#idk my writing quality but i do want more even if it sucks!

[the-great-ladyg]

Did someone notice in the new Somerton's video that he didn't adress any of the misogyny or transphobia accusations? Like, yeah, he said "people say I hate women but that's not true" and only that. And he also addressed the misinformation, in which we can include the misgendering, but he still didn'h fully talk about this even when those accusations were, along with plagiarism, the most talked about on the internet.

This dude didn't give any reason for why "he doesn't hate" women or trans people, it truly was a "source: dude trust me" and Somerton expects us to believe him, when no, he threw shit on women in every chance he got, he showed transphobia in many times for no fucking reason other than he's got something against women and trans people.

And he also didn't address any of the racism people has pointed out since a long time, but more specially since HBomberguy and Todd's video. This dude only focused on plagiarism, and even that he sucked at since he implied it was an accident. How can you plagiarize on accident?, you have to write, to read, to check what you're doing, he read and Nick's scripts, he must have noticed the copying and still left it with no citation. He said he loves investigating and reading, then he must notice the copying, yet he also said he "didn't notice", like this dude can't recognize he did this on purpose, it was all "an accident".

Also, he just tried shifting the blame, placing it on Nick or, again, like it was an accident and he didn't mean to it. Somerton knew what he was doing, all of us are taught at school, specially college, that plagiarism not only is bad, it it diminishes the quality and credibility of the person that stole those words, it can get you expelled or fired, and let's not forget the people you're hurting by stealing from them, and this case the people whose experiences and words were stolen. Somerton is in a more privileged position than many people in the LGBTQ+ community since he's a cis white man, and yet he decided to attack this way many POC and trans people, not only he stole their words, but he also used racist and transphobic rhetoric, he misgendered, he erased sexualities and put all of us on the same box of "cis straight white women".

"I wanted to make my channel a safe space", yeah, sure man, like saying all the negative things of an MLM media is straight cis women's fault, or misgendering, erasing the bisexuality of a woman or changing "trans" for "queer" is going to make to make your channel a safe for queer women and trans people.

I just deep down know he won't change at all, maybe except for the citations, but we must expect he'll continue being a misogynist racist transphobe dumbass that will keep ignoring this accusations and using the homophobia card.

I really feel sorry if he truly felt so bad he harmed himself and ended up on an hospital, if that's real I hope he gets better and never gets to that point again. Maybe I'm naive, but I want to believe this is not a tactic to manipulate us to forgive him, but... idk, I just expect anything from this man that has used the homophobia card to protect his ass from any criticism.

But talking by myself, as a genderfluid AFAB person who consumes and creates queer content and felt so insulted by his racism, his misogyny and transphobia, and noticing how he avoided the topic, I don't accept his apology and hope he disappears from the internet before he can do any more damage.

[syscest]

system[?] here. i guess? idk, this is just a confession and maybe asking for advice if there is any for something like this. i struggle a lot with singletmoding when depression and dysphoria gets bad, and it has been bad a lot lately. like months. and its hard because im basically just fragments anyways, nothing super distinct. and i dont have a headspace, or voices. so i dont know what to do to make myself feel more plural. sometimes a really distinct headmate comes to front and it feels like something but most of the time it feels like nothing and i miss plurality. but its not easy. idk if theres any advice because so much of it focuses on having a headspace or looking inward or creating a headspace etc etc but when we had tried that before it made the host at the time go dormant due to stress and we still didnt get like a headspace out of it. idk. you dont have to post this, im sorry.

shhhhh anon - so, for the record our system:

doesn't have a headspace or any sense of spatialness related to fronts/switching

doesn't have internal dialogue. we can't write notes either, our brain rejects it

doesn't have a memory split / gaps between headmates - switches are just a slight shift we help happen

tends to hold fronts for days at a time, but finds that fronts often "fade out" into mush after a while, the vividness goes away and it gets kinda generic feeling

and my main sentiment is. don't force it. these quieter types of systemhood are about connecting with yourself/ves, they're about curiosity. they're about exploration and finding new ways to express yourself/ves. and they're all about really small things instead of really big things.

We usually wouldn't offer such specific advice to a specific ask, because we hate prescribing the way systems should be - but this is our personal thought process for when we've masked ourself into a hole and forgotten what we're even capable of experiencing.

So, think of a chime, or a pond - if it's thrashed, it's an unclear mess well after you stop, but if you touch it while it's still, that input resonates, and what you put in slowly comes back to your ears and eyes. Systems often have this "reflective" quality, I think - which means reconnecting with your system often means looking for things you put in to it.

You miss the feeling of your system. That's a good start - let yourself have that. It kinda sucks but, mull over and genuinely explore that feeling. Then keep your ears open from then and into the week, and you just might feel that feeling that your system misses itself/you back. Have a fondness? Same thing. Something you're wearing would look better if certain fragments were more present? *Think* that - picture it. Look after yourself through looking after your system - see if it looks after you back. Feel for that little "delay" between when you feel a feeling, and it comes back to being felt about you.

And hey, even if that doesn't mean "switching and fronts" like you want it to, maybe it'll feel good anyway.

[ryuichirou]

Which twst characters do you and katsu relate to the most or which match your personalities the most?

Oh Anon, you have no idea how excited I am about your ask… Because I already had the pleasure of agonising over this question a year ago, but Katsu didn’t! Now it’s Katsu’s turn to be uncomfortable and vulnerable! So I am as pumped to read this post as you are to be honest lol

I’ll still give you a TL;DR about my situation first though, in case you don’t want to read my old post: I relate to a lot of characters in for a lot of reasons (I think all of us do), and I definitely named a lot of boys lol But those who I have the most kinship with are probably Kalim, Rook, Ortho, Sebek, Azul, Lilia. I mentioned a couple of other guys in my old post, but they either have one specific trait that I find very relatable, or wishful thinking lol

If I had to pick three that I feel second-hand embarrassment from because of recognising some of my traits in their bullshit, I’d say it’s Kalim, Azul and Sebek. What a combination, I know. But my reasoning from the linked post is still the same….

But also! You know what? There is one addition to the list I’d like to make. I think it’s time to admit that I also want to strangle Trey from time to time because of how similar his attitude feels. I don’t think that I  as much of a people-pleaser as I used to be when I was a teen, but there are still moments when I catch myself thinking “I don’t even want to bother with that, it’s easier to give them a non-answer and keep my actual opinion to myself”. This + a bunch of other corny and stupid shit argGghhhh wait do I hate Trey Clover? 🤔🤔🤔🤔

Alright, I’m done lol Thank you for your question! Now for the Katsu’s part:

Katsu:

I’m about to make this post 100 times more awkward with my list lol There’s practically no difference in both of your description, so I’ll treat them interchangeably, Anon, as you probably intended.

I asked for Ryu’s assistance for these explanations because my mind went blank when I sat down to write them.

Also, I’m sorry I wrote so much 😱 I wanted to explain everyone to some extent and it seems I can’t shut up... I’m also very sorry if I sound very entitled. It’s surprisingly hard to write something like this, and I end up sounding like I’m constantly sucking my own dick with “look at how cool I am”. This is very embarrassing, please don’t read this post.

I’m a very generic bitch, so my most relatable/similar character is Idia, like he is for a lot of other people. He has it all: our takes on a lot of things is similar, including the nasty ones; apparently, we’re both good at reading other people’s character; he’s very cynical and has a negative outlook on life; the way we view certain things; our priority for quality time and spending it with those we care about; all the teasing and rude things that he does I actually do as well; our... ehh independence of our views?? idk how to say this better, just coming to conclusions on our own instead of taking the most popular option; Ryu thinks I’m smart (I’m not, and I’m especially not a tech genius and I’m actually bad at playing videogames), but I’d rather name it swings between “I’m a genius” and “I’m shit”, this constant desire to be as objective as possible even when referring to yourself while acknowledging subjective opinions when they’re unavoidable; our relationship with people is terrible in a similar way; the way he puts others down and then himself as well is sometimes word for word what I’ve said to Ryu for all those years we’ve known each other, so self-criticism; our love for art and anime in particular, though I don’t watch or read much anymore; his social... everything, his fear of interactions, his confidence in other people judging him all the time and thinking he’s cringe; his attempts to disappear and go unnoticed; the fact he gives up before even trying a lot of times. I can go on and on... It’s easier to tell where we’re different – I’m not that bold online, I just silently lurk; my internet slang is lackluster at best; I don’t play games that much and I’m not a huge fan of multiplayer games... which might seem nitpicky, but I consider it to be an important part of his personality. I feel like I’ve just tried to describe Idia instead of explaining anything lol Sorry

Jamil is also very relatable, he’s pretty similar to Idia personality wise (at least some of the qualities I mentioned), so I won’t repeat myself in terms of his personality. He’s also tired from everyone’s bullshit. Jamil’s desire for travelling and his love for calm times where everything around is quiet should be mentioned. He has to babysit Kalim, and sometimes I have to do something similar – nobody asks me to, but all this micromanagement that he does for Kalim like organising perfect conditions for him, making sure that everything’s right and being prepared to unpredictable events, although I’m not as consistent as Jamil in this regard. I’m the one to buy tickets, book places, come up with routes, make sure nothing’s forgotten, figure out at what time happens what, where to buy this and that thing, how to get to some place, and other things like that. It’s not like Ryu can’t do this stuff (except for getting somewhere, this bitch has no sense for directions), I just don’t allow it a lot of times lol We don’t want accidents. Ryu also sometimes gets praised for things that I do, that can be super annoying, that’s why I hate it when Ryu tries to brag about me.

Vil... gets a similar reaction from me as he does from Epel. I’d hate to know him irl, although a lot of points he makes are actually very true. He holds himself and others to a very high standard which is what I also do, but we do it in different areas. We both workout, although I’m nowhere near his routine or his diet, of course, but the discipline aspect of it is important. The most similar thing is our passion for True Art, the way we view it, the way we approach it, and the way we understand how audience works. Our love for cinema, I watch a lot of movies, but I’m not a nerd when it comes to them. I’m not a film bro- oh wait I actually am. The more you know. Also, all the movies Ryu watches usually come from me.

Ace – the entire first book, from the moment he got a cauldron dropped on him (before that I wanted to punch him). He’s somewhat chill, he doesn’t like anyone’s bs and he hates rules that don’t make sense. He’s relaxed to a certain degree (sometimes too much lol), and the things he appreciate in relationships (both friendly and romantic) are the same for me. Our love for fun stuff, to a certain degree for me though, but not the same level of irresponsibility, as I’m usually the one to chicken out and bail. Not always, though! Ace also gets a grasp of things quickly, but forgets them just as fast.

Floyd – the desire to tease/bully serious people is too strong 😔 Plus, extreme mood swings with losing interest, but these are not nearly as common as his. Sometimes you have tons of fun, and then a second later, in an instant, you lose the spark.

Malleus – we just like to wander somewhere... his love for ruins, but I’m yet to meet someone who doesn’t like them or their aesthetics lol His isolation, and Ryu says the way we say/ask/do things sometimes is similar. Also most based overblot reason ever (same for Idia and Vil though). I’d probably be able to point out his character traits better if we saw book 7, but that’s it for now.

Epel – he hates girly stuff lmao His toxic masculinity is relatable for my teen years, and the way his speech is impolite (in my case, I just swear a lot though). He’s somewhat of a slow learner and he cringes from doing cute and girly stuff.

Deuce – he is so adorable... ahem. The way he struggles with learning is relatable, and the feeling when you put yourself fully into something and still fail. I managed to get great/normal marks, but the amount of knowledge I actually have is laughable. Deuce is very earnest, me too, in some ways, but I’m not nearly as proactive as he is. I wouldn’t bother.

Leona – sometimes I get bored in the middle of the day and go to sleep lol Usually it happens when Ryu’s around and draws something, and we have only one desk, so there’s nothing for me to do. Leona’s also lazy. That’s the entire reason Leona is on this list.

[winteriron-trash]

pinned faq

hi, my name is roman. i used to be a semi-popular winteriron blog, but now this blog is mostly dead. so. rip, gone but not forgotten. but i still get some pretty common questions so here's a one-stop shop for most of them as well as links to the important things.

My Tumblr Fic Masterlist

My Ao3

My (dead) WinterIron Discord Server

Did you write the Tony Stark wifi tower fic?

yes, i wrote that fic! it is by far the most popular thing i've ever written and it will probably outlive me.

I found that fic on [insert site here], do they have your permission?

probably not, no. i have found that fic everywhere. and i mean everywhere. pinterest, wattpad, facebook, instagram, tiktok, mediachomp, and so on. honestly, it's been years and i can't control or chase down every single copy and i have no interest in doing so. i don't love that it was stolen from me (especially on for-profit sites) but it just is what it is. it's a fanfic rite of passage to have your stuff stolen, honestly.

can i do a translation/podfic/write something inspired by one of your fics/posts?

yes! there is always a blanket permission to do any sort of transformative work with my work, especially my older stuff. if it sparks joy and creativity in you, run wild with it. i prefer to be credited, but honestly, i'm just happy to see my stuff still inspiring people.

will you ever write winteriron/mcu fanfic again?

well, you should never say never. but in this case, you might want to say never. i have very little interest in winteriron or the mcu in general outside of nostalgia, and i likely will never write anything substantial for them again. it's sad, i miss it too, but i just don't have that spark for marvel these days. mostly i write dc comics fanfiction.

did you write [insert winteriron fic/post here]?

idk. maybe. probably. i wrote and posted a lot of things. you can scroll the tag on this blog to find all my old posts, some more popular than others. if you think it was me, chances are, it probably was. i got around a lot from like 2018 to 2020.

do you have a tagging system?

i used to but lord if i'm going to use it now. i don't even remember it, so your guess is as good as mine. tbh i just use tags as a place to ramble these days so navigating my blog is about as easy for you as it is for me. which is to say, it's not easy at all. because tumblr's search function is ass. i do know one of my old tags has my deadname in it. you'll probably find it if you look hard enough, but that is what it is.

are you going to revive this blog?

probably not consistently, no. if i have something i really want to say here, i'll say it, but i don't have much interest in maintaining this like i used to. i want to be able to, i miss posting here a lot, i just don't think it'll spark joy for me the way it used to, which sucks but that's just the way things go.

why did you leave this blog?

idk. life happened. i was an 18-year-old fighting chronic health conditions and mental health issues that led to me dropping out of high school so, tumblr sort of fell to the back burner, then got forgotten about entirely. eventually, i lost interest in the mcu as i felt the quality of it took a turn for the worst and i went back to dc, which i'm still into. i read some marvel comics, enjoy an occasional mcu project, but largely i just don't have the interest i used to. it sucks and i miss it, this blog probably kept me alive as a teenager. but now it's mostly just an archive of my past, and i'm okay with that.

can i talk to you/send you an ask/befriend you anyway?

sure, if you want, don't know if i'm good company though. but i'm always open to making friends and reminiscing about winteriron, marvel, and all that good stuff. i've gotta warn you though, tumblr fucking eats my DMs on this blog like no fucking business. i'm regularly fighting it. my discord is devilbonesofmetal if you wanna yell at me there, just say you're from tumblr.

[misc-obeyme]

i really think i would have preferred it to end sooner, you know? one last og game season to finally progress our relationship with barbatos and give luke time to process the fact that simeon's human now, then wrap it all up with an actual *ending*. it was supposed to end a long time ago i think. it would have been sad, but not as sad as watching this degradation in quality and seeing solmare flanderise all their characters and get progressively money hungry.

idk its just. theyre in a hole and they seem to think that if they keep digging, one day they'll make it back to the surface. ill stay where i am on the outskirts of the fandom, im still attached to the characters but i dont know if ill bother with any new content. but to you and everyone who was still regularly playing and staying up to date with the new lessons i can imagine how much it would suck to have that suddenly come out of nowhere. they really should have given way more advance warnin, they really fucked everyone over. who knows! maybe ill get involved with the fandom again like i used to be. i still think it's important to keep the fandom alive, it's been so impactful to so many people. it's been so impactful to me -- i really had some of the best fandom experiences of my life here, and i know im not alone in that. im glad you're not leaving entirely, and the same goes to the other asks who said they're still gonna draw/write even with the game ending. if the fandom's managed to stay alive despite. (gestures vaguely at whatever happens at solmare hq) i don't think this has to be the end of it.

(sorry for the fucking Mini Essay i guess i had more thoughts than i thought lmao)

No need to apologize, this blog is famous for essays because I have a problem lol.

Anyway, I have to agree with you. I think it would have been much better story-wise if they did one or maybe two more seasons in OG to wrap everything up and then ended things.

Especially because all of the potential they set up with Nightbringer's first two seasons was completely squandered. They could have gone in a good and interesting direction after that, but they didn't for whatever reason.

I have no problem admitting that I'm not quite as heartbroken as I would have expected to be. I've seen a lot of stuff going down in this fandom, both good and bad. And for myself personally, it's mostly been good. I'm here because I have a Barbatos obsession and he was vastly neglected by the games from the very beginning lol.

I feel like I can expand on what we've been given in a way that will be FAR more satisfying to me personally than whatever new content they would be giving us anyway.

I write fic because I want to interact with this characters in a way that is specific to me, you know? I share it because sometimes other people like what I do as well.

I do think the fandom will stay alive for some time. My experience is that fandoms live on far after their source has ended. People also join fandoms after the source has ended. I don't know exactly what that's going to be like for OM, since I'm uncertain about the availability of the apps going forward. But I do think there will be people still engaging with the fandom for some time.

Whether you decide to remain as you are or get more involved, I'm happy you're in the fandom and I hope that you enjoy interacting with it!

[deliciouspirateangel]

thoughts on descendants 4 after just watching it <3 spoilers below

i didnt hate it but it also wasnt great?? i unironically love all the other descendants movies, ive got all the books, the dolls, dove cameron is always in my spotify wrapped top 5 bc of how much i listen to the soundtrack. those are my qualifications for not being a hater. i just didnt think this movie lived up to the original trilogy

and obviously they want to make more movies, which im okay with, but this one still felt unfinished. not in a "there's more to explore in the sequels" way but in a "we forgot to write an ending" sort of way

the pacing was just really weird and when we checked to see how much time was left and saw there were only ten minutes, we couldnt believe it

with all the talk of castlecoming and how big a deal that was, it felt so weird that we didnt see it?? that bridget went thru this horrible life changing prank that literally turned her evil and we just never even got close to it. taking the book was enough

(also, why did red even have to open the book in the first place if they only needed to play keep away with it? they werent even looking for anything inside)

WHAT was chloe talking about when she said her mom changed so much?? like did ella tell her nothing about her past? she's surprised that her mom grew up poor and abused and disliking royals but went on to marry a prince and be kind and give her gifts?? i dont understand what she was confused about alskjfsl

i did like brandy and paolo tho. idc if it was fan service, im a fan and felt serviced <3 their parts were cute. there was no reason for ella to be running around with blue hair tho. and the top, back, and braid all felt like they were from a different wig and none of it was working for me

i am SO glad chad got a mention tho. i screamed when it happened. i just figured they'd ignore him completely lmao

uliana was written like racist people write uma in fanfics. disappointing. disney still owes her for season 1 of hsmtmts so they better improve her part for the sequel movies

the songs were also v disappointing for meee :/ my sister said half of them sounded like they belonged on the zombies soundtrack (derogatory). the soundtracks of the original trilogies have almost zero skips on them, so it sucks that like over half the songs on this one could be a skip for me

this is also true of the stupid royal wedding short but i hate that they essentially killed carlos off for real. its sooo dumb but idk i just like thinking that cam could live on in his character but nooo. and even tho im convinced that china was crying real tears in that scene and it still hurts, the whole "we should do it for carlos" thing was like. still weird

anyway like everyone did a good job with what they were given but i think the script and song writing were nowhere near as strong as the original 3 (even tho i also think the original 3 movies vary in quality in those regards)

but i still had a good time and hope they make more. and i need those dolls to show up in stores bc i want them <3 and above all else...

GIVE DARA RENEÉ BETTER MATERIAL DISNEY YOU OWE HER

[kazumiwrites-fanfiction]

I'm Just a Recluse

REQUEST: Hi I saw that your requests were open so I decided to give this a go by the way I absolutely suck at doing requests but I seen almost nothing on this 'prompt' Yandere!idia shroud x reader who has a massive crush on him but thinks he doesn't feel the same way. This idea has been rotting in my mind for the longest time. (ps: I really hope that this was clear enough 😭😭😭 again I'm sorry I really suck at writing requests)

SUMMARY: Does he have feelings for you? WORD COUNT: 1.7k

WARNINGS: Maybe manipulative reader, yandere-ish Idia, Idia being possessive and jealous mostly, Azul just wants blackmail, most likely OOC, Idia getting flustered, written in less than 30 minutes so I can't guarantee the quality but this is how I write- A/N: Anon I love that you requested because I was unable to sleep, but at the same time it's nearing 3 AM as I write this authors note help 😭 (dw you're amazing and your request was perfect, I really suck at writing stuff that was requested so it's like we're two sides of a coin (if that doesn't make sense i'm sorry)) Anyways I'm like 90% sure I botched this because I don't think I know Idia that well (I am going off what I know of him so far, so there may be inconsistencies with canon and whatnot) and it ended up being less yandere?? Idk mostly because I was like "yes I'm writing a yandere but I got an idea that's not 100% yandere" (as one does) and then it went down a whole 'nother rabbit hole- so I'm so sorry if this is not what you were looking for (also the fact that I'm writing this late at night does not help either) Reading your request over I'm mostly sure that what you were looking for was something similar to "soft reader x yandere!Idia" and not whatever the thing I wrote is- but I wrote it so I might as well publish it- Also the fact that I added Azul and Floyd because I love them and my late night brain said "might as well" is uh- yeah- A/N: Also I'm really sorry Idia I suck at titles </3

© kazumiwrites - All rights reserved; please do not steal, edit, copy, repost (etc) my work without my express permission.

You always liked Idia. You weren’t really sure why, since you never really saw him much… He seemed to be always in his room, playing games. Mostly, you saw him while passing by the room that the board game club occupied. Other than the occasional passing by as you walked through the halls, that was the only thing.

Well, there was really nothing to go by, to explain your crush. You tried to dismiss it as just liking his aesthetics, or something like that - you didn’t know him well, after all. Or, rather, at all. And there was no way that he even knew about you.

Well, it was a good thought. Still, you joined the board game club, if only to up your chances of Idia noticing you.

The housewarden of Ignihyde had not registered you much at first. You were the person possibly isekai’d into this world (like a character from an anime), but other than that, you seemed like another regular person.

Or so he thought.

Once you had joined his club, things changed drastically.

You had been doing everything you could to try to spend some time with Idia, playing the same games as him and trying to talk to him.

The poor boy got flustered and he couldn’t do much. Here was a real person who seemed nice, talking to an otaku like him. It was unheard of.

Still, a game was enough to make him relax a bit, enough to have a semi-decent conversation.

He gradually found himself getting more and more interested in you. At first, he had asked Ortho for anything on you, but then he started to try more to connect with you. However, they were subtle.

Sometimes, a note placed in your desk, other times a flower in your room. Small, simple things, never signed, and without a trace of anyone.

Of course, he had Ortho do it - he didn’t want to get caught, that would make him want to die - but he still wished he could see your reactions.

Maybe you were happy, intrigued. But then again, perhaps you would be disgusted when you realized who had been the one sending those gifts. Perhaps you hated otakus. Weren’t they the people least likely to get into a relationship?

Still, he shook off those thoughts. He had to make sure you at least didn’t get grossed out and quit his club. That would make him so distressed that he wouldn’t come out of his room for at least ten years. He liked seeing your face, and didn’t want that light of happiness gone.

He should’ve known this was coming, though.

Unbeknownst to Idia, however, you had struck a deal with Azul. "Help me get Idia to fall in love with me by whatever means necessary," were your exact words. And Azul knew he could most likely blackmail both you and Idia later, however this turned out. So, being the benevolent person he was, he accepted. (And also? It would be interesting to see how this turned out in general, even without being able to get blackmail). As a show of trust, he didn't even force you to sign a contract with him. How truly benevolent he was.

So here you were, sitting a bit too close to Azul, leaning in slightly to him to discuss a game when you heard the door open. Your eyes flickered up slightly, meeting Idia's carefully composed gaze. "Hi, Idia-san."

Oh, how he longed to snatch you away from Azul… But no, he couldn't do that. Obviously Azul was better for you anyway… He was smart, and he could talk to people. And he had money. Obviously you'd like that more than a recluse.

But still… How he wanted you to drop the formal titles and call him just by name… Just like in all the romance anime he watched. "Oh, drop the -san and call me by name!" That's what he could've said, what he wanted to say - but he couldn't. What if you were grossed out?

He moved to the other side of the room, getting out one of the games and starting to set it up. His eyes flickered up as he met your gaze (and unwillingly, Azul's). He didn't miss how your hands were intertwined. Why were normal couples like this…

You tilted your head slightly to the side as you asked about playing the game with him. Idia was startled at first, but reluctantly agreed. He was irritated that Azul was here - didn't he hate luck-based games? Or was he so in love that he would do anything just to stay by your side? Oh, how it made him sick.

After a few rounds, he was done. He was tired of it all. The last straw was when he saw Azul wrap an arm around your shoulders.

Your eyes widened as Idia got up quickly, hitting the table in the process, the pieces scattering to the floor. He didn't seem to notice as he stepped toward you, pulling you from Azul's grasp.

Azul had been holding on lightly, barely even touching you, so there was no resistance. He just watched you and Idia quietly, thoughtfully, all the gears spinning in his head.

"You're not hanging out with a guy like him," Idia muttered quietly. "You're staying with me." He moved his grip to hold your wrist, tugging you out of the club room.

You followed without resisting. What else would you even do? Try to fight him? Of course not. Not when you were so close to getting what you wanted.

He cornered you in a deserted hallway, staring at you. You waited for a moment before tentatively speaking. "Idia…?"

Idia stayed quiet, the tips of his hair just gradually growing into a vibrant shade of pink. Finally, he got out, "…I shouldn't have done that…"

"Shouldn't have done what?" Your eyes were wide, so cute… But he shook the thought off.

"Shouldn't have dragged you away. Obviously you want a guy like him for a boyfriend and not me."

You paused. Your plan… Had it worked? Was he jealous? "Hey- I don't like Azul. Not in a romantic way anyway. The person I like is the person I'm talking to right now."

Idia froze. He had to be dreaming. This had to be some elaborate VR set that showed him what he wanted most in the world. Perhaps… It was so cheesy too. Like some scene from a romance anime. He met your gaze.

But still…

"Me? You have to be joking. I mean, who would like me? I'm just a recluse who stays in his room all day playing games-"

"But you're more than that," you cut him off, before smiling a little apologetically. "You're sweet, and kind, and I love the way your eyes light up when you're talking about your favorite anime or game."

Shit. No one had said that to him before. "W-well. I-" He cut himself off. He couldn't say it. He couldn't say something so embarrassing. Yeah, he had dragged you away from Azul in the heat of the moment, but that was because he wasn't thinking. He let the jealousy, the possessiveness, guide his actions.

And now he was paying for it.

"I-"

"C'mon, Idia-san, get it out." Your voice was so gentle, so soothing.

"I like you and I really wanted to get to know you better but I wasn't sure if you liked me so I sent all sorts of weird creepy stuff like notes and I bet you're disappointed because it was just me and not, y'know, some cool ikemen."

His words were so fast it was almost a blur. Before you could even process his words, he took a deep breath and continued.

"And I really want you to stop calling me -san and just by my name but I don't want to ask that of you because I'm just some random creep who is obsessed with you and wants to keep you to himself and-"

"Stop stop stop." You laughed a little. "Hey, I'm not disappointed that you were the one sending me the gifts - they were sweet. I was worried that Rook-san might have been the ones sending them, but I'm glad to get the confirmation that you were the one."

Why would you think it had been Rook? Perhaps you had a crush-

"And, you only needed to ask if you wanted me to drop the -san, Idia." You smiled sweetly at him.

Well, at least you hadn't caught the 'obsessed' and 'creep' part? That was embarrassing of him to say.

Idia looked more and more flustered before he just stepped closer to you, awkwardly wrapping his arms around you in an embrace. His face nuzzled in to the crook of your neck, heart beating too fast and his palms sweaty. Was this okay? Would you like it - perhaps he should've cleaned up a bit more-

Your arms wrapped around him, and he immediately relaxed. What he wouldn't do to have you hold him like that for the whole night - whole week, even.

Unfortunately, at that moment, Floyd had to come skipping through the halls. "Koebi-chan and Hotaruika-senpai? What're you doing here - Is Azul done with his boring club?"

Idia let out a soft huff, glaring at Floyd even as he held on to you. "One, the board game club is /not/ a boring club, and two, I'm hugging [Y/N]."

How bold of him to say.

"Ooh, can I hug Koebi-chan too? I bet I can squeeze them so tight~"

Idia somehow held you tighter, turning you away from Floyd. "No. Now go run off and find Azul or something." How he had managed to hold a full conversation with Floyd, he wasn't sure. At least he seemed bored enough to run off… He sighed softly. He'd have to spend more time with you in his dorm. He was still holding you tightly as he walked to his dorm.

~bonus~ Azul was just around the corner and listening in to your conversation, phone recording everything that had happened. He sighed as Floyd had come in - of course he had to ruin it. Still, he had gotten some good stuff. "Hmm? Azul, you're here… Spying on Koebi-chan and Hotaruika-senpai?" Floyd's head tilted slightly to the side. "Don't say something as crass as spying. I was merely gaining intelligence." "So, spying." "Gaining intelligence, Floyd." Azul let out a soft sigh. "That you got in the way of." "I did nothing." "Yes you did."

As always, reblogs and comments are always appreciated! ♡ Send your thoughts grr

Feel free to send requests! Check out this post for info ^^

[lord-squiggletits]

Idk if my previous posts were unclear but I don't remotely hate any Optimus version that isn't IDW or think they suck. Every Optimus is good and there's a fan (or multiple fans!) of every version of OP no matter how obscure or underrated (as well as all the other characters).

What's more questionable (or at least annoying) is when fandom ignores canon character personalities in favor of writing specific archetypes that are either out of character or repetitive/stereotyped to the point of annoyance. As an example of this, it would be a female character being called the Team Mom just because she's a woman existing in a group of (primarily male) characters even if she's not remotely motherly or nurturing. Or, as a more topical example, how often I've seen Transformers ships where even though both characters are canonically masculine (or gender neutral), fanartists love to turn one of the characters small and weak (or even outright feminine) to turn the ship into Strong Dominant Seme and Sweet Cute Uke to fit a specific kink or romantic fantasy, even if it's a disservice/OOC to portray those characters like that.

In other words, a fandom's popularity of certain characters, ships, headcanons, etc is often more informed by tropes and forcing canon to adhere to one's personal tastes, as opposed to approaching canon and trying to understand it on its own terms. I'm not talking about the quality of the source material, but rather the way that the fandom interprets the source materials in ways that don't make any sense, approach it in bad faith, or just generally don't care about canon at all. So I'm not saying one OP is better than another, my problem is when fandom consistently focuses on certain stereotypes or flanderizations of a character, and then any character that doesn't fit the popular (often stereotyped) mold is ignored or virulently rejected. In other words, I think popular fandom often does a DISSERVICE to characters whether they love them or hate them, it just takes different forms.

So, just as an example, I think one fandom caricature of Optimus that I see a lot (and heavily dislike) is making Optimus some sort of shrinking wallflower type who's innocent, sweet, and virginal, in contrast to an opposite caricature of Megatron that's big, strong, dominant, and rugged, and making ship art that forces the characters into some kind of seme/uke or borderline heteronormative romance. Despite the fact that canon Optimus (in, say, TFP for example) is tall, broadly built, deep voiced, dignified, assertive, and strong (physically and morally), completely incorrect interpretations of him as a shy feminized uke type are still pretty common to find. And it makes you ask yourself why it is so many people make MOP ship art of them of The Small One and The Large One or The Small, Cute One and The Big, Violent One when it's completely different from canon. It feels as if such fanart is made by people who just want to see seme/uke style slash ships, and if canon doesn't give them what they want, they'll simply trash it and replace it with their own version, even if it's completely OOC.

So when I said in my other post that people don't like IDW Optimus because he can't be fit into caricatures like happy dad or shy twink, I'm not saying it to say "other OPs who resemble that suck," I'm saying it to express "Fandom tends to simplify characters into easily palatable and comfortable tropes, and when they encounter a character they can't do that with, they respond by ignoring or even hating on that character."

Other versions of Optimus have the problem where fandom turns them into a stereotype instead of the actual character they are, e.g. portraying TFA OP as some poor abused damsel with no self confidence and crippling anxiety being abused by his superiors, and then they talk more about this fake uwu smoll bean cinnamon roll version of TFA OP than they do about actual canon TFA OP. And honestly I can't think of any prominent content/meta about G1 OP that isn't just "he plays basketball and does funny one liners and is Team Dad/Grandpa." (Hell, you even get that with non-Optimus characters that get simplified to just sexy twink, old grandpa, comedy relief, evil ex, Diversity Win-- She's A Lesbian, third wheel to the favored ship, etc even though there's way more depth to them than just their surface level stereotype.)

IDW OP's problem is that he can't be stereotyped like that so instead the fandom ignores him. He's not small, so they can't stereotype him as a skinny twink getting topped by a burly uke. He's not jovial or happy go lucky or extroverted, so they can't stereotype him as Team Dad or Comedy Relief. He's assertive, blunt, and has a temper, so they can't stereotype him as a shy wallflower in need of protecting. He makes catastrophic mistakes and is responsible for bad things happening, so they can't stereotype him into a sweet cinnamon roll who has never done anything wrong in his whole life or The Infinitely Wise and Kind Paragon. There's no Big Bad Authority Figure who was mean to IDW OP and traumatized him, so they can't excuse the bad things he did as "he's traumatized so he couldn't help it" and wave away his flaws as "it's his abuser's fault, they made him this way." IDW OP has the kind of depression where he's grumpy, shut off, and angry-- as opposed to the shy, sad kind of depression that just stares forlornly out of the window in a beautifully tragic way-- so they can't make him into a sad woobie kicked around unfairly by life.

Or I guess they just stereotype IDW OP as "evil bastard with no redeeming qualities that's mean to everyone for no reason, plus the writers forced everyone to like him just because he's Optimus Prime" even though that isn't accurate either.

Put bluntly, IDW OP forces fandom to contend with the idea that someone can be a good person with good intentions but still fuck up on a massive scale and maybe end up hurting more than they helped. IDW OP is messy, ugly, flawed, mean, stoic, closed off. When IDW OP has mental breakdowns or has his feelings hurt, he's loud and angry and harsh, and the consequences of what he did while he was unwell continue to haunt him long after. In other words, he actually experiences negative emotions the way a real person would, and sometimes when he's under the influence of negative emotions, he lashes out or does stupid things (like a real person might) instead of inoffensively crying in a corner somewhere. He isn't sanitized enough for a fandom that only wants Perfect Pure Good Optimus Who Never Hurts Anyone Even By Accident, so instead of IDW OP's mistakes and dark moments being treated as the logical end point of a person put in constant no-win situations until he breaks, he gets treated as if his mistakes and flaws make him an irredeemable bastard with no good qualities who should've fucked up less often to make fans actually like him.

And this is all in a fandom where 90% of the characters are war criminals and a good half of them have massacred organic planets. But god forbid IDW Optimus ever make a bad decision in a stressful situation. Or be mean to someone. Or have a character arc about how blindly idolizing people as paragons ends badly for everyone involved because no one can be that perfect. He is simply The Worst Optimus Ever and there's absolutely nothing about him worth discussing.

And just to be clear, the problem isn't the fact that some people don't like IDW OP, or he's just not their thing and they don't care.

The problem is the fact that he's consistently and actively hated by the fanbase who makes a concentrated effort to say he sucks and make sure none of their fan works ever include him. It's literally at a level where I stopped looking in the Optimus tag on this website because I was tired of people randomly going "and btw IDW OP sucks and I want to drown him in a ditch" in posts that weren't even about IDW, and I stopped looking for MegOP fic on AO3 because most of it is IDW Megatron/clearly TFP or G1 inspired continuity soup Optimus. Places that are Optimus friendly for Optimus fans, where I could reasonably expect to find positive conversations, but instead get sucker punched by hate about the character The Space Is About. And I can't even have conversations asking about why they do, bc the way 90% of them talk, I can tell they literally just didn't read the comics or deliberately misinterpreted the story.

I find it bizarre and frankly, tragic, that the hate train for IDW OP is so pervasive that people actively erase and replace him from fan works IN THE IDW UNIVERSE in a way that no other character is targeted in. I have tried so hard to understand why IDW OP gets this sort of hate and erasure when other characters who were as bad or worse than him have perfectly normal takes about them that go "yeah he kinda sucks but he's cool and I like him" or "who cares if he's problematic IRL, it's a story." The only conclusion I can come to is that because Optimus Prime (TM) has a specific brand image and is locked into being a cultural icon, he's held to a standard of The Ideal Perfect Hero instead of the way better standard of "Is he an interesting, well written character?"

[not-alien-girl-v]

Hi honey! Hope you're doing alright! Could you write James March and Kit through the love languages? Love your writing!! 🥰

warning: language, mentions of sex, unconsensual touching (it doesn't happen but there is a mention of it saying its something he doesn't do) idk i just feel the need to warn about it

note: sorry this request is from october of last year i totally forgot about it cuz i hadn't watched asylum but then i found this request since i watched it and decided to give it a try. recently my life has been blegh. being homeschooled sucks im lonely anyways dm me to be friends i love having friends making friends everything yeah

Kit

words of affirmation: absolutely one of his love languages. pardon me for getting lewd quickly but i definitely think he's into praise like big time. he loves to tell you how good you're doing, how pretty you are, how proud he is of you, and of course it's not always when you're fucking i think in all aspects of life with kit by your side, he will be giving you any and every type of praise because he believes it's the most straight forward way to show his affection, especially since he's often busy and he doesn't have a lot of money.

quality time: quality time as a love language might be a little difficult with kit, he works a lot, and if you are a girlboss, you probably work a lot too, there's no guarantee your schedules will line up with each other which is what makes the rare quiet moments you spend with each other all the more special and cherished. it's not that he doesn't want to spend time with you, he would if he could. but he definitely tries. any moment he can get, he'll take you to dinner, to breakfast, out on silly little dates that may seem a little stupid in retrospect but its the thought that counts.

receiving gifts: bro is broke. bro works so hard to be able to afford a roof over both of your heads and food on the table and that's about the furthest his money can go without getting tight. so he tries to make it work how he can, he'll buy you little trinkets or little snacks while he's out, but for the most part, he'd mostly just give you found presents, like a pretty rock he found outside that made him think of you or something like that. again, its the thought that counts.

acts of service: now hear me out on this one so this may fall into the touch category but i feel like he'd be really into massages both giving and receiving but mostly giving. again, it's a very straight forward way of showing love and affection and it doesn't cost him anything he can't afford to give you. it's an act of service at it's finest, but i also think he'd love to eat you out too, if you're into that kind of thing. he doesn't have any facial hair but if he did, you know that shit would be red, because bro is a munch.

touch: keep the whole massages thing in mind, he loves that as a form of touch, but in general, he's not too into being all touchy feely, however, he does have a thing about touching at night when you're both sleeping, even if it's just an arm slung over your waist or his finger lightly grazing your arm, he mostly does it as confirmation that you're safe and sleeping next to him, he's always a bit paranoid. it's not necessarily a touching thing, as once again, he's not that big on it, but he'd still graciously accept a long hug whenever you're feeling like it or quick pecks on the cheek in passing.

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

James

words of affirmation: i feel like it's just a known fact that james loves giving and receiving compliments. he absolutely adores it anytime you speak up and let him know how handsome he looks on one day in particular, though he already knows he always looks good, he still appreciates that it's you who said it to him. but when it comes to the things he says to you, he likes to come up with the most out of pocket inappropriate things to say to you at inappropriate times just because he can, just to see a soft blush form on your cheeks, it's a sight he never gets tired of seeing in his eternal existence.

quality time: time is something that james, as a ghost, has an endless supply of, so it's no wonder he chooses to dedicate it mostly to you. first of all, you're the love of his life, and second of all, what else is he going to do? leave you, a beautiful woman, alone in a hotel full of horny ghosts? he thinks not. sometimes he can get on your nerves, not even allowing you to go for a stroll around the hotel without him insisting to be by your side for it. he's very clingy, though he'd never admit it, and it would piss him off so much if you said it to him. with this, he's also very protective, borderline possessive, and jealous over you. he believes that you belong to him and him only and any moment spend apart is a violation of that. it's something you'll have to work on with him.

receiving gifts: dude's got money. he'd give it all to you if he could, and he absolutely would if you'd let him, but every time he tries to directly give you his money, you turn him down (see personally i would never #ghostsugardaddy but that's beside the point), so he instead chooses to buy you things. lots of things. expensive things. ridiculously expensive things. so much so that he simply will not tell you the cost of an item until after you've accepted it. i'm thinking jewelry, clothes, not much makeup but mostly lipstick in dark reds because it drives him crazy to see you wearing it, books, records, whatever luxury he can think of.

acts of service: bless this man but he has never had to do this type of shit for himself, acts of service and whatever, his idea of an act of service is to get miss evers to do it for you, whatever it is, which when you think about it, is an act of service, because he does take care of you, just not firsthand. but he absolutely makes you cum first in bed, via whatever you choose, and he is a fan of aftercare, even sometimes when it isn't really necessary, he still enjoys drawing a bath for the two of you to soak and relax in for a long while.

touch: he's a serial killer so he's definitely got a think for creepy skin caressing, except when it's james, it's not creepy, it's loving and adoring. sometimes you'll be awake for it, sometimes you won't, but it's not in a weird rapey way, like he'd never go any further without your waking consent, but he simply likes the feeling of your soft skin under his strong hands, loves to see the goosebumps raise in trails his fingers leave, and he's not huge on cuddling or traditional forms of touch like that, he'll give you a hug if you're crying, but he'd much rather talk your problems through, figure out quickest ways to fix them rather than wallow in sadness together. he's also often very out and about, so it's difficult to catch him in a morning cuddle session because he's usually up and out of bed before you're even awake, but every now and then you happen to wake a few hours earlier, and you make sure to take absolute advantage of him with his guard down, asleep, and cuddle up to his side. he'll usually just sigh, squeeze an arm around you and accept his fate.

[ofmermaidstories]

youre so realll , bruh for me writing is like taking out a cavity lmao like i obviously do not want to take a wrench to my MOUTH????? but it sucks cheeks if i dont! 😭💀

lmao, exactly. 😩 idk junie, i wanted to whinge less about it this year because like—i do enjoy it, in those magical moments when you hit a groove and things fall into place or you look back and you’re like, “oh, i did something :3” but. 😩 it also sucks LOL. it sucks!!!! and writing is like, all muscle memory—you have to train it. you have to keep chipping and chipping and chipping at it, forever. it’s like assigning yourself homework for the rest of your life. 💀 because the alternative is like—not writing!!! and that’s worse!!! it’s somehow worse??? it’s worse!!!! like???? idk. idk what it is—is it a sandbox, play-pretend, moving-the-dolls-around thing? humans need to play, even adults. or is it something more egotistical (creating a whole word)? or is it like, a form of keeping in touch with something in yourself (the fantasy, the hope, the fears)? idk. but whatever it is, we’re apparently in the club that needs it in order to have some quality of life so…. LOL. sucks to suck ig. 🥹🔫

[aroace-poly-show]

4: tsukasa. idk i really dont have much to write for him think he’s doing fine in that aspect. maybe i’ll change my mind but i think he’s doing alright.

3: nene. i don’t think she’s particularly like. touchy anyway. so while she wouldn’t at all be opposed to getting an occasional hug and might even appreciate it she’s doing pretty okay without it. why does rui not hug her more? well i am getting to that. but yeah nene’s doing alr.

lastly it is either emu or rui at number one i think. i cannot decide who would be number one.

for rui it’s related to my reasoning for quality time love language rui but i think he really does like hugging people cause its a nice reassurance that there is someone there with him who loves him and is not leaving him but i think he is also. very very hesitant to just touch people in general. like after That Whole Thing he just has this subconscious fear of touching people and hurting them. so as much as he thinks it’d be nice (read: desperately wants to) he’s always hesitant (and he doesn’t even know why. it’s just something he’s become so scared of and never realized it or thought abt it) and he also doesn’t really think he deserves to be touched either. someone like him doesn’t deserve it. this is especially prominent (that sounds like too fancy of a word ngl but i can’t remember another word) with nene cause. cause again. he is so convinced she should hate him. it is just a constant lingering thought. and he grew up with her so he knows how she feels abt being hugged by people she isn’t comfortable with (like. relatives that talk abt how they knew her as a baby but she barely knows them. yk. that kind of thing) . so he very very rarely does much more than like. holding her hand for a bit. or giving her a pat on the back or whatever.

for emu its like her whole thing with trying to act less childish and more mature. so she stops doing her emu thing of being super affectionate with people all the time cause she looks silly and immature doing it and it is. miserable for her. like i dont have as much to say for emu as you can see but she loves hugging her friends and holding hands and everything and it just really fucking sucks for her. in addition her friends like. notice she doesn’t hug as much. and she’s usually the one that initiates it so they figure she might just not be comfortable with it anymore and since her friends stop initiating hugs even less she in turn takes it as a sign that she’s right and her friends didn’t want to be touched anyway and. endless cycle. yeag. so i cannot decide if its her or rui that deserves number 1 spot. they can share i guess someone give these guys a hug

[rosquinn]

Hi Roski! I have a question, would you mind to help, please?

Okay, so the other when I was wandering through the shelves of my local library I found our that they have a copy of Madeline's Miller Circe... And I was thinking that maybe I should give it a try? 😅

I know that it's not mythology accurate but as long as the plotline is well-written... Idk maybe I will enjoy in spite of it 🤷🏻‍♀️ Do you is it a good idea?

I just wanted to know if you believe is worth the time or nor

Also, same goes for Achilles's song. They don't have it at the library, but I thought that if I enjoyed Circe I should try it to? 🤔

i used to be a huge madelline miller fan *vaguely gestures at her short story about galatea i still have in my bookshelf for some reason* but i realized she, well, uh, sucks

it's not about her writing, (it's excessively "poetic" and decorated in my opinion but that's subjective) it's that her interpretations are kind of. bad?

i'm gonna elaborate under the cut about why i don't like her (long rant and tw for *mentions of s/a*)

-she victimizes her female main character and makes her go through traumatic experiences to erase and excuse all the bad stuff she's done... "circe turned odysseus' men into pigs bc they tried to assault her" yeah. no. she forced odysseus to sleep with her and turned his men into pigs because she felt like it. i understand you want a feminist badass witch but just. no. she isn't a cute uwu unfairly exiled goddess. what she did to odysseus is sexual abuse.

-she apparently hates women that aren't circe. made thetis, i repeat, our thetis, MOTHER thetis, a homophobic and overprotective mom who wants to kill patroclus in SOA for some reason (wasn't she literally the one who sent patroclus to the war with achilles..... miller..aren't you a classics major..). she did to her what other adaptations do to demeter, basically. and for no reason at all. but i guess her cute baby achilles who is doomed by the narrative can't have a nice mom who let him do whatever he wanted to because that would make him RUDE and EVIL and her character(s) can't have bad qualities. she also made achilles's wife, deidameia, who in some versions is raped by him, a “slut that gets in the way of your gay ship” archetype. she also made her rape achilles for some reason??? and that is fucking horrible

-baby-fied patroclus. he speaks like a stupid teenager girl stereotype in soa and is pretty much a useless human being whose entire personality is simping for achilles. that is not him. he DID fight in the trojan war, he was a SKILLED fighter, not a useless twig, he is described as tall and handsome, he healed some warriors, he is SAVAGE, bro literally broke kebriones's head with a rock in front of his brother and made fun of it??? he tried to climb the walls of troy and conquer it by himself??? he told achilles to stop being a bitch and move his ass??? and then in soa he's a useless piece of shit who DIDN'T EVEN FIGHT IN THE WAR, thinks of himself as weak and was thinking about achilles until the moment he died. sorry to break it to you but his last words in the iliad weren't "omg achilles no😥😥". he threw a whole essay at hector about how he didn't kill shit, it was apollo who beat him and hector's about to get dragged. and when his ghost came back to talk to achilles, it was to tell him to STOP CRYING and KILLING PEOPLE and BURN HIS BODY ALREADY. she completely erased his character. sorry.

-glorified achilles wayyy too much. one thing that i hate about her is how she can't let anyone make mistakes. achilles isn't “noble and doomed by the narrative”. he knew pretty well where he was stepping in and didn't give two shits. he literally says in Iliad book 1 he's there for the mass murder, glory and nothing more. “why would i kill hector what has hector ever done to me” MY ASS. he also was kind of an insufferable bitch in the iliad. i'm tired of people making his decision of stop fighting look “heroic/noble/tragic/etc bc agamemnon is evil” because it was not. he stopped fighting for selfish reasons, treated everyone really bad and let his friends die. also, agamemnon isn't “evil” and achilles isn't “good”. they're both war criminals who act like 8 year olds and kidnap women. every achaean character is a bitch, has killed at least 6 people and enjoyed it. yes. even babyboy patroclus (book 16)

-i'm not even saying this as a person with greek ancestry or a pagan, because i am neither, but her depiction of the gods is TERRIBLE. just what is that whole thing of "gods want mortals to fear them so they worship them"??? that's not even how religion works??? gods can be and in fact are very nice to their worshippers?? why would you villainize cultural figures like that?? and why tf it always gotta be a EVIL FEMALE GODDESS trying to fuck up her main character's life for some reason?? athena wants to kill circe's son in circe and i'm pretty sure they don't even interact in the odyssey?? (maybe they did, i don't remember, but if it happened it was definitely NOT because of that) and why is hermes a manipulator?? and why is ODYSSEUS a manipulator??? you literally sexually assaulted him??? HELLO????

idk, it just feels like mc victimization and random female character villainization (she also put the whole blame of the trojan war on helen because she was “vain” and “selfish”??? didn't she spend the whole iliad blaming herself for the war and wishing to die??)

i don't really like it. it's not a good adaptation

also i'm not the best person to expand on this topic because i am not a gay man/mlm/nblm but some people on tumblr have explained why tsoa is basically mlm fetish and wattpad fujoshi looking crap and they do have a point (the relationship is so stereotyped tbh) so i encourage you to read their posts. i don't have them rn but i can dm them to you later if you want

AND finally, most people in her fanbase can't separate a wattpad fanfic (because that's what tsoa is) from the original text and think tsoa and circe are just like what homer wrote. “hector didn't know it was patroclus” HE FUCKING DID PATROCLUS KILLED 20 PEOPLE IN FRONT OF HIM IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE “patroclus died bc he wasn't a skilled warrior” HE HAS THE SECOND HIGHEST KILL COUNT IN THE WHOLE ILIAD AND WAS FULL OF HUBRIS. HE DIED BECAUSE HE TRIED TO FISTFIGHT A GOD “deidameia raped achilles” “thetis is homophobic” “odysseus is evil” “it was all helen's fault” “circe did nothing wrong” “athena is bad” no (and they act like not shipping patrochilles makes you homophobic which is. cmon. i personally think they def had something going on but it's never explicitly stated and you can't act like it is)

ik i got too aggressive but it's just bad imo, if you want to enjoy a good iliad/odyssey adaptation go play hades or listen to epic the musical or even play limbus company because i swear lc's odysseus, a literal old woman who committed identity fraud, is at least 80 times more in character than miller's babyboys

ADDITION: no i'm not going to dismember you for liking tsoa or circe. this is just a personal opinion. enjoy whatever you want i'm just a little guy and i can't stop you. have fun!

[literaticat]

On the NYT best seller list for children's series, the first Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books are perennial. At least they have been for the past couple of years I've been checking! Each with more than 700 weeks on the list and at the writing of my question they're at #4 and #2 respectively. 

Is it just my imagination, or are there few if any perennial middle grade book series starring female protagonists?? Add to that POC and nonbinary perennial series..

Omg this sucks..

I am going to tell you something you aren't going to like. Please know that this is not ME saying this, OK, this is like, literally a hundred years worth of "in the know" people -- including librarians, educators, publishing experts, yada yada! -- I DON'T EVEN BELIEVE THAT THIS IS TRUE but this is "The Thing Expert People Always Say" ok you canNOT get mad at me. Here goes:

"Boys won't read books about girls - Girls will read books about anything."

This is basically a MANTRA for people, I've heard this for as long as I've been in the book world, which is like, 30+ years, and I'm sure they've been saying it for many many generations before that. It's just accepted wisdom.

This is why, for example, school reading lists have traditionally skewed so heavily "boy" (I well remember the pain of slogging through Red Badge of Courage, Hemingway, and on and on. PUKE.)

This is why the "formula" for a successful MG book series has been seen to be a boy-and-girl pair, or a group of friends of different types, heavily featuring a boy.

Again -- is this TRUE? Well, kinda, but also, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Parents TELL their boy children when they are little that "such-and-such is too girly" or "put that down, that's for girls" -- I hear them at the bookstore saying this shit ALL THE TIME, voices absolutely DRIPPING with disdain. Little wonder then that, by the time they are middle graders, the boys don't want to be seen reading something "girl coded."

MEANWHILE, the girls might well prefer to read books about, well, GIRLS*** rather than gross dudes doing war or whatever -- but since they often aren't given the opportunity to do so at school, and they also want to read whatever the big popular series are, they do end up reading all the "Boy Stuff" AS WELL AS "the girly stuff". (Typical that the girls have to do twice as much just to keep up, grrrr). Again, self-fulfilling prophecy.

SIGH.

I don't know how to resolve this, except to eliminate hundreds of years worth of ingrained societal misogyny and raise the next generation of boys to embrace Girl Stuff?

So. Yeah. It's not your imagination at all -- that's why you do see this "formula" in Big Fantasy Series. IF there is a fantasy series that is mega-huge-huge bestseller that ISN't starring a boy, it will probably be starring a group of kids that include boys heavily, OR, it'll be about animals (WARRIORS, WINGS OF FIRE.)

The recent exceptions I can think of: The KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES series has a girl star and is popular with all kids -- however she is pictured with at least one boy of equal stature on every cover. So I guess this counts as "a group of kids that includes boys heavily."

The AMARI series has a Black girl star and has been popular with all kids -- but since there are only two of them out so far, it remains to be seen if that can have the kind of sticky Perennial Quality these other series have. (And you'll also note that, while book one had Amari front and center with no other kids, it had "brothers" in the title -- and the second and third cover have boys in the background, sooo... they gotta worm boys in there somehow lol.)

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*** (Human girl-centric books tend to be realistic rather than action / fantasy. (Again,we can unpack why that is, girls are encouraged to talk about real things / emotions / friendship / whatever? IDK) MG series that fall into this Perennially Popular category would be: Babysitters Club (was HUGE huge back in the day, and is HUGE again in GN format) -- Sweet Valley -- (same, was HUGE back in the day, is re-surging in popularity in GN format). Nancy Drew? (Obvs was from the early-mid 1900s but still was a world-changing "girl starring series" and I could see a reboot blowing up again.) And arguably the Raina GN, not really a "series" in the traditional sense but kind of packaged like a series, and VERY popular and perennial, I'd say!

[cobra-wives]

Hiya Tumblr user Cobra-Wives!!! Uh sorry if this is out of nowhere but I’ve been meaning to send an ask for a while so whatever.

I kinda just wanted to hop in and say thank you for all your cobra kai content, specifically the Cobra Husbands stuff because it’s been feeding my insatiable hunger for art of them. It tickles the little.. Terry Silver in my brain and it makes me so so happy I cannot!! Be normal!!! Like I am so obsessed with your art and animatics of them and I absolutely lose my mind. Your style is adorable I love seeing them. And your ramblings and writings and stuff are so interesting… Everytime I reblog something from you I sound like I’ve been sniffing crack in tags because???

Like, I’ve been hyperfixated on and off with Cobra Husbands for god knows how long, and in the past [before you made this side blog, or I guess before I found it] I’d go through the tags daily and be kinda. disappointed about how little new content there is. Which is probably why my interest for them has died down a bit. I’m the type of person who usually gets into really small, niche fandoms so finding quality content is a chore. Course now with season six it seems a lot more active but idk this blog is kinda just. my favorite CK centric tumblr blogs.

I’m sorry if this sounds annoying or doesn’t make sense I’m really struggling to articulate my thoughts rn [also I suck at English] but uhhh in short, thank you!! You are so very cool and I will be eating up every new post!! Meow!!!

-Typewriter

[Also for you, a treat. I give you ugly Terry Silvers I have doodled. Thank you and sorry again]

well, lovely tumblr user hizznbyte, i've gotta say - i thought i was having a great day already... this has made it loads better!

(below is a visual representation of my process of logging onto tumblr.)

i'm so happy you (and many others who have come forward in tags and personal dms and LOVELY LOVELY interactions) enjoy my art, genuinely this has been such a sweet and fun community to interact with and i've really loved running this blog for the last 3-4 months! it's insane bc i thought we were kinda dormant walking into cks6 (i don't think i expected this much of a krilblr? revival HAHA) but like, here we are... i hope you have a wonderful day/evening and by all means, do not be a stranger - my inbox is always open to messages! :-)

[iocainesmoothie]

Been playing ffxiv, paid to skip HW but really enjoyed stormblood, saw emet-selch for the first time.

I'm very impressed that his first introduction to the player was to be shot and rag dolled down the stairs, it immediately differentiates him from the other ascians who just say ominous and vague nonsense that never amounts to anything. It was almost more sinister, because it really illustrates the point that the ascians are noncorporeal horrors piloting a meat puppet.

Also very minor detail but I noticed even back in stormblood, instead of writing a boring talk quest as "go talk to so-and-so", instead they say "go meet SOMEONE at such-and-such place". Like it's so very minor, but instead of straight up telling me who you're going to meet they just sorta hint and say how excited that person is to see you again.

Mechanically it's the exact same boring quest format, and maybe I don't otherwise even care about that character, but even that tiny bit of speculating who it is and the implication that they have any kind of emotional response AT ALL is already elevating the writing.

I get the majority of quest text boils down to telling the player to go to X or talk to Y or collect Z and there's only so many ways to do that, and clarity of communication is always top priority, but in something long format like an mmo where the player has likely plugged in a hundred hours already you can kinda assume they've been trained to expect a certain order of events and can play with the format a bit.

Also the last duty of sb was one of those "everyone shows up at the big battle as npcs and cheers at you to go on to the big boss while they hold back reinforcements" fights and it's very anime but honestly it always works on me.

Been leveling up dark knight, but I bought the level 80 warrior boost because I hate playing with other people and I wanted to solo a bunch of the main scenario raids instead of queueing. Also I'm playing dark knight because aesthetics, and tanking for a group is too much responsibility for me.

Honestly dk kinda sucks compared to paladin and warrior, way less mitigation and self healing, and though it feels like I'm doing more damage it's still not as much as a pure dps.

Also bought a bunch of clothes on the shop in a moment of weakness, but now my outfit is so cool I don't want to change into anything else! And I kinda miss wearing vanilla gear and seeing your outfit change as you pick up upgrades. Oh well atleast I'm cute and it avoids those awkward moments when a piece from a new set doesn't fit with your current fit.

Ffxiv clothing designs are so gorgeous, even the shitty low-level vanilla garbage is kinda cute. Ppl who buy store stuff obviously look good but I have way more respect for the glamours I see where people just got really creative with in-game items. The graphics are like 10 years out of date but the hair and clothes and faces are still miles better than some of biowares stuff (guys I love you I'm on your side let's figure this out you can't just make everyone bald)

Also I've noticed the cuts scene cameras do a trick anime does a lot to cut down animation costs, the framing and panning and angles do a LOT of the work when they otherwise can't get these limited models to emote that much. Or else they just fully cut away and let a sound effect imply an action took place and your brain just fills in the difference.

Anyway I'm addicted and am probably wasting a lot of time on things I should be doing instead but it's nice to have something to hyper fixate on for a while, and I haven't even started SB or EW and I've heard they're both life changing so maybe I'll just glut myself until I've wrung all the dopamine I can out of it.

Also I've realized there is such a jump in writing quality in SB that I'm only really emotionally attached to lyse and hien and the general, the rest of the scions are all kind of... idk unlikable?? They're all the same kind of snarky but not really funny, and speak intelligently but not really with any character or having much to say. Allisae being maybe the exception but I feel like she doesn't get much screen time compared to her brother.

It was very touching that she's the tough prickly one, but very honestly tells you she feels alone and sadly asks you not to leave her in a moment of vulnerability before the fight where she reaches for your hand desperately before her soul is teleported away. Like damn yeah this is manipulative but you got me! I'm invested now!

Also that little crystal cat boy was in arr and I never finished/paid attention to his quest line so idk how he ended up i SB, guess I'll find out.

[toxicanonymity]

Do you ever struggle with feelings of discouragement or inadequacy if your fics don’t do as well as you had hoped?

I’m struggling with that myself. I try not to get so hung up on it but it’s very hard, especially when something I’m so proud of doesn’t do as well as my other works.

I don’t even feel motivated to write bc I don’t wanna set myself up for disappointment

Discouragement, sure, I think that's natural sometimes. But I really don't feel like stats have anything to do with adequacy. Baring my soul, yuck. But fuck it we ball. Sorry it's a long answer.

I don't think I've ever answered a serious ask aside from the time i created Dr. rock which hardly counts but I've seen a lot of people struggling with this lately and hope this might be idk comforting to a person or two without leading to debate/discourse.

You mentioned something you're proud of isn't doing as well as your other works, and I can see how that would be disappointing. For laughs, I'll compare 2 of mine. These fics are impossible to compare (as are most, I think) but I def understand the urge to measure yourself against what you see as the potential. Aches: <1k popular trope I banged out in no time, wasn't sure about it, literally thought "people don't have to like it" before I hit post. >4 notes per word. Left in Lincoln: >22k posted so far, challenging, writing it for months. Has possibly driven me crazy bc I had this passing thought the other day and not about TLOU. (I didn't feel like re-reading it all): "I should just rewatch the movie. . .wait." 🤡 The whole Lincoln series combined has fewer notes than Aches lmao. But it's far more rewarding in getting to see it come to life, quality of engagement, and stretching myself 😏. It's not for everyone, for various reasons. Surely would have better stats without the twist I went with. But at what cost??

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Often, if people don't read or like something, it's a reflection of their own interests, limitations, and assumptions. And the right "fit."

I don't rly read much in general, but specifically, I rarely read long stuff (if I do I prob scan a lot tbh). I normally only want, if any, just enough plot/premise to build sexual tension. I don't read fluff or angst. I don't have the attention span / commitment to get invested in original characters. I tend to avoid stuff similar to what I'm working on. I make assumptions - If there's no word count, maybe it's too long. I know a lot of the fics I skip for these reasons must be fantastic. Assumptions I experience - I've seen very popular fics in the wild that strike me as dark, creepy, or pervy but aren't tagged that way. So some things that are tagged dark, etc., including plenty of mine, might not be dark in the way people assume based on their own ideas, or based on what others do tag. Also some people think I only write dark when sometimes it's just horny (see master list).

I've sometimes found myself thinking "It sucks more people don't read this bc i bet they would enjoy it" (not just my own fics). It might sound egotistical but I think it's often true.

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Of course I want engagement because that means more people reading something which can mean more interaction, discussion, learning what you liked, what you think, etc. that's what I love.

But notes aren't rly near the top of what I care about, even though it does feel great to get them and I truly appreciate every single one.

Night walks doesn't get nearly as many notes as some of my other stuff, especially these days, but it's fun to write and I like to feed his feral fans who only get more into him with time. Same with raider: among those who do read and engage, I sense rising enthusiasm, thirst, and rate of falling in love with him (my bad). That's all worth more than 1000 likes to me. I have a good time writing these guys, so I write them more than other ones that get way more notes 🤷. I'm not saying notes don't matter at all, I know they affect exposure and engagement. But if just did what gets notes, I don't think I'd have such high quality engagement bc I'd just bang out more stuff with the most popular tropes instead of our fave Joels and those destined to become our faves bc they offer something special.

My outlook was the same before I had so many followers btw. Rock Bottom (22k) was what I felt like writing, still more ambitious than anything I've done in the Halloween fandom. I was disappointed it got way less attention than my one shots, but I know it's a banger, just certainly not for everyone lol.

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I'm sorry for what you're experiencing and feeling, but I think it's very common and hope you can reframe it to not feel inadequate. I especially hope it doesn't discourage you from writing. ❤️