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cal-daisies-and-briars · 4 months ago

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🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞Tell me her name!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!! 🥺

It's Summer!

here's a collection of sentences because we are near the end!

---

“Uh, no,” Eddie says. “Though, okay… Maybe that, too. But… I was thinking, if it’s not too soon, maybe the four of us should… Find a place that fits all of us?”

Buck is about to get emotional again.

“Really?” He asks.

It feels like something huge honestly. Eddie asking to take the next step. Zero prompting from Buck. No self-doubt or hesitation in his eyes.

“Really,” Eddie says. “I think it would make us all happy.”

“I would really love that,” Buck says. “Like… That’s kind of the next best possible thing that could have happened today.”

Eddie smiles, cheeks a little rosy. “So… It’s been the perfect day, then?”

“Yeah,” Buck confirms. “It really has.”

vii.

On the day they move in late July, there is a huge, blowout fight about who gets which bedroom. One that annoys Eddie so much Buck thinks he might stroke out, honestly. It’s solved, in the end, by the matter of accessibility for Christopher. So Summer doesn’t get her way. She’s cranky and sour the rest of the day about the whole thing. Buck can’t even bring it to be really miffed about it, truth be told. All he sees is a girl who, just over a year ago, was too afraid to ask for a glass of juice or to say when she needed to use the washroom. Now, she’s comfortable enough to cause a row over bedroom locations. It seems like a win, even if it gives everyone a headache on an already stressful day. He takes the win in whatever form it comes. But he also doesn’t argue Christopher getting the sought-after bedroom.

It takes a few days for things to settle into normalcy. Which is fair enough. Eddie and Christopher have lived in the same house for the better part of a decade, and Chris has never been a big fan of change. Summer is hesitant to leave the only house that was ever home, even if she’s excited for a bigger, fuller one with Eddie and Christopher. So there are bound to be some bumps. But Buck is confident they’ll be old history before long.

And he’s right.

Two weeks after they move in, the kids wear them - Eddie - down into buying a pet turtle. With the express condition that Christopher be its primary caregiver.

“I’m serious, Chris,” Eddie warns on their way to the pet store. “I’m not doing the cleaning or feeding or anything else. And neither is Buck, got it? It’s your responsibility.”

“I’ve got it, Dad,” Chris sighs. “It’s my pet, I know.”

But of course, because it’s a reptile of any sort, Summer is obsessed with it.

“He’s so cute,” she squeals into the tank at the store. “I love him!”

“He’s a red eared slider,” the worker explains to her.

“I know!” Summer answers.

“Do you have a name for him?” The worker asks.

“Chris?” Eddie asks. “You had an idea, right?”

“I thought maybe after one of the ninja turtles,” Chris shrugs. “But I can’t tell which one, yet.”

“Which one is red?” Buck asks.

“Raphael,” Chris says.

“That’s a decent turtle name,” Eddie nods.

Summer wrinkles her nose. “I don’t know.”

“Summer,” Buck says patiently. “It’s Christopher’s turtle. He gets to name it, okay?”

“Okay,” she sighs.

“No, wait,” Chris says. “What would you name him, Summer?”

“Kipo!” Summer announces.

Ah. Like the cartoon Chris showed her recently. With the pink, post-apocalyptic girl.

“Alright,” Chris shrugs. “We can call him Kipo.”

“Really?” She beams.

“Yeah,” Chris nods. “But that means every once in a while you have to help me with turtle chores.”

“I will! I promise!”

“Kipo it is then,” Chris says.

And so his turtle is named after a pink cartoon mutant. Not entirely different than what he’d intended, Buck supposes.

▪️▪️▪️

The interaction sticks with Buck.

It’s a simple thing. A little thing. The name of a turtle.

He knocks on Christopher’s door later that evening. He’s alone. Looking into the tank at his new pet with curious, wondering eyes. Seeming somewhat younger, for just a flash, than he has lately.

“Can I come in?” Buck asks.

“Sure,” Chris says.

Buck walks in and sits on Christopher’s bed, a few feet away from him.

“Thanks for picking the name she liked,” Buck says. “You didn’t have to do that, you know?”

“I know,” Chris shrugs. “But I got the better room. And it made her happy. It’s just a turtle name.”

#daisies and briars writes #we won't look back fic

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battlemaiden13 · 4 months ago

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How. How do you write this much?! Tell me your secrets. I need to know.

I really like writing. Want to see the first draft prologue to the book I'm writing? sure ya do its very coded in the fanfic community because I'm using the soulmark trope:

There is very little reason why a person would hate someone they had never actually met but Isabella Porter despised the person who was determined to be her soulmate with every fiber of her being and had done so since she was 13.

Over a decade later and she still wanted nothing to do with the person who she was apparently meant to fall so deeply in love with that she lost her mind a little. Because that’s what people do when they fall in love, they lose their minds. At least that's what Isabella, known as Izzy to her friends, thought and she considered herself to be a bit of an expert on the matter even though she wanted no part in the bizarre human shared experience of falling in love.

Isabella thought of herself as an expert in love because she had seen so many loving couples due to the fact that she was a wedding planner. A wedding planner who, just three years ago started her own company, To The Moon and Back.

So yes, Izzy had seen many couples working as a wedding planner but none quite like the Lesters. Well one Lester, one Davidson as it currently stood but soon to be both Lesters.

Henry Lester was a quiet man, who wore quiet clothes and had a quiet haircut and a quiet voice. Most people wouldn’t even notice he was there even if he was speaking. He was the kind of man to blend into the background anywhere he went despite being on the board for some big tech company.

His fiance, on the other hand, was loud. Melody Davidson, soon to be Melody Lester, had to make sure whenever she entered a room that everybody knew she was there. She was one of those girls who could just talk for 2 hours about anything that sprang to mind and despite her pretty appearance and name sake her voice was very grating especially when she was annoyed or angry about not getting things her way. Melody always got things her way.

Both of the soon to be Lester’s were well off, in tabloids often because Melody always seemed to be in the middle of drama even though she would swear it wasn’t her fault. It apparently just came with being a model.

Considering how well off the two of them were Isabella was shocked when they walked into her office and Melody declared that the company was absolutely darling and low key and exactly what she had been searching for for months!

Regardless, I am getting ahead of myself. This story isn’t about the Lesters’ even if they are in it quite a bit.

Isabella hated her soulmate for one very glaring reason and it was to do with her soulmark. A mark bestowed on two souls that were perfectly matched to each other, who were destined to fall in love or at least have their fates so intertwined that it was impossible to live without the other.

A magic that had been around since the start of mankind and the only remaining remnants of the power on the world before.

These soulmarks are known to scientists around the world as futurum in aliis vitae, but that is stupid so we, like most of the sane population, are going to call them soulmarks.

A single soulmark would appear somewhere on the body on the person's 13th birthday. The 13th birthday was chosen as a gift to my sister's husband as it was his favorite number but he is not a part of this story.

This story is about Isabella and her soulmate and her soulmark and why she hated her soulmate before she had even met them.

A soulmark could appear in one of two ways. The first was as a picture, a tattoo of sorts, of some intricate or simple design that would express what their soulmate would mean to them. These were always harder to distinguish who you were meant to be with as there was a lot left up in the air.

Did the umbrella tattoo littered with stars mean that their soulmate would protect them from the dark times ahead as a barrier, lifting them up to the universe as a brilliant shooting star? Or did it mean that the stranger who lent you their umbrella that one night was destined to fall in love with you?

Who’s to say.

The picture's soulmarks were always harder to decipher but Isabella was blessed to have the other sort of soulmark, although she would say it was the worst thing to ever happen to her.

These sort of soulmark left little to no room for questioning who your soulmate was, often it made them quite easy to find although there have been a few mix ups on occasions. More often than not though the people with these soulmarks would know instantly who their soulmate was supposed to be.

Instead of a picture painting your skin, the first words your soulmate said directly to you were imprinted somewhere on your body in your soulmate's own hand. Isabella had this type of soulmark.

It was printed on her left hand, scrolling over the back of her hand. In neat, large, black writing that was clearly printed so that anyone who understood the basics of the English language could read it were the first words her soulmate would ever say to her.

“Idiot”

There was no punctuation, there never was on these things, so there was no indication of tone but it was pretty clear from the words written. Isabella’s soulmate thought she was an idiot and soon after the words appeared on her hand others started to believe it too.

So Isabella hated her soulmate. Hated everything that this stranger had put her through and had no desire to meet them.

Isabella didn’t want a love story. And if she had things her way, the way she had planned it out since she was 15, she wouldn’t.

#writing #my writing #prolouge #first draft #probably gonna look real different down the line #Isabella and Clayton

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liskantope · 9 months ago

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Today in Political Facebook Posts I Want To Complain About (really this kind of post should have its own tag): someone posted a meme with rainbows and the words "Wishing all THE HOMOPHOBES a super uncomfortable month".

I'm sort of down with this and my first instinct isn't to be critical (although the comment under it, suggesting we extend this to the whole year and towards not only homophobes but everyone to the right of "us [far on the left]" -- not my paraphrasing: the phrase "anyone right of us" is literally there -- annoys me considerably more), but it also doesn't feel like the kind of sentiment anyone should want to spread around in the service of being one's best self, somehow. This instead appears to reflect the insistence on a "warrior mode" model of the world which I find profoundly unsettling. I don't really want anyone of any social/political persuasion to feel uncomfortable unless it's a kind of discomfort that directly leads to growth. I feel kind of like responding with something like "Wishing all THE HOMOPHOBES a super enlightening month in which their exposure to gay stuff makes them chill out and realize that 'the gays' are actually pretty cool and not so scary after all."

I think also, part of what rubs me the wrong way about statements like that is that it comes across to me below the surface as, in a way, a form of bullying through exploiting the fact that today, throughout most of Western society, LGBT people and allies have the power to get in the faces of anti-LGBT people and not vice versa on a cultural level. Even as recently as 20 years ago, it wouldn't really make sense to wish an uncomfortable month on homophobes because Pride was still something that was pretty marginalized -- there was a vigorous culture around it and plenty of allies, but it wasn't being blasted into everyday awareness through slogans emanating from every major company, from the White House, etc. But in the 2020's, it is. Homophobes in 2004 didn't have to feel uncomfortable because, at least in most places, they could just completely avoid gay stuff mostly by not being around actual Pride events. Now they generally can't avoid it. And, much as I'm cynical about "corporate wokeness" and companies' role in making such a dramatic turnaround over the past decade, I'm glad that things are as they are in the 2020's rather than as they were in the '90's or '00's. But while for good rather than for evil, the pendulum has swung in the direction of giving the gay rights side the power of shoving it in conservatives' faces. And as soon as you step back from the object-level position of "pro- gay rights is the correct stance" and open your range of vision to include the other side's point of view, "I hope homophobes have an uncomfortable month" becomes "We happen to have the establishment very visibly on our side nowadays, so now I hope that that gets rubbed in your face as much as possible."

It reminds me of a (completely unrelated) Facebook friend, extremely on the progressive end of the spectrum but with a ton of conservative extended family, who a few years back got reported for posting a picture of herself breastfeeding her baby. Of course Facebook didn't respond to the report by taking down the picture because Facebook's policy was that breastfeeding doesn't constitute nudity and is okay. My friend never found out which conservative relative reported her picture but decided the most mature way to show her disdain for them was to post a dozen or so more pictures of herself breastfeeding in order to get back at them by making them super uncomfortable, openly stating that this was her purpose. Now, I'm 100% on the side of there being nothing wrong with breastfeeding in public or with images of it being publicly posted, that it shouldn't be considered sexual or indecent, and that attitudes against it probably ultimately stem from a form of misogyny. But I couldn't help interpreting my friend's response in light of "what if the shoe were on the other foot" or "what if the established rules (on Facebook) were the other way around", so that her behavior looked an awful lot like "Well we have a disagreement and Mom/Dad/Teacher the established authority (Facebook) happens to have taken my side of it, so now I just get to rub that in your face, nyah nyah nyah."

Yes, I know what the obvious response to my views is: how can I criticize an attitude of wanting to maximize enjoyment that a large part of culture is on the pro-LGBT side, let alone call it something like "bullying", when LGBT people have still overall had a pretty raw deal (and the T part of the acronym is still struggling badly to win the culture war, although I'd argue that's a bit of a digression from this post's question). And that something similar (though I have a vaguer idea of what it would be) could be said regarding the breast feeding in public issue. There is a point there, which is part of why a good bit of my gut goes "yeah, let the homophobes feel uncomfortable now; after all, they spent a good part of living memory making gay people feel uncomfortable, completely wrongly." But that still comes across to me as embracing a naive sort of "punching up vs. down" model of moral argument, and either way, it certainly doesn't seem like the path toward changing hearts and minds.

#pride month #pride events #homophobia #breast feeding #facebook #sexism #perhaps i've been reading too much early scott alexander #(partly in honor of reaching 10 years of knowing his writing)#where there's a running theme of viewing from a meta level

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blazehedgehog · 10 months ago

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Thoughts on Dr. Robotnik's Ring racers and the current version of SRB2 Kart?

I never dug too super deep in to SRB2 Kart because I very rarely play online games with randos and I had no real consistent group to play with otherwise. Like, I tried to play the few times Tracker hosted a server, but he lives in the UK and I'm on wifi so it just didn't really work out.

So I was kind of waiting for the singleplayer campaign mode. I could see the potential in SRB2K. "The Mugen of Kart Racers" has been an idea in the back of my head for literal decades at this point. But I did not care about time trials because there were no items.

I streamed about four hours of Ring Racers (obviously) a couple days ago:

youtube

And I've also seen a lot of SRB2 Kart diehards lose their mind over some of the changes and problems in Ring Racers.

As someone who has never really put more than, say, two hours in to SRB2 Kart, Ring Racers is... fun? Yeah. It's fun. I'd say I enjoyed myself.

But it's also got problems. Broadly speaking, the entire game is way too complicated for its own good. It's nice that they really sat down and thought very deeply about kart racer mechanics and tried to elevate things to a new level, but it feels like they overthought a lot of it. And I mean beyond the fact this game opens with a very wordy, 30-60 minute tutorial. Don't get me wrong, it needs at least some of that, because it's a very mechanically dense game, but that's also sort of the problem.

Like I literally just bailed out of a Discord conversation about this because I wanted to write it over here, but let's take, for example, the spindash.

The spindash mechanic has three primary functions in Ring Racers:

You charge up a spindash at the right time during the starting line lobby segment to get a boost going into the first lap

You charge a spindash to get through one of the speed barriers for secret shortcuts

This game has Sonic-style physics and there are slopes where, if you aren't already going fast, they are too steep of an incline to drive up. So you have to stop and charge a spindash to clear them.

What value does this actually bring to the table? What's useful about it?

The starting line lobby segment is annoying because even CPU racers will bump you into a FAULT state, forcing you to start in last place. Lobby segments are also different sizes, different lengths, so as a newbie like myself, that already puts me at a disadvantage. Charging a spindash for a starting line boost does not add anything you could not already do with Mario Kart's more traditional starting line mechanic. So that means everything around it is just to make the game less friendly to newbies.

Unless you are an ultra-skilled sickos player who optimizes ring consumption to the max, or you're lucky enough to have a boost item, you are never going to be setup to crash through a speed barrier. I certainly never am. I only touch them by accident and they always make everything worse for me when I do. I would never stop and deliberately use a spindash to clear one of these, and places in the map where I get owned are never near one for it to act as a shortcut to get me back in the race faster.

The only time you need to use a spindash on a slope is if you get blasted by someone else's weapon, and there's always this deep dread to that where it's like, if I have to spindash to get up a slope, the race is already lost. Getting slammed by a weapon can already be very devastating on its own, but adding the extra step of having to come to a complete stop, wait 2-3 seconds to charge a spindash, and then crawl up the incline? It's insult to injury.

So, then, in practical terms: what value does the spindash bring to this game? The shortest summary is it's a recovery mechanic that adds an extra step to systems that are tuned to be very difficult and maybe don't even need to exist. You could remove the spindash (and all the systems that depend on the spindash) and I think it would be a better game.

And there's a few systems like this in the game, like the ring tether system, the air drop, and so on. It's nice to finally see someone trying to meaningfully evolve the kart racer into something with greater depth, but I also feel like people who liked SRB2 Kart liked it because it was a very good one of those. And it had extremely friendly mod support.

I get the desire for what's happening here. People were unfairly harsh about how "SRB2 Kart is a bad name" and the developers wanted to both establish a fresher identity and push things in a new direction. But they're also kind of reinventing a lot of wheels and adding all of these extra steps, which will and is hurting the pick-up-and-play element of "it's just a good kart racer." If you roll up on a friend group with Ring Racers and say "hold up, you gotta play the 40 minute tutorial first", that's a killer, and that's still considering they've already trimmed the tutorial length once since it launched only a few days ago.

A kart racer with the depth of a fighting game is definitely an interesting idea and like I said, I was having fun in the stream, but it's just one of those things where the more I think about what the ideal form of this game is trying to be, the more I wonder.

And that's not even considering that some things that worried me about SRB2 Kart are still here, like how many very narrow and winding tracks there are. Sometimes you get what is effectively a rally racing track but there's 8 other hyper-aggressive cars on the road with you and they're all armed to the teeth with projectile weapons. Even in SRB2 Kart's time trial mode, when I was the only one on the track, it could be hard enough to stay on the road. Now that I'm being knocked around by other racers at the same time? It can borderline on feeling impossible.

Again, I don't hate this. It's just that there's a lot of weird friction in places I feel like it does not benefit from or need.

#questions #Anonymous #srb2kart #dr. robotnik's ring racers #kart racer #mario kart #sega #sonic team #fangame

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pechebeche · 1 year ago

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I agree with you that the "making the girl who is rival to the mlm couple a lesbian" is a lot better than turning her into a sexist caricature but tbh it will always be somewhat funny to me that??? They sometimes don't even need to?? Like, when they have her in a wlw relationship on top of just being a lesbian. At that point, just have her be bisexual and in a relationship with a woman after her relationship with whatever guy you're pushing her away from didn't work. I'm like, not mad about it in any case, just somewhat baffled when they usually put the lesbian in a wlw relationship *anyways* (vs like having the lesbian be single but not a threat because she's gay). I do think "lesbian with comphet" is a valid headcanon though, so I'm definitely not *mad* lol. It just kind of feels like some of these fanfics believe that the wlw has to be specifically a *lesbian*, which sometimes makes me feel like they only have this attitude because of the stereotype of bisexuals being poly/a threat (as in a threat to the mlm couple they're pushing) even when they are in a committed, monogamous relationship. (To clarify nothing wrong with poly bisexuals, just that there's a stereotype about them!)

Though honestly, I don't think anything will ever top the time I read a fanfic where the author made a canon bisexual *straight* because she had to reject a girl and she couldn't have... I don't know... rejected her on the basis that she just wasn't interested in this *specific* girl, or on the basis that she was already/more interesting in the man of the m/f couple the fic had tagged for her? Bizarre behavior. Sometimes it just feels like it's rooted in biphobia is all, I suppose, which does somewhat annoy me. But yeah, it's still better than the raging misogyny you used to get (and still do sometimes! Some people hate Chiaki and Kaede because they get in the way of komahina and saiouma! It can get really annoying when I'm reading a fic with those ships and it piviots into hating on Kaede and Chiaki, like leave my girls alone!!!).

Hopefully this made sense and didn't come across as rude or anything!

YEAH tbh i think the idea of ~one true love~ is a real disservice in fanfic because it means that instead of "yeah these two dated once but broke up, and they're both bisexual" the author feels obligated to be like no they CANT have been in a relationhip because all relationships before the main pairing must PALE IN COMPARISON. there can be no previous romantic relationships which had a strong effect on them as a person. because that wasnt ~true love~!

and so a lot of times you get this sort of incidental biphobia where its not so much that these characters Have To Be Gay/Straight, but that they Have To Have Only Ever For Real Been Interested In This One Person, which necessitates only being attracted to the one person. which, uh...sucks. this was something that got talked about a lot in the early spn days, actually, with people reducing the presence of what few women spn had and making dean gay. that luckily faded out over time, but it's still (imo) a really common thing to see in the m/m parts of fic In Addition To the "how to get the woman out of the equation" aspect.

and its also about the reduction of platonic relationships!! because surely if they arent both gay a strong relationship between a boy and a girl must be Romance TM. its the old classic Boys And Girls Cant Be Just Friends tired trope but through the lens of Progressivism TM.

anyway tldr youre absolutely right, sometimes the girls are bi!! sometimes the girls dating one of the guys is comphet but sometimes it isnt!! and despite many issues its still leagues better than a decade ago

#asks #anon #wasnt rude at all!!

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im-some-lionheart · 2 years ago

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#Destielmonth22 Day 8: Sleep

He used to need only four hours.

Figured he lost the capacity to stay horizontal for more than that ages ago. Left it somewhere between the motel rooms shared with a crying baby and a drunk dad (always coming in late, stumbling on everything and failing miserably at not waking him up) and the decades of accumulated nightmares.

He's read the articles and watched the news anchors stating that eight is what a human needs to function properly. And he figured he's just different. Besides, this is just another thing in life he only gets half of. That's okay. He knows how to deal in halves. For a long time, his entire life was compromised of almosts, unfinished things, the leftovers of the should've beens. He got half the parents, half the money, half the education, half the friends that are still alive, and (not even) half the dad that Adam had... But he managed. He always has.

He still wakes up startled more often than not, and his hand immediately reaches for the handgun under his pillow. He knows he doesn't need it anymore. The last time he hunted anything was ages ago, but he's pissed off enough creatures to garante a lifetime of revenge seekers. He hasn't gotten any in five years since moving out of the bunker. But he still doesn't fully believe he got away with actually retiring. He keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, for his past to finally catch up with him, and come drag him back into The Life.

A good 10% of his nightmares are about that. Losing the cabin, and the memory foam mattress, and the warm body he gets to share it with.

So keeping a gun always within reach provides him with a weird peace of mind. Its heavy presence under the pillow a reminder that, if needed, he can still fight back. It's not needed, Cas keeps telling him in an annoyed voice whenever he finds it as he makes the bed. But he still puts it back every time because he knows a part of Dean does still need it. Or, at least, needs to know that it's there.

He knows Dean often needs to be reminded that certain things and people are still there. That he gets to have them, at last.

After checking on his gun, he checks up on Cas. Makes sure he's still there. And he always is. Sprawled out on his side of the bed, chest rising and falling slowly with every breath. Or, feet thrown back so they can still tangle with Dean's, even if Cas has his back turned to him. Or, arm draped over Dean's stomach, his body a line of warmth on Dean's back, drool drying on Dean's shoulder. Or, head resting on Dean's chest. Or, on his side facing Dean and keeping him there with a hand on his waist.

Cas is always there.

Unlike Dean, he could sleep for twelve hours straight if left to his own devices. It's kind of impressive. The fact that he can now spend the better part of a day in bed, when for millenia he never needed as much as a nap. Comes with becoming human, they guessed.

The good news is, now Dean gets treated with watching Cas sleep. After he wakes up, startled or not, he gets to spend the first minutes –sometimes hours– of his day gazing at the sleeping figure of the man he loves. And it truly is a treat. The way Cas' now graying hair sticks up in all directions, the slow waves of air that come in and out of his nose, the flutter of his eyelids as he dreams.

Dean used to need only four hours of sleep. Now, on a good day he gets up to nine. And when he wakes up, he gets treated to the best view he's ever seen, he gets to slide his hands underneath Cas' shirt and kiss him awake.

It felt over indulgent at first. But he's starting to get used to it. To getting full things and not just scraps. To the way Cas' blue eyes lose their sleepy haze as they focus on him. To the curve of his smile as he slowly opens his mouth to say, every morning, without fail,

“Hello, Dean. I love you.”

#aaaaaa #I got cheesy :3 #I love this one #otp: i did it all of it for you #destiel #Destielmonth #Deancas #Destiel fic #Destiel fanfic #Retired Destiel #deancas #Destielmonth22 #Destiel fic challenge

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philtstone · 2 years ago

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Sam and AJ and Cass, 29

#29 -- a story that never gets told

a prequel of sorts to my belovedly unhinged magical realism au, the original of which can be read on ao3 by clicking here. i wrote this prompt in random snippets on the subway, so hopefully its coherent. it kind of got away from me, but im leaning into the multiple indulged elements. most importantly, to answer zainabs oft asked question, "is this the one where he can turn into a whole ass wolf?" yes. yes it is.

Sam, as he has told his sister many a time, could learn — hypothetically — to be a great parent if he wanted to. Instead, he nobly chooses to fight for what’s right. This involves on occasion saving innocent lives amidst the unexpected collapse of Kingdoms, and more often petty magical crime, like that idiot who started going around stealing peoples sheep by herding them into his backyard, which he’d doused in a layer of magically un-solvent superglue. Thank God for Clint’s solvent arrows, which is a sentiment Sam brings up smugly whenever his sister expresses disdain towards the usefulness of magical items in completing household chores.

All of that was before Steve vanished into thin air, leaving Sam with custody of an ancient shield and a perpetually moody shapeshifter.

Hypotheticals are abounding just now. Hypothetically, Steve could just be on one long spontaneous vacation that he even logged in the shared magical calendar, which Bucky inconveniently misplaced on that last trek from North country down here. Hypothetically, Steve could have been kidnapped by a unicorn — those things are known to fuck with you just cause they can — and is currently being held in a magically enforced glade and subjected to a game of 21 riddles. Hypothetically, Steve could just be dead. Smallpox, common cold, unanticipated ogre attack on side of road. If Sam might say so himself, even the best of ‘em can get jumped sometimes; ain’t no shame in it.

“If Steve was dead, why hasn’t his ghost shown up to tell us that?” Bucky asks. He has elaborate theories on the matter, half of which involve the unicorn. The other half involve deep and cutting betrayal. Or murder.

“Steve Rogers did not just up and decide to play double agent,” Sam says, rolling his eyes. Bucky is never truly serious about this. He brings up potential intrigue in every conversation purely out of habit. And, Sam supposes begrudgingly, experience.

“So, murder.”

“Maybe ghost Steve is havin’ too much of a good time,” Sam says. “Remember that fae chick he was sweet on, and they got separated decades ago? Got him all stoic and single tear-y when her name came up? Carried her picture in his dumb little locket? She could be dead. They could be partying it up in the afterlife.”

“Bastard,” Bucky says grumpily, about Steve. “I’d tell you guys, if I died without you knowing.”

“Accidentally died,” insists Sam.

Bucky scowls. “I maintain we haven’t ruled out the double agent angle.”

“Oh my God!” says Sam, and throws his hands up in the air.

They have this exchange multiple times.

Sam sees the merit in the murder angle, but doesn’t necessarily like acknowledging it out loud. First of all, admitting Bucky might be right is always annoying, so he avoids doing it. Second, that shit’s bad juju, especially down here; you never know when a shadow man is listening in.

Just in case Ghost Steve really was murdered and forgot to tell them, though, Sam decides to conduct some scientific experiments. He makes Steve’s favourite gumbo (Sam’s mom’s recipe, of course – no one else’s can hold a candle) and bangs the pot lid loudly over the stove in case there are any spirits around to notice. He flips through Steve’s private sketchbook, left behind in Sam’s napsack — another clear evidence that he hasn’t turned coat — and makes childish faces at all the nude figures to trigger Steve’s artistic sensibilities. Then he leaves it out where the kids could find it, to trigger Steve’s moral sensibilities.

Bucky takes more extreme measures. He goes out into the yard and yells, “Hey, jerk! You ever thought about what a basket case I’d be without you here? You don’t even got the decency to explain yourself?” after dark, into the droopy shapes of the mangrove trees.

“Is he gonna start howling at the moon?” Sarah asks Sam one evening, though not unkindly, while they do the dishes and watch Bucky go at it through the small kitchen window.

Sam doesn’t say anything. Privately, he kind of feels like doing the same.

Then, about three months later, after a near-coup and the revelation of multiple conspiracies and a big old honking blockade being put up all through South country, the Wakandans show up. With – holy shit, Sam thinks – a message from Steve.

“Uncle Sam, you’ve already told us that story.”

Okay, so speaking of parenting. Yeah, yeah, Sam would be a great parent in some alternate universe of events decidedly different from this one. In this universe, getting his nephews to bed at a reasonable hour when only this afternoon, a bunch of fancy people in red armour were holding a super secret outlaw meeting in the barn is proving harder than it looks. Sam almost wishes he was dealing with old Paste-Pot Pete and those sheep again.

“Uh, no I have not,” says Sam. “This version has added embellishments. The Wakandan King never challenged me to a duel, that was all Bucky’s bad luck.”

“We’re calling ritual vengeance duels now?” asks Bucky dryly.

“I’m just sayin’, I’m making a bunch of this up here. I am exercising creativity. Story version number one didn’t have any flying dwarves in it.”

Bucky is sitting in the doorway to the kids’ bedroom and attempting to de-encrust his favourite boots, which went through the ringer a bit on their way down through the bayou to Sarah’s three months ago. That was just after this all started. A lot’s changed since then.

Like the fact that Bucky is even in this house, cleaning boots. Or Sam’s newly discovered inability to lull little boys to sleep via adrenaline filled adventure stories while their mother takes a care package to the neighbours’ pregnant daughter in law. Sarah was very excited to see the newest in maternity fashion, which apparently Marlene had been sporting in the village all week, purchased from traveling dressmakers who might have had fae blood. Those guys always do know how to cut a cloak well.

Bucky sniffs loudly at Sam’s defense and pulls an exaggerated face, raising the poor boot up to eye level to inspect it. “Maybe you’re just bad at telling stories,” he says finally.

While AJ and Cass giggle like the traitors they are, Sam makes a loud offended noise.

“Alright,” he says. “Fine. Fine. You know what? Just for that, I’m telling the story of how all of Petruski’s sticky sheep started followin’ your fluffy white wolf ass around.”

AJ dissolves into even harder giggles. Cass says, “Not the sheep story Uncle Sam! All you do in that one is complain!” and Bucky says, more primly than he has any right to, “I was consciously being as non threatening as possible, Samuel.”

“Yeah,” Sam says, “so non threatening they thought you were one of ‘em.”

AJ is really starting to wheeze now, so Sam hauls him into his arms to disrupt the hilarity before it gets medical. Cass brings his pillow up over his head like a crown to smother his own laughter. And Bucky winks, before – in a devastating play – letting out a quiet, plaintive pair of baas in quick succession.

Routines like this one are becoming more and more real. More and more comfortable, Sam thinks, amidst the boys’ shrieks of laughter. Being here, being in this home (their home – The home?) it fills his heart with something warm and solid and unmoving. Like he has put down a heavy load. Sometimes it is hard to imagine what is so important that makes it worth picking up sword and shield and leaving this behind. Without this, where would any of them even be?

It’s just, that thought doesn’t stop the rest of the world from banging on their door sometimes.

Just look at Steve’s cryptic as hell note. The me you know isn’t dead. Seriously. What the fuck. Sam almost wishes he really was dealing with a unicorn.

He settles on telling the story of how he and Steve once met that tiny shrinking guy and between Captain Rogers’ knightly loyalty to his friends, some of Redwing’s more heroic moments, and the addition of the brilliant mage-princess who gifted Bucky the enchantment for his arm, both boys are appeased.

“Uncle Sam,” Cass says, sleepily, towards the tail end of the story. “’S no fair that magic skips a generation. I wanna help save the kingdom like you do.”

Sam quiets, his hand stilling where it was in the middle of brushing over AJs forehead. AJ is already fast asleep. Knocked out cold, snoring and everything.

Thing is, Sam’s brand of magic is pretty limited — some gimmick, even, nowhere close to what his Titi had. All Sam’s good for, practically speaking, is translating messages from carrier pigeons. But it got him into this bigger world, tangled him up in it.

Sam can see, even though Bucky’s head is down, that his friend’s expression has taken on a slight grimness.

“Cass. Hey.” Sam knuckles the boy’s nose gently. “What do you mean, like me. You know how I keep this old kingdom safe? I help your mama do the dishes.”

“Uncle Sam,” Cass says, rolling his sleepy thick-lashed eyes.

Sam sighs. “Cass. Just because it doesn’t make for a good story doesn’t mean it isn’t important.”

More important, even. Running this old house, and its garden (with all those gnomes, little pains-in-the-ass) and its boat.

“Muh huh,” Cass manages. And then he has drifted off, the side of his face squished against the pillow.

Sam and Bucky quietly relocate to the kitchen, where Redwing is awaiting them with a new note and a dead mouse.

“Jesus,” Bucky mutters.

“You better not be about to get in a piss fight with a kestrel when there are sleeping children in the next room.”

As if on cue, Redwing flaps over lands happily on Bucky’s shoulder, startling him. The little bell on his foot jingles, and Bucky glares, which does nothing to deter the little bird’s impulse to start throwing up what appears to be more mouse.

Bucky stands perfectly still and looks awfully close to raptorcide.

Dude, can you like, be normal for once, Sam says, to the bird. Redwing fluffs out all of his feathers in Bucky’s face in response.

“I don’t get into piss fights with your kestrel, Sam,” Bucky says, gritting each word out with individuality.

Redwing twitters happily.

He’ll come around eventually, Sam replies. He scoops the bird up in both hands and re-situates him on his own arm, and begins untying the little package wired to Redwing’s foot. Out loud, he adds, “You know, he wants to be your friend so badly –”

“He’s the one who chews through my best leather breeches twice a month –” Bucky cuts himself off, grumbling under his breath and reaching over to fumble the parchment scroll out of Sam’s hand while its messenger hops in one place and nuzzles the crown of his feathery head into Sam’s armpit. Sam’s poorly concealed smile fades when Bucky openly frowns.

“Note’s from Nakia,” Bucky mutters, tapping the amulet bracelet on his right wrist against the similar shape of beaded stone etched into the scroll’s covering as Sam strokes Redwing’s head.

“It’s – what?”

“What what.”

“From another dimension,” Bucky reads aloud, looking increasingly incredulous.

“What?”

“You already said that.” Sam rolls his eyes. Bucky makes a face at the scroll. “Always gotta be another fuckin’ gimmick. Well. She’s got a guy to decode it.”

“Didn’t she cast the spell?” asks Sam, who is still processing the dimension thing. As in, like, different from their own?

Is that where Steve is?

“Yeah, but only to keep anyone else from decoding it. The bracelet itself already had a message stored in it.”

“Beyond Steve’s disembodied voice materializing outta nowhere the first time I touched that thing to prove he hasn’t kicked the bucket.”

“Which,” Bucky starts, “for the record –”

“Was not your theory.”

Bucky frowns harder. Refocuses. “Yes. The bracelet, which was clearly a magical object enchanted to respond to your touch –”

“Could’a been our touch, you never held it before I did –”

“Fine, sure, our touch – double enchantment. This thing is stolen, and someone – my guess is Steve – managed to layer another goddamn spell on it before sending it our way.”

Sam sighs, staring at the gleaming dishes in the drying rack. A box of Arm and Magical Hammer’s peroxide sits orange and to the side. Maybe this is why Sarah refuses to use any of the handy dandy domestic enchantments he brings home for her.

Because magic’s a pain in the ass.

“So?” says Sam.

“Uh, yeah. She’s got a guy to decode it …” Bucky grimaces, “on the other side of the river.”

Oh. Oh. Yeah, that’s gonna be rough.

“I can’t go through a GRC checkpoint,” Sam says. Redwing makes a mournful sound of agreement. Bucky is still turning the note over and over as if maybe reading it upside down will change its mystifying contents.

“They’d recognize your beautiful knightly face,” he agrees, reciting Sam’s proffered explanation. “And then search all your bags and spook your horse. You know, she’s way too sensitive.”

“Clara ain’t sensitive, she’s emotionally intelligent. There’s a difference,” Bucky mutters something about Sam busting out his inner kingdom social worker lingo on them and Sam adds, “and you can go through a GRC checkpoint even less, by the way.”

“To be fair,” Bucky says, “they have kinda fucked up my nose in all those wanted posters. Maybe they wouldn’t recognize me.”

They both sit down at the table, resigned. It’s a sticky problem. Sam supposes, as Bucky pulls his favourite dagger out and begins flipping it in a broody manner, that they could take Sharon’s smuggler’s detour behind the wall, but she’d ask too many questions. Sending Redwing on his own is too risky (Sam admits, begrudgingly and in the privacy of his own mind). Clint’s roped into a local problem with a gang of overall-wearing gnomes, Bruce has started teaching a yoga of ogres class, even Joaquin just set up shop marketside selling his scroll encryption services … Sam’s stomach growls, and the lingering smell of spiced rice hits his nose. Sarah’s left a potfull on the stove, for them, probably. She blusters plenty, has real right to be angry plenty, and has a mean right hook, but she loves him. And she’s a lot tougher than she looks, Sam’s come to realize. Kept this whole village alive over the years with her caring, and even after they set up the blockades she charmed the border officers better than Sam or Bucky ever could.

Sam clicks his tongue against his teeth and says, “Huh.”

“What,” says Bucky.

“Lemme run a hypothetical by you.”

“Oh no.” Bucky rubs a finger over the bridge of his nose. “You always do this to me. I started like that once –”

“And have had many terrible no good get Sam’s ass in trouble plans since, brother.” Sam crosses his arms; Rewind flaps over to his little perch by the bookshelf in deference. “Hypothetically, you don’t have to look like yourself. Right?”

Bucky looks at him warily. “Well … no.”

“And … hypothetically –”

“Sam …”

“If a familiar person, say … the nice lady who used to take her gumbo to the community house every week. Was to have that bracelet in her box the next time she went –”

“You wanna send your sister through the woods on her own in this economy?” Bucky interrupts, baffled.

Sam lifts his chin. Raises his eyebrows. Wags his head a little bit. Chirp, says Redwing from across the room, which Sam might roughly translate to it’s not rocket science, pal.

It takes Bucky a moment to get it, but when it clicks, it’s obvious.

“Oh, no,” he says, a slow horror growing in his face. “No. No, no, no, no way. I refuse, Sam.”

“I haven’t asked anything yet!” Sam says, very mildly put out.

Bucky levels the pointy end of the dagger at him. “No. You’re not entrusting me as the sole keeper of your sister’s safety in the wilderness!”

Sam leans back in his chair, eyebrows raised. “And who the hell else am I gonna entrust as the sole keeper of my sister’s safety in the wilderness?” Bucky makes a disbelieving little cawing noise, like a sad crow, to which Sam adds, deliberate: “Come on, Buck. Be serious.”

Bucky does not answer, as he seems to go through twelve different emotions at once, silently. Sam, who can acknowledge at sword-point that this is maybe a little mean of him, given Bucky’s profound loyalty to his friends and poorly-concealed devotion to said sister (hmph), gives him a minute. Finally, Bucky manages,

“Anyone! Someone who didn’t spend the last eighty years magically entrapped by a cabal of fascist wizards in the body of a murderous rabid animal!”

He waves his free hand, which was previously clutched in his hair for something to do. He’d look a bit wild if he didn’t look so thoroughly mundane sitting there in his shirts with his boots off.

Well, okay. The knife’s a little intense. But it’s not like Sarah’s kitchen isn’t stacked with em.

Sam pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Okay, first of all. Rabid is just flat out inaccurate.”

“Sam,” Bucky grinds out.

“I’m just sayin’,” Sam says. “You’re not diseased. And like, present day wolf you can even be kinda cute. You seen how fluffy you are? Those sheep definitely did.”

Bucky actually growls at him.

“That doesn’t actually dispute my point,” says Sam, “which is that this, right here, is objectively our best plan.”

“I won’t do it.”

“I’m asking you, Bucky.”

“It’s a terrible plan!”

“Says the guy who only ever comes up with the most unhinged plans ever!”

They glare at each other, for a prolonged, stone-headed moment. Sam thinks that next time he tells the kids a bedtime story, he should include a Mexican standoff somewhere in there. Then Bucky raises the knife again, very very slowly.

“Only if Sarah says yes.”

“Which,” Sam agrees, “is extremely unlikely. If magic could be wrapped up in a tiny little football, she’d probably drop kick that thing into the Mississippi like a quarterback.”

Marginally, Bucky’s face relaxes.

“Yeah,” he says, and now Sam is starting to feel some relief too, because really, what the hell is he thinking? Sending his baby sister out into the wilderness so they can all uncover some great conspiracy … “Yeah. Yeah, okay. If she says yes, I’ll do it.”

And then, of course, she does.

#the logic of this au world is essentially what if the witcher got crossed with ella enchanted #thats all u rly need to know #im retconning endgame in my own au by having steves disappearance be for correct reasons #like he got trapped in another dimension where he could have a happy ending but it was an accident and not on purpose #my writing #the falcon and the winter soldier #captain america #tfatws #sam wilson #bucky barnes #sarah wilson #steve rogers #sam x bucky #cass wilson #aj wilson #sarah x bucky is implied and def present in the og fic

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blueberry-lemon · 1 year ago

Text

regarding Cozy Games

For the past year or two I keep wanting to post my take on "cozy games" but then I stop myself because I'm trying to be a good boy and not generate discourse.

But I figured I'd just get my thoughts out into a blog post just to have something to put out there, and maybe if I change my mind someday I can look back on this post and see where I agree or disagree.

I'm inspired to write this after reading this thoughtful piece by MOKKA, although it's less of a response to that post specifically and more of a response to a variety of different posts I've seen over the past 2 years on the topic. Go follow MOKKA because they're a great writer and artist, and they make cool games!

When I read people's thoughts on "cozy games" there are two thoughts that I kind of hold equally in my mind.

Thought 1: "Cozy Games" seem to keep, understandably, annoying people

There's been a lot of ink spilled from various writers about the politics of "cozy games." The fact that we're now calling them "cozy games" is proof in itself that the terminology has changed due to pushback. The Wholesome Games twitter account was one of the first brands/communities to put a label on this nebulous concept, and they called them "wholesome." Then, there was a lot of justified criticism about the term "wholesome." Now, although that particular brand hasn't changed the name of their LLC or whatever [which is understandable], I've seen most people shift over to calling them "cozy" so that there's less of a moral judgment in the name.

(From what I understand, in Japanese these are called something akin to "healing games.")

So things kind of got off on the wrong foot from the very start, at least in the English-speaking world, because of one Twitter user's poor choice of branding. For what it's worth, I dislike the term "wholesome games" for the same reasons everyone else seems to. It focuses on a moral judgment rather than the feelings the work is trying to evoke.

There's another point of irritation, which is the arguments "for" making cozy games. For example, there is this academic-style report that MOKKA responded to in their piece linked above that goes to great lengths to propose what "cozy" is and why developers should make cozy games. Personally, I think this report is kind of buckwild. The first half is kind of interesting, especially in its attempts to try to define the nebulous term. The second half, and specifically the conclusion, puts its foot in its mouth by making bold claims of cozy games being "anticapitalist" and some sort of moral good.

I think that concluding argument is very silly. Personally, I would not have put my name on a report like this.

But also, in fairness, this report was written in 2017. I have no way of knowing if the writers who worked on this feel the same way as they did six years ago. I feel like we've all done a lot of growing and changing in the past six years. The world has changed, and specifically the gaming landscape has changed in the avalanche of the "cozy game" market.

I also think the pro-cozy-game arguments can be irritating to people because they're already self-justified in a business sense. Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing New Horizons are two of the most successful games of the past decade by sales numbers and everyone knows that. It has had a very obvious cause-and-effect, where publishers and developers are making "cozy games" because there is an audience for them.

Are they doing it out of greed? Are they doing it out of sound business-sense? Are they doing it out of genuine interest for making these games?

I'd assume probably the latter, but maybe it's a mix of all three.

I think the biggest source of justified skepticism about cozy games is because they seem to represent, or use signifiers of, things that bother people in real life. Signifiers of "middle class" and "upper class" living. A reliance on what those concepts mean in the white/western world. An emphasis on gaining capital. An emphasis on owning property. An emphasis on maintaining control over that capital and property. An embrace of aesthetics and vibes that some people might consider "twee" or "cringe" or "childish", such as cute animals, coffee, stickers, scarves, blankets, and autumn leaves.

People have very strong feelings about these things in real life, and for good reason. In real life, there have been a lot of really alienating and damaging policies carried out in the name of protecting capital, property, comfort, and coziness. It has hurt a lot of people. I think most of us, at least if you're reading this, are trying to undo these barriers in real life.

Lastly, I understand how seeing tiktokers and youtubers who love this game genre sort of "acting out" the fantasy via blankets, coffee, quilts, playing in bed, playing by the fireplace, etc. can be very annoying or distasteful for certain people. Especially if it seems like a means to gain more followers and clout.

All of that said, the other thought I hold in my mind is...

Thought 2: I don't see how this is different from any other mainstream game genre

I honestly don't.

This doesn't feel significantly different to me than sci-fi shooters, fantasy hack-and-slashers, lavish sports/racing games, etc.

A lot of games that have big mainstream appeal are escapist "numbers-go-up" power fantasies that reveal some of our most embarrassing and problematic tendencies.

Diablo, Doom, Grand Theft Auto, Pokemon, basically all MMOs, Madden NFL, Spider-Man. I feel like they all operate on "turn your brain off" appeal that uses particular aesthetics and vibes to give you a power fantasy. They reflect selfish desires and reward certain behaviors. They valorize power and dominance over the game world. They idealize particular types of people. They alienate and exclude huge swathes of people.

In many "cozy games", the power fantasy involves being able to dress-up your avatar, decorate your home, cultivate a garden, be self-employed, etc.

It's a power fantasy because doing those things in real life can be tiring, difficult, and expensive. So it's fun to do them in a fictional space.

I don't really see how anyone's interest in playing in these spaces and engaging in these power fantasies is any different from doing the same thing in a game like GTA or Diablo. Yes, all art is political. And all games are worth criticizing. But people can also enjoy things for their own fictional game-iness without wanting to enact those forces in real life. If anything I feel like that is the default relationship between a player and a game they like. We all understand this when we play a first-person shooter.

Enjoying Animal Crossing isn't a reflection of anyone's real-world opinions on zoning or market. Enjoying Fashion Dreamer isn't a reflection of anyone's real-world opinions on the fashion industry, etc.

Much in the same way that you can enjoy violent video games but not support violence in real life.

Even the over-the-top way that "cozy influencers" dress up and act out the vibe of the genre I think is not much different from how people embrace the vibes of other genres. People dress up silly and say cringe stuff a lot, as a way of putting on a persona and playing in the genre space. People cosplay in tactical gear and wear horned helmets and faux-fur. And when that type of persona intersects with social media I think it always gets a little dicey, whether it's suburban coziness or fantasy adventure, because the chase for "more followers" is off-putting to watch.

People flock to cozy games because they're games that appeal to them. And developers flock to them because there's evidently an audience for it.

Most people I know who enjoy cozy games (both IRL and online) are happy to have them because they like them and want more games like that. They are often women or gender-nonconforming, and sometimes have no interest in games that focus entirely on combat.

While the recent avalanche of "cozy games" that have flooded the market between 2016 and now probably seems overwhelming and eyeroll-worthy if you're knee-deep in the games industry, to the average person they are still greatly outnumbered by the action-oriented and combat-oriented games that make up a majority of big releases.

I do think a lot of these games are flawed. Sometimes they feel flawed in their game design, or sometimes they feel flawed in their politics. What exactly is their narrative or aesthetic "saying" about the world? These are things worth criticizing.

Again, I sadly feel like most games with mainstream appeal suffer from these design and political flaws. And it's important for us to always be talking about them, especially as developers.

But...I am always rooting for developers to explore this space more. I think the games are fun to play, I like to see new waves of people enjoying games, and I like seeing developers try out new ideas. I think it can be a win-win-win.

I hope that with more exploration and experimentation, this "genre" (although it's really more of a "vibe", right?) can find all the different interesting ideas and executions that we've allowed shooters and hack-and-slashers to find over the decades. I would love for them to evolve past what they are right now, becoming more thoughtful and inclusive, and I think with enough time and consideration they'll get there.

#gaming #video games #cozy games #wholesome games #indie games #blogofkylelab

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batsplat · 8 days ago

Note

a tennis ask: does the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) actually do anything? its existence and operations are kinda weird… also, what do you think about djokovic’s tennis political views? compared to fedal, he’s definitely more active, and seems like he actually cares about players’ needs and concerns

kinda does something. I guess

in a very abstract sense I am obviously a pro-union person and I am also a pro-tennis player union, but. you never really got the sense that the ptpa would be able to explain what they were doing that the atp's player advisory council isn't already there to do (beyond 'include women', which they started doing... in the second draft). I don't think that's an argument against its existence - there's a lot of areas of tennis where theoretically a union would be called for, and at the end of the day something with some independence from the actual tours would be good. in the general spirit of unions. it's kinda... historically complex... because you can argue that the professionalisation of the sport did happen in a reasonably grassroots manner, and you can say that it's still reflected in the governance structure when compared to some other sports. but also it's fair to say a lot of players don't feel like they have much power over said governance in reality, so the 'seat at the table' is a bit useless. this was also very much a covid era thing - like ik it was technically discussed before that, but it was created at us open 2020 and very much had the vibes of 'weird covid thing'. and a lot of the initial interest amongst players was linked to that... the tour was suspended from march to august, which is survivable as a top player but pretty rough for everyone else. they weren't completely left on their own --

-- but again, just to be clear, I do get the timing and why this was theoretically something you might want to exist

it does run into the whole 'what do you people even do' issue. I mean, look, it's tough - if you're not recognised by the official tours and if you have to build this from ground up, obviously you can't revolutionise the sport in a day. but from the start, the ptpa has just felt quite... amateurish. unclear mission statement, unclear on what their goals were and how they were intending to go about it, lack of professionalism in their public utterances. obviously their leadership structure was pretty *waves hand* djokovic, pospisil and friends at the start - and as I understand it, that has gotten better, but it was a very particular type of first impression. ik all this stuff is quite boring and annoying and I don't want to nitpick, but it does matter. it just did not feel like a serious organisation. I've checked their twitter and clearly they've hired a semi-competent social media manager, though I still think some of this stuff needs improvement --

-- but like. at least it looks vaguely professional. they do also have a passion for releasing statements that are a pain to read

it HAS gotten more professional over time, but it still feels like it has an extremely scattergun approach to what it cares about and what it doesn't. there Are Issues where it feels like it would be nice for some kind of a player's union to provide some thoughts. I'm about to go on a bit of a tangent but I swear this is relevant

my personal bugbear issue is the tennis ball crisis - which I don't just care about because I suspect it's helped kill the career of my favourite men's player, but I'm not thrilled by that development icl. we all know about the tennis ball crisis: they're shit now. talk about this started early 2023 and it's really gone mainstream since. it's a problem with all the manufacturers, it's a problem at every level. like, they really are more shit now. the balls I play with are worse than the ones we had a decade ago. they get fluffy insanely quickly, especially obviously for pro players. and beyond fucking over players who need the balls to be sturdier to help them with pace generation, it's caused an obvious increase in injuries. you hit at these shitty pancake things and you're fucking over your arm because they're not bouncing off your strings like they're supposed to

now, again, this isn't news, but nobody's really known WHY this has been happening until quite recently. in november of last year, zverev as a member of the atp players' council talked about his communications with the tennis ball company (yes I'm aware I'm citing the research conducted by a repeat domestic abuser who was elected by his peers to represent them, yes this sport deserves to die):

one of the best journalists currently in the sport, giri nathan, wrote an article about this in january of this year that I would very much recommend. does also probably make clear my personal investment in the issue

there's a related problem that goes beyond the balls being shit - they keep changing them. absolutely insane they can't work out something where at least tournaments in the same bit of the calendar have to use the same ball manufacturer. the point is, while clearly people within the advisory council are doing something, this has become a pretty widespread complaint. wta world number one and noted non-pusher sabalenka recently posted on instagram about how quickly the balls were dead during her practise session. if covid really has made the tennis balls worse, then... the ptpa should be talking about this!! maybe they're doing stuff behind the scenes, but they certainly haven't been vocal about it. player safeguarding seems like such a standard issue

in general, it feels like the ptpa still doesn't quite know what its jurisdiction is. here's another far thornier issue - the situation with rybakina and her coach, who has been banned by the wta for a year. an article (tw: abuse) was published by the athletic about the current situation this week. while it is obviously generally a good sign that the wta was willing to take action in this situation, looking at the details of the case you do start to think they should have taken action a whole lot earlier - and that a year long ban is clearly inappropriate if what is being alleged is true. now, again, obviously this is a complicated case, given that rybakina at the time of writing seems to be resistant to outside help. but, if we're talking about player safeguarding... the high number of abuse coach/player relationships, as well as how often coaches sleep with their players, is something that you're going to want to tackle. at least talk about! it's something pam shriver has obviously talked about a lot (she was incidentally very quick to see the rybakina situation for what it was) and has been written about plenty elsewhere. again, an organisation that is not the official representative of the players can't fix this issue overnight, but there are certainly steps you could be pressuring tennis governance policies to be taking. I'd just like to see some sign of interest, more than anything

with those examples out of the way. let's look at what the ptpa has accomplished. there was a controversy last year where roddick criticised the ptpa for being useless and a lot of people (mainly djokovic fans) got very mad at him. I don't like roddick and I don't like djokovic, which makes me a great unbiased third party in this matter. let's see what pospisil listed as the ptpa's accomplishments:

now, if I could go back in time and offer mr pospisil some advice - when listing the accomplishments of your union, 'trading card deal' is not what I'd lead with. nothing inherently wrong with it, but it does objectively sound silly. I laffed. ofc when you keep reading, there is a lot of stuff there that actually sounds pretty good. it's hard to glean from a tweet how much these programs are actually helping tennis players - but the practical aspects of travelling around the world for tennis obviously are a real concern to most players, and I'm generally pro helping them. on demand player service also sounds really positive. if that is a functional service then I think that would be a super positive thing. this does bring me to another complaint - a lack of transparency. I don't want to be finding this stuff out through twitter beef! yes, there's news announcements out there for these items, but we really don't have any sense of how much take-up there's been. without more context, I have no way of knowing how relevant hilton hotels is in the world of booking hotels for tennis tournaments. guys, you need a proper communication strategy

that being said, I do want to highlight something that sounds like, if it's done properly, could be a really positive step in making the sport better - offering pro-bono legal aid to players accused of doping and corruption:

however you personally feel about the recent conclusion of the sinner doping case - even if you believe that sinner was treated exactly like any other player would be - I think it would be hard to argue that this case hasn't revealed just how many inequities exist in the system. again, let's be as generous as possible here - at the very least, sinner has benefited from a quality of legal representation that is simply not available to the vast majority of players. while I support anti-doping measures in principle, I do also think it's clearly extremely easy for a small misstep to lead to very serious career consequences, and at times it just feels like... too much. sinner had a team who knew what they were doing - even just knowing the rules enough to get everything filed on time. obviously this isn't a sports-specific thing, inequality in quality of legal representation is just a problem in Society. but, well, if this service does what it says on the tin, then it can only be a good thing

so like. in conclusion on the ptpa. I think it's probably more good than bad? it could be better. I feel like it comes from a good place for the most part, which only takes you so far but I do have like... a base level of sympathy for it. I'm not particularly convinced by it as a professional organisation - but also, I am convince-able. I'm not a hardliner on this I don't think

on the second part of the ask - icl, I initially skipped over the word 'tennis' and just read 'political views', which, jump scare. ofc I hold a very dim view of djokovic's political views, which does inherently colour how willing I am to trust him on anything related to tennis politics. obviously his anti-vaccine views have been well-publicised, though my personal red line is his persistent serbian nationalism. I try not to pay attention to athletes' personal politics - my general rule is I don't really care what these people believe in their heart of hearts but I do care if they make it my business by publicly talking about it, especially if their rhetoric crosses over to actively doing harm. djokovic's stance towards kosovo and his genocide apologism have for a long time now made it impossible for me to be a fan of his

given how that last paragraph ended, it's a bit hard for me to write a pivot. let's take it as read I don't support djokovic. I have always liked him more As A Tennis Player than the other members of the big three, which is partly due to the tennis itself but also just about what role they play within the sport. it's like,, you look at federer/nadal and what pr merchants they are and go 'oh won't SOMEONE say something controversial for a change' and then the monkey's paw strangles you. and I agree with you, for all intents and purposes it DOES seem like djokovic actually cares about other players. like... this is why I kinda had to lead with his actual political views - the problem is he is a campaigner, he actually has more of a social consciousness than 99% of tennis players (super egocentric sport, lest we forget), it's just that this leads him to both caring about lower ranked players and serbian nationalism. I think the intentions behind the ptpa were mostly Good, I do have a wariness of djokovic's anti-establishment schtick and his populist views but I'm also not a fan of The System as stands. so sometimes we arrive at the same conclusion but due to quite different reasons and underlying ideologies. I also have more general respect for that than I have for federer/nadal's general cowardice when dealing with anything remotely controversial. it's worth pointing out that they have been involved in a bit of a behind the scenes power struggle - the run up to the ptpa being created involves the time in which djokovic was part of the player's council and supposedly federer and nadal rejoined in 2019 to work in opposition to him (this is a whole other controversy involving then-atp tour boss kermode we don't have time to get in here). in general, with djokovic it is interesting that... it sometimes feels like he needs a cause to motivate himself, and then there's a super fine line between that spurring him and distracting him. but it's almost part of his working process As An Athlete in a way it clearly isn't for federer/nadal

idk... I do think the zverev thing played a big part in disillusioning me from the big three once and for all. in a way, it does quite neatly illustrate the differences between the three of them. djokovic really believes in his continued support for zverev and is willing to make it a point to stand by him, whereas federer/nadal just don't care enough. when you read stuff like this it's pretty clear we're not dealing with someone with a functioning moral compass

y'know, every time you see those uwu gifs/photos of nadal/federer being cute and holding each other's hands at the 2022 laver cup, I just want you to remember that zverev attended that retirement event despite having an ankle injury that prevented him from playing himself. federer's precious laver cup twitter account for years has blocked anyone who mentions the abuse allegations against zverev in the replies. nothing about tennis is morally clean, but the continued breathless fan engagement with that particular event is something I personally cannot understand

anyway the point is that djokovic is obviously even worse about this. he's a principled man! unfortunately those principles fucking suck. and that to me is always going to be a problem when we're talking about who I want to see running a union. I think djokovic has done some good things in the sport - and I think he clearly really does care. I think it's a good thing he's willing to use his clout and power within the sport to proactively advocate for change, even though I kinda 50/50 agree on his actual targets for change. and I still wish players' best advocate weren't such a crackpot

#mind u looking at the new men's lot... social consciousness that could fit into a walnut shell #EYE have not forgotten the meloni photoshoot after the first sinner ao title believe you me #with the women it very much comes and goes. only semi-reliable one is gauff albeit also not all Ws #jabeur usually on it both wrt feminism and non-tennis issues like palestine. unfortunately not exactly a top player anymore #anon i want u 2 know i answered this ask and went 'hm i haven't checked tennis scores today' then checked #saw that djokovic was down a set and a break to berry tony and immediately turned the match on #might rewatch my brave son felled by evil tennis balls who apparently today 'won' a 'tennis match' just to feel something #//#batsplat responds #racquet tag

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redbayly · 5 months ago

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Just got an anon comment on a Harry Potter fic I wrote almost a decade ago. It said:

"I hate non canon shippers."

Not "non canon ships" but the shippers. I know this is extremely mild as far as trolling and flaming goes in fandom (and even among my own personal experience - I have had a few death threats in the past, one of them solely because I liked Neville Longbottom).

But, even so, I just do not understand this kind of mindset.

They deliberately go into a fic that is clearly labeled as something they don't like just to be a dick. And it's not even about the fic, itself, but simply because there is a person who doesn't bend over for canon. And not even about a specific ship, either, just the idea of people not shipping the canon pairings.

I know I should be used to this. I know this isn't even on the radar of significance. But I still just cannot wrap my head around the fact that people do this. That they waste their time telling strangers on the internet that they hate them because of a story and that stranger's personal preferences. It's like telling someone who wears a white shirt that they hate every person who wears white shirts.

As I've said, I've seen genuinely nasty comments before. In the last couple of months alone, I've been horrified by some of the disgusting bullshit sent to people in the Zutara fandom. And, believe me, some of those comments are definitely in the extreme end of bad.

But there's something about the banality of this comment that has gotten under my skin. This person just blandly stated that they hate an entire group of people just for being non canon shippers. And, considering this is the Harry Potter fandom, I kinda suspect most people there don't care too much about canon shipping (maybe it's changed? I haven't been very involved in that fandom for a while).

I don't know. This comment was really stupid and I deleted it pretty quick, but something about it is nagging at me. I don't feel upset or angry about it, but there is a weird feeling there. Maybe I'm just annoyed and disappointed by it. By its kind of dull, even disinterested tone. It just reads like the person didn't actually care. Like telling someone else they hate them for shipping preferences is just this thing that needs to be done and they're going to put the bare minimum effort into being a jerk.

I simply can't understand it and it's bugging me.

#redbayly #fandom

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selamat-linting · 8 months ago

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just saw this loser saying that they just cant get into punk and drew's feud and that cmjf is better. which is okay, valid opinion, i was like that too for some time actually. i dont fault ppl for thinking cmjf is better because drew almost joining the ses cult at the time is different than mjf who spent years molding his persona to be a homage to cm punk's career. like, even if you include the really interesting factoid/rumor that punk might have pushed drew to be released from wwe in around the early 2010s, the emotional hook in the beginning of the feud and sense of betrayal that cmjf had is still stronger.

but then this idiot maggot goes ahead and say that punkintyre is a ripoff and that its pathetic that a company that has a 70 year old lore is copying off a fresh startup for ideas. which is, what? are you even watching the cmjf feud? what kind of shallow reading bullshit is this? its literally a direct adaptation of raven and cm punk's feud without the alcoholism. its ripping off roh basically. Some of the spots of the cmjf dog collar match is copied exactly like the first one punk had with raven. there is a gifset comparing the two. the emotional background, guy who gets angry and pissed off by their former hero and becomes a bad person as a result, is also the same.

also, its not like aew doesnt copy things off from other places too. adam cole's character work is mostly reusing the same ideas he's had during the undisputed era in wwe nxt? mercedes mone's ceo gimmick is just... the boss with the letters changed and a slightly different dance. that the entire four pillars stuff was literally copypasted from AJPW. and then they bring out gangrel and use the vampire gimmick and blood dumping antics that got left behind several decades ago instead of doing something new.

okay, i actually like mercedes mone and thought adam cole is doing his best in spite of the injuries. in fact, the four pillars match is one of the first matches i saw and i still think of it fondly. im pulling these examples not because i dislike them (though i do think adamjf as a ship and a tag team is a bunch of rotten eggs when they didnt break up at all in and dragged out the devil storyline) but to show that people and companies have been copying and getting inspired over each others ideas and its like normal. not a sign of creative bankruptcy.

if you want to take potshots for aew or wwe copying ideas, you have to acknowledge your favorite company is also recycling storylines and gimmicks from other places.

again, its common and perfectly fine to have preferences and like a company's take on a story or concept better than others. but some of the ppl i see doing these type of stupid fights are the type to dislike the exact same thing they love just a few minutes ago just because the letters on the apron is different. its bootlicking behavior and its annoying. get rid of that, even the so called "deranged" kpop fana abhors company stans in their fandoms

#wrasslin #fandom wank #yknow what maybe i should do this more as gunshots for the property

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musclesandhammering · 4 years ago

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Every Single Issue I Have With S*lki (It’s Not Just The Selfcest)

Here goes. I threatened to post this a few days ago and never did, but I just saw a s*lki stan Twitter account claim that Loki caring about Sylvie more than the whole multiverse was a Good And Romantic thing and it pushed me over the fucking edge, so now you all have to read this. I’ve divided it into categories cause there’s just THAT much.

OOC Bullshit

• First and foremost, no amount of mental gymnastics you do will ever make me believe that this specific Loki- the one that just invaded New York, that just came off a year of Thanos Torture, that just got done being influenced by the sceptre, that was literally in the middle of a crisis already, and then on top of that went through all the trauma of Ep 1- would even be worried about a romantic relationship. That would be the furthest thing from his mind. Go back and watch how he acted in Avengers- you think that guy would abandon his previous mission to become a snivelling simp for a girl he’d just met 3 days prior? Yeah, there’s no universe in which that makes sense.

• “It’s very in character for Loki to fall in love with himself lololol-“ NO, it’s literally not. Out of all the characters in the mcu, I don’t think I can think of anyone that genuinely hates themselves more than Loki. He even referred to all his other male variants as “monsters” and said meeting them was “a nightmare” in this series. He’s got so much self-loathing, plus the fact that he genuinely thinks himself to be an evil backstabbing scourge- so there’s no evidence at all suggesting that he would ever develop a fondness for, or even be inclined to trust, another version of himself, after only knowing them for 3 days.

• Building on that, the whole concept of Loki falling in love with a version of himself just feeds into the annoying ass misconception that he’s a narcissist. No matter which way you stack it, he’s not. If you’re referring to NPD, he doesn’t fit the criteria, and if you’re saying “narcissist” just as a slang term meaning “selfish and arrogant”, that still doesn’t accurately describe him. But when creators like Waldron and Herron do things like having him fall in love with himself, it makes it so much easier for casual viewers to think that he is.

Shitty LGBT Rep

• It’s kinda sus that Loki’s are allegedly genderfluid and yet the only female-presenting variant we see (and apparently the only female-presenting variant there is, cause the male Loki’s all seemed unfamiliar with the concept) is treated as some kind of mind-bogglingly special paradox. Also very sus that, out of all the Loki variants, the one our Loki falls in love with just so happens to be the only female one. What a coincidence.

• The fact that the creators of the show went around bragging about Loki’s bisexuality and Marvel purposefully (lbr) allowed stories about Loki possibly having a male love interest to circulate, specifically enticing queer viewers to watch the show (you know, the definition of queerbaiting), and then instead of having a male love interest (Loki was the first queer main character, so it was the perfect opportunity) they gave us *gestures to this dumpster fire* this… it’s just a middle finger to LGBT fans. The fact that they would rather have this relationship with all its myriad of problems than have a gay relationship is just……. Very telling.

• While him being with a woman obviously doesn’t refute his bisexuality, the fact that they showed/talked about him being interested in 3 different women (flight attendant, Sylvie, Sif) and never even hinted at him being attracted to a man, definitely makes it seem like they were trying to cover up his bisexuality to smooth things over with the more homophobic viewers. You know? It’s like “I know you’re pissed that we sorta confirmed Loki as bi, so we promise we’ll never mention it again! Or even hint at it! As a matter of fact, we’ll give him lots of female lovies and make him seem as straight as possible! That’ll take your mind off of that horrible crumb of queer rep, right? Please please please keep giving us your money!!!”

• Aside from all the other issues, at its core, the biggest reason why I think I’m so irritated with s*lki is that it took one of the most interesting, complex, and diverse characters in cinema atm and squished him into a tired ass unnecessary heteronormative subplot…. Like literally every. single. other. protagonist. ever. Loki is such a unique character, and it’s so so so incredibly disappointing that they stuck him into that same boring cookie cutter romance that happens to every other character in every other movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a disservice, and it’s honestly just not compelling or entertaining at all.

Thematic Issues Galore

• His arc didn’t need a romance. With anyone. It was unnecessary and it didn’t make sense plot-wise. In fact, one of the reasons he was my fav prior to this was because he was the only big-name mcu character whose story wasn’t muddied-up by a romance that didn’t need to be there. So much for that.

• He wasn’t emotionally ready for a romantic relationship with anyone. Hell, just a genuine friendship would’ve been pushing it for him at this point. He was in such a bad state that any relationship he got into would’ve been toxic and unhealthy for both him and the other person, and it doesn’t make sense why the writers would want to put him in one when there were so many cons and essentially no pros (other than “Uwu aren’t they cute together”).

• Sylvie’s character in general was unnecessary and Loki’s character was robbed just by her being there. The whole show became about her post-Ep 2. They spent most of the time giving her backstory, building her up, telling us how awesome she is, trying to convince us to like her, etc when what they really needed to be doing was building Loki up- cause I gotta say, if I had to describe TVA!Loki in a few words, they would be Flat, Boring, and Weak.

• The romance overtakes the plot. They spend time portraying their supposed connection that could’ve been spent adding depth and complexity to literally any of the characters. They make the big Nexus Event them giving each other googly eyes on Lamentis when it could’ve been so many other way more profound things that speak to the fundamental nature of Loki’s. They have the climax of the finale be “oh no she betrayed him to kill He Who Remains” when it could’ve been something way more compelling (Loki having a moral crisis over whether or not to kill HWR, Loki contemplating the state of the multiverse and weighing the pros and cons of freedom vs order, Loki looking into some What If situations and getting emotional about what could’ve been regarding his family, Loki realising the gravity of HWR’s offer and finally coming to terms with how important he is to the universal cycle, etc etc). The entire plot suffered in favour of a romance that half of us didn’t even want.

• It essentially reduced all of Loki’s potential character growth down to “He did it for his crush.” He seemed to at least have some motivations of his own in Ep 1-2 (feeble as they were) but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, literally every action he took was just him being a simp for her. Why did he lie in the interrogation? To try to protect Sylvie. Why did he fight the minutemen and Timekeepers? To survive kinda, but mostly cause it was important to Sylvie. Why did he get pruned? Cause he got distracted trying to confess his crush to Sylvie. Why did he try to get out of The Void? Cause he thought Sylvie needed him. Why did he stay in The Void? Cause Sylvie was staying. Why did he try to enchant Alioth? Cause Sylvie told him to. Why did the multiverse get cracked open, leading to an infinite number of Kangs waging war on all of existence? Cause Loki didn’t wanna hurt Sylvie in their fight at the Citadel and then get distracted by her kissing him. It’s uninteresting and honestly pretty embarrassing.

• Throughout their “relationship arc” the writers do their absolute damndest to convince us that we should like Sylvie more than Loki. And you know what? It’s the most hypocritical shit I’ve ever seen. They preach and preach about how Sylvie’s life has been so difficult/we should feel bad for her/she had it so bad/poor poor sylvie/she had it SO much worse than pampered prince Loki…. But then they never even touch on any of Loki’s trauma of hardships (the ones that have been ignored for literally 3 movies now). They frame Sylvie as a good person and a Freedom Fighter after she spent literal decades/centuries mass-murdering brainwashed TVA agents and showing exactly zero remorse for it….. but then they make it their mission to constantly remind us that Loki is a terrible person and constantly put him in situations where he’s forced to acknowledge his wrongdoings/show remorse/admit to how “evil” he is for being a mass murderer for like 2 years. They show him on-screen having a wider range of powers than her, and perpetuate his whole shtick of being a “master manipulator” or whatever….. But then they make Sylvie “the brawn” more competent, intelligent, and physically capable than him. Tell me how it’s a good thing for a ship to be so narratively biased toward one character.

Missed Opportunities

• If they absolutely had to have a romance subplot, then they could’ve paired Loki with one of the characters that have already been established OR one of the characters that were a big part of the whole TVA storyline anyway. It would’ve been so interesting if they’d revealed that Loki had a history with some of the players from previous films (Sif and Fandral both come to mind). It also would’ve been really interesting if they’d given Loki a love interest that actually had some allegiance to the TVA as a whole (Mobius maybe, but not necessarily. It also could’ve been Renslayer or B-15). Hell, imo it would’ve been cool if they’d followed through with that “See you again someday” line that he said to the flight attendant in Ep 1. ALL of these characters have way more chemistry with him than Sylvie, and they were also already relevant to the plot without wasting half the show to give background info on them.

• If they absolutely had to have a hetero-presenting love story involving an enchantress-type figure, then there’s a whole Enchantress (Amora) that was actually Loki’s love interest in the comics. Plus, fans have been screaming for Amora to appear in the mcu for years. Plus, Tom literally pitched an Amora/Loki storyline way back in 2012-13. Also, Lorelei (another enchantress) is also one of Loki’s love interests in the comics, and she already exists in the mcu (she was on Agents of SHIELD). There were several different established characters for them to choose from. Creating a whole knew amalgamation of a character and going with the “she’s a Loki variant” storyline was just completely unnecessary and made no sense.

• They completely robbed us of a Chaos Twins dynamic. Had they handled Sylvie better and not forced her and Loki to smooch, the two of them could’ve had a really really complex and interesting sibling relationship. Loki could’ve stepped into Thor’s shoes and sort of used that new role to gain some self importance, and Sylvie could’ve finally had somebody to look out for her/teach her magic/be there for her. It would’ve been very aesthetically pleasing, the vibes would’ve been out of this world, it would’ve been way more profound than this bs, and frankly it would’ve been much more entertaining to watch.

• Loki’s relationship (read: obsession) with Sylvie completely overshadows all Loki’s other relationships in the show. Loki and Mobius were literally the focal point of the series in Ep 1-2, but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, they barely had any interactions with each other, and Mobius pretty much faded to the background entirely. Loki had the beginnings of a pretty interesting antagonistic relationship with Renslayer (with her wanting him pruned, then arguing with Mobius that he couldn’t be trusted), but after Sylvie showed up the dynamic shifted to focus on the history between her and Ravonna. Loki and B-15 started off very badly and openly disliked each other throughout Ep 1-2, and then in the end of Ep 2, Loki showed a little bit of concern for her when she was possessed, hinting that they might be inching toward a reconciliation- especially considering how obvious it was that Loki was gonna uncover the TVA’s sins eventually. There was so much potential for him to be the one to give her her memories back and convince her to change sides, but no, of course that honor went to Sylvie. In fact, after Sylvie showed up, Loki and B-15 never even spoke to each other again.

Various S*lki Fails

• If they were trying to convince us that this affection was mutual, they completely failed. There’s nothing I’ve seen that even hints at Sylvie feeling the same way about Loki that he does about her. At most, I’d say she has a slight endearment to him. She finds him likeable and she’s grudgingly fond of him, but she definitely isn’t in love with the guy. Maybe she thinks he’s cute and hopes that he gets out of this mess alright, but her mission obviously comes before him- whereas, it’s been confirmed multiple times that Loki cares about her above anything else. She doesn’t trust him, she looks at him like he’s an incompetent fool half the time, she shows little to no reaction during most of his confession moments, and she kissed him as a means to distract him so that she could get him out of her way. Look, all I’m saying is, when you get into a relationship where one of you is way more invested than the other, it never ends well.

• This goes without saying for a lot of us, but the selfcest is just straight up odd and cringey. If you’re cool with that sort of thing, fine! People can ship what they want! But don’t pretend it’s not at least a little bit uncomfortable. Yes, I know they’re not technically siblings so it’s not technically incest, and they’re also not technically the exact same person, but they’re similar enough that it makes things weird. And yes I know selfcest can’t happen in real life, so there’s no way to judge it morally, but neither can most of the other stuff that happens in these shows/movies (the Snap, Loki destroying jotunheim, superhero with powers being held accountable, mind control) and yet we still find ways to judge their morality, because they all mirror real-world events. (The snap= genocide; Loki destroying Jotunheim= bombing other countries; superhero accountability= weapons accountability; mind control= grooming and coercion). And lbr the closest real-world mirror to two versions of the same person (who may or may not share DNA, family, backgrounds, physical and emotion characteristics) being romantically involved with one another is incest. And you can be ok with that if you want- that’s your prerogative- but don’t get pissy just cause a lot of us are squicked out by it.

• The whole mirror metaphor (learning self love via each other) thing just fell completely flat. First of all, having Loki learn to love himself by looking at someone who mirrors him did not, in any way shape or form, require them to be romantically involved. But they were. Of course. Secondly, the creators have contradicted themselves so many times on whether Loki and Sylvie are the same or not, that it doesn’t even really register to the viewer that the mirroring thing was what they were going for. Finally, Loki and Sylvie are shown to have so little in common- and to have only the most bare minimum of similarities personality-wise- that it doesn’t even make sense that Loki would “learn to love himself through loving her”. Like? They’re nothing alike. So how would he make the connection that he himself is actually pretty cool, based on her alone? There’s virtually nothing in her that reflects him.

• I know the objective of the entire show was to convince us of how awesome and unique Sylvie is, but honestly her relationship with Loki just did the opposite. A hallmark of a Mary Sue is having her constantly upstage the male lead, and then having him instantly fall madly in love with her anyway. And that’s.. exactly what happened here. Everything they’re doing to try to force her character to be more stan-able is really just forcing her to look more like their self-insert OC. Which is exactly what she is. It would’ve been so much more satisfying if she didn’t have to try so hard to look cool, if they didn’t have to try so hard to make her backstory tear-inducing, if they didn’t have to turn our protagonist into a snivelling simp just to prove how incredible she supposedly is. Very much #GirlBoss energy and we all know how performative and cheap that is.

• The entire thing was too rushed, there was too little build-up, and it was nowhere near believable. As stated above, it’s ridiculously unlikely that Loki would canonically even be interested in Sylvie, and this show did nothing to explain why he was. He just suddenly was. There was nothing they showed us as viewers that would justify a guy as closed-off and preoccupied as Loki falling head-over-heels for a girl he just met. Their was no explanation, no big revelation, no reasoning, it just… kinda happened. And I’m also severely skeptical of any love story that has the characters go in this deep after only 3 45-minute episodes of exposition.

I’m sure there’s other stuff, so if anyone thinks of anything, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to add it. Tagging @janetsnakehole02 @raifenlf @natures-marvel and @brightredsunset800 for expressing interest. This is all your faults.

#antisylki #loki meta #kinda #loki series critical #loki series negativity #anti loki x sylvie #anti loki series #anti sylvie #frosty bby #loki deserved better #I don’t even like TVA!Loki tho so I guess it doesn’t matter with him lmao #tva loki #loki laufeyson

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moodymelanist · 3 years ago

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clearly I miss my drabble days lmao. I started this one forever ago and I figured I might as well finish it because I love this little AU hehe. here’s some more winter soldier!Nesta AU featuring some iron man!Rhys because…. who else.

also currently accepting Nessian week prompts ❤️‍🔥

“You can still say no if you don’t want to,” Cassian whispered to Nesta as they walked out of the elevator. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Rhys had been needling them for almost two weeks to get a look at Nesta’s metal arm, and Cassian had been shocked when she finally said yes. He'd been constantly checking with Nesta to make sure she was actually alright with it, and by the annoyed expression on her face, she'd had enough.

"Sorry," Cassian apologized, coming to a stop in front of Rhys' lab. "I'm not trying to be annoying." "It's... fine," Nesta answered slowly. "You'll know if it's not."

Cassian chose to interpret that as a sign that she trusted him enough to say something if she got uncomfortable instead of an ominous promise.

“If you two are done canoodling,” Rhys called out, breaking their strange tension, “Some of us have real jobs to do.”

Cassian motioned for Nesta to go in first, but her eyes were wide as they darted over all the equipment in Rhys’ lab. It looked like a whirlwind had whipped through the space, dumping countless scrapped projects, various metals, and a random assortment of tools in its wake. Her steps came to a halt as her eyes settled on the chair Rhys had presumably cleared for her, and it took everything in Cassian not to reach out and steady her with a touch like he might've all those decades ago. The Nesta of today didn't like to be touched, especially when she couldn't see it coming, and he wouldn't be responsible for adding any more weight to those shoulders.

Rhys and Cassian shared a knowing look over Nesta’s head, and then his friend was saying something about the light being better in the living room anyway. Nesta looked so much more comfortable on her favorite beanbag chair that Cassian knew it had been the right decision.

“So. Metal arm,” Rhys commented, clapping his hands together with glee. “What do you know about it?”

Nesta looked down at her left arm and shrugged. “Not much.”

"That's helpful," Rhys replied sarcastically. He reached for a device that Cassian guessed was some kind of scanner given the screen on it. "How much is 'not much?'"

"It's a little difficult retaining information once it's fried out of you," Nesta replied flatly. Cassian couldn't help his wince, and he knew she caught it from the way her lips pressed together. "I don't know anything because they didn't want me to know anything."

Rhys shifted awkwardly, turning away to set up his fancy machine and recompose himself. "Right. Right. Makes sense."

They lapsed into awkward silence as Rhys continued playing with the settings on his scanner, but Cassian couldn't take it for much longer. He just hated seeing how uncomfortable Nesta was, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

“How long is this supposed to take?" he asked.

"Not more than a few minutes," Rhys answered testily.

“He doesn't like it when you question his expertise," Cassian whispered to Nesta. One corner of her mouth lifted in a slight smile, so he'd take it as a victory.

"He is right here and can hear you very well, thanks," Rhys sniped back.

“Don't be such a crumb," Nesta deadpanned.

Cassian couldn't hold back his laughter at the look on Rhys' face. "What did you just call me?"

"It's an old word for jerk," he explained. "You don't hear it much these days."

Rhys stared at Nesta incredulously before powering up the machine with a long-suffering sigh. "You old people and your outdated slang. Next thing I know, you'll be yelling about staying off my lawn."

“Maybe if you had a lawn to yell about," Cassian teased, grinning at the inquisitive look that had entered Rhys' eye. "That was not a suggestion that you buy another mansion so that you can have a lawn."

"Whatever you say, grandpa," Rhys said. He moved the scanner quickly around Nesta's arm, studiously ignoring the way she'd tensed under the machine's scrutiny. "Maybe I should get another mansion just to get under your skin. Hey, V.E.L.A.R.I.S.? What are houses going for with lawns these days?"

"Sir," the computer replied, somehow managing to make itself sound exasperated. "I don't think it's a good idea to buy a home in this market."

"Ah, remind me about this in two months and we'll see." Rhys set the scanner down and clapped his hands together. "Alright, you're all set. Get out of my hair, Frosty Squared."

Nesta was halfway to the elevator before Cassian had even processed the nickname, which for her was practically sprinting away. He and Rhys watched her disappear around the corner with equally heavy sighs before turning back to one another.

"At least she didn't deck me," Rhys offered.

"Little victories," Cassian replied with a pained smile.

"Give it time," Rhys responded sagely. Cassian knew it wouldn't last when his friend added, "Before long, maybe she'll be decking you in a way you like."

"Fuck off, Rhys," Cassian retorted. The billionaire's laughter followed him all the way to the elevator.

#acotar #acosf #nessian #nesta archeron #cassian #moodymelanistwrites #nessian prompts #rhys #rhysand #winter soldier!nesta #captain america!cassian #iron man!rhys

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shesasurvivor · 3 years ago

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Everlark Smut by shesasurvivor

Lately, one of my first real forays into Everlark fanfic, Blue on Grey/A House United have been getting some attention for its smut, and that's exciting! Those stories hold a special place in my heart and I'm still incredibly proud of them. But I've also written several smutty stories over the last decade that, in my opinion, are also every bit as deserving as attention, and I thought I would put together a post highlighting them!

Below is, as of January 2022, a complete list of all the smutty Everlark stories I've ever written.

Blue on Grey - As Katniss Everdeen and her family deal with the painful aftermath on the losing side of the Civil War, they also must adjust when a young Yankee soldier is stationed in their house.

A House United - Follow up to Blue on Grey. Katniss Everdeen has done the unspeakable with Union soldier Peeta Mellark. Now she's agreed to marry him. But first, they must make it through a proper courtship while surviving the trials of the Reconstruction Era South. Historical AU.

Getting There - Katniss has started being intimate with Peeta, but there are still a few barriers she needs to break through to fully enjoy herself. A suggestion from Dr. Aurelius may be just what she needs. Post-Mockingjay, masturbation/mutual masturbation. This remains my single favorite piece of smut I've ever written. As one wonderful reviewer on FFN put it, its, "realistic and perfectly in character, seems almost like a natural extension of canon, and is still both INSANELY hot and sweet at the same time." Exactly what I was going for, and I'm so proud.

Rain will Make the Flowers Grow - It’s a far cry from how we both were mere months ago, broken shadows of our former selves. At one point, I believed any hope of being with him had truly died out. But now we’re here, together. And this is happening. I could cry if I weren’t so caught up in the heat of the moment. Various insights to the life Katniss and Peeta build together post-Mockingjay. Another favorite of mine. Thinking of renaming my entire Post-MJ series with this name, because it's perfect.

This Flame will Burn Forever - "'Fine,' I say, pretending to be annoyed. 'Peeta, I- ' the words become choked up in my throat, just like they always do. And I hate that they do, because it isn’t that I don’t want Peeta to know the truth. I’ve told him how I feel about him, more than once. I want him to know, because I never want to hide anything from him ever again. And really, this isn’t why I have a hard time saying it. It’s because a part of me--an irrational part of me, I’ll admit--is afraid that by saying it out loud, some force, somewhere, will pick up on it and take him away from me again." Katniss and Peeta spend a cold winter day wrapped up in each other. Not quite as explicit as some of my other fics, but still revolves quite a bit around sex so I'm including it.

Netflix and Chill - Katniss Everdeen works three jobs, and is a full time student. She really needs to learn how to chill–and Peeta Mellark knows how to help. Modern Day AU. Written for the Fall 2016 MoreS2SL fundraiser.

Everybody's Got a Dark Side - When Katniss reminds Peeta about the time President Snow visited the study, it accidentally triggers an episode. Then Peeta decides it's time to reclaim Katniss... and the desk. Hijacked!Peeta smut, post-Mockingjay. Another one I'm proud of, because this is different from the kind of thing I usually write. It was fun to do.

Cosa Nostra - Katniss Everdeen is a performer for The Mockingjay, a hotel and casino run by mob boss Coriolanus Snow in Las Vegas. Peeta Mellark is the accountant who might be a plant for the FBI in The Mockingjay’s business office. The two are instantly drawn to each other, but how can anything possibly end well when they are on two opposing sides? Especially when the mob will have no problem harming Katniss’s sister if she betrays them. 1950’s historical AU set in mob-run Las Vegas. This one is special to me, because it was inspired by my own time living in Las Vegas. Smut is only in one chapter, but oh, it's there.

The Tigers Come at Night - Forced into prostitution in the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta find a way to seek refuge in the only people who understand: each other. But when they begin to sleep together for comfort in the supposed safety of their own homes, an unplanned occurrence makes the third Quarter Quell more difficult than it already is. Catching Fire AU. WARNING: Forced prostitution, non-con sexual situations. I questioned including this story on my list, because most of the sex scenes are absolutely not meant to be taken as anything other than incredibly traumatic; they're not meant to be romanticized at all. But there are a few this story that are genuinely romantic, and the story is generally about sex. Just please note that this story is dark, and it's not meant to glorify non-consensual sex in the slightest.

And the Sea is A-Roar - The people of land aren’t supposed to interact with those who live in the sea. It’s a law that was decreed long ago. Peeta, prince of the kingdom by the sea, knows this better than anyone. But the sea calls to him, and he finds himself unable to resist. On a secret visit to the shore one day, he finds himself attempting to save a mysterious woman, only for her to save him instead. Upon discovering that his savior is a mermaid, the two strike up a deal for her to give him secret swimming lessons. However, Peeta finds it harder to keep his taboo relationship with the mermaid hidden; and worse, he finds himself falling for her. Finally, the most recent of my smutty stories, because who doesn't love a good smutty mermaid AU?

#Everlark #Everlark fanfic

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