#why is everything about or tangentially related to sex

[hiddenintheveil]

anyways i forgot how weird it is to chat with someone who doesnt know i'm ace

[thatguywhofedme]

Bit of a change if pace since here comes a cow 🐄🐮

I've been into feedism for as long as I've had a sex drive so this kink is an absolutely massive turn on for me, arguably never had a fulfilling sexual interaction or m@sturbation without something at least tangentially related to fat.

Becoming a massive mattress of pudge and lard always sounded hot in theory but the reality of it seemed so scary. But nie I've been fantasizing more and more about my legs being too fat to lift, my boobs being so swollen and engorged they make breathing a workout, a double sweat wide dimpled butt that makes doors a hazard to get stuck on

I have no idea why now, but being fed to death started sounding, loving and comforting like any other bdsm activity.

Is there anything that makes death feedism specifically your thing or could you elaborate on what exactly you find hot? 😈🥰

Also P.S.

I'd really like to dm you and talk to you cause you legitimately seem like a good, loving and caring partner and person and not some run of the mill weirdo that I found on dating apps 💜💜💘

Omg thank you for the ask, it's nice to have a cow instead of a piggy 🐮

I understand what you mean, I also have a good sex drive which can really be put to good use when I got some fat to play with or at least some fat/feedism talk to put me in the mood 🔥❤️

I love the way you describe how fat you want to become, especially the words "massive mattress of pudge and lard" is such a turn on and I understand it would be scary in reality to become this obese, but with someone by your side who knows what they're doing and truly takes care of you, it can be a lot easier and enjoyable for you 😊

I understand how you feel, feeding someone to death can be scary, but also really intimate

To answer your question, what got me into death feedism are multiple aspects, for example, I've always been someone who loves to care for the people important in my life, caring for someone who has no limits and wants to grow as fat and obese as possible with no end in sight, no matter how massively obese they get fits right in with my personality, I want to make sure that my partner will always be loved and cared for no matter what, whether it's at 600lbs or completely immobile, I want their life to be as enjoyable for them as possible and to be happy until the end 🩷

Everything about death feedism turns me on, whether we're talking about the health issues (struggle to breath and waddle, equipment used to help make your life easier like oxygen cannulas and mobility scooters), the share size your body could become with all this fat and lard enveloping you and the gigantic portions I would have to feed you just to keep you satisfied are one of multiple turn ons when it comes to death feedism 😈💕

I would also love to dm you, your ask was such a delight and from what I've just read, you seem like a genuinely wonderful person and loving partner as well ❤️

And believe me, you're not the only one who's had bad experiences on dating apps, I got loads of stories to tell on the subject lol but please, feel free to dm me, I would love to get and know you 🥰

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

A Great Big Phech-niverse Chapter 12

Tech and Phee try to figure out what to name their baby as the months go.

AO3

“We need a name.”

“Hm?” Tech looked up from his datapad and over at his spouse. “For what?”

Phee smiled at him from the other side of the couch, her hand coming up to rest on her small baby bump. Tech smiled back and set the datapad down on the coffee table. She quickly scooted over to him, resting against him. In the last month, she’d wanted to cuddle more and more. He wondered if it was tangentially related to the beginnings of some nesting instinct. Whatever it was, Tech would not deny her desire to be close to him.

“This kid,” she brought Tech’s hand down to her belly. “They’re going to need a name.”

Tech frowned. “A name?”

“Can’t keep calling them Baby Brown Eyes. Or Beebee.”

“Beebee?”

“Baby Brown Eyes. BBE is the initials. So Beebee.”

“I see,” Tech nodded. “We still have four months though. There’s plenty of time to think still.”

“I know,” Phee leaned her head against his chest. “Didn’t feel confident about thinking of actual names before our appointment today.”

“Why not?”

She rubbed her eyes and Tech saw her lips wobble.

“Phee,” he reassured, rubbing her arms. “Everything is fine. The doctor told us their development was on track. You are in excellent health and so is our baby.”

“I know,” she murmured. “Didn’t want to get ahead of myself. Now feels better to start thinking.”

“I guess so,” Tech nodded. “It will be interesting to be naming the child before they show understanding.”

“That’s normal life, Brown Eyes,” Phee squeezed his hand.

-0-

Tech studied the paint swatches in front of him. There had been another appointment today, and both he and Phee had been able to see their baby. Phee didn’t want to know the sex, but Tech had figured it out before the screen was cropped. Now that he knew the biological gender, there was some temptation to throw out a few of the samples. Then again, gendering color was ridiculous. 

“What do you think about Bayla?” Phee asked from the counter.

“Pardon?” Tech looked up and got up from his chair. “What are you making, dear?”

She fixed him with a look as her fork hovered over the pickle jar. “I’m hungry, okay?”

“Pickles and meiloorun?”

“Hey, don’t judge me,” she gently prodded her stomach. “Beebee is making me want sweet and sour.”

Tech held up his hands, watching Phee dish out the concoction into a bowl. “This is an…interesting craving.”

She screwed the jar lid on and walked over (definitely not waddled, Wrecker took heat for that one last week). “I don’t know, okay? But anyways, Bayla?”

“I’m very confused.”

“Yeah, I’ve felt that too lately,” Phee sat down with her fork and bowl of fruit and pickles. “I’m talking about names. We only have three months left.”

Tech glanced at the swatches of paint. “I don’t know if Bayla will be a good fit.”

“Rand?”

He shrugged noncommittally.

“Well, have you got any ideas?” Phee asked while spearing a piece of fruit.

“Uh,” Tech glanced at where his datapad lay on the couch. “99021?”

Phee swallowed the meiloorun, then poked a pickle. “Tech, they’re not going to be a soldier.”

“They are the child of one,” Tech said. “Unless we named them after one of us.”

“Uh uh. They deserve their own name. Besides, they’re getting our last name.”

Hearing her refer to the surname he now had as our sent a little happy thrill through Tech. “I suppose so.”

“Well, we still have three months left.”

He watched as she ate a piece of fruit and pickle together, her face souring. “It’s not good, is it?”

She shook her head. “I wanted it. But ugh, not anymore.”

“Can I get you something else?”

Phee pushed herself up and started walking to the bedroom. “How fast can you take off your pants?”

-0-

Tech stepped off the ladder to admire his handiwork. While he initially didn’t see a point of painting the nursery, it had grown on him. The repetitive brushstrokes helped calm his anxieties of impending parenthood and his replication of the sky. Crosshair had been able to hear about both when he’d come over to help him and Phee blend the shades of blue together seamlessly.

“Should we paint the starship along that wall?” Phee pointed to the adjacent wall. “Or is it too much?”

“I thought we were painting stars?” Tech asked her.

“We could do both?”

“Let’s set the paint dry before we do anything else.”

“Good plan,” she nodded as she placed her hands against her back. “Ow.”

Tech raised his eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sore. Can we go to the couch and look over names again?”

The couple made their way into the living room and Tech retrieved his datapad. He watched Phee lower herself to the couch slowly and grabbed another pillow for her. As fascinating as it was to watch their child grow, Phee’s discomfort wasn’t easy to watch. They had both wanted this, yet she had to endure both the physical and emotional process.

“So far,” he opened his datapad. “I have Spanner, Rocket, Wave, Kickback, Wire-”

Phee shook her head. “None of those.”

“Fair. What about Hyperdrive? Coil? Switch?”

“No,” Phee frowned at him. “Tech, I’m sorry, but those are terrible names.”

Tech sighed. “This is difficult. How can we name him when he has no input or way to express his personality?”

“He?”

Tech froze and glanced over at her. His mouth went dry as he realized he had let the gender slip.

“I, uh, I…” he floundered. “I was just referring to h- them in a general way.’ “Baby Brown Eyes is a boy?” Phee’s eyes were wide. “You saw, didn’t you?”

“Last month,” Tech nodded. “I was going to wait until he arrived. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t,” Phee wiped the moisture building in her eye. “At least I don’t have to stress out over girl names anymore. They’re hard. But we need an actual name, Brown Eyes.”

“Those are names.”

“A name that isn’t also a common noun.”

-0-

“Eli?”

Tech lifted his head from the pillow. “Phee?”

“Beebee won’t let me sleep,” Phee grumbled in the dark. “I’m thinking of names. Eli?”

“I still don’t see why we don’t let him name himself when he’s old enough to make his own decisions.”

“That’s how we end up with a kid named Vrathean or Mantell Mix or something like that.”

“My brothers and I had to name ourselves,” he reminded her, reaching his hand under the folds of the covers towards her belly. “May I?”

“You’re always allowed. And you never had anyone else to name you! It was yourselves or just being a number. That’s not right!”

Tech pressed his hand to her stomach and brought the other to where he assumed her face was. “It’s okay. I should have asked earlier, but why is this naming so important?”

“I know you were born as a number,” Phee told him in the dark. “I’m used to people naming babies actual names, not kids growing up having to name themselves. And the more I think about it, giving them a name is important. It’s showing him he’s wanted and that we care.”

Tech considered her words. “But what if it doesn’t suit the person our child becomes?”

“Then I’m okay with them choosing a new one.But to give a name from the start, it’s a sign of love.”

Reassurance bathed Tech and he felt the baby’s foot press against his hand. “I see now.”

“Thank you. And we…we don’t need a set name yet. Just a few we feel really good about. When they come, seeing them might make the choice easier. But if I...”

Her hesitance made Tech scoot closer and hold her closer.

“I’m scared,” she muttered. “There’s only a month left.”

“It may be less if you go into labor early.”

She shuddered against him. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when he’s ready to come out. There’s things that might go wrong. And I want to be ready.”

Tech kissed the side of her face. “I can’t promise anything, but I will be by your side the whole time. And when we see our child for the first time outside your womb, I think we can figure out their name.”

“So can we add Eli to the list?”

“I think so. What about Ace?”

“Maybe.”

-0-

Engaging in some frisky activities after Mother’s Day had been intended to help Phee feel better, but Tech only succeeded in sending them to the Pabu’s clinic and single delivery room. The doctor assured Tech he had not triggered labor early several times and their baby was well on its way to coming out, but it fell on deaf ears. For two people who rolled with the punches easily, both of them had panicked about nearly every little thing that happened over the long course of Phee’s labor. Calm finally came over the both of them when the little boy was born and made his presence known with a cry that altered their worlds.

“That’s our baby,” Tech whispered after the child was placed in her arms, a cold pack on his bruised hand. 

“Our baby,” Phee repeated, staring down. “Holy shit, we made that.”

“Language,” Tech said, even though he was thinking the same. “Do you still want to call him Eli?”

Phee shook her head. “No. He doesn’t feel like an Eli.”

Staring from his son to Phee, Tech found himself thinking of how important both of them were. Phee had changed his life even before they’d procreated. With her, he had found both an equal and a balance. He had learned so much more about love and life beyond the Grand Army with her. But there was someone else who had challenged his mindset before her who he still thought of from time to time.

“What if we named him Romar?”

Phee lifted her head. “Romar?”

“My siblings and I met a man on Serrano shortly after our first encounter,” Tech explained, reaching over to gently brush their son’s nose with his knuckle. “He gave Echo, Omega, and myself shelter after I was injured. He was trying to repair a unit storing Serranian cultural data. He challenged how I thought of things, and I stopped generalizing former Separatist planets afterwards.”

“I like that,” Phee mused. “Romar. It kinda sounds like roamer. Fits for the son of a defector and a liberator of ancient wonders. Romar Genoa.”

“Romar Genoa,” Tech repeated. “Now that we’ve named him, shall I go get my siblings?”

“Not yet,” Phee shook her head. “Hold him first.”

She passed him over to his waiting arms. Tech tensed at first when Romar was transferred to him but relaxed as the baby settled against him.

“Romar,” Tech said, feeling a sense of rightness as he spoke the name. “Welcome to the galaxy, little pilot.”

[the-everqueen]

Definitely curious about the genderflip Sandman fic 👀

SAME. as in, this is only a concept on the back burner of my brain because i haven't really worked out a satisfying answer to the central q of the thing which is: what does a gender flip DO to these characters?

because here's the thing. i think 99.9% of the time a genderswap au is unnecessary and boring. (not to mention essentialist as hell.) boys have pussies, girls have dicks, people of all genders are intersex, etc. some of us notgirls and failguys just want to vicariously experience our fave getting his clit sucked or her prostate massaged. i personally hate fics that go "but what if these [cis] dudes were [cis] GIRLS" and then proceed to strip the characters of everything that makes them compelling, that makes THEM, because at that point you might as well just flesh out your OCs and maybe interrogate your internalized misogyny and transphobia while you're at it.

anyways.

in the case of sandman, i am (transparently, obviously) curious about what happens if the Corinthian is not designed to be (read as) a man. in the comix, he very much embodies the fears and risks associated with gayness in the 90s (the AIDS epidemic, the dual violence of the closet and/or being outed, the culture around cruising, intersections of race and class with queerness in U.S. urban areas, etc). in the show that's subtly shifted to be a broader umbrella of queerness as well as a very 21st century anxiety around surveillance/public vs private that also taps into a cultural fascination with serial killers. in both cases, him reading as white, middle-aged U.S. man is a CRUCIAL part of what he signifies. he looks like (and takes advantage of being) someone with a lot of social privilege, across multiple categories. no one is going to question why he's in a fancy hotel, a conference room, a seedy bar, a suburb. OBVIOUSLY that changes if any one of these categories changes. i'm thinking about how and also what that means.

(the dreaming spinoff comix tried to do a Thing with a female Corinthian: while Coco spends a year as a real boy, a trans woman named Echo takes his place in the Dreaming. the spinoff handles Echo...really poorly. [i wrote a whole paragraph here trying to distill her arc but it's tangential to this post so suffice to say: it was Bad.] Echo is posed as this "femme fatale" type because i guess if the Corinthian is a woman, she'd also have to be sexy and alluring to the (heterosexist) male gaze. imho this was a cop-out, but then again...what about that spinoff wasn't.)

on some level i'm not sure the Corinthian could ever be anything besides the Corinthian, if that makes sense. as in, if you change anything about him, maybe then he ceases to be the Corinthian and becomes something else entirely. Dream can take different forms (and Overture has a femme!Dream) because stories can take different forms across cultures and times and species. but the Corinthian is intrinsically tied up in humanity and its biomythic nature. and what we think of as Human, as Sylvia Wynter reminds us, is very much tied up in narratives around identity including race, gender, and class.

at the same time my id absolutely wants a butch lesbian Corinthian who uses he/him pronouns. mostly because lesbian and wlw sex STILL gets dismissed or sanitized or erased or pathologized, even though queer women remain subject to state, police, and domestic violence at higher rates than their straight and/or cis counterparts. (also yes i'm counting my trans hermanas y primas, t*rfs can fuck right off.) but also because i'm a fagdyke with religious trauma who relates very hard to god's failed masterpiece.

[bloomshroomz]

I think I'm aroallo?

CW: sex mentions, talk about aroallo stereotypes

I think I'm aroallo. I've been identifying as aroace for a while now, but I keep saying to my girlfriend, "I feel like I might not be asexual after all." I've been saying that again and again for months. Her response is always, "You're probably not."

I don't question my aromanticism at all. It's one aspect of my identity that I'm very sure about. But my asexuality, on the other hand... I don't think that I'm really ace. I feel like I've been clinging to the asexual label because of the assumptions people make about aroallos. Being aroace is one thing, but being aroallo is a lot harder for me to accept.

People tend to assume that aroallos are always hypersexual, or always loveless, or always prioritize sex above all else when it comes to their relationships with people. And all of those things are valid experiences, but they don't apply to me personally.

I've been trying to put it into words... People think that a lack of romantic attraction necessitates an amplified sexual attraction. Like just because I'm aro, I must be "more sexual" than other allosexual people. It seems like people think sexuality has to be "balanced out" with romance. But I'm not particularly sexual; I'm just not ace.

Tangentially related, this idea that "no romantic attraction = amplified sexual attraction" also seemed really prevalent in SAM discourse a while back. One of the big arguments people used against romantic orientation labels was that they were "oversexualizing" sexuality labels or "reducing everything to sex" by separating the romantic aspect from the sexual aspect.

I'm talking about the people who would say shit like, "Why would you call yourself biromantic instead of bisexual? Are you implying that bisexual people only care about sex?" when they saw a biromantic ace. That sort of "logic."

And the implication with that argument is, if the tables were turned (i.e. they were bisexual and aromantic), it would be appalling to them. And it was especially paired with the assumption that sex - romance = oversexualized, in whatever way "oversexualized" may be defined. Lots of sex negativity mixed in with the discourse.

On another note, I've voiced my disdain for the Attraction Layer Cake elsewhere before. There are a lot of problems with it, but I'm going to focus on the "Crimson" part specifically: the crimson layer is the only option if you're aromantic without being asexual. That and "Red" I suppose, but the red layer could describe any allosexual orientation, whether aromantic or not.

Crimson is labeled as aromantic sexuality, which is a problem in and of itself. It should say aromantic allosexuality. But that's not the part I take the most issue with. I hate the description.

"The purpose of relationships is primarily sexuality. Romance is not specifically desired."

Again, there's nothing wrong with prioritizing or emphasizing sexuality. But that's not an inherent aspect of being aroallo, and it doesn't describe me personally. The primary purpose of my relationships is emotional connection. Sex is just a cool thing that I may or may not do with people.

Also, "relationships" is vague. Does it mean relationships in general, regardless of whether they're romantic, platonic, etc? In that case, that's a huge generalization of the many types of relationships aroallos may have.

Or does it specifically refer to romantic relationships? In that case, that's also a huge generalization, because it assumes aroallos will have romantic partners, and it implies that it's only okay to have sex with people if you're also romantically involved.

Aromantic people also have to deal with a lot of explicitly negative stereotypes. Manipulative, abusive, cruel. I feel like these assumptions get amplified when you're aroallo specifically. A lot of people think that explicitly wanting sex, without explicitly wanting romance, automatically makes you a horrible person. I'm too exhausted to even delve into these stereotypes.

All I'll say is, there's nothing wrong with wanting sex, and there's nothing wrong with having no desire for romance. Sexual attraction doesn't need to be "justified" via romantic attraction, and sex doesn't need to be "justified" via romance. As long as everyone is consenting and upfront with their intentions, whose business is it anyways?

I'm not 100% sure if I'm allosexual. But after months of saying, "I don't think I'm asexual after all," I think it's safe to say that I'm not aroace. Maybe I'm greysexual at most, but eh. Whether I'm allosexual or ace-spec, there's one thing I'm certain of: I'm more aro than I am ace, if I'm even ace-spec at all.

I'm sitting here sort of feeling... Out of place. Like, everywhere. I'm a romance-indifferent aroallo, who isn't heavily sexual, but still enjoys sex. It's sort of isolating, I guess. It would be reassuring to see more people with similar experiences.

Slightly unrelated, but my primary special interest is Littlest Pet Shop, and I love putting these little guys on pride flags. So, here's the aroallo flag with a bunny on it. Makes me happy despite all the confusion and conflicted feelings

[spicybylerpolls]

yeah, that underage doubtful anon about minors filming spicy scenes... that just seems like another kind of byler doubt to me, except rather than being about byler getting together at all, THIS flavour of byler doubt is byler sex doubt! Hahahahaha

we dont need that at all!! byler sex is speculative and somewhat far-fetched, and even though I believe it has serious potential to show up in the show, its still the wacky cousin of the byler community who showed up with some beers and a boombox. it's so fun at spicy byler tumblr, and if we start bringing classic Byler Doubt TM in, we're just going to ruin stuff! cos sex isnt guaranteed here anyway, so why doubt it? we've only just got through the gauntlet of the underage issue, please let's just have fun now for a bit lol

also im going to add my own tangential poll to this post: for me, one of the biggest 'evidences' of spicy byler times incoming is that noah and finn (noah in particular) react in a certain kind of blushy/secretive way during press/social media that does not merely speak to me of their characters getting a simple romantic ending, or just a kiss. i can completely understand why many people don't take anything outside of the show itself as evidence, and i wish i didnt, but i just can't help it. cos shows are fiction and made to manipulate you as a viewer, whereas real people, even actors, have tells. im not claiming to know finn and noah's personal tells, but for me, as two humans, their body language does not lie!

noah especially gives off the vibes that he will have to portray something extremely giggle-worthy (and thus spicy) next season. that tiktok at penn where he almost gave spoilers? 'there's some crazy stuff, some iconic scenes in there' and his smile was GUILTY AF. yeah, crazy stuff could be a showdown with vecna or a lore reveal. but would that make him BLUSH???? and it could be *just* a masturbation fantasy scene (would love that for the narrative too), but then we also now seeing finn blushing furiously and flickering his eyes around during press like he's in an interrogation room whenever s5 is mentioned. it just screams 'two friends and coworkers who know they have to get it on on-screen' to me.

so has anyone else got finn and noah's behaviour as good evidence for spicy byler incoming?

yes all the way! though i try not to think of that and focus on byler themselves/the narrative clues

yeppers peppers and i love to see it! add it to the pile of proofs hehe!

no, everything is meaningless but the show you FOOL! (affectionate)

no, i notice their blushing but i dont think it relates to the show. maybe theyre in lurrrvvvveeeee

finn and noah are blushing a lot cos it's hot in whatever room theyre in and means nothing lmao

one day we will all die so none of it matters or makes sense and who is byler?

Please note that the purpose of this blog is not to be creepy or to make anyone uncomfortable. That's why I created the #spicy byler tag (I will tag all polls with this). If you don't want to see this blog or anything related to it on your feed, please block that tag. Not everyone is comfortable with this sorta stuff, and that's okay.

[greenbergwrites]

There's another 3-day "stuff your Kindle" promotion going on where a bunch of books are free right now, link to the master list here~

Some notable mentions:

Favor by Kiki Clark - Book one in a trilogy. I own both available books in this series and the third one comes out next week. I'll be honest, it's been a while since I've read this, so I can't give you specifics, but Kiki Clark is one of those authors I trust enough to grab their stuff immediately.

In The Shadows by Hailey Turner - Book #3 in a 6-part series. Not sure why book 3 is free instead of book 1 but I will tell you that the whole series is on KU and it's pretty cool. Good X-Men vibes if the X-Men were a branch of law enforcement. I own the whole series in paperback. HT is heavy on the plot but she also throws some casual kink into her sex scenes. Alexei is one of my favorite characters and this is his romance. It feature a good couple'a tropes that I'm a sucker for. [HIGHLY recommend the audiobooks, too, if anyone is interested. I found this series through Audible.]

Lost Touch by Eliot Grayson - The 7th book in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone. A lot of books in the series aren't really connected, or only tangentially connected. Another series I own the paperbacks for. I read this book while DEEP in my depression state, though, so I remember almost nothing about it but EG is another author I automatically grab. [In case you're wondering, my favorite of the series is the one just before this, Lost & Bound. Only free if you have KU, though.]

Lacuna by N.R. Walker - I have not read this book, but I do know the author and I tend to like their stories. I'm looking forward to this one since it has fantasy elements. Most of NRW's stuff is contemporary, and the works I've read by them are among those.

Drive Me Crazy by Beth Bolden - I have read this one, it's decent if you want something that's a quick read. BB has a couple of different food-related series that are interconnected so there are mentions of other couples but I didn't have a problem following it without having read the others. [Sweet As Pie is another BB title and a better read imo but it's only free if you have KU.]

The Wrangler & the Orphan by Jackie North -- JN has another series called Love Across Time. I've read most of that series and own it in paperback. I haven't read this series, so I can't vouch for it, but the other one was pretty good.

Here are some authors on the list that are hit or miss for me, but fair warning, I haven't read any of the titles:

Professor Daddy by Nora Phoenix -- I own this one, but I don't seem to remember it? Maybe if I re-read it, idk. NP is technically a good writer, I just think they infodump too much sometimes and I find myself glazing a lot. I like books that I'm invested in emotionally and I don't find myself too invested in NP's stuff.

King of Askara by Victoria Sue - I own things by VS but some of their stuff is objectively terrible. I haven't read this title, I don't know which it will turn out to be.

Out of the Frying Pan by Elouise East - I have this ongoing probably where I know I've read things by Elouise East because the name is familiar but I can't for the life of me remember the title or if I liked it. I'm guessing they're somewhere in the middle re: writing, because if it was terrible, I'd remember it.

The Problem by Piper Scott -- They also write under Emma Alcott and I own all of EA's books in paperback. I also own all of Forbidden Desires (y'know, that dragon-shifter series I talked about a while ago) in paperback.

I cannot vouch for any other Piper Scott titles, but I do know that everything where her co-author is Susi Hawke is objectively terrible.

[ropebunnykant]

if people spent less time hand-wringing over ray saying something politically incorrect maybe we could have an actual conversation about his a clear pattern of defaulting to throwing around tangentially-related accusations about how people engage with sex whenever he's having a fight with someone he cares about. boston's a slut who'll sleep with anyone when the problem here is that he betrayed their friend by sleeping specifically with his boyfriend. sand's a whore when ray's real issue with him is that sand was manipulating ray, using him to achieve a greater goal. mew's refusing to put out when ray's actual complaint is explicitly that mew is refusing to emotionally commit & make a good faith effort towards building a real relationship with ray. there is a genuinely interesting pattern here of ray struggling to articulate his true grievance & falling back on these far more easily expressed & understood stock judgements about people's sex lives -- personally i think that years of listening to chueam & others openly be judgey like this & never get called out on it have had their effect on him -- but people are so focused on how terrible it is that he's saying shitty, largely unjustified things when he's mad -- yeah, no shit he gets ugly & mean when he's angry & hurt, especially when he's under the influence, that's what people do -- that they don't bother asking themselves why he's doing that or what it actually means. it drives me fucking crazy

i’ve found that when it comes to ray, people either have a deep understanding of him and analyze him a great deal OR they take everything he does at surface value and miss so much of his character as a result. which is deeply frustrating because exactly as you said, this is a pattern for ray! and it makes perfect sense because ray fucking sucks at articulating his feelings. sure, he SAID he understands his feelings better to sand, but that doesn’t mean he actually is able to articulate any of it and explain what the real issue is. it’s why mew had to be the one to call him out on actually loving sand but not him! ray is an extremely complex character and yet so many people just gloss over so much about him because they hate him (and usually it’s because he’s an addict but we don’t have to get back into that)

[borom1r]

2, uhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah Lord of the Rings :P

2) a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

OK while i personally don’t see Boromir as having a real preference either way, people who write him as an *aggressive* top are SO deeply wrong. im sorryyyyyyyy that’s Incorreeeeectttt

that man is a service top. he’s a service everything tbf but ESP if he’s topping. wdym “what about him” he’s focused on pleasuring his partner + that is moreeee than enough— sth sth if he wanted to orgasm he’d just jerk off. if he’s topping its w/ the intention of getting his partner off + anything else is secondary

also only tangentially related but that man would have the most INSANE praise kink. I think the first time someone he cares for earnestly tells him “you were so good for me” he’d cry. mad respect to Théodred for trying to single-handedly unpack years of Gondorian bullshit + dealing with a lapful of weepy soldier the first time he praises Boromir after sex lmfao

[whoredmode]

i am endlessly fascinated by Troy and Johnny’s dynamic in your rewrite so could you spare us a teensy little headcanon for them?

:)

Send me two Saints Row characters (OCs or CCs) and I’ll talk about the relationship between them

THANK YOU literally at any given moment i’m ready to talk about these two and the endless possibilities of their dynamic

i think over time a lot of stuff gets revealed between them. like post-their encounter on the bridge, once their relationship starts to heal. troy tells johnny more and more about the shit he was doing behind the scenes, the shit he was doing with anteros (tho conveniently leaving out the parts where they had a lot of sex and dated). like once johnny is actually at this point where he’s not angry at troy, i think he’d be willing to listen to his side of things. it would also help smooth things over further, because troy makes it clear just how much he was on the saints’ side from the start. and i mean, he fucking joined them for real by this point so…it’s clear where his loyalty lies.

it’d also be interesting because while i think in the early days johnny and troy had some passing respect for each other, they did not interact as much as some others. they were both people in charge, but with troy being julius’ second-in-command and johnny being more of a lieutenant who does his own thing, they didn’t spend A Lot of one-on-one time together. so they actually get a chance to really get to know each other now.

tangentially related but i also have very specific feelings on troy and aisha, of all people. i think troy was able to pull a lot of strings even before he was chief (link again to my timeline) to allow for things like longer visitations between her and johnny, as well as just making johnny’s life behind bars way easier. i mean, troy refused to testify against johnny. honestly i would’ve loved to see interaction between troy and aisha, because i know he would’ve done whatever he could’ve to make sure she was okay and to keep her safe as well.

back to the main point of this though. and this might turn into just me rambling about my characterizations of them but. whatever.

i think johnny and troy, especially by the time the srtt rewrite happens, are so, so similar. i think they’re two men who are full of guilt, who have trouble expressing things and learning to cope. i think personally johnny ignores a lot of his issues by keeping busy, usually in ways that are extremely dangerous (he even has an idle line in sr2 where he says the violence keeps his mind off aisha); meanwhile i think troy buries his issues in drugs and alcohol. and i think their ways of coping led them to very similar places. after aisha’s death and with the gnawing feeling that the saints have failed him, i feel as if johnny has the conflicting feelings of leaving the saints, or even just dying himself. similarly i think while troy struggles with the death of anteros, a death he partly blames himself for, he also does not care if what he does or takes kills him. it’s why i write that when johnny first says he should’ve killed troy, troy genuinely agrees. he doesn’t beg for his life on that bridge. but all this to say, i think that’s why after their confrontation in the srtt rewrite and going forward from there, the two would really find a solace in the other. they’ve known each other forever, and despite everything, it’s a comfort to still have the other around.

[luneevenfall]

Okay actually I WILL talk about that smut reblog a bit in my own words bcuz I am still a newer nsfw writer and know that I am not perfect, not nearly. I don't want to flood the OG post so I'm doing my own separate thing.

But I wanted to explain a few scenarios for my stories in which the sexual scenarios serve outside purposes as well as just y'know, being hot.

Morag and Melia: Morag is willing to fuck just about any woman in the vicinity, but the dynamic between the two of them develops as a sort of game of life and death; Melia's trying to kill her, Morag's trying to get her to enjoy herself and let go of those things that bother her. As their relationship gets physically closer, Melia starts to question why she even wanted Morag to die in the first place.

Scarlet and Ollie; this one's the obvious one for me, really. Their entire story (when it'll end up being written, prolly a short story) is basically tangentially related sex scenes all centering around one premise: Scarlet is chasing Ollie for his "crimes"; and when she catches them, instead of you know. Arresting her. They have sex. Because Scarlet has some emotional shit she's dealing with, and this is stress relief. It's also a desire to rebel on Scarlet's part, against her role as the knight captain, and eventually, it's what brings her to want to get away, to be her true self, to embrace who and what she really is. The sex is a huge part of getting there for her, emotionally. Like a ticket.

This isn't true for their overall sex life, but Ren and Petunia's sex scene that was one of the few things I've written; several months of being too busy to even sleep in the same bed, they're finally fed the hell up and have sex all night. But really, what that prompts is for Ren to suggest that the two of them just leave all this shit behind - go somewhere just the two of them. The desire for a life away from all of the bullshit of the noble society in which they reside. The womanly urge to run away and become forest nymphs.

Nudity and general intimacy is the theme of Stella and Cecil's story; insofar as Stella has struggled with intimacy in her dead-end marriage (she's sapphic and doesn't know) and how meeting Cecil, someone completely removed from that life and able to engage with her on a deeper level, makes her feel that closeness again, that desire for intimacy; the sex in this scenario has to do with Stella finally realizing what kind of situation she's been putting herself into by pretending everything's ok in her life and that she should at least be happy just to BE married at all.

ANYWAYS. I could go on; there are more than just these guys, just who I thought of off the top of my head. I use sexual themes a lot in my stories. These are the ones in which I think sex scenes might actually be necessary for the story; the rest is just "Haha what if x and y fucked in the forest" scenarios. But I wanted to bring to light some of my OCs and how I use sex in their narratives for good character stuff!

THANKS FOR READING!

[sidestriker]

okay i got encouragement.

albatross's happy fun dissertation about The Statue and why they are writing striker out of "oops"!

i am one of the people who has a problem with the boner statue from a characterization standpoint. believe me i understand the symbolism behind its presence and the fact that striker has a statue of himself is NOT the problem here.

i am largely behind the statue breaking symbolism i just don't like the penis. but albatross this is the penis show how can you not like the penis!!! BZZZZZT. LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER. striker is actually one of the few characters who doesn't really make sex jokes or innuendos pretty much at all and actively gets flustered when people around him do. i don't think he'd find a statue of himself with a huge erection cool or funny. that's a joke that would make more sense with any number of other characters.

but i LIKE what the statue breaking represents, i'm just replacing it with a painting or something of striker looking menacing that can also get destroyed to represent a deconstruction of ego.

what's wrong with "oops"?

from a striker standpoint? everything. it suffers from the same problem the full moon has with the DHORKS and cherubs; striker doesn't need to be there, and being there does nothing for his character whatsoever.

yes, we see him get unhinged at the end, but the fact that it's in an episode that only tangentially AT BEST relates to the themes of his character rubs me the wrong way. the sentiment of getting desperate and unraveling makes sense considering the position he's in as a staunch anti-nobility guy who constantly has to work for and suck up to the nobility and whose greatest opponents are people of his own class. it makes sense! but narratively it should have happened under different circumstances is all i'm saying.

also i've said this before but overusing recurring antagonists is becoming an issue and oops was the first offense of this. as far as we know striker doesn't actually have a reason to work with crimson in the first place, and i think the episode would have flowed much better in general if it involved only one of them. and to me that one isn't striker because he's not a ransom type of guy. i mean what did he even get from that? money? he's never expressed wanting more money for himself before now. also striker appeared like 2 episodes before that anyway! that's a lot more striker than we really need atp!

[tianshiisdead]

nah ur totally valid. i hope they grow and change tho, bc i dont want to live in a world where ppl like this exist 🙃

yeahhh tbh I agree :')) hope we can move forward somehow fkjdhlg (sorry to go off on you anon but I ended up typing a rant so feel free to stop here haha it's only tangentially related!)

I think I'm just frustrated because of all the attention towards growing and changing and such, like I get it and agree that people should grow and change and be given the space to do so, but a lot of times when people talk about it I feel like it's almost treated as more important than the hurt that they cause? Like, I'm just petty and hateful tbh but I don't have anything but hatred and resentment for people who spout racist or hateful things, I almost don't want them to be happy or get better, I'm the one that's hurt by them so why are they the focus? I hate how irl unless someone actively shouts a slur or physically threatens me with violence, I always have to shut up, I always have to keep the peace, if someone irl is subtly condescending or racist to me it's either on me to teach them and make them either hate me or tiptoe around me, or not tell them anything or push back at all and then later feel guilty about it. I'm just so frustrated with everything, I'm always pulling myself back and smiling and brushing things off irl as long as they're not openly malicious, but actually I hate it! I don't forgive it! I'm tired of taking the burden onto myself. I'm tired of the fact that pretty much every roommate I've had in these few years of uni is white and in some ways pretty openly ignorant, I hate how they try and, like, get my approval on asianness or something by pointedly making insensitive comments but get either angry or overly sad when I speak up and then I have to either back down or comfort them and LIVE with their condescending comments, I'm tired of being talked down to and pointed out and having to sit there and pretend everything is okay. Back when I was a sheltered little kid who only hung out with the Easian and Desi kids at school I only understood racism in mockery and violence because I almost never interacted with that many white people outside of teachers and, like, librarians, but then I came out into the world where I had to talk to coworkers and roommates and classmates for extended periods of time and it's horrible and I hate it, it's worse than just calling me slurs or making jokes about me being a sex worker imo. Growing and changing, in general, is fine but I'm tired of people pretending EVERYONE cares SOOO much about racism and the TRUE victim that needs to be addressed is the former/subtle racist who's getting 'attacked' the moment someone points it out, and not the people hurt by it. I hate how anything less than a slur has to be reacted to gently, after dealing with it day after week after month after year, and all of it building on top of the pre-existing internalized racism and open racism I've dealt with, I don't have any energy or patience and i just HATE them, I hate them so deeply and I hate all of them and I don't want them to get better and be praised for it like they're the main character and I'm just a symbol of what they used to be like.

[dgcatanisiri]

I won’t say this is my last word on the subject of Legendary Edition bullshit, because... Well, I know myself enough to be able to say that I NEVER have a last word, I’ll always want to rant again later on. But let’s just make this a sort of master post of the issues overall.

So... Is it fair to hold a game that is a good roughly fifteen years old to the standards of the present? Not inherently. So if the games were being produced in any sort of unedited format, that it was a strict translation, 1:1 ratio, of the original to the remaster... Honestly, I’d still be bitter as all get out, for reasons I’ll expound on in a minute. But it could at least SEEM justified. I could consider it the kind of thing that would be expected - if KOTOR got a remaster today, I would not expect that Carth and Bastila would be made into bi love interests, or Juhani would have her romance patched up so that it has the same level of detail and attention as the het romances. If Jade Empire were remastered, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sky or Silk Fox’s same sex romances adapted so that the straight romances had to be closed out first. That is the kind of thing that, on a functional, practical level, I could understand. Doing a translation from old hardware, the old engine, I get the PRACTICAL reasoning for not making things better. I still object to this on the moral level, to say nothing of the representational one. But PRACTICALLY, I see why - y’know, there’s only so much financial resources going in, and changing things like romances, even if justified, means doing new writing and getting the voice cast back in, which has complications the longer since a game’s original release - actors retire or even die, the passage of time changes voices (like listen to the difference of the exact same lines by James Earl Jones between both versions of the Lion King). Even without those complications, that means paying them, which, in the production of video games, for everything that goes in, something else must go out. So that is the practical argument.

BUT!

But.

But, the thing is, even apart from everything else that I’ll get in to shortly, is that there have been a lot of claims from BioWare about inclusion. There have also been A LOT. of homophobic bullshit from BioWare and Mass Effect. And yes, I’m calling it like I see it.

Because we had the game that followed Jade Empire, with a M/M romance option, be Mass Effect, with NO M/M romance option (but FemShep and Liara could bang - the writing obviously favored the MaleShep portrayal, given that there was no marketing use of FemShep until ME3, and we had ME2 give priority to having loyalty conflicts between MALE Shepard’s romances, but not Female Shepard’s, and we even had BioWare hem and haw about how “well, the asari are monogender, so they’re not TECHNICALLY women, so it’s not REALLY lesbians...”). Because the official claim is that they just “didn’t think about it” in time to have these options included in Mass Effect 1. Because we’ve had writers now come out that Jacob Taylor was originally written as a gay man, but in the game itself was a straight man. Because there are plenty of women who throw themselves at Male Shepard, and Shepard is animated with having Significant Looks™ with these women, but not a single man who expresses any interest in him, until ME3 finally offers SOMETHING, which came to just Kaidan and Cortez.

Because we had one of BioWare’s heads, one of BioWare’s founders, say in an interview right around the release of Mass Effect 2 say “Shepard is too predefined a character to be gay.”

That is what I mean by homophobic bullshit.

And I haven’t even started on Mass Effect Andromeda.

And I’m gonna start on Mass Effect Andromeda now.

So after ME3, after Kaidan and Cortez were actually romances, we honestly gave them a lot of faith - they got the message, we said. They understood that they couldn’t just cut out M/M romance in the game, we said. They didn’t need to have the constant observation that demanded they provide good representation, we said.

And then they cut Jaal’s bisexuality, leaving him straight on release, without even a chance to flirt and be turned down, the bisexual male character who did remain not only was planet bound, he also is a character who a solid argument can be made that he falls into the trope of the Depraved Bisexual, a trope that over in Dragon Age, Patrick Weekes specifically said that they wanted to avoid and so didn’t make a character bisexual because of that. And the gay man is not only almost totally disconnected from the game (aside from one point in the plot, he can be avoided entirely and is not included in almost any other group setting among the Tempest crew), he is also an accessory in his own plot line, which was also heavily criticized for being intensely homophobic. And of these, the only thing BioWare deigned to change was Jaal’s bisexuality. (Which, personal note, I’m uncomfortable with personally, because as it’s implemented, it just feels kind of afterthought-y. Much like Kaidan’s in ME3, being unchanged from a new FemShep romance, despite the active inability to romance him in ME1.)

So it is not just a matter of “you have the ability, you’re changing other things, you should do this.” I mean, that is absolutely there - the mods exist for the original game, to the point of being able to even get the romance scene to fire right without Shepard’s gender magically changing once the clothes come off. (I have a vague memory of, at some point, probably around the “too predefined” comment, that being another excuse, that there was difficulty with having the models play nice with one another in that scene.)

But this is about addressing a pattern of behavior on the part of BioWare, that they have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the bare minimum that their own statements on matters of representation and inclusion claim they aspire to. That if the fans are not actively holding their feet to the fire, they are GOING to take their fans for granted - “you don’t get better quality content elsewhere, we’re your only choice!” But “only” choice is not a “good” choice. It’s not a choice with quality.

So if we don’t make a big damn deal about this now, when they have a chance - when they have a CHOICE - to make things better, to provide better representation, to correct the mistakes of the past... What will we get in the future? How will they backtrack on this in the future? How will they exclude us in the game they just announced a few months back? How will they continue to tell us that they don’t want gay people in this setting?

Look, I don’t use these words lightly. But that is, whether it’s a conscious attitude at all or not, what they are telling us. By not including us, by making us optionally involved, by making us disposable within our own stories, by cutting out our content, they are saying that they do not envision a world, a future, that includes queer men.

And anyone who does not speak up, does not condemn this, does not demand that they DO. BETTER... That is tacit approval and agreement. Because you’re saying that things as they are now - the removal and undermining of our content, of our EXISTENCE in these games - are perfectly fine and acceptable.

And yeah, I’m sure that reading that has probably made some people mad, believe I’m being unfair by saying that, because it’s going to push away allies. Thing is, and this is one of the things that always comes up in anything even tangentially activism related... THIS ISN’T ABOUT THE FEELINGS OF THE ALLIES. This is about listening to the people who are being hurt and saying “you don’t deserve to be hurt this way, things need to change.”

BioWare needs to change its approach. And, as we have seen, it does not come just because of a handful of angry queers, demanding to be represented in their games. It comes because of the community at large calling them out and saying “this isn’t right. What you have done is not right, and we are calling on you to fix it. To do better.”

Don’t just stand there and shrug this off. Because evidence tells us that if they aren’t called out on this now, the next game will not be better. And we will be in this exact same place, having this exact same argument, all over again, in a few years when the next Mass Effect game comes out. When the queer men are given the shortest end of the stick again, and people who are right now saying “what do you expect from a remaster?” will either suddenly turn around and go “I don’t know why BioWare would do something so homophobic” or, worse, “well, it’s something, I don’t see why you’re upset.”

We’re upset because we keep having this argument. And we are going to keep having this argument until people are willing to actually DEMAND that things be better. This is the chance to make things better now.

At this point, a post-release patch that includes a Male Shepard/Kaidan romance in ME1 that is tracked through to the following games is a bare minimum fix, a change done to make it clear that BioWare understands their mistakes in the past and want to make things BETTER.

It may not be easy, but genuinely fixing problems never is. But it’s work that needs to be done.

[tdt-movies]

Turning Red (2022)

For it is written, build a better Teen Wolf and the world will beat a path to your door. I. Loved. This. Movie.

NOT A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

When I first heard of this I thought, “so it’s just Teen Wolf?” and I was so wrong. I liked Teen Wolf as a kid, but it’s nowhere near as substantial a film as this. Not even in the same ballpark. They share the family curse and lack of communication and that’s it. Worse, the OG—that I bring up one last time for later contrast—is all about a selfish dudebro who becomes a sports star and has to pick which pretty girl he wants to be with.

First, I know not all parents are comfortable with sex, sex Ed, or even tangentially related topics and products. These parents got pretty upset about this movie. I get that, but, man, it’s on you to research stuff first.

I’m a cishet dad who’s never been in circumstances anything like these but I felt so strongly everything this poor kid was going through! The pads, confronting the kid at the shop, her fanart being found… it all hurt so much! Her friends, though, they were so fantastic. It killed me that time they weren’t getting along. I loved how when they saw the bully at the show he was so afraid of being bullied himself but fandom is bigger than that, man.

On a very personal note, I was thrilled to learn that James Hong, the shaman, is still alive. Idk why but I was sure he’d passed. He’s a legend.

I loved the dad’s contributions. How big the mom’s Panda was. I was blown away by Sandra Oh doing her own voice as a kid. I loved that Meilin kept her panda, flew with the ancestor, and enlightened her family. That was the message, right? These are new times. Rigidity kills, but we can embrace and adapt and learn, and grow. It was seriously a beautiful film with so much meaning and feeling. You could never make this live action with Jason Bateman, and that’s a good thing.

[staringatthesky11]

Some (not really spoilery or in depth) thoughts on Midnight Sun...

Edward. So pompous and dramatic and emo and angst-ridden and all just so gloriously Edward! He’s utterly ridiculous, and for a mind reader he is mind bogglingly imperceptive. I will never see him the way I think SM wants me to. 

LOVED the Alice and Jasper content. So much more clarity on her visions and what she sees and how they work and how they fail! Same for Jasper’s gift and how he is seen by others - whole new insight into him for me and I’m intrigued. Already wanting to be inspired with plots because I’d love to explore this in my writing at some point. Totally did not expect to love those two in this book the way I did.

Esme...ugh. We all know Edward’s her favourite, but seriously? She seemed to revere him to level that was disturbingly creepy in this book. He is not the second coming.

I did appreciate all the flashbacks and Cullen history bits that came into it - I’ve always been here for that. The family, the vampirism, the complex history...it’s always grabbed me more than the romance. 

Rosalie and Emmett....well.

Look, we all know I was never that likely to LIKE it. I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words of fanfic basically saying that when it comes to Rosalie, Edward has it WRONG - I half didn’t even want to read this book because I just wasn’t sure that I wanted 700+ pages of Edward shitting all over my girl. 

And to be fair, there was some good bits. A couple of conversations. She lets go with some good insults. 

But I am definitely left with the same frustrations as always. Rosalie is demonised for the same things that others are praised for. Her focus is Emmett, and whether he is going to be hurt in the whole situation, and Edward is scathing about her selfishness. Never mind that he’s putting everyone else in danger because BELLA’S safety is the only thing HE cares about. Jasper would sacrifice anything to keep Alice safe and that’s honourable, but Rosalie feels that way for Emmett and she’s vilified for it. Rosalie sees so much value in humanity over vampirism that grief over losing it has coloured her whole unlife and she’s viewed as being bitter and a harpy, but Edward values humanity over vampirism so much that he would deny Bella her wish and let her die an old woman before killing himself and he’s the great romantic hero?

I have always been deeply uncomfortable with the anti-sex bent towards Rosalie and Emmett, and that was definitely there in this book. Rosalie and Emmett’s relationship can be obnoxious (and yes, that part I agree with - no one necessarily wants to be around other people’s public displays of affection!) but it is very clear that Edward sees it as somehow lesser, somewhat icky and dirty and distasteful that sex is a big part of the way they are together. (And yet BELLA being physically attracted to him, physically reacting to him, physically WANTING him...that’s different???) Nothing is said about Carlisle/Esme and Alice/Jasper and what they do or don’t get up together physically - we only get told that Rosalie and Emmett do it a lot and Edward finds that repugnant. 

Tangentially related (it’s about sex, but not the good kind) but Edward’s rage and fury about what almost happened to Bella in Port Angeles also plays into this. Bella’s innocence was nearly besmirched and he’s gone berserk, but does he ever actually think that all those things he saw happening to her, all that horror and brutality and violation....Rosalie LIVED it. IT HAPPENED TO HER. No one showed up in a shiny Volvo to rescue her. And she lives with that trauma every single day of her unlife, and Edward gives her no quarter for how that might affect her. 

The relationship of Rosalie with both Emmett and the rest of their family is something else that has always bothered me, and Midnight Sun did not make me feel any better about it. Midnight Sun’s Emmett is a good brother to Edward, but he is also basically presented as a simpleton. All we see of his relationship with Rosalie is him being the long suffering husband putting up with her hysterics and temper. There was even that very telling switch in something Emmett says to Rosalie, where in the leaked version he called her ‘baby’ and in this new version he calls her ‘gorgeous’. It’s a single word, changing it shouldn’t have any real impact, and yet it does. ‘Baby’ in that context is playful, it’s affectionate, it’s personal, it’s loving...and yet we now get ‘gorgeous’, which once again reduces Rosalie to nothing more than her appearance and their relationship back to the superficial.   

And sorry, but you’re not with someone for seventy years because you think they’re hot and good in bed...there HAS to be more to it than that, but Edward doesn’t seem to think so.

Rosalie also goes against the rest of the family a lot in this one, and we see her being the scapegoat. It is repeatedly shown that her feelings, her opinions, her personal agency, all rank FAR below Edward’s in the family hierarchy and everyone supports that disparity. (And yes okay, when her opinion is that murdering a child is a good way forward she probably *should* be the one to give in! But why is Bella watching the family baseball game more important than Rosalie playing in it? Why, when Edward throws the family all into danger and breaks all the rules is ROSALIE the unreasonable one when she points out the potential for harm?) 

It is made abundantly clear by Edward that no one in the family particularly likes Rosalie, that they all just put up with her temper (mostly for Emmett’s sake? Because of Carlisle’s guilt?)...it really seems like they tolerate her being part of the family at best. And for someone whose characterisation has them breathing admiration like air, would that ever be bearable? To spend the vast majority of your time with a family who would be perfectly content without you? I can’t see it. 

Okay, that was more depth than i meant to go into! But what can I say? I have FEELINGS here! 

Oh, and maybe I’m the only one but quite honestly I am digging that pomegranate cover. It is almost nauseating but just the visual of it so perfectly sums up Twilight vampirism for me...this ghastly thread of unavoidably grotesque horror hidden under the veneer of exquisite beauty and civility!

And also because in the medieval Twilight/ New Moon combo rewrite I did, the only time I’ve ever written Edward and Bella, a fucking POMEGRANATE was the central object of my plot! It was the pomegranate that led to the alternate birthday scene (where Jasper tries to kill her) and Edward leaves her and everything unravels in a different way and and and.... 

And when I wrote that I read all this pomegranate symbolism and was like oh yeah, it’s got to be one of those. I didn’t even write any of the symbolism in, it was one of those things that I thought no one except me would ever even think about and yet here I am, and EDWARD FUCKING CULLEN is rambling on about pomegranates and symbolism and how it relates to his life and I feel like a goddess, lmao.