dialogue to batman (aka bruce wayne) vs his to just batman, but his lines of saying "i didnt make a promise w bruce wayne on that roof" etc really sticks w me & the many diff implications w it & he goes out to say he understands what it means to wear another face, which goes into stuff arkhamverse never really explored which is the personal disconnect that bruce has between himself & himself + which one is more genuine, batman doesnt feel fear while bruce wayne does (ashose) -> who can afford to be emotionally vulnerable, who can do more good and who is currently doing more good (imposter) + i think it's such an interesting facet of being a superhero (at least for some) of being which one is who i pretend to be and which one is really me, which ik isnt as deep as ak takes it but to go back to it im just very interested in how harvey points it out that his friend on the rooftops wasnt bruce that he didnt give all this up for bruce that this trio didnt include bruce & how ultimately he wasnt let down by bruce wayne bc there is a distinction, and he, more than anyone else, would understand the distinction

[1ddotdhq]

🍌Wed 2 Dec ‘20💚

Harry Styles Reacts to Banana Innuendo Rumors by Making EVEN MORE Banana Innuendos part TWO

Good morning/evening/night to Harry’s post and Harry’s post ONLY! (Okay that’s not true but it was definitely a highlight of my day). In case people haven’t seen it yet, it’s Harry in a light blue custom made suit putting a penis banana in his mouth. The picture is captioned “Bring Back Manly Men” so take a suck on THAT Candace Owens! It was only one of many great pictures in his variety shoot (including another, um, fruity picture of him biting into a pomegranate okay Persephone we get it), but Harry did indeed choose That One to post on This, the day after banana necklace dickscourse, BLESS. Harry’s interview was a little more in depth than they have been in the past, touching upon his feelings on race (“Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music. There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change”), as well as his tattoos (the only time he regrets them is in the DWD makeup chair), his love of reading, fashion and art, his exercise routine (Kid Harpoon couldn’t keep up!),  and his feelings on success and acclaim (“It’s never why I do anything...it's always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff...Fans are the best A&R”). 

The problems arose - as they so often do - when One Direction was mentioned. The article said that “The proof [of the band’s benefits] is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members- Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles- each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond”. Leaving aside the bad math (that's 4 people!) one name, of course, is notably missing: Louis has in fact enjoyed quite a lot of success both with Walls (remember when his album went #1 on iTunes in the UK AND the US literally 2 months ago?) and his pre-Walls singles like “Back To You” and “Just Hold On”. It got worse because the author tried to back up her claim with Harry’s quote, “When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band...but we loved being in the band...I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it”. By linking her own words with Harry's quote she made it seem as though Harry said it to agree with her biased take, which we'd know he didn't even if we hadn't heard him say this exact quote without that slant multiple times before. Fans were quick to point out both to the author and to Variety that they were wrong (to describe the reaction mildly), and the author rather than fixing the mistake, doubled down and began blocking fans. Plenty of people were quick to say that of course HSHQ and Harry had approved this content, despite more knowledgeable fans trying to be heard protesting that that is not how it works. (Remember how just recently Vogue got Harry’s whole ass FAMILY situation wrong and it was not corrected until after print, for example?) In fact, even the magazine didn't really proofread this- the print version of the article is different and says, “The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members - Styles, Malik and Horan”, effectively erasing both Louis AND Liam. It's an annoying take either way, but it's one the author more than likely picked up by doing her research on harrie twitter, not on orders from Jeff.

And because we DO NOT STAND FOR LILO ERASURE ON THIS BLOG, let’s talk about Liam’s Web Summit panel! It was 25 minutes of Liam and Marian Dicus (VP of Spotify) being interviewed about the current and future state of the music industry. Both of them, of course, noted that things had changed very quickly in their careers back at the beginning of lockdown, and how it had seemed surreal, at first, but that Liam had found that the way he was operating now (with Veeps and Tik Tok and Instagram lives) had made his platform a two way interaction with his fans. “For a long time I've been living in a dream world where I thought I was speaking with my fans but really I was just talking at them whereas we as artists ask a lot of rhetorical questions... I wanted to start a conversation”. Marian discussed how engaging fans differently WAS one of the most difficult things to puzzle out at the beginning, but that as months have passed, it seems artists like Liam have found a viable virtual future in the music industry (Liam tells us that he's been doing “stadium size shows” on Veeps which is an exciting clue about the mystery of how many tickets they're selling). They also went into the way music trends change as a response to social and political occurrences, how comfort songs gave way to protest songs this summer. Liam said, “People want their artists to have an opinion nowadays it's not that we can stay out of the conversation anymore-- and nor do we feel that we should in many places-- but for me it's a fine line because I realize what I do for people is an escape, people don't want things rammed down their throats every day and news messages from me about things that they don't want to hear about if they've come to listen to music, so its a real fine line that we kind of teeter on”. And about his opening acts, he acknowledges that his fanbase are mostly young women (based on the data breakdowns he gets from his team), and so he feels a responsibility to mentor young female artists in the industry so that more people like his fans have a voice. In an interview full of really fascinating music and technical discussions, this remained my favorite moment from Liam. Just like we won’t erase HIM, he refuses to erase US! And let's not forget our Liam alarm of the day-- it starts out absolutely adorable (“good moooorning!”), is hilarious in that apparently he just rambled completely unscripted and then they awkwardly cut it into 25 parts, but today's installment is frankly not relaxing! “only 23 sleeps til christmas have you done your shopping are you prepared” excuse me Liam YOU ARE STRESSING ME OUT. The promised relaxing sleep story affirmations are still 'coming soon'-- hurry up please I need them to decompress after that alarm!

Now for a lightning round of epic proportions: DWD darling pictures and vids keep comin’ and Harry and Florence are both looking GORGEOUS as Jack and Alice,  after the Variety shoot dropped ‘THE CAPTION’, ‘BRING BACK MANLY MEN’, and ‘LOUIS IS SUCCESSFUL’ trended worldwide on twitter, Tan France said “yes please” to Harry's banana post, Harry reiterated that London was home and he didn’t want to be in LA for longer than he needed to,Variety has its virtual show tomorrow at 5 pm PST so see you there! Veeps is sending out emails promoting Louis’ show to people who bought LP show tickets, fans have already started to receive their Louis Tomlinson Live From London merch, Trinity College in Dublin’s Law society presented Niall with an award for, uh, his Irishness, I guess? (Just kidding, it’s for “his incredible talent and work ethics which is famously underscored by a distinct humility despite unthinkable success”). It looks like he will be giving a talk when he’s presented with it, and I’m honestly really interested to see what it’s all about - is he...gonna be talking to law students? Idk but tune in on December 7th at 12 pm GMT to find out!