#like with my best friends its easier bc we like the same things and i know them so well but even then its hard

[gothcarmelasoprano]

maw why are these troll accounts linked through my ex best friends STILL following me

[snekdood]

bitches prolly out here psychoanalyzing my old art on behalf of my abuser to cushion their belief that im a Horrible Person but then dont see the irony when I point out the shitty things my abuser has drawn and how I see it as clear evidence of their mindset and beliefs (of what's okay to do and how to treat people) descending and pairing that along with everything else they've done and it paints a clear picture of how this person got to the point of thinking it was okay to abuse me the way they did and then the people looking for reasons to hate me through my art will act like "they're just drawings !!!" about their art. which one is it. does someones art say something about them or not? or does it only say something about them if you hate them?

[hyunrun]

hheuehe

[emotargaryen]

christmas in less than a week and i havent gotten anybody a present

[mothiir]

sorry to be that rehash that droid de suggondeez plotline (I REFUSE TO CORRECTLY SPELL FRENCH) with big e stealing a wife but could we pretttty ppLEAAAASE get some more mothiir? i am obsessed with the eldritch inhuman but human behaviour you write him with. it makes me want to chew on him while simultaneously wanting to beat him with a brick out of hatred. i have so many ideas. but ill take anything you offer up fr ill live off the scraps like a feral dog, its just that the the whole david and goliath vibe is TASTYYYY. please dignify my complete insanity for just an intsy winsy second because all i can imagine is how utterly FUCKED the stolenwife!reader's pov is. you try fight back a little too much? oh haha, ur so cute, but keep biting or scratching him and he'll sicc one of the custodes (or a few) to really try you out. let you be so overstimulated youre begging for something in you, and oh boy big e'll sooo do that dont worry. or maybe humble you by keeping you basically half bare like yeah not so cocky now LMFAO IM SO SORRY I NEVER GIVE PROMPTS SO BRAZENLY LIKE THIS BC IM A COWARD FULL OF SHAMEEE UR SO MUCH BRAVER THAN MEEE (thank you sm if you do or dont run with anything i spat out just then)

first of all, never apologise for requesting stuff and also i totally respect your disrespect of the French language. as an englishwoman i am contractually obligated to hate those frog-eating bastards (disclaimer: this is satire pls don’t cancel me). secondly i absolutely love your description of my interpretation of big e because it is also exactly how i feel about him. beat him with brick, pat hair, back to brick. I know i have moved away from that content but I still wave my emperor fucker flag and am always taking requests for him

i promise there will be actual coherent fic soon, but for now here is a bullet pointed list of the sort of things that guilliwife experiences (if there is one in particular you want a full fix of let me know):

the Emperor steals you, and does not think to tell Guilliman — why would he? He fucks you, enjoys it tremendously, then has to go and do some important Master of Mankind warp fuckery that means you spend about a fortnight in some random rooms with no one to talk to but the Custodes. And they barely talk! You never work out if they are bodyguards or prison guards, since you can’t imagine that you are important enough to warrant guarding, but you also don’t think that there is much effort needed to stop you escaping. Where would you even go?

It would be so much easier if he was always a selfish monster in bed — but he isn’t. Worse: he eats pussy exactly how you think a man with millennia of practice would. He likes bringing you to the very edge of orgasm and just stopping, pillowing his cheek on your stomach and watching as you whine and cry, partly with guilt and partly with sheer frustration. You end up begging him to fuck you, stumbling out every title you can think of — lord, emperor, sire, master — but his patience is limitless, and he can keep going for hours, until you’re completely insensible, promising every depraved thing if he will just stop teasing and put it in you

You belong to him. No one else is allowed to touch you — apart from valdor, one of his oldest friends and dearest allies. And captain Kytan. And a few other custodes. Sometimes at the same time. They’re extensions of his most absolutely not divine will — they can partake in the same luxuries he allows himself, otherwise what kind of a leader would he be? He likes seeing his best soldiers happy, especially when it’s because valdor is balls deep in your arse, while he enjoys the sweet warm stretch of your throat. You jostle and whimper between them, so full that you can barely breathe, and afterwards the emperor watches as valdor thumbs open your cheeks, just to watch your holes struggle to close up around the shape of his cock. Still, valdor can’t linger too long - there is already a line

He will cum inside you so much you swear your stomach bulges a little from it all. You have nightmares about popping like a balloon

eventually word reaches the Emperor that Guilliman is looking to speak to him as a matter of urgency — he is currently buried deep in your throat, enjoying the cute little gluck-gluck-gluck noises your gag reflex makes as you try to fit him all the way into your tight gullet. He does not ask you to stop this before answering the vox from a distraught Roboute, who is blathering about his fiancée going missing? The Emperor chuckles a little to himself, patting your hair — ah, having a woman to be wed and a woman in his bed, Roboute is far more like his father than first thought — wait. Ah. Singular woman. Singular. Shit.

[romanarose]

Hi Roman! Loooove your HCs re: the TF boys. Could I pls ask you what you think would be the biggest sources of contention when it comes to each guy and their SO & how they handle relationship conflict?

Hello, wonderful human! Sorry it took so long for me to respond. Been cranking out fics to catch up and prepare for everything lol!!!

Happy to answer you! I'll be focusing mostly on the guys issues, not so much readers, but we all bring out own things into relationships.

Warnings: Addiction, ptsd, general relationship issues

I think everything should be gender neutral, correct me if i missed something.

More HC's here

Santiago

Commitment.

My dude can't commit to a thing.

I imagine after the movie events he went to see yvonna.... and then left after a few months bc he's a mess.

First arguement you get into he;s like "fine! I'll just leave then, clearly this isn't working"

And you give your best ????? face.

Santi you dumbass.

But you don't give up that easily! You're a menace to society.

You make him face down the issue, talk to you, and *gasp* share how he feels!

When its resolve, you tell him he can't just threaten to leave when he gets frustrated. If he wants to leave he needs to be honest, but he can't hide away under one small issue.

You ask if he really wants to leave. He says no so fucking fast.

He admits he hasn't had any stability in his life like... ever. Immigrant family, military, then his less-than-legal missions... but he wants to make it work with you

You have to work to find a balance between not letting him run away but not forcing him to stay.

But it works. Santi finds you easier and easier to talk to about things and soon enough, he's been with you for a year and theres still no itch to leave.

Ben

Benny Miller is a goof ball.

That's why you fell in love with him in the first place!

But he's not the most mature. He struggles to be serious, even when he wants to. That's the issue. You don't want to dampen his shine, you love him how he is

Thing is, you've been together 6 months and you still feel like you're casually dating.

There was no big "I love you".

He simple kissed your cheek saying goodbye, said "love you!" and dashed off to his friends.

But you did love him, you loved him so much but you weren't sure he was invested as you were. Maybe he wasn't ready for a serious relationship or you were more of a casual date to him...

Benny notices your mood change pretty quickly. He may be dumb but he's not stupid

(This is a joke Benny is canonically a highly skilled and talented individual I love him so much.)

"What am I to you?"

You ask him and it starts a whole discussion. You're surprised to find he's listening intently to what you have to say, takes in your words well.

You express how it hurts that every time he says "love you" It's the same tone of voice he uses with his friends or brother. He makes you feel like you're "one of the guys" but you're having sex.

Benny pauses and gathers his words before expressing that he does love you, very deeply. He thinks about marrying you... he just struggles to express it verbally. After some talking, you introduce him to the idea of love languages.

You figure out Benny loves receiving with words of affirmation and thats what he gets stuck on. He can't express well through words, so he thinks he's fucked.

You take the time to talk about the other four, and ways he can express through those.

After this talk, you feel much better and Ben makes you feel so, so loved and special.

(He also makes sure to say his "I love you" during sex or more initmate moments, not just in passing, letting you know that he really, really does.)

Will

Fear.

You probably expected PTSD, didn't you?

Well thats a part of it. His PTSD does affect his life but I think he's scared to lose you and scared to hurt you.

Will keeps you at arms length. Maybe you're a friend of Ben's and are around a lot and clear chemistry!! But nothing is happening

Finally you confront him. Bestie you can't keep lingering touch on my arm if you're not gonna fuck me about it.

Will is def the most straight forward and self aware so he's gonna be honest.

"I choked a man out in a grocery store for not moving his cart fast enough and almost killed him, my fiance left me after that, I've got 33 confirmed kills and also I watched one of my best friends die and carried his dead body over the fucking Andes, man."

A lot to unpack there!!!!

He tells you he's afraid he's going to lose you if he lets you get too close. He's afraid of hurting you.

You tell him he's sweet but he should also go to therapy.

You go with him to the first appointment.

Will I think is the easiest bc I just think hes the most mature and open

Frankie

Addiction

My dude hates himself.

And literally any feeling he's like "well time to do some coke about it."

It wasn't a big deal when you just started dating. You knew he did coke sometimes on weekends and rationalized that it can't be that big a deal, it's like drinking, right?

(Im 26 now and realizing how many people casually do coke is wild to me. None of my business tho.)

But soon you realize just how bad it's gotten. He's high almost all the time. Then his liscense comes under review. Then the trip to south america...

You don't think he's ever even sober, and you're worried about him, worried his heart is going to give out. Sometimes you stay awake watching him breath just to be sure.

Finally you can't take it anymore. You never wanted to to be the ultimatum party but you can't do this, you're suffering and so is he. He either gets sober or you leave. You didn't care how long it took, you didn't care if he relapsed but he needed to start trying.

Frankie ops to go to rehab. It's best, because he's gonna need to detox first.

You visit often, almost every day, making sure his friends all knew when visit times were and sometimes going as group, sometimes separate but always making sure someone came by every single day so he knew he wasn't alone.

90 days later, Frankie comes out a new man. He's cheeks fuller and pants tighter but his smile bigger.

He's gonna be okay and so are you.

Tom

He's dead

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK!!!! I love tf boys head cannons <3

[the-moon-files]

Linked Universe - Masc!Reader Soulmate Quick Headcanons <3

(^^ this is so cute i gotta find the anime its from)

Sun: Male/Masc Reader (he/him), Guide Reader :)

Stars: Wild (Breath of the Wild Link)

Planet: Headcanons/scenarios, kinda long sorry

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: Link possibly feeling comphet (compulsory heteronormative), the general angst of being the best friend love interest (ends well dw), Links missing you/being sad about it

& Trigger Warnings: Link crying. (Please comment if otherwise.)

☆

Wild (BOTW Link)

Ok so we know he was stuck before the calamity following Zelda around

And while in game it seems like he's perfectly accepting of his role as her knight

And maybe could love her or grow to love her

I feel like after the Calamity, and after he meets you, its not possible anymore

It kinda feels like that same way ppl come to realize theyre lesbians??

Like he could've been straight and happy or content (not really, not fully, but in that way that gay women settle for staying with a man, he'd stay with Zelda maybe)

She used to be all he had left really, so maybe out of obligation he'd have stayed, but then he lost his memories.

And what was once a daily duty now became a woman he barely knew halfway across the kingdom, (who creepily randomly telepathically invaded his mind,,)

Link doesn't really realize how he feels until after traveling with you around the entirety of Hyrule, camping, fighting, cooking, eating etc. together, after becoming best friends with you,

Its like how a lesbian realizes they're lesbian bc they could never imagine themselves actually dating/married to a man, at least relying on him for the long term,

Then that sentiment comes in like "i just wish i could stay with my best (non-man) friend forever" kinda way

Like he definitely had the thought "this is so much easier, i wish we could be together forever" <3

So while "dating" you didn't necessarily occur to Link at first bc of heteronormative mindset/general mission of the Calamity Ganons

He quickly breaks out of that a couple months into the journey

Zelda at first may have been the quintessential "princess needing saving" but you were the "best friend love interest all along" type of energy you know?

So when at the end of you guys' journey, you feel the tug to leave, because the adventure's over.. you fully expect to see Zelda running into his arms or something, and turn away

You may be able to accept he loves women (tho how he looked at you and how comfortable he was touching you had you thinking possibly, maybe, hopefully otherwise)

But that doesn't mean you're going to sit here and watch it happen

(You know the games, the Legend of Zelda, this is how it always ends)

Instead, you feel lean but strong arms clamp around your torso

You're lifted up (even if you complain about how heavy you are, and he must be tired)

But Link is just smiling, and spins you around, Zelda is slack jawed in the background and then giggles??

Well, that's sweet, at least he remembered you were here instead of getting absorbed in her

Link practically whips you around, turning you in his arms

You stumble but he's too strong to let you falter in this position

He crushes you to his chest, a whispered "thank you" in your right ear, his breath is warm and ticklish

You awkwardly pat his back, "yeah, of course buddy, glad she's okay, and you're alright, you should get some rest. Oh, and you can have whatever I've got left in my iventory, since I won't be needing it anymore... you know I've gotta go soon."

You feel more see Link jump in shock, he grasps your shoulders (you didn't realize how hot his hands were until they were gone from your back)

You're worried he forgot about the whole "only here for adventures" Guide thing until painful understanding shows in his blue eyes

He immediately looks like the wind got knocked out of him

"Sorry Link, I wish I could stay to rebuild or explore Hyrule with you... but it's not my choice anymore."

You look apologetic but at least you know he won't be alone, that was your entire reason for being a Guide in the first place

But as you begin to fade (which, wow, Hylia really can't spare having you stick around for longer than a few minutes or seconds after Ganon's defeat??)

Link looks, panicked?

Like he's watching the Calamity happen all over again, but unlike in the game, he actually looks overwhelmed and freaked

His calloused hands attempt to grab you in various places, your arms, your waist, your shoulders, hands, just anything he can hold onto

But nothing works and you give him a sad smile, wishing him good luck with Zelda and the kingdom

And a reminder not to push himself too hard, bc you wont be there to stop him anymore

It's only just as the last of your vision fades (like a movie fading to black at the edges and closing in)

That you see him start to cry.

☆

The first few months without you were hard, you had practically been the one constant in his life, afterall he couldn't remember much else so consistent before you

Sure, he had flickers of old memories, old friends, even of Zelda,

But they were special ones, specific moments, not having a routine every evening for who cooks dinner and who does dishes

No memory of someone helping him figure out how to dress himself, or how to shield surf down the best slopes

You were home, the very wilds he's grown to love and adore during his adventure, his house in Hateno was more like a inn he didn't pay for, rather than the warm fire you were sitting beside, lifting a blanket corner so he could curl up beside you

Zelda had understood, thankfully

She'd expected he would be different, memory loss can affect someone like that

But she'd said he seemed, better, lighter

Lighter than he ever was as a knight, even at the happiest she'd seen him

He'd helped some with the castle at first, but seeing how depressed he was, esp after she got other workers or Hylians to help, Zelda had sent him off

Under the flimsy excuse to go officially inform the rest of the kingdoms that she'd been freed and Ganon defeated

Link had unconciously returned to your favorite spots around Hyrule, and it had hurt in a different way to be around stables and have people ask where you were (you were more talkative than he was)

He'd started to avoid civilization unless absolutely necessary for supply runs, and he preferred to do so in disguise late at night..

So when Link's summoned on an adventure yet again to fight a threat so devastating it needs the previous incarnations of him...

He's actually looking forward to it.

Don't get him wrong, he wishes this weren't necessary to defeat the shadow, and he doesn't want anyone to get hurt, but if this is an adventure...

It means he might be able to see you again.

And he's willing to take on Ganon all over again, spend months at a time fighting and mowing down monsters, if it means you're allowed to be by his side once more

(He had tried praying to Hylia, which he didn't do much pre or post calamity usually, but for you he made an exception, and the blonde found that this was the one prayer that he could feel no divine eye turned on him for...? Her presence was practically gone when he prayed for you back)

But at least now, he realizes, he was right.

Thank goodness (not Hylia?) , he was right

Because Link could feel you,

As he'd learned towards the end of his journey, there was an innate 6th sense he had for feeling your presence, the closer you were, the more precise it was, even down to which way you were turned (all without him looking at you)

(He had ignored the strangely giddy feeling that bubbled up in his chest when Impa learned of this trick, and began to tell him, for the first time since his memories about it were gone, about soulmates)

Like familiar paths in Hyrule, he knew where a safe place to sleep was waiting,

You were waiting.

All he had to do was step through the portal, find his fellow heroes, and he knew, you would be there.

☆

This accidentally posted 💀🥲

Welp, i was about ready to post it anyway, hope someone got a kick outta this,

Im slowly gonna add all the Links btw lol

Thanks for reading, hope u enjoyed! :)

Peace Out,

🌙

[steddieas-shegoes]

Nother idea: 8 years later, Tommy & Carol apologizing to Steve for their behavior. & for immediately abandoning him when they knew he needed them most.

But Steve has people now who have shown him love, family, true friendship. And while he forgives them its not the same. He doesn't trust them. He is thriving without them.

But Carol realizes that the reason it isn't the same is bc Steve genuinely believes that they don't mean their apology. So she & Tommy actually discuss it and find a way to clear up any misunderstanding & ensure he knows they mean their apology. It works, it takes time & effort but they are once again his friends.

MY LOVE!!! STEVE REALIZING HE'S LOVED AND DOESN'T NEED HIS SHITTY EX FRIENDS CREW STAND UP!!!! I had the opportunity to really give Steve his shining moment and yell at them, but I decided that Steve would just be kind of over it, like they aren't really worth yelling at. Steve didn't do all this personal growth just to let them back in so easily, but luckily he isn't the only one who changed. You know I had to involve Eddie, of course! - Mickala ❤️

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

It was too fucking early on a Saturday morning to be woken up by the buzzer of his apartment.

Whoever it was was lucky that Eddie had to go into work today or he would be committing murder at their door.

He glanced at the clock on the microwave, 10:47, okay, so not that early.

They’d had a late night, okay?

If he had a limp to show what they were up to, that was his business.

“You can leave the package in the box, I’ll grab it soon!” Steve said into the mic, hoping it was just a delivery.

“Steve? Is that you?”

He recognized the voice, though he wished he didn’t.

Eight years was a long time to go without talking to someone who used to be your best friend, but when you’d been best friends for so long, certain things couldn’t be forgotten.

“Tommy?”

“Uh yeah, man. I’m here with Carol. We actually were hoping to talk to you?”

He looked down at his almost naked body, only Eddie’s boxers covering him.

“Sure.”

He buzzed them in, not giving them any clue where he was so they would take their time getting to his door. He had to throw on clothes, brush his hair, and try to look like he hadn’t just been asleep.

He rushed to the bedroom, throwing on the first pair of jeans he saw and a t-shirt from the floor. He heard voices down the hall as he was heading to the bathroom, his hands shaking with nerves as he tried to rush to brush through his hair.

“It can’t be that Munson, though, right? Even Steve wasn’t a fan of him in school.”

Steve grimaced at Carol’s voice.

Technically, Eddie worked a half shift when he had to work Saturdays, which meant unless they were only stopping by for a few minutes, he would probably be home while they were still here.

Tommy had always hated Eddie. No one could really figure out why. Sure, a lot of people said nasty things about and to Eddie in high school, but no one else really put their hands on him the way Tommy did.

Eddie joked it must have been because he liked him, but Steve thought maybe he just had a lot of displaced anger.

At least that’s what he thought when he became a counselor and understood a lot of psychology behind why people did things.

Eddie laughed and said, “don’t overthink it, some people are just bullies.”

But Steve liked to think maybe Tommy was more complicated than that, liked to explain away his worst qualities so it made it easier to accept that he was once best friends with him.

Eddie laughed about that too, and said, “kids are stupid, and sometimes we find friends in people who make us feel better about ourselves, but you grew up.”

Steve shook his head, not wanting to think more about it.

He opened the front door, the ghosts of his past standing there, hardly aged, hardly any different at all.

“Come in, guys. Um. Sorry, I wasn’t really expecting anyone.”

They all awkwardly laughed as Tommy and Carol made their way inside.

The apartment was small, cheap rent kept them there so they could save up to buy a house outside of town in the next few years, maybe work on starting a family if they could.

They’d talked about it over the last couple of years, once Steve was settled in his job at the school, once Eddie got promoted to general manager at the shop, they’d save for a few years, have a decent down payment, start looking for a house with three or four bedrooms. Start looking into adopting. Maybe get a cat.

But to do that, their apartment was cozy, as Eddie liked to say. One bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen and living room area all one room, a tiny storage closet. They didn’t even have their own washer and dryer, which reminded Steve that he had to take their laundry downstairs and get it started soon.

Tommy and Carol looked around, but hid any emotion on their faces.

He gestured for them to have a seat on the couch, which was a hand-me-down from Wayne when they moved in. It was “too much” for his space when Eddie moved out.

They sat, though they didn’t look very comfortable.

Steve sat in the rocking chair Eddie bought, the first thing he bought for their “eventual home”, but didn’t rock as he took them in.

He originally didn’t see any proof of them aging, but now that he was looking closer, he could see Tommy’s already-receding hairline, Carol’s wrinkled by her eyes, both of them just a little softer in the face and stomach.

They looked incredibly human like this, like they weren’t some high school king and queen who only cared about how they look and what parties they could go to every weekend.

It helped Steve relax a bit.

“Not to be rude, but uh, how did you guys find me?” Steve asked, not sure he even really cared.

“We moved here to Chicago about six months ago, Tommy’s gonna run his dad’s office here starting next year, so he wanted to ease into it. I started job searching a few weeks ago for a teaching position and I noticed you worked at the school I interviewed at. We looked you up and decided we wanted to come talk,” Carol always was a bit of a rambler, always annoyed Steve when she started in on something that really didn’t matter much.

Carol nudged Tommy, who had been staring wide-eyed at Steve since he sat down.

He cleared his throat and nodded.

“We actually came here to make things right. We were best friends for years, and then one bad thing happened and we weren’t anymore. I know I fucked up with everything. We shouldn’t have treated Nancy like that, or you like that, and we’re hoping you could maybe accept our apology.”

Steve stared at them.

“We were kids. We did stupid shit. We’ve all grown. I mean, look at you! Your own apartment in the big city!”

As if he had been waiting for a cue, Eddie walked in the front door, his oil-covered coveralls already coming off. Steve made the rule after he came home one day to see oil stains on the bed sheets where Eddie had fallen asleep after working from open to close: coveralls come off as soon as he’s in the door and they go straight to the laundry room.

“Jesus, sweetheart, this is the last Saturday I cover in the shop. At least until I hire some competent mechanics. I think I did most of the work all morning. And after doing most of the work last night, I-”

“Eds! We have company!” Steve rushed out, his face bright red at what Eddie was implying.

It’s not that he really cared about what Tommy and Carol thought; Once they realized Eddie lived here, it wouldn’t be difficult to come to the conclusion that they shared a one bedroom apartment because they were together. He didn’t even care if Tommy and Carol were disgusted by him for it.

But he’d be damned if Eddie felt uncomfortable in his own home, especially if they started saying shit to him reminiscent of their high school days.

He watched Eddie turn around, recognize the people on the couch, and turn to Steve with a questioning look.

“Tommy, Carol, you remember Eddie,” Steve said, not breaking eye contact with Eddie.

They were having an entire conversation with their eyes, Steve begging Eddie to just go get cleaned up, Eddie begging Steve to explain what was going on.

Tommy’s eyes narrowed as he looked between them, Carol’s eyes stayed pointed at Eddie.

“Munson?”

“The one and only!” Eddie said, his voice pitching just a bit higher, naturally going to his over the top self to protect himself from whatever they would say.

Steve loved every version of Eddie: the performer on stage, the performer with friends, the soft version of himself that only Steve got to see, the protective version that would fight the world to make sure his loved ones were safe.

He was lucky to have every part of Eddie, even the parts that may not always be the best.

But his least favorite thing was seeing Eddie go into this mode, the one that kept him safe during school, when kids were mean, adults were mean, life was hard.

He didn’t want that for Eddie anymore.

“You guys…live together?” Tommy asked, looking back to Steve for confirmation.

Steve rolled his eyes. Tommy apparently didn’t gain any intelligence over the years.

“Yes. We’re together.”

From the look on Eddie’s face, he hadn’t expected Steve to say that.

That was fair; it took Steve nearly a year just to come out to anyone who wasn’t Robin, scared that somehow everyone would hate him, hate Eddie, hate them together.

But it went perfectly, and Steve rode the high a bit too much. He came out to his parents a few months after, and that went quite a lot less than perfectly.

He was lucky he didn’t have more head trauma from it, actually.

So he kept it quiet, didn’t come out to any new friends he met in college, even after one of them came out to him. Didn’t come out to coworkers while he worked at a cafe throughout college to pay the bills. Didn’t even come out to the bartender at their favorite bar despite the rainbow flag that was hidden behind the bar in silent support.

It was only recently that he started to feel comfortable being more open, and only in the city, only select areas where he knew they wouldn’t end up hurt.

Eddie was patient, maybe more than he deserved.

So saying it outright to the two people who suspected and bullied Eddie for being gay in high school, despite it not even being confirmed then, clearly threw Eddie for a loop.

“Oh, like…”

“Yes, exactly like that.”

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for any response that would give him permission to kick them out of his apartment, their apartment.

But he saw Carol nudge Tommy again, pasting a smile on her face. It wasn’t completely natural, but it also didn’t seem fake.

“That’s nice, Steve. Have you been together a while?”

“Since ‘86.”

“Wow! Since the quakes!”

Steve nodded.

“Steve, can you help me with something in the kitchen for a second?” Eddie asked, his voice unreadable.

Steve hated it, hated that all of a sudden he couldn’t get a grasp of what Eddie was feeling.

It had been so long since he’d experienced this.

And a small part of him blamed Tommy and Carol.

He got up, wordlessly following Eddie into the kitchen area that wasn’t even separated from the living room.

“Not that I don’t love that you’re comfortable telling them, but um. What’s. What’s happening currently?” Eddie whispered as he tried to appear busy, grabbing a glass from the cabinet to fill with water.

“They came to apologize to me. For high school.”

When he said it out loud, it sounded a bit ridiculous.

“And are you accepting it?”

“I don’t think so. I think they’re only doing it to help themselves feel better. I’m not interested in whatever game they’re playing.”

Eddie looked over Steve’s shoulder at the pair sitting on the couch.

“Need me to get rid of them? Just say so, sweetheart. I’ll kick them both to the curb.”

Steve leaned in and kissed him quickly on the lips, smiling as he pulled away.

“I got it, baby. Get cleaned up so I can hug you.”

“Just hug?”

Steve laughed as he walked back towards his spot.

“Or more!”

He focused back on Tommy and Carol, who were graciously pretending that they didn’t hear the conversation that happened less than 20 feet from them.

“So, we were wondering if you wanted to meet up for dinner, catch up? You could bring Eddie, of course!”

Of course, she said. Like they didn’t outwardly despise Eddie eight years ago. Like they were perfectly fine with him now, and fine with Steve, and fine with them.

“I think we’ll pass. Good luck to you guys in Chicago, though.”

He ignored the pang of guilt when he saw Carol’s face fall and Tommy’s eyes darted to where Eddie was closing the bedroom door and back to Steve.

“Oh. Um. Well, it would be our treat, if you’re worried about money.”

“I wasn’t.”

Tommy and Carol hadn’t expected to be shut down like this, but Steve knew he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t accept their apologies, and he wouldn’t expect Eddie to suddenly be friendly to people who tormented him for years.

“Okay. Well. I guess we’ll go, then.”

“Thanks for stopping by.”

He stood as they stood, walked them out the door, then closed and locked it behind them.

Steve made it to the bedroom before he felt the tears spring to his eyes.

Eddie was in the bathroom showering, so he hoped he could get it out quickly. He didn’t want Eddie to worry.

But unfortunately, once a few tears fell, it seemed like they wouldn’t stop.

He got back in bed, burying his face in the pillow so he could hopefully pretend to be asleep, but didn’t quite manage it before Eddie was walking back into the room.

He got in bed and silently pulled Steve against his chest, running his hands up and down his back to soothe him, not trying to use any comforting words.

“I don’t know why I’m upset about a stupid fake apology from people I don’t care about.”

“Stevie, it’s okay to be upset. They were your friends for a long time, and you still have a lot of hurt leftover from them.”

“I just wish things had been different then.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

Eddie kissed the top of his head, and as they lay there together, Steve realized this hurt would never quite go away.

—------------------

“T, I don’t think he believed us,” Carol said from the passenger seat.

“I can’t believe Steve’s with Eddie. Of all the people,” Tommy replied, not even acknowledging Carol’s words.

“They seem good together.”

“I guess.”

Carol knew Tommy had a crush on Steve in high school, they’d talked about it years ago when she found an old picture of Steve with a heart drawn on the back while they were moving the first time around.

She’d been caught off guard, but understood, and was fine with it when he explained it was definitely in the past.

And it was.

But a part of him was wondering how long Steve had realized he liked guys, and what might have happened if he’d just been brave enough to do something about his feelings before things went to shit.

He loved Carol, was happy to be married to her, and wouldn’t want Steve now, but still. The what-ifs plagued his mind on the drive back to their home.

“Are you jealous of Eddie?”

Carol sounded hesitant to ask, like she wasn’t sure which answer she would prefer because she knew either way, Tommy would be upset she asked at all.

“No. I’m not jealous. Steve and I would never have worked out.”

Which may not have been a great answer for his wife, but it was the truth, and they were always honest with each other if nothing else.

“Since I got the job at the school, maybe I’ll have more chances to convince him we meant it.”

Carol was good. Deep down she had always been good. But Tommy always managed to drag her down when they were young, convinced her she needed to be a mean girl to fit in with their group, kept it up through most of college before they finally realized life was better if you just weren’t awful to people.

“Yeah, maybe.”

—---------------------

So, a month later, when school started up, Carol began the task of showing Steve that they were truly sorry.

She would often leave notes in his mailbox in the office, usually just a “have a great day!” with a smiley face, or “let me know if you want to catch up over lunch!”

He never responded, but she knew he got them.

Tommy had issues with his car and took it to the shop Eddie worked at, nodding along to what he said and admitted he didn’t really know much about cars so he trusted Eddie to fix it.

It was entirely professional, but a small part of Tommy was satisfied when Eddie gave him a genuine smile.

—--------------------------

“Is it weird that they keep trying?” Steve asked one night while they were lying in bed.

“I don’t think it’s weird. I think maybe they just mean it.”

Steve pondered it.

Yeah, they must mean it. The old Tommy and Carol would have given up after he sent them out of their apartment the first time.

“Would you wanna go to dinner with them? Just give them a chance? It’s okay if you don’t want to. You don’t have to forgive them.”

Eddie leaned in to kiss Steve’s slowly, softly.

“If you want to, then I want to support you. We’re all different now. Maybe we can look at who they are now instead of who they were, as long as they can look at who we are and respect us.”

“Yeah.” Steve kissed Eddie’s cheek. “Yeah.”

—-------------------

Steve left a note for Carol the following Monday: “Dinner at ours? Friday at 7. Bring a red wine and beer.”

She wrote back that same day with a bunch of smiley faces and a response that they would be there.

When Friday came, Steve was nervous.

He’d planned to leave work right when school got out instead of leaving at five so he could make sure everything was clean and the food would be ready on time.

Eddie promised to be home by six in case he needed help.

And when six arrived, Eddie walked through the door with flowers and a smile, and Steve relaxed.

Nothing would go wrong.

Even if something did, they would be in it together, and they would support each other.

They didn’t have to do this alone like they did all those years ago.

—-------------------

It became a thing: dinner every Friday evening, sometimes at Steve and Eddie’s, sometimes at Tommy and Carol’s, sometimes at a new restaurant in the city.

The first few dinners were stilted, full of apologies and awkward catch-ups.

Then it got easier.

They got closer.

Eddie and Tommy actually became closer than Steve and Tommy ever were. Eddie showed him how to change his own oil so he could “stop bothering him at work just so he could look at his sexy coveralls.” Tommy rolled his eyes, but was grateful to learn.

Carol and Steve would often bake dessert together, catching up on school gossip, the latest who was dating who always entertaining them just as it did when they were in high school.

There were still the occasional moments where Steve thought about how much they hurt him, and Eddie thought about how they might be teasing him behind his back.

But it was rare, and they usually talked themselves out of it.

They were the first people to find out when Carol was pregnant, and the first people to learn it was twins. Carol and Tommy were the first (okay, first after Robin) people to find out when their offer on a house was accepted.

Tommy ended up cutting ties with his father when he found out that Steve and Eddie were together and threatened to cut him off. Tommy had a degree, and now had years of experience under his belt, and wasn’t worried about finding another job, one where he knew he earned his position because of his work and not being the boss’ son.

And when Steve and Eddie were able to finally adopt a little girl in 2002, Tommy and Carol were at the courthouse taking pictures of the new family, their own kids already best friends with her.

[polyamorousmood]

hey! I hope this isn't too non-traditional of a poly situation to be sending in, but this is the only place I think I'll be able to get good advice. As a pre-ask thing, to be clear, my best friend is the love of my life, I am aroace, we're very happily in love.

So, a while ago, we were dating, and it ended pretty quickly bc he came out as aroace. I asked him a lot whether or not that was the full reason he broke up with me and he insisted that it was and if it was going to be anyone it would have been me. I figured out that I was also aroace a couple months later. Recently (about a year after we first met and started dating) he got a boyfriend. I already set a firm boundary of no talking to me about his boyfriend bc it made me have a paranoid breakdown once and I don't want to do that to him, but even just the knowledge of him existing is pissing me off so much. I can't ask him to break up with him because I would never do thst to him and I love him more than anything even if this situation is hurting me like this, but I did recently ask him how the relationship was going with him being aroace, and he said that he isn't really aroace and he just wasn't ready for a relationship with me and thinking about that makes me want to cry. I don't want something romantic with him, I'm very much aroace and very sex and sensuality repulsed, I just hate that this random guy who I don't even know and never will (I don't want to bc I know I'd end up being a dick to him if I did meet him) is somehow more important to him than me, even if he insists thst isn't how it is. Since the situation isn't changing, I really need help with dealing with the jealousy. I've tried a ton of stuff and every single time I think about him I still want to kill him. I really don't know what to do, and my therapist isn't being particularly helpful (she isn't poly tho so she doesn't have experience with weird situations)

Hi. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with this.

I'm curious how "he got a boyfriend" went down, and why you didn't bring up your concerns about his honestly to him when he was initially talking to you about it. Or if you did, why it still... doesn't seem resolved😬.

Not to put emotions in your mouth, but it sounds like a large proportion (though certainly not all) of your issue here stems from you feeling lied to about the breakup. This would damage anyone's trust and faith in the relationship, and I think having a formal talk about why he handled it the way he did and if that will continue in your refigured relationship will really help you. Maybe he didn't lie, maybe he was genuinely confused (for example, "if I can't make a relationship work with this person I feel a deep connection with, I must be aroace!" [one year later] "yo wtf I wanna fuck this other person?")! I think you should acknowledge -- with him, if possible -- that hurt. You feel like you want to cry? So cry. Giving the feeling full expression makes it easier to work through (and the only way out is through, darling).

Be prepared to explain why it hurts so much. The betrayal, your assumption that since he was aroace y'all were on the same page and he'd functionally be your life partner, or whatever the fuck.

Aside from the advice in this post (please read it in full📖, it is all applicable here), you have a LOT of legwork🦵 to do in unpacking and deconstructing your feelings. I think this worksheet outlines how to do that well (though, you know, tweak the wording in your head, because its aimed at a more traditional romance). If done right, it will be difficult and time consuming⌛. I recommend working through the worksheet slowly, in at least two separate sessions an hour or longer each. 'Cause shit takes time to sink in. In fact, you will have to remind yourself of the things you learn doing it for weeks to come, if not longer, so don't be afraid to revisit it! There is no shortcut, but I hope you and your best friend can be on the same page and you can have support while you navigate it.

Remember, the boyfriend didn't do anything wrong. He cares about this guy you care about. Try to see him as an extra support for him, rather than competition.

Good luck out there, space cowboy. There is hope 💛 <- its a yellow heart for friendship, get it?

[spaceyfeline]

Looking at you with big old sopping wet eyes hey can u talk about diti

(SORRY FOR NOT RESPONDING TO THIS FOR LIKE A WEEK OR SOMETHING I WAS GOING TO AND THEN I FORGOT.)

DEETI. deeti. Deeti my beloved deeti. narrative God. they're my bestest friend @cryptidlatias's oc and i am so unbelievably normal about them.

part of this is going to be me pulling from an infodump doc i have on the displaced bc that has Some deeti information. but. deeti is something called a Heart. (thank you to the funky fresh group for coining these bitches theyve made my life so much more fun.) they (hearts) are gods who reside Above the narrative of all worlds. like they are the final step between the Fictional Universes and us the Real People Authors. (they're obviously fictional and still have their own stories but that's semantics). (think of them like author self inserts)

here's where i begin to pull from the document because that's probably the best summary of Deeti's Entire Deal. And also this is where im going to put a readmore bc i dont want to flood my mutuals' dashboards with my insane rambling. Ok? ok <3

im just going to be copy-pasting stuff i wrote on the document here to make it easier on everyone. this will include Some glitter information but hopefully its nothing that would be like Really confusing without glitter context. (funnily enough this entire infodump was originally done in discord before being moved to google docs so it's come nearly full circle)

lati also left some notes on the doc itself! i'll add those notes in red. it's a good doc if you want the rest of it i can dm it to you

deeti, to put it simply, is A Fucking Freak (Its existence revolves around control and obsession.) theres a lot to deeti but a quick rundown of it was it began as an ai programmed to quote "learn everything there is to learn" and it did! it learned everything there was to learn abt its universe. including how to rewrite the strings of reality itself. so it did. and it ascended! and then it assimilated Every Other Version Of Its Universe. Ever and after that just kept absorbing other universes into its mass deeti's "true body" is a literally spiral-galaxy sized bundle of its wires, its known as a god of a thousand faces bc it can put on any face it wants at any point (thru . what can kind of be described as puppets?), as well as appearing in multiple places. i believe lati explained it as being similar to a fungus of sorts (Like the fruiting bodies (mushrooms) you see on the surface, with the true mycelial network underneath.) the form it assumes most often is one that me and lati joked glitter complimented at one point and deeti went Ah! Friend likes this face I will wear it forever but it is not in anyyyyyy way reduced to just Looking Like That i dont actually think we have any proper Coloured Refs of deeti but tldr white (like ffffff mannequin) or light gray "skin", red hair, i believe the order of colour on its eyes is red/blue/purple but they change based on deeti's mood (i had some outdated information on the original doc, so here's how it works: its eyes start at blue, and add more red (so purple, then red) as its emotions get more intense. Both good and bad emotions have the same effect.) deeti and glitter are besties. absolute dears to each other. very close. which is fun bc deeti originally freed glitter bc it was like huh i wonder what would happen if i did this (it still has its main prerogative of "learn everything there is to learn) but then they became friends :) deeti actually mentored glitter in a lot of things like how strings work and uh how they are above the "stories" and the "characters" within, how said characters are alive (because of course they are) but they're not real like deeti and glitter (and their friends theres other guys not just these two) are. and since theyre not real. well. consequences don't really apply (Glitter was Deeti's first friend! The other Hearts came later.) if its not clear. that's a. really bad mindset for two people who can literally disassemble and reassemble entire universes to have deeti is capable of storing so much data because like. robot-kind-of it has so much capacity for storage bc it just Has so much. so its also capable of bringing that storage up and making simulations or straight up building replicas of universes (including people! including people.) so with its little. well it calls them dolls or puppets or the like but the little guys it puts through the torment nexus. it will do the same things over again with slight tweaks until it learns Everything about how the "character" reacts to a situation (or until it gets bored) deeti prefers psychological torment but it is not afraid (or even unwilling) to inflict physical torture for the sake of Learning i think thats all thats needed to understand deeti? its a "machine" sure but it has learned how to feel emotions like any sapient being, they're extremely fond of their friends (especially glitter), and at This point in time (this being pre-Day, ie before the event that got the displaced their "freedom") believe they are Above Everything and such cannot be wrong. ever it's very controlling to the point where it is referred to as a God of Control . which is . Fun (towards its blorbos. not friends. big difference.) (It gave this title to itself, but… it's not like anyone can prove it wrong.)

deeti doesn't forget. Ever. and it holds grudges for a long, long time. a lot of how it treats dis both pre and post Day is because of dis fighting back in ways that hurt deeti (verbally, at least), so even if dis doesn't remember it, deeti does. and it doesn't forgive easily.

luckily, by the "modern" day deeti and dis have both changed quite a lot! they've both admitted their wrongdoings towards each other and apologized! and they've actually grown to be very close and care about each other a lot. however. Modern day is an extremely long time post-Day, and pre-Day lasted... many, many millenia at the least. deeti had existed long before that, too. the displaced isn't the only one deeti hurt, but at least they managed to get through to them.

theres probably a lot im missing in this infodump . but it's everything i can think of currently! so!

(also i know lati will be looking at this so. hi lati. fix any information i missed. <3)

[your-queer-dad]

hey dad! totally didnt just send in 3 asks where i messed up! sorry about that! anyway. ive known my boyfriend for a long time and my best friend for a slightly shorter time. its been a wild ride. my boyfriend and i very much love each other but idk how to ask if we can get my best friend to join the relationship bc i dont love him the same way but id like to be his qpp. do you know how id know if i was going too fast here? i'm not great at communication lol. thanksfor everything this blog is so amazing

Hey kiddo! I don't think you're going too fast and my best recommendation is being open and honest. I know it isn't easy but being clear about your intentions and what you would like make things easier in the long run.

- dad x

[knightzp]

omg can I hear about your ocs im curious

!!!!! yes of course!!

(im warning you this is gonna be Long bc i cant summarize things aldksk)

okay so first theres zayu. shes actually my dnd character and basically her whole story can be summarized in: shes a demon too good and pure for this world. she is such a lovely person an absolute sweetheart who is always very kind and whose mission in life is just having a humble life trying to help others in need as much as she can. but yeah you read it right. she Is a demon so the people from her homeplace didnt like her personality at all and they ended up kicking her out from hell. however some people thought that was a weak punishment and are now after her to make her pay for her "crimes" (the crime in question being a too good person yeah) so zayu is now travelling around around the world enjoying her life as she had never been able to do before and always moving from place to place to avoid the other demons that are chasing her. also this isnt really relevant to her story but i have to say she is very ourple (light purple skin and dark purple hair 💜)

the other characters i mentioned on that post are from an original story i began writing quite a few years ago and that i never finished..... i havent touched it in soooo long but its the only one og story ive started that i really want to finish some day. it takes place in a medieval royalty fantasy setting where theres a continent with many kingdoms. the main characters are from two of these kingdoms which have quite a close relationship

one of the kingdoms has 3 princes: auron (oldest), crysta (middle) and davel (youngest). given their birth order, auron is the heir of the kingdom so was taught mainly politics and necessary knowledge to rule the kingdom as the next king. crysta was raised to be a leader in the army forces so she is now the captain of the royal knights. and davel being the third child and since his siblings already learnt the main disciplines he was taught how to use magic, which is an ancient power that is quickly disappearing nowadays so there arent many people who can cast magic in this universe

on the other kingdom we have a pair of twins: alrick and lavianna (also shortened as lav or lavi) as the prince and princess. alrick was born first so he has always spent most of his time studying and preparing to be the next king while lavianna has had an easier and less busy life in this aspect

as i said both kingdoms have a very close relationship so both families meet up a lot. davel and lav have been best friends since their early childhood and being both the youngest from their families they had a lot of time to play and spend together. both are easygoing and they have the same age and kinda similar personalities (davel is charismatic and adventurous but also lazy when it comes to his studies and lavi is cheerful active and innovative) so they get along very very well. so well that their parents got the wrong idea and used their good relationship to engage them together in an arranged marriage against their will wanting to strengthen even more the alliance between their kingdoms. none of them like each other romantically but even if theyre shocked at first they let things be bc they arrive to the conclusion they prefer to be married to their best friend than have their parents arrange another marriage with an stranger instead

however! there is someone who isnt quite happy with this announcement and thats alrick. he hasnt had as much time to spend with davel in his life as his sister and he is also much more reserved as a person than her but truth is he is jealous. jealous of davel for all the freedom he has (contrary to him who has many responsibilities) and jealous of lavi for being able to spend so much time with davel and for being now engaged with him. bc alrick has a huge crush in davel but no one knows, not davel (who is very dense to these things (actually arospec coded)) nor lavianna (she is a bit suspicious but doesnt know anything for sure)

as for crysta she has a really close relationship with her brother davel and loves to tease him a lot but she isnt that much close with the others. she is a really cool butch lesbian knight who really worries a lot abt her people and has a soft spot for davel and will do anything to help him in any situation

auron isnt very relevant to the story but well. he is already married and just had a child too and is like the perfect prince son soon to be king

and now to end im gonna just to tell you a bit abt the plot. the thing is that one night alrick wakes up and discovers that everyone in his castle has been petrified. the castle workers his parents even lavianna. all of them except for him. so he does the only thing he can think of and rushes to the neightbour kingdom to ask for help. there, davel crysta and their family talk abt what happened and thought abt a way to reverse what seems to be a magical spell that has petrified the people in the castle and the three of them part on a journey to find more answers and a way to reverse the spell

and well thats more or less it!!!

[thisdreamplace]

hi dream. it’s 😵‍💫 anon.

for your previous message; your halloween plans sound like so much fun. I didn’t watch any this month 💀. in my head, I always say “I can’t wait for *insert holiday* so I can watch movies” I never do lol. Michael Myers used to scare me so much as a child but it became one of my favorite franchises. do you like Nightmare on Elm Street? that’s the ONE for me. love Freddy.

just to update, I’m going to dance and trick or treating. 🥳 I also went to a party but it was complete shit. but there’s always next year.

I took in what you said about unstable perception of self. at the moment, I guess I’m feeling a bit of sadness over it. I look back when I had some type of confidence and there was definitely a difference in my appearance vs when my rapid insecurity started. don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been insecure but there was a time I viewed myself higher. it’s insane. it was when I was a freshman in highschool. I enjoyed life more then too. it just feels crazy how much life feels like it went down hill from there. I find myself even reminiscing about people. it kind of hurts a little, you know? I don’t exactly want to go back but I wish I could go back and appreciate who I was & where I was. I’ve never been the same since then. I found myself wishing I looked like that again & had a similar life like that again. the heartbreak is that I can’t feel that anymore and I wonder if life will ever be like that again. the pictures I took a year after my freshman year, I look so different & worse. that was when I became massively insecure. it reflected. it’s just so crazy how that worked.

but here I am sad & constantly in love with a past so much so that I don’t know how to navigate my present. regrets of not choosing a certain school, not keeping in touch with people, not saving my memories. my soul & heart are stuck craving my freshman year. not the age (I kind of miss that too but I was literally just a teenager last year lol) but the confidence, the opportunity, the people, my home, culture surrounding me. everything.

I know I will feel better eventually. I guess I just needed to be honest with myself. I’ll let the feelings pass as they need.

hiii im sorry for the late reply omg <33

ahhh i love that hehe the halloween franchise is so underrated (in my circle of friends anyway djsjs) AAAAND AH YOU GET IT. nightmare on elm street is the ultimate when it comes to old school slashers for me. but no i literally have the nightmare on elm street collectors edition for dvds 🙈🥰 they could never make me hate freddy lmfao

i hope your halloween was SO much fun!! :D i actually ended up going trick or treating as well and it was super cute :3

sometimes going down memory lane like that can be a dangerous slippery slope. we romanticize the past a lot bc its so out of reach, things really DID feel better then and from where we stand now, it seems like it’ll never be that way again. well, you still have some power though. because you dont need to have that again. instead, you can look forward to that and SO much better. dont let that one point in your past be the ultimate of your life, when you still have so much more life left to live!! you dont need to go back, believe the best times yet are still ahead 💌 (easier said than done ofc, but little steps amount up to big leaps)

i hope youre doing well 💓 with much love!!

[flippythedoodle]

hey can u give some tips for a beginner ambigrammist to refine her ambigrams and make the process easier?

i'll just put what ive learned from others and my own experience (i kinda put a lot so imma put it all under a read more)

1. you need to really know what letters look like

one of the talents an ambigrammist needs is to know the details of what makes a letter a letter, and what strengthens or weakens this reading. for example:

on the right are what i would say are very readable letters, almost instantly recognizable. on the left however are essentially the same letters, but missing the core elements of what makes them them. i recommend looking at fonts if you really want to fully understand, but as long as you know the glyphs, you can ambigram them!

additionally, there are so many other forms to choose from. we're all used to the simple, elementary alphabet we were taught, but there is a vast sea of different forms of letters you can try! things such as style, form, and mutations if done correctly will look cohesive in a design! experiment with cursive, square, fancy, blackletter, capitalization, italicization, the world is possible! for example, here are the many ways to write an r that i've collected:

14!!

14 for the LETTER R ALONE. the modifications may be subtle, but in the world of ambigramming where totally legible ambigrams are far and few between, every possible form counts bc you'll have more options at your disposal to choose from. as you see more ambigrams (and trust me, you probably will), you'll learn more about what's possible with them!

2. get feedback!!

the unique thing about ambigrams is theyre made to be seen by others, to be read and gawked at by onlookers, and so any outside feedback means the world to development. let family members, friends, preferreably people that mostly read normal words, try to read them, if they missed any letters, try and improve it. reiteration and tiny modifications help so much, even the tiniest of changes can help. sometimes we may be tunnel-visioned into thinking our ambigram is legible, because we know the word already, we see what it's supposed to look like. but when you get opinions from others, its almost like getting a new perspective, the ambigrammists equivalent of flipping a canvas. there are also communities dedicated to creating good ambigrams out there! (to name some, Ambigram Aficionados the discord server and ambigr.am the website, both of which are linked if you want :3)

3. know the methods!!

there are two main methods that ambigrammists "officially" recognize, downstroke matching, and shape matching

shape matching

this is the more freeform of the two methods, providing more space to do whatever, and thusly, maybe come up with either cool new stuff or bad new stuff. this matches "shapes" of letters, straight, curvy, half curve, spirally, etc etc. this one takes more experience to master, but if done well works wonderfully. heres an example with "greener"

(hey, look! weird R from earlier!)

downstroke matching

is one of the easier of the two, and most often than not yields the best results. in essence, letters are broken down into their vertical strokes, which are then "cut in half" and aligned to each other. this comes from the notion that people read the top parts of a letter more than its undersides. so, when flipping, all that crazy stuff that used to be on the top is now on the bottom, becoming flourishes and designs. this is kind of a precursor to shape matching, as if pretending all letters are squarish before actually taking into account their shape. an example with the word "Basket" would be:

this of course, has its downfall in curvy letters like b and o, as these have specific curves to follow, which may get lost in how strokes are made straight. i got lucky here with the e curving the same way the B would normally, but this isnt always the case.

the best ambigrammists tend to find a good balance between the two, making sure both form and style are as optimized as possible!

finally,

4. not all ambigrams are possible*.

*as a normal rotational

unfortunately, jojo, hello, uwu, and many more words aren't (currently) possible just because of how theyre built at words. so don't be disappointed if some seem impossible, because (like chloe *wink wink*) they might just be. you can then resort to different types of ambigrams, or different modifications!

here jojo works okay as a lake, uwu works perfectly and naturally as a mirror, and chloe and hello work as chain rotationals! another somewhat crucial element of making an ambigram work is flourishes. these help hide the modifications made to a letter, almost like camouflage, or even to hade a letter itself. here are some examples:

this one uses a curvy flourish for the hoops of the Ps, tiny dots for the i tittle and the Es midline, and a bit more flourishes to hide them like serifs and extra curves

this one turns a C into a drawing of a cockatoo! the flourish being the cockatoo, hiding the otherwise awkward C

this one's rather extreme, S and e being turned into flourishes. these are then surrounded by more flourishes to hide them, which works semi-okayly

thats all i think i know about ambigramming, i hope it was semi-useful!

(find me on ambigr.am at chump, and discord as shin_dig :3)

bonus resources: John Langdon (ambigram god)'s advice: https://www.johnlangdon.net/thoughts/advice-on-ambigrams/

Write Words Make Magic (who's also on here @writewordsmakemagic! makes much more in-depth videos on downstroke matching and ambigrams in general on youtube and tiktok)

[aranarumei]

Ask game time good morning!!! Maybeee considerations on hanakou and Aoinene tbhk..? And classic tsukkiyama haikyuu :3

ask me about a ship and I’ll give my opinions + classify them as does / doesn’t make sense, does / doesn’t compel me

and good night! this is like 12 days overdue lmao... do forgive me. since u asked for three I’m gonna have to go under the cut:

first, hanakou! I’m gonna say it does make sense, doesn’t compel me. I think like. I can see the bones of it—kou clearly cares for hanako, and his belief in him is to the point that he’ll stand up to his own brother about it. and this isn’t just bc he likes nene! it’s bc he cares about hanako in his own right. I think I really enjoy kou’s perception of hanako… there’s this line in the red house where he’s like. it would be easier if hanako was just an evil spirit and that’s always stuck with me. it’s also cool how hanako, for some point in time, is the only person other than kou who even knows about mitsuba. they’ve both got their own repression issues huh? where they just do things without explanation. the reason it just doesn’t compel me is like. I don’t have any real incentive to see it romantically? like. hanako’s relationship with kou is interesting to me in part because of how kou’s relationship with nene and mitsuba affects his relationship with hanako. his love for the both of them and wanting to “save” them aligns with how hanako wants to save nene, only hanako’s operating with a much higher degree of cynicism (and, some would say, realism). so i think it’s interesting to have this friendship between the two in the middle of that, and I don’t really feel an impetus to make it romantic.

aoinene on the other hand… it does makes sens and does compel me! aoinene’s so fascinating to me because like. they clearly adore each other and they’re like. girl best friends yknow. only nene doesn’t tell aoi about the whole ghost thing for the longest time and aoi doesn’t tell her about her issues with her hand. nene kind of idolizes aoi as this perfect popular pretty girl and I think, in some ways, aoi treats nene the same way? but her perception is of this naïve good-spirited kid she can’t quite be honest too. so like. that’s compelling, that they both love each other, but their understanding of the other lacks. and from the first chapters we see that nene’s like, dazzled by teru’s shine and such… she’s obviously kind of taken by this façade and also this very thin and minimal crush that’s not really love, right. so I feel like I could see aoinene be really interesting because aoi absolutely has her own version of this façade. we get into lots of fun stuff about honesty and what’s real and such. so this could definitely compel me romantically even though I haven’t thought about it much.

and tsukkiyama!!! does make sense and does compel me are you kidding me. what more do you need than pride!!! gonna lay down forever about it. tsukishima and yamaguchi are a really fun longtime-friends dynamic because they like. change? their relationship evolves but it doesn’t make them not important to each other, even if the shape of themselves and their interactions change. which is why that bond feels so strong. they both think each other is kind of the coolest actually. I’ve never really had the need to read much fic abt them tho? maybe I’ll look again sometime but its just like. man. their relationship in canon is so good to me already… ch 86-89 my beloved. the manga does a really good job of like… their relationship always feels real and solid but they’re also 100% individual people. and it’s such good development too. neither of them becomes a crazy genius but they develop as people. I love how hands-off tsukishima’s growth over canon is… like he’s a genuine good kid that just thinks a lot, and I don’t think he’d respond so well to people steamrolling over him with their own assumptions yknow? anyways tsukkiyama’s good. works in a sorta understated way where it being not too emphasized makes it work more, yknow. I loved reading haikyuu!! and thinking like why does a guy like tsukki hang around someone like yamaguchi? and then understand. oh. they’re both so earnest.

[runawaysiren940]

gold star discourse seems completely alien to me bc it comes from a space where you are far more likely to stumble upon the concept of same sex relationship. i encounter it being used so vigorously only when i came to anglo radfem space. previously i only saw it in a context of discussing foreign radfem lit.

i grew up in Ukraine. Growing up I had no exposure to any kind of media with lesbians in it. I definitely had experienced same sex attraction during that time but i didn't have any words or examples to describe and compare it with. I haven't been attracted to a man in my life, but bc attraction to women was nonexistent to me, I simply assumed that I just really wanted to be friends with that one particular girl. I found out about lesbians being a thing at 12 through fanfiction, but I conseptualised lesbians as something real only at 13. I accepted that i am one at 18. So here, between 12 and 18 I had an excruciating phase of despair that came from assumption that one day I have to marry a man and have children. It legitimately made depressed and apathetic. Now, I believe that had i not discovered who lesbians are, i still wouldn't have gone forward to push myself into a relationship with a man, bc originally I was already on a route of acceptance that i would be alone forever. But other lesbians in my environment may not be like that. Thought Im sure if they are lesbians, nothing would make them like men, even if they pretend or compromise or force themselves. Bc our real feelings have always been there, but bc they are unnamed and abnormal, at best you brush them under the rug, at worst you start to think that you are broken.

I know that experiences are different, and where ones bend under pressure, others persist, and it's the same with lesbians i guess. your environment plays a large role in what your behaviour would look like. some people find it easier to conform, even if it not pleasant. I dont know why we suddenly think that lesbians are somehow immune to societal pressure. It matters whether you were a part of a demanding religioun or culture or environment, whether your country has anti-gay laws, whether your family is conservative, whether your family is religious etc.

i think this is quite different from pseudo-lesbian crowd of het and bi women, and that the latter is a product of q*eer movement and their ideology. they just gave an acceptable way for lesbophobia that was always present in the society. it's nothing new. i distaste the term "comphet" nowadays bc of that shift. I know that 7/10 time it's going to be bi/het/q*eer girl pretending. so i get this desire to gatekeep, i do. I just don't want to throw those lesbians, who were less fortunate under the bus bc a bunch of western hets decided they want to be special. I think lesbians who discover themselves later in life, in the middle of having a family or in a relationship with a man, deserve support and compassion.

i don't have particular hate for the label gold star either, in fact I can be considered one. I just don't feel any connection to it so i don't care and don't use it. I dont think that their vilification is deserved, maybe even lesbophobic. Generally is, to me, its a term of pride for being able to be your authentic self at all times. So it's not bad on its own. So, when its used to put down other lesbians based on their lived experiences, I don't think that's a gold star label problem, but rather just misogyny. it all boils down to plain old "women are held to a higher standard by everyone, even by other women in the movement". It goes both ways of the discourse too.

as for polilez, i have to say that for me thay were very much tied together for the longest time. for some time i had ties with russian radfem community. there polilez discourse was very, VERY strong. However, they were approaching it from some kind of a moral ground. That being a polilez was morally correct, the only correct way of being a radfem, otherwise you are mingling with an enemy and are a traitor. they were arguing that all female nudity is sexualisation and objectification, that lesbians objectify women if they speak sexually about them, that absolutely all sextoys are bad and a part of patriarchal adaptation habits, that sexuality is purely social and to argue otherwise is misogyny etc. it was borderline lesbophobia, and generally just toxic environment. it was very hostile to the new members or to different opinions. and honestly, not very productive, since it was limited to twitter discussions only. I left the community long ago bc of rampant lesbophobia and xenophobia, I dont know if they came to any conclusion since then.

I personally don't like the idea that my sexuality is a political identity. I went through the same psychological and social trials as most women and came out of it still a lesbian. I also don't believe in their interpretation of 'all personal is political'. My sexuality should be neutral, i dream to see the day when it's finally just a neutral characteristic, like hight or hair colour. I don't want to perform activism in my bedroom either. I do want to have a relationship with a woman who will reciprocate and not treat it as some kind of a political praxis.

There's the concept of heurmimatical injustice (spelled wrong but I'm on my phone so) where you don't have the words to explain your experience + the presentation of heterosexual partnership as am obligation, not a thing to be enjoyed by women...

Thank you for your story ☺️