#so this got long

[vasheden]

So, I ended up doing all of these. I initially used the prompt as an excuse to actually make their first kiss, then it got away from me. Full pics and ~lore~ under the cut.

First kiss: This happened in a dream facilitated by Feo Ul, which is why he's in pajamas and Kaia's got her normal clothes. Kaia was doing really badly with the light poisoning, and was having serious doubts about her own survival. She was starting to crack around her eyes, and was constantly in more pain than she had ever experienced. Feo Ul brought Aymeric to her one night while she was sleeping so she could say goodbye, and she finally confessed all of her feelings and apologized for putting all of that on him. He just kissed her and held her while she cried.

Wedding: Their ceremony was huge, with guests from every place Kaia had helped out. She dressed in the red and black of House Fortemps.

Morning kiss: I just really wanted something warm and cozy. Happy domesticity.

Goodbye kiss: And now we're back to angst! This is their goodbye on the airship landing before she headed back to Sharlayan to board the Ragnarok. He kissed her hand while looking her in the eyes and swearing to be there for her, begging her to come home safe.

Surprise! Another cute little scene of Kaia dragging him away from his desk. He works too hard. (and yes, it's an ear bite rather than a kiss, but I'm counting it)

For flustered, I went back to their very first meeting. She had never had a proper knight treat her like a real Lady, and didn't really know how to handle it. (Haurchefant did, and immediately started making excuses to leave them alone together.)

And for dramatic, we have their reunion during Kaia's recovery in Sharlayan. Aymeric hopped on an airship immediately after the Ragnarok landed and Estinien messaged him to say she was badly injured.

For the free space, I just reused the caught in the rain kiss. It's the first one I ever did, and I still think it came out really well. Plus, it's just another happy little slice of life for two people who have been through hell and really deserve a break.

[tinyarmedtrex]

Fake dating/accidental sexting

Hey, better late than never right? This is also for the weekly prompt from @i-can-read-to-him

“Last chance to back out.” Jesper said, pulling into an empty parking spot. 

“I’m not the one who wants to back out.” Wylan said as he tugged at his jacket. “You’re sure I look okay?”  

“Yes Wylan, you look amazing.” 

Wylan swallowed. Jesper’s voice had gotten softer as he’d said that and it made Wylan’s stomach flip. He forced himself to look away so Jesper didn’t see his blush. Jesper would have said that to anyone in the passenger’s seat, that’s just who he was.  Wylan wasn’t special. 

The two got out of the car and Jesper slipped his hand into Wylan’s. “We need to sell it after all.” He said as an explanation. Wylan opted to only nod. He couldn’t trust his voice. 

Jesper whistled as they entered the country club, “Damn, they went all out.”

“They really did.” The room they’d entered was decorated with fairy lights and flowers. Wylan could see at least a dozen waiters walking around with trays of food. 

Wylan spared a glance at Jesper. The wedding was for one of his cousins and Jesper was had been having a lot of feelings about it. After today, he was the last single cousin and his family wouldn’t let him forget it.  They’d offered multiple times to set him up with someone and each time he refused. It all came to a head when his aunt said she had the perfect wedding date for him and his reply had been that he already had a date, his boyfriend. 

Of course, the issue there was that Jesper didn’t actually have a boyfriend. He’d been complaining to Wylan about his predicament when Wylan had offered to go as his date. 

“People always think we’re dating anyway,” Wylan had said as he’d taken a pot off the stove. Jesper had been at his apartment, a place he spent most of his free time, and Wylan was making them dinner. 

“Wonder why.” Jesper commented as Wylan scooped pasta onto his plate. 

“It’s hard to cook for just one.” Wylan muttered. Jesper had just chuckled and pressed a quick kiss to the top of Wylan’s head. A casual gesture but one that made Wylan’s heart race. 

Things had moved fast after that. Wylan had picked the fish dish, so he and Jesper could try both options, and then he’d had his suit dry cleaned. Before he knew it Jesper was picking him up outside his apartment and driving them to the ceremony, which had been mercifully short. The easy part was now over. The reception was the trust test. Jesper had prepped Wylan for invasive questions and lots of hugging. 

“We can do this.” Wylan said as he squeezed Jesper’s hand. “It’s just four hours. And there’s an open bar.”

Jesper shook his head affectionately. “Look at you, being optimistic. I love it.” Then he threw his shoulders back. “Okay, let’s get this started.” They finished crossing into the party and almost immediately a family member approached, asking how long they’d been together and crooning about lovely it was that Jesper was finally settling down. Jesper took it all in stride, smiling and saying that it had taken someone like Wylan to tie him down. Wylan had felt himself flush.

This continued happening throughout dinner. Jesper’s family was all lovely and shared his lack of social graces. Wylan had never been asked so many questions that turned his whole face bright red. 

Then the dancing started. Jesper had whisked him to the dance floor and everyone melted away except for the two of them. Jesper’s long arms wrapped around Wylan, holding him close as they danced. 

And that was when Wylan made an excuse to leave. It was all too much. Having Jesper’s arms on him, how they’d been leaning into each other all night, how Jesper had insisted on feeding Wylan his cake. Wylan needed a moment to catch his breath, to remind himself that none of this was real. 

Wylan went outside to the balcony, which was mercifully empty. Then he pulled out his phone and saw he had several missed notifications. Some were from Nina, telling him to make a move on Jesper. Others were from Inej, telling him to have fun. Then finally one was from a hook up app he’d joined. He hadn’t met anyone from the app yet but he’d been messaging several people. 

He glanced around again. It was dangerous to listen to the note here but he didn’t wait to wait. The guy had a way with words, his messages always sent a tingle down Wylan’s spine. Wylan had no idea how much of what the guy told him was true but he really didn’t care. All he wanted was for someone to want him. 

Confirming that he was alone Wylan hit ‘play’ on the converted voice note, feeling himself blush as he listened. The man certainly was inventive. Wylan opened his recorder to reply. 

“Love your ideas baby. I’ve dreamt about having your tongue on me, how it would feel to have you take me apart. Tell me what other ideas you have.” 

Wylan hit send before he could second guess the message. He may be here with Jesper but that was just for tonight. Tomorrow they would go back to being just friends. 

The reply came faster than he expected. Wylan hit play. 

“You want ideas?” The automated voice read to him.  “You have no idea what I’ve thought about doing to you. I’ve wanted to kiss you for ages but that’s just the start. You’re sure you want to hear them?”

Wylan frowned. It was unusual for this guy to check in, usually he just whatever he was thinking.

“I’ve been waiting all night to hear them.’

Again, the reply came uncharacteristically quick. 

‘I want to push you against a wall and kiss you senseless. I want to throw you on top of your purple bedspread and crawl onto you, pushing my body against yours. I want everything with you.”

Wylan’s eyes grew wide. He’d never sent a picture of his bedroom, let alone his bedspread. He quickly check who he’d been messaging with. 

Wylan’s blood ran cold as Jesper’s name glowed bright at the top of his screen. 

Fuck fuck fuck

He nearly dropped his phone, trying to figure out how to undo what he’d done. He’d fucked everything up. 

“This is bad. This is bad.” He muttered, running a hand through his hair. 

“I hope that comment isn’t about my spelling.” A voice called from behind him. 

Wylan turned to see Jesper standing in the doorway. 

“No- I - it’s not-” Wylan stammered. He could feel himself flushing down to his bellybutton as he tried to string words together. “I thought you were someone else.”

Jesper strode towards him, stopping in front of Wylan. “Another fake date? I saw one of my uncles checking you out.” 

“No. Um-” Wylan pointed to his phone. “The messages.” 

Jesper physically deflated in front of him. “Oh, that makes more sense. I probably should have figured that out. I thought it was an uncharacteristic way for you to confess your feelings.” He started to step back but Wylan reached for him. 

“Wait.” Wylan blinked, trying to put everything together. “You thought- you thought I was confessing my feelings?”

Jesper looked away. “No. Maybe. I had hoped the romance of tonight, the dancing- it’s stupid.”

Wylan rushed forward and took Jesper’s hands in his own. His heart was pounding but he forced himself to say the next part. “Jesper yes, I want that. With you.” 

Jesper still looked skeptical so Wylan took Jesper’s face in his hands. “I’ve wanted that with you for years” He continued. “But  I never thought you would want me.” 

“Wylan,” Jesper shook his head. “How could I not want you? I assumed you didn’t want me. ”

Wylan chuckled. They really were meant for each other. “Jesper, how could I not fall for you? Look at you.”

Jesper’s wiggled his eyebrows them looked Wylan over slowly. “Look at yourself. Especially in that suit.”

Wylan smiled, fighting this blush. “Should we go back to the party? Prove to your family that you can land a boyfriend?”

Jesper shook his head, his hands curling on Wylan’s hips. “I’d rather stay out here and talk more about those texts.”

“Just talk?” He teased. 

“No, not just talking.” Jesper said, dipping his head to bring their lips together. They didn’t make it back inside for a long time. 

[pertinax--loculos]

Update

Writing So, I'm back on Psyche Shards, primarily because I was trotting along writing down ideas for a new WIP inspired by some media I've been consuming, and I was halfway through that when I stopped and went, 'wait... I already have a lot of these plot-points in a previous WIP'. So I guess that's an advantage of having a gratuitous amount of WIPs? When you get a new idea there's a whole plethora of already-existing stories into which you can incorporate the new ideas?

I'm also giving zero drafting a try. This came about because of my tendency to 'write' things in my head when I'm trying to sleep, which is something I've always done. In the past I've then got up the next day and tried to write the scenes, with varying levels of success (sometimes they're really good! Sometimes I lose a lot of it. Sometimes I'll think up like four 3k+ scenes the night before and by the time I've written one I'm out of brain-juice for the others); and that final point in the brackets is why I started zero drafting. I also haven't written in a while so the words weren't really coming, so I just went fuck it, let's just basically dot-point what I remember and that's how I got down the meat of three scenes in 4k words. It's actually a fun time! I don't have to worry about word choice, if I can't think of a response or a witty remark I just write 'he says something witty here', and if I haven't thought up the end of a scene I can just skip to the next one.

(Yes, I'm aware the above is exactly why people champion the idea of zero drafts in the first place. Sometimes you just have to do something to understand it. 😆)

So yeah, I'm having fun with it! I've now written about 6.5k in the last four-ish days, after months of writing nothing. The plot and structure of this WIP is still hell on earth, but again, the advantage of zero drafting is I can flick through everything quite quickly and see how it shapes up and how that influences the choices the characters make and how everything turns out. Plus, it's a lot less effort to put in the scrap pile if I need to get rid of scenes, etc etc.

In semi-related news, I'm hoping to start getting more active with tags, asks, reblogs, all that good interaction-y stuff. So if you see me answering an ask or a tag from millennia ago, that's why. 😅 We'll see how we go with all the Life things (see below), but that is the plan!

Life So, I've officially dropped back to a single degree, which I did late enough into the semester that I can't pick up units, so I'm on a part-time workload for this semester. Which is good because I'm hoping it will mean I have more time to write and get back into the community. ^_^

In saying that, I've also applied for two jobs recently; #1, which is exceptionally unlikely I'll get very far, and #2, where I've reached stage 3/5 of the (lengthy, competitive) application process. So if either of those go anywhere I'll obviously need to rethink things.

But generally, with any luck this semester will bring more time to write and a lot less stress. :D

I hope everybody is going well! If you've made it this far congrats. <3 If you wanna pop in and let me know how you're going, feel free! I've been lurking on and off over the last few months or so, but I'd love to catch up with what everybody's doing. ^_^

[itsscaredycat]

so ok yeah fine i watched gravity falls again and read the book of bill

[kensatou]

make men slutty again.

HEAT STROKE | GQ CHINA Photographer: Wintam; Editor & Image: Shawn Gao Ding; Makeup: Lucas; Hair: Tao Liu; Art: Grade 2 & Lei Min; Art Assistant: Jiang Mi; Models: Kim; Ye Hao, Yu Hang, Ho Jun; Fashion Assistant: Yiyi, Coco; Photography Assistant: Li Zhenxi; Song Luanyi

bonus as rightfully added by @polyabathtub:

[daeyumi]

I am what you made me 🩸

[hiohaku]

回答 ` . . . ᵍᵒʲᵒ ˢᵃᵗᵒʳᵘ @kuraokcmi — ❛ it’s hot when you talk back. ❜

YOU SOAK IN DAYBREAK ; where the light meets the earth . you find familiarity in the waking light , descendant of dawn itself , where do you store all that moonlight ? ethereal veins flow . & ribs made into a cage for the heart ; A HEARTH , flames that spark , fling themselves for the sake of warmth . DO YOU FEEL DESPERATE YET ? maiden of dawn pressed near / NOT CLOSE ENOUGH to the rivaled light . teeth gnash into inner cheek [ CRIMSON , SWOLLEN LIPPED ]

can you consider this a ritual yet ? a cycle you return to [ . . . ] TOUCH HIM , TOUCH HIM , FEEL HIS SKIN AND THE HEAVEN LAID BENEATH ( do you wonder where his empyrean originates ? ) , HOLD HIM BUT THE DAWN WATCHES YOU SLIP AWAY — why do you always leave ? TIME + TIME AGAIN , you repeat yourself . it ' s almost as if you cannot help yourself . CAN YOU ? . . .

STARS COLLIDE & the universe moves on . however , utahime is no star & she is no universe : she gets stuck , caught in the orbit of the strongest . AMBER FLAMED EYES find their way to him , a cocky grin that spreads across his face : fanged with the potential of DANGER !! [ . . . ] but there is none with him . teeth have released her bottom lip , perched in what could be considered a pout of sorts : DESPITE WHAT HE SAYS , SHE DOES NOT BUDGE . she knows his soul like her own . her eyes roll .

❛ stop trying to distract me — ❜ spoken just as she crosses her arms over her bare chest , the cold makes her nipples peak , SENSITIVE and he only makes things worse ❛ take your damn infinity down already ❜ eyebrows pointed , what she WANTS TO BE A STERN COMMAND comes out as something more akin to a desperate plea .

[endusviolence]

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

[tofixtheshadows]

I've been thinking a lot lately about how Kabru deprives himself.

Kabru as a character is intertwined with the idea that sometimes we have to sacrifice the needs of the few for the good of the many. He ultimately subverts this first by sabotaging the Canaries and then by letting Laios go, but in practice he's already been living a life of self-sacrifice.

Saving people, and learning the secrets of the dungeons to seal them, are what's important. Not his own comforts. Not his own desires. He forces them down until he doesn't know they're there, until one of them has to come spilling out during the confession in chapter 76.

Specifically, I think it's very significant, in a story about food and all that it entails, that Kabru is rarely shown eating. He's the deuteragonist of Dungeon Meshi, the cooking manga, but while meals are the anchoring points of Laios's journey, given loving focus, for Kabru, they're ... not.

I'm sure he eats during dungeon expeditions, in the routine way that adventurers must when they sit down to camp. But on the surface, you get the idea that Kabru spends most of his time doing his self-assigned dungeon-related tasks: meeting with people, studying them, putting together that evidence board, researching the dungeon, god knows what else. Feeding himself is secondary.

He's introduced during a meal, eating at a restaurant, just to set up the contrast between his party and Laios's. And it's the last normal meal we see him eating until the communal ending feast (if you consider Falin's dragon parts normal).

First, we get this:

Kabru's response here is such a non-answer, it strongly implies to me that he wasn't thinking about it until Rin brought it up. That he might not even be feeling the hunger signals that he logically knew he should.

They sit down to eat, but Kabru is never drawn reaching for food or eating it like the rest of his party. He only drinks.

It's possible this means nothing, that we can just assume he's putting food in his mouth off-panel, but again, this entire manga is about food. Cooking it, eating it, appreciating it, taking pleasure in it, grounding yourself in the necessary routine of it and affirming your right to live by consuming it. It's given such a huge focus.

We don't see him eat again until the harpy egg.

What a significant question for the protagonist to ask his foil in this story about eating! Aren't you hungry? Aren't you, Kabru?

He was revived only minutes ago after a violent encounter. And then he chokes down food that causes him further harm by triggering him, all because he's so determined to stay in Laios's good graces.

In his flashback, we see Milsiril trying to spoon-feed young Kabru cake that we know he doesn't like. He doesn't want to eat: he wants to be training.

Then with Mithrun, we see him eating the least-monstery monster food he can get his hands on, for the sake of survival- walking mushroom, barometz, an egg. The barometz is his first chance to make something like an a real meal, and he actually seems excited about it because he wants to replicate a lamb dish his mother used to make him!

...but he doesn't get to enjoy it like he wanted to.

Then, when all the Canaries are eating field rations ... Kabru still isn't shown eating. He's only shown giving food to Mithrun.

And of course the next time he eats is the bavarois, which for his sake is at least plant based ... but he still has to use a coping mechanism to get through it.

I don't think Kabru does this all on purpose. I think Kui does this all on purpose. Kabru's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder should be understood as informing his character just as much as Laios's autism informs his. It's another way that Kabru and Laios act as foils: where Laios takes pleasure in meals and approaches food with the excitement of discovery, Kabru's experiences with eating are tainted by his trauma. Laios indulges; Kabru denies himself. Laios is shown enjoying food, Kabru is shown struggling with it.

And I can very easily imagine a reason why Kabru might have a subconscious aversion towards eating.

Meals are the privilege of the living.

[incredubious]

MODERN AU ACESAN !!!! first impressions with a guy who barely passes the No Shoes No Shirt No Service rule

[datcravat]

DANDADAN

[eydilily]

would you bite the hand that feeds you?

[spearxwind]

I think it's sad that most people always think of bottlenoses as the "classic dolphin" since its the one that's always used for shows, and always think of dolphins as just straight grey when in reality there's so many varieties with so many different amazing patterns

Look at the common dolphin! They have a gorgeous X pattern and even some dull yellow/gold!!

Hourglass dolphins have gorgeous white streaks

Spinner dolphins have really pretty banding as well, AND they have a really sleek cute silhouette!

The atlantic spotted dolphin!!! Theyre spotted!!!!!!

and the pantropical spotted too!!

Dusky dolphins have a gorgeous airbrush look going on like straight out of a 2000s fantasy illustration

Striped dolphins sure have stripes!! How cool!!

And these I've shown you aren't even all of them at all, there are so many of them:

There's so so so many different types of dolphins people dont know about this isnt even all of them and some are SO gorgeous and underrated because people just dont know they exist so I'm here to fix that

[mirrorama]

estimate! and say you currently still work at your first job, just choose how long you’ve been employed. i also understand there might be some nuance as far as maybe like promotions/transfers/etc etc etc, so feel free to explain things in the tags!

[panakina]

I refuse to believe that Bruce Wayne, a man in his fifties who took up martial arts in his twenties, who has had at least one serious spinal injury and countless other injuries, is in anyway comparable to the adult robins, who have been training and conditioning since their early teens if not earlier and are all in their prime.

[junkypenni]

go have some fun