#irl issues always rise when i want to do things

[bumblesimagines]

Activity Notice

Should probably do these more often

Hey y'all! I finished moving recently and am facing some internet issues where the WiFi is pretty slow. As such I'm kind of rendered solely to my phone so until we're able to get at least some slightly better internet works will be coming out slowly whenever the WiFi isn't total shit. Hopefully we'll get this fixed and I can continue working on the requests I currently have and OFL. I'll try to power through the slow internet but my patience runs thin very easily.

[zykamiliah]

hey! i haven't seen mha in a looong time and i've never payed attention to bakudeku (mostly because i'm not the biggest fan of bully romance), but i'd love to see your take/interpretation/analysis on it? i've been a really big fan of your svsss metas and so i just thought, "hey, you know what, i'm curious to see zykamiliah's take on a ship i've never been interested in from an anime that i haven't seen in years! maybe i'll see something?"

not too sure if you already made a post explaining it (so sorry if you did!), but i've seen enough of the sudden rise of bakudeku reblogs on my feed from your account to ignite my curiosity lol

i just really enjoy hearing about ships because they're an amazing opportunity to explore dynamics and perspectives i've never given much thought/thought about before (coming from a rare pair lover... oh gyx/lbg, my sweet...) so i'd love to see bakudeku, a ship i don't quite understand (yet!) in a more understanding, different, and interesting light! and in complete honesty i trust your judgement with insightful character and ship analysis stuff, so... yeah!

heeey jade! sorry for the wait, i've been busy with work and irl stuff :DDD but i'm here now!

where to even begin lol... well, it's important to note that the relationship between midoriya izuku, the protagonist, and bakugo katsuki, the deuteragonist, is one of the main narrative lines of the manga, at the very core of the story. katsuki is izuku's narrative foil, their character developments are intrinsically connected (specially katsuki's!), and the same can be said about the themes of heroism, of what makes a hero, who can be a hero, what type of hero society needs, or if it needs them at all, etc., questions that also tie to the evolution of their relationship.

so from the start i was sold on this dynamic because i really like relationships that are at the center of a story!! i also like relationships with a complicated history with lots of drama and ups and downs, and i like that each character has their own things going on in their lives even if they are connected and one of the most important persons in each other's lives. big big bonus guaranteed to get my full attention if they are obsessed with each other lol

the thing is, deku and bakugo are in a bad place when the story kicks in. bakugo isn't an active bully, in the sense that he doesn't constantly seek deku out to hurt him, but he IS horribly mean and hostile, and that's because for years he's felt threatened by deku (and deku's heroic qualities), and wants to push him away, because he also feels that deku is looking down on him. the story doesn't shy away from showing and acknowledging that bakugo's behavior is atrocious and needs to change, and it works towards it consistently: he eventually atones, apologizes, and changes. on the other side of the coin, deku has always been paying attention to bakugo and, despite how the latter treated him, would chase him, observe him to the point he has bakugo's moves memorized, takes inspiration from his fighting style and even imitates him to give himself courage to do something specially daring and when he wants to "win" more than "save"; bakugo is his image of victory, ever since they were kids.

i scrolled through my bkdk meta tag, since it's been yeeeeears since i was involved in the fandom, lol, and found this post that tackles the bullying issue specifically and makes some very good points, if you wanted to read it! :D

the manga eventually addresses the problems in their relationship in "Deku vs Kacchan 2" (chapters 117-119), at the time bakugo is feeling turmoils for the part he played in All Might's end. to the question of "why does deku chase and care about bakugo if bakugo is so mean to him?" ch 119 has deku answer that himself:

this fight is the turning point for their relationship, and for the rest of the manga their individual and dual development is mostly upwards. reading bnha is worth it, if anything, just for the beauty of bakugo katsuki's development.

another big aspect that got me hooked in their relationship from the very first anime episode (and first opening) is that they are

✨Childhood Friends✨

(strap in this is gonna get loooooooooong)

Childhood friends (Osananajimi) is kind of a huge trope in manga/anime, often as a romantic interest. According to some sources i quickly consulted in the internet, and some of the manga/anime I've watched, in Japanese culture osananajimi is considered one of the purest bond formed between people, with a level of closeness equal to that between blood relatives; formed at such an early age, at a time when societal restrictions didn't apply yet, the relationship is genuine because they still didn’t need or know how to hide their true feelings from each other. As the childhood friends grew up together, this is considered a special connection, somewhat different to those formed after societal norms and perceptions take precedence. Or, as makeste put it:

here we have two very young children who are introduced to each other at an age when they’re still young enough to have absolutely no secrets. they’re young enough to have not yet learned to be shy or self-conscious, or to downplay their enthusiasm so as not to let others know they care. kids that young don’t hide anything. they don’t lie or deceive. they don’t have agendas, and they assume that others don’t either. it is, in short, a very pure type of relationship in the sense that it’s honest and uncomplicated, that it is exactly what it appears to be at face value. their personalities are fully out there with no attempt at reining anything in. Katsuki witnesses the full force of Izuku’s boundless hero-worshipping energy and enthusiasm. Izuku witnesses the full extent of Katsuki’s relentless confidence and Peter Pan cockiness. both boys see each other for who they are in their entirety, and accept each other. this is a fundamental bond. there is trust built between the two of them at a critical, formative age. it’s a relationship formed so early on that it’s likely that neither of them can actually recall a time before they met the other. they are and have always been a constant in each other’s lives. they’re a lot like siblings in terms of that kind of closeness and complete understanding of the other, both the good and the bad. in fact I’d say that Izuku’s use of “Kacchan” (and Katsuki’s automatic acceptance of it) isn’t that different from a younger brother’s use of “Niisan” for his older brother. it’s very revealing of the type of relationship they have. and that includes the typical sibling squabbles as well. it’s very much a relationship that’s taken for granted; there’s no filter, no effort to hold back, no attempt at trying to tone down their behavior around one another. there is whining and bragging and squabbling and name-calling and tears, just as much as there is cooperation and respect and trust. because at the end of the day, the assumption is that the relationship will endure no matter what, so they can go at each other as hard as they can and it doesn’t matter. the other one’s presence is just a given. that’s the kind of relationship that this term “childhood friends” really encapsulates, I think.

The sudden change of their statuses when the quirks start to manifest is a major factor that placed them on opposite sides of the social hierarchy, and conditioned the way society and their peers would treat them. But despite this and the misunderstandings that happen between them and the falling apart of their relationship, the subconscious understanding between them remains intact through the years. They always flashback to their earlier memories. They probably didn't interact much in elementary or middle school, and even if they did, they interactions were already tainted by their social status and Bakugo’s hostility. They don't share their innermost feelings with anyone but each other. Like when Deku gets angry or determined to win and to surpass him, or when Bakugo screams and cries out his emotional turmoil at Deku. According to Japanese social rules those are selfish things to do. This relates to the concepts of honne and tatemae.

Japanese society is more regimented than one might believe just from watching anime. By middle school age, and even to some degree in primary school, children are expected to interact with their peers in a relatively professional way. This is especially true of relationships between students of opposite sexes. Such requirements aren't held for family or close friends, but for everyone else one is expected to be polite and not share their true feelings or say things too directly. This concept of dividing people into an in-group and an out-group (内外, uchi-soto) is somewhat hard for non-Japanese people to understand, but is central to interactions between people in Japanese culture. In fact, you can find plenty of examples of this and of the related concepts of honne and tatemae in anime if you look, but if you aren't looking for them specifically it's easy to miss. (source)

So, for example, you shouldn't show your true feelings/thoughts to other people, even more if they aren’t socially acceptable, because that may disturb the peace in the community. But because Deku and Kacchan are osananajimi that have known each other their whole life, that doesn't apply to them. By stating from the very beginning that Kacchan was Deku's childhood friend, Hori put them in a close relationship with each other with a level of intimacy, trust and a subconscious understanding not like any other. Kacchan is, in fact, closer to him than All Might himself.

Like, Deku has been calling Bakugo by his childhood nickname, Kacchan ("Ka[tsu]" from Katsuki + "-chan", which is usually used to address children or females in an affectionate way), even past the age he was excepted it to drop it. When they were 4 years old, the other kids called him "Kacchan" too, but growing up it would be seen as childish or disrespectful so they start to call him "Katsuki" or "Bakugo". This puts a level of distance between him and his peers that, regardless of what happened between them, didn't extend to Deku and Katsuki. And it had to cross Deku's mind at some point ( "Should I start calling him Katsuki/Bakugo too?") but he didn't or simply couldn't. Despite everything, he wasn't willing to put even more distance between himself and Bakugo. He deliberately refused to put formal distance between them, and more importantly, Bakugo just LET THAT BE.

___

Like, this was a great set up from the beginning for me. I knew there was a story there from the first episodes, and then "Deku vs Kacchan 1" happened, showing their childhood flashbacks and the misunderstandings that would persist until DvK2, and i was really into that lol They relationship was one of the main reasons I followed the manga.

i mean LOOK at THIS!

how i could NOT ship it i mean come on

Even their color schemes complement each other, and their costumes have the same/similar colors. they are are complementary opposites that share the same core: to become a hero, their admiration of All Might. Each of them has a quality the other lacks and needs to work on to become the heroes: heroes that win and save, as All Might put it. Selflessness and Selfishness: to help and save others, in one side, and to care for one's personal victory, in the other. Bakugo was obsessed with victory and glory, and Deku was willing to do anything to save others, to the point of self-destruction. These isolated qualities didn't made them good heroes, but combined, as the two learn them from each other, by the end of the story they really become two of the greatest heroes.

This connects with their rivalry, which is richer than any other in the manga because of the many layers to their relationship: they are obsessed with each other, want to compete with each other (for the rest of their lives!!!) and don't want the other to fall behind, specially after their misunderstandings are resolved. They also don't want to be left behind by the other. Because they love each other too much! Whether people interpret it as platonic or romantic or whatever in between (secret third they are like like four different types of greek love categories combined), they are each other's More Important Person outside of family members. Hell, Kacchan getting hurt is basically Deku's berserk button: he punches All Might in the face to save Katsuki during the end of term exam; he goes crazy protective and possessive when Katsuki gets kidnapped by the League of villains(Mr. Compress even calls him out lmao)

he goes crazy when Katsuki is hurt in front of him

and when he thought katsuki had died...

i mean. look at this romantic shit.

_

lol and i feel like i'm leaving many other stuff behind, like Bakugo's apology, and all the little moments after DvK, and all the times in the last arc where Bakugo was thinking about Izuku constantly, and the finale where Katsuki cried because Deku had given up OFA and was going to be quirkless again, and the fact that he was at the heart of the mecha suit years-long project because he wanted Izuku's dream, their dreams, to come true. but tbh I only read them the one time and need to reread the whole manga again to refresh my knowledge. and i already shipped them before all this haha.

they are amazing characters in a really well done shonen manga they have a beautiful story 🧡💚

[woahiwrite]

Kuai Liang X F!Reader, Jealousy 18+

Content Warning: 18+ Minors imma reset your timeline. 5k words. Smut, jealousy, Harumi is mentioned but won't be making an appearance in this oneshot. I haven't written full on smut oneshots start to finish in so long so, we'll see how well this goes. Eating out(fem receiving), piv, multiple cream pies(wear protection unless you want some lil minions running around), multiple positions

  To my irls who requested I make Kuai Liang smut to feed his tag🤞🏾

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

"Lord Liu Kang." You greeted, bowing at the waist beside your husband as he did the same, both of you rising back up to look upon the God as he addressed you both with kind smiles.

  "I hope building up the Shirai Ryu hasn't been too difficult during my absence." Liu Kang hummed, beginning to walk forward between the both of you, making you fall into formation on either side of him. "Geras had informed me of another incursion on our timeline, it had to be dealt with quickly." He explained, his hands clasped together before him.

  Coming to a stop alongside him and Kuai Liang as you all looked upon the courtyard, you saw that only two individuals were training right then, their training overseen by Smoke. Hanzo, the young boy that Tomas had came across, and another young initiate, Kazuma. "It is no problem at all, Lord Liu Kang, you have more pressing matters to attend to than helping us with the Clan." Kuai Liang stated, gaze locked on the two boys sparring with one another. Hanzo has tenacity, and was like a ball of fire with the fury that resided within him. Luckily, he had pretty good control over it. Lest he become more of a threat than an ally.

  You nodded in agreement, though you too were more focused on watching the boys train than the words that had fallen from Liu Kang's lips. You both had had so many less than promising initiates that you were both proud of how far he had come and yet were also afraid to lose your most promising one due to his tenacity. Already Hanzo had been in plenty of fights against the Lin Kuei, and though he was skilled, the Lin Kuei were seasoned, you both didn't want him to grow cocky and arrogant. For that would be his downfall.

  "I am glad you both understand. It worries me when I am unable to provide aid for others for an extended amount of time, anything could happen." The fire God confessed, moving on to continue walking, "Though I guess these are unnecessary worries, for you both are well equipped to hold your own." He added.

 

   Before any of you could say anything more, the sound of materializing sand reached your ears and you all turned as Geras appeared. He greeted you and your husband with a head nod before looking to Liu Kang with a slightly concerned expression. "I'll be right back." Liu Kang stated, a seriousness dripping into his usually warm tone as he and Geras walked out of earshot.

  You looked at them for a moment, wondering what the issue may be, but your attention was pulled away by a warm hand taking yours. "I do hope things aren't getting too out of hand." Kuai Liang sighed, rubbing his thumb over the ring that was nestled onto your finger. With every pass of his thumb, the ring seemed to get warmer, not to a painful amount, but it was comforting.

  "Things seem to be spiraling as of late, though Lord Liu Kang always knows he can come to us for help. We are the protectors of Earthrealm, stopping these..invasions is a part of doing that." You stated, taking in a soft breath through your nose. There were so many things to worry about and so much to complete when it came to building the Shirai Ryu, it was stressful but you both had assured one another it would be completed together. You, Kuai Liang, and Tomas. That's the only way it would be done efficiently and to the best quality. It was a difficult task, but one that had to be done to take up the large gap created in Earthrealm's defense thanks to Bi-Han's betrayal.

  Already, you had lost one close to you all to Bi-Han, luckily it was only to be temporary. Harumi had nearly been killed by your shared husband's brother, and for her safety and for the best recovery, she had moved into a neighboring clan to hopefully stay under the Lin Kuei's radar. Bi-Han had told Kuai Liang himself that family was not off limits, the extent of his dangerous intent would not stop for anyone. "You-"

  "Mrs. Shirai." Turning your head to address Liu Kang, you kept your hand in Kuai Liang's hoping to provide him some comfort for the turmoil that he surely felt even more than anyone else. "I need to speak with you for a moment, in private, please."

  Kuai Liang didn't say anything, but he gave your hand a small squeeze before dropping his back to his side. You smiled at him, before nodding at Liu Kang and following behind him.

 

   "Is everything alright, Lord Liu Kang?" You asked, eyebrows raised slightly. You had a feeling you already knew the answer. Glancing to the side for but a moment to address a worker who had just finished repairs on a building, you didn't notice that Liu Kang had stopped walking. You nearly bumped into his chest as he turned around, and the speed at which you stopped and tried to take a step back almost made you stumble. Bringing a hand forward, Liu Kang steadied you with a respectful yet firm hold on your waist, before his hands came back to being held in front of him. "Sorry." You laughed lightly, and were pleased that he laughed as well.

  "It's alright, I probably should have said something." He waved off the accident, eyes kind as he addressed you. "On another note, though-" He began, "Geras has informed me of..yet another, invasion onto this timeline. I do not know how these other Titans keep getting through, but there has to be a reason."

   "Who is it this time?" You asked, knowing that one of the first to break through had been a Scorpion from a past timeline, Hanzo, the very same kid the Shirai Ryu had taken in and began to train. You had wondered if that may have meant something, but whenever you asked the God before you, he never gave you a definite answer.

  Arms crossed over his chest, Kuai Liang tried not to stare too hard at you and Liu Kang, but he was curious. Why did the God have to talk to you in private? If it was something serious, shouldn't he know too? His brows furrowed slightly, feeling an unusual feeling build within him. He watched as you both conversed, Liu Kang placing a hand on your shoulder. Had Liu Kang always been so touchy? Kuai Liang almost wanted to walk over and see what you two were talking about himself, but he knew better, he had been taught better. He may have been a Grandmaster now, but he knew that was not on the same level as Lord Liu Kang. He was a Titan, a Keeper of Time, he held more power than anyone could probably fathom.

   Shaking his head, Kuai Liang tried and failed to try to turn his attention onto something else. He couldn't stop looking at the interaction, taking in every glance, every touch. The way Liu Kang looked at you, was that too fond? The way he would smile at you, and you would smile back. Kuai Liang hadn't noticed his darkened expression until a familiar voice came from beside him.

  "Kuai Liang? Is everything alright?" Tomas seemed to appear beside him, glancing over towards where you stood with Liu Kang before looking back at the orange-clad ninja.

  It took a moment for Kuai Liang to register what Tomas was saying, and when he did, he finally looked over at him. "I'm fine, brother. Why do you ask?" Kuai Liang questioned, noticing the irritation seeping through his tone and trying to lighten it as he spoke. Tomas looked at him with a raised brow, clearly not convinced.

  "You look tense."

  "I'm fine. How were Hanzo and Kazuma?" Kuai Liang asked, trying to get his mind off of what was going on in front of him. Though he couldn't help but keep glancing back at the conversation, watching Liu Kang rub your arm.

 

  "They were pretty good, I think Kazuma is trying to keep up with Hanzo, and so they are pushing eachother to do better." Tomas explained, looking between Kuai Liang and you again, you finally had began to come back over. "I can tell you more later though." He stated, noticing something that Kuai Liang hadn't. Looking over at his younger brother, Kuai Liang furrowed his brows at the knowing look given to him before Tomas made his departure.

  A soft hand on his cheek made him look forward again, and he felt much better seeing you in front of him. Looking at him with a kind smile. When he glanced up, Kuai Liang could no longer see Liu Kang. That was fine, Kuai Liang didn't know what he would say if he talked to him right then. "What was that about?" Kuai Liang asked, bringing a hand up to grab yours and interlace your fingers with his.

   "Lord Liu Kang was just informing me on what Geras had told him." You stated, leaving it at that. Kuai Liang wasn't pleased with that answer though. If that was the case, what was all the touching and full smiles? What Geras had told Liu Kang certainly couldn't have been any good, so what else had you both talked about? He didn't want to interrogate you though, but at the same time, he had never felt so much..negative emotion towards Liu Kang like this before.

  "If it's important, shouldn't I know as well?" Kuai Liang asked. He could see the conflict in your eyes, the uncertainty.

   "Lord Liu Kang asked that I keep this to myself. At least until the situation worsens, which he told me it most likely wouldn't. So, it should be fine." You stated, offering your husband a small smile.

   Kuai Liang didn't know how he felt about it. He was the Grandmaster, shouldn't he know of all threats? But besides that, you were his wife, he didn't want you to be in harms way. He wanted to know the details, wanted to make sure you were safe and wouldn't head out somewhere on your own. He had already almost lost Harumi. Whatever you guys did, you swore you would do it together. Kuai Liang released your hand and instead brought his down to hold your waist, feeling the slightest of shivers from you. It was something you always did whenever he touched your waist, or held your hips. Did you do the same when Liu Kang held you there? He glanced up from where his hand held you to your eyes, and he saw the way you must've noticed the look in his own.

  "Kuai Liang-" You started, but got cut off as he pressed his lips to yours, albeit brief, it was passionate and filled with his frustrations. When you parted, you looked dazed.

  Before you knew it, Kuai Liang had led you to your shared room, laid on your bed, and you could feel his warm hands pressing heavy against your skin as he pushed open your robes and snaked beneath your undershirt. You could barely catch your breath as he pressed his lips against yours, every momentary separation being kept together by a string of saliva. You had never had him be so rough with you, and you had barely even done anything yet. He relished in every shiver you gave him, every gasping breath, your hands burying themselves into his hair that was freed of the bun he normally wore it in.

   "What's gotten into you?" You finally ask as he pulled away long enough for you to formulate a sentence, chest heaving as you tried to catch your breath. Kuai Liang pulled away, sitting back and grabbing your hand to pull you up with him.

  "What is this?" Kuai Liang asked, running his thumb over the band of your wedding ring.

  "My ring?" You responded, brows furrowed in slight confusion.

  "Who put this on you?" He continued, pressing a few soft kisses along the tips of your fingers, though he didn't allow his gaze to break away from yours.

  "You did."

  "And what does that mean?"

  You didn't say anything for a moment, lost in the warm brown lust-filled eyes of your husband. He let out a huff, his hands warm on your skin, "What does that mean." He repeated, letting go of your hand and wrapping his arm around your waist, moving you both around so he was seated in your spot and you rested in his lap. With his other hand, he held your jaw, tilting your head up to give him more space to lick and kiss along your neck.

  Shivering as he bit into your skin, nearly enough to draw blood, you let out a pleasured sigh as you answered, "I'm yours.."

  "That's right.." Kuai Liang pulled away from your neck so he could finish shedding you of your clothes, leaving you only in your pants and underwear since he couldn't do much else from this position. "You're mine."

  Placing his hands onto your hips, Kuai Liang began to grind your body down against his, not caring for the layers of clothes that still separate you there. You could feel how hard he had become, his erection pressed to you in all the right places. Your hands held tight on his shoulders as you moaned, though afterwards you were quick to try to get him free of his own clothes. You struggled as Kuai Liang didn't let up, but you managed to snake your hands inside the opening of his robe and inner shirt, tugging it apart and revealing more of his neck and chest to you. 

  Kuai Liang briefly relented in his motions only so that he could pull his arms through the articles of clothing, it all folding over against the belt around his waist, leaving his upper body bare to you as yours was to him. "Though you.." You began, running your hands over his broad shoulders, your left hand trailing up beforehand to run along the scorpion tattoo that ran across his upper arm. "You are mine as well." You stated, gasping out as Kuai Liang wrapped an arm around you again, turning his body and pressing you down against the bed as he ended up on top of you once more.

  Kissing you once, twice, before beginning to kiss down your body, Kuai Liang didn't seem to let up in his fervor, if anything, it served to grow even more. His hands were warm as they tugged down your pants and underwear and left you bare beneath him. Yes, he was yours and you were his, and though he knew neither of you needed to be reminded, a small refresher was never a bad thing. For his head could still not get rid of the sight of Lord Liu Kang's hand on your body, and for that he needed to let his mind be filled with memories of how you felt beneath his hands. His touch bringing those sounds he loved so much from you. Rather it be a moan, a laugh, or a contented sigh.

  Kissing down your stomach, Kuai Liang purposefully skipped over the place he knew you wanted him most to place kisses and bites along the insides of your thighs. Your legs came up to rest over his shoulders, heels pressing into his back in an attempt to pull him closer that only made him let out a small huff of a laugh as he continued to indulge himself. Though he knew prolonged time doing so sometimes caused you to become shy, Kuai Liang was always one to spend time appreciating your body before ever actually truly touching you. It was done for a short moment earlier when he had placed kisses along your fingers, but now that he had gotten you completely bare, he wanted to do more.

  Your thighs were his favorite, for when with you, in private, he spent a lot of time on them. You were always coaxing him to rest his head on your legs and let you run your fingers through his hair to relieve some stress from the day. He could spend all day on them, or between them.

  Wrapping his arms around your thighs and pressing his hands into your hips, Kuai Liang finally moved his face to be level with your most sensitive place. The jealousy that had plagued his thoughts began to give way to being focused entirely on you. Liu Kang could not and would not ever be graced with the sight of you like this. Wouldn't hear that delicious sigh you let out when he finally placed his mouth on your cunt, the way your body strained against his hands. Wouldn't feel your fingers running through his hair and tugging as he took to eating you out like it was the only task he had ever been given.

  No, you were his, and he was yours. "Pull your legs up." Kuai Liang huffed, licking his lips and tasting you on them, releasing the hold he had had on you so you could follow through with his command. You did as asked, and Kuai Liang smiled as he was on you once again. Like this, with your legs up and his arms keeping them pinned down, he could easily keep you still enough for him to indulge in you to the best of his capabilities. Licking a long stripe up your cunt, Kuai Liang did not let up as he slightly shook his head from side to side, putting a little more of his body weight down on you as you mewled and pushed up against him.

  "Kuai Liang~" You moaned above him, driving him to continue. He couldn't help but push his hips down against the bed in hopes of relieving himself of some of the pressure that had built up in the front of his pants. Kuai Liang groaned against you at the friction caused, and was answered with another moan from you at the added stimulation. He took to rutting his hips against the bed to keep himself sated whilst he focused on you, letting out a slight guttural groan as you tugged his hair and tried to grind your hips against his face the best you could. Adjusting his hold on you, Kuai Liang gripped you tighter, pressing you down so that you could only sit and endure the onslaught of pleasure.

Your moans were a delight to his ears, filling his head and swirling around in it until it was all he could think about. How as you grew closer, they grew in pitch, whining and crying out to him as you gave in to the feeling of it all. Even as you came on his tongue, your body shuddering against him, Kuai Liang didn't stop. He kept going, knowing that the grip he held on you would surely leave marks, but he liked that thought. Liked that you would have something that reminded you of him that only you and him would see. One of your hands came down to grip his forearm, nails digging into his skin as you came again, this one harder than the last.

  It was only then that he pulled away, his hands rubbing along your thighs and helping you bring your legs back down to rest along the sheets. "Are you alright?" He asked, watching you as your chest heaved as you tried to catch your breath. You looked over him with glazed over eyes, but you still were present enough to nod your head.

   "Good." Standing up, Kuai Liang began to undo the belt around his waist. "Because we aren't done yet."

   Talking off the belt, the clothes that had been bunched up around it fell, and he took a moment to kick off his pants as well. You looked to him with a gaze filled with intrigue and lust. Eagerly accepting the kiss he gave as he wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you close. He hummed softly as he pulled away, before using that hold he had on you to easily flip you over. Letting go of you to grab onto one of the pillows on the bed, Kuai Liang sat back on his heels and patted the side of your ass. "Up." He ordered, waiting for you to lift your hips up enough for him to slide the pillow beneath them.

  Letting out a soft breath at the sight, Kuai Liang ignored the urge he got to indulge himself in the taste of you once again, and instead positioned his legs on either side of yours. Balancing his weight on one arm, Kuai Liang used the other to run his fingers along your slick folds, gathering the mixture of his saliva and your release that glistened with the light it would catch. "Kuai Liang.." You breathed out, wiggling your hips in an effort to get more stimulation. It made him smile.

   "Still want more? I thought you'd be more tired." He joked, knowing damn well after years of being married together that your stamina had grown to match his, and that no session you both had ended after just one round unless you were interrupted. You glanced back at him from over your shoulder, and he could catch a hint of the smile that you wore thanks to the way it reached your eyes.

  "I can take all that you give me."

  Kuai Liang's eyebrow jerked up slightly, rubbing his slick-covered hand along his cock to aid in making things as smooth as possible. "Is that so?" He questioned as he guided himself to your cunt, slowly pushing in. A soft moan left your lips as he slid further inside, pulling back for but a moment only to continue forward with a bit more force. Your walls enveloped him in a warmth that was different than the one he constantly lived in, and he found relish and comfort in it.

  You finally responded to his question with a hum of confirmation, arching your back a bit more and letting out a shaky breath at the added stimulation. Kuai Liang lowered himself down until he was resting on his forearms, snaking his hands under your arms so he could hold onto your shoulders to keep you in place as he began to grind his hips against yours. One of your hands came back to hold onto his thigh whilst the other gripped his arm, and he felt your hands clench as he began to actually thrust. It did not take him long to find a pace that worked for both of you but was faster than the slower one that he usually would go at. Kuai Liang had always taken it slow with you before, he liked to draw it out, to spend as much time with you connected as one as he possibly could.

   Though for once, he wanted more than that. He wanted to leave with you both covered in the marks of one another, and while he didn't like to think about others knowing what happens in his private life, he wouldn't mind anyone seeing the testaments to his love to you left on your skin or his. Just so they could make it clear in their heads that you were his wife and that you belonged to one another.

  

   You cried out beneath him as he continued to press against the most sensitive spot within you, driving you closer and closer to yet another orgasm. Your walls tightened sporadically around him as that peak began to draw near again. In this position, you almost felt overwhelmed with how much you could feel. So close like this, you could feel Kuai Liang's chest pressing against your upper back, your shins resting over his calves, feel his breath against your skin. His hands were tight on your shoulders as he fucked you into the mattress, the bed shifting with every thrust, your moans broken as your body jerked forward with each hit of his hips against your ass.

  The only thing on your mind was Kuai Liang.

  He knew it too, if the way his name fell from your lips like a mantra said anything.

  

  "Cl-mm-close..." You moaned, your nails digging into Kuai Liang's thigh as your other hand moved from his forearm to grip the bedsheets. Kuai Liang was too, you could tell in the way you could feel his cock twitch, and just how loud he had become. Usually, he was more quiet, merely huffing or groaning. Now, almost every thrust was accompanied by a grunt, and he moaned at the feeling your nails pressing into his skin, and he groaned as your walls squeezed him.

  With one final thrust, you both came at the same time. You felt as if you had never moaned so loud, body tensed as the moan came almost guttural. Your voice had been so loud in your ears you didn't even catch that Kuai Liang had finished too until you noticed his hands pressed against the bed rather than gripping your shoulders. You could hear the slightest of whines leave him, his arms shaking as he fought through his climax to keep himself from placing all of his body weight down onto you. His breathing was heavy, washing over your skin and making you shiver.

  Your lower stomach felt warm from him finishing inside, but your shoulders felt warmer. Sliding your hand over, you placed your hand on top of his, and you could feel just how hot his hands had grown. Taking a moment to catch your breath, you whimpered at the empty feeling as Kuai Liang pulled out. Moving the pillow from beneath your hips, you groaned as you flipped over onto your back, looking up at Kuai Liang now and taking in his disheveled state. His face was flushed, strands of hair sticking to his skin as he looked down at you with eyes darkened thanks to the dilation of his pupils. You always thought he looked so good like this.

  Bringing a hand over, you hummed at the warmth of Kuai Liang's palm as he pressed it against your cheek before leaning down and capturing your lips in his. The warmth was opposed by the coldness of his ring, and you found yourself being lost in the feeling of his mouth on yours. Tasting hints of yourself on his tongue. You hadn't even noticed him realigning himself with your entrance before he had began to push in again. You both moaned into the kiss, your arms coming up to wrap around his neck and pull him closer. He wasn't fully hard again, not yet, but he liked the warmth when being nestled into your cunt.

   It was warm, yet it was also messy, your shared ecstasy slathered along the front of his thighs and the inner sides of yours, sticky as it coated his cock. "Are you going to tell me what made you want to do this?" You asked after a moment of silence, easily following along with the motion of Kuai Liang rolling you both over so you could rest against his chest. Slightly rolling your hips so you could get more comfortable, you also did it to hear the hitched breath that came from him.

  "I..did not like seeing Lord Liu Kang touch you." Kuai Liang stated, running his hands along your sides and up and down your back, soothing the marks he had left behind.

  You rose an eyebrow as you planted your hands into the bed so you could push yourself up and look him in the eyes. "You were jealous? Kuai Liang-"

  "I know, it is a childish thought. But the way you both looked as you talked to one another, it made me think."

  Shaking your head, you pressed a soft kiss to his lips before pulling away and carefully pushing yourself up into a sitting position, his hands sliding down your body to rest on your hips. "If you know it is childish then stop thinking about it. I am your  wife, Kuai Liang, and you are the only man who could ever make me feel the things you do."

  Grabbing his right hand, you placed yours over it and guided his hand up your body, leaning forward so your body was closer to his. Bringing his hand to your breast, you prompted him to squeeze it and run his fingers over your nipple. "No other man can touch me like this." You affirmed, brows furrowing slightly at the rush of pleasure from the attention to your chest before guiding his hand further up. "I'd let no other man touch me like this, unless they wished to lose their hands." You stated, seeing a flash of dark intrigue in his eyes. You didn't fail to notice over the years that your husband was one to get turned on by shows of your strength and battle prowess. You were rewarded in feeling his cock grow more erect within you.

   Guiding his hand up your neck, you parted your lips and took two of his fingers into your mouth, tasting a hint of the both of you on his fingers. You hummed around them as he pressed his fingers against your tongue before pushing himself up with his other arm so he could wrap it around your waist. Pulling his fingers from your mouth, Kuai Liang brought his hands to grip your ass, starting off slow in moving you up and down now that he was fully turned on again. "My beautiful wife.." Kuai Liang began, pressing kisses along your neck and shoulder, "My beautiful yet deadly wife." He hummed, leaving marks along your skin where your clothes would cover.

  His words did not match with the pace he came to set, as his hands forced you up and down on his cock at a pace that made your ass sting with the force of it hitting against his thighs. The room filled with sounds of your shared pleasure, a symphony of moans and proclamations of your love. The sticky slap of skin on skin, breathless moans and guttural groans, the slight creak of the bed as it followed the heavy motion of it all. Kuai Liang's hands were hot on your skin, but he kept himself under control, not letting himself grow too hot to leave burns. Your hands buried into his hair, grip tight on the dark brown tresses as your body gave in to the pleasure it was being given.

  Kuai Liang did not relent, did not stop as your walls squeezed him like a vice as you came once again, body shaking as your grip on him became near painful. He did not stop even as your body shuddered with the aftershocks, not slowing down until your nails dug into the scorpion tattoo on his bicep and let out a choked sob as you came yet again, this time pulling a moan from him as your cunt tightening around him pulled him over the edge with you. He slowed down your movements until you were both still, save for your shuddering breaths and shivering bodies. "You're alright..I've got you, just breathe." Kuai Liang huffed, wrapping his arms around your waist and holding you close to him.

  Your body grew heavier against him as all the energy you both had built up seemed to finally release, and he let out a small chuckle as you pressed your head into the crook of his neck. "I'll draw a bath." Kuai Liang stated, carefully pulling you off of his cock, biting his lip to hold back a sound at how sensitive he felt. You let out a tired hum, relaxing into the plush mattress as he pulled the blankets up over you.

  "I love you."

  He smiled a little lopsided at you, exhaustion wracking through his body as well, but he forced himself to get up so he could care for you. Pressing a soft kiss to your forehead, he brought his hand up to move some strands of hair from being in your face. "I love you too."

[thatsexcpisces]

Astrology observations pt. 8

🔅Disclaimer🔅: these are just my personal observations and things I’ve noticed and encountered, I’m not a professional astrologer!!

🧡Pluto/Mars-mercury people are likely to struggle with intrusive thoughts that could mostly be related to violence and inappropriate things done to others

🧡I feel like many Scorpio suns have a theme of “death” that stays in their life.

for example Scorpios in general may have lost a parent at a young age or suffer with the loss of family members. They may have lost a parent or even both during their teenage years due to an illness or lose people who are close to them.

🧡People with harsh mercury-ASC aspects or Virgo risings in harsh aspects can come off as “know-it-alls” or “well actually...” people

🧡Libra risings May have an obsession when it comes to collecting beauty products/self-care products or any expensive/fancy items and accessories. This is because taurus, a Venusian sign associated with luxury and indulgence, rules their 8th house of obsessive focuses and vice versa, they have Scorpio in their second house, amplifying the energy of having an attachment to material items.

🧡Aquarius moons have a closer/better relationship with their father than their mother

🧡Whenever you’re in a work or school-related environment, people are most likely to view your personality or see you as your mars sign. If you’re a Virgo/Capricorn Mars, you may have been the person in class that appears as hardworking or shy/quiet and stayed back from the crowd to do their own thing. If you’re a Leo Mars, people at work or school may see you as having a spontaneous personality or dramatic and also as someone very artistic and who likes to express themselves. Aquarius Mars can be seen as very opinionated.

🧡Gemini/Aquarius placements will make you feel like you can talk to them about the weirdest things or literally anything without feeling judged

🧡I feel like Leo and aries moons want to and always have this plan to try and hold grudges forever after they’ve been hurt because of how strongly Leo & aries moons feel their emotions, but they usually end up forgetting and hold one for max a few days until their emotions go through a different range and they focus on something else. (It depends on the situation tho because if really hurt, they can manage to hold one till death)

🧡A Sagittarius moon has such a prominent energy in someone’s birth chart. Even if the person has a stellium in another sign it’s like once they have a sag moon it takes over their whole personality. For example, someone can be a cap sun, mercury, rising, etc and you might expect them to show Capricorn traits and appear as “serious or hard working” but if they have that sag moon it’s like you’ll see then as a completely outgoing and bubbly person who’s always cracking jokes. Their humor and charisma is so contagious and it outshines everything.

🧡Aquarius placements might become certain types of doctors/scientists in a way that the job is related to using modern technology since they have the ability to be innovative

🧡mutable signs are likely to have ADHD

🧡water moons have these super vivid & intuitive dreams or usually the universe may try to send them messages or communicate with them through dreams. for example, a lot of my water moon friends tell me that they’ve had a dream of a person specifically telling them how they feel about them (my friend) and when they ask the person how they feel irl, they say the exact same thing as they said in their dream. Or whatever they dream of likely happens irl.

🧡saturn-ASC harsh aspects may come off as serious and not wanting to interact with others except people they’re close to

🧡 people with Virgo sun + libra mercury in a chart = talking absolute shit about you to others if they don’t like you but never saying it to your face (virgo is ruled by mercury and libra placements just tend to be passive aggressive in general since they’re afraid of open issues)

🧡Pisces risings are so ethereal and beautiful. even though it’s a rare rising sign to have I feel like they’re king easy to point out. It’s usually the people in the room who are always radiating warm energy and giving people hugs. They may also have a soft voice and appearance in general. Very sweet people!

🧡Capricorn mars hate when people try to automatically help them with something or do something for them without them asking for their help first

🧡Jupiter in the 11H individuals can attract friends easily or have a large friendgroup and abundance of friends

🧡I’m so jealous of how organized 6H stelliums and Virgo risings are. Yes, they might secretly not have shit under control, but they still manage to pull it off. I know a lot of people who have this and they always seem to have the perfect structured life with some sort of an organizer or to-do list and succeed in everything.

🧡I feel like no one talks about how jealous Leo moons/Venus or 5H stelliums can be. Sometimes even more than Scorpios. People with these placements are always constantly trying to be the best and everyone’s favorite, and as a result, they might try to “out-perform” and “look better” than the people around them. When they feel they are not receiving the recognition they deserve, especially from close friends and loved ones, they can spiral into unhealthy coping mechanisms. Some even get attached to people very fast and are the type to get angry and jealous easily if they see their friends and loved ones hanging out with someone else. They’re very possessive and hate feeling like they matter less compared to others. They thrive off validation so theyre the type to give you the silent treatment because you ignored them in some way.

🧡heavy Venusian placements in a chart can l be the type of people to actually ‘judge a book by its cover’. This doesn’t mean that these people don’t care to look at the inside and see the beauty, but they also do appreciate aesthetic and something that is pleasing to the eye or in a visual sense (for a very literal comparison: these are the types of people to be at a bookstore and put a book down because the cover isn’t pretty or it’s boring even if it might be a good book lol)

🧡gemini moons/risings are either super extroverted and outgoing or they barely speak and keep to themselves in social situations. There’s no in between

🧡Pluto in the 8H people might have ego issues and their ego can get in the way of making mature & responsible decisions

🧡moon in the 11H are so warm and loving towards their friends. These are the type of people who’s friends mean so much to them and they always make sure to keep their circle close and happy

[daily-hanamura]

I kind of wished that the persona 4 cast wasn’t stuck in a narrative where the main theme is ‘always accept the role thrust upon you and if you don’t like it, just force yourself to like it’. Yukiko actively wants to leave Inaba and create her own life, but is portrayed negatively when doing so, with her character arc involving her accepting the role thrust upon her. Don’t get me started on Naoto. I know you’re the Yosuke guy, and was wondering what are your thoughts on this when applied to Yosuke?

I want you to know that being called "the Yosuke guy" is now my greatest achievement you've made my day everyday for the last week

I do agree with you, and I think it was one of my initial issues with P4 where, for a game whose entire narrative is about being true to yourself, it sure falls back into that tired sense of social conformation a lot. It's grating, right, because it feels like what they really mean to say is "be yourself! but not too much and not in a way that makes other people unhappy and make sure you're still living up to other peoples expectations because that's the real reason why you're unhappy with yourself, you haven't accepted who we want you to be (which is the real you that we've decided) etcetc" and it just undercuts the emotional impact of their self-acceptance (see also kanji and rise). (dw I know P5 also kind of has the same problem, and I can go into a whole thing about the limits of transformative narratives written by capitalist corporations but i wont. today-)

I think with Yosuke though, it's really interesting because his character arc is more so tied to his relationship with Inaba as a place, rather than his fundamental self-perceptions. It's established early on that Yosuke hated the town for various reasons; he's a city boy who wants excitement and connection, but most of the town hates him so he's shit out of luck and it gives him little reason to like the town back. As the game progresses, he starts to like the town -- "it's not about where you are, but who you're with", so it's his friendships (and having people who accept him for who he is) that makes the place meaningful for him. And, at the end of the day, Yosuke did get what he wanted - excitement and connection.

But he's not tied to Inaba.

In P4AU, it's revealed that Yosuke's struggling to figure out what he wants to do in life, but by the end of it he tells Yu that he wants to leave the town and go to college with Yu in the city, and that he wants to see the world and experience more things for himself. It fascinates me because it very strongly implies that Yosuke's arc isn't complete as we're very expressly told that he's still developing. It stands in contrast to the other characters who have effectively been fixed into some role or position (Yukiko as an inn manager, Rise as an idol), and unlike them, Yosuke hasn't been permanently relegated to the things that he starts off hating. He hasn't been written to stay in Inaba or even to continue working at Junes after graduation, instead he gets the opportunity to try things. imo this makes his arc more situational (and therefore layered) - Yosuke's perspective on his circumstance matures, but who he is as a person doesn't have to change, and he's not forced to make a trade-off with the wishes he had at the start.

This might be because Yosuke is Atlus' favourite character of the contrast between Yosuke's city background and the rest of the Inaba folk. There's a guy in the school who talks about how most people who finish high school in Inaba just go on to get jobs, and very few actually leave for college and beyond. It's something deeply realistic and reflective of human geography IRL, because that's very common in small communities. A fear of the outside world because of how isolated they are (and Inaba kind of is - remember how Yosuke said they barely had cell connectivity up until recently) means they tend to look inwards instead of out, so there isn't as strong an awareness of what else there is out there and a belief that your options are basically just that (it also makes it all the more impressive that they have surprisingly well-traveled teachers). Yosuke, on the other hand, is very much connected to the internet and the outside world, and he also tends to think about the things that he's missing out on more tangibly.

It makes for a very interesting parallel with Yukiko, who had grown up in Inaba all her life and also expresses that same interest in wanting to go out and see the world. Yukiko's idea about the kind of options that she has is weirdly limited for someone who is supposed to be at the top of her class. When you meet her at the bookstore, she talks about getting a job license so she could leave town, and her first thought was interior decorator (do you even need a license for that? it's not a chartered profession unlike an architect or interior designer, but things might work differently in japan). And maybe she does have a genuine interest in it so I'm talking shit, but it also feels like it's a job that she's aware of only because of the ryokan. As far as I could tell, we don't actually see her express any interest in, say, furniture themes or colour swatches and fabric textures in the way Kanji very clearly does. Her world view, like everyone else, is bounded by the reach of her experience, but because Inaba is so small and cloistered it impedes her ability to imagine beyond that. Even when she's thinking of leaving, her options are still limited to her experiences at the inn. I'm still really salty about how she decided to stay at the ryokan in the end, because something much more satisfying in my opinion would have been for her to get the opportunity to try different things elsewhere in the world, and if she decided that the ryokan was the right thing for her, then, well, fine, I guess? Or some cliche like exploring other inns elsewhere so she could bring that knowledge home. Especially since she had the support of her family and the inn staff, it makes her narrative feel more like an acceptance of her lot in life, rather than a genuine realisation that yeah, this was what she wanted, which was what the game wanted us to think, except it's not convincing. Instead, it just feels like a weird stagnation because her initial wish of wanting to see the world beyond the ryokan was not satisfied.

But hey, guess who does!

Yosuke gets to learn how to make the best of a situation, but ultimately, he's not beholden to it. He - and his writers - understand that he's not done growing, so he doesn't fix himself to a role that he doesn't like. AND IT'S GOOD. I just wish everyone else got that opportunity.

[tmntforeverinmyheart]

Unfamiliar familiar is not just a fic, it is a harmful representation of tmnt 2012.

Infantilizing Mikey who canonically has ADHD, and then going ahead and giving him autism, rubbing salt even further into the wound. As an autistic person, it is absolutely disgusting seeing one of my favorite characters be broken down and destroyed by an in educated idiot, who obviously does not care about the 2012 tmnt characterization or the fact that they have pretty much ruined the tmnt 2012 AO3 tag for so many fans, including myself.

They had a big hand in the creation of the “abused Mikey” trope, which is an absolutely horrible characterization of 12 Mikey and his brothers.

It is harmful by villainizing Raphs anger issues, infantilizing ADHD and autism, not tagging the fic as an AU, as it is so OOC and completely destroys everything Tmnt is about.

Family, the turtles being brothers, being strong and stealthy ninjas. If Mikey couldn’t handle a bit of roughhousing, how would he have gotten through 15 years of ninja training!?

If torable actually watched the damn show all the way to the end, then it would become apparent that Raph goes through character development the most. He changes, is calmer, less aggressive, he’s happier more at ease, because he’s found people in his life who understand and love him for who he is. The change isn’t a flick of a switch, it’s a gradual change over the seasons. Raph is so much more than an aggressive impulsive idiot.

ADHD and autistic people are misrepresented in media, in absolutely horrible ways, and even when autism is done right, it’s always only the one side of the spectrum and never with an actual autistic actor. autism and ADHD do not need to be misrepresented in fanfics as well.

What ever the hell that creature is that torable claims to be Mikey, it’s one struggle after another, and adding autism because you just want to infantilize him is abhorrent. Autistic people are not babys who need to be treated like glass, and representing Mikey as that destroys his character and misrepresents autism in a horrible way.

On a video I did on tiktok about “unfamiliar familiar” I got comments from people saying that they know the author IRL and apparently they are ex-friends and torable was abusive towards them, I’m not saying these claims are true, but I got 3 different people comment about that same thing…🫢

Anyway FUCK YOU TORABLE! FUCK YOU UNFAMILIAR FAMILIAR! FUCK YOU “ABUSED MIKEY” TROPE AND FUCK YOU “RISE ADOPTS MIKEY”TROPE !

[racharii]

coming from an enby whos tme (tho i myself am not transmasc), i feel like a lot of transmasc people are doing this "have their cake and eat it too" thing where they want to be perceived as men or men adjacent, in our society a part of the oppressor class, while also still wanting to benefit from structures meant to protect against said class. specifically ones that have been set up in queer spaces. ive met quite a few trans men who were just as vehemently misogynysitic as your average dude bro. and (this is speculation based on convos ive had with trans men im not in every transmascs head) a lot of transmascs have a lot of internalized misogyny that they project onto trans women. ive had an irl ex friend of mine say something that i think encapsulates this particular issue fairly well. this was like 8 years ago, we were talking about trans rep in media (specifically orange is the new black iirc) so im paraphrasing; 'its messed up that we (afabs in this context) are sidelined for people who used to be men, we cant escape the patriarchy.' that was horribly transmisogynistic, so lets unpack it.

it assumes that trans women are just men

it assumes sex essentialism, that they and i were just women. that we were just poor Females having 'our space' encroached on by mean 'former men.'

im not saying that all transmascs think like this ofc. #notallmen. im saying that some do, and enough transmascs have internalized misogyny and not enough self reflection.

just because you are trans doesnt mean you are immune to bigotry and recouping oppressive structures. none of us are free of Sin™️. you as an individual have to make an effort to reflect on your thoughts and actions and how they might affect yourself and others, so that you are not a willing participant of our communities oppression.

for example, ive talked a lot privately about my journey to being a better person, (and pobodies nerfect, its always a learning process, you always will have things you can improve on. and thats okay, were all just human) i initially hated it/its pronouns. 'it' gave me the ick. i was called 'it' as a kid incessantly to make fun of my gender presentation, i couldnt fathom someone else finding peace and even euphoria in using it/its. i bought into the conservative talking points about neopronouns and it/its being detrimental to the trans community. they were "the bad transes" and me? well i use they/them but shakespeare used the singular they so im fine :), im one of the good ones. then one day, i was listening to some video essay idr what or who, but something they said stuck with me, "if it/its makes me happy, why do you care? how does 'it' hurt you really?" my trauma is not everyones trauma, people will find comfort in things that i wont, and thats okay. 'it' hurt me when i was young, by cruel kids and uncaring adults. why am i hurting my community, my fellow transes, by continuing to deny them their autonomy to identify how they like? so i got over 'it.' i saw the real harm was the fucking wedge being driven between us by conservative grifters trying to pick off the weakest in the herd before they go in for the rest of us.

visibility isnt necessarily a good thing for marginalized people. transfemmes are the biggest target of hate in our community atm. they unfortunately serve as the canary. global fascism is on the rise and to be frank, a targeted hate campaign against a trans woman is asking for her to be killed. outed, paraded as a freak, doxxed, swatted, killed. protect trans women, fascism doesnt stop with one group nor will you be saved by being "one of the good ones." trans solidarity, even the people you dont like, even if you think theyre icky or gross or whatever the fuck else you do Not give up trans solidarity. you dont make callout posts, you dont send death threats, you dont send hate mail, if you dont like someone Block Them and move on.

we stand together or we will be eradicated.

[rustic-space-fiddle]

Lil rant (MAYBE PJATO SHOW SPOILERS?)

Lots of opinions up ahead so uh, look out.

I’m watching the PJATO show and I really love some parts. The casting—they’re all wonderful (literally everyone, Mr D is hilarious) and any fears I had have been quelled because they’re all amazing and the trio fit their characters well (even IRL and they’re so precious). Camp Half Blood — so well done. The cabins are huge, the colosseum is just what I imagined, and they really did great on making it properly large and vibrant. I love it. Some of the extra beats they’ve added to make it better expanded beyond the strictly Percy POV in the book have been good. Annabeth and Grover chucking Percy into a fountain to try to heal him was hilarious and totally in character—probably my favorite part so far. Also: AHHHH SEAWEED BRAIN!

But is anyone just feeling… like the pacing is super slow? Like I get that us “zoomers” have tiny attention spans and stuff but “The Horse and His Boy” was my favorite Narnia book and I read LOTR when I was 11 so I don’t think my attention span is quite so bad. These kids got ADHD and it feels like every talk and every scene just drags. Every time I think the energy is gonna rise, it gets smacked back down by lackluster scene climaxes. Again, I’m not trying to say we need more explosions or booms or arguments, just that I]it isn’t even remotely eliciting the same kind of goose-pimple/heart thumping moments I remember from the books. I reread them constantly and it’s always thrilling.

And the music… someone I was watching it with said it sounded like generic Marvel music, and they’re kinda right. I can’t remember a single note from the score at all, and I’m always listening to movie/TV scores because they’re like listening to the story in music format! PJATO’s score though? Can’t even remember it. I can’t remember any of it even being used in certain places. I thought they’d try to get older instrumentals to make it unique, like lyre AND electric guitar in the mix, but honestly I can’t even remember what it sounds like. That’s bad, right?

[[EDIT: I just looked up the score on Spotify and it was literally made by the people who did the “God of War” game score. There’s no freakin way this music is bad. I’m gonna listen to it alone later. Maybe it’s just set really low in the mix… ]]

The “death” of Sally Jackson was so lackluster. Just a standard medium long shot, can’t even remember if the music flourished or dropped or anything. Their acting was great, but it was framed so poorly that it just felt… idk���

The pacing feels like it’s something I would do as an amateur who doesn’t yet understand how to edit on my first few write-up’s of a script. I’m not trying to be mean or unfair because I REALLY wanna love this show and I genuinely love a lot of stuff about it and I can tell that so many people are working so hard on it, but holy moly I feel my brain begging for someone to do something impertinent and just slap the show into a roll whenever I’m watching it.

There’s another issue I have with the timing of the most recent episode but I don’t wanna go much further.

Again, this is all opinion and not meant to say anyone shouldn’t like the show or that the people in it are stupid because they aren’t at all and people should like it! I’m just saying that as someone that really appreciated the pacing of the books (that was quick but never sacrificed the storytelling and slowed down when it needed to), I am really feeling that this show isnt shaping up like that. Additional note: I’m not even saying that the pacing of the show needs to BE the pacing of the books. I’m just saying that the pacing of the books is one of the things that made it so good and I really haven’t read many things with pacing of that quality.

Aaaanyway feel free to disagree with me or roast me alive. I just haven’t seen anyone talking about it and I wanted to rant a little and see what other people thought. I’m still gonna keep watching because I think if they can fix the pacing, imma really freaking enjoy this and in case they do, I don’t wanna miss it. And because I’d rather have more PJATO show than less!

[wejustvibing]

Here to vent. Everything you said was perfectly said and I agree. The issue is and has always been (imo) is that no one stands up for lewis appropriately. Just a lot of empty words. And I don’t even mean just his team and teammate I mean in general. I don’t trust a single person around him in that sport. It’s tiring sad and exhausting because every week i anticipate abuse or bias against him with little to no support or backlash for certain actions against him. Even other drivers that are nice to him I don’t believe it. Maybe I’m being far too cautious but no one around him has given appropriate levels of support in all situations that require it. Irrespective of who Lewis is and how he wishes to deal with things, his team have a duty of care to support him, treat him equally and protect him and I feel like because he can articulate himself rather well most of the time, has a mindset of rising above and a good work ethic / strong will - they assume he doesn’t need the support. Everyone needs it. And the difference between how they treat George Vs him is like day and night, very different and very gross. It may be unconscious or deliberate, but regardless of which it is it’s worrying. The team in a general sense hasn’t been the same since 2021. The dynamic has shifted, the strengths that made them a force have disappeared, social media has been a mess etc i could make an entire list. What’s happening here isn’t something a fast car is going to fix. That being said i don’t think Lewis needs to leave the team per se but I do think there needs to be some changes and fast. You don’t necessarily need to quit a job straight away, sometimes what’s obvious to us isn’t obvious to everyone and can potentially be solved. He clearly gets along with many of the people there and feels comfortable there, and amongst thousands of employees there are only some that need to be better in regards to the problems I am discussing so I won’t dictate to him about whether he should go elsewhere or leave. He’s grown he can make those choices himself (not saying you are trying to talk for him btw i hope that doesn’t sound rude to you) but I do think he may need an eye opener as does the team that they are just not working well lately. For a while. Things need to change. I think these issues are fixable though with the correct support and people. Honestly as a black person myself this is tiring seeing things play out like this as all too often I have experienced these things too. Merc has some gems in their team for sure but that’s being overshadowed by a colossal pile of problems. I want Lewis to have support. It’s not about babying him. It’s about the fact that he rarely gets support sufficiently (and it’s still lacking) until he’s being called slurs. This sport is rotten and I wish I could tune it out. Every race week I’m anxious.

thank you and i agree

you're not being too cautious, i feel you there. this perfectly describes the conditioning we've had through microaggressions and racism irl. you just can't let your guard down. it's instinctive and it's stressful especially when you know there's nothing you can do about it.

the number of times this team has failed to show up for him is concerning. and really, we (i) don't expect a special treatment or babying, in fact, there's no need for a pedestal they keep putting him on when it suits the brand. just let him be a fucking human? back him up when you know everything he does invites insane levels of hatred and abuse.

and you're so right! if anything, a fast car is going to make things worse for them given the team dynamic they're cultivating, quite evidently through social media at least and often with strategy. i get that the car is shit but they can easily put effort into sorting these issues out. they're just too casual with the way they leave him to fend for himself just because he can. but are quick to exploit his success, emotions and words.

and many are failing to see why we are unhappy. george is a selfish asshole which well all the drivers are. but he is not a threat to lewis in terms of race craft or talent. it's what this team is actively trying to portray that's damaging and pissing us off. i get it, it's not a portrayal of the entire team but then they need to stop taking advantage of lewis' character and show him the support he deserves.

[pokeformerz]

Fandom etiquette post covid is ABYSMAL and I'm blaming Tik Tok and Twitter for it.

Like I'll be on Pinterest and it's a fanart of Rise! Mikey and Donnie playing video games and half the comments are like "Look at this BROTHERLY LOVE!!!1! No t-cest here!!!"

And it's so annoying because, like, obviously there's no t-cest in the post, but why do these people have to scream it in the comments every time? Like if you're worried about potential t-cest just... DON'T INTERACT???

Or on Ao3, where they straight up do not read tags, but read the fic, and then get mad at the author for OOC or Dub-Con or Non-Con or violence or whatever, and they're trying to report the author for it??

Or the CONSTANT "this story has mild dub-con but I don't support it as an author, it's part of the story!!" in the A/N of a fic like... since when did fandom have to be soooo sooo kid gloved??

Or the entitlement that comes to what the human form of a non-human character should look like, when there isn't really a cannon human form. AND! IF THERE WAS? People will 👏still 👏have👏headcannons👏 but these new age fandom-police losers will straight up death threat a person for a headcannon because they are so anal about things being cannon they're SUCKING THE FUN OUT OF IT!

"This character should be x,y,z race."

No, dumbass, this character should be A ROBOT. This character should be a GREEN MF TURTLE. This character should be A DEMON. Like for fucks sake!!

And the root of the problem? It's the mentality that's come from Twitter, and Tik Tok where there ALWAYS has to be some sort of moral betterment that some random user is morally good because they avoid difficult topics like SA in their fanfiction, or that they're so GOOD because they think human ninja turtles should be black (even if they end up being racist to Asians in the process, by erasing the fact that whatever fanart has the tmnt as Asian and these dweebs just go "Durr hurr why r they white").

They're straight up not tagging things properly on Ao3 because they're so morally good that they wrote "rape" like "r*pe" to censor it, but now people who actually had that tag blacklisted are seeing that content again all the time because "r*pe" ISN'T HOW TO PROPERLY TAG SOMETHING.

Like 10 years ago, people headcannoned Optimus Prime as black, some headcannoned him as white, some headcannoned him as Asian, and if we didn't agree with any of the headcannons, we fucked off and didn't harass the OP for their headcannon. It was a norm (that I believe was better respected back then) that if you didn't like something, you didnt interact with it, you could click away to another thing! But now? If any person makes a headcannon that's different from what these people think the norm should be regardless of whether or not it's cannon, that person is going to be TORN APART. If your headcannon is different from the "fanon norms", you must be morally wrong and you must be a horrible person.

Because if you think a non-human character's human form is light skinned? You must HATE every DARK SKINNED MINORITY EVERRRR!!!!!1!

Because if you have a Non-Con scene or reference in your fic you wrote? You MUST be a RAPIST IRL!!!!!!1!!

Because this "Morally Good Fandom Police" bullshit comes hand in hand with ZERO respect for the already established Fandom community structure/etiquette, and a complete lack of critical thinking skills whatsoever. That the new age fandom wants to be an individualist experience where the single user needs to make everyone else cater to them, rather than that user cater their own experience to what they know they want.

I'm gonna be honest tho, I'm sure I got the 10 years ago thing wrong, I may have been in fandom a while but I'm not gonna ignore that some folks have been around way longer than I have. So if this has been an issue for a while and I was just blind to it earlier, that's a me issue I guess.

TLDR; I think new age fandom is so focused on being morally right that they're ruining the experience for people who have been in fandom for decades.

[roboj0e]

PLS TAG UR DISCOURSE

I just have to say this bc I started following some tags that have brought discourse on to my dash but after that I'm gonna block as many discourse tags as I can.

This weird ass way that y'all approach fiction by trying to sus out what trauma other ppl have so u can make sure they're a "good person" by ur own personal and arbitrary standards is also just incentivizing ppl to invade other ppl privacy and contribute to the rising surveillance state we live in. You all just cops. And no fellow black ppl that does not undermine police brutality bc these are all connected issues. Not when the threat of police violence is the first tactics used against anyone who ppl think they hold moral high ground over. And also I'm black trying to call the cops on me contributes to the threat or racialized police violence which happens to me bc I don't care what fiction ppl read btw.

Y'all are putting children in harms way by making them think predators are just ppl on the internet who don't have the same DNI criteria as them. Y'all are putting them in harms way by applauding vigilantism and sending them into the sights of ppl y'all are entirely convinced are dangerous predators.

Be uncomfortable with whatever fiction u want big bruh no one cares but damn stop invading ppls privacy sheesh. Y'all are terrible ppl u can sit on ur high horse all u want but causing harm to real ppl is always evil and I'm specifically using the word evil since y'all love to use a christofascist framework to engage in fiction.

If fiction effects reality then conservatives are correct when they say that gay/trans character made their child gay or trans.

"There's nothing wrong with being gay or trans" u might say and ur right but they still aren't wrong by ur logic. And we all know if u give them an inch...

If fiction effects reality why aren't more ppl empathetic and understanding even tho children's programming has been that way for decades.

If fiction effects reality why havent cartoons like Tom and Jerry had kids throwing knives and skillets at each other?

If fiction effects reality ur favorite video game just caused another mass shooting.

No more "but the jaws movie, cats can drink milk, rabbits eat carrots" first of all absolutely none of that has to do with the fiction y'all are so up in arms I legit haven't seen anyone try to ban any of those properties so it doesn't belong in this conversation.

Second yes pls ignore all the nuance with the jaws movie like how ppl were already reasonably afraid of and misunderstood sharks it's why the movie did so well in the first place, or the very recent shark attacks that took place during that time, or beach vacations being presented as an affordable option for middle class families, or pools being left abandoned bc of desegregation. Nope none of that happened just the movie and that absolutely turned regular ppl into shark hunters out of now where. Yup!

Ppl know very little about animals. It's why Disney can fabricate information in a documentary and get away with it for years. That isn't fiction effecting reality thats a dangerous mix of both a trusted source of information intentionally spreading misinformation and ppl taking this information at face value something y'all shouldn't even be doing when u watch or engage with ANY MEDIA. Ppl being on average incurious about things they see on TV doesn't mean their morals are gonna suddenly change. Also PROPAGANDA ISNT FICTION. propaganda is the intentional spread of misinformation presented as fact with the intent of preying on ppl fears and prejudices. And it can come in all forms but it SHOULDNT be classed as fiction even when presented through fiction.

If fiction effects reality u can't like fictional serial killers or u apparently will be batting for the next ted bundy. So no more tojis self shippers.

If fiction effects reality all u Miguel lovers better be careful around an irl child abusers u might fall in love. Also the way y'all hate proshippers but are romanticisming a man through his interactions with a teenager is YIKES... OKAY

Also dark fiction isn't the only thing under attack any more. The more chronically online are definitely still yelling about lolisho or whatever but it's spread to the more average consumer and now ppl are attacking just regular old furries again. Which has given me whiplash to witness it's insane. Ppl are legit bullying furries again.

Not to mention the antis in the furry scenes whose entire logic is "if ur animal looks too much like an animal u must like animals"...okay...and something about animal genitalia also.

Everybody so creative!!! So many rules for how to make the most morally righteous fiction so everyone knows ur a good boy who says his prayers.

ALOT of y'all are still religiously programmed to believe ur bad thoughts are satanic. And anyone who has them must be demonic. It's scary how many religious wording y'all use.

Theres a reason why everytime one of y'all go on a tangent about how Japan is full of sick freaks the ppl applauding u are other teenagers and xenophobic white nationalists or teenagers on their way to be xenophobic white nationalists.

There's a reason why sasaki and Miyano got banned before any of the weird gross stuff y'all hate.

There's a reason why while y'all were applauding a furry porn site being blocked in Virginia and in that same anti-porn bill was anti trans sentiments.

There's a reason why payment processors are slowly making it impossible to monetize sex work but starting with all the gross fiction y'all hate and y'all are cheering but aren't realizing that payment processors ARE DICTATING WHAT U CAN AND CANT BUY WITH YOUR MONEY.

There is no amount of influencing a show can do to make someone into the pedophile, rapist, abusers y'all keep claiming ppl are. UNLESS they are already a pedophile abuser or a rapist which is ONLY known if the express the desire to harm real ppl or have already harmed real ppl. Also u can't bully a real pro contact pedophile into not being a pedophile btw!! They do not care, they usually commit multiple offense leave prison(if convicted) and DO IT AGAIN. there is usually no shame involved so no amount of "ew a PDF file 🤢🤮🤢🤮" is gonna stop a real predator like y'all are not only wasting ur breathe but also look really weird being scared to use the correct terms.

I say all this to say. I'm tryna make art and have fun here but Jesus following my fave tags has me inundated with discourse all of a sudden. Can y'all like TAG UR DISCORSE AS DISCOURSE so I can follow the tag but block ur crazy ramblings??? 😭 PLSSS TAG UR DISCOURSE I DONT WANNA SEE IT!!!!!

[iamacolor]

Oh I wasn't saying that you said they had the same degree of care I was just in general saying that no one can tell me that I phrases it wrong and yeah fandom has become so backwards in a way it's a very feminist "girlboss" veneer but a 1700s witch trials interior it's not kdramas exclusively it's all Asian shows as well as American ones. You should've seen the discussion regarding the latest bridgerton season it's the exact same thing everything is he's so downbad he's such a looser in love and I've been watching shows from all over the place for a while and it wasn't like this. It's not only fandoms it's also creators and they feed into each other in a sort of snake eating its own tale way, the trend is people want to see relationships like this so writers write more and then fandom eats it up and it goes on and on. Sometimes it feels condescending because romance as a fantasy for women has been there for centuries but this thing where almost every romance is man willing to do anything for woman he loves woman who only reacts is an issue and you really have to be doing it on purpose because I think the natural way to write a couple is two people who navigate things together and take turns helping and supporting and loving eo.

oh okay i see what you mean (also i wasn't sure when i replied if it was all the same person or not so i felt a little defensive) "very feminist "girlboss" veneer but a 1700s witch trials interior" lmaooo that's definitely the vibes of some discourse i've seen happening on twitter lately or even on tumblr a few years ago

and yeah to everything else you've said, my answer to the previous ask was basically a lot of this lol i really do think a lot of it stems from people wanting to see/write something that shows what women should receive from a man and how men should behave but then the only thing left to do a lot of the time for women is to react and even that can end up being criticised if it so much as upsets the male lead lol feminism isn't just about how women should be treated by others it's also about how they should be able to act and take place in the world and the roles they can take with those around them

it's interesting that you mentioned bridgerton because although i haven't watched this season this is a dynamic i've observed a lot in romance novels as well - especially in historical ones where it's often tied up with the traditional gender roles in marriage which is almost always at the core of the story with men literally being the providers and the owners - changes are definitely happening in the romance novel world thanks to a lot of indie/self published authors who can be a little bit more free when it comes to catering to a wide audience because they can decide to target a more "niche" audience but when it comes to tv, production is often tied to more conventional formulas.

and it's also important to point out that to many people seeing a man happily devoted to a woman, to see a man's interests be put second, to see a man put a woman's happiness first, that's already progressive (and again it's so often not the case irl - we have rising numbers of feminicides and divorces and still a very unequal sharing of domestic chores in most householdes etc) which is why i think it's more a question of trying to bring more types of relationships to the screen (to also highlight the depth of women's feelings and passions) than it is a question of getting rid of these kind of stories because they do have a role to play if only in offering a little escape - i definitely enjoy some of that!

[arcplaysgames]

LET'S WRAP UP SOME SOCIAL LINKS WHILE NAOTO SLEEPS FOR A FEW WEEKS

"Queer teen who lost his father at a young age and struggles with being a masculine person on his own terms while also contending with the parts of him that don't feel manly" is a specific portrait and I think Kanji is a good rendition of it. Growing up with a narrow definition of strength and then breaking your back to try and force yourself to fit inside it has done its damage to more people than just Kanji.

He's gonna grow up to be such a good dude, like for real. Also, I never would have guessed this going in, but he's one of my favorite renditions of The Emperor. The willingness to protect those around him, the desire to be a visible member of his community, and the want to teach those around him his hard-won lessons. Kanji is a great Emperor.

Rise and Yosuke are both have the same fucking issue in that when they're good, they're great, but they also are the characters that piss me off the most. "Creepy," fuck off Rise.

But Kanji shows up to hang out and talk about his decision to be the punk guy who sews things and beats up gangs and tries to help local kids. It's ALL GOOD. It's all him!

Kanji Tatsumi, I adore you. You're the best character in this game by a fucking mile.

LOOK AT HIM!!!!!! LOOK! LOOK AT THIS GUY! THIS IS THE BEST GUY! Kanji is genuinely the person in both P3 and P4 I would most want to be friends with IRL.

Yukiko's arc has also come to a good conclusion. WEIRDLY she reminds me of Porrim Maryam and Kanaya Maryam from Whomstve. They were also people who were opt-ed into certain responsibilities because of how they were born and chafed against their duties until they went through a period of really contending with the question of "do I want to do this" divorced from the societal expectation that they would do that.

Yukiko's got a similar thing, which is probably why I think of her as a Space aspect person. She put everything in order to leave Inaba and strike out, and in doing so and seeing how.... not easy it was but how possible it was, it allowed her to become comfortable with staying. Which is an interesting arc I find relatable.

She's by far my favorite girl, I would be friends with her. Also she likes horror movies. Yukiko's awesome.

YUKIKO SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE MAGICIAN!!!!!!!! SWAP HER AND YOSUKE!

Let's swap to the fucking baffling confusing SLink of The Jester.

So the recurring thread in Adachi's SLink is that he's super fucking bitchy and annoyed at this lil old lady who has decided to take care of him because he shares a name with her son. She makes him food and asks after him and is always happy to see him.

It's not mutual.

Adachi prepares to hide form her again but it turns out her ACTUAL son is visiting and she's thrilled to have him around again.

I asked him if it made him sad at all, not talking to her, and check this the fuck out.

SO. Jester. Obviously its in conversation with the Fool, they both occupy the Zeroth position in the Majors.

While the Fool's entire point is that they are traveling and meeting/experiencing each stage of the Majors, from Magician all the way to World, the Jester seems like an inverted Fool in Persona 4.

Adachi has people around him who show concern, who try to care about him, and he both is passively unaware and is actively discouraging it. If the Fool went through the journey of the Majors and learned literally nothing, that'd be Adachi. And that's the way he wants it, because it's easier. Yeah it's lonely, but also... connections take effort. They require you to give a shit.

This is apparently my last SLink with Adachi outside, like, scheduled updates to it from the game plot, and lemme tell you:

I don't trust this fucking guy at all. The Ryoji Vibes are going off like a geiger counter. Between the fucking weird shit with his fake-drunkenness with Dojima and this thing here, the way he will exert effort only to avoid exerting more effort, I am fucking really unsettled by him.

And there have been these little moments, enough that they pile up slowly over time, where his line reads are just.... off. He's off. I used to think there was NOTHING behind that vacant expression, and now I realize yo he's voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch. Those moments are not accidental.

Is he the killer? I don't know. But he's not a good guy, and the fact that he's so conflicted about the closing of the murder cases is just adding to the sus vibes.

Like.... he straight up couldn't have kidnapped Rise, he was busy with us........ what if every kidnapping/murder was someone different...?

GAH I DUNNO. I gotta think. BUT!!!! If I'm right about something happening to Nanako later as an extension of Dojima being targeted, Adachi is a PRIME suspect.

I don't KNOW!!!!! Ugh. I'll get there.

I've got even more SLink summarizing to do, but this post is long enough.

[awritingcaitlin]

About me!

My name is Caitlin! I love cats, and they're my writing buddies often. When I'm not writing, I'm curating one of dozens of playlists, making aesthetics for my WIPs, or playing a video game. Currently it's still Tears of the Kingdom because there's just so much to do!

More under the cut!

I've been writing since sometime in elementary school. I completed my first manuscript in high school (a YA magic school novel) and tried to query it. It did not go over well, largely because I didn't actually edit it! (But also because I was floundering with no idea what I was doing with subgenres, similar titles, if my opening pages were the issue, if the query was the issue, if the agent I queried actually repped that category and genre... etc.) (Do not be me.) I may one day return to it, but for now I'm content to let that one stay on the shelf.

I ended up burning myself up over the project unfortunately. After that, I was in college where most of my writing was fanfiction for one of five different fandoms. (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasies 7 and 8, Dragon Age, and Undertale.) I did NaNo a couple of stories, but never actually made it as far as querying again until much later.

Currently, my co-writer and I are revising an adult epic fantasy about marines on a mission, magical brainwashing, and a sorceress who walks the line between trying to stop the religious fanatics but also not painting a target on her back.

I had been trying to revise that alongside my fantasy heist novel, but there's too many different plotlines (not to mention characters that are in both but 5 years removed from each other) to keep track of for that to work. I can do edits and draft at the same time, but I can't draft two things at the same time unless they're a different genre. Or heavily revise two things at the same time.

I first dipped my toes into writing in elementary school. I would take composition notebooks lying around the house and fill them with stories. I vividly remember my first written story about two girls from a medieval time who got sent to the present day, but they kept trying to go back in time so they could save their mom. I've since lost that composition notebook, but if I ever wanted to rewrite that based on vibes alone I probably could.

My mom always supported me and wanted to read what I wrote. It was really easy to share stuff with her as a kid and a teenager who didn't feel particularly embarrassed about my work. Even as an adult, writing adult books with adult themes, I kind of just go "fuck it." She's an adult, who makes her own choices.

I've always been drawn to writing fantasy. I love the appeal of swords and magic (mostly magic.) I like writing epic motifs where the characters are up against seemingly impossible odds and are able to overcome. I like interweaving "real world" issues into fantasy too. Because queerness and disability is not something that only exists IRL.

I love writing characters who are bigger than themselves - people who find their magic spark; people who rise to the challenge; power so deep it's barely understandable but people try anyway; a pantheon of gods who doesn't know what they're doing and end up as characters in their own right. I love weaving in storylines, making connections, dropping in references. Etc.

I am really good at dialogue. I love writing it and it shows. Exploring how characters interact with each other is honestly one of my favorite things to do and dialogue is one of the biggest extensions of that.

To be honest, sometimes, all I have is dialogue that I throw up on a page and have to fill it out with actions and descriptions later. Sometimes, it all comes at once. A lot of it depends on where I am when the dialogue strikes me. If I'm on a bike ride or in the shower, I'll get a back-and-forth dialogue in a vacuum that I have to flesh out. This can also happen when I'm on the computer, but usually, if the dialogue is coming to me while I'm already at my computer, it's also coming with actions.

As far as outlining and researching goes, I usually start drafting and then come up with an outline of where I want it to go or plot points I want to include. At one point, I did an entire zero draft for a YA contemporary, which contributed to me writing 80k in five weeks. Still not 100% sure how I manged that in the end. But, for the most part, I have an outline that I'm drafting from, then I get a shiny idea and work to include it, so I adjust my outline and begin writing again... and then this process repeats near-on indefinitely until the end of the book. So my project folders start looking like this:

I'm one of those people though who, more often than not, will come up against a question I have while drafting, and be unable to continue until I've answered the question. I probably should get better about putting notes in brackets or footnotes and coming back to it, but at the same time, I don't think it's terribly detrimental to my process to take an evening off as a research evening. I've learned some pretty interesting stuff this way. (That said! I'm better about footnotes this current draft as me and my co-writer figure things out.)

One of the best things about writing is when I have readers telling me that they loved it. Or that they laughed. Or that they felt things. I might enjoy drinking readers' tears as they tell me I'm a terrible person for doing horrible things to their favorite character.

Writing scratches that creative itch. It makes me feel whole and complete. On the flip side, when I'm having trouble writing because of real life... I feel upset and anxious.

If I could manifest anything into the publishing world, it's a nine-book series out of this with spinoffs to expand the world indefinitely. (Why worldbuild more than once?) It might not be the most feasible thing ever, but I can dream.

If you've made it this far, have some writing advice. Which is basically... find what advice works for you and do that. Also, what works for you might not work in six months. Don't be afraid to change it up. If writing 2k words a day is super feasible because you cleared the whole month of November, great! But come December if you're feeling burnt out, it's okay to only write 100 words a day... or even take a break altogether and let your creative juices refill. If writing in the mornings works great in the summer but writing in the afternoons is better in the winter, do that! You, the writer, the creator, is more important than some arbitrary goal. (Unless you have a contracted deadline, in which case, may all the motivation be at your disposal!)

[rpcburnbook]

Genuine question (though i don't expect anyone here not to take it in bad faith) what do you do with content you don't like when you find it out in the real world? Do you believe in book-banning? Or do you believe that there is a separation between published authors and RPers? Is it purely a skill difference that makes it ok for an author to publish darker content but not an RPer? I know it's a lot to ask, but I'd love to see an actual conversation about why the RPC feels certain ways about some content. I think if people could have a calm rational conversation instead of the accusatory screaming matches, that they'd either be able to find a middle ground or they'd in the very least be able to present guidelines so the rest of the community knows what content is a cancelable offense. // I simply dnf a book or stop watching. I don't believe in book bans, and I think censorship is bad once people are adults. I don't want 'A Little Life' in the hands of 10 year olds, for instance, and do not care if an 18 year old reads it. Unless art crosses into life, I don't care about or judge the creator or ascribe bad intent to them based on the content of their art. I feel the same way about fanfic, where there often is a marked skill issue with handling certain topics. The reason various things squick me so hard in rpc is that the vast majority of people I know experience some degree of crossover with their characters, identifying with them and their perspective. That's not true for everyone, so I usually ignore stuff I don't like. Where I get irate is when people start talking about their taboo writing topic of the month on main, or feel that others are obligated to put up with discussion, plots, and content surrounding that theme in a community based hobby. It's very hard for someone to dnf/stop reading the plotting channel on a site that has an interconnected plot. So, when the question rises of preference towards fielding distasteful content, or letting people be in community without that content, I will always prefer the latter and I suspect many admins share that outlook. I think that most who don't make that pretty clear. I have written my own dark content and been asked to tone it down- and for me, the true separation lies between those who are willing to take that feedback and people who specifically enjoy pushing other people's boundaries. I think a lot of people who enjoy writing taboo topics in rpc enjoy it *because* it's taboo, and because it triggers, offends, and inflames people. And that's fine when people can opt in and out without losing anything- an author and I lose nothing if I choose not to read their latest novel. But in rp, people lose their hobby and narratives and sometimes social connections if people press on with this stuff despite community preferences. I think dark topics can be handled well- but it requires a lot more from writers and admins than saying 'don't like don't read', or being too passive to moderate BEFORE you start getting droves of complaints, and I very rarely see either group rise to that requirement. I don't care about cancelling tbh, but I certainly have my own thresholds of when I start disliking people and another when I start talking in the groupchat with my rp friends about it. TLDR: The rpc identifies or fantasizes about life through their character's perspective far too prevalently for me to believe in the widespread separation of art and artist in this hobby. Also, a lot of people who write dark shit do it specifically to upset or goad people irl even when they know specific boundaries exist. Even when not the intent, most writers are not considerate enough, and most admins won't moderate enough to make a public community comfortable around gross content. Ergo, I'd simply rather not bother in this hobby.

~

[krotosis]

alice, ever since i’ve held witness to nothingness, i can’t see life the same way anymore.

thinking seems to have split from it’s roots and now only revolves around pattern-seeking and contrast theories. resilience is honestly my only redeemable trait, but that can easily convert to stubbornness, so whos to say? sin tends to line every choice of mine, its fucking disgusting. you’d think i would’ve learnt my lesson by now. gross sickly slimy incapable child

when i was little, my step-dad would often shoot birds. he’d aim for families, try to take them out in one shot. i’d cry but it didn’t deter him. another dwindling bit of irony, i managed to cry for birds but not for his victims. i was a child, its fine, whatever. it’s honestly stupefying the fact he bought an illegally imported weapon just to fucking kill birds, what a cunt

but it’s fine, it’s all fine.

because nothingness is bliss.

in the mildest way my mind could process the ‘experience’, it was the kindest thing to ever happen and simultaneously not happen to me. it was beautiful, the way my mind remembers something that never occurred is so beautiful. it’s calming, it’s grounding, because it’s true, it’s real. i’d be blessed to stay that way, even if my sore rotting mind becomes incapable of remembering.

i can only wish for similar fates for everyone i care about. Alice, you don’t UNDERSTAND how fucking amazing it is. It’s so fucking beautiful I cant put it into words, and I never tried to, not in-person anyway.

people like my step-father are exactly reasons why nothingness is gorgeous. his actions exist as one, the man who happily made us breakfast in the morning, the first man child me dared to trust after EVERYTHING that happened and then simultaneously being a creepy stalker, abusive murderer if not months later. I knew he was bad, but not that bad, violence is just a part of life, can i really ..?????????? i dont know. i will never justify him. i didn’t care when it was just violence because it bred money and money was what we needed the most

my cat came back today! i wasn’t sure if he was hurt after the recent snow. i was going to go out looking for him, i dont even know what to comment about that. OBVIOUSLY i was gonna look for him but also,, not so obviously you know? maybe i was just telling myself i would do it and then never do? i waited 2 days with barely an afterthought so? how can i be sure that makes me a redeemable person? maybe i was just lying? how should i know т_т i need something to make me feel feelings that are more exact, precise, maybe then ill feel like i used to again

i replayed the arcana today! i nearly cried at the nostalgia, fictional worlds are so picturesque, why is real life so dull and bitter +_+ but i have to keep going !! its the gift !! some gift !! that i will never fully understand!!!!!!! but im meant to keep going anyway !!

relationships in media are so bitter. perfect friendships, lost and found and family and trust, things irl always work out but they never *work out*. theres never some adventure, just grisly grappling with your circumstances; you come out of it “okay, i guess” and that’s the best story you’ll have for decades. the fact theres no after to an end, just continuous days and days and days with days and days and days worth of issues is paralysing. it just doesn’t stop

i wish i could stop time. the closest thing i’d have to that nothingness. if i could, i’d just sleep, finally sleep GOOD sleep for the first time. i want to wake up feeling refreshed, i want to sleep feeling safe, knowing everything is still around me. time doesn’t pass, im free of its constraints. no what where when, sun rising night falling, next day 3am 4am 7, just me and me. nothing but me and warmth of my bed. my whole family is safe, they are safe because everything is incapable of being otherwise. even if being actively attacked, that victim is left to linger in never-fleeting moments, peace and solidity for once. time is cruel, but i don’t want to bore you with overused metaphors so i’m sure you can interpret it yourself.

so pessimistic today

your regretful childhood friend,

they miss you