#thank you for your kind response!!

[zara-renata]

HI HI HI ‼️‼️ Just read ur caleb fic and I haven't gotten to the second part yet but I needed 2 tell u how awesome I think it was!! I've honestly been so conflicted on how I feel about the whole adopted sibling thing LMAO I think ur fic cleared my feelings up a lot better! I think these relationships are very interesting to explore and I feel as if there's a right and wrong way to go about it yk? Thats why I don't really connect with alot of dark romance no matter how much I'd like to, but your fics actually are really great at expressing these complicated relationships in a valid ass way lowkey, especially after reading your sylus fic with the whole choking/starving in the beginning of their relationship I feel like it was fleshed out so appropriately because you don't just flat out ignore the issue yk?? I feel the same way about this caleb fic and I can't wait to read more in the future!! Great work and sorry 4 the random dm dump LOL ♥️♥️♥️

hey there, thank you so much for this message, and hooo boy i hope you don't hate the second part. I felt compelled to provide context for all the subsequent parts i have in mind (which is not that many, unlike the sylus series), but i felt like i couldn't give proper context to mc's emotional state and response to his death in this particular take on his character without talking about them as kids and then teenagers. This turned into an essay, as uh, it always does when someone makes the mistake of talking to me. So more under the cut if you're interested.

i can understand feeling conflicted about the adopted sibling aspect of their relationship. i'm glad my take helped you conceptualize it, and that you enjoyed how i approached mc's trauma as a result of sylus in the sylus fics too. But if you're still feeling conflicted about Calebmc, you can always choose to accept Infold's EN translations as canon. They can just be childhood friends to you, and that's 100% valid. I just can't separate the original intended relationship dynamic from the characters after having played the game last year where they were adopted siblings, and I have no moral qualms about exploring that dynamic in fiction because I think human relationships are messy as hell in reality and fiction is a safe place to do such exploration.

personally, i don't think there is a 'wrong' or 'right' way to go about discussing complicated relationships, because the potential danger of fiction is less dangerous than entering the territory of censorship, knee-jerk moral outrage, and puritanical constraints of creative expression. Like, personally I don't like to read regurgitated, exploitative, misogynistic stale smut, but i think people have the right to write it and read it even if i don't think it's good, because who am i to draw the line for someone else regarding what is valuable or a safe way to express their feelings? For me personally, there's either enjoyable dark fiction, or there's shit dark fiction, and I just choose to not read further once I realize it's of the shit variety. And the difference for me between enjoyable and shit is the following: if a really fucked up story with incredibly toxic relationship dynamics is well thought-out, if the motivations make sense, if there is context and believable reasons why characters do the things they do, if it seems like the author has unpacked for themselves why they want to tell this story and do so with commitment and humanity instead of stripping the characters of their personhood just to be shocking, then I can accept it, even if i have to be in a very specific mood to actively enjoy it or want to engage with it. But if they fail to do that, then I'm just not gonna read it.

I've been thinking about this a lot as I've gotten more excited for Caleb's release the closer we get to it, because for me, Sylus has always been a green flag, and always a lot healthier than the fandom portrayed him, and the fact that the fandom liked to turn him into a dark alphahole always pissed me off because it was just poor characterization. And I don't want to do what the fandom did to Sylus with Caleb: i think Caleb will end up being an equally green flag, with just the obsessive, possessive tendencies that Infold has hinted at as only being highlighted in the events and memories as a sprinkling of 'bad boy' titillation like they do with xav's jealousy or raf's rage or sylus's 'i'm such a sexy bad man' vibes. But because Caleb has been presented as an adversary, as being-two faced, manipulative, with 'possessive' flashing on the screen in his PV, with his 'you can't leave without my permission,' i've been having a lot of fun thinking about okay, how far can I take these darker traits with him while still staying true to his canon characteristics and infold's track record of only giving us green flags for LIs, while simultaneously keeping him swoony and romantic and not swerving completely into unhinged, toxic, not-fun-to-read territory. Because I think having someone who knows you inside and out, who feels possessive and protective of you, who is so completely wrapped up in your wants and needs--there's a particular kind of appeal in that for a certain kind of person. whereas these traits may be suffocating and actually horrible to deal with in real life, they're so fun to fantasize about as a comfort in fiction, and like Sylus, I think Caleb presents that kind of comfort. And Sylus in canon is pretty chill when it comes to possessiveness and jealousy, because he's so self-assured. he knows he's hot shit and you're the other half of his soul. He mentions being worried you're going to forget about him when he's gone, but he approaches it like a man with a plan, as opposed to a man with only fear as his motivation. I can see Caleb, however, being a lot more afraid of and vulnerable to the feeling of losing MC, and that will make him go to more extremes in securing mc at his side. and that's fun, in fiction, to explore.

Anyway, thanks so much about the really kind feedback on the first part of the Caleb fic, I'm really, really glad you liked it. I hope you like the rest. I've started the third part where it's back in the present, but I have a busy weekend ahead and probably won't be able to post it until later next week. and who knows, what we learn next week may destroy any plans i have for it, and i'll let it just be a weird little two-part OOC exercise in 'too impatient for caleb content to wait to write him' on my part :). And of course, I haven't abandoned sylus and the series. i'm just trying to write what is making me insane at the moment in order to avoid burnout on the writing. again, thank you so much for the kind message.

[orangechickenpillow]

Maybe I’m dumb but how did viktor’s crutch suddenly get several feet longer? The rest that used to sit under his arm now is above his head?

Hi lovely. You're not dumb! It's such a quick moment in the episode that it's easy to miss what (I think) happens.

So when Viktor comes out of the hex-goop he immediately reaches for his crutch (a really cool detail that I love very much, as it shows that, deep down, he's still Viktor to at least some degree). Now, in this shot, right after he grabs it, his crutch looks like it always has

But we can see that when he touches the crutch, he begins to change it in a similar way that he himself has been changed. You can see it actually happening here

And here you can see it afterwords.

And then there's this shot while he's talking to Jayce that shows his entire crutch. If you look at the very bottom, you can see this spindly design that wasn't there before

So I think what happened is him touching the crutch made it transform and therefore extended it, making it taller than before.

It even sounds different when he walks! It's more of a glassy/metallic sound than a thump. How cool is that!

[volcanocraft]

Your Gem as an unlabelled bi/gay non-op transman who uses she/her has overridden my previous headcanons and rewired my brain. Quite possibly the most correct take I've ever seen.

I really appreciate you saying this :’) she is so dear to me. I love your turiagirl headcanons as I think gem would definitely be mspec and I haven’t heard of the label before… it’s always fun finding out the new ways people are able to label complex gender attraction!

I’ve been thinking about bi gay gem for the past couple of days too. I just think she is able to represent a facet of masculinity I can relate to heavily because of her unconventional expression of her gender. Unlabelled because she doesn’t think too hard about it but able to identify herself in the flux that is masc while also using conventionally fem constructs because she just likes them … AOUHH thank you for making my day 💖

[maesonc-artistic-adventures]

I’ve been scrolling through some of the Linked Universe tags the past few days and every so often I’ve come across your art, mostly of Warriors and Time and I just wanted to say I absolutely love it! Your art style is really cool and I love the way you colour the pieces you draw, it’s very nice! I hope you’re having an excellent day!

Thank you so much!! I’ve had so much fun drawing Warrior and Time shenanigans and it’s really helped push my art wrt character interactions

I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! 🥰🥰🥰

.

Time: So, what’s going on here?

Warriors: Not sure, but it definitely seems like something you should deal with.

[canisalbus]

Hello! I love your art- you have a real talent for expressive eyes. You're a great cartoonist, and I can't wait to see more of your work

It's a little silly, but I just wanted to say- don't beat yourself up for having a reaction to needles after a bad experience. On a moral level, yes, but also a practical one.

It's normal for a body to react to a bad experience with fear. That's what fear evolved to do, warn you about something that could go wrong next time.

However, fear can be reinforced. If your body responds to a stimulus with fear, and then you feel a negative emotion around that memory, your nervous system goes "Wow! That was so bad that even thinking about it stresses me out. I'd better make sure to never let this happen again. Time to dial up the fear signal!"

Being kind to yourself about something frustrating or painful is hard in good conditions, and I don't want to minimize that. This isn't "don't let it bother you" or "just get over it" or "think positive" advice.

When a fear of needles happens to me again (the fear comes and goes), I try to treat it like I would a food aversion resulting from food poisoning. You know when you eat something bad, get sick and then the thought of the food is really gross for awhile? Like that!

I try to let myself be mildly annoyed, but not so much it gets my blood pressure up. Sadness doesn't seem to extend the length of the fear either. But anger, guilt, or shame for me really seem to reinforce the fear reactions.

Your mileage will vary, of course! For me, I went from no fear of needles, to fainting when an IV was put in, back to no fear with patience and time. Maybe this can be a bit of hope for you too! I wish you luck and a smooth road!

.

[windor-truffle]

Dolphinnnnnn i finished L&L and you’re one of the two people who’s used the Asbel/Lambda tag so pls yell with me about them 🥺

OKAY WELL REMEMBER YOU ASKED FOR IT 😂 Time to raise the age rating of my blog!

I mean for me it's largely the tsundere-isms. Pav can testify that when I streamed Lineage and Legacies for her i was cackling throughout most of Lambda and Asbel's conversations, they always go the EXACT same way and it's so stupidly funny: Lambda shows up to insult/threaten Asbel, Asbel decides to view it in the rosiest tinted glasses in the fucking world and ends up either thanking or complimenting Lambda, and Lambda always IMMEDIATELY leaves with some insightful like commentary "This is foolishness," or "Hmph." That is peak comedy to me, watching a dude set a trap then fall for it himself 😂 "Haha I'm going to ruin this guy's life for fun and oh no, what are these, feelings?? Abort!!"

I know I'm always poor little meow-meowing Lambda a bit, but it's clear the loosely defined "guy" has been loved by exactly 1 (One) person and then that guy was fucking murdered which made Lambda think that love, or anything good really, would never find him again. So for Asbel to show up with unconditional positive regard despite barely knowing him, and forgiveness despite everything Lambda had done... yeah I'd fall for someone like that too 😅 He's such a kind man, it's the trait we love most about him 💜

Personally I'm fine to see Lambda and Asbel written platonically, like in the fic I wrote (which I'm assuming you're referencing in your ask thank you for the kudos 💜) where it's more ambiguous and a little one sided. But ALSO personally I think Asbel should have a harem, EVERYONE'S a little in love with the guy (but that's probably my oh so obvious bias talking 😅) (bonus points if Asbel's contentedly aromantically oblivious to his polycule). Asbel's always radiating beams of friendship, and he believes in people so much it makes them want to believe in themselves. And for characters who feel/have been told they are unlovable and shouldn't exist? Yeah that's how you get partners who are utterly obsessed 😅

But that's the more wholesome take on shipping them... there's also the appeal of more toxic and/or erotic dynamics. I'm not 100 percent sure this is what you're asking for so if the idea makes you (or anyone reading this) feel uncomfy, this is the paragraph to stop reading at.

So the fun thing about characters undergoing potential redemption arcs is that their journey can be nonlinear, or completely unsuccessful. I have no qualms about keeping Lambda in an antagonistic role regardless of Asbel's support. In some ways it makes sense for him to doubt or dislike Asbel's love; after all, it's unfamiliar and uncomfortable. If Asbel is right in his assertion that humans have potential, it means that Lambda was wrong to hurt and attempt to exterminate them, and that's not easy to admit. So it's fun to imagine Lambda doing everything in his power to make Asbel hate him so he can "win" this argument of whether he's redeemable or not. Things like bullying and intimidation like in canon, or more serious stuff like trying to kill Asbel's friends with his own hands :)

But that's barely toxic, in fact that could have a very wholesome ending if so desired. There's also some "fun" dynamics to be had with jealousy and abuse; it stands to reason the being possessing a guy would be, well, possessive 😅 If Lambda latches onto for Asbel for his kindness without actually internalizing it himself, we get into some pretty toxic stuff :) My long fic, though not shippy, does this, blurring the lines of Lambda's possessiveness from "you're mine" into "you're ME, you're an extension of myself and thus have no agency beyond what I permit." He's mistaken Asbel's friendship for unwavering approval and agreement with his worldview and actions, he blatantly violates his boundaries, and he dismisses his protests as "foolishness" or "not understanding reality." In the long fic, this comes to a confrontational breaking point (murder-suicide attempt), but knowing canon Asbel's endless belief in others even to his/their own detriment (like failing to call out Richard sooner during the main arc), I could see Asbel letting himself be abused for far too long under the misguided notion he can still "save" Lambda (good luck convincing someone who's actively benefitting from their actions to stop them buddy 😔).

As for the erotic, there's the sormik of it all... You know, the whole *leans into my imaginary microphone* fellas is it gay to live inside another man? 😅 It's probably not very hard to get someone off if you have direct control of their body huh. In fact, getting back to the jealousy thing and the fact that I'm still a hardcore Richass shipper, I like to think Lambda could get a little jealous of Asbel's arousal at Richard's hands and is like "oh that? I can do that here watch" and picking the absolute WORST moment to demonstrate. So Asbel has to clean himself up and awkwardly explain the reason why he and Richard keep that in the bedroom, beyond just for comfort's sake 😅

In conclusion, I like them :) They can be the most wholesome redemption-through-love pairing, or the most toxic fucked up kinky thing imaginable. Or both! They're fun 💜

[stone-stars]

on sharing creative work with people who get it.

[ID: A comic in a simple art style, featuring two people drawn in black and white: a person with short hair and round glasses (the author), and a person with short hair, square glasses, and a possum on their head (their friend). The first row has 3 square panels: The author types at a laptop. The laptop screen, with a page full of words is shown. They stare at it, going "hm…" Then, there are closeups: Their face as they look away with a frown, and their hand as they go to close the laptop, a little burst of yellow with the word "pop!" appearing behind them. It zooms out to them, with the laptop half closed, looking surprised at their friend, who has popped into existence grinning behind them. Three more square panels: Their friend leans forward, pointing at the laptop, as the author looks confused, still. They open the screen and look at what their friend is pointing at, their friend saying "!!". Then, there's a closeup of just their friend, staring forward with a smile, with a speech bubble with a bright pink heart in it. The next panel is longer, as the author and their friend begin to talk back and forth. Their friend's first speech bubble has "!!", with some yellow popping around it, and then the rest of their speech bubbles are big and filled with bright colors. The author responds in small speech bubbles, all empty save for a pair of round glasses in the corner to indicate who is speaking. In the bottom corner is a speech bubble from the author that reads "..." Next are two smaller panels, stacked on top of each other. The author speaks, and this time their speech bubble is filled with partially desaturated color that becomes pink to one side. The friend responds, in bright pink, as the author smiles slightly. The next panel doesn't have a border. The author and their friend talk in the bottom left corner, a cloud of intertwining speech bubbles coming from them. The speech bubbles are painted across in a rainbow of bright colors that extend beyond the borders. They're both smiling as they talk. Below this are two thinner panels, both closeups of the friend as they continue to talk and gesture, brightly-colored speech bubbles behind them. Then, in a wider panel, the friend points back to the computer screen, still speaking with colorful bubbles, as the author nods and follows their gaze. The last row has 3 square panels. The author stares at the screen in surprise, then smiles with teary eyes, touched. The last panel shows the laptop screen again, the same document this time painted with bright colors behind the words. below this panel is the word "end."]

(split into two panels under the cut just in case tumblr kills the quality)

[ID: The same comic, now split into two images before the large colorful panel full of speech bubbles.]

[khaire-traveler]

The people on Tumblr are so nice. You guys rock, and I'm sending you all my love. Thank you for the support tonight. 🧡🫂

[xproskeith]

I noticed someone bookmarked my fic I wrote and posted last night and this was the comment on the bookmark. I'm fine. Not crying at all 🥹

[basu-shokikita]

This is my Roman Empire. What prompted him to say this

[gomzdrawfr]

I see you have hopped on the anon ask train with the rest of us

You are honestly a amazing person, so kind and sweet even when you are stressed tf out. I've never been happier to be able to call someone my friend, especially someone as talented as you. The pure skill you have is absolutly amazing, you create the best drawings and I'm always waiting to see them on my blog.

Thank you for being here, thank you for being strong and getting through the rough patches. Thank you for being you <3

Thank you!!! 🥹

[tennessoui]

Heya, I've just popped in to tell you how absolutely desperate I was to find your Tumblr account (thank goodness I finally did [even though you did put a link to it in most of your fics]). Your fic, "don't let me lose you to the rising tide" has been one of the best reads of my life, and instantly set me hungrily out on every other fic you've ever written, I have been reading as many as I can possibly get away with (which is a lot, unfortunately for my sleep schedule) and I wanted to thank you.

I'm slowly getting around to commenting on as many as I can. Now I can only apologize here because I read most of my fics at night (which is nothing to apologize for in itself) but I do read on my 7 year old kindle who only connects to the internet when on a chokehold... So it's really sad and pathetic, and also turning pages on it is a pain in the butt, and if you think that's hard then imagine trying to type stuff on it-

*ahem* sorry I was here for s reason other than complaining. I just- the way you write inspires me, and I am, without a doubt, utterly enthralled with everything you've ever written (70 fics?!!! How-?) and I cannot wait to read more.

Lots of love!

hello!! thank you so much for sending this, it's incredibly sweet of you and i apologize for taking so long to respond to this. i very much smiled a lot when i got it <3

i'm so happy you enjoyed "don't let me lose you to the rising tide" because it's one of my favorite fics to have written so far! and i've really really appreciated and liked the comments you've left on my other fics, they've been such a spot of joy in my email inbox!!

[mroddmod]

omg thank you guys for 9k!!! i can't believe it 😭🙏

[acourtofquestions]

“He'd deceived her, had lied to her. This man who she'd believed held no secrets between them. She didn't know why it made her want to shred everything within sight.”

— cause um… as you just said Miss Manon YOU CARE (& it’s even giving Chaolaena vibes in the I CARE way)… so like all I’m saying is you love him duh?

[motleyfam]

So, in the fic where Tim gets his appendix out, Jason tells him that he usually freaks out before he gets put under, not after. Now that Tim knows, how would he comfort Jason? I'm thinking, like, imagine that Jason breaks his leg badly on patrol, so urgent surgery is in order. Would Tim try to prevent him from freaking out? How?

P.s. i said i a thousand rimes bur I love your works!! You're amazing!!

Ooh so I've actually answered a similar question pretty recently (although that was focused more on the needle aspect than the anesthesia/loss of control aspect which I headcanon to be Jason's main issue with being put under)

Honestly? I think Tim would be the worst family member to try to comfort Jason through something like this. Not for anything that Tim is doing right or wrong, just because anesthesia is something that really freaks Jason out, and his response to being freaked out is a) to angry cry, and b) to lash out at people. Because he knows this about himself, and he's also extremely protective of Tim, he tries not to let Tim see him when he's not fully in control of himself. So while Jason would totally be great in a crisis involving Tim, he does terribly when the roles are reversed.

BUT that being said, if Tim was the only one available, I think Tim would end up offering his hand to squeeze, and Jason would hesitate at first but eventually take it. He'd probably also be trying really hard not to cry, which Tim would very intentionally act as through he wasn't noticing because at the end of the day, Jason needs his dignity more than anything.

[luna-loveboop]

I NEVER KNEW YOU MADE ART!!! ITS SO FRICKEN GOOD I LOVE IT SMM!!!!!!!! >v<

You’re very talented and I love all of your creations smm!!!!!!!!

Djsjdjfkkfkkf thank you so much Sleepy!

Yeah I hid it from yall. I was scared to try and post art on here, but I do a lot of art!

I'm ok at traditional 2-d stuff with painting and drawing, and I can do a sick egg carving. I'm great at a lot of 3-d art- I'll have to engrave glass to post here one day that'd be fun. I do calligraphy/ink painting like that comic I did, and textile crafts (anything with fabric, wool, or yarn).

Egg art is hardcore tho. A bunch of master egg carvers are like old dudes because it's an ancient and respected art, but sixteen year old me insisted on getting chickens, realised we had too many eggs, that egg carving existed and I could carve them, and never looked back lmao. It's been some years of developing the skill along with the other arts I do, and it's really fun.

Like!! Holding an eggshell that could break at any moment, with a drill going fifty thousand rotations per minute, and carving on it with it is very satisfying! ...when it doesn't break. Which it almost never does for me by now. Also egg artists can easily get poisoned by the egg dust for weeks (and I have) if we're not careful. It's dangerous and fast and dainty and pretty.

Egg carving is rad as hell

:)