#now just...150ish more to go

[aliteraryprincess]

Guess who has 20 pages of a dissertation!

[thatdisasterauthor]

Top Surgery Fundraiser

Hello! I'm Katy L. Wood, an author and artist with a dayjob in wildland fire dispatch, and I need help funding my top surgery/breast reduction.

I made the decision to finally pursue surgery for the issue about two years ago, but have had to put it off due to moving across the state and going back to college, but now that I'm a little more settled it's time to just get this done. I am getting a reduction in general for all of the aforementioned reasons, but I have chosen to go completely flat for gender related reasons. I am not trans, but I am certainly not cis either and having any sort of noticeable breasts just does not align with how I want to present.

I have found a great surgeon here in Colorado, but he is a little more on the expensive side. The total quote for my surgery (including all follow up appointments, anesthesia, post-surgery garments, and the surgery itself) is just under $15,000. I pursued several different options, but every other surgeon I talked to required a year of therapy to get an official diagnosis of gender dysphoria (and so did all insurance covered options), and I am not willing to do that. I am not dysphoric, I honestly could live with my chest as it is from a gender perspective, it's just the functionality of it and the amount of pain it causes that is making me finally pull the trigger to get this done. The only gender related part is how much I want taken away because if I'm doing it, I may as well do it right.

Additionally, if my quote for surgery was, say, $10,000, but I had to have a year of therapy on top of that, plus pay health insurance premiums for a whole year to get that therapy, it'd probably come out to about the same cost if not MORE expensive. I figure it's quicker, easier, and cheaper to just get it done all in one go and not waste my time (or the time of a therapist with clients that actually need their services).

I have been working a TON of overtime this summer to try and save up as much as I can towards this surgery (150ish hours last month, and about 45 so far this month), but that won't get me all the way. I'm trying to get about $17000 total saved up to cover not only the surgery but post-surgery meds, transportation to and from the surgery, and some other general post-surgery comforts like a lot of easy-make food, food deliveries, pet sitting while I'm gone, etc.. Time off work thankfully shouldn't be an issue.

[yudrein-aile]

I have reached ch 400 of turning. Kinda obsessed with the difference between the two timelines Kishiyu... Yudrain is like. Young! And doesn't understand politics that well. And there's so much baggage. And meanwhile Yuder is like. 30. He's constantly like "ah these young kids". There's still baggage but he is so much older and experienced and Kishiar responds to that differently than he did + different circumstances (like. Ch 400. Full info not yet revealed). Anyway I came to !!! Because idk who else to !!! At about this

Please !!! here any time, I love hearing your thoughts! sorry you're getting a whole god damn essay reply i had to put a read more.

Yuder is, and continues to be, incredibly harsh on his younger self, especially at the start, some of it is deserved - calling his younger self arrogant and quick to anger - but a lot of it, I think, is also just colored by how much was asked of him vs. how much he could do.

Yuder judges immediately in the first chapter that joining the Cavalry seemed "like a chance for dazzling success and thrilling adventures" as he had not "outgrown his boyishness". In the same paragraph he also judges that he didn't know anything about the intrigues and politics he'd find himself in, "that everything comes with a price, and that he was not well-suited for such pursuits".

In chapter 3 he straight up calls his twenty-year-old self "a poor country bumpkin with a gloomy expression".

So like, the impression we get of twenty-year-old Yuder, to me, is that of a 20 year old kid, who's not really socialized because his grandfather died seven years ago and he's been on his own ever since, and thinks that maybe getting to meet others like him, measuring his powers against them, would be fun.

Generally spekaing, the vibes I got from Yuder is that if he could, he would've done nothing but train all day. He's not interested in leadership, but then he's made Cavalry Commander. In chapter 2, he points out this rise in status himself:

"The previous Yuder had held a great deal of power and influence as the Cavalry commander of the Empire, but now he was nothing more than a young newcomer from the countryside. Who would actually listen to someone like that?"

Think back on the literary lessons - most Cavalry members couldn't even read or write when they joined the Cavalry. Yuder could read, but not really write well. Imagine that, he's twenty, he just learned how to write properly, Kishiar manages to mcfuck himself up during the Red Stone Retrieval Mission and decides "yes, that one will be my successor".

Like to Yuder, even ten years later, it seemed like Kishiar pretty quickly and decisively decided to make Yuder his successor.

Why did Kishiar La Orr pass the position of leader to Yuder at that time? And without any hesitation, as if it had been planned from the beginning.

And it's mentioned at times - a lot more later when Yuder knows what's up - we learn also that Yuder received proper lessons from Kishiar (and Nathan) and probably a whole bunch of other people to prep him for his work as Commander. Because Yuder does do well. The Cavalry is thriving, outpacing every other organization withing years. Sure, he's an interpersonal nightmare, but he did also pay for like parties if it was requested or so. And again, he went from semi literate commoner to Count and, argueably, one of the Emperor's most trusted men. That's insane.

And now in the second timeline, Yuder takes that knowledge with him. He knows what to expect, what he learned by trial and error. Just think about the second gender manifestations that go well. Heck, his own, I'd argue, is his turning (ha) point. The first 150ish chapters really do feel like Yuder's only in survival mode, but after his own second gender manifestation, the thing that IMO definitely fucked up his and Kishiar's relationship in the first timeline (mutual non-con my beloved trope <3), it's like an awakening (sorry full of bad puns today).

And for their relationship in the 2nd timeline!! Kishiar and Nathan both pick up that Yuder's more skilled than he should be. In chapter 17 we have this exchange:

"Nathan." "Yes." After Yuder left, Kishiar, staring at the chilled teacup on the opposite side, opened his mouth. Kishiar's cup was empty, but the one on the other side remained untouched, just as it had been from the start. "What do you think of that guy?" It was an unusual question. Nathan pondered for a moment before answering. "If I hadn't heard of his background beforehand, I would never have guessed he was a commoner." He was unmistakably a commoner, an orphan, barely twenty, yet he did not falter in front of Nathan, let alone in front of the noble duke who was as esteemed as the heavens.

And in chapter 59 we got:

Ever since first meeting him, Nathan Zuckerman had been continually investigating Yuder Aile's background. But just as his lord had predicted, there was nothing to find. His past was impeccably clean.

People regularly are in genuine awe of Kishiar because of the whole sun god thing, and I'd say in the first timeline, while also annoyed with Kishiar, to a degree did treat him according to station before he was made Commander and was even more annoyed with Kishiar.

And now here comes second timeline Yuder who had like. meals with the Emperor and knows Kishiar, to a degree at least.

And Kishiar very much picks up on this. He's got a prodigy on his hands who's not afraid to say what he means - not because of arrogance, but because he's straightfroward and correct. He's fascinated with Yuder to the point of propositioning him to figure out what he's on. (rip to Nathan hope you never learn of this).

Like, man if I have to put it into words, I think 2nd TL Kishiar falls in love because he's fascinated and interested by Yuder and wants to know him wholeheartedly, while for Yuder it hmm feels a lot more like hmm devotion/dedication to an ideal? Which makes Kishiar's genuine joy when he learns a small thing about Yuder a delight to read and vice versa when Yuder realizses why Kishiar acts in a certain way.

Like in 199 we got Kishiar saying , "I was merely asking out of curiosity. Isn't it a natural human tendency to want to know more about a subject of interest?"

(Also love how in 200 Yuder is like "Kishiar is so smart and skilled it's only a question of time until he manages to seduce me" babygirl what the FUCK is that thought process. can't you just say he's hot and charming and you both have a competency kink)

uuh. i think i lost the plot a little replying to your ask but like. yes. i love how the different circumstances shape their experience and attraction to each other,

[boydepartment]

what a coincidence! - jake sim x reader

a/n: RAGHHHHH I WANTED TO WRITE THROUGH MY MIGRAINE (i cried again today so headache goes so hard) ((this was written a couple days ago and i’m getting to writing the requests rn :)) i just wanted to get this out too))

warnings- none :) fluff

wc- 150ish

MASTERLIST

you laid on your back on your side of the uncomfortable bed, you had to go on a school trip for your major and this was not the ideal plan at all.

your friend who you were supposed to be bunking with wanted to switch out with her boyfriend’s friend.

which led to you now being bunked with jake sim.

it’s not that you hated him or even disliked him in the slightest, you were just quiet around people who you didn’t really know.

you’ve seen him be loud around his friends but the second he’s away, he’s just kinda zoned out. which you understood. it didn’t really bother you, it was just awkward now.

“so um… should we build a pillow barrier?”

you looked to your left to see jake standing awkwardly by the bathroom, your brows furrowed.

“um…. no? just stay on your side? we have like two pillows.”

this took you off guard, you were 90% sure he’d had girlfriends in the past? why is he being weird around you?

“i just wasnt um… sure what you were um… comfortable with….” he kicked his feet back and forth, this action led you to laugh slightly.

“stop laughing!” he jumped back and pointed at you slightly, finally cracking that very well known smile.

this led you to sitting up, laughing even harder, “i just didn’t expect you to be so nervous!”

“i didn’t expect you to be so chill with being bunked like this! our friends are dating but you’re practically a stranger!” he paced around the bed and sat on his side now, jake slowly got more comfortable.

“well you’re not gonna kill me, this is a school trip, we paid for, that helps us with our classes.” you shrugged and looked at him. it was hard to ignore how pretty his side profile was.

he turned to you, still smiling, “i am definitely not going to kill you i think i’d get expelled…” he chuckled.

“okay so to make this less awkward, hey jake! i have to dorm with you because my friend totally sold me out for her boyfriend!” you waved at him.

jakes head flew back laughing, to the point of him hitting his head on the headboard, this made you both lose your minds laughing.

“what a coincidence y/n! my friend sold me out too!”

the rest of the night was spent sharing ice breakers and getting to know him for real. turns out the crazy popular guy on campus was a huge nerd.

maybe this coincidence led to a blessing in disguise.

[carica-ficus]

"Harrow the Ninth"

21/02/2024

Reading progress: 507/507 (100%)

Read through since last update: 157

Didn't think I'd cram the last part into one post, but here we are anyway. These last 150ish pages were... All over the place. In a good way!

Final notes:

Oh, there she is!!! Talk about a monster under the bed.

Ok, but how casual is that scene? I know something like that was coming (I've seen some fanart, but knew too little to know who it was about, just that Harrow and Ianthe would be peeking under the bed), but it's just so normal. I like it. Kinda eerie because it's not presented as scary.

Of course Ianthe didn't see it. Don't worry Harrow, I believe you.

Yeah, ok. It makes sense that Ortus was just fulfilling other to kill Harrow. His reasoning for it just wasn't strong enough. "You're a liability." Just like everyone else.

Oho! Here we go! Epiparodos! (Whatever that means.)

NUNLET??? 🥺🥺 That's such a cute word.

Ok, the lobotomy. Right. Also saw a fanart spoiler for it, totally forgot it was coming. I thought it was gonna happen later on? In any case. Ok. Yup. This happened.

Harrow NOVA. There we go. The other Harrow finally revealed by her full name. Though I applaud Muir, I haven't even noticed we never got her last name. Gorgeous and genius writing, through and through.

HAHAHAHAHAHA love how Harrow did the typical "I am small. Therefore, I will be a quick and murderous machine" but Muir decided to break up the cliché by saying she discovered that at the ripe age of 5. Man, I love this book. And I love Harrow as a character.

"What's that, you egg?"

Dying. 😂

Ok, gotta say, chapter 40 lost me.

I think... I got it? I might need to read the remaining pages for all of this to settle down, but this is much less complicated that I thought it would be.

What is the meaning of love if not sacrificing every single memory of a person in order to save them? 😭

Of course, it was not a dream. That would be too easy. The bubbles make perfect sense.

I know I said Ortus was annoying when quoting the Noniad, but I really like him as a character. And by that I mean how Muir has given him more depth and allowed him to grow. Which also made the scene where he hugs Harrow so impactful. 🖤

Ok, the Ortus thing was unexpected. And I'm excited to learn what it's all about.

But first. The Sleeper.

UGH! I love how considerate Gideon is with Harrow's body. Sure, she's a little awkward in it and puts out a dirty joke or two, but she's just trying to be respectful and useful. Also the way she's so worried over any and all her injuries, even though she knows they'll all heal? So fucking cute.

Protesilaus took Dulcinea in his care when she fell ill. That's so cute. 🥺

Oh, hell yes! Gideon stepped the fuck up. Time for Ianthe to meet her fucking match.

(I love how protective Gideon is ggghhhgghggh)

Man, I missed Gideon so much.

MATTHIAS NONIUS!!!!!!! :O

(Such a cool scene!!!!!)

You know what? After everything that happened, my reaction to finding out Gideon is God's daughter was just "Ok. Cool."

Cue John's corny dad joke. Love it.

Also I wouldn't have guessed they were related based on their eyes. Sure, John's eyes were mentioned multiple times, but they're silver and Gideon's are gold, so I wouldn't have put two and two together just by that. But! It fits. It's foreshadowed. It works. So yeah. Sure. Love it.

I knew it! I knew that he had a cavalier! I knew that he was a Lyctor! Hell yeah!

So much stuff happens at the end. I just kept on reading, without spending much time on commentating. I needed to know what happens and tbh, I have no idea what I just read. But that's okay! It was fun!

Ok, all in all, the book was spectacular. I liked it even more than I did Gideon. I liked how Muir handled Harrow's grief. I liked the reveals, the mysteries, the tension and the stakes. I liked the characters and I liked how Abigail got a lot more page time. I didn't even care about her in the first book, but now I really like her. I liked Ortus too!

Now, I'm still confused... About a few things. Primarily Harrow Nona. So I'll have to read an explanation or teo about it (or you can comment on the post if you'd like to help me out). Did... Harrow Nonangesimus kept watch and narrated over what Nona was doing? As in, she was dissociating from her body after the lobotomy and experiencing everything from a distance? Or was that all Gideon? Because I feel like it wasn't. Gideon's narration style is totally different and clearly comes out at the very end, but idk. I feel like I'm missing something here or that I'm not grasping something ridiculously simple.

Anyway, I'll be reading a little more about it, but yeah. "Harrow" is done, so I'll have to get my hands on Nona! In the meantime I'll be writing out my review. 🖤

[gwayenjoyer]

I'm actually losing. For like, the first time in so long, it's been years since I've tried to lose weight.

I've been eating more this week, but I'm just going to move back to a consistent walking schedule, 8k steps on days I work, 10k minimum on days I don't work.

I refuse to let this get in the way of my friends. I won't invite them to restaurants anymore, but if they invite me, I'm gonna go, and I'm gonna be as normal as I can about it.

I was gonna fast today, and I did besides my coworker brought in some rice pudding and I ate some. I assume it was 100-150ish calories but that's all I had.

When I got home, I got high and went on a walk to hit my 10k. Then I did about 50 situps and 50 squats.

I'm feeling motivated right now, the hunger feels good again. <3

5'0 194.8lb (still a long way to go.)

[inklingofadream]

honestly I think the books exist to be used vs you Must keep books pristine argument is a disability issue

changing from one to the other was mostly a growing up thing for me (teens can be precious about Pristine books. i think it's good for every teen to have at least one pointless thing to be overly precious about) but a little bit a becoming more disabled thing. Going through books with a highlighter and pencil is good for my mental illnesses. It helps keep me focused, and when I'm done I write down all my highlighted quotes in a little notebook, which is enough of a task to make my depression feel like i've accomplished something without running into executive function machine broke

my grandma's arthritis is bad enough she can't hold a book over 150 pages for long at all, and holding the pages open is bad even on short books.* she was a librarian. She's never going to be happy just reading magazines and super short books. so now every time she buys a new book my grandpa cuts it into 150ish page chunks with the kitchen scissors, and if she's at home she tears out each page as she finishes.

i'm sure there are ton of other accessibility life hacks that involve "defacing" books. don't get me wrong, YOU can keep your books pristine. this isn't about me being right so everyone has to do it, it's about the people who act like you're committing a sin by dog earring/writing in/etc YOUR OWN personal books.

I have plenty of vintage books, I wouldn't do any of this to them, or like a valuable first edition. But writing lovingly in my own recent books, or my grandma cutting and tearing apart books that almost universally came to her secondhand isn't reducing the number of usable books in the world in any significant way. And I'm sick of people getting upset about how other people treat books that belong to them.

*"just get her an ereader" NO. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. every member of my family started suggesting she get a flip phone when they became commonplace consumer items (she wanders off. not in a dementia way, she's just an insane energizer bunny of a person). we started BEGGING her to get one once they were solidly no longer the Gadget Of The Moment and super cheap. She agreed to get a phone that tells time, sends and receives calls, and nothing else in TWENTY TWENTY ONE. if we ever see the day she agrees to get and USE an ereader she will verifiably be the oldest woman to ever live.

[sassypotatoe1]

I also like to remind people that phones are now a requirement to participate in society. You need an email and a cell number on your CV and to be reachable at any time to qualify for most, if not all minimum wage positions. Nevermind higher paying jobs. And you not only need a phone that can access emails, you need an internet plan. If you want to get out of poverty and homelessness you already need a phone and reliable transport, and you can only get housing financing if you have a full time job. If you rent you need to work like 60 hours minimum wage a week and then a second job as well, but you can buy a phone and a prepaid internet plan from one day's donations in some cases, with which it can be a slight bit easier to get a job. It's no longer a luxury, it's a necessity.

In the past you could submit a CV typed up and printed out for free at the local library in person and get a job. Now they're defunding libraries and declaring them insolvent and closing them up, and using an internet Cafe is more expensive than a phone and prepaid plan. You are also required to email or electronically submit CV's for literally any job, in-person hand-ins aren't accepted anymore.

People also often get tvs as gifts or second hand at major discount, and they get it for news and educational programs for young kids when they can't get into preschool. They buy and fix broken old appliances, some who are very good at it will get a broken like smeg appliance that like needs a fuse replaced or a bolt tightened and fix it up for less than the cost of the cheapest new ones. I've seen this happen a lot where I live specifically.

We have people that immigrate that want to get rid of stuff that sell furniture or appliances for insanely cheap or even give it away for free just to get rid of it because it's cheaper to buy new furniture and appliances wherever they're going than to ship their shit over. They advertise the collection on Facebook and if the person can pick it up themselves or contribute to gas for delivery they can get a 14k couch for 3k. (like 150ish euro pound or dollars).

Poor people don't buy things new almost ever. A lot of poor people salvage junk or get things for free or at highly discounted prices or as gifts. You'll also frequently see that some poor people will sell appliances to pawn shops to make rent that month.

I'm scrabbling a bit to get enough of a deposit to get an apartment that's not an outright health risk so I can move out from my parents house and go no contact because they're like, fully okay with my brother dating a nazi and also homophobic and abusive so I need to get out. It's cheaper for me to rent a storage unit, stick all my furniture and appliances in there for a year, and pay the shelter fee for a bed, shower and plate of dinner a month than renting the cheapest place available. I mean just over half of the lowest rent in my area covers storage rent and shelter fees.

If I need to get out quick and I go this route, I can save so much on rent and utilities that I can keep my phone plan and car. I'll still be dirt fucking poor, unless I can find a place that's 2k in rent and utilities combined which is literally impossible right now. I'll have to lose my medical aid and stop my meds (which can very easily kill me), but I could survive a bit.

Having "luxury" items that are actually just basic necessities does not make you a liar about being poor or bad with managing your money. It makes you smart, actually, and we need to start minding our business about poor people if it's not to give them money.

[halfmoonism]

Where Wrath's Edge is Sharp (wwes)

hi sorry I am subjecting you to the Horrors (my terrible awful p5 longfic au that I will. eventually? post once I've finished arc 1 (crossing my fingers. we're at 150ish-k at the time of writing and they're still going through the first palace.))

initial post | wwes tag

major p5r spoilers immediately ahead:

short ver: not-quite-roleswap AU where an Akechi who is persona-less until 17 runs into Morgana instead and unwittingly becomes the leader of the “phantom thieves” w/ Morgana, Makoto, Futaba and Sumire, going against sort-of-Black-Mask Joker w/ Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, and Haru.

long ver: takes a deep breath.

the layout of the iyr/rtg masterpost is so pretty, I'm citing it as inspiration :) I'll start w/ general notes then go into more concise sets of info

misc

no romance! this is an entirely gen found family fic w/ mild alternative chara interpretation (due to differing circumstances) but otherwise sort of follows canon, though the timeline starts abt 8 months before p5r canon (sept 2015)

I'm most likely keeping second and third awakenings, confidant links just take ten million years to progress bc Akechi is. Akechi

new personas: Akechi (Robin Hood -> Skadi, now 2nd persona), Sumire (Cendrillon -> Antigone)

Robin Hood just didn’t make sense for the direction Akechi's chara took (after still feeling helpless, all hope he had that he could be a hero of justice that avenged his mother died); Cendrillon made no sense for Sumire (she never became Kasumi, so the "clock strikes 12/become a different person" theme doesn't fit)

I'm so insane over his 2nd persona being Skadi btw like in mythology Loki killed her dad so. yknow. definitely no parallels there abt being both the victim and the perpetrator or anything

since there's only 5 party members, there is no set nav! Futaba fights w/ a scythe :) this also means everyone else helps teach sumire how to analyze weaknesses after she joins the team :) whoever's nav comments on showtimes as well!

element specializing:

Akechi - curse/psy/gun (Loki), bless/ice/phys (Skadi) Morgana - wind (main healer/buffer + I was not giving him gun sorry lmao) Makoto - nuke/lightning Futaba - psy/fire Sumire - bless/phys

new teams (+ arcanas)

notes: - new arcanas don't reflect the canon storyline, like Akechi being the Tower doesn't mean he has Shinya's canon storyline. it's more about reflections of their personalities and circumstances :) - Ninth Circle links (besides Joker) all break after certain points in the story and reform in third sem

the Espy Division (name courtesy of Futaba)

Futaba initially wanted to name them the Neo Justice Squad V but she was vehemently shut down by Akechi and Makoto lol

Akechi — the Tower

Morgana — Judgment

Makoto — the Chariot

Futaba — the Hanged Man

Sumire — the Fool

the Ninth Circle (name courtesy of mostly Ryuji)

Joker/Ren — Justice

Ryuji — Strength

Ann — the Magician

Yusuke — the High Priestess

Haru — Death

non-team confidants (in order of appearance; might be changed but these are pretty set)

Kiyoko Hagoromo (literally the only OC; goes to Akechi's school) — the Lovers

Lala Escargot — Temperance

Jose — the World

Trader Sakai — Wheel of Fortune

Muhen — the Hierophant

Sojiro Sakura — the Star

Shinya Oda — the Sun

Eiko Takao — the Moon

Shinichi Yoshizawa — the Empress

Hifumi Togo — the Hermit

Mika (Yamanaka) — the Devil

Sae Niijima — the Emperor (only established after interrogation room)

major plot changes

on principle, the Espy Division do not steal hearts. they fight the shadows to metaphorically break through to ppl and go from there. Futaba and Sumire do not steal their own hearts, for example. they go to therapy

Akechi does not awaken when he is 15. he continues to get passed around between foster homes until he lands the internship at the prosecution's office at 17 and immediately moves out to his own apartment

Akechi's very grand plan to take Shido down this time is to gain so much fame and credibility that ppl will actually listen to him when he publicly accuses Shido of all of his crimes. he does this by using the Metaverse to solve cases fast, which naturally makes Makoto suspicious of him

Shido and Sae's palaces are discovered early but not explored until around the time they are in canon. instead Futaba's palace is done first, then Sumire's, then the canon palaces are done in order

Sumire does not become Kasumi! her parents try to send her to therapy but she's so utterly convinced that she doesn't deserve it that she completely avoids Maruki and develops a palace instead (the palace of Acedia; forms as an arena in scramble crossing)

the canon palaces are done but for different reasons (Kaneshiro's is done as the conclusion to a long series of cases Akechi and Makoto were looking into since Dec; Okumura's is done bc Haru insists that they do it; Sae's is done bc she outright threatens to take Akechi and Makoto into custody if they don't turn themselves in)

Joker joins them for Sae's palace. they're all fully aware he's the leader of the enemy team but they reluctantly need his assistance to get past one of the cognitive doors

Joker's confidants (minus the Espy Division members/Shinya/Lavenza/Sae) are still happening in the bg so that's. so very fun for Sojiro when interrogation room comes around

Yaldabaoth declares Joker as the winner immediately after Shido confesses and claims his “prize” by possessing him to terrorize Tokyo. yes this is how I incorporate satanael into the plot

Maruki's reality still comes to pass, but everyone's wishes are appropriately updated. Akechi is not the only person in his apartment. Sumire's not the only sister alive. Joker... Nothing Bad Happens at all to him :)

[funshinebf]

putting stickers on your laptop is all fun and games unless youre like me and have horrible luck with them 😭 every time i start putting stickers on one thinking "well its worked great so far, so it should be safe to decorate with my beloved stickers!" and then it starts to deteriorate and become unusable😭😭😭 i dont know what im doing wrong with laptops like im not downloading viruses and i dont go nuts downloading huge heavy software or games. the most ive ever asked of them has been the sims 4, and even that i only tried to play on the best laptop ive had when it was still working well 😭 i want to try and replace the cracked screen so i can do digital art on it again but even if i Do get to fix the screen that wont make it stop being way slower than how it was when i first started using it. id be willing to just forget about trying to play any video games or doing anything that isnt art but like. i would LIKE to be able to play silly little steam games with my friends every now and then :•( but the main objective is definitely just digital art, so i guess ill just have to suck it up... even still, im having such a hard time finding the specific screen i need for it to work with my laptop AT ALL, let alone at an affordable price. even if i figure out how to replace it myself i'll still have to buy the replacement screen, which ive only been able to find at like at LEAST $150ish. which isnt THAT much when you have a Job but i dont. i get like maybe $5-10 every month, 20 if im lucky. id try pushing my commissions more but without the laptop i cant do very good quality digital art 😭😭😭 i can still do Some on my phone, but the image quality is always way lower, as well as the line quality. not to mention the strain it puts on my fingers and wrists to do my more polished pieces this way. i seriously dont know what to do. i can try asking for the money for a replacement screen for my birthday in August but honestly i was really hoping to go to a renaissance fair with my friends instead since thats like. fun, yknow? but i guess asking for the screen instead is more practical since i can use it to do commissions (if i ever even get any. ive only been commissioned like 3 or 4 times over the Years ive had them open. which i understand cause im not really a huge artist and my blog isnt art focussed so i dont thino i even have a lot of followers that are here mostly for my art. and thats on top of everyone else in the entire world also struggling with money so badly right now, like i feel so bad asking for money when theres so many other people who need it to Survive. urreugghh this world is so evil) anyways just. UGH. capitalism is such an inescapable hellworld and im so tired of living in it. i either spend all of my time and money and energy and effort into surviving and end up severely suicidal. or i try to spend more time taking it easy and focussing on things that make me happy but i keep ending up too broke to do anything cause it all costs money anyway. so i end up feeling passivelu suicidal instead cause i feel like i have no comfortable future 😭 this sucks

[ahungeringknife]

What is your Guardian's Living Space like?

Guardians live incredibly busy lives, but everyone needs a place they can come home to, a place they can chill and relax and find their center away from the turbulent world.

What's yours like?

Tagging: open tag! Tag me if you wanna do these I'd love to see them.

Tagged by: @consifs

I'll just do Eric and Wolf since they're the ones we really see XD

Wolf

Until very recently Wolf lived in a New Light apartment in the Wall. Like a 400 sq ft apartment or smaller. These apartments are supposed to be temporary (or for Guardians who primarily don't spend time in the Tower) and that's why they're so fucking small. A New Light is supposed to get one and spend a few weeks/months getting their new life and existence sorted out before they apply for a standard sized apartment. Wolf just... never did. She didn't even know it was an option. She was boots on the ground since she was Risen and until she had a boyfriend to spend time with she never really stayed in her apartment other than to sleep.

Despite the size these apartments have a full kitchen and bathroom with laundry. But most of the space is dedicated to the sleeping area with minimal living space to encourage New Lights to get out and go DO stuff and meet Guardians.

Now she's got one of the biggest apartments a Guardian can have in the Wall. Guardian apartments are all open floor plan loft style apartments because they're meant to house one (maybe two) Guardians. Guardians who want multiple rooms or bigger spaces than allocated usually rent or buy apartments in the City below the Tower. But Wolf's new apartment has a walled off bedroom. It's effectively a one bedroom house and she had a close friend decorate it because she was o.o about what to even do???? How does one interior decorate?? Sounds scary! The most important parts is she has all her weird shit and weapons she never uses hung up on the walls or on shelves to show off all the things she's collected over the years from all the places she's been and things she's killed. The other important part, according to Ghost, is that there's a kitchen table. Overall the aesthetic is rustic and wood because that's what Shin is most into and Wolf is ??? and didn't have much of an opinion other than color. So her walls are also painted nice colors and the paintings and things on the wall are all pleasing colors. It's a very soothing and relaxing place to come after a long day shooting aliens.

It's a very novel space to Wolf still and it's cool having a couch she can curl up on and watch anime when not shooting the minions of the Witness when she can't sleep and not disturb her boyfriend.

Eric

Until about a 150ish years ago Eric had a standard sized Guardian apartment. Then she joined the Scouting Legion. As a member of the Legion a perk you get is a bigger apartment for joining such a dangerous gang on behalf of the Vanguard. She's been in the same Legion apartment since then.

It's gone through dozens of redesigns over the years but the most recent was was put up for Eric and her Hive son Gup to live together more comfortably. She's put up some partitions and Gup's space is more or less a bunch stacked boxes he can crawl around in and sleep in. Big hamster tunnel energy. Eric keeps her apartment well ordered because she's got a messy child in the house. Gup has boxes and bins for his toys and stuffed animals and Eric is constantly at war with keeping the place clean from art supplies and things for Gup to do. Since Gup can't leave the apartment she's constantly trying to find new things to keep him engaged and not bored that isn't just watching the TV.

Eric's stuff is kept in the living room part of the apartment for the most part. She keeps her guns in a rack on the wall when not in the Vault and has plenty of storage space for the stuff she's accumulated over the decades. She's got a special locked box on one of her shelves with some books of Toland's she's stolen from his library over the years.

Eric's core aesthetic is 'cozy'. As a perpetual Big Sleepy Bitch Eric has pillows and blankies on most pieces of her furniture. Colors are muted and cool tones but not desaturated. Eric loves dressing loud (hard to downplay the perwinkle skin) but her living situation is way more 'rainy day nap' aesthetic.

Eric's fridge is full of premade ice coffee, food kids likes (hot dogs, corn dogs, taco stuff, chicken nuggies, etc), and then also meal prep by Savant. Savant loves to cook and is APPALLED by Eric's eating habits (she used to exist on coffee and crackers) so he cooks all her meals now and they get put in the fridge for her to eat whenever. This has been going on for like a 180 years.

[ladysolwind]

My Blorbos

A bit over a couple weeks ago I, after three years of avoiding it, got COVID. Fortunately, I was able to get antivirals real quick and my messed up lungs aren’t too worse for wear. I have, however, put about 150ish hours into Fire Emblem Three Houses since I got sick, most of it while I was isolating and couldn’t get out of bed.

This game. I love this game. I love it so much. I started with Silver Snow pre-covid, then did Verdant Wind while suffering from the worst of it, and now I’m almost done with my Maddening Azure Moon. Probably not going to do Crimson Flower, not because I super hate Edelgard (I’m meh about her) or love Rhea (who I’m also meh about) but because I love Seteth and Flayn so much. Flayn?? Baby. Cinnamon Roll. Too pure for this world. Sweetie pie. I love her to pieces. Seteth? Daddy. Great enemies(ish) to lovers vibe. Beast of a unit.

I haven’t married Seteth this round of runs, though, because I’m trying to get as many supports as possible, including S Supports. My first round of runs when the game came out, I married, in order:

1) Seteth

2) Dedue

3) Claude

4) Jertiza

then this round:

5) Felix

6) Yuri

7) will be Dimitri.

And honestly, I’m tempted to play Silver Snow and write fanfiction alongside it, ending with another Seteth marriage. Will I? Maybe. I do have a lot of Engage DLC to catch up on, though. My head is spinning with Fanfiction ideas, which is so rare that I want to take advantage of it.

Side note, because this list is uncharacteristically manly: I’ve been tempted to marry Dorothea every time, but she ends up with such great A supports that I don’t want to take her away from them. Like Petra. I want Dorothea to run away to Brigid with Petra and live happily ever after. Mercedes has been tempting, but I know someone with that name who I really dislike so it’s a turn off lol. That leaves Rhea and Sothis so, which is bleh. Where are Shamir and Catherine on the list? Why can’t I marry Shamir or Catherine as F!Byleth? Is it because they’re marrying each other? That’s the only acceptable answer.

In the gay respect, Engage does have Three Houses beat. Looking at you, Jade. Looking at you with mega heart eyes.

Three Houses has become my comfort fixation. I might get Three Hopes, even though I’m not as big on the Warriors style gameplay, just because I want to be with these characters more. Very happy that Engage gave me the bug to play Three Houses again because it’s been such a treat to play it after a few years and fall in love all over again.

Also, shoutout to whoever hacked the Viskam into the game as a usable weapon. You’re doing Sothis’ work.

[freshairforrabbits]

WIP Wednesday

For pretty boy ch. 15; backtracking with Max's PoV (sorry this is a bit long but fuck it)

Tags: implied sexual harassment, implied past mass shooting (because unfortunately I don't see that going away even in 150ish years, what with Freeborn Ballistics being the canonical gun manufacturer of the Avatar universe, and I could get into all the systemic issues that lead to gun violence but that's for another time), implied past domestic terrorist attack with hate crime motivations, Original Characters, this is genuinely just an excerpt of Max's PoV of that end scene from chapter 14, what else can I say things are bad for everyone haha :')

"No! Fuck, god, no, I wasn't—" Spider shakes his head vigorously. "I never lied about that. I just… he never did anything. I mean he'd toss me around, he'd wrench me after him like some kinda nantang. But he always seemed, I dunno, he'd get this weird look when he'd realize how hard he was grabbing me. He checked on me every night. He was nice in a way 'cause I had information he needed— wanted, I tried to give him just enough, tried to kill him with the ikran, some other things." Looking down, Spider continues, "one of those guys on Scoresby's stupid ship though— he got all handsy. Pretty sure my Dad almost killed him when he asked why I cut all my hair off and scrounged up a pair of those sweatpants or whatever someone had lying around."

Max tries to pretend like that isn't it's own arrow through his stomach, like somehow he should've been trying harder to get Spider back instead of skirting along the outskirts of it all. Desperate and barely staying afloat at High Camp. Bridgehead was too big, too monster, too impenetrable wall and Spider was too maybe dead— hopefully alive; Kiri, she mentioned an explosion, and he couldn't help but assume the worst. 

"I just feel like it's my fault. It's mine, Max." Voice mangling on itself, Spider croaks. "He didn't, he wouldn't've— why would he fucking—"

"That's not your fault, Spider." It's not, he wants to reach over and remove the guilt with his own two hands, remembering that little baby with the curly poof of platinum hair wobbling around the lab. Even if Spider's the reason Quaritch is breathing right now, even if he can put two and two together, it doesn't matter, it doesn't. "This isn't your fault. None of this is."

"But I—" 

"It's not your fault," Nana cuts in. "The decisions that man makes are not your own— waeto?" 

"You guys don't— fuck, you don't get it," Spider tries to protest again, teeth flashing, but Nana quiets him.

"Understood?"

Spider mumbles a small 'yes, ma'am.' And Nana clicks her tongue softly, reaching out to lay a hand on Spider's arm where he has it resting across his lap, turned in the chair to face back towards the cargo hold, eyes stuck on the cockpit door. 

"Some daddies hurt their sons, wae? Okay, Spider?" Nana says, her voice soft the way she gets when she tells Akan folktales from her childhood to the Taam Ja' residents, everyone looking for a hopeful story to sink into, of a physically meek trickster in the form of a Terran spider who beats the odds with his cunning, his craftiness, his wit— a rogue, loveable mischief maker who is constantly outsmarting his much larger foes. (It was no coincidence Spider spent more storytelling nights with the scientists than back at the Awa'atlu mo'ara, ever since Nana carved a place for herself among the aytsantu, when she offered them everything she had including her stories. That Spider had brought along Kiri and Tuk, even Lo'ak once, who would leave a space for a brother who was never going to show up, and Spider would grin at the moments Anansi would trick Tiger into letting his prey free, or when he would convince a killer python to tangle himself up out of vanity.)

"Others will hurt only others. Fucked up fathers who love their families, who tuck them in, kiss their foreheads so gentle-like, yet they have these bodies rotting in their basement. For soldiers it's a bit different, the blood's praised, the violence is worshipped." There's something like an unfortunate understanding laced on her syllables. "Just because the colonel cared about you, defended you— it doesn't mean he cares about anyone else the same. But it means we are fortunate that he hadn't hurt you that way."

Screaming chases the last word out of Nana's mouth, muffled, outside of the cockpit, in the cargo hold, enough to make them all jump-flinch. Yanking on their exopacks, Nana clutches her rifle and leaps into action as she motions for Cricket to stay, to watch Judy, to guard the door. Spider slips out of his seat and is on Nana's heels before Max can snag the boy's elbow.

With the door open it's louder. Stomach turning, the sort of thing that flashes across Max's mind with crack thud bullet impacts, huddled in the tight, cramp, dark space of a public bathroom back in Texas with dozens of other people. Of scraping pavement with his small palms, after hearing the clink of still warm bullet shell casings kicked across the ground by his feet, by many feet. Tripping over the bikes left abandoned all across the sidewalks outside, his little brother helping him back up, asking where ma and ba are, where's Madeea— she's at home, she's home, Avi. Flashing lights, sirens, android dogs with their friendly voice boxes and dark vests guiding children to first responders so they can be looked over, reunited with their families—

There was a man, a father, he knows that now, who had screamed the same way. Fighting to get back inside the shopping complex, lighting up the neon walkway with his pounding feet in a scuffle as a SWAT officer held him back, then finally pinned him down as he howled and howled and howled. Too many echoed prints where people had run glowing softly like ghosts.

He sees his ba, covered in a dozen shades of gulal, hugging him and Avi far too tight. Ma running up a second later. Safe, not like that man's family, not like that father who shattered that day.

The Samson's hull shudders with the movement of bodies, something, someone being slammed down, and Max jolts out of the past. Thrown over thirty years forward in an instant; historic mass shootings far away. Jake's screaming has spilled into pleading that leaves Max breathless at the sound, hunching over, Cricket telling him it's alright, it's not Quaritch, it's just— 

"Don't! Don't! Fuck— !"

Jake's never sounded like that. This screeching, metal nails to chalkboard, prey flipped on its back expelling every last bit of air from its lungs because it knows it's going to die. 

Norm's voice whips through the line. 

"Max, fuck, shit, I'm sorry, Jake—" Max's heart skips, as Jake's yelling and thrashing echoes and Norm's voice comes through clear across it, sword cutting. "Max! How far out are we?!" 

Max relays the estimated remaining flight time mechanically, kicking up the speed by a few knots. And it all goes to utter shit because Norm drops off the comm after admitting he can't hold Jake that long, and Max knows what he's going to do, he almost leaps out of the pilot's seat to stop him. But he can't, he can only grip the console, flip switches, vibrate in place, call back to Cricket and tell them to get Spider's ass back in here, now. 

Because Quaritch is off leash, the rotors might be drowning it all out but he can see him up and moving on the camera helping Norm restrain Jake (because Cricket tells him what they're seeing, an edge to their voice, and the camera is blotched out with blue shapes that are too big and moving too much). Jaci's disapproval swims in his head because he knows, he knows she would've tried something different, anything different, but they don't exactly make a point to teach crisis management in the air on limited resources with people twice their size. And his hindbrain is still screaming they're dead, they are so completely fucking dead with Quaritch free to roam the aircraft's cabin like this is some evening trip to the sunken shores of Italy and he's a paying passenger with a VIP. 

Jake's shouting tapers off. The world lulls, shudders, Max's pupils shake as he shoots Spider a frantic glance when he's finally settled back in his seat. Quaritch does much the same on the square box of the camera feed, back to his corner behind the cockpit, Nana out there still with a rifle aimed, two blue shapes huddled on the floor of the Samson, Norm's head ducked low. 

"He's out," is what Norm relays, whisper soft, picked up clearly. "He's um, he's okay." 

Max wets his lips. Necklace feeling more like a noose on his neck, sweat creeps from his hairline down his back. "Norm. You…"

"I had to." 

"..." 

"Look I had to, what— god, what fucking choice do we have?"

"You cut him loose," Max states, like he's delivering bad news, the aggressive progression of a disease. Thankfully the cockpit door is closed once more. "You let Quaritch—" 

"I know." Then almost inaudible, practically throat click sounds, "I'm sorry." Silence lulls. "But if we'd killed that asshole back at the jetty, Jake would've— he would have…" Norm sighs, unable to finish it. "He's barely alive, Max. Just me with my avatar? He'd have jumped, he would've drowned or screamed himself right into a— a state of shock. Either scenario we turn up with a dead body. We're lucky, alright? We're—"

"We are risking everything." It's odd, how the tables have turned, with him realizing the gravity of this, of Norm seeing Jake and changing his mind about playing things very safe.

"Yeah. We are." Norm sniffs roughly, clears his throat. "I just want him alive, Max. I don't think that's too much, I don't." 

Sylwanin, Eytukan, Trudy, Grace, Neteyam, Mingxia, (Jake), countless others; names he barely knew and faces he barely saw.

Grief twists rough and razor behind his sternum. Of the people he's lost, even the ones light years back home. At the camera showing a scene of Norm's back angled towards it, huddled on the Samson's cramped floor with Jake gathered in his lap, trying to keep his chest upright because they both know he has some form of walking pneumonia.

Nana says through the comm that she's got an eye on the colonel, if he so much as twitches she'll shoot, a fire to her voice, a shake.

Spider hunches in the copilot's seat, swiping at his chin with the heel of his wrist, sniffing loudly through his mask he keeps firmly on. Cricket remains quiet, Judy doesn't make a sound. 

Max shakes away the image of his little brother crying much the same, huddled in the groove of worn couch cushions, bare feet tucked close, of the shooting, of the echoes of Jake's screaming, of everything and everyone and a dozen times where it felt like he was being crushed by invisible hands, and he presses on faster towards the thick squall of dark clouds, the flash of purple lightning ahead.

[nflstreet]

playing tower unite tonight has been so fun. my friend found a condo server that had a wall full of hentai, and a ‘tower of babel’ to climb to get into the basement. the secrets in the basement is that all of the pictures on the wall are of the girl that owns the condo. now, usually that would be sexual, but since the edible i ate earlier hit, i’m laughing my ass off with my friends in discord. also, i have my pierce brosnan james bond skin on, so i thought it would be funny to go up to a hentai girl and be like “i fucked her on an assignment in japan”, but then, i actually got to start talking to the girl that owns the condo (which has her nudes in it), and my friend was like “matt, you’re really roleplaying james bond 007 right now the way you’re talking to that girl�� and it’s like, i’m not even not trying to hit on her LOL. i’m just genuinely fascinated at how horny someone can be and how dedicated they are to being horny (she said that it took her 150ish hours total to finish the condo). of course, due to reasons everyone knows, i can’t post pictures of the condo on here, but believe you me it was not good. the only girl i recognized was riamu (the house had a theme of ‘pink hentai girl’ because the girl who owned it had dyed pink hair). so yeah, me as pierce brosnan james bond talked to this girl about her coomer apartment for like 20 minutes, while saying that my friends, who were aqua from konosuba and rosemi lovelock the vtuber, were my ‘girlfriends’. sometimes playing games is genuinely more fun than going out to a bar/club/etc.

[prince-les]

crying my EYES out. /pos

another quotev user?? real?? not clickbait??? have i finally found my people :( /pos

LMAOO THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!!! Yes I use Quotev. I remember back then when I was about to upload my first fic where I ask my writer friend group about where to upload my writings, the choices were either here, Quotev, or Ao3. And well, I ended up doing it in Quotev and kept going lol.

Answering more asks below:

Lmao I think I already did a few times in previous posts before, but I'll slap it here again anyway (might make a navigation or something because my blog is an absolute mess rn with the number of fandom)

https://www.quotev.com/PrinceLes

——

It IS awesome! When you found someone who have interest just as much as you it became 1000% more awesome. But if they're not part of it, they're joining in this journey whether they like to or not. Side glances at my Sky viewer who got dragged into Pokemon and my Pokemon viewer who got dragged into Sky.

——

Thank you <33 honestly comforting words like this about my English is really appreciated. I'm not really the best of tools in the shed but dear God it does take me like hours to actually remember that one phrase ™ that matches a specific scene.

——

Lmaoo welcome back!!! You're one of many that had sent a message to me about returning to Sky and I am absolutely ecstatic whenever someone informed me so :).

It doesn't actually decrease in Eden, at least, not yet for me? I think the rate in which you lose your wing light based on how much you have *currently*. So if you have above 120, perhaps around 150ish, it's more likely that you'll lose more each tick.

——

They would absolutely be fine no matter how high it is. It *would* be a problem if this were to happen like two years ago tho lol because fall damage was a thing back then. God the amount of time I've bonked my head against trees and walls and losing lights over it.. . But it's fine now! You can hit walls as much as you'd like and fall from whatever height, Sky kid will be a ok.

——

Yes. YYEESSSSSS. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH BUT A SEASON WITH *LORE* AND NEW GAME MECHANIC???? I am, I am vibrating in the lore.

——

He could! Most definitely. I have a thought in my Subway in the Sky au about one of the Nimbasa trio giving Sei a voice recorder for when he wants to rant about his theory but everyone's too busy to be there for him at times. (I feel like Ingo would most likely be the one who give it to Sei. Probably his own, the one he have been carrying since he was small). I just think it might be sweet.

But in the topic or podcast, what sort of voice do you think Sei would have? :)

[unsettledink]

I am just.

I am very cranky about tags right now so there is just a bunch of ranting about the new tag limit under the cut. Feel free to completely ignore my meltdown. I'll get over it eventually.

I went to go update my tags now that we've hit the sex for real, because I didn't want to falsely lure people in with all these smut tags when there was not even a one kiss yet, and wouldn't be for about 200k. But hey, I'd like current readers to have a better idea what they're getting into!

I took my original list of tags (around 150ish) and worked to whittle it down – I lost some of my favorite tags in the process, but I tried to focus on things that either

a) are a huge component of the story in a way that's non specific and pervasive

b) are a large part of the fic but restricted to one area

c) something I personally would want to search for or avoid and that happens in more than one chapter

And then I went back through and removed things that were more specific under a larger umbrella. No, I probably don't need five different tags when I can just put come play, but it still hurts because I'll be honest, I have searched specifically for each of those tags and had to resort to the umbrella tag, full of things I did not want. And those are tags I wouldn't have put if it wasn't for that fact that, once the sex gets going, they happen a LOT. Like, I really hope you aren't grossed out by come play cause Peter is 110% there for it, RIP Quentin.

I ended up with about 110, which isn't great but it'll do, and more like 100 once I take away the spoilery ones I'm waiting to add.

I spent entirely too long typing them in the way I wanted them to look and organizing them, and then -

I fucking forgot about the new tag limit – I knew it was a thing at some point, but didn't realize it had happened and didn't realize it was only 75 and didn't realize that it counts fandom, character, and pairing tags within that.

So suddenly I've got a warning that I have get rid of 42 tags, and I can't even edit the ones already there because it was grandfathered in.

Considering that I had already massively cut down on the tags I wanted to use and now have to figure out what more to cut, this is going to take some thinking. I may do some weird tagging that combined things so at least they can be read and hopefully correctly synced with parent tags, but I hate that because I want to tag things in part for people searching for those specific things. I may add a block of tags in the notes, but that's really difficult to search accurately. I may throw something up on tumblr, I don't know. I dislike all of those options.

Funnily enough, I've never needed more than maybe a dozen or so tags? But for fuck's sake, this sucker is mostly like going to be a solid 800k, allowing me less than one tag per 100k is not fun. It'd be one thing if this was a simple, straightforward, non kinky fic. But it's really not. It's complex and messy and there's a lot of plot and emotional stuff before you even get into the sex, which is kinky in specific ways that I want to tag for, both as warning and enticement.

And reading reading a bajillion comments on the news post that are mostly

a) yay everyone is so tired of tags good job AO3 you should have made the limit smaller

b) this really sucks if you're a long fic or smut writer

c) well you're just bad at tagging aren't you. Stop abusing the system by tagging every character that breathes and you'd be fine. Besides tags are just for warnings, not searching or enticement, and we couldn't possibly consider giving more words more tags - won't someone think of the poor podfics (that you never care about the rest of the time lol) who would be hurt like you are currently being hurt?

(Which is nonsensical because it's not like anyone is suggestion that 'oh you only used ten words? Sorry, you may have tag and one tag only!'.)

And I'm seriously cranky, because you know what? I have two fandoms tagged, and seven characters. All of which will feature significantly in this fic. I'm not abusing those areas, so what do I delete now?

No, tell me. What do I delete? Bye Ned and MJ, you're taking up space, but hey I guess anyone that clicked on this for you wouldn't have been happy, so whatever, I don't need to hint that this fic does not set Peter's friends aside completely for the relationship.

The sex tags? I already reduced oral sex by five things, just leaving rimming and bj's, but I guess I should only put oral sex instead, because that's what people search for, right? Never mind that that's a useless tag that won't help filter anything, and that both bj's and rimming hold a special significance within the fic, as weird as that may sound from the outside.

Maybe I should drop a bunch of my trauma healing tags, except one of the most important factors of this fic is exploring how both Peter and Quentin heal or have failed to heal from their assorted varied traumas and how those affect them throughout, so yes, I do feel like nightmares and ptsd and grief are all significantly different things that I want to make note of!

I guess I can just cut all my... mood/vibe tags, because... Idk, they're too general or specific to be useful for searches, and probably not would draw people in? But when I'm reading, those give me a much better sense of how the author thinks of the fic and whether I might get easily annoyed or not.

And no, I really don't use tumblr style random chatty tags for the most part, because that's what author's notes are for. But a few have their place and author's notes don't show on the page when I'm browsing. It's like... I read the book flap (summary) and now I want to flip it over and see the blurbs from other authors?

I feel like this really misunderstands how a lot of people use tags? They're fucking searchable, so if I want only the fics under one small weird obscure tag, I can click on that and get them! I don't have to fuck around with search terms and exclude this, reword that, refine refuss redo, I can just click on the goddamn tag. Which people might not bother to tag with anymore, because of limits.

No, listing the tags in the summary and using the search within results is not acceptable, because I cannot tell you how many times I've searched for a work knowing something from the summary, and not been able to find it until I start flipping through whatever tag I was originally browsing when I found it, even if exactly what I searched for was in the summary!

Tags are meant for warnings and the main AO3 warnings cover most stuff? Are you fucking kidding me? Were you not around for the endless wanking over using 'warning' vs 'contains' before just 'tags' was a thing?

I don't use tags for warnings 90% of the time, because I seldom warn! There's an 'author chooses not to use archive warnings' on most of my fics for a reason! And I'm using tags to find readers, because a lot of people have found my fics not because they desperately want, say, Tony/Quentin, but because they wanted come inflation or slapping kink or hand feeding or what have you. Eliminating those sorts of tags helps no one!

As a reader, I care so little about those warnings that I have them default hidden – I want the content tags that tell me if I might like the vibes of this fic beyond what the summary might tell me. A fic with a promising summary can be instantly ruined for me by, say, daddy kink, but if that's tagged, even with the intent of getting the attention of people who like it, I can nope out before my eyes have to see those words. And if I'm in the mood for one specific weird unpopular kink, I can just click the tag and explore stuff in other fandoms I wouldn't have ever even found.

And I get that this is primarily because of some stupid fic that everyone was seeing all the time and a couple of assholes, but if that was such a problem, why couldn't there be a hard code to hide tags (oh wait there is?? in addition to add-on scripts and skins that do the same thing??).

But hey, why deal with the problem makers when you can punish everyone? Gosh am I back at a job with an incompetent manager again?

Last time I complained about a change I was told AO3 is an ARCHIVE for AUTHORS, not a library for readers, so too bad, our priority is making the authors feel safe, which, fair enough, that was the original mission. Yet now it's 'you can't have as many tags as you want because the readers shouldn't have to scroll that much!'? Nice mixed message there.

I hate all of my options and have a serious case of crankies over getting 70 tags for a plot and kink heavy 600k+ fic, and I really just... don't know what I want to do. Aside from throw a little fit and then get over it, I guess.

(If by any chance you made it this far and want to offer an opinion or help decide which tags aren't important, I've got them all listed with why I want them over here. I don't know, maybe there are things I think are important that no one reading cares about or would have been enticed by!)