#this is probably hard to read without the discord formatting

[joompheart]

hehehe my funny new youtube guy did a fun football annecdote I love when people are in to sports its cute I can appreciate sports I like them more than I did when I was younger and only wanted to play videogaems I'm not super interested in playing them but I can enjoy watching them now and I definately ought to do physical activity so I appreciate doing some casual frisbee or whatever I used to be on a lacrosse team in middle school actually i was terrible but its kinda fun and weirdly I didn't even play for my school I played fora different school because I guess mine didnt ahve a lacrosse team idk how that worked its fun to use those sticks to cradle the ball and whip it back and forth and its funny that hitting eachother's sticks is a big part of the game. like literally smack the other guys stick so the ball falls out of their net but I sucked. actually playing the game wasnt fun because I wasn't good enough to do anything other than try to be at attention in my zone on the field and make shitty attempts to do what im supposed to whenever the ball came near like I did get the ball from time to time but I would either lose it by getting smacked or just fail to get it or whatever I think i made less than or equal to 3 actual passes in real games which were not even necesarilly sound tactical moves the big thing I learned is that it's really hard to know what to do when I don't have eyes int he back of my head and kinda poor spatial awareness but I was ok in practice. just throwing the ball back and forth is nice and I'm an obedient kid who will do your running drills can you tell I've taken my stimulant pill

[modelbus]

hi!!!!! im new but ive read a lot of your work and its amazing!!

anyway, i was wondering if you could write a either hurt comfort or childhood friends to lovers, as a cc!tommy x fem!reader ?

it would mean a lot thank you !!! 🩷🩷

Why not both? Cue evil grin, mwahaha ;) ALSO! I’m back with that mcyt stuff!!

Pairing: Cc!Tommyinnit x Fem!Reader

Fighting Friends

You’ve known Tommy for as long as you can remember. Apparently memory formation starts when you’re about 6, so you knew there was a time before him, but it certainly didn’t feel like it.

There’s a photo on your desk, framed with a cheap plastic frame. Both of you as kids, him wearing sunglasses and holding a Nerf gun up to your head as you’re caught in the act of stabbing him with a foam sword (he shot you in the forehead after the photo). The picture just about sums up your guys’ relationship. It doesn’t need to be worth a thousand words, just two: fucking chaos.

Or, that’s what you two normally were.

It was a stupid argument, even you knew that. A silly remark you took too hard, something that stung too deep. He said it during a vlog, too. A quip about rather dying than dancing with you. And with those few words, you stupid crush-addled heart shriveled up and was shot through.

So you had retaliated with a poor jab, and he didn't get it, and it all blew up in your faces. To the point where your messages have sat empty for three whole days. There's no "GET ON MC" message from him, no impromptu "Movie now." Just pure radio silence.

And you hate it.

You loved Tommy. Adored the hell out of him, unfortunately for you. And not just because you had a traitorous little crush. He's your best friend. The type of person you always knew would be there.

Right up until he wasn't.

It’s funny how much colder it seems to be now that he’s gone. Winter’s blowing in, like it was just waiting for him to vanish from your life before taking over. It leaves piles of snow that you dredge through to get to your favorite cafe, braving the wind chill just for a semblance of comfort.

You used to go here nearly daily with Tommy, making you dependent on the warm atmosphere that you haven’t been in since five days ago. Have you mentioned how much you hate fighting with Tommy? The disruption to routine, the fucking ache in your heart…

It’s a bit pathetic, honestly. But that’s simply what you are without him. One half of a soul.

The bell chimes, and you drag yourself over to your normal table and pull out your laptop. Even when your world stops, the actual world keeps spinning, meaning you have work to do.

“Hey sweetheart. No shadow?” Your head jerks up, instinctively smiling at Laura, the aged worker who always serves you.

“Not today.” You sigh. “He’s… busy.”

“Too busy for you?” Her eyebrows raise. “That boy will show up eventually for you.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh, trust me, hon. He’s got those eyes when he looks at you.”

Hell if you know what that means, but you smile at her anyway.

“Want your usual?” She asks.

“Just a water.” You shake your head, the idea of a hot chocolate without Tommy seeming just sad.

Laura nods then heads off as you turn your attention back to your laptop. In the bottom right corner a Discord notification pops up from Wilbur, but you ignore it without even reading the message. You can respond to him later, which you’ll probably do at night while in bed. Procrastinating sleep, per usual.

A mug is set in front of you—definitely not water—making you look up at Laura in confusion. Hot chocolate, complete with your usual whipped cream.

“I—“

“Someone else ordered it for you.” She answers before you can even ask, a sparkle in her eye. Before she steps away, she leans closer and whispers, “I told you that boy adores you.”

Your eyes scan the surrounding area, seeing Tommy almost instantly. Blond hair messed up, his favorite hoodie and jeans on. He makes his way to you, looking sheepish.

“I’m sorry.” He blurts out the second he’s close enough. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Laura step away. “I was an idiot, and I shouldn’t have said half the fucking things I did—“

“At least sit down.” You interrupt, knowing damn well he’d stand there and apologize all day.

Almost instantly, he drops into the chair across from you. You quietly close your laptop, leaving the two of you staring at each other in awkward silence.

“You ordered me hot chocolate.” You say just to break the quiet.

He ducks his head. “You always get it.”

The acknowledgment that you didn’t want to get it without him hangs in the air.

“What’ve you been up to?” You ask politely. Small talk is strained and stupid; you’ve never had to do this with him before.

“Recording and shit. Made a mod video with Schlatt and Wil and Jack. You?”

You drink your hot chocolate while the two of you talk, the argument hanging heavy over your heads like a storm cloud. When you finish the drink, there’s some unspoken consensus that you’ll leave together, him stepping ahead to hold the door for you.

“I scrapped that vlog, by the way.” He’s saying, referencing the one you had filmed with him. “Wasn’t enough content to put in a video.”

“I’m sorry.” You say, frowning, knowing that it was your argument that had made it such a short filming session.

“Why the fuck are you sorry?” He asks, staring at you like you’re an alien. “I’m the one who made that argument a whole fucking thing.”

“You?” You echo. “That was definitely on me, I was so snappish!”

“Bullshit, I started it!”

“In what fucking world did you start it? That was me, Tom, I acted like a little bitch about that one—“

You’re silenced by something, warmth covering your lips before it’s gone as quick as it was there. It’s not until he’s four steps back that you realize what just happened.

He kissed you. He fucking kissed you.

“Fuck— I didn’t— I didn’t meant to do that!” He exclaims, eyes wide. “I mean— Wil told me to just go for it, but I told him he was fucking insane man, I didn’t— I keep fucking this up, don’t I?”

“…so that was an apology kiss?” You ask, confused.

“What? No! I meant I was sorry for kissing you without, Y’know, asking.” His cheeks flush, and it’s not until someone shoves past you that you realize you’ve both stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

“It’s… it’s fine. Okay, I mean.” You say, almost positive your cheeks are the same shade as his.

Tommy nods. “So I didn’t totally fuck this up?”

“I think you fucked it up a long time ago, Tom. I’m doing charity work sticking around you.”

He laughs, elbowing you as you start walking. “I’m the one doing charity work! I’m a fucking millionaire, you should be paying to be in my presence!”

“Oh, yeah, you kissed me for charity too, huh?”

“Wha— well I— that—“

You laugh loudly, having to look away from him to catch your breath. This was your Tommy, this was what you missed.

“Oh, you asshole!” He groans. “Fine! It was fucking charity, how about that?”

Shrugging, you can’t help your grin. “Just don’t make it charity next time.”

His steps falter, but when you look over at him he’s beaming. “Deal.” He announces, but doesn’t make a move to kiss you again.

“…are you not going to—“

“I have to surprise you. That way it’s fun.”

Oh boy.

[gatheredfates]

Hi all! This is another rare, not-weekend (for me, at least) update to the Community Compendium! 🌼 I am probably going to be doing a few more of these smaller updates in the lead up to Dawntrail, rather than a big one on the weekend, just to make sure I get as many communities/resources as I can in before launch.

This is because, come early access, I am putting the Compendium on a mini-hiatus! I will NOT be updating the weekend of the early access (29-30 June) and it'll be a hit or miss if I add anything the weekend after (6-7 July). I am going to be taking some much needed time off to spend time with my partner, best friend, and play the expac. ✨ Regular updates should resume after this period.

As of today (06/17), the following resources have been added to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives.

FREE COMPANY / COMMUNITY FOCUSED / EVENT SPACES

FFXIV Roleplay (Tumblr Community) — A Tumblr Community whose aim is to have a common place to search for and find new RP partners in the FFXIV community. LFRP, links to carrds/linktrees, etc. are welcome.

MISC

Character Profile Template by Alannah — Want a handy template to fill out for your character? Want an easy looking for roleplay format? Look no further; @alannah-corvaine has helpfully put one together for you!

CHANGELOG

Affiliates have been added! These were inspired by the Seafloor (Community) becoming affiliated with two communities—Final Fantasy XIV and XIV Roleplay! They have their own dedication section on the Compendium now.

Affiliates are not Tumblr-specific so, if you're interested in affiliating, please get in touch with me!

SEAFLOOR

We're a Tumblr Community now! For people unfamiliar with the concept of Communities, I encourage you to check out the tumblr post by staff made about them here. However, copy/pasting what I have written in the Compendium, the Community functions as so:

SEAFLOOR (A FFXIV Community) is a Tumblr community whose duel-purpose focuses on my projects — the Compendium, question drives and screenshot events — whilst also reblogging member created works, resources (including events, commissions and looking for content/roleplay/free company posts), affirmations and other xiv-related content. If you are interested in supporting my projects without the social aspect of a Discord, I highly encourage you to join the Community. Everything hosted on the Discord will be cross-posted there; you will not miss out on anything. As Communities are still in beta, members need to be manually invited. If you would like to join, please like the tumblr post here. Once Communities are out of beta, I will remove this section to better reflect its true public status.

I'm hoping the Community will function as a member-curated dash, resource hub and visual diary for my projects and member created works. There are no hard feelings if you want to leave the Discord and only join the Community. Please do what makes you comfortable!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here or send me an ask with the relevant information!

Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. Again, all the below information is accessible on the document! 🦈

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads.

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include in-character tabloid blogs used to generate RP.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

FAQ.

I want to put my community on the compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community on the compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it.

What resources/communities can I add if I'm not the owner of them?

Mutual consent is extremely important to me, so anything that isn't a large-scale community OR a publicly accessible resource must be endorsed by the owner/admin/moderators in order to be added to the compendium. I operate under the assumption that a resource posted to a public space (tumblr, googledocs, youtube, etc) is open to all. A large-scale community is one with a significant member count or openly advertises itself as being accessible to everyone for whatever purpose it serves. If in doubt, please get in touch with me. I'm happy to contact your community owners for you!

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, absolutely contact me about that.

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[sunhated-a]

Hello! Welcome, this is a blog I've created to curate inspiration for Muzan Kibutsuji. But I am open to interactions, so I may dip my hands in some writing for him as well.

My portrayal of Muzan is quite canon divergent and based on equal parts headcanon and canon material.

I'm very laidback on this blog, so expect minimal formatting and icons, sporadic activity, and varying post length.

Guidelines under read more.

Basic RP etiquette applies. Do not control my character without my permission, in character =/= out of character. Muzan is a very abrasive muse. So please don't take his rudeness personally. If you are a personal blog, you may follow me and send in asks or like headcanon posts. I have anon enabled if you'd prefer to use that. However, I would ask that you do not reblog my headcanons or threads. Please understand you are a guest in this space and be mindful with how you engage. Other than that, you're welcome on my blog! I hope you enjoy!

Fandom is a space meant for everyone to enjoy. Period. Bigotry of any kind, racism, sexism, transphobia, etc. Will not be tolerated. If I catch you engaging in any of these behaviors it's an immediate block from me.

Do not involve me in interpersonal drama. Roleplay is a fun hobby to me, and drama exhausts me. And to be frank, I am too old to care to keep up with who did what and why. I don't engage in dogpiles. I am just here to write my characters and stay in my lane. However, if any issues were to arise, I'd prefer to talk it out like adults. But if you'd no longer wish to interact for whatever reason, feel free to hard block me. There will be no hard feelings.

I am neither pro-ship nor an anti, nor do I care what camp you fall into. I'm just here to do my own thing. I will be exploring darker content on this blog: Including manipulation, abusive relationships, cannibalism, obsession, twisted dynamics among other things that come with the muse. I do have hard limits, however. I will not interact with you if you engage in noncon, underage smut, or adult / underage muse ships. All triggers will be tagged accordingly. And as always, if you need something tagged do not hesitate to let me know!

I run my blogs primarily on an interest basis, I also manage a household and I work. So my activity will fluctuate and be sporadic. I manage chronic depression and unmedicated ADHD both so I will probably be all over the place. IRL > Anything else. I will always prioritize the comfort level of a mun over writing and roleplay.

This is a canon divergent blog, as it says on the tin. There are a lot of aspects about Muzan and his story that I interpret differently, or omit entirely. If something about my portrayal isn't to your liking, I completely understand. You are entitled to your opinion, but please don't try to argue with me. Feel free to unfollow or block.

OCS. I love them. Feel free to send them my way, just be sure to have a page where I can read about them and we're golden. I am also duplicate friendly.

I am not open to shipping on this blog. I, however, will make exceptions if we have interacted OOC or if we're on the same page on what we want out of a ship. I'm uncomfortable shipping with people I don't interact with, this is purely for my own comfort and because of personal experiences in the past. But, if we've interacted and you think our characters would mesh well and have a good dynamic, by all means feel free to bring it up. I will not be posting smut or sexual content on this blog. So anything veering into that territory, I will ask to move to discord or another platform.

[evervita]

mobile-friendly rules.

MUN

Hi there! I’m Maxie. I’m 21+ years old and I’m currently living in Mountain Time!

I’m a fairly busy and low-energy individual, with a full-time job to boot. There may be periods where I seemingly disappear. I’m almost always around on discord, though! In fact, reaching me on discord is probably the best way to find me. If you want to add me just toss me a message and I’ll give you my user!

There may be smut and gore on this blog. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE will I smut with underage muns/muses. That’s gross, and if you push me about it I will block you.

If I say or do something that makes you uncomfortable, please let me know. I’d prefer to resolve things without any conflict. I don’t immediately jump to callouts, is what I’m trying to say.

The only thing I ask for other muns to tag are photos of insects, and NSFW content.

I don’t normally do passwords, but rest assured I do read rules! If there’s anything I don’t understand, I’ll go straight to you!

INTERACTIONS

If your muse is an asshole, don’t mitigate it for my sake. Basically, be an asshole to my muse. But please note I do the same. I do not hold back negative traits. Magnolia is not perfect. She has negative traits as well as her positive ones.

If I feel the interactions between our muses isn’t going anywhere, or if the effort isn’t being returned (like me writing a detailed reply and being given two sentences in return), I’ll probably soft block. It’s not anything personal, but usually in those cases I’m not really getting any enjoyment and I am here to indulge in a hobby.

Triggers that may appear on this blog include, but are not limited to: Abuse, past abuse, violence, blood, gore, mental illness, and NSFW content. They will be tagged with #[trigger] tw, but if I do miss something in a post PLEASE notify me and I will tag it! Chances are I just forgot it and I will fix it when I see it/am notified!

This blog is multi-ship, with no limit on ships regardless of what they are. Relationships will not interfere with each other unless all muns agree to it through plotting.

I have no problem using asks as starters. With how I format my ask replies, you’re free just to reblog the post with your reply! I just ask that there’s at least a little trimming when it comes to replies, as to not clog up my blog + dash!

I can reply in any format, but para/multi-para is my preferred method.

DRAMA

Everyone has their opinions on drama, and I want to be upfront about it.

If you have a problem with me specifically, please contact me privately. I don’t like to upset people and if we can resolve something without causing drama, it will be better on everyone.

I used to say I don’t care who my mutuals interact with, but my stance has changed a bit. As a general rule I don’t really mind who interacts with who as long as no one is getting hurt. That all said, I’d find it very difficult to interact with someone who interacts with someone who is a known problem to others. The same applies if you interact with someone who I have blocked. When I hard block someone, it’s for a reason.

In addition, if you have hurt/insulted my friends, you will be blocked.

DNI

Let’s hope this list stays short, but as with everything on my blog I reserve the right to add to this as I see fit. If you need elaborations, please approach me privately.

DK/DieKorruption ( gloriousrebirth , thesixteenpleasures , thelovesofthegods + others I probably missed. )

[more-than-a-princess]

mun meme

𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍���𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐍!

★  NAME:  Rae

★  PRONOUNS:  she/her.

★  BEST EXPERIENCE:  I'm...not actually sure what this means? Is this the best RP you've ever written, or where you've enjoyed writing the most? I have no clue, actually. But I tend to prefer 1x1 storylines in a chatroom or email-based format. Tumblr isn't my favorite place to write, honestly: but it's one of the most active, so I'm here.

★  PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: If we haven't written much/at all and you don't enjoy plotting or interacting OOC? Tumblr IMs are fine with me. If you like plotting and sharing a bunch of art/aesthetics/reddit threads that remind me of our muse(s)? Then discord is best. Bryn can attest to this, because I will spam her with memes from relevant muse/aesthetic tags.

★  MOST ACTIVE MUSE: I only keep up one blog right now, so it's Sonia. I don't have a lot of time or energy to write much at present, so juggling two blogs would be very hard. I miss writing Fujiko Mine, though.

★  EXPERIENCE / HOW MANY YEARS: I started roleplaying in 1999. My RP experience is old enough to have a mid-life crisis. I have probably been roleplaying longer, or just as long, as some of you have been alive and this knowledge sends me into...well, a mid-life crisis.

★  RP PET PEEVES:  

I've been roleplaying for a long time. I have quite a few, but I'll share some of them.

Muns who do not read rules, or a blog in general. Not just for the sake of boundaries, but just to even get an idea of activity, writing style, and so forth of the blog they're hoping to write with. Maybe it's because I've only written canon muses for the past 15 years or so, but when I've had blogs on tumblr or Livejournal, I've found that I'll get followed by other blogs interested purely in interacting with a canon muse without any regard for writing style, frequency, or other essential components that factor into good writing partner chemistry. Admittedly, this has happened plenty of times because someone wanted a romantic ship with whatever canon muse I happened to be writing without even asking if I wanted to ship my muse with theirs, or had any interest in writing romance at all. I feel like a lot of misunderstanding or bad communication would be helped if some people really looked at the accounts they're trying to interact with, beyond just wanting to write with that character.

Muns with canon muses who do not write out actual bios, or just link to a character's wiki page. Look, it seems like quite a double standard if we as a roleplaying community ask OC writers to produce a small novel describing their muses so canon writers have an idea of where they might fit in a canon or original verse and, in turn, canon writers give absolutely nothing in return to how they portray their muses. Anyone can do an internet search on a canon muse: I want to know how you see and portray your canon muse. Doubly so if you are a new blog with no IC content. Do not assume every mun is familiar with your canon muse, and do not assume that even if a mun is familiar with your muse, they'll interpret them the same way you do. Show your followers how you see them, show your followers how you write!

And the last pet peeve I'll share: muns who drop threads/blogs before interactions even get a chance to start. Doubly so if they clearly just wanted to write a romantic ship without any real chemistry or interactions. I don't mind when writing partners take time with replies: I actually prefer that to muns who reply in 24-72 hours, because it gives me some time to breathe in-between replies and brainstorm about what could happen next. And I don't mind at all when muns have other commitments, jobs, and hobbies that are in need of their attention: if we have interactions going and someone needs to step away for a little while (and it's communicated!), that's understandable.

What I don't like are muns, often with new blogs, who either abandon the blog entirely or constantly ask for new memes, asks, and interactions when we've got active threads going. It's one thing to not have muse, but when you're actively soliciting new threads without replying to ours and not communicating that you'd like to just drop threads?

Yeah. I just don't have time for that. That sort of writing habit works for some muns, but I enjoy long threads with complex storylines (some of which have taken years to write!). I like slow-burn romances, humor, drama, and the progression of life and situations between muses. I'm not fond of one-off interactions that never really form a plot, if that makes sense.

★   PLOTS OR MEMES: Yes! I think memes are great to start off but if my writing partner is wanting to build off initial interactions, then I think plotting is best. Especially if writing partners are looking to write romantic ships: I pretty much exclusively plot these at this point.

★  ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S)?: Sonia and I both enjoy tea, chocolate, anime, and horror movies (she likes anime and horror movies more than I do). We also both have similar fashion styles (preppy/tailored/classic with traditionally feminine touches) and come from families with some Rich People Problems. Otherwise, she is the most cheerful glass-half-full sort of woman and I have predominantly resting bitch face and a degree in sarcasm. I also love historical fiction and royalty gossip and news far more than she does.

tagged by: @rolliesanimeclub

tagging: @quickdeaths, @dcviated, and you. I was this close to tagging all of my over-30 brethren in the RPC because you are seen and valid (and also if you're like me probably tired).

[ofrefulgence]

Canon-Divergent Yu Haibara from Jujutsu Kaisen

OC, Crossover, & Multimuse friendly Independent & Mutuals Only Mains: @ofovertime

-Completely ruined by KKEUNGI (He/Him & They/Them, 30+, PST)-

✧ CARRD.

Rules (below the cut):

[MUN] King Kkeungi /King K/Kkeungi (he/him & they/them), 30+, Pacific Standard Timezone (UTC -8).

Please do not follow/interact if you are under 21+: I am Olde™ and perpetually exhausted.

I go through cyclical periods of being very chatty and active, then straight up nonexistent for awhile due to personal life and work stress.

[DISCLAIMER] I do make serious effort to tag anything sensitive/heavy in terms of content and am completely open to adding tags for my mutuals, if needed.

However, always take tags literally- Like as in Dead Dove: Do Not Eat. If the tags say 'organ harvesting’, expect literal organ harvesting. I don’t usually use 'DD:DNE’ since a lot of chronically online people assume it means I write 'problematic content’ for sexual self-gratification. Please do not insult me like that or attempt to shame me for what I write, I will block you without hesitation.

[TRIGGERS] Mutual respect is necessary if we’re going to write together.

I personally have very specific triggers, so they don’t even come up in writing at all (they’ve proven to be visual/auditory).

I always write trigger tags as 'trigger tw or 'trigger cw’ since that is the easiest way Tumblr Savior can accurately recognize them.

[ACTIVITY] I’ll post my schedule once it becomes more regular (just got a new job), but in general I’ll probably have more time to write at night. I initially send requests to plot over DMs in Tumblr since I personally don’t like giving out my Discord handle to someone completely new and feel like other writers do the same. If we seem to connect easily, I generally give it out anyway.

Discord RP is totally fine. If we’re already threading on Tumblr, moving them to Discord is also fine.

If I follow you, I want to write with you.

Constructive criticism is always welcome when I ask for it (i.e., post OOC asking for it or reblog a concrit meme). I heavily dislike Love Bombing as a practice and I also do my best to offer objective and constructive advice to my close friends who ask for it from me. I want to eventually publish my own fictional works, so improving upon my style and understanding of writing is something that I actively work very hard on.

Hate will always be erased and you will be hardblocked.

Tracking the tag: #ofrefulgence

I take awhile to respond. You may remind me every now and then to check in, but I don’t really work well within specific time limits to follow back or even interact once we’re mutuals. I have limited spoons and personal time, so I will actively distance myself from Muns who display entitlement over my attention.

[GENERAL] Power Gaming is super boring to me. I prefer doing a 'Blow by Blow’ where we leave each response open to the mutual as to what their muse acts upon and is affected by. I also don’t mind plotting it out beforehand.

I do not do 'Follow for Follow’. Sometimes my mouse also misclicks on the Dashboard and it’ll make me randomly Follow a blog I’m only checking out or Like a post TWICE in succession- This is NOT an attempt to get your attention if we’re not mutuals. I will always reach out to apologize in DMs and explain so there’s not any misunderstandings.

My Ask Box, Discord IMs, and Tumblr DMs are always open for clarifications, questions, and requests to edit my posts.

I love plotting. It’s not necessary all the time, but even a few basic details generally help me get a better idea of what to lead with. I will offer ideas and expect the same, I dislike feeling as though the effort is one-sided.

[SHIPS & NSFW] I always tag with #✧ NSFW and employ cuts/'read more’s. I’m Multiship 100%, unless all mutuals involved in the thread discuss that our muses can recognize established relationships in the RP.

[FORMAT] You never have to match length or speed of replies.

My only thing I expect to match is providing content we both can work off of- If the vibes aren’t there, I’ll reach out about it OOC. If nothing changes, I will more than likely drop the thread.

I can write long replies and forget to use cuts, just message me if it’s making your Dash awful.

I use icons when I even remember to use them, they’re honestly just for fun- Never required.

Small Text is fine, but whenever I seem to reblog and edit to reply on Tumblr- small text format will break in the draft, randomly? So I probably won’t be using it at all.

[jexetic]

technology ramble

I’ve been getting a lot more picky about my tech lately. I’ve switched out some apps for other apps, ditched some tech altogether, and just generally been more thoughtful about what technology I use or allow to take up my time.

First off, I’ve been very much wanting everything to be local-first. Anything that is completely cloud-based is gonna be much more likely to be a no from me lately. I switched note apps to Obsidian, for example. I tried out getting a pocket notebook because that’s been a trend and I am open to more low-tech solutions to things lately, but ultimately it’s still a lot easier and quicker to pull out my phone to jot something down, especially if I’m also carrying something and need to take a note. But why Obsidian? Because the files just live in a folder. It’s not some weird proprietary situation where my notes exist only in Obsidian. My notes exist in files that I can open without Obsidian and move or copy however I’d like. I very much prefer that. Apple Notes is technically local, but it doesn’t offer any way of actually exporting all your notes. That is very much whack. Obsidian doesn’t even require you to export. They just live right there on your hard drive. They’re always exported. Never stuck in some proprietary format. That’s a huge plus in my book.

I’m not syncing my obsidian vault. I mainly use it on my phone to jot down any quick notes I need to throughout the day. I do also have the app on my gaming pc and my Macbook in case I need to type anything on those devices, but having my notes in the cloud isn’t really something that’s necessary for me I’ve found. Which is kind of a plus, because if I do need to jot down something sensitive like an account number or something, it’s not gonna immediately upload to some server that I have to trust. Another plus in my book. My former notes app, UpNote, isn’t bad. But I just honestly really love the way that Obsidian creates a folder and stores actual text files in that folder. That’s the killer feature for me.

I’ve also ditched Google Photos. I just have my pictures on my Macbook primarily now. I sync my Mac photo library to my iPhone using Finder (not iCloud). I’m also going to upload a copy of everything to Google Drive every now and then probably, just as a backup in case something were to happen to my laptop.

Why switch from Google Photos to Google Drive for the backup? Because I don’t want to have to use Takeout to download the backup if I need it. I don’t want Google to organize them or modify the files in any way. I just want them to sit in the cloud in case I some day need a backup of my pictures. Google Photos does seem to modify the files. If I request all my pictures through Takeout and try to import them back into Apple Photos, they won’t be in the proper order. That’s a no go for me. Eventually I might look into if there’s a cheaper solution for cloud storage that I’m only going to be using as a backup and not for syncing and ditch Google altogether.

I’ve ditched most social media, including TikTok (it’s not banned, right?). I obviously have kept tumblr but I don’t have it on my phone (I used Obsidian on my phone to write this and then copied it over to my laptop to post). Reddit was probably the last survivor other than tumblr, but I’m glad I ditched it. I would read tons of comments and get pissed off often. I’m way better off reading on my Kindle than I am opening Reddit. It’s 10:15 and I have only an hour and a half of screen time today. 30 minutes of that was ordering groceries from Target. 20 minutes checking the news in safari - which is a habit I’d like to stop. I only open the news on my phone because I want to mindlessly scroll. I still want to stay informed, but I want to do it at my PC and be more intentional about what I read rather than just opening Google News on my phone and scrolling. 15 minutes in the weather app and a few minutes each in Discord, Messages, and Spotify. Basically, I’m doing a lot less time wasting on my phone. Honestly I think I could see that number going down even more.

A lot of that time is going into reading since I bought a Kindle recently. Which I think is a much better use of my time, since before I’d likely just waste time on Reddit or before that TikTok and not come out of it with anything that was even that interesting. It’s definitely a good trade. I’m also watching more actual media, like TV shows and even some movies. Even a tv show is a better use of my free time than TikTok. Maybe not a ton better, but if I spend an hour watching tv I’m probably gonna feel like I enjoyed it more at the end than if I spent that hour watching TikTok.

Subscriptions are definitely on the chopping block. The only ones that have survived are Spotify and Fastmail. Those are both pretty valuable to me, but I could see myself possibly getting rid of Fastmail in the future. I use it because I have my own domain I use for my email address. I kind of like having that, because it means I am extremely unlikely to ever lose access to it. But I’m not 100% thrilled about paying for email. So eventually what I might end up doing is just setting up forwarding through my domain registrar so I can continue to use my custom domain email when I’m registering accounts online, but cancel Fastmail since I don’t need to send from my custom email very often and could proooooobably settle for a Gmail address when I do need to send email. But for now I am not ready to let my custom email go.

I also could get rid of Spotify in the future and just put MP3s or FLACs on either my phone or even possibly a dedicated device, but for now I am happy with the organization I get from Spotify. I’m not always in the mood to listen to my entire library shuffled, and Spotify makes it easy to listen to specific vibes.

Alrighty I think I’m done rambling. I have started writing this post several times and failed because I wasn’t sure how to organize it. But I’ve been wanting to write a bunch of this out for my blog because I have changed a lot of my tech habits recently and I think it’s been for the better.

[update, 2 hours later]

Actually I'm not totally done rambling. I also got rid of my self-hosted blog, mainly because I decided I didn't want to pay for it because like I said I am not really vibing with subscriptions. I've settled on using tumblr as my main blogging platform, mainly because I already have posts here and it's free. I'm keeping all my future posts locally on my PC in an Obsidian vault, too. At least the ones like this one. Not really that concerned with saving the TV screenshots I share. I also have been journaling in an actual paper notebook. I'm trying to write at least something in that every day. So in a way that has been a sort of replacement for my blog. Tumblr is definitely not perfect as a blogging platform but it gets a lot of points for being free. It's also nice that it has a community built-in. I also do like being able to reblog stuff so my blog isn't just my posts but kind of just a collection of stuff I like. It's got pros and cons. Not being in complete control of it is not ideal, but that's why for anything long or important that I post I'll keep a copy of it on my PC.

Anyway. Now maybe I'm actually done rambling about tech. For now.

If you're still reading I'll leave you with a book recommendation: Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams :)

[devilslvl]

DEVILSLVL        .   a  PRIVATE,  selective,  and  LOW  ACTIVITY  independent  portrayal  of  all  elite  wrestling’s  maxwell  jacob  friedman.  kayfabe  and  headcanon  based.  this  blog  will  feature  some  form  of  mature  /  triggering  content.  minors  /  personal  blogs  do  not  interact.  by  fenix  (  30  +  .  he  /  him  .  est  )

A  STUDY  IN:  upper  class  elite,  superiority  complex,  mental  /  emotional  instability,  rejection  sensitive  dysphoria  (  rsd  ),  trust  issues,  narcissism,  better  than  you,  a  sheep  in  wolves  clothing,  long  island,  ny  >  everything,  scumbag  ™

IMPORTANT  NOTE: as  stated  above,  this  character  will  be  written  in  his KAYFABE  PERSONA.  if  you  know  you  know,  but  if  you  don’t;  he’s  generally  not  a  nice  person  and  wears  a  hard  suit  of  armor,  though  penetrable.  he  will  likely  say  things  that  will  be  insulting;  just  keep  in  mind  that  it’s  all  in  character.  nothing  to  do  with  you,  personally.  i  promise.

OTHER  BLOGS: @wiedzm1n

RULES  UNDER  THE  CUT

this  is  a  private  and  LOW  ACTIVITY  blog.  i  have  other  responsibilities  and  hobbies  elsewhere.  so  just  bear  that  in  mind.  i’ll  get  to  you  when  i  get  to  you.  i  promise  you  i’m  not  ignoring  you. but  i’m  almost  always  available  on  discord.  so  feel  free  to  ask  for  it  if  you  don’t  already  have  it.

this  blog  will  contain  triggering/mature  content.  not  a  place  for  minors.  i  will  still  try  to  tag  the  triggers  just  in  case.  if  i  do  —  and  i  will  —  end  up  missing  something,  please  drop  me  an  im  and  let  me  know  so  i  can  rectify  things.

that  said,  I  DO  NOT  WRITE  SMUT.  I  know,  i  know;  max’s  dirty  mouth  and  everything.  things  can  be  implied  however,  i  refuse  to  explicitly  write  out  those  kinds  of  scenes.  it’s  a  comfort  thing.

i  won’t  follow  everyone  back.  if  i  don’t  it’s  probably  because  i  don’t  necessarily  see  our  muses  interacting.  if  you’re  still  interested,  let  me  know.  the  least  i  can  do  is  say  no,  right?

while  i  do  like  to  format  my  posts,  that  is  not  a  requirement  for  you.  if  you  don’t  feel  like  doing  it,  don’t.  all  that  i  ask  is  that  your  writing  is  easy  to  read  without  giving  me  a  headache.  and  that  you  actually  put  some  thought  and  effort  into  your  writing.  that  sounds  harsh,  but  it’s  not  intentional.

[silentexplorer18]

Regarding the future of this blog

Hi folks! This one got a bit long, so I'm putting it under a cut.

TLDR: I've been really unhappy blogging for quite a while, so I'm finally embracing being a messy, multifandom blog that posts things without tagging them well, posts more personal things, mostly focuses posting my own fic on AO3, etc. If you're not into that, feel free to eliminate my presence on your dash. XO -Silent

When I started this blog a few years ago, I was essentially starting with zero knowledge of the social side of the internet.  Sure, I'd read stuff on tumblr blogs, but I’d never used tumblr or looked at anything besides what was listed directly on a masterlist.  I’d never used other social media sites, either.  So, when I started using things like tumblr and instagram and even discord, I was trying to follow along and do whatever everyone else was doing.  I tried to post clearly tagged stuff and keep my blog super organized; I posted cutesy photos with whimsical captions; I tried to find my footing in conversations that were hard to follow.  But I always felt like I could never keep up.  I was trying to follow the motions to make my online spaces what I thought they needed to be, but I never could do the motions quite right, so I kept getting more and more discouraged.

Why am I telling all of you this?  Because I think 2024 is the year something needs to change.

I started off wanting this blog to be super pretty and aesthetic.  I wanted my fics to be clearly organized and have easily navigable links.  I wanted to only reblog fandom-specific things.  I wanted to keep everything very on topic.  And I wanted to be active in fandom (interacting with other fandom readers, makers, doers, etc.).  But in trying to do all of the former, I’ve spent so much physical and mental energy that I don’t have the time, energy, or ability to do the latter.  I felt like if I couldn’t do all of that, I shouldn’t do any of it, and, well, that’s plain not true.

The truth is this: I’m messy, and I write slowly.  I like so many things, and I actually love to talk a lot.  Keeping tags organized is hard and it makes me tired.  Posting on tumblr (instead of just ao3) is hard sometimes because it makes me tired.  I like talking to people and reccing fics and gushing over art, but I can’t always make it picture-perfect or aesthetic or linked so it’s easily navigable.  Life is hard, and using social media should be something fun, not something to agonize over.

So, I’m making some changes:

I’m gonna be posting a lot more.  Rambling about life.  Sharing writing updates.  Making you all privy to my shower thoughts.

But the writing projects I have will still be long hauls.  Strap in, folks, ‘cause we’re probably looking at months-long to years-long updates.  (Nothing is ever dead, just, you know, aging like fine wine or something.)

I’m not sure how many writing projects will be posted here, either.  I enjoy posting on AO3.  I like the format.  I like the way it works.  I like that it organizes everything for me.  If I post something there, I’ll obviously share the link here, but I don’t know how many fics I’ll be posting here moving forward.

Also, I’m just gonna start reblogging shit like crazy.  Anything!  Everything!  All at once!  The tumblr is my oyster!

Despite reblogging more, I’m just gonna let this blog become more disorganized.  If I have the energy to tag stuff, I will, but I think I’m just gonna focus on sharing things rather than sharing things in a way that’s particularly organized.

I’m gonna start reblogging more fic recs here, too (and sharing ones from AO3!).  I will, of course, be keeping my fic rec blog, and it’ll get its own small update post, but the goal is to just give myself the permission to be less organized so I have more energy to enjoy and share fic.

Related: the blog might get a makeover.  I’m not sure yet because I’ve had roughly the same colors/theme/pfp for all the years I’ve had this blog, so changing it will be hard.  (And I have no idea what exactly to change to!) But we’ll see.  Ideas are welcome.

I feel a little melodramatic making this big, long post about this, but I feel like the folks that are still hanging around my blog (you lovely, few and far between, who are neither bots nor dead blogs, I adore you all immensely) are hanging around for a reason, and I want to give fair warning that the activity levels here will be changing, the tagging system/findability of things will be changing, the location of fics being posted will be changing.  It felt right to warn people so they could unfollow/block if they so desire.

But anyway, happy (late) 2024!  I hope this post finds everyone well, and I’m excited to see what the future holds!

-Silent

[jackstingy]

# JACKSTINGY – an independent, mutuals only, 18+ roleplay blog following the semipiternal woes of a) some nerdy english kid waffling between uni and an internship at the local retirement home and b) the maleficent spirit of a machiavellian drunkard now attempting to permanently possess the body of said nerdy english kid. triggering content such as religious theming + imagery, references to alcohol use + physical violence, and dissociation will make frequent appearances. rules below the read more, though saint peter and satan have one little thing in common and that’s knowing quite thoroughly that the spirit of old stingy jack isn’t reading through shite. 

(you probably should, though. shutting up isn’t quite a part of either of their personal dictionaries, and neither is using parentheses in the manner they were meant to be used.)

THE PLAYER'S HANDBOOK – THE RECORDS IN THE BASEMENT – THE CEALLACH SCRAPBOOK – THE CAT RANDOMIZER

INTERACTING. will not be open to bigots, white-washers, or fetishisers. it will, however, be open to any and all mutuals (which is a status reserved for anyone and everyone who is a cool, respectful, talented writer – id est, you!), regardless of plotting status and whether or not we’ve talked ooc. feel free treat memes as starters, reblog memes and prompts from me instead of the source without sending anything in, delete anything from me that you’re too busy to answer; i’m really just here to have fun and find new people to write with, so as long as you respect my rules and i respect yours, we’re cool.

WRITING. will be tagged with applicable triggers as “trigger tw”, posted using beta editor, and mainly occur in two modes: anxious third person rambling from j.d. and atrocious first person misanthropy from jack with an italicised and bolded transition between them. while my writing may look lengthy, you are in no way obligated to match word count or force replies out quicker than you can handle. basic etiquette applies: no godmodding, no metagaming, and no powerplaying without discussing the parameters of any of these acts beforehand. all this being said, roleplaying is a hobby, and if you ever want to drop a thread or get something a little shorter in your notifications, i am more than willing to oblige you.

SHIPPING. in terms of romance will happen selectively and exclusively with j.d for the foreseeable future, be based on chemistry after a substantial amount of threads and plotting, and in no way be forced on you. i love pre-established relationships of the platonic or hostile kind with reckless disregard for my characters’ established timelines, though, so i’m always open to editing plot points in and out as development happens and stories are made. i’d rather not write smut on this blog, but suggestive content will be tagged as such and fade to blacks may happen.

UNFOLLOWING. will be done with a heads-up through private messages and a softblock on my end unless you’ve stated prior that you’d rather be hard blocked. of course, i don't expect a heads-up from anyone who wishes to unfollow or block me; do what you need to do to keep your corner of the internet comfortable!

FORMATTING. will be minimal, with small text, single spacing, italicised words, and 100x100 static icons. if there is anything you’d like me to change about how i format my posts, please let me know via tumblr ims or discord.

OOC. talk will be attempted! i’m seb, 23, he/him, now kicking it in gmt+11, with ‘it’ being the metaphorical bucket that is writing. i love commenting on posts (i know most of tumblr hates it, but i truly do believe that the reply function was made for me and me alone), sending in asks, and falling to my digital knees at the sheer quality of writing and emotion to be found in this community. i am slightly terrified of returning to indie roleplaying after a long stint in just group rp sectors, but hopefully j.d. and jack can bring some existential fear and festive cheer to you all!

[the-official-account]

Is it just me, or does lesbian fandom have a problem?

My name is Edil. I've been a medium-sized name in several small fandoms, especially podcast fandoms. I am also a women appreciator, and enjoy media that centers on women. I'm going to mostly be talking about my experiences in two fandoms: The Strange Case Of Starship Iris and Pasithea Powder, both podcasts with central wlw ships, though I've also seen these same issues in Goncharov (1973) of all places.

When I go into fandom I go hard. My brain, which is very autistic, breaks down information of small details for fun. It's the reason why I wrote a dwarnian (TSCOSI's fictional alien language) dictionary for the podcast. The reason why I have a massive notes document on all of Pasithea's season one and the reason the wiki...looks and reads like that. It isn't owned by me, but most of the formatting, fonts, content: yours truly.

And I'm proud of these projects, which took time and effort and skill building to do! But I haven't finished or caught up with either of these podcasts, and that's because the online spaces that center around them have been overwhelmingly hostile.

I have a strong emotional connection to this issue — of whether or not sapphic fandoms tend to be more hostile to diversity, especially race and nuerodivergance — so I can't make a distinct analysis, not without more distance and more information. That's part of why I am making this post.

Mods and members of the TSCOSI discord circa 2020 will know me, and know why I left. That being a series of unwarranted criticisms and bad faith readings that left me with anxiety even interacting with the fandom I loved.

I am probably a lot less known in the Pasithea fandom, because I wrote fewer fics for it and left more quickly. After TSCOSI, I recognized resentment faster. But the Pasithea notes document that I've posted here before and the wiki, three fics, fan art and that one comic that's still to this day the only comic I've drawn: me.

This is not a callout post, not for individuals or for groups, and I don't have screenshots. I am only trying to open a discussion.

See, the pattern that I am seeing is that fandom spaces centering on wlw ships attract fans who are wlw. And while nothing is inherently wrong with that, issues in the lesbian community start to become very obvious.

Firstly, the lack of diversity in sexuality among most of the fan base (As I suspect bi and gay people have largely more popular media that attracts them, and lesbians have to dig deeper for smaller spaces like these podcast) starts to feed this sense of possession among fans. As if there is a correct, normal, or standard way to be sapphic. A set of rules stating that anyone who doesn't obey it hates lesbians.

From Pasithea, I got this in comments about how I was drawing the characters "ugly" (Jane is canonically fat and has a scar, which I made very visible...because I wanted to. I gave her strong Hispanic features because it appealed to me. Sophie is butch, and canonically has or had a buzz cut. Which is what I drew. — The "appearance" section of the wiki? Yup. I wrote that.)

These comments, which were themselves problematic, came from a place of implying I was lesbiphobic for drawing these wlw as "ugly". When in fact, I was drawing the type of characters that would appeal the most to me, and hopefully to others like me.

These expectations of skinny, eurocentric appearing, usually feminine characters... Well it reflects a lot of issues with TERF-y feminism and lesbianism at large. Lesbianism on the internet has an issue with gender essentialism that isn't universal but is incredibly worrying. And when WOC are often masculinized because of their non-white features, that transphobia becomes anti-butchness (or strict standards of butchness) and racism.

While TSCOSI fans were more receptive to my designs, I was drawing in a less realistic style where "ugly" was less of an issue — and, to be frank, The main ship being Southeast and South Asian made it hard to draw them "ugly" from a eurocentric perspective. Realism there would just be...exotic, I guess.

However, with TSCOSI fans there was still a sense of possession around how these characters were interpreted, especially in headcannons, that lead to me deleting more than I posted as time went on. Some of those were genuine issues on my part ("what if the Jewish guy was a vampire in a au haha!" I said. Then went to bed, woke up, googled it, and went "NOPE! NOPE!!! SORRY.") Others were just unnecessary, such as comments on how silly head cannons were "unrealistic", and how I should write more cannon compliant work, rather than what I was doing for fun.

Ultimately these are the ONLY things that made me stop listening to these podcasts. The ONLY reason I put down the projects I poured consecutive hyperfixate weeks into. Part of me thinks it was this enthusiasm in the first place that was the biggest threat others reacted to in how I spoke and acted.

For instance, in trying to write for both the TSCOSI and Pasithea wikis, I had folks try to change my methods of research and writing to a style that worked best for them. When I said they were welcome to work that way, there was no offers to assist. And communication with those who had established work was either non-existent or hostile. I've had people question if my passion projects were necessary, berate me for meaningless mistakes, and treat what could be fun collaborative work like a pissing contest. For TSCOSI, none of this occurred on the wiki, and mostly around documents I owned for my own note taking. Even then, the hostility of Wikipedia culture is an unnecessary and hurtful thing to bring into fandom wiki culture.

The TSCOSI people went on to make a wonderful wiki that I deeply admire, but I still wish I could have been part of that project in its infancy, instead of being pushed away. (I may have made the navigation system if I remember correctly, but I'm not certain. So this is not to say I was not allowed any input whatsoever.)

I love sapphic media, it's my bread, butter, pride, joy, and favorite past time. But time and time again I have found far safer social spaces for media that centers around gay men, even if it isn't my personal first choice.

As a non-white, non-allistic, non-lesbian, not-skinny fan...I have concerns.

I know you all want sapphic media to get more attention. I want that too. But unless you start actively searching for and calling out bigotry in those spaces, it absolutely cannot and will not happen. So much of fandom is powered by autistic people with time on their hands, and I want there to be space for people like me. Who get TOO excited, TOO far from cannon, TOO analytical about race and class and fatphobia and whatever else.

Sapphic media obviously has issues reaching fans that aren't the fault it's its current audience. But the good thing about being part of or close to a problem, is having the power to make incredible, effective change.

I refuse to leave these podcasts behind, I love them more than anything, and the projects I got out of them are still my beloved brain children (The alien calligraphy from the random writing system I made for dwarnian is still up on my wall. "It is what. It IS what, keeps us from the abyss.") I refuse to be shoved aside my racist fans and random people who assume they can act rudely to strangers because they treated characters or lore differently. I refuse to be sidelined from conversations just cause I can act weird.

But I also refuse to spend so much of my beloved labor on people who turn up their noses and belittle it.

This all has had a lasting effect on how I interact with fandom, a legitimate fear-responce to the idea of trying to engage deeply with women-centered podcasts. Something I'm trying to unlearn and overcome.

So. There's my explanation of why I don't do tscosi anymore, which I mentioned on the minibang I'd eventually follow up on. And a criticism of sapphic fandom which, I'll be real, I have a few more essays worth of commentary about, and it's also another expression of how I stare longingly at Pasithea every time it comes up on my dash.

But, most importantly, this is my question of whether anyone else has found themselves in a similar place. If it's a trend or an anecdote.

If you have thoughts, please reblog with them. I'd love to know what you have to say.

[artbyblastweave]

BLASTWEAVE what does steven universe have in common with watchmen?

Both Steven Universe and Watchmen are groundbreaking entries in their respective genres that demonstrate a deep understanding of the appeal of the genre they’re working in, and engage with their ideas on a previously unheard-of level for the medium. That breaks ground and clears the way for what other works in the genre can get away with. 

Steven Universe showed that, well, first of all that you can make a cartoon that’s fundamentally ideologically queer beyond a few side characters, but also that you can have an emotionally intelligent and mature children's cartoon where the character nuance and depth and development are all taken very seriously. Watchmen showed that you could write serious and interesting narratives about superheroes if you were willing to roll with the crazy. (Neither of them was the first to do the things I’m ascribing to them, but I do think that they’re what made it stick for their respective fields.)

In doing so, though, both works create/created a catch 22 for all future works in their genre. Part of what made both of them so good is that they were willing to critically unpack and air out the ugly implications of their format that usually get chalked up to suspension of disbelief, and now that that’s out in the open it becomes very difficult not to think about how any other given work is or isn’t addressing those issues- even if they aren’t equipped to address those issues in the scope of the story they’re trying to tell. Watchmen asked questions about who sanctions superheroes, what qualifies you to do that work, where the line is between heroism and fascism or if there even is one, whether the agency to act means you have a right or a duty to act, whether anyone who seriously bought into the superhero thing could possibly be doing it for good reasons, and, if they somehow were, how long you can care with the intensity necessary to be an effective hero without suffering burnout (not long.) I literally can’t think of a single superhero thing worth reading that isn’t in some way in conversation with Watchmen - you now kind of have to answer those questions, explicitly or implicitly, even if your books thesis is “Alan Moore sucks eggs and being a superhero is very sustainable and fantastic.” If you just leave the question of whether your superheroes are justified completely unaddressed, there’s an uncomfortable discordance there, because we’ve seen the extreme end of that sliding scale in the form of the Comedian and if the narrative doesn’t engage with what makes the protagonist not Edward Blake, it can feel worrisome. If they try and then botch it it can feel alarming.

Steven Universe has a similar thing going on, at least for me. It’s the only unironic, non-parodic children’s series that’s really, seriously unpacked how fucked up and traumatic it would be to grow up as the archetypical All-loving Spirited Saturday Morning Cartoon Protagonist, how warped and dysfunctional a household that enabled that lifestyle could be at its worst, and what the future looks like when your whole childhood was centered on a now-ended conflict. ( a lot of cartoons flirt with that last one but don’t commit.) I’ve seen jokes and intended-as-cracky fan theories about this for years, surrounding lots of other cartoons (Ben 10, Pokemon, Powerpuff Girls) but almost never with the assumption that the creators are on the same page as them. I’ve seen stories that are post-modern reimaginings using the same general archetypes or whatever (Venture Brothers) but that’s not this! SU told an entertaining story earnestly, and then engaged with the emotional fallout of the story it told, with an unheard-of breadth and depth. A whole season of unpacking! No other show has ever been allowed to sink that much effort into closure. That’s usually what Fanfic is for.

I think it’s great, and that shows like Infinity Train and The Owl House are able to go as hard as they do largely because of Steven Universe’s precedent- but no matter how good a cartoon is, I can’t watch them without having this voice in the back of my head going “Oh, these children are going to grow up to be broken wrecks, bar an extensive and harsh healing process that kinda hurts to watch, huh.”

The issue is that not every cartoon can be Steven Universe, where the project was to thoughtfully and sensitively unpack this stuff. It’s a fair bet that we’ll probably never see a show with that exact project again (not least because of the loss of novelty value.) You’ve got your own stories you wanna tell that’ll run their own course, mostly aimed at children, there objectively isn’t narrative or financial room for most stories to unpack these assumptions if that wasn’t the goal going in. For example, Gravity Falls had pretty tight storytelling and a narrative that absolutely had room for a post-script "where-do-we-go-from-here” plot- it sped-run the “oh no, childhood’s ending” thing- and it’s pretty telling that the aftermath, healing process, interpersonal relationships and so forth are one of the things that that fandom heavily fixates on. The narrative had such a clean ending that it made people go looking for the mess. That’s not bad! It’s how most storytelling works! But now I look at any cartoon with kid heroes that’s meant to be taken even marginally seriously and go, Oh. Win the battle, lose the war. Then I feel sad. The contrast, of course, is that most superhero works actually can be, and in fact benefit from trying to be like Watchmen, because all the questions Watchmen raises about the ethics of power are also just.... like.... the most interesting storytelling hooks if you want to write a cape thing with real themes. They’re the kind of stories we’d have gotten years prior naturally if not for the CCA boondoggle. Admittedly it kinda creates a different problem where most “good” cape media is inescapably self-referential and draws on picking apart the conventions of a 60-70-year old canon that hasn’t been in wide circulation in years. But! I also think there’s a stronger obligation there to keep superhero fans in check- if your superhero thing isn’t making the reader question the ethics of violence and individual heroism in the face of systemic injustice, you wind up with people who unironically think Frank Castle is a role model to be emulated. We all know that guy. Children’s media doesn’t really produce that guy the same way, although it can draw them in from other corners. Superhero media often needs to be self-critical in a way children’s cartoons don’t always have to be.

[buzzokill]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER. REPOST DO NOT REBLOG !!

   NAME: chess!

   PRONOUNS: he/she/they, no preference

   PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: discord's best, but tumblr im's work too! you can find my discord in stats

   NAME OF MUSE(S): buzzo. just buzzo. he promises.

   RP EXPERIENCE/HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?): yeeesh.. since 2010? 2009?

   PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: started with forum rp, and now i mostly do discord or twt! this is my first real endeavor into tumblr rp!

   BEST EXPERIENCE: discord my beloved... formatting is my enemy

   RP PET PEEVES/DEALBREAKERS: see above, i'm not a huge fan of overly formatted posts! not a complete dealbreaker, but it can be difficult for me to read at times. otherwise... none really outside of proper rp etiquette!

   FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: anything but smut! i'm an adult, but would just prefer not to. buzzo is FANTASTIC for angst tho

   PLOTS OR MEMES: oh gosh both?? for more in-depth stuff i'd probably love to plot ooc first just because this Is my first time with tumblr rp, and i'm not totally accustomed to taking the plunge! but i'd love to do both, smaller/quicker prompts from memes are good to just get writing without mulling over it too hard

   LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: both are great!

   BEST TIME TO WRITE: oh geez. evenings are best! at the time of writing this though, it's 'any time after november 14th at 11:59 pm' because lord knows this project isn't gonna code itself.

   ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): not even a little bit thank god. love this man, he's a bit of a weapons grade freak.

--

tagged by / stolen from @/ armstrongstyles!

tagging: anybody who sees this and would like to participate :]

[darkmissionary]

Hey guuuys (my Chivalric Coat of Fending makes loud clanking noise as I run toward my friend group like an anime girl)

HOW ARE YOU ALL YOU GUYSSS ✧(🝦言🝦╬) (my DRK eyes glow red)

-Kkeungi, 30+ (He/Him, They/Them), PST-

♞ Biography ♞  Meta

-MORE INFORMATION BENEATH THE CUT-

[MUN]

King Kkeungi /King K/Kkeungi (he/him & they/them), 30+, Pacific Standard Timezone (UTC -8).

Please do not follow/interact if you are under 21+: I am Olde™ and perpetually exhausted.

I go through cyclical periods of being very chatty and active, then straight up nonexistent for awhile due to personal life and work stress.

[DISCLAIMER]

I do make serious effort to tag anything sensitive/heavy in terms of content and am completely open to adding tags for my mutuals, if needed.

However, always take tags literally- Like as in Dead Dove: Do Not Eat. If the tags say 'organ harvesting’, expect literal organ harvesting. I don’t usually use 'DD:DNE’ since a lot of chronically online people assume it means I write 'problematic content’ for sexual self-gratification. Please do not insult me like that or attempt to shame me for what I write, I will block you without hesitation.

[TRIGGERS]

Mutual respect is necessary if we’re going to write together.

I personally have very specific triggers, so they don’t even come up in writing at all (they’ve proven to be visual/auditory).

I always write trigger tags as 'trigger tw or 'trigger cw’ since that is the easiest way Tumblr Savior can accurately recognize them.

[ACTIVITY]

I’ll post my schedule once it becomes more regular (just got a new job), but in general I’ll probably have more time to write at night. I initially send requests to plot over DMs in Tumblr since I personally don’t like giving out my Discord handle to someone completely new and feel like other writers do the same. If we seem to connect easily, I generally give it out anyway.

Discord RP is totally fine. If we’re already threading on Tumblr, moving them to Discord is also fine.

If I follow you, I want to write with you.

Constructive criticism is always welcome when I ask for it (i.e., post OOC asking for it or reblog a concrit meme). I heavily dislike Love Bombing as a practice and I also do my best to offer objective and constructive advice to my close friends who ask for it from me. I want to eventually publish my own fictional works, so improving upon my style and understanding of writing is something that I actively work very hard on.

Hate will always be erased and you will be hardblocked.

Tracking the tag: #darkmissionary

I take awhile to respond. You may remind me every now and then to check in, but I don’t really work well within specific time limits to follow back or even interact once we’re mutuals. I have limited spoons and personal time, so I will actively distance myself from Muns who display entitlement over my attention.

[GENERAL]

Power Gaming is super boring to me. I prefer doing a 'Blow by Blow’ where we leave each response open to the mutual as to what their muse acts upon and is affected by. I also don’t mind plotting it out beforehand.

I do not do 'Follow for Follow’. Sometimes my mouse also misclicks on the Dashboard and it’ll make me randomly Follow a blog I’m only checking out or Like a post TWICE in succession- This is NOT an attempt to get your attention if we’re not mutuals. I will always reach out to apologize in DMs and explain so there’s not any misunderstandings.

My Ask Box, Discord IMs, and Tumblr DMs are always open for clarifications, questions, and requests to edit my posts.

I love plotting. It’s not necessary all the time, but even a few basic details generally help me get a better idea of what to lead with. I will offer ideas and expect the same, I dislike feeling as though the effort is one-sided.

[SHIPS & NSFW] I always tag with #◈ NSFW and employ cuts/'read more’s. I’m Multiship 100%, unless all mutuals involved in the thread discuss that our muses can recognize established relationships in the RP.

[FORMAT]

You never have to match length or speed of replies.

My only thing I expect to match is providing content we both can work off of- If the vibes aren’t there, I’ll reach out about it OOC. If nothing changes, I will more than likely drop the thread.

I can write long replies and forget to use cuts, just message me if it’s making your Dash awful.

I use icons when I even remember to use them, they’re honestly just for fun- Never required.

Small Text is fine, but whenever I seem to reblog and edit to reply on Tumblr- small text format will break in the draft, randomly? So I probably won’t be using it at all.

[libermachinae]

Fault Lines Under the Living Room

Part IV: Touch - Chapter 11: Ripple

Also on AO3 Summary: They’ve only just arrived at their destination when things start to go wrong. Word Count: 2193

---

“Picking up some light readings,” Drift reported. “Limited tech, similar to Vitrious. You getting anything?”

“Just a massive, concentrated energy spike a few degrees northeast,” Rodimus said. “Recent exposure, Cybertronian markers.”

“When’s the last time you took that rig in for a tune-up?”

Ratchet hated having to repeat himself, but either Drift was incapable of recognizing the severity of his ship’s disrepair (unlikely) or he was being even more obstinate than normal. Exchanging their vessels’ specs had revealed the truly horrific condition the ship was in: fuel efficiency half of what it should have been, unreliable pressure seals, thrusters that should not have made it into the air, let alone off a planet. That he had survived transit was a—not a miracle, an insult to probability and reasonable calculation of—

Rodimus put a hand on his shoulder and tried to think calm thoughts. Drift had survived. It didn’t make sense, and maybe the luck would run out now that it had been acknowledged, but—

Ratchet halfheartedly swatted at his hand, more like a firm pat.

No wonder you liked him so much. Morale officer doesn’t suit you. He failed to dislodge Rodimus’ hand and didn’t bother trying again.

“Haven’t had the time.” The sound of flipping switches was followed by a hard smack from Drift’s end, rounded out by imprecise grumbling. Drift’s report had lacked any details on the state of his ship’s user interface, but the variety of language he had spoken to it with, impressive even by Ratchet’s standards, gave the sense that it was functioning at about the same level as everything else: barely.

“Still think it’s an outpost?” Rodimus asked.

“Lot of things it could be,” Drift said, voice accompanied by a few more mechanical noises. “We’d need more info to say for sure. Or a visual.”

Rodimus considered the readouts in front of him. There were more he hadn’t read out, but only because he didn’t know how. Ratchet translated what he could, but they were trying to keep his focus on piloting which meant Rodimus couldn’t spend too long wondering about the more mystifying aspects of his screen. Was that box in the top corner a map, or a graph? He didn’t know, and he had to look away before it overtook their other priorities.

“There are also stockpiles, energon plants, and decoys out there,” Drift went on. “Traps, if you’re really unlucky. Whole lot of empty shacks; lot of boltholes won’t have anyone living in them most of the time.”

“On the move a lot?” Rodimus asked.

“Sure. Only one in a dozen stellar systems will have a planet good for energon harvesting, and then there’s having to be vigilant about competition and enforcers. Sometimes needs will change or new opportunities will open up, and a crew will split up to deal with it.” He sounded annoyed at that, briefly breaking from his researcher-describing-mysterious-outgroup tone.

“Couple Decepticons on holiday accidentally give you the slip?” Rodimus asked, just to keep him there.

“More like an entire platoon,” Drift said, rising to it so quickly that they could only assume he’d been waiting for someone to complain about this to. “I tracked them to their covert thermal operation on a smelter of a planet, got all the way in, only to discover the one mech they’d left behind was their communications specialist—it was a mess. But, that’s the past now.” And just as quickly, the wall was back up. “If our intel’s good and Grit’s got a byte of sense, there should be someone here. Just no idea how many.”

“Sounds like there’s a good chance we’ll get this thing cleaned up quick,” Ratchet said. “So long as we stick together.”

Drift’s Hm’d agreement was more than either had expected. Maybe they were making progress.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Good to go,” Rodimus said, adjusting the items on his screen to focus on the ship’s status. “Defense and surveillance up, and we’re at about descent altitude. Just give us a head’s up when you start improvising, so we can get out of your way.”

He was not supposed to say that. He shot over a grin in response to Ratchet’s disapproval; what point was there in denying the inevitable?

Practicing being a good friend, remember? That means saying no to stupid ideas.

It also means being there to catch him instead of holding him back.

It was the kind of argument that couldn’t be solved with a few pointed thoughts or memories, the kind that they did not have time for now, as the visual feed showed Drift’s ship starting its descent. They set it aside in their own ways: Ratchet simply stopped thinking about it, while Rodimus let himself run through the myriad arguments he would have made simultaneously before reconnecting himself to the present. A moment later and they were ready, Ratchet punching in the commands to follow Drift down.

The planet’s cloudless atmosphere gave them a clear view of the terrain below, its massive, dramatic rock formations contoured by deep shadows. North of them, the average surface elevation increased and smoothed out into tall hills, but where they were going the difference between peaks and valleys created a network of shelves and tunnels that would be perfect to hide a secret base in. And stealth did seem to be one goal of whoever had set up shop down there: besides the sloppy energy output, there were no obvious signs of cyberforming on the planet’s surface. Rodimus was about to suggest that only those who came looking for Cybertronians would ever notice they were here, when a glint in one of the visual feeds caught his attention. He brought the feed to his station and zoomed in. Metal?

The word hit his vocoder as Ratchet shoved them into a dive.

“Turret!”

The energy beam was hot enough to ripple the air around it. Even though Ratchet got them turned away fast enough, the whole shuttle shuddered from the near-miss. Crates and containers rattled in their restraints, and Rodimus was too busy keeping up with Ratchet to think about the sounds of crashing down in the hold. They should have been at a safe distance to avoid detection; how had they been pinpointed so quickly?

“Pull up! Get out of here!” Drift shouted.

No time to wonder about it right now.

“Can’t,” Rodimus said while Ratchet wrestled with the controls. “I’ve got visual; they’re charging up for the next shot. Reversing momentum would have us hovering like an auto-skeet.” If the console would stop bombarding him with warnings, he might have been able to make better estimates about their next move, but a ship this size wasn’t designed to be flown by just two bots with half a processor each. Ratchet was demanding so much of their attention that even reading the words on the screen demanded resources they didn’t have, so he scrubbed the whole thing until all that was left was the visual feed, the twinkle that shone just before the storm. “Diving. Keep on our tail.”

“No, that’s—fine. Aim for cover.”

Ratchet switched off the reverse thrusters and the ship plummeted out of its gentle descent. The entire world rocked nauseatingly as the discordant visual feeds broadcast the tilting horizon and rising ground, and they startled as the second blast singed the air behind them, the crackle of Drift’s failing comms suite not enough to prevent their sparks from clenching down in panic. The rear cameras recovered from the overexposure, and there was the speeder, intact and keeping pace.

“What now?” Drift demanded.

“Evasive maneuvers,” Rodimus said, following the ticker tape of Ratchet’s intentions. “Triple Thunderclash!”

Ratchet twisted hard on the controls and sent the ship spiraling. Rodimus would have been flung across the bridge had they not been secured, but even then struggled to maintain focus as they were thrashed around, over and over. He couldn’t see Drift anymore, or the distant turret: everything was swirls of color, broken up for only a split second as the third blast went wide and passed them by.

Ratchet drew back and pulled them out of the spiral, then hastily steered them aside as the recovered visual feeds revealed an oncoming peak. Landing thrusters were engaged; slightly dazed, Rodimus picked out a promising valley for Ratchet to maneuver them into. Drift reappeared in the rear feed, keeping his distance in case they had to dart again. Not that there would be much room for it, as the canyon walls rose up and enveloped them.

Ratchet brought the shuttle to rest on a wide shelf and sat back, optics dim. The constant, pounding beat of his focus dispersed, and he sunk into pillowy relief, buoyed by Rodimus’ burst of Wow we made its and What kind of gun was thats and I’m alive Ratchet’s alive Drift’s alives. It had been hard, keeping that iron grip on himself while Ratchet put in the work of keeping them alive, but—

“Wouldn’t have seen that shot coming without you,” Ratchet said. Rodimus looked away as he flushed, warm with appreciation and embarrassment; sincerity was an intimacy he was never quite prepared for. He was grateful when Drift’s speeder landed alongside them.

“Everybody intact in there?” Ratchet asked. He thought Rodimus’ embarrassment was amusing, frag him, but was willing to set it aside out of concern for their friend. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t find a way to exploit it later, but for now, Rodimus was safe.

“We made it,” Drift said. “That was more more like a Double Thunderclash.”

“Ratchet was between Thunderclashes and I had to make a best guess.” Rodimus tried to mime the path of the two ships with his hands, twisting his arms as far as his joints would allow. “It’s a Triple Thunderclash because it’s three times cooler than a thing Clash did in some fight,” he explained, since he felt Ratchet wondering.

“Battle of Ambustus Major?” Ratchet asked. Rodimus shrugged and tried not to pout when Ratchet immediately brought up an old vid file of the maneuver.

“Is the ship stable here?” Drift asked, reminding them they were here with a purpose. In the aftermath of such a close call, it was natural to want to ease back for a moment, but Rodimus couldn’t fault Drift for wanting to stay on track. The stakes weren’t any lower just because they’d made it to the surface intact.

“Should be,” Ratchet said, leaning over so he didn’t have to keep relying on Rodimus to funnel through the ship’s readings. “Holding steady for now. We’d probably need to conduct a physical survey to be sure, but I’m not seeing anything troubling from here.” Ratchet wasn’t sure of the composition of this planet, but the lack of dust in the atmosphere suggested it was made of a lot of hard, compact stone, hopefully strong enough to support a spacefaring vessel. They just had to hope that whatever geologic event had formed this shelf hadn’t terribly weakened the wall it was anchored to.

“Good,” Drift said. “The good news from all this is that the turret gives us an idea of where they have their main base; it’d be a waste of fuel to have to drive back and forth a long way. Once I’ve scouted it out and located Grit, you can come in.”

“Okay, and one more time with a plan we’ll actually follow?” Ratchet’s edge emboldened Rodimus. If it had been just him out here, he might have let Drift make all the decisions out of guilt, but the strong presence beside his mind pulsed with gentle encouragement.

Drift sighed.

“Right. Give me a minute.”

Ratchet gave Rodimus a thumbs up. Progress.

Rodimus got up from the captain’s seat and walked to the bow of the bridge, where the narrow viewshield gave him a closer peek onto the planet. The impression he got: rocks. Though the surface was painted mainly by dull shades of brown, down here they started taking on more color, hints of red and green only noticeable against the stark homogeny of everything else.

Why had the Decepticons chosen this planet? Were there fuel reservoirs buried too far below the surface to show up on orbital scanners? How would they have known to come looking for them? If not, if this was just a backwater hideaway, why the powerful defense system? Who was hiding here? And for how long? He itched to pop the hatch open and start exploring, but Ratchet’s presence kept him in place. This world, with its unknown Cybertronian population, confronted them with a new variety of complexity and danger. Though they could be rash in their decision to help Drift, they couldn’t risk being stupid about it.

Ratchet gently nudged him away from that kind of thinking. No one here was stupid. Everyone was trying to do the right thing for the people of Vitrious, the universe at large, and each other.

Rodimus cast a small, grateful smile over his shoulder.

“Okay.” The comms came back to life with Drift’s voice. “I still think this is a bad idea. But I’ve got something.”