#this probably isn't making it into the tags but....

[fractoluminescence]

Okay so I agree with this to a certain extent BUT

There is something fundamental that OP and I disagree on based on her manifesto and I'd like to talk about it

(Note, however, that I'm not really addressing OP here - I'm actually not really into discussing this stuff, as it tends to send me down spirals of rumination. This is just because I think what OP pointed out is interesting and that I think both that AND my caveat tend to not be considered in conversations, and I think bringing them together is a good thing. Hence I'm gonna try doing that here)

Yes, art should be free. But we are people. How people feel about things SHOULDN'T be the be-all end-all, but it SHOULD be taken into account most of the time, for the same reason that freedom is important, but shouldn't be the be-all end-all. For the same reason that I probably shouldn't be sent to jail for slapping a stranger out of nowhere in the street, but it's still not great to do it, and I probably shouldn't.

I don't think AI artists are evil. I know some people who do. And I know some people who don't care. And both sides seem convinced that there is no possible in between at times.

But AI is arriving at a plateau. Beyond a certain point, it stops improving. If there is no need for AI to eat up an infinity of data, then there is no need to scrape the works of artists that don't want their works scraped.

And you don't have to understand. For the same reason that I don't have to understand why my parents would enjoy a specific movie to understand that, even if it's not gonna ruin their lives, and if necessary or if I really want to I should be allowed to walk across out living room screaming while they are trying to watch it, it's still not the greatest thing to do.

I've never been one for politeness. Hell, I get into arguments all the times over people saying I shouldn't be saying so and so. But even I recognize that life is more peaceful and less distressing when we have specific codes to signal to each other that we're not seeking to do them harm.

For the same reason that I don't think AI artists should be harrassed, I don't think the works of artists should be scraped if they don't want them scraped. Because it causes unnecessary distress. Hell, if people only got scraped by opting in or uploading their art into a website, I'd gladly accept, personally.

But because it walks all over the feelings of people who don't want to be involved, I -cannot- endorse AI as it exists today. And yeah, people's feelings -are- important. Because that's all our lives are made of, most of the time, isn't it? Feelings. Emotions. And I think that matters.

My point is - soulless art? Souls are a thing now? And do people not marvel at nature even though it has no intent? Do people not marvel at even rock structures when they are pretty, even though they contain no life?

Stop trying to make AI evil because of some made-up characteristic you assigned to what it creates. You can have that feeling, if you want - but then, when anyone suggests otherwise, I've seen so many people pounce on them like they have been contaminated by that abstract evil that people assigned to AI.

Let people goddamn think. There can be nuance to a thing.

And feelings matter, too. And I'm tired of people pretending that they don't.

(Edit: To clarify my personal feelings towards all this, in case it wasn't clear enough, I do not like AI art. I don't reblog it if I know or can tell that that's what it is, and don't use GenAI myself. I just think the argument that anything that incorporates AI into it is automatically soulless. But some people are annoying or downright offensive in the way they bring up AI at times. It just personally gets on my nerves, and I am against the scraping of the art of artists that wish they could contest to it)

(Also there's the overtaking of stuff like google by AI images that is just. I mean it kinda gives me anxiety)

(At least AO3 has a filter for it...? I just hope people tag appropriately, as is the tradition on there)

(But I'm getting a bit far from the topic of image generation here)

hey what’s up, i think you’re pretty cool but disagree with you on the whole ai can make art thing. to me, without the purpose from an actual person creating the piece, it’s not art but an image; as all human art has purpose. some driving factor in a work, compared to a program which purely creates the prompt without further intention. i was wondering what your insight on this is? either way, hope you have a great day

well, first of all, does art require 'purpose'? there's this view of art which has very much calcified in "anti-AI" rhetoric, that art is some linear process of communication from one individual to another: an Artist puts some Meaning into a unit of Art, which others can then view to Recieve that Meaning. you can hold this view, but i don't! i'm much more of a stuart hall-head on this, i think that there is no such transfusion of Intent and that rather the 'meaning' of a piece is something that exists only in the interplay between text and reader. reading is an active, interpretative process of decoding, not a passive absorptive one. so i dispute, firstly, that 'purpose' is to begin with a necessary or even imporant element of art.

moreover i think this argument rests on a very arbitrarily selective view of what counts as "an actual person creating the piece" -- 'the prompt' is, itself, an obvious artistic contribution, a place where an artist can impart huge amounts of direction, vision, and so on. in fact, i completely reject the claim of both the technology's biggest detractors that genAI "makes art" -- to quote kerry mitchell's fractal art manifesto: "Turn a computer on and leave it alone for an hour. When you come back, no art will have been generated." in the past, i've posed questions about generative art pieces to demonstrate this

secondly, of course, the process does not end after image generation from prompt for serious generative artists--the ones who are serious about the artform (rather than tech guys trying to do marketing for the Magical Art Box) frequently iterate and iterate, generating a range of iterations and then picking one to iterate on further, so on and so forth, until the final image they choose to share is one that contains within it the traces of a thousand discrete choices on behalf of the artist (two pretty good explanations of this from people who actually do this stuff can be found here and here)

third and finally, that very choice to share the image is itself an artistic decision! we (and by we, i mean, anyone who cares about what art is) have been talking about this since fountain -- display is a form of artistic intent, taking something and putting it forward and saying 'this is art' is in and of itself an artistic decision being made even if the thing itself is unaltered: see, for example, the entire discipline of 'found art'. once someone challenged me, yknow, "if you did a google search, would that be art?" and my answer to that is, if you screenshot that google search and share it as art, then yes, resoundingly yes! curation and presentation recontextualizes objects, turning them into rich texts through the simple process of reframing them. so even if you granted that genAI output is inherently random computer noise (i don't, of course) -- i still think that the act of presenting it as art makes it so.

since i assume you're not familiar with anything interesting in the medium, because the most popular stuff made with genAI is pure "lo-fi girl in ghibli style" type slop, let me share some genAI pieces (or genAI-influenced pieces) that i think are powerful and interesting:

the meat gala, rob sheridan (warning: body horror!)

secret horses (does anyone know the original source on this?)

infinite art machine, reachartwork

ethinically ambigaus, james tamagotchi

mcdonalds simpsons porn room, wayneradiotv

software greatman, everything everything (the music is completely made by the band, but genAI was partially responsible for the lyrics -- including the title and the several interesting pseudo-kennings)

i want a love like this music video, everything everything

cocaine is the motor of the modern world, bots of new york

poison the walker, roborosewatermasters (here's my analysis posts on it too)

not all of these were necessarily intended as art: but i think they are rich and fascinating texts when read that way -- they have certainly impacted me as much as any art has.

anyways, whether you agree or not, i hope this gives you some stuff to think about, thanks for sharing your thoughts :)

[helleboretks]

"QUIT ACTING SO MYSTERIOUS, DAMNIT!!!" - SENTENCE STARTER BY @giggly-squiggily

DO NOT REPOST TO ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLEASE

Lee!Suo, Ler!Sakura - if this isn't your cup of tea, please do not interact!

Link to the post right here!: https://www.tumblr.com/giggly-squiggily/767512191216893952/may-i-ask-for-tickles-with-romantic-leesuo-and?source=share

So I did, in fact, make a fan comic for one of giggly's absolutely wonderful sentence starters for windbreaker! And there's more than one reason for that.

I wanna mess around with comicing, see what type of format suits me best, so I wanna make fancomics of other people's tickle fics as like, material to experiment with! I'll probably reblog this to give a short analysis on what I picked up while making this comic, so that it can be its own standalone thing.

If I reblog a fic and tag it as 'hellebore surprise!', just know that is most likely going to be used as an experimental comic material thing, with credit where credit is due and everything!

(I also just love people's fics and wanna make fancomics versions of them for those authors-talented sons of bitch all over the place lemme tell you-)

[hans-wh0re]

FRICTION

Synopsis: There's something seriously wrong with your boyfriend, and it's called chronic humping syndrome. or the one where Changbin literally cannot stop grinding against you (or anything that smells like you) for even five minutes, and tonight he's more desperate than you've ever seen him. W.C: 2.5 K Pairing: changbin x afab reader smut tags: humping kink, desperate grinding, dry humping, clothing ruining, thigh riding, clothed sex, possessive behavior (kinda?), multiple orgasms, begging, whimpering, precum soaking, rutting, unprotected sex, cream!pie, overstimulation .... A.N: this has been sitting on my drafts for a while. I'm not 100% satisfied with it, but i haven't written anything these past few days due to health issues, so i figured i'd post something. Anyways enjoy.

--------

You've barely put your key in the lock when you hear that familiar, telltale whimpering from behind your apartment door.

"Fuck" you mutter, already knowing exactly what you're about to walk in on.

The door swings open to reveal your living room and, more importantly, your boyfriend Changbin on your couch. He's face-down, fully clothed, desperately rutting against what appears to be—yep, that's definitely your favorite hoodie wadded up beneath him. His hips pump frantically, the fabric of his sweatpants stretched tight across his ass as he grinds his cock against your clothing with single-minded determination.

He's so lost in it that he doesn't even notice you standing there, watching as he humps your hoodie like a teenager who just discovered what his dick is for. The little desperate whines escaping his throat make your pussy clench involuntarily, and pathetic as it is, the sight of him grinding against anything that smells like you never fails to turn you on.

"Couldn't even make it to the bedroom this time?" you ask, dropping your bag by the door.

Changbin's head whips around, his eyes wide and glazed with arousal. His hips don't stop moving though, not even for a second.

"You're home," he gasps, his voice strained. "Early."

"And you're humping my clothes. Again." You kick off your shoes, oddly calm about finding your grown-ass boyfriend dry-humping your hoodie on the couch. This isn't exactly a rare occurrence.

"Missed you," he groans, still grinding. "Needed—needed something."

You approach the couch, taking in the state of him. His hair is disheveled, forehead glistening with sweat, and there's a large wet spot at the front of his gray sweatpants where his cock has been leaking. He looks wrecked, and judging by the stuttering rhythm of his hips, he's close to coming but trying to hold back now that you're here.

"How long have you been at this?" you ask, genuinely curious. Sometimes Changbin can go for hours, just rutting against various surfaces like a dog in heat.

"Since—fuck—since you left for work," he admits, his hips still moving in desperate little circles. "Been so hard all day. Couldn't stop thinking about you."

Nine hours. He's been humping your stuff for nine fucking hours.

"Have you even eaten?" you ask, though you already know the answer. When Changbin gets like this, everything else ceases to exist.

He shakes his head, whimpering as a particularly good thrust sends a visible shudder through his body. "Just needed this. Need you more though. Please—"

The desperation in his voice makes your core throb with arousal despite your better judgment. It should be ridiculous, pathetic even, to find a grown man humping your clothes this hot. But there's something about the raw need Changbin displays and the way he completely loses himself in seeking friction, that never fails to ignite your own desire.

"Let me change first," you say, stepping back. "And you should probably drink some water if you've been at this all day."

"No," he whines, reaching for you. "Please, just—just let me—"

You know what he wants. What he always wants. With a sigh that's more for show than actual exasperation, you step closer again, presenting your leg.

Changbin abandons your hoodie immediately, scrambling to position himself against your thigh with an urgency that would be comical if it weren't so genuinely desperate. He hooks one leg over yours, pressing his sweatpants-covered cock against you, and groans in relief.

"Fuck," he breathes, his eyes falling closed as he starts to move. "Needed this so bad."

You stand there in your work clothes, your boyfriend attached to your leg like some kind of horny koala, rutting against you with an intensity that should be embarrassing but is somehow just… Changbin.

"Better than my hoodie?" you ask, unable to keep the amusement from your voice despite the heat building between your own legs.

"So much better," he whimpers, his movements growing more frantic. "Nothing feels as good as you. Nothing."

His hips work against your thigh in a desperate rhythm, his cock hard and leaking through his sweatpants. You can feel the dampness seeping through to your skin, evidence of just how worked up he truly is.

"Please don't stop me," he begs, voice breaking. "I'm so close. Been edging all day. Need to come so bad."

You reach down to stroke his hair, oddly tender despite the absolute filth of the situation. "Go ahead, baby. Make a mess for me."

That's all the permission Changbin needs. His hips stutter, his rhythm faltering as he grinds himself hard against your thigh. A broken moan tears from his throat as he comes, his body shuddering against yours. You can feel the warmth spreading through his sweatpants as he pumps his release against your leg, his face contorted in pleasure.

For a moment, you think that might be enough to take the edge off. That maybe, just maybe, you can now change clothes and have a normal evening with your boyfriend.

You should know better by now.

Changbin's hips slow but don't stop, his cock still hard against your thigh despite the impressive wet patch spreading across the front of his pants. He looks up at you, his eyes dark and hungry.

"Need more," he whispers, almost apologetic. "Still so hard."

You sigh, resigned to your fate. "Let me at least change first."

Changbin whines but reluctantly detaches himself from your leg, already palming his cock through his soaked sweatpants as you walk toward the bedroom. You know without looking that his eyes are fixed on your ass, tracking your movements like prey.

The second you're in the bedroom, you hear him behind you, his breathing already labored again. You don't even make it to the closet before his front is pressed against your back, his cock grinding insistently against your ass.

"Binnie," you warn, though there's no real heat in it. "At least let me get out of my work clothes."

"Take them off," he agrees, but makes no move to step back, continuing to rut against you as you attempt to unbutton your blouse. "God, your ass feels so good."

His hands grip your hips, holding you in place as he grinds himself against you in tight circles. You can feel how wet his sweatpants are from his earlier orgasm, the dampness transferring to the back of your skirt.

"You're ruining my clothes," you point out, finally managing to shrug off your blouse despite Changbin's octopus-like attachment to your backside.

"I'll buy you new ones," he promises, his voice strained. "Need this more than you need that skirt."

You can't argue with that logic, not when his desperation is so palpable. You reach back to unzip your skirt, letting it fall to the floor and leaving you in just your underwear and bra. Changbin moans at the increased access, his cock now grinding directly against your panty-covered ass.

"Much better," he groans, his movements becoming more frantic. "Fuck, you feel so good. Been thinking about this all day."

"I can tell," you say dryly, reaching back to unhook your bra. "You couldn't even make it five minutes without humping something."

Changbin doesn't deny it, too far gone in his pleasure to formulate a defense. His hands slide around to cup your breasts as soon as your bra falls away, earning a small moan that went straight to his cock, his hips never ceasing their relentless grinding against your ass.

"Can't help it," he admits, his voice breaking on a particularly good thrust. "Just need it so bad. Need you so bad."

You turn in his arms, pushing him back just enough to get a good look at him. His sweatpants are absolutely ruined, soaked through with cum and precum, clinging obscenely to his still-hard cock. His t-shirt is rumpled and damp with sweat, his pupils blown wide with arousal.

"You're a mess," you tell him, but there's fondness in your voice. "Take off those pants first."

Changbin scrambles to comply, shoving his sweatpants down his legs with such urgency that he nearly trips. His cock springs free, angry red and glistening wet, bouncing against his stomach. It's clear from how swollen and sensitive it looks that he's been playing with himself all day, probably edging for hours before finally letting himself come against your thigh.

"Your shirt too," you direct, stepping out of your own panties and moving toward the bed. "Since you can't keep yourself under control for even five minutes, we might as well do this properly."

Changbin nearly rips his shirt in his haste to remove it, his eyes never leaving your naked body. The moment you sit on the edge of the bed, he's there, positioning himself between your legs, his cock sliding against your inner thigh.

"Can I?" he asks, breathless with need. "Please, baby, I need to—"

"Yes," you cut him off, spreading your legs wider. "But you're going to make me come first."

Changbin nods frantically, dropping to his knees in front of you. But instead of using his mouth like a normal person might, he grips your thighs and pulls you forward until your pussy is pressed against his cock. Then he starts to rut, sliding his shaft through your folds without entering you, the underside dragging against your clit with each movement.

"Fuck," you gasp, surprised by how good it feels. Changbin might be obsessed with grinding, but he's perfected the technique over countless sessions.

"So wet already," he groans, his eyes fixed on where his cock slides through your slick heat. "Love how wet you get for me. Fuck. Love how you let me hump you wherever, whenever I need it."

His shameless admission should be a turn-off, but instead, it sends a fresh wave of arousal through you. There's something undeniably hot about how completely gone he is for you, how he can't control himself around you or even things that remind him of you.

Changbin's hips work in frantic circles, his cock sliding through your folds with increasing urgency. The tip bumps against your clit with each pass, sending jolts of pleasure up your spine.

"I-i'm gonna come again," he whimpers, sounding almost pained. "Fuckkk. Can't hold back. Feels too good."

"Wait," you command voice barely audible over Changbin's moans, gripping his shoulders. "Inside me this time."

You don't have to tell him twice. Changbin surges forward, positioning the head of his cock at your entrance and pushing in with one smooth thrust. But instead of pulling back to establish a proper rhythm, he grinds deep inside you, his pubic bone pressed firmly against your clit.

"Fuck," he groans, his head dropping to your shoulder as his hips work in tight circles. "Nothing feels as good as this. Nothing in the whole fucking world."

The constant pressure against your g-spot and clit has you seeing stars, your hands clutching at his back as pleasure builds rapidly. Changbin's movements grow more desperate, his cock twitching inside you as he fights to hold back his orgasm.

"L-let me feel you-fuck- come," he begs, his voice wrecked. "Need to feel you squeezing my cock. Please, baby, come for me."

His words, combined with the relentless grinding, push you over the edge. Your walls clench around him as pleasure washes through you, pulling a broken moan from your throat.

Changbin follows immediately, unable to resist the feeling of your pussy pulsing around him. He grinds deep into you as he comes, whimpering your name against your skin, his entire body shaking with the force of his release.

For a moment, you both stay frozen, catching your breath. Then, almost imperceptibly, Changbin's hips start to move again.

"Binnie!," you groan, oversensitive. "Seriously?"

He looks at you with an expression that's half apologetic, half desperate. Again. "Can't help it," he admits, his cock somehow still hard inside you despite coming twice already. "Just need a little more."

You fall back on the bed, resigned to your fate. "Fine. But I'm not moving. You do all the work."

Changbin's face lights up, as if you've just offered him the greatest gift imaginable instead of grudgingly allowing him to continue rutting against—well, inside—you.

"Thank you," he breathes, positioning himself over you, his hips already resuming their grinding motion. "Promise I'll make it good for you too."

And somehow, he does. Despite the absurdity of the situation, despite the fact that your boyfriend seems physically incapable of not humping something for more than five minutes at a time, he knows exactly how to move to bring you pleasure.

His grinding continues, relentless in its precision, hitting spots inside you that make your toes curl. His hands find your breasts, pinching and rolling your nipples as his hips maintain their circular rhythm.

"Could do this forever," he groans, his face contorted in pleasure. "Just grinding inside you, feeling you so tight and wet around me. Nothing better than this."

You believe him. The single-minded focus with which Changbin approaches humping, whether it's against your thigh, your ass, your hoodie, or now, inside you—borders on religious devotion.

"You're so fucking weird," you tell him, but your body betrays you, responding to his movements with building pleasure.

Changbin just laughs, breathless and strained. "You love it," he counters, grinding particularly deep. "Love how desperate I get for you. How I can't control myself."

He's not wrong. There's something deeply flattering about being wanted this intensely, this constantly. About having a boyfriend who's so obsessed with you that even your laundry can get him off in a pinch.

"Gonna come again," he warns, his rhythm faltering slightly. "Fuck, I can't—can't stop—"

"Do it," you urge, your own pleasure mounting as his grinding becomes more erratic. "Fill me up again."

Your words send him over the edge, his cock pulsing inside you as he comes for the third time. The feeling of his release flooding your sensitive walls triggers your own orgasm, less intense than the first but longer, leaving you trembling beneath him.

Changbin collapses on top of you, his cock still buried inside you, his hips still making tiny, involuntary movements even as he fights to catch his breath.

"Thank you," he mumbles against your neck, pressing sloppy kisses to your skin. "Needed that so bad."

You stroke his hair, that is stuck on his forehead from the filth of the past hour. "I know you did, baby. Feel better now?"

He nods, then hesitates. "Maybe… maybe one more time? In a little bit?"

You can't help but laugh at his endless appetite. "What are you? A humping machine?"

Changbin lifts his head to look at you, his expression surprisingly earnest. "Only for you," he says. "Nothing else feels right. No one else feels right."

The sincerity in his voice makes your chest tighten with unexpected emotion. Because as ridiculous as his humping habit is, as inconvenient as it can be, there's something undeniably special about being the sole focus of such intense desire.

"I love you," you tell him, meaning it despite everything. "Even if you're a horny little freak who can't keep his dick to himself for five minutes."

Changbin grins, unashamed. "Love you too," he says, already beginning to harden inside you again. "Now, about that one more time…"

As his hips start their familiar grinding rhythm, you resign yourself to another round, and probably several more after that. Because that's life with Changbin.

And honestly? You wouldn't have it any other way.

[that-fall-guy]

HIHIHI IM THE PERSON THAT DID THIS

I saw that you reblogged and in the tags you said Rise! Donnie fits zed more and i 100% agree!! I don’t watch zed so i wasn’t sure what exactly he is like💔💔

omg hiiiiii!! someone sent this to me on discord too without your comment and i came up with my own matches last night so you get to see those for funsies hehe. i will admit that i have seen secret of the ooze Once and remember almost none of it (i was watching with a friend and we were solely making fun of it. for obvious reasons). i think rise!Donnie fits zed more because zed can really have fun with the mad scientist bit and has, like Donnie, performed unethical experiments on his friends/hermitcraft family (and also himself)

my thoughts are long so they go below a cut, but they're not as specific as yours by any means lol : ]

listen i love tmnt SO. i have made an official list. a few notes: rottmnt (2018) notably changes the characters of the turtles. it does so well and i love it for that! but it changes who ZITS would be. the first emoji refers to the original cartoon, 2003, and 2012; the second refers to rise. i'm not counting the batman crossover bc i don't like it, IDW comics bc they are also unique characters and i dont wamna, 2007 because theyre unique characters, mutant mayhem bc i'm less familiar with their personalities, or bayverse or live action bc i havent seen them and dislike them on principle. 03 and rise are my special favourites, which probably affects things. without further ado:

(scuffed mobile screenshot bc the emojis were fun)

okokok my reasonings!!

first of all i'll give a lil explanation of the turtles' personalities, divided into "87, 2k3, '12" and "rise".

'87, '03, '12

Leo: the leader in blue; responsible; that's pretty much it tbh. he's not a bad character, but he can be rather boring

Don: the tech guy; smart; has some self-esteem issues but is generally pretty level-headed and good in a pinch

Raphael: anger issues mcgee (and i love him for it); angry but also the most complex character imo because they always give him an interesting way to deal with his anger issues; despite it all he's a softie at heart

Mikey: the funny youngest sibling; irresponsible; loves pop culture; underestimated because he's effortlessly good at stuff, and people assume if he's listening to a tape he's lazy or something

Rise

Nardo: snarky twin with 500 mental illnesses; arrogant, horrible self-esteem

Donnie: smart twin; evil supergenius; frequently revolutionizes tech for fun, has his own trademark, commits morally dubious experiments (often on his own family)

Raph: Anxiety (also the leader. but mostly anxiety)

Angelo: fluffball who *could* kill you but would rather tie you to a chair and lecture you on talking about your feelings

Why I'm Right (aka why ZITS are what they are)

First off, for the first three shows, Leo is the leader who's pretty levelheaded. Everyone's right with that one. Raphael could be either Skizz or Tango, but Don is too chill to be anyone but Tango. Raphael as Skizz makes sense when you watch, for example, Pico Park pt. 2. He gets a little intense. But Raphael is also a softie at heart, like Skizz. Zed has to be Mikey, which works because he's often underestimated and tends to enjoy the sillier side of life.

Then, in Rise, we see the shift in leadership from Leo to Raph (until the very end, but we don't see much of it so I'm basing this off the majority of the show). This works for Impulse, because he, too, is just a bit ball of anxiety constantly. Zed is clearly a mad scientist like Donatello. But, you may be saying, what about Tango? Isn't he a mad scientist too? Sure, sure, but listen to me: the self esteem issues. What is Tango if not a tower of self esteem issues in a trench coat? So he's clearly Nardo. And that leaves Skizz as Angelo, which 100% works because of Dr. Feelings (angelo's alter ego who evilly forces people to talk about their feelings).

ANYWAYS i love tmnt and deciding on a lil crossover was so fun, and im glad to see someone else who knows their tmnt weighing in as well!!!

[endlessburningdarkness]

I just read leather and silk and it was really good!! Incredibly beautiful writing. I loved that Voldemort was being playful. You brought out his amusement in a light way which is so in character for him. While his amusement is always dark and sadistic, the way you wrote his moments were genuinely natural and smooth. It didn't feel like 'wannabe dark lord' or 'try hard manipulation'.

It's honestly pretty rare to see because many fics focus on his evilness and diregard his playful side. The moment I read that "ah" part, I smiled so hard because it was so fucking cute and I thought "oh, yes that is definitely Voldemort". His mocking is his deliberate and he's being silly about it. I loved it so much.

And Harry Harry Harry Harry!

He's so hot?? I'm obsessed with the way you write him! He's suffering and tired but he does his work. He's annoyed at Voldemort playing with him so he tasks him with menial work. But I can't wait see how he takes it up a notch. How intense is he truly going to be? I'm so curious to see Voldy crumble

AH! I'm so happy to hear Voldemort is in character! And thank you!!For reading, loving and sharing your thoughts about the fic. That's all a writer craves, this message put a big smile on my face. I could yap about characterisation forever...

Voldemort is difficult to write well and it's easier to making him an evil dom top daddy type who can't tolerate even a single glance wrong in his direction and does nothing that isn't pure calculation, but this often comes at the cost of his emotional intelligence, intellect and charisma/playfulness. And as you so correctly pointed out it comes across as juvenile, wanna be or tryhard. I dislike it immensely and am glad I managed to avoid that.

It's tricky to keep him suitably sadistic but not overboard... a lot of his sadistic thoughts come from him directly so to speak, I don't plan them, they arrive as I write and I am just as pleasantly surprised as you reader!

I wasn't expecting anyone to call him Voldemort cute but I'm gonna take that as a compliment. He likes to have fun, he likes to joke, he likes to play and if he can do it at the expense of someone else? even better! He isn't always super serious and it doesn't take away from his menace or danger if he plays with his food a little (or a lot!) because he is that confident he'll win in the end.

Thanks so much for giving sub Voldemort a try, I know that tag is probably putting off a whole bunch of people because it's considered ooc or impossible to write him in character as a sub, but I'm giving it a decent go and you engaging with it is making my day!

As for Harry, he is indeed suffering and he will be taking it up several notches in the upcoming chapters. My writing has been called intense many times before so I will be curious to know what you think as I (and Harry) turn up the heat. It will be slow going but very intense (I am throwing so many kinks in this thing you would not believe) as it will take a lot for Voldemort to truly submit, not to mention, the sweet and ever present danger of their identities being revealed...

Thanks so much again for sharing your thoughts, it's really motivating and I am so happy to hear you enjoyed my writing! It makes me feel all warm and gooey inside, I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story and share your thoughts as it unfolds.

Link to Leather and Silk in case anyone else wants to read it.

[nevarrantorte]

WIP Wednesday

A week later is better than never. Thanks @notyourmamasdeerbat for the tag and the TWO portions of your wips you shared last week! I am always overjoyed when I see Dorian content hehe.

Here is a snippet of the 3rd chapter of my current Emmrook fic, after Emmrich first demonstrates his corpse whispering.

"That is the colloquial term for it, yes." he paused to unseal the door ahead of them "A gift that manifested with my magic."

"Oh wow, that's amazing!" Bellara seemed in awe.

"Isn't it?" Rook replied "I always wished I could corpse whisper. I was so disappointed when I never had the talent. Although my instructors were relieved, said I didn't have the patience needed for the art anyways."

"Well, that's ridiculous" Professor Volkarin scoffed "a teacher shouldn't discourage their students in such a way."

"Maybe not, but they were probably right." Rook sighed "I have a habit of rushing in without considering the bigger picture — take the war of the banners. Maybe if I had waited, looked again at the other solutions —"

"No use dwelling on that now," he interrupted "from what I've heard you saved lives with your quick thinking that day, while those in charge sat around arguing with the nobility instead of protecting the living. Most of the senior watchers agree, you did well that day."

Rook felt her cheeks flush again, how embarrassing to be reduced to some blushing girl by a few kind sentences. Her cheeks burned brighter as the embarrassment washed over her. She kept her head forward but out of the corner of her eye saw that Bellara was too enraptured by the necropolis architecture to notice. She thought she saw the Professor glance at her and smirk, but tried to ignore it.

Tagging @caughtnyact @strugglinggranola @blightbright @blightedcrow and anyone I missed who might want to participate! (I need to make a list of people to tag in these things)

[cook-a-little-chicken]

This fits perfectly, I love it!

It explains the priest's misery and almost reluctance to officiate the wedding. And also why he isn't very good at officiating, and performing like Emcee and Wilhelm are, since he's only just joined the act.

"I realise by standing behind you two, my voice is going into not just my own head mic, but your two, as well." <what if Jamie the now-priest actually is talking about a mic he has on cos he's performing to the audience/cult? He was very forward about voicing his thoughts the entire play, so this could be interpreted as a small act of rebellion either consciously or subconsciously. He's also almost staring at Jim, with only slight glances at Julie/Lucy, maybe in the hopes of being recognised by him

"It is therefore amplifying my voice, and making me sound slightly strange." <again, it could be him not being used to this, or a subtle hint for Jim. Or it could be him actually realising he sounds different cos he's been changed by Ethel to now fit into the performance, and has become unrecognisable even to himself

"I'm going to just assume that you know the rest of the things I would say during this... wedding ceremony and... go and sit back down and maybe have a glass of wine" <I initially thought the "you" meant Jim and Julie/Lucy, but what if it also meant the audience/cult? Since if they have performances every night, surely they've seen multiple weddings on that very stage

"I do" "I do" <by Jim and Julie/Lucy, who only have eyes for each other, not even sparing a glance at Jamie or the audience/cult

"You- you may now... kiss." <the slight hesitation, the pause. As Jamie realises that his friendship with Jim is irrevocably shattered, and that the life he knew is gone, as his own sense of self drifts into nothingness... (Though the pause in reality was probably Sam thinking of ways to mess with them (*cough cough* "you may now tongue the bride" from The Off-Season). And wow that's two longforms in a row of Sam officiating a wedding, and the contrast between them is incredible)

Also I hid it in the tags last time but I think it's kinda cool so: #the audience of 403 could have become 404 #but 404 error Jamie's not found #cos he's part of the cast now and not the audience/cult

Rewatched Sorry About My Nan yet again, I have several more thoughts, mainly about Jaime. So I'm going to ramble! Again!

I've seen a lot of people point out his absence in the final scene, and say he's dead. But I don't understand why he would be. He seemed to have fallen for Ethel's manipulation by the end of the trials, even chanting "STAG" before Jim does, so why would she want him dead? (Unless the Jaime we see at the end of the third trial wasn't the real Jaime, and was actually Tom's Cabaret character (I'm calling him Emcee again), but that's another can of worms that we can deal with later)

I want to build on @cook-a-little-chicken 's theory a little, who says that the wedding was part of the trails, but also that Jaime had become part of the show. I just want to provide a little bit of evidence before we talk about that.

First of all, when Emcee asks for Jaime's name, he messes up and says "Michael". And secondly, he thinks that Emcee is Ethel. This is obviously a mistake on Sam's behalf, but in the context of the theory, it's pretty grim; Jaime is losing himself. He's seeing Ethel in places where she isn't, he's forgetting his own name, choosing a common one in hopes that he's right.

Emcee never introduces himself, never addresses himself - he may not remember ever having a name. Wilhelm introduces himself, maybe he's not been there as long as Emcee? Or maybe he chose Wilhelm because of the Wilhelm Scream - a classic sound effect many movies and TV shows use, and have been using since the 1950s. (I can't put into words why this makes sense to me and why I believe it's relevant, it just does)

Back to Jaime, he cared when Wilhelm "died", staying with him before getting dragged into the next trial. Maybe this was the first time in a while that somebody had shown them kindness? Maybe it was Wilhelm and Emcee who wanted to keep Jaime there.

And if anything, Jaime was the one to pass the trials, not Jim. Jaime was the one who wanted to save their friendship, choosing to not attack Jim, or admitting how he really felt about Jim's wedding. Jim, on the other hand, was ready to kill Jaime, not caring about the consequences.

Maybe Ethel doesn't have as much control over that world as we thought. She still controls everything, but still the inhabitants of that world have some sort of autonomy, they can go off script if they want (Wilhelm pushing himself in front of the sword, Emcee saying that he didn't like Jim and Jamie's performance). They decide who stays with them, who stays on stage, who watches the show. The audience of 403 may have become 404 by the end of the play.

Anyway, that's all I can coherently type before my mind melts, so.. (I say as if any of this makes sense)

Also! I have a theory/headcanon about how some of the longforms link together if anybody wants to know that let me know hehe :D

[heoneyology]

TAEYOUNG ≫ C H E E S E

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Cite your sources.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[vulpixelates]

i know it will never happen but i so desperately desire an origins-type playable backstory thing in all games but especially veilguard. i feel like it added so much depth to origins and made you feel instantly connected to your character in a way that gets lost in games like inquisition where you fill in the blanks as you go except for the bare basics. like, i do enjoy the freedom to willy nilly decide where a character was before the events of the story from a creative perspective, but the playable origins were just so good! especially when you go back to where your warden is from and can engage differently with the arcs there

[poisonvdhonvy]

Kyro can't help rolling his eyes at Grant's defensive tone. His friend's got that whole 'justified paranoia' thing down to an art form, complete with the bitter edge that comes from being right just often enough to feed the suspicion. The top shelf whiskey's looking real tempting right about now; might as well get something good out of Grant's trust issues spiral. These fancy places always stock the kind of liquor that makes regular folks do a double-take at the price tag, but hey, if someone else is picking up the tab... His knees pop again as he settles onto the barstool, and damn if that isn't the most annoying sound in the world. Getting old is totally overrated. Grant's got that look again, like he's two seconds away from building a conspiracy board about whoever spooked him earlier. "Y'know what? Make it three months of free drinks when you're wrong about someone being shady. Dinner at that new Italian place would hit the spot right about now. But you gotta admit when you're wrong, none of that 'they were probably just good at hiding it' stuff."

"Top shelf it is ... might as well make your wallet suffer along with my paranoia." People always told him to relax, as if switching off suspicion worked like a light switch. His jaw clenched at Kyro's crack about going detective mode. Easy for him to say - he hadn't seen that weird glint in their eyes, that too-smooth way of asking questions. "A month of free drinks? Now who's being suspicious?" The words came out sharper than glass. "And what happens when I'm right about someone? Do I get two months of top shelf for my 'trust issues' being justified?" Some days he wished he could be as casually unbothered as Kyro, but that wasn't happening anytime soon. "You know what ... order whatever you want. Consider it payment for putting up with my paranoid ass tonight."

[thistlerock]

I think Gorgug grows up trying to take up as little space as possible.

I think that as a child, before he was all that conscious of his own decisions, he broke a lot of stuff. That's fine, small children do that and his parents have had him since he was a baby. A huge baby, especially for gnomes. A huge baby that grew into a toddler the size of his parents who's (again, normal and okay) tantrums did actual property damage because he's an orc. They were never mad at him for it, they'd never be mad at a child experiencing big emotions and not yet able to process them or understand consequences, but we know how their families reacted to that. We know that they always saw him as something that would grow up to be a threat.

I think that pretty much as soon as he develops a sense of it Gorgug starts feeling ashamed. He's ashamed of how nothing ever fits right, and of how loud he gets when he's upset, and of how the other kids in the neighbourhood (because it's a small folk neighbourhood!!) get scared of him sometimes, and of how when he has bad dreams he breaks his bed and is unable to control himself, like a baby. There was probably a time where he thought he was really clumsy and he was ashamed of that too, but by the time he turns like twelve Gorgug kind of understands that he's not more clumsy than the average kid, it's just that every time he drops something or bumps into a shelf it'll do so much more damage than if anyone else he lives around were to do the same.

(And his parents are talented tinkerers but sometimes their work is so delicate and all he ever does is wreck things. He doesn't dare touch it no matter how much they try to share this passion with him — eventually they assume he just doesn't like it and they would never force him to do something he doesn't want. Gorgug doesn't let himself discover how much he enjoys it until sophomore year. I wonder if he regrets all those years he spent fearing the possibility of ruining things and depriving himself of something he ended up loving.)

(And he was never "stupid", it's just that all he ever thought himself of was a brute so he never entertained the possibility of his own intelligence until faced with it. He didn't know he could thrive academically so it wasn't something he ever considered committing to. He literally just played bloodrush because he was good at it, not because he liked it. He just thought he had to, and he thought math is something he couldn't possibly do. Why try?)

Entering Highschool Gorgug is very shy, and he doesn't really have friends. Adults always like to blame the latter on the first, but sometimes it's the other way around and sometimes it's a vicious cycle. Sometimes you're six years old and none of the kids in your elementary school class are anything like you but you desperately try to fit in until you slip up and show them how much of a freak you are one time (I think he got mad. I think he broke a table. I think someone cried. I think maybe there was a teacher who was so much smaller than him and looked at him as if he were something to be feared. I think that in that moment he decided that he is. Or at least his rage, maybe.) and then you never get to have friends again and you shrink in on yourself and you don't understand how anyone else does it — it's not even that you're scared you just don't understand, and maybe you just want to be alone. And then a happy outspoken child grows into a shy teenager because they don't have any friends.

I think Gorgug is careful. He is so gentle and empathetic and kind and he is so careful because every time he isn't something breaks. And every time he raises his voice someone is scared of him and all he ever wants is people to not be afraid. So he hunches over, and he stands in the corner, and he scoots to the very edge of the bench so you don't have to sit too close to him, and he takes every insult to his face without fighting back lest he'll get upset and despite all his fucking efforts all it takes is one asshole to take it too far and he feels himself snap and all he wants to do is break something and hurt and twist and kill. And that scares him. He doesn't allow himself to be angry (and as wonderful as Digby and Wilma are they don't understand. They don't understand that he has to be, that he has to let it out some time.) so he bottles it up and every time it explodes out of him he doesn't know how to handle it other than to swing his axe and kill maul bite snarl kill.

But then, his adventuring party seems to not mind his rage, or his size, or his freakish strength. If anything they seem to like it, or at least respect him for it. He's never considered doing something like music before because that's for talented people and it's art and he doesn't do art because his hands are only good for destruction, not creation. Right? He does the music anyway. It's nice because there he's allowed to be angry on the drums and no one thinks it's weird.

He meets a girl that finds his rage attractive and he was scared that he'd scared her but he didn't. Ragh becomes one of his dearest friends and maybe for the first time Gorgug looks at a raging (half-)orc — all snarling and panting and bearing his teeth and twitching at any sound or scent — and doesn't find himself appalled because all he sees is someone that's fighting to keep him and his friends safe. And oh, maybe it's okay to be enraged.

I think he grows into a young man that doesn't love being angry but stops hating it too. He likes, in a way, that he gets angry over the right things, and he likes that being angry enables him to protect those he cares for. In the end his rage is a survival instinct and it's good to be alive. That leads to him, for a while, only accepting his rage as something that's fine to express in combat, and if it's outside of combat then only to his friends. There's still this need to make himself palatable, to tone himself down so everyone stays comfortable around him, but that also fades eventually.

During junior year he does finally come out of his shell enough to just express his anger the second he feels it. I think it is liberating and it's also the scariest thing he's ever done, and he went through a forest that made him confront his deepest fears already. (And that's exactly what it was. The inconvenience to his parents, the fear it strikes in others, the rejection it brings, the way it seems to reduce him to a weapon or maybe a wild animal and to some people including parts of him means he absolutely cannot be an intelligent or loveworthy person. He's always been afraid of his own rage.)

I think that if a younger Gorgug could see his older self snarl at one of his friends for making a joke about his parents' lawnmower, with his tusks fully grown out and muscle finally starting to fill out his clothes a little, so strong and so dangerous and so unashamed of it, he'd feel no relief and only horror. I think acceptance is something that feels alien to him right up until he suddenly achieves it.

[3twindragons]

It’s been a long dry spell for WinterHawk!

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[marigraphia]

I've had this pose ref saved for a while and the Superman set photos just gave off the same energy 👉🏻👈🏻

The reference is this photo of Katharine Hepburn as Antiope and Colin Keith-Johnston as Theseus in the 1932 play 'The Warrior's Husband' (and I'd love for people to turn into a draw your otp meme pls pls pls this pose is so good)

And also, of course, the Superman (2025) set photos

[wasyago]

we're at it again🕺