#my friends are great!

[vakariansyndrome]

I think about these a lot...

You ever read a fic and just have certain things about it haunt you (in the best way)? I have lost count of how many fics I have read that follow me around, popping up in my head in the most random moments—making me want to cry, smile, laugh, sometimes even flip a desk over.

I thought it would be fun to shout out three of my favorite writers, to include small blurbs from their works that I think about pretty frequently. I'd like to make this a weekly thing, shouting out different writers each time, but we'll see how well my time management goes. *yikes*

Here it goes:

@fartasticdurge

Percival loved Hildred. He loved those moments even more. But what he loved the most was how it felt to have his scissors in someone's eye as he took their life.  

There's blood everywhere

my skin crawls as you hide behind your words I will bear witness to your regicide I can see you for what you are, tyrant you can't do anything to change my mind

Pretender (the bug in my eye)

He couldn’t quite figure out what made him so nervous. Astarion thought about what it would be like to have Wyll come. How long would he keep his hands to himself before he finally gives in and proves he is like anyone else before him? He imagined Wyll coming and fucking him raw against a tree, which was both exciting and horrifying, and it only baffled him further. And the worst one was the fact that Wyll might not even show up at all.

Just shut up and kiss me

@alwaysmauria

He fidgets with his rings when he’s impatient or bored, though I’d never tell him so. It would serve no purpose. I twist the first one, then the other, and he twitches at the touch. He had these fine gold bands made for him—having the medal the city hung around his neck melted down and reforged. I thought it impudent at the time. I understand better now. It was about having power to take what had been offered and turning it into that which he desired. I slip the ring off his pinky finger, and over my middle finger to which he hums his approval. His hands are large—at least I think they are. Mine are small so it’s difficult to gauge. When he holds my hand in his, it disappears almost entirely. I relate to my hand. I wonder if someday I will be entirely consumed simply by standing too close to him. 

I’ll ride in this life with you

Astarion dipped his head to hers. ‘Remind me how many kisses I owe you?’  ‘Six.’ Mauria’s answer was just breath against his cheek. She felt the twitch of a laugh in his chest—he knew she was lying. And then he was kissing her. She had been kissed by him many times before, in very many ways, but this felt new. His mouth met hers, and she felt as though her body had flooded with ice water. She was aware of every inch of her body, and of his pressed to it. She bit gently on his lip and he groaned softly. When his mouth claimed hers, it was not as the Ascendant, but as her— ‘—Star—’ she gasped between kisses. She didn’t call him that anymore, not since the ritual. Hearing it again made his skin tingle, his ears warm—and his chest ache. That was who he was, or rather who he used to be. Star. Her Star, to be precise. Who was he now?

Chase the Lady

She hardly had the words for Astarion. He was her everything, and seeing him again made that so clear. She could be whatever he needed—alive or undead, as long as she got to be his. Her heart beat wildly, and suddenly couldn’t get to her feet fast enough. [...]

She had been so foolish. She needed to tell him that. He was running to her. Above anything else, he had to know how sorry she was—how much she had missed him. She was sure she was grinning like an idiot. An idiot in love, of course. (Ch. 17)

Star Crossed

@strixamans

But I’d like to be your favorite bird forever, if you’ll have me. I will sit quietly perched on your shoulder, as long as you like. I will fly out to return with shiny trinkets, just for you. I will do tricks in the air for your amusement.

And at the dawn of every morning, I will sing to you of what a joy it is, to be your favorite bird. For in a world so full of birds, you’ll always be my favorite, too.

Your Favorite Bird (The Vampire Verses)

Then time distends, in a slow shudder, until his fangs withdraw from me. His mouth is still there, though, his sweet mouth, where he drank. He shares his suffering, too, when he stops; we just look into each other, he pours his eyes into mine so that I can have some of it, too. His tongue presses to my flesh, lapping slowly at what remains, savoring it, and gods, he has never been so sensual, his eyes are ecstasy again while the serpent squeezes, hissing and the ground falls away, and in this moment, I have all I’ve ever wanted. (Ch. 9)

For a second, he just stares at me; wide-eyed, mouth hanging open in shock. Then a look of excitement washes over him. His lips spread wider, his eyes narrow slightly, then he’s surging forward, bringing his left hand to cradle my head, protecting it from the hard stone beneath us while he pushes me backward and down, pinning my bent right leg to the ground with his knee. Hard and fast, his predator teeth are in my neck again. The pain is searing, the onslaught of euphoria so violent that I spasm underneath him, against his body, moaning, while he drinks. (Ch. 11)

Hunting Creatures

---

Like, I said, I can go on for days, listing so many wonderful writers and entire chunks of their work. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by so many talented and down to earth people.

I wanted to shout out a few more folks in this post, but I think keeping at three per post allows me to share a bit more from each one. So, if you want to carry this on, I tag (to include the writers tagged above) @dramaticchimpmunk, @blissfulstarsfics, and @nocryptographer, No pressure to do anything, of course! I love you goobers and just wanted to share some of that with everyone else.

Also, if y'all prefer I not share any excerpts of your work in shoutouts, or shout you out at all, lmk! <3

[blaithnne]

Live Mel reaction

[lazylittledragon]

lae'zel doing her auntly duties (obligatory)

[elodieunderglass]

hi. what do you mean

[scurviesdisneyblog]

Early visual development for Wish (2023) by Griselda Sastrawinata-Lemay and Brittney Lee.

An earlier version of the film saw Star take on a human form as a magical, glowing character inspired by Peter Pan. Ultimately, the creative team reconceptualized Star as an ethereal, playful entity resembling Mickey Mouse. "Now Star and Asha have an emotional journey. They are soulmates." -Allison Moore.

[tittyinfinity]

I was hanging out at the karaoke bar, chatting with a beautiful woman, and we were really hitting it off. I threw a couple of flirtatious comments her way. She giggled nervously, but abruptly stopped and looked at the floor.

She told me that she was too nervous to hit on people because she's trans and worries that people will view her as a predator and that she might get hurt.

My heart sank. I let her know that she could hit on me in whatever way she wanted and I would LOVE it. We spent the rest of the night hanging out and flirting. We ended up making out. It was great.

But I can't stop thinking about how that wasn't the first time a trans woman has said that to me. About how unsafe it is for some women that they feel the need to give out fucking disclaimers to have normal interactions with people.

We have GOT to make the world a safer place for trans women. It pisses me off that there are men at the bar who are openly predatory towards me without fear of consequence, yet a trans woman is too scared to even fucking call me pretty. And that's because she IS more likely to face worse consequences for lesser things! Like what the fuck!

You need to always check on your internalized biases. Being queer yourself doesn't absolve you of transmisogynistic thoughts and behaviors. Being bi/pansexual doesn't mean you don't hold those biases either! If you feel differently about a trans woman hitting on you than you feel about a cis woman or a man hitting on you, you need to evaluate that.

Trans women, I love you so fucking much. You should be able to express attraction and love as freely as everyone else. I hope you can always feel safe around me. And I'll never stop fighting until you can feel safe period.

[shapelytimber]

Halfway there with the portraits :D (Please don't spoil me ect ect but I've finished act 1 !!!!! And the Githyanki creche was insane omg)

[COMMISSIONS]

when he first leveled up I was so baffled he was an occultist djdjdj which *intrigued* me 👀 and I really like that he becomes a demon goody two shoes ! That's fun ! And I love his design omg the horns !! He starts a bit boring, but quickly becomes so much more than what I expected :)

[Astarion] - [Lae'zel] - [Wyll] - [Shadowheart] - [Karlach]

Sketch and more yapping below vvv

But Wyll, my guy, you *have* to stop referring to yourself in third person- "the blade could use some sleep" just say you're tired omfg- it's the perfect blend of him being actually cool af, but annoying about it kfkf also I'm playing a french version of the game, and I know this pissed off the translators because that's not in the french subs- Also if you refer to yourself in third person in french, a way *way* more formal language already, that's not just a bit annoying that's straight up scary shit fnfkk

I am planning on doing all six main companions :) of course in order from my favorite to the one I feel most neutral about. Don't get me wrong I like them all (for now), but one had to be last-

[cheeseproducts]

wifeguys anonymous

[iwasbored777]

They asked Lee Majdoub what he thinks of Stobotnik vs what Stone thinks of it and this man chose violence omg the more I read the more painful it gets

[sentientsky]

on preemptive grief. on bracing for impact. on looking towards the horizon line and flinching

Rayne Fisher-Quann, “home for the holidays: an essay (sort of) about grief (sort of)” // me // David Levithan // The Crane Wives, “Black Hole Fantasy” // me (again)

[respectissexy]

Sam Nightingale texting The Seven groupchat going "ZELDA Gorgug just posted his new girlfriend and she is a short, awkward barbarian in a hoodie, what a loser, he's obviously still obsessed with you" and Zelda going "Sam chill the fuck out Gorgug and I are cool it's fine"

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

Plain-text version:

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[cowardlykrow]

Stop light shenanigans

Extra:

[citree]

I just want to start a flame in your heart~ 🔥🧡🔥

[rogue-translator]