#sometimes characters are just like me for real. sorry!

[gm--requests]

Reading "with" JJK guys pt. 2

Megumi, Gojo, Itadori (nsfw), Choso

warnings - afab reader, "pet names" (baby, princess, mamas, babe, love, princess, pretty, schnookims, bookie, all of them. every pet name is here. it's gojo. ), implied smut, some nsfw/some sfw

words - 2330

request - open...ish inbox thirsts: open 

plus size *fat* reader :) 

pt.1

a/n - girl [gender neutral]... idk what happeeeendddd!! i started writing iita's and got too freaked out lmfaooo was about to start writing a whole smut lowk lowk asdjfhlajksd the thought of his flustered face and the change in his demeanorrrr like i kinda want him-- him talkin' all serious with a blush still on his face and his eyes boring into youuuuuuuu eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! anyways lemme chill out. hope you guys liked this little series. i am super obsessed w the jjk mens rn so i kinda wanna write more, but idk what to write. i just have too many ideas and it's hard to lock them down. anyways- this was not proof read because it's 1 AM and also i'm coming down from gardening and alsoooo- i didn't wanna lmfaoo. am still inquiring about make anime characters real uh, so seriously... if you know anything hmu. i'm real secretive and have a pure heart and am full of real whimsy

Megumi - he is reading it to you. He is surprisingly animated… in his own way. He doesn’t do voices for different characters or anything, but he does use different tones and inflections to give you something of an audio book experience. Sometimes he’s a little too good. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was brutal, Haunting Adeline… also brutal… one to leave you sobbing, the other to leave you dripping. No matter what you’re wet LMFAOOO Him reading to you quickly becomes a part of your shared nightly routine, even if he is away he calls and reads to you. You alternate between books he chooses and books you’ve picked. 

You're both comfortable in the bed, you’re tucked into his side, fighting the sleep. Your boyfriend’s voice has become soothing as he reads a book you picked from your teen years, Summerlost (ally condie). It was one he was really enjoying so despite the soothing tone, his inflection was something serious. You wanted to stay awake because you were so enraptured, but the day had been long and you're too comfortable snuggled up to your sturdy boyfriend. 

“The night was shadows and wind and the smell of a storm on the way, a night for crying until the tears were gone but the ache was left. A night for imagining that you could step out onto the windowsill and say hello to the dark, say I am sad and have the wind say I know.” Megumi stopped reading and glanced over at you, your eyelids fluttering shut and your breathing starting to deepen and he smirked, “Princess,” your eyes shot open and you looked up at him guiltily, “Do I need to stop for tonight?” 

“No, No!!” You exclaimed, repositioning yourself so you were more alert, “Please keep going! I’m sorry! Your voice is just so comforting, I lost myself for a bit, please read more.” 

His smirk deepend and he looked back at the page, “M’kay, just let me know if you get too tired to continue alright?” You nodded diligently and he continued, “You could say I am alive and the trees would sigh back. We are too. You could whisper I am alone and everything ends and the stars in the sky would answer. We understand. Or maybe it’s ghosts telling you all these things, saying "We know, we’re alone too, we understand how everything and nothing ends.”

By the time he finishes the paragraph you have already fallen back asleep. He chuckles to himself and quietly closes the book. You don’t wake again until he shuts off the bedside lamp and adjusts to lay down. Again your eyes fly open, a frown already playing at your lips. You can see his knowing grin in the bit of moonlight that comes through your bedroom window. 

“Don’t worry, princess,” he preens, “I’ll read to you again tomorrow.” He pulls your softness into him and tucks one arm behind his head and the other around you, as you snuggle into him. 

“Sorry ‘Gumi, your voice is just my favorite lullaby.” 

He chuckles again and squeezes you a bit tighter against him, “I know, baby, I know.” 

Megumi falls asleep with a smile on his face, just like he does every night when he’s next to you. 

Gojo - annoying and clingy. always asking what you’re reading and trying to take your attention away from it (will try climbing into your lap promising to flip the pages for you). Moans and groans and whines and huffs and puffs and just is a fucking nuisance. 

“Babe,” that is how it began. Without fail. Your head immediately drops back in annoyance, your eyes rolling so hard you swear you are actively looking at your amygdala, but you ignore his voice. Your eyes burn holes into the page in front of you. 

“Baby– Baby girl– Princess– Honey–” Gojo continues, draping himself over the back of the couch. Still you do not look at him or reply, but this doesn’t deter him. 

“Schnookims-Bookims-Wookims~” His voice becomes more sing-songy as he drapes one of his long arms over your shoulder. “His frame is lanky and awkward when it’s hung around you like this, “Oh most precious apple of my eyeee~” 

Your grip on the book tightens as you will yourself to ignore him. 

“Ya busy~?” You can hear his stupid cheeky grin, and without looking, you can feel his blindingly bright eyes piercing through you. When you don’t reply he continues, “Oh! is that a book?” 

This time your eyes make a quick greeting with your prefrontal cortex, as you try not to sigh as that would let him know he is already doing what he came to do: force you to pay attention to him. 

“Whatcha readin’ today, my pretty? Is it somethin’ new? Somethin’ I’ve never heard about before? Somethin’ sexy?” 

Through gritted teeth and unwavering eyes still glued to the same page that you’ve yet to be able to fully read and process “It’s the same book I’ve been trying to read for the past few months, Satoru.” 

“Really? So nothing new yet? What’s takin’ you so long~?” 

This is what does it. 

You slam the book shut, “Oh, I dunno ‘Toru,” you begin feigning dramatic confusion, tossing the book to the side and throwing your hands up in exasperation, “Maybe it’s because every time I pick up the damn book my big annoying boyfriend comes frolicing into the room and yapping his big freakin’ gob until I give him attention!” 

When you stop shouting you look at Gojo angrily, but are met with a shit eating grin and loving eyes. Your boyfriend now stood up properly and staring at you with true, genuine, amusement. 

“So,” his tone already pissing you off more, “You think I’m big~?

“Oh for fucks sake,” you groan your palm connecting with your forehead and dragging down your face. 

Gojo drapes over the couch once more, rolling his whole body over the top in a ridiculous and gangly summersault, a grunt leaving him as you dodge his long limbs. Once he makes it over and adjusts himself properly, Gojo leans against the arm of the couch. One hand rests holding his head up, the other pats his thigh. 

“How ‘bout instead of insisting on reading that boring dumb book, you feast your eyes on something much more intriguing,” his eyebrows bounce up and down and you fight back the amusement that is trying to work its way across your face. 

“You can’t be serious,” you reply, crossing your arms. 

His bottom lip juts out, his eyebrows stop moving and scrunch like his feelings are hurt, “Of course I’m serious!” he whines, “I even showed you some cool sourcer parkour…” 

This makes you laugh. “Is that what you call it?” 

Satoru tries to keep sulking, but the sound of your joy makes his eyes sparkle in a way he can’t hide. 

“Dammit~!” He exclaims, grabbing you and pulling your soft, round body onto his solid one. He wraps you tightly in arms, turning to wrap his legs around you too. His long limbs wrapped around you like an anaconda as he squeezes at your squishy body and snuggles into you dramatically, “I can’t stay upset even when you’re denying me my well deserved love and laughing at me for asking for it, ‘cause you’re just too cute~!!” 

You don’t even try to fight it anymore. Instead you resign with a deep and defeated sigh. He’d won anyway. From the second you closed the book he knew he’d have your undivided attention, book be damned. 

It had already been 5 months since you bought it anyways… What was 6 or 7?

Itadori - makes you read to him. Well… he doesn’t make you but he begs and pleads with big puppy dog eyes until you relent. ESPECIALLY If you’re reading anything spicy. He loves watching you get all flustered trying to read out all these sensual scenes. Of course you always make him return the favor, him reading until he’s all but blowing smoke and begging you to take the book back, promising he’ll shut up. This will happen many more times.

You puff out your cheeks in frustration, your grip on the book is damn near close to snapping the hardcover. Itadori has been giggling like a teenager at all the “dirty” words and teasing you about it the whole time you’ve been reading aloud… “If you think it’s so funny, then you read it!” you say indignantly, thrusting the book into his hands. 

He looks at you defiantly, “Okay, I will!” and then two sentences in, his face is red along with the tips of his ears and the back of his neck and he’s stuttering over the words. “H-his fingers p-p-press slow-,” he swallows hard, “slowly into– into h-her tight-” so of course you return the favor of teasing. 

“What happened to all that giggling from earlier, iita~?” your eyebrows bounce up and down playfully, “Don’t tell me you’re all embarrassed from reading a few words,” your tone becomes more mocking and his soft pout turns into a frown, the blush on his face somehow deepening in color. 

You don’t let up. 

“And you were bullying me, but you haven’t even made it through a full paragraph~ Is it really too much for you~?” 

Itadori scoffs a bit at this, “There’s nothin’ that’s too much for me.” He grumbles and you laugh heartily. He rolls his eyes at your reaction and after a few too many seconds of your continued laughter Itadori closes the book and tosses it to the side. He stands up from the couch you were both sitting on and comes to stand over you.

“Since you think it’s so funny,” he puffs, cutting your laughing fit short as you notice the fire is slowly stopping its attack on his skin and instead igniting behind his eyes, “Let’s recreate the scene and we’ll see what’s too much for who.” 

Your eyes widen and your jaw drops open, staring at him like a deer in headlights, “H-huh?” 

He just cocks his head to the side before grabbing your wrists and hauling your plump body up and off the couch. Before you can process anything further, Itadori’s strong arms are wrapping around you, his hands firmly cupping ass. With a soft grunt you are hoisted off the ground and being carried down the hall towards your room. 

“Wait! Waiiitt!” You wail as he kisses your neck. Even if you’re causing a ruckus, your legs still wrap around him, your hands gripping his shoulder. A big smile is spread across your face and his too. 

When it makes it to your room, he tosses you on the bed with enough conviction to make you yelp and before you can process much else, he’s removing his shirt and climbing over you. He makes quick work of your clothes and grabs both of your wrists in one hand, the other comes to his mouth as he wets his two middle fingers. 

“Tell me when it’s too much, love or else we’ll be going until I think it’s too much,” you swear his eyes darken and his voice drops an octave as he speaks, making your breath hitch as you pant with anticipation, “And like I said earlier…” 

He brings his cool, wet fingers to run through your quickly dappening cunny, 

“Nothing is ever ‘too much’ for me.”

Choso - he naps. As long as he is with you, touching you, and you’re happy… he’s in heaven. The angels are singing and the birds are fuckin chirpin’. Sometimes his head is in your lap, sometimes he’s curled into your plush body, arms wrapped around your waist as you’re sat in the bed against the headboard. Sometimes he’ll rest under your arm, with his head on your chest even when it starts to frustrate you because you can’t properly relax lmfaoo 

“Cho-,” you sigh exasperated. It is met with an already half-asleep, “Hmm?” 

“When you lay like this I can’t get comfy! I can’t even turn the pages right!” 

He hums a small, “‘m sorry,” and snuggles in closer. 

You throw your head back in silent frustration before sighing, “You’re gonna have to move, Cho.” 

He somehow snuggles closer, his grip on your soft body tightening as his arms wrapped around you impossibly tighter, “I don’t wanna,” he scrunches his eyes harder and you can already see the deep frown on his face without even looking at him, “you’re too comfy like this, too warm.” 

“Can’t you get comfy some other way?” You close your book and roll your eyes. 

He doesn’t give a verbal answer, instead shaking his head no and keeping his unrelenting grip on your body. Basically wrapped around you like a fucking koala. 

“Choso. Find another way. I want to read.” 

The stern tone you take with him makes him retract like a wounded animal, he sits up and looks at you all sad and defeated, bottom lip poking out and eyes misty like you had broken his heart. 

You give him a knowing look, before adjusting the pillows behind you in a way that allows you to lean back but still be elevated enough to comfortably read, the bottom of the book able to rest on your chest. Then you spread your extended legs and nod towards the space. immediately he is filling it. 

His head rests on your plush, round tummy and his hands wrap around you grabbing at your rolls. Choso sighs in content as he nuzzles into your tummy a bit, “This is even better mamas.” He mumbles, a big dopey smile spread across his face. 

“You’re my favorite teddy bear~” he all but coos as he quickly begins drifting back to sleep. 

You smile with a soft and dismissive, ‘yea, yea’, playing with his hair until his grip on you loosens and his breathing becomes steady and peaceful. 

Now that he’s asleep, you can finally start reading again.

[simply-shadaria]

Absolutely! You're spot-on! The irony of it is just crazy.

Sonelise is arguably the most healthy and balanced dynamic of these three ships.

Meanwhile, Sonamy has had so many instances of Amy’s obsession overriding Sonic’s boundaries, sometimes crossing into borderline harassment. And we’ve seen this happen repeatedly—not just in small moments, but full-on patterns in certain continuities. In Sonic X, Amy literally threatened Sonic with her hammer, demanding an answer about their relationship—putting him on the spot instead of respecting his feelings.

And in Sonic Adventure 2, Amy literally offered to tell Sonic critical information about Shadow—but only if he agreed to marry her. And let’s not forget—she said this to him while he was LOCKED IN A CELL! Like, that’s not playful flirting anymore, that’s full-on manipulation for personal gain. And honestly—imagine if their genders were reversed when Amy said that. The backlash would be huge, and people would be calling it out as coercion in an instant. But because it’s Amy, somehow it gets a pass? Yeah, no.

In other games, she’s also shown an alarming tendency to chase and corner Sonic. It’s fun when her crush is lighthearted, but when it crosses into obsession, it stops being cute and starts feeling deeply uncomfortable—like she sees him more as a prize to win rather than a person with his own choices and boundaries.

And Sonally? Weeell... There is this one instance with Sally that is a prime example of why calling it "bad writing" doesn’t fully capture how deeply infuriating it is to me.

Her behavior in that moment was beyond unreasonable—not just petty, but outright possessive and unfair. Acting like Sonic owed her his constant presence, rather than respecting everything he had sacrificed, was an incredibly selfish viewpoint that completely undermined his struggles.

Instead of actually processing what Sonic just asked she instantly lashes out and resorts to physical violence, completely ignoring his words in favor of her own anger/bullshit. Sonic said, “I know, Sal, but we're in the middle of a war. If I don't help fight Eggman, who will?” In response, Sally slapped him across the face and called him selfish. But Sonic never implied he was fighting alone—he simply said, “help fight,” not that he was the only one doing it. Sally wasn’t listening to what he was actually saying; instead, she heard only what she wanted to hear and twisted his words to fit her warped narrative. And it doesn’t help that she’s chastising him on a stage, in front of their friends, making the whole thing even more humiliating for him.

Slapping him was WAAAY out of line, and instead of coming across as an emotional, conflicted leader, she ended up behaving like a selfish brat who lashed out because she wasn’t getting what she wanted.

The fact that she straight-up uses the word "consort" like Sonic is her personal property just makes the whole thing even more ridiculous. It’s like she’s not even seeing him as a person—just something that belongs by her side, no questions asked.

Like, sorry, but Sonic isn’t some accessory to Sally or her throne—he’s his own person, with his own choices, his own sacrifices, and his own sense of freedom.

She was basically saying it was fine for everyone else—her friends, to risk their lives fighting Eggman, just as long as Sonic didn't—because apparently, they were supposed to have a "real future together."

Like, what?! So, it’s okay for her friends to throw themselves into danger, but Sonic—who has literally spent his life saving the world—should just stay behind for her sake? That’s wildly selfish and completely undermines his entire character.

Sonic isn’t someone who fights because he has to—he fights because it’s who he is, because he knows he can make a difference, because he refuses to stand by while others suffer. Sally deciding that his role should suddenly change—not because he wants it to, but because she wants it to—is peak entitlement.

It’s crazy how people will excuse this kind of possessiveness and entitlement, yet still turn around and bash Sonelise for way less.

Elise isn’t possessive, controlling, or caught up in a rivalry with Sonic’s mission. She sees Sonic for who he is, respects his choices, boundaries and actively supports him in ways that feel natural rather than forced.

Sally's argument wasn’t some deep, well-crafted character conflict—it was just forced, messy drama thrown in at the expense of Sonic’s entire arc. Like, exploring tension between characters is fine, but when that ‘tension’ is literally just one person acting irrational and downright childish, it stops being interesting and just becomes a frustrating, unnecessary mess!

And yet, Sonelise gets torn apart just because Sonic 06 was poorly executed/written? Like, narrative flaws don’t erase the fact that their relationship had genuine moments that showed real emotional connection and a bond.

And personally, Sonic 06 is my favorite game—it has a phenomenal plot with amazing depth all around.

If anything, Sonelise has the strongest foundation when looking at how Sonic actually interacted with Elise versus Amy or Sally. The sheer double standard is exhausting, and I’m so tired of hearing the ‘she’s a human’ excuse—because interspecies bonds have agency. Fiction has countless examples of characters from different species forming deep, meaningful connections, and Sonic’s world is built on relationships that go beyond biological differences. Trying to dismiss Sonelise solely on species barriers is just lazy criticism when the actual dynamic holds more weight than most give it credit for.

At the end of the day, people can ship what they love, but the way Sonelise gets treated as if it’s the worst thing ever is seriously unjustified.

Apologies in advance to whoever read this. I can get a little salty/ranty when it comes to Sonelise. Just to be clear—this wasn't ship bashing. I’m simply pointing out things that Amy and Sally have canonically done and comparing them to the accusations often directed at Elise.

I think it's funny how SonElise is the least toxic and the most healthy of the main three sonic ships (In terms of what character Sonic has had feelings for canonically)

It doesn't have the same issues of being borderline abusive and onesided like Sonamy does sometimes, with Amy being way too possessive and aggressive in several games and in Sonic X, and it also doesn't suffer from the bad writing of some parts of Archie with Sonally.

Yet SonElise still gets shat on the most out of the three ships and called "the worst".... because reasons I guess 🤷‍♀️ 06 bad amiright? 🙄

[bunni-v1]

hello! can i ask for the same as this https://www.tumblr.com/bunni-v1/785529181626908672/wellll-since-you-are-taking-requests-can-i?source=share but with Rafayel and Xavier? i would love to read them! (sorry for the bad English)

Don't Hide~ (Pt. 2)

Don't Hide~ pt.1

🍓I think, objectively, Caleb is the most difficult character in LaDS to write. He has so many layers and has such complex thoughts that it's hard to portray that, but I don't feel like I struggle too hard with him. Xavier and Rafayel though... dude, I can't fucking write these guys to save my life. Please forgive me if this is OOC and dogass bootyhole poopy from butt, I cannot get my favorite little royal brats down :(

TW: Mirror Sex (Xavier); Mean Xavier (only a little); Intense eye contact; May be OOC; Lightly edited (grammar errors); NSFW

Info: Rafayel x Reader; Xavier x Reader; NSFW

Word Count: Xavier (1.3k); Rafayel (1.2k)

MDNI

XAVIER

It was nearly impossible to get under Xavier's skin. He was the most level-headed, self-assured, patient man you knew. (To which he'd often reply, asking, "What other men do you know?") His calm was a perfect contrast to your chaos, the yin to your yang, the balance on your scales. Where you were mischief, he was peace and calm. It was a good dynamic you had going, but... sometimes you wanted to get him irritated. Not that pissing him off was something you loved doing, but it was fun to see him pout and huff like a petulant child.

There was one certified way to do it, of course: Jealousy.

Xavier was confident in your commitment to him (usually), and there was no real threat of you leaving. Not for Charlie or anyone else who might want a try at your hand (which you remind Charlie doesn't want you at all, and he simply changes the subject). However, if there were someone who was... more like him... someone like Lumiere in the picture. Well, that was a whole different story.

It was so very silly how jealous he would get of himself, huffing and frowning when you swooned over the masked vigilante. Swooning over him, though he insists it's very different. Needless to say, Lumiere is your go-to for flustering your cool and collected boyfriend.

Though... this time wasn't as intentional as the others.

Shamefully, you were pretty big into fanfiction, and there was a plethora of Lumiere fanfiction across the internet. It was almost fun to imagine yourself and Xavier in these various scenarios people had written, always giggling when people got his whole personality totally wrong. You'd indulged yourself in more than a few pieces in the quiet of your own home, too embarrassed to read it in public or, god forbid, around Xavier.

This one was something else, though. It started out so innocently that you almost didn't understand why the tags were so raunchy until you got to the smut itself. Tired and exhausted after a long day fighting bad guys in the N109 Zone (incredibly corny, by the way), Lumiere finds himself taking out pent-up frustration on your body. It's hot and steamy and detailed to an impossible extent. It had you rubbing your thighs together and biting your nails to keep your hands from slipping into your pants. You can practically recall the feeling of Xavier's tongue on your cunt as the author describes in detail how he uses it for your pleasure. Remembering how messy he would get when he was-

"What are you reading?" His soft voice mumbles from beside your head, and you can't turn your screen off fast enough before he reads it.

You didn't even hear him come in - giving him a key was a horrible decision with how silently he moved. You see the recognition come over his face, the telltale sign of irritation creasing his brows just so. There's a slight twitch of his nose, like a little bunny, and then he turns to you with eyes wide and filled with betrayal.

"What was that?" His tone is accusatory, pulling your phone from your hands to unlock it and continue reading. It only seems to annoy him more, "You're reading... fanfiction of Lumiere now?"

You shrug, avoiding his eyes, "I mean, it's of you, isn't it?"

"This says Lumiere," he repeats, pointing at the screen for emphasis.

"It's just a silly little story!" You defend, crossing your arms like a huffy child caught doing something they shouldn't.

He glances at the screen, reading over it again, then turning an unimpressed frown your way, "This is not silly... We haven't even done anything like this..." he mumbles the last part, but you hear it.

Oh, you could use that.

"Well... maybe Lumiere is just... better than you." You say, almost haughtily. The effect is immediate.

His face darkens visibly, frown deepening as he leans toward you like he didn't hear it right. Surely you wouldn't imply such a thing, not when you know how easily he could prove you wrong. (You won't mention that was the point).

"I mean," you gesture at the phone, "You read it too, he's freaky. Can you really blame me for wanting a little excitement?"

The switch flips, and your phone is tossed across the room, discarded in favor of teaching you your lesson. One long overdue.

--

Your pitiful reflection glares back at you, hot shame washing over every inch of your being. Xavier never seemed like the type to enjoy mirror sex, not really caring too much about himself in the moment, though you don't think he'd be doing this for his own pleasure. He has a point to prove, and after all, what better way was there to show how well he ruins you?

One of his arms is restraining yours behind your back, the other wrapping around to rest his hand at your throat. Not around it, but rested on your collarbones like a custom necklace. Splayed across your sternum in a sign of possession, a reminder of who you belong to. Who gets to touch you like this. Not Lumiere, just Xavier, your Xavier.

You are made to look at your body, watch the way your breasts bounce with each thrust, and see how your expression breaks at each second that passes. He is nearly shrouded from your view, if not for those icy blue eyes that peer over your shoulder, watching your face as it twists up in delight. The shimmer of happiness as you crumble in his arms is the only show of emotion in his body language.

You whine at the sounds of wet skin slapping against each other, clapping, and echoing in the room, the only noise heard outside of your heady moaning. You are made to hear it, much like you are made to watch, forced to take in the proof that he is much better than Lumiere ever could be for you. Maybe he isn't as "freaky" as the fictional character his fans had made up in his mind, but he didn't need to be. He could make you feel so good without all that already.

Lips ghost up the column of your throat, working along the soft and pliant skin gently. A stark contrast to the unending pace he'd set with his hips. The hand around your throat slides down in tandem with his mouth, dragging across your sweaty skin to rest just below your naval. At the same time, he kisses the shell of your ear gently, like a show of mercy that he didn't really mean.

"Are you still sure he's so much better than I am?" He whispers, the hot air making you shiver.

You shake your head, locking eyes with him in the mirror, "Nn- No. You're way better."

He hums, nibbling on the shell of your ear, "Then, what do we say?"

You pout at him, silently begging him to let you off Scot-free, like you'd earned it. Xavier isn't having it; he doesn't think you're really understanding the point yet. Disappointing, considering he'd been fucking it into you for a while now, but... what was a little longer? He had more than enough patience to wait for you to get it. So, he slowed down, nearly stopping his movements altogether.

You whine, trying and failing to get him to move again. He wasn't budging until you got it through your head that he was the only one you should be thinking about like this.

"You want me to help you finish? You have to apologize," He states bluntly, watching you like a predator does its prey.

You don't have it in you to fight anymore, "'M sorry Xavie, I didn' mean it. You're the only one for me, I promise."

"You do?" He asks, low and dangerous.

"I do, you're really the only one, I only want you to fuck me." You cry.

And by some miracle, he takes mercy on you. Fingers dipping down to your clit as he resumes his previous pace, ripping the air out of your lungs. Your moans are proof enough to him that there was no one else in the world who could pleasure you better. Not even some idealized version of himself.

RAFAYEL

Rafayel's favorite hobby was painting, obviously. Specifically, though, he loved to paint you. You'd found your way into every single piece he's made since he first picked up a brush, and now that you were an item (officially, and publicly, much to his delight and Thomas' chagrin), it had only gotten worse. Cause now he could look at you and do it any time. He could perfect the curves of your nose, the way your eye crinkle when you smile, the softness of your plush lips.

He could ask you to pose a certain way while he sketched you out on his canvas, or get more candid shots while you were working or scrolling on your phone. Each one was beautiful in its own right, lovingly crafted to show all the parts of you that shone so brightly in his eyes. If someone were to ask which depictions of you were his favorite, he'd answer with a bright smile, voice lilting as he teased how you were beautiful in every single one so picking a favorite was impossible.

If you asked him, he'd smirk, tilting his head gleefully as he answered, "The naked ones, of course."

He wasn't the biggest fan of the human form, most women and men wouldn't get more than an eyebrow raise no matter how conventionally attractive they were. Your body, though, had him going through the five stages of grief as he struggled to put such perfection to the canvas. There was something so delightfully fulfilling to paint your bare body, having it displayed in the privacy of his home to admire whenever he wanted. More tasteful than nudes and far more intimate in nature.

You'd only allowed him to do so a handful of times, which he was rueful about, insisting hiding such perfection from him was a crime. So, when you came to him and asked him to do so, he was positively giddy. Uncharacteristically tripping over himself a few times as he rushed around to gather the materials while you readied yourself on the couch. It almost made you feel bad about your little plan, only wanting to tease him a little to get back at all the times he does you. Not bad enough to stop yourself from having fun, though.

You sprawl out on the couch comfortably, legs spread comfortably, and hair draped across its velvety cushions. Rafayel is tickled pink at the sight he returns to, not wasting time in his endeavor. You give him some time to get into it, waiting until he's engrossed in the canvas to slide your fingers between your open legs. You are already wet from the anticipation, allowing your fingers to glide along your folds with ease. Your other hand squeezes your breast, playing with the fatty tissue the same way he did all the time.

His face is priceless when he looks up, surprise, then betrayal, and finally heated excitement, "You could've told me you were feeling needy."

"Keep painting," you command, firm.

He tilts his head, "What if I dun wanna?"

"Then I guess you won't get to touch me at all then, hm?" You respond, more breathy than you'd like.

His eyebrows furrow, familiar indignant pout on his lips, "You're so unfair, Cutie, who taught you to be so mean."

You hum, "I thought you wanted to capture all of my beauty, Raffie... Is this not beautiful enough for you?"

He scoffs, almost impressed, "I think you've picked up on my habits too well, Miss bodyguard."

"Do your work and you'll get your reward, fishie," You hum playfully. He doesn't argue with you this time.

--

Rafayel's reward, which you let him choose after he worked so tirelessly on painting you, was to be between your thighs. You'd made quite the beautiful mess of yourself while he was immortalizing your likeness on his canvas. The shimmering sticky release in the painting, so incredibly detailed for how little time he took to paint it, was proof enough of that fact. Not to mention, of course, how you could feel it spread across your lower lips.

He'd peeled your legs apart so gently, as though he would ruin the sight if he were too quick. Pretty brown eyes sparkle in delight as they scan over your puffy little clit, lips quirking upwards. You think he is the art piece when he looks at you like that, cheeks flushed and eyes lidded, positively hungry for you. It reminds you that he's not human, that he's something else-something dangerous. Yet, he would never hurt you.

Not when his eyes slide up to yours, captivating you while he leans down to get his first sweet taste. Hands spreading your thighs just a little further as he licks up from your sopping entrance all the way to the end of your slit. Humming satisfactorily at your taste, licking what he could off his lips. He takes a deep breath, still looking at you, then leans back in to press a soft kiss to your clit.

His smooth lips press against the little bud, not sucking, not prodding, just kissing. Gentle. Loving. Matched with his intense eyes on yours, it gets you squirming, skin burning hot under the attention, somehow far worse than his staring as he transferred you to the canvas.

He notices, of course he does, because when he pulls away he smiles up at you, "You taste as good as you look, Cutie."

You can only offer up a shaky sigh as a response, not trusting yourself to not moan when you open your mouth to speak. It's good enough for him, because he leans down and swallows you up wholly this time. Still watching you. You want to hide your face away from him, because keeping your eyes on him while he eats you out makes you feel stupidly hot. You can't though.

A tiny little voice in the back of your mind calls your attention to him, tells you not to look away. You listen to it without argument, mesmerized by the glint in his eyes. He eats you out like you are the only sustenance that he needs to keep living. Passionate, slow, and intentional in the way he moves against you. Each suck and slide of his mouth is intended to make you fall further into his waters.

You surrender yourself with no fight. Despite how much embarrassment burns across your body, you cannot find it in yourself to deny him this. Not when he looks at you like that, not when he pleases you so eagerly, pride in the rise of his brows when you cry out for him.

This was a reward for him. You are reminded when your eyes glance up at the painting, which he purposefully turned your way. He captured every curve, every little bump, every slight imperfection as he always does. Things you normally hate about yourself look beautiful in his hand, the love he feels so deeply poured out on the canvas in such an intimate way. It only adds fuel to the growing fire in your core, especially when he adds his fingers to the mix.

You look down again when he hums, finding him still looking at you with the same satisfied expression. You can't help but pull his hair back out of his eyes, allowing him a better look at your flustered face. You are reminded again that he is not human, because no human could ever possibly draw such pleasure from you. Only him, with his ethereal eyes and passionate lips.

[sixeyesonathiel]

Honestly I can't complain about Suguru because if we're being fair Satoru's decisions killed a lot of people too, if he had cremated Suguru's body like Shoko wanted Kenjaku wouldn't have been able to do the culling games and saving Yuji was what ended up killing him and everyone else who died because of Sukuna, and that's something I like about JJK all actions have consequences even the ones that are well intentioned.

It's very easy to hate Sukuna and Kenjaku and blame them for everything but the only reason they were able to do everything they did was because of Satoru's decisions. I love Satoru, he's my favorite character and I even have a tattoo of him but I think more people in the fandom should sit down and think about what I just said.

listen up and listen real close, because i am hanging on by a thread, and that thread is made of pure unfiltered satoru-shaped love, blind loyalty, and several decades of unresolved rage.

yeah, jujutsu kaisen is about consequences. yes, even the good intentions burn down the house sometimes. but if you’re gonna sit there and go “hmm satoru’s decisions killed a lot of people too” as if that’s somehow on the same tier as kenjaku’s full-scale war crimes or suguru’s descent into incel cult leader territory?? i’m sorry, are we watching the same show or are you just looking for reasons to blame the man who carried the entire jujutsu world on his six eyes and infinity-coated back??? be so for real. you're really going to put a man who wanted to break the cycle in the same bucket as someone who actively perpetuated suffering? GET A GRIP AND PREPARE FOR A WHOLE LECTURE BELOW.

first of all, suguru. suguru geto. i cannot express how much i loathe him without spontaneously combusting and launching myself into the sun. that man is evil with a skincare routine and a god complex so bloated it needs its own curse rating. he chose to become a murderer. he chose to kill innocent people. he chose to form a cult and feed off the admiration of the vulnerable while talking about “monkeys” like he wasn’t two brain cells away from becoming a reddit mod. and now you seriously wanna go, “well satoru didn’t cremate him so technically he’s responsible for kenjaku”? EXCUSE ME??? satoru was grieving. he stood over the body of his best friend—and in that moment, he broke. not because he’s stupid, not because he’s careless, but because he’s human. you really think he was sitting there going “ah yes let’s leave this body pristine in case an ancient sorcerer wants to play dress-up later”? NO. he was mourning. show some respect. show some human empathy. you can’t hold someone’s pain against them like that unless you’ve never lost someone you loved.

and now you’re saying “well saving yuji got everyone killed too”—baby, i’m gonna need you to pause, breathe, and reevaluate EVERYTHING you think you know. saving yuji was not some selfish power trip. it wasn’t satoru going “teehee i’m bored let’s adopt a sukuna bomb.” he saw a kid willing to die to protect someone else. a kid who took a cursed object into his own body not for power, not for glory, but because he wanted to save someone. and the higher-ups? they were ready to kill him without a second thought. satoru said no. satoru said, “maybe, just maybe, we don’t have to keep killing children to maintain this garbage system.” and you’re mad about that??? sukuna’s fingers didn’t vanish if yuji died. someone else would’ve eaten them. someone worse. someone who wouldn’t have fought back. but yuji did. satoru tried. and that’s the crime, apparently?? sparing a life instead of feeding it to a machine built to erase people like they’re nothing?? that’s what y’all are mad at??? girl, be serious. how can you look at a man trying to protect the only flicker of resistance against a rotten world and go, “actually this is his fault”?? 😐

yes, satoru is flawed. and THANK GOD for that. those flaws is what made him human. he was the only one trying to change the cycle. he was the only one out here fighting not just curses, but the entire system. he didn’t manipulate. he didn’t betray. he didn’t slaughter people because he gave up. he had hope. and if you can’t tell the difference between that and the people who actively made choices to hurt, then idk what to tell you. kenjaku planned this for centuries. suguru gave into his hatred. sukuna is a demon with no loyalty to anyone but himself. and satoru? he was trying to build something. protect something. save someone. that’s not the same league. hell, it’s not even the same sport. y’all are trying to measure thunderstorms and tsunamis with a rain gauge and calling it balance.

this whole “everyone has consequences” thing is true, but CONSEQUENCES AREN’T CULPABILITY. intent matters. context matters. if you think satoru being unable to cremate suguru in a moment of pain means he’s at fault for the culling games, then idk, should we also blame people for being scammed because they trusted someone once?? this is a tragedy. and you’re trying to turn it into a morality play where everyone gets the same sentence regardless of motive, regardless of pain. that’s not analysis, that’s moral laziness dressed up in edgy discourse.

and god, the way the system failed him. the whole tengen thing, the higher-ups, all the ancient rotten power clinging to relevancy—they made the world into a cursed pressure cooker, and satoru still tried to fix it. by himself. because no one else would. he was out here holding the sky up while everyone beneath him either prayed for his failure or stabbed him in the back. 

i love satoru. i love him to an unhealthy, legally questionable degree. i would gnaw through a steel beam for him. i would elbow drop god if god disrespected him. and if you think i’m just gonna sit here while people twist the story to act like he “deserved” what happened to him?? ABSOLUTELY NOT. satoru didn’t die because he was wrong. he died because he was right, and the world couldn’t handle it. they broke the only person who had the power and heart to change things, and now they want to blame him for their mess?? no. never. not on my watch.

satoru wasn’t the problem. he was the only one who ever tried to be the solution. give the man his flowers. hell, give him the whole damn garden 😠

[flightyalrighty]

OKAY SO-

First of all I wanna say that I love everything about your comic so far. The story has amazing pacing and the writing of the characters is on point (at least what I would consider to be) and fun, the panel layout of the pages is interesting and easy to read and compliments the flow of everything, and the art- ffs the ARRRRTTTT

I love it a lot and I have a couple questions (if you don't mind answering- you don't have to)

so I was curious what program you use and what kinda brushes, cus like the inking is so solid and like crisp (I can't put the mafia hand emoji)- but your sketches have a soft brush that loooks like it might be a lower opacity maybeee-

Also, specifically when it comes to your rendering, when it comes to lighting and non-solid-black shadows do you use a lower opacity layer or just paint it with a selected colour? IT'S JUST CUS THE WAYYYY Your colours come out they work so well together, and like as an artist that has a vague idea of what makes something look good I struggle with shading and lighting a lot. And the way you colour just makes everything come together so well and realistically?

again you don't have to answer any of the questions you don't feel comfortable with and I hope your having a good day and giving your back and drawing hand a well deserved break ^^

Hello! Thanks for this ask! Sorry it took so long for me to answer it!

The program I use is Photoshop, which I don't recommend, and the brush I use when inking is usually "Amazing Cartoon Nib" from Kyle T Webster's Megapack!

The sketches that I've posted, if these are the sorta sketches you're referring to, are actually not digital at all! I use a Pentel Twist-Erase mechanical pencil in a Strathmore 5.5 x 8.5 recycled sketchbook, and then scan those sketches from my phone using the Scanner Mini app in Black And White mode!

If you mean sketches like these though, that's also a Kyle's Megapack brush! "Animator Pencil 2016"!

My color situation is crazy, I'll just, uh, show you what I mean with my phone camera (since I super duper don't know how to take a screenshot on a PC):

(Sorry about my screen, I need to give it a wipe)

For the shadows I use a gradient map (green to red) on top of a 90% dark grey + greyscale "Rendering" layer, in which I carve out the shadows and lighter areas. Then I put a flats layer with a 45% dark grey layer mask over that. The lighter a scene is, the brighter I can make that flats layer. So yeah, that part's kinda a low opacity?

The lighting layer is pretty self-explanatory. Instead of ever lowering the opacity on anything with the slider, I use layer masks as a way to mess around with how strong I want that lighting to be without ever making anything super destructive and permanent. I highly recommend the use of gradient maps and layer masks when making comics!

Also, if you're wondering about that Flats Copy 2 layer above "Flats Copy," that's actually just what I do to color characters that are at certain distances. Blue for background, green for mid-ground, purple for foreground. 70% grey layer mask for that one.

You can see me do this in real time sometimes when I do comic streams on the first and last Sunday of every month! Those are available for all Headless Ko-Fi members!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I'M SO SORRY FOR MAKING YOU UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE NEIGE ASK 😭😭😭 god, that wasn't my purpose. just, being someone that haven't had pretty experiences as a child actor (to be vague), neige dynamic initially trigered me, but you're right, it doesn't have to be something that twisted. sorry again TT

[Referencing this post!]

Aaaah, no worries, no hard feelings!! 💦💦 Sometimes this stuff just happens unintentionally. It’s especially common over the internet since we can’t read tone, body language, or the recipient’s level of comfort on every possible subject.

A headcanon can technically be whatever you want it to be, no matter how much or how little proof there is for it in canon. Headcanons may also be influenced by one’s life experiences, so I can understand why someone with their own time as a child actor could project onto a character in a similar situation. It’s like how (at least based on my observations) many fans report relating to Riddle being raised by a strict parent with high expectations of them. Because of their own negative feelings about their circumstances, those fans are more likely to assume the worst of Mrs. Rosehearts. (This occurs regardless of whether canon disproves the claims or has little information to support it.)

Reading back over my initial response, I do see how my points can come off as callous to those in the industry, and I apologize for that. I hope it didn’t come off like I was shaming you for your idea or downplaying your experiences 😭 My aim was to explain my perspective using what we know of canon and pointing out the unconsidered possibilities (since that’s my preference when it comes to interpreting theories and headcanons). I never like to railroad my thinking or to make unsupported claims, especially in situations where we're lacking details. You’re still totally valid in your feelings surrounding Neige’s background and what he may have undergone while in the entertainment industry. When we know so little about Neige, of course our minds will naturally attempt to fill in the knowledge gaps with what we already know to be true (of ourselves/the real world). It's just two different ways of thinking and interpreting the same media, and that's what makes the fandom really interesting to be in ^^

Before I close off this reply!! Please know that while I’m okay discussing some potentially triggering topics (properly tagged, of course), I’m NOT open to talking about literally anything and everything. Now might be a good time to remind everyone that I do have ask rules, which also cover my no-go topics. There are a lot of commonly seen ones on there, but also a few that are unique to me so 🙂‍↕️ if we could all respect that, it’d be great!

[hostilemuppet]

Regarding your PPG fanfic post, I’d like to add that there has never been nearly enough Blues centered stories. NOR is there variety in them. If it’s a fic with all three pairings, Reds are usually the main main story line and the Greens have a more unique dynamic. Meanwhile the Blues are usually wrapped up in a nice bow and have one conflict that’s usually “our siblings would never approve of us seeing each other.” Which is fun, but it’s the only conflict they ever had and are depicted as high school sweethearts who go on to get married young and have a big family. And I enjoy it! But again it’s the only way they’re depicted.

I love my Blues soft and fluffy and sweet but I also would love to see the Blues being more complex than that as well. I assume people don’t care about them as much as the other two because they’re “not interesting and boring” but there’s a whole lot of missed opportunities you can make with them. Sorry if this is long 😭 Bubboom have always been my favorite

i wrote a long response to this that i deleted bc im really trying to ramble less but in short, i agree completely, and i think it mainly comes down to two things:

bubbles, despite being the most popular among non fans, tends to get shafted in fancontent (theres this one pretty popular future au comic on tiktok and bubbles stands around doing fuck all NOTHING for the entire comic), and when shes not shes boiled down to The Pretty One Who Likes Clothes And Makeup, instead of "the underestimated baby of the bunch who proved herself the most capable of flying solo"

boomer is often defanged, like, even more than his brothers are defanged in attempt to redeem them. while canon boomer is a pathetic pushover who does whatever his brothers tell him to and resents them (mostly brick) for it, hes still an asshole with a lot of sass to him. fancontent tends to make boomer the Long Lost Powerpuff Boy. hes just Bubble Boy (real), and maybe if youre lucky hell be slightly dumber than bubbles (who also isnt stupid. shes just naive and overly trusting!) on the rare occasion he shows any personality other than "i want to kiss bubbles". the way boomer is usually depicted in fanworks, youd never guess he was born in a prison toilet, and i think that is a problem

as a result, boomubbles has succumb to "Background Relationship" disease. they get no individual personality, so they can only be the ship that happens in the background (while still being tagged, of course). sometimes theyll say theyre going on a date while blossom thinks about how much of a dick brick was at study club that day. sometimes theyll call each other "boomie" and "bubsy wubsy" while buttercup gags and butch has an undercut. they have zero conflict, and most of the time they exist only to make the reds and greens look more dysfunctional by comparison to their complete lack of problems, or any characterisation at all, really

they dont understand the appeal of "Little Pathetic Asshole (Who Thinks Hes Much Hotter Shit Than He Is) x Sweet And Kind (But Constantly Underestimated And Will Not Hold Back)" because they dont know thats what their characters are. theyve suffered a fanon feedback loop, and i really wish theyd go back and watch the show, or even play multiversus! just go back and study the source material, until you can show me a boomubbles who can realistically have the "are you sure youre ready for another beating?" "you girls are gonna eat your words, spit em out, and eat em again!" exchange

[evilneo]

sometimes im like "damn why is there not more discussion about [canonically abused character]'s and [canonical abuser who has no regard for autonomy or boundaries and is also a parental/familial/older figure of some kind]'s abuse through a lens of CSA bc im a victim of that and they resonate with me and also it would not be a stretch at all to view it as that even tho its not canon". and then im violently transported back to the real world where the internet is mainly split into either "we discuss it but only bc we fetishize pedophilia and incest LOL we dont care about survivors" or "we have a complex about this and we think if you hc characters in this way youre as bad as the first camp. what do you mean were basically telling survivors that their experiences are too disgusting and shameful to talk about? shut up" and well i think both camps are Dick Heads‼️‼️‼️‼️

[theelmoarchive]

THE SUCKENING!!!!!!!

Can you tell who my favorite is

I love drawing these guys so much Emizel is slowly filling every sketchbook page i flip

[anghraine]

One of the weirder parts of being formally tested for autism as an adult—apart from the hellscape of hours of math hell—was that they kept asking me for my conclusions or opinions about things I had very little knowledge of. These weren't basic facts you'd expect someone to pick up in the course of a standard US education, and I kept repeating that I would have to do actual research to form opinions on subjects I had no significant information about.

Obviously, "not opinionated" isn't a major problem for me when I do have a reasonable amount of information, but my eventual diagnosis specifically mentioned that I kept repeating that I would have to do more research to acquire the necessary baseline of data for forming opinions on [whatever], and that the phrasing of my various refusals tended to be identical or very similar (I didn't see any need to alter my wording when I was simply repeating the same position over and over).

*cough*

Anyway this is also about Star Trek. (Surprise.) I knew Spock would be relatable before we started the grand TOS watch, but did not expect him to be the most relatable character on television ever, and his continual refusals to deliver opinions without enough data for informed theories was actually a big part of this.

[dreamsy990]

some of the less nice thoughts about being aroace

extras below the cut

sketch

closeups on my favorite panels

bonus: adios

[pokemonblack3white3]

Girlies I have got to stop feeling guilty about creating art I enjoy

[wackywatchdotcom]

something i genuinely adore about tadc is how painfully flawed everyone in the circus is. and not in a small way

everyone does SOMETHING that negatively impacts the others. but it makes the fact that you are supposed to sympathize with and really connect with them all the more potent. because its easy to want to put a bunch of characters in a bad situation together and to just have them all be nice to each other and everyone and never make mistakes because theres no reason to hurt each other, and most of them dont TRY to, but the way they cope is so, so realistic for each of their personalities, and it doesnt always mesh with the others, and sometimes it exceeds self destructive and Just Hurts Others, Too

they still generally care about each other and the mistakes they make and the ways they end up hurting each other dont lose their weight but like. it doesnt take away from their humanity and the fact that they are all trying so hard to manage in an awful situation

and the characters seem to have sooome sort of understanding of this too. not fully, because the characters dont tend to be 100% communicative, but when they hurt each other, it often makes EVERYONE uncomfortable. because these are the only people they have. these are their friends. and theyre all coping. but it doesnt change how much it affects them (best illustrated by ragathas lines at the start of ep 2 or gangles 'i love her, but after a while it gets kinda hard to tell how genuine shes actually being'). its not all like this, theres a good amnt of variety, but characters knowing this but not really knowing what to do about it is very painful in an effective way

(i think a subtle example of this is how zooble handles gangles situation in ep 4- they were so genuinely trying to help her because they care. but could tell as the day went on that oh, this is not working at all and its making things worse, and they leave gangle alone- something that very genuinely couldve been the moment she abstracted, because of the mask zooble gave her- and we dont get to have a super blatant explanation of zoobles thoughts on it, but they reach a fairly healthy conclusion about it that helps both of them, and i like that a lot, because on paper zooble could be placed at fault but the narrative doesnt dwell on it excessively, because thats not the point. i dont know if that tangent makes sense but i think about it sometimes. i think zooble wasnt 'to blame' but it was still a mistake, which is a hard balance to strike, and having them help at the end feels extremely effective at rounding it off!!!)

but like. in general its complicated balancing making characters in a bad situation act flawed because it can run the risk of seeming like the story is scolding them or blaming them for the situation theyre in, or like youre expected to not sympathize with them despite it (though the inverse also has complications- if characters in a bad situation never mess up, it feels unrealistic and hard to relate to, and can imply that their innocence is why whats happening to them is bad at all), but the show handles it so well

even the characters who are genuinely trying all try in different ways- some of them have similar outlooks or attitudes towards these thing but theres vital differences for ALL of them- sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. in fact some of the more painful mistakes characters have made in the show have come from them so genuinely trying (like the thing i mentioned w zooble, or basically Everything Ragatha Does, or pomnis first attempt at helping gangle, etc), which hits harder than if every mistake characters made had wholly selfish and cruel goals.

i mean, there is a selfishness to many of the characters' actions but imo not in a way thats not warranted. because all of them are in a horrible setting. its uncomfortable to watch characters be selfish. but it is a natural instinct to survive. its not the foundation of most of their actions, but when it is, its uncomfortable but hard to completely disparage them for in a way that makes you feel kinda conflicted

and like. it hurts to be doing your best and for that to make things worse, but its what happens often in the show. because no one in a bad situation is gonna handle it well. by the very nature of trying to survive something is gonna give, but it makes the themes of the show so much more powerful. that making sure the people around you dont feel unloved, cherishing them and finding meaning with others is no less important just because everyone is fucking up. it complicates things, for sure, but it doesnt make those characters exempt fromt this. theres a reason pomni tells gummigoo that she doesnt want "anyone" to feel like theyre nothing, and that kinger doesnt add ANY quallifiers to making sure people feel wanted and loved (not that i think either of them were thinking SUPER super hard, but it conveys smth from the perspective of the narrative

it gets complicated when you add in jax for sure, since i think on the surface he IS the exception to this concept- none of the characters like him, including pomni or kinger. but i think this is something thats gonna be examined further down the line, bc hes the main complicating factor in this reading of the show, but i feel like thats on purpose. hes universally disliked (and so is caine, in a different way) and his actions arent mistakes. they are him coping. the show has made it clear that he can be a complex person AND also a piece of shit. his actions dont detract from the fact that hes a person and the show reminds us of this. so it makes things so messy, but im genuinely super excited to see how the show examines that. where his character goes is, imo, going to be a massive piece of how this show fleshes out this concept

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

literally the easiest way to make someone care about a character and make them feel well-rounded beyond basic traits like personality, sexuality, ethnicity, etc, is to give them an actual character arc, and it’s shocking how many people do not seem to fully realize this

you cannot just cram a bunch of tropes. tropes are not the main event, they are tools to tell the story you wish to tell. emotional impact comes from the lead up, so you can’t just jump ahead and expect the payoff to work. “I want this character to just ___ already!” but they’re not there yet. that’s where the arc comes in - how do they get there?

and! most importantly, and this is something I really want people to think about when writing - the most important relationship your character should have, always, is with the world and society around them. defining your character purely through their interactions with other characters are, I find, how a lot of female characters end up feeling flat or not engaging with the themes as much as the male characters, and also how queer and non-white characters wind up as devices for other characters’ development instead of being more fleshed out

[taraxippos]

I never touched it but I feel like i only ever hear positive things said about song of achilles.. in (rough strokes at least) what makes it dogshit to you?

Okay it's been a while since I actually read it so some of this might not be spot on accurate. Sorry if at any point I say 'the book never does xyz' and it actually does once or twice but I think my underlying criticisms are accurate

-Patroclus is made into like this soft gentle tender quivering little yaoi boy. In the source text, he's shown as compassionate and moved by the suffering of his own men (and apparently having some medical skill, tending to the wounded in the camp), but very much invested n combat and very, very good at it (pages worth of descriptions of the guys he's killing left and right). In this, the arguably more complex character from this 8th century BC text is flattened into Being A Healer, he doesn't want to go to war he just wants to help people, he only goes because Achilles has to but he doesn't want to fight he's a HEALER he's a gentle lover NOT A FIGHTER who just wants to help he just wants to help everyone around him he HEALS while Achilles is a doomed warrior who is so good at fighting and KILLING its a DICHOTOMY GUYS!!!LIKE THE BEAUTIFUL SUN AND MOON DOOMED LOVERS SO SAD patocluse HEALER . (I Think he's specifically characterized as being BAD at fighting but might be misremembering)

-I don't remember much about Achilles' characterization I think it just makes him less of a jackass while not adding anything of interest and levels out into being mad boring.

-Not getting into the literal millenias old debate whether the mythological characters Achilles and Patroclus were being characterized as some type of lover by the original oral sources of the Iliad or its Homeric writers. We will never know. We don't even know what (if any) culturally accepted conventions of male homosexuality existed in bronze age Greece (we know much more about their descendants). But there are some interesting elements of their characterization in this direction, with how unconventional their relationship is WITHIN the text itself- Patroclus is described as cooking for Achilles and his guests (very specifically a woman/wife's job), Achilles chides Patroclus like a father, but there's also scene where Achilles' mourning of him directly echoes a passage of Hector's wife mourning her husband, Patroclus is explicitly stated to Achilles' elder, and is overall treated as his equal or near-equal, closest confidant and most beloved friend (to the point that pederastic classical Greeks would debate over who was erastes (older authority figure lover) and who was eromenos (adolescent 'beloved')- many took it as a given that this text depicted their present-day cultural norms of homosexual behavior but it existed so Outside of these norms that it had to be debated who was who). Their relationship is non-standard both within the text and to the descendants of the civilization that wrote them.

Basically what I'm saying is this book had opportunities to like, explore the unconventionality of the relationship (being presented here as explicitly lovers), explore the dynamics of why Patroclus wants to do 'women's work' (besides being a tenderhearted softboy), the weird dynamics where they take on paternal roles to each other but also roles of wives, how they feel about being this way, and just kind of Doesn't. Which I guess isn't an intrinsic fault (because it omits much of what I just talked about to begin with). it's just like.... Lame. This book takes jsut abandons everything interesting about the source text in favor of flattening it into bland Doomed Yaoi.

-The conflict that sets off the core story of the Iliad is Achilles and Agamemnon fighting over Briseis, an enslaved Trojan woman taken by Achilles as a war-trophy, Achilles spends most of the story moping because he was dishonored by his 'trophy' being taken. Achilles and Patroclus and everyone else are raping their captives, all the women in the story are either captured Trojans (or in the case of the free women within the walls of Troy, soon to be enslaved, and are slave owners themselves). Slavery as an institution and extreme patriarchal conventions are innate to the text and reflective of the context in which it was developed. You cannot avoid it.

But obviously you can't have your soft yaoi boys doing this, so the author has them capturing women to Protect Them from the other men. Their slaves are UNDER THEIR PROTECTION and VERY SAFE (and they might even Like And Befriend Them but I might be misremembering that. Briseis does though). Our heroes have apparently absorbed none of the ideals of the culture they exist in and the author seems to think "they're gay and aren't sexually attracted to their captives" would translate to them being outright benevolent (also as if wartime sexual violence is just about attraction and not part of a wider spectrum of violent acts to dehumanize and brutalize an accepted 'enemy')

In the source text, Briseis mourns Patroclus as being the kindest to her of her captors, who tried to get her a slightly better outcome by getting her married to Achilles (which probably would be the Least Bad of all possible outcomes for a woman in that situation, becoming a legal wife instead of a slave), and wonders what will happen to her now that he's gone. This is a really really sad, horrible, and compelling dynamic which could be fleshed out in very interesting ways but is instead is tossed entirely aside in favor of them being Besties. Like brother and sister.

All of the above pisses me off so much. If you don't want to engage in the icky parts of ancient/bronze age Greece then don't write a retelling of a story taking place in bronze age Greece. I'm not gonna get mad at children's adaptations of Greek myths or silly fun stories loosely based on them for omitting the rape and slavery but it is SO fundamental to the Iliad. If you're not willing to handle it, either fully omit it or better yet set your Iliad inspired yaoi in an invented swords-and-sandals setting where you can have all your heartbreaking tragic doomed lovers plot beats and not have to clumsily write around the women they're brutalizing.

-The author didn't seem to know what to do with Thetis and she made her just like, Achilles bitch mother who spends most of the story trying to separate our Yaoi Boys (iirc her disguising Achilles as a girl and hiding him on Scyros is made to be more about getting him away from Patroclus than trying to save her son from his prophesied doom in the Trojan War) until she sees how much they loooove each other and I think helps Patroclus' spirit get to the afterlife or something in the end?

-This is more of a personal taste gripe but it has that writing style I loathe where the prose feels less like a story and more like an attempt to string together Deep Beautiful Hard Hitting Poetic Lines that will look great as excerpts on booktok (might predate booktok but same vibe). It's all very Pretty and Haunting and Deep but feels devoid of real substance.

I really like The Iliad and The Odyssey in of themselves. They're fascinating historical texts that give a window into how 8th century BC Greeks told their stories, saw their world, interpreted their ancestors, etc. And genuinely I think these texts have 'good' characters, there's a lot of complexity and humanity to it.

WRT the Iliad- all of the main Achaeans are pretty fascinating, the one singular part where Briseis Gets To Talk and laments her situation is great, Achilles fantasizing that all of the Trojans AND the Achaeans die so he and Patroclus alone can have the glory of conquering Troy (wild), Achilles asking to embrace Patroclus' shade and reaching out for him but it's immaterial (and the shade being sucked back underground with a 'squeak' (the squeak kinda gets me it's disturbing and sad)), Hecuba talking about wanting to tear out Achilles' liver and eat it in a (taboo, exceptioally pointed) expression of rage and grief for his mutilation of her son's corpse, just one tiny line where the enslaved women performing ritual wailing for their dead captors are described as using it as an outlet to 'grieve for their own troubles' is heartrending, etc. A lot of grappling with anger and grief and the inevitability of death, a lot of groundwork laid for characters that could be very interesting when expanded upon in the framework of a conventional novel.

And Song Of Achilles really doesn't do much with all that. I know a lot of my gripes here are kind of just "It's different from the Iliad", I would have thought of it as mostly mediocre and forgettable rather than infuriating if it wasn't a retelling (and I DEFINITELY have strong biases here). But I think the ways in which it is different are less just a product of a retelling (of course there's going to be omissions and differences) and more a complete and utter disinterest in vast majority of its own subject matter, to the book's detriment. I think a retelling has a point when it EXPANDS on the source, or provides a NEW ANGLE to the source. This book doesn't Really do either, it just shaves off the complexity of its source material, renders the characters into a really boring archetype of a gay relationship, and gives very little else. Its content boils down to a middling tragic romance that has been inserted into the hollowed out defleshed skeleton of the Iliad.

Bottom line: I definitely would not be as mad about it if I wasn't familiar with the source material but I think it's fair to expect a retelling to Engage with/expand on its source, and I also think it's weak purely on its own merits. This book was set up to disappoint Me specifically.

[witchzvamp]

first of all, these boys need to learn when shut the fuck up omg it's better than get more and more into this mess! everyone is so damn dumb, i was dumb when i was a teenager but god not this much

second, fou4mod is not all THAT, not enough to have TWO boys trying to get him like you guys (baabin) are better than this! i mean he such a mess like omg he doesn't need you guys in a weird competition to know who he gonna end up with he needs therapy and if you guys like him so much send him to therapy asap; all of you guys need therapy actually

third of all, i don't know how should i feel about bua?? he's a sweetheart but i don't know if he really does feel something real for baabin; i understand he's in need of real attention and love but it's like he clings to the first person he thinks will be good for him, which is a little unhealthy (actually VERY UNHEALTHY); but love him regardless

and i have nothing to talk about baabin bc he let me down so much and depending on what he does next week's episode i gonna become his hater #1