#you know how some people might change their names to be similar/the same as their favourite character

[ogsherlockholmes]

I know that Baring-Gould was a master bullshitter (honestly, props to him for his... inventive imagination) but I find it so hilarious how this guy, famous and well known in his own right, decided to find the most famous character at least in Britain and rechristen him so they had the same name.

William? Who? William Holmes- oh, like... William Baring-Gould? Fucking hysterical.

And he doesn't actually give a reason (at least, not to my knowledge). He just claims that, coincidentally, they have the same name and that just Is How It Is. William Sherlock Scott Holmes. Unreal.

[wonderjanga]

I’m Never Going Back to That Farm

Clark was talking to Marvel and he realized the man didn’t have anyone to celebrate Christmas with. So, he invited him over. Cause why not? Might as well spread some Christmas spirit. What he didn’t expect was…

Ma Kent: “Clark, your home!” *hugs her son*

Supes: “It’s good to see you too Ma

Ma Kent: “Oh, and who is your little friend-” *looks over to Marvel before doing a double take* “C.C.?”

Marvel: “Huh?”

Ma Kent: “Oh my God, C.C. is that really you?” *turns around to call Pa Kent* “Honey! Come here and look who Clark brought over!”

Supes and Marvel: *share a look*

Pa Kent: “What’s wrong Martha?” *comes from the kitchen* “Charley!? Is that really is you?” *rubs his eyes and looks again* “God, we thought you died in the plane crash! Also, Jesus, you’ve grown 2 feet.”

Supes: “Your name is Charley?” *looks over to Marvel*

Ma Kent: “Oh no sweetie, it’s Clarence, but this guy thought the name was too boring. So we either called him Charley or C.C.”

Marvel: “Haha… Yeah.” *oozing awkwardness*

Supes: *staring with a hint of betrayal*

As for why Clark felt betrayed? Well, his parents knew about Marvel’s entire secret identity before he even did! But, that betrayal was quickly forgotten when his Ma and Pa decided to go down memory lane and pull out a box Clark had never seen before.

Supes: “What’s all this?”

Ma Kent: “Just some old keepsakes your father and I look back on every now and then.”

Pa Kent: *pulls out a photo* “Oh I remember this one. One of my biggest races.” *shows a photo of Ma and Pa Kent, and C.C. and Marilyn all smiling at the camera while Pa Kent is holding a second place trophy*

Supes: “Are you wearing a leather jacket here? Also who’s that?” *points to Marilyn*

Marvel: “That’s my uh…” *looks to the Ma and Pa Kent before looking back to Clark* “My wife?”

Supes: “Wife?!”

Ma Kent: *ignores him* “Speaking of her, where is Marilyn? Did she not come along? Are you two still married?”

Marvel: *also ignores him* “Oh uhm… She didn’t survive the crash.” *still super awkward*

*silence*

Ma Kent: “Oh Charles… I’m so sorry.”

Pa Kent: “And the kids?”

Supes: “Kids?!”

Marvel: *continues ignoring him* “They’re doing good. Mary and Billy are twelve now.”

Ma Kent: “Oh that’s just wonderful. Say, Clark, isn’t Jon the same age as Charley’s kids?”

Supes: “He’s a year younger.”

Pa Kent: *puts the photo of the four of them back into the box* “You two should set up a little playdate.”

Marvel: “Maybe.” *awkward smile*

So now Clark is completely floored. This man that he’s known for nearly 5 years has had a wife who died??? Not only that, but he has two whole children??? Also Cap knew his parents when they were younger??? He’s definitely going to ask more about that playdate though. Jon should have more superpowered friends his age.

Later during dinner…

Pa Kent: “You know, Charley it surprises me how much you haven’t changed.”

Marvel: “Huh…? Whatdya mean?” *shoveling food in his mouth because it delicious*

Ma Kent: “Well, for starters, you look the exact same.” *little laugh as she puts more food on Marvel’s plate*

Pa Kent: “And when you’re not being super awkward, your personality hasn’t changed all that much either.”

Marvel: “You’ve noticed me being awkward?”

Supes: “It’d be kind of hard not to notice, Cap.”

Billy found out more about his parents from this one Christmas alone than he had in his entire life up until now. That is why he will not be coming back to this farm ever again. He’ll send Christmas cards, he might even send a gift or two, but never again. He doesn’t want these two to realize their friend is actually dead. They’re sweet little old people who don’t deserve that. But other than all that, Billy is super happy to find out he and his dad are very similar in personality. It makes him feel closer to the man.

Also, I went on Wikipedia to learn more about the Kent’s and apparently Pa Kent was a race car driver so in case anybody was confused about the race thing, there’s your explanation.

Also, also, as for how the Batsons and the Kents knew each other? Let’s say that Marilyn grew up in Smallville and met Martha. Then Marilyn moved away to Fawcett, but the two still kept in touch. Then both of the women met their respective husbands and they all got together to be a nice little friend group. And then, you know, the Batsons died.

Also, also, also, after this whole thing, Clark started calling Billy Charley or C.C. which made Billy violently flinch when it first happened. After a while though, he grew used to it because he’d rather be called Charley and have someone think he’s C.C. Batson instead of someone thinking he’s Billy.

Also, also, also, also, (I’m sorry I can’t help but add more) when Clark thought no one was looking, he whipped out his phone and took several pictures of the photo of the Kents and Batsons. Or more accurately, he took photos of the part of the picture with C.C. in a leather jacket. Marvel just didn’t seem like the type so he wanted recorded evidence so he could be sure he wasn’t crazy.

Alright I’m done now. Super duper early Christmas post, yay!

[furiousgoldfish]

How free are you? A Poll

Instructions: If the answer to the question is 'yes', give yourself 1 point. If the answer is 'no', take 1 point away. If the answer is 'maybe', or 'I don't know', or 'unsure', don't add any points.

Can you wear whatever you want, without having to explain yourself or worry about getting berated for it?

Can you choose what to do with your own time, without having anyone criticize or guilt you for it?

Can you choose what you eat every day, or at least reject the food you don't want to eat?

Do you have access to food that is nourishing, healthy and unlikely to cause any health issues in the long term?

Can you choose freely who you spend your time with, without reprecussions?

Can you choose what you do for a job? Can you change it without severe consequences for your financial stability?

Are you allowed to go wherever you please, if your finances allow for it?

Do you have a community of people you're connected to, who have the same or similar beliefs and circumstances as you do?

Do you have a network (or a family) of people who you consider to be 'your people', who accept you and care about you?

Will you be okay and taken care of in case of illness, injury, incident or a disaster?

Can you choose your own religion, or reject a religion, without severe social consequences?

Do you have knowledge of your basic human rights, and are you informed on what to do if some of these rights get violated?

Can you go about life without ever worrying about physical violence occuring from a person you know and are around?

Can you go about life without worrying about physical violence coming from a stranger?

Can you walk the planet without being self-conscious of your body and how you're perceived, and being objectified or devalued because of it?

Do you feel safe and comfortable in most of the places you exist in?

Can you get by without taking special measures, such as hiding, lying, escaping, locking yourself in, avoiding certain places and activities, avoiding certain people, changing your name, in order to be safe in the world?

Do you have safe access to communication with people you want to communicate with?

Can you access the money you need without having to ask or explain why you need it?

Do you feel safe that your basic physical needs, such as food, clothing, sanitary items, tools, shelter and utilities are and will stay accessible to you?

Do you have secure access to healthcare, without having to severely worry about the financial aspect of it, or about someone barring you from access?

Do you have reliable information about your own health, and about how the activities you do might affect it, both for better and for worse?

Are you allowed to change your mind about how you feel about the issues in the world, your own circumstances, people around you, your faith and your politics, without being outcasted from your group of peers?

Can you go trough life without worrying about a hate crime being committed against you, both by people you know and strangers?

Is your health and physical state of body stable enough to work a full time job?

Can you secure enough money to live comfortably, without your physical or psychological health suffering and deteriorating for it?

Can you comfortably communicate your needs, feelings, problems, struggles and affection to others, when you want to?

Can you speak your mind most of the time, without worrying about reprecussions?

Can you be open about your interests, hobbies, beliefs, sexuality, identity, politics and relationships with most of the people around you?

Can you comfortably speak about the circumstances and facts of your life, without being corrected or denied to name some of them?

Can you recognize when a choice has been taken away from you, and things have been decided for you? If yes, can you also walk away from this, and refuse to take on the consequences?

Can you comfortably place blame on the people who have caused you distress and pain in your life, without any pushback or criticism for doing so?

Do you have support, knowledge and resources you need in order to deal with grief and tragedy?

Can you feel comfortable and at ease around all people you are around with?

Can you freely confront a person in your life who has attempted to cause injustice to you, even if that person is in position of authority to you? Do you feel safe and able to do so?

Can you freely choose your sexual partner(s), or refuse any you don't want without having to worry about their feelings, assault, your financial situation or your safety?

Can you choose freely to undo any consequences sex had on your body, if you don't want it to be happening to you?  (abortion rights, skip if it doesn't apply to you)

Can you break up your relationships, parental bonds and marriages to other people without having to worry about survial, physical safety or keeping a roof over your head?

Do you have information and resources to immediately recognize red flags of being lured into a scam, exploitative work, grooming, abuse, sexual abuse, cults, human trafficking, or similar situations?

Can you live without being severely affected by human made-disasters, such as wars, chemical damage to the environment, mass destruction and shootings?

Ideally, in a functional society, a human being should have all of these freedoms. I understand for most, if not all of us, to have every single of these points is impossible. If you are in the negative points, your situation is dire and freedom has been stripped from you to the inhumane level. For reference, the score I got for this was 9! 39 or 40 would be the ideal, which I don't believe anyone will get.

If your answer is 'no', for questions about having access to information, having knowledge and resources, this isn't your fault. You are not solely responsible for figuring out every single aspect of it yourself, this should have been covered in your education and upbringing. Also, if you're underage, questions like being able to work a job, securing money and choosing sexual partners do not apply to you, you should instead be protected from having to worry about any of that until you reach the adulthood or age of consent. If you are having to worry about any of that, the answer is automatically no. If you have no worries about that, you can give yourself a point for each of these.

Disclaimer: This poll was made by one person, using personal ideas about freedom in this world, I am sure I forgot to include many things, please do add in the comments other perils to freedom that are not mentioned here. It is not a definitive statement on human freedom, only a reference point and a source of information.

[starfruitii]

DO I WANNA KNOW? — ft. suna rintarou.

synopsis ; no matter how many times you try to end it, you both come crawling back every time.

contents ; loosely inspired by the song 'do i wanna know?' post-breakup. angst. lovers to exes to ??? timeskip!suna x gn!reader. wc: 1.4k.

notes ; ik suna being arctic monkeys coded is an overused headcanon but do i wanna know is such a good song. anywayyy enjoy <3

You and Suna weren't together. Not anymore, at least.

There wasn't any fault on either side, nothing dramatic to split you apart. Just two people who weren't suited for a romantic relationship, as you came to bitterly realize. Maybe you could have made it work with some hard work and effort, but it was far easier to call it quits than risk spilling salt in the wound and ending up hating each other for the rest of your lives.

So you left it there, ending the symphony on a high note. You didn't stop to wonder what might have been, or dwell on the sound of music still ringing in your ears. It was over, there were no more heartbeats, no melodies. Only silence sung through your empty apartment.

You kept the breakup casual, agreeing to stay friends afterwards. Once those words fell from your lips, that was when it was set in stone. The line was drawn in the sand, strictly parting your relationship into the platonic category. Boundaries were made, silent promises to keep some distance between you.

But things were never that simple. After having you be his for so long, Suna didn't know how to let go of you just like that. Even the idea of being single felt foreign in his mind, the thought of you pushing away any chance of him falling for someone else. You were in a similar situation, still craving the addictive kind of love that only he could give you, yet reluctant to go back to how things were.

In the end, staying 'friends' was just a way to carefully avoid acknowledging the feelings still lingering in you both. He never stopped loving you, and you never stopped staring at your old pictures, both longing for the other like a missing limb. And just like clockwork, a phantom pain would strike and you would seek each other out again. The events played out the same way, over and over, like you were following a script.

It would go like this: every few nights, at least once a week, your name would flash across his screen. Suna would stare at it for a moment, relishing the sound of the distinct ringtone he set, so he always knew when it was you calling. It was the same contact as when you were together, the only change being the absence of the heart emoji beside your name.

It felt like your misery was aligned, your loneliness in sync, because every night that he was missing you the most, you would always end up calling.

Suna would answer the phone, seconds before it rung out, and pretend he wasn't waiting for the call. He'd entertain your small talk and excuses, whatever feeble reason you'd come up with to justify ringing him late at night, as long as he got the chance to hear your voice again.

Sometimes it was just that: a phone call. Sometimes, it was only a message. Sometimes, when the loneliness was hitting you both harder than you could bear, he would find some way to suggest meeting up.

It was always something simple, something harmless. A late-night run to the convenience store for snacks, or a walk around that park you loved, or just driving around until you were tired enough to fall asleep. And you would always find some excuse, or some reason to say no, but in the end you would always cave.

Suna would be out of his house in minutes, sliding the key into his ignition. He would meet you outside of your apartment, wordlessly opening the door for you to enter the passenger seat. And the seat would already be adjusted to how you like, because there's no one else he lets into his car, but you’d fiddle with the lever at the side anyway. Anything to pretend that at least one of you has moved on enough to be seeing someone new.

As he drives, his hand would stray from the gear shift, crossing to your side of the car, but never quite reaching your thigh. And you would pretend not to notice the halted movement, and pretend not to feel disappointed when he brought both hands to the wheel.

Maybe he'd make a remark about how it was just like old times, and maybe you would laugh and brush it off, but the story always ends the same no matter how he played the game. He was on a losing streak, gambling away his pride every time you called, but his self-control always seemed to loosen once the sun went down.

It was a little pathetic, when he focused on it for too long. It was no wonder his friends kept calling him a loser, when he came crawling back to you, his ex, the second you rang. At the very least, you were as pathetic as he was if you were the one dialing his number, but maybe that was just because you knew he'd pick up. You got everything you needed, a shoulder to cry on, a person to keep you company, all without the hassle of officially having a boyfriend again.

On his weaker nights, he would get sick of waiting around, and be the one to send the first message. You would answer quickly, although not as quickly as he did. The response would always be the same, and it would always go the same way.

Sometimes, during your meet-ups, you would be the one to cut them short, quietly asking Suna to drive you home. He would try not to look disappointed, and you would try not to slam the door as you left.

On your weaker nights, you wouldn't bother with trying to make up an excuse when he invites you to crash at his place instead. He would say to you “My house is closer”, or “We can watch a movie”, or “You always sleep better around someone else, don't you?” and you would defeatedly agree.

He would take you home—his home, not yours, though it used to be both—and you would leave your shoes by the door. You'd set up the blankets on the couch, and he’d bring you a glass of water, and you'd turn the channel to some trashy reality TV show that neither of you paid any attention to.

If you were feeling particularly down, and he was feeling particularly bold, he'd slide his arm around your shoulders to pull you close. It kills him, not knowing if the way you lean into him means anything, or if you're just craving the contact. He doesn't ask, not daring to disturb the unstable peace that you've built between yourselves, lest the whole unspoken arrangement come crashing down.

In the morning, when you wake up with his arms around your waist and one of your hands gripping a fistful of his shirt, you will peel yourself away quietly, and tiptoe away to find your shoes. He will find you right as you're about to leave, sluggishly running a hand through his hair as he mumbles something about staying for breakfast.

Then, after a brief back-and-forth, you will agree that the night was a mistake, that you're better as something closer to friends, and Suna will restrain himself from kissing you goodbye. You both will retreat to your own beds in your own homes, and imagine there is someone laying beside you to warm up the cold sheets.

Suna will shrug his shoulders when the possibility of a blind date is suggested to him by a friend, as though he has any interest in a partner who isn’t you. And you will nod along to your friends when they tell you to delete his number, even though you know in your gut that you never will have the courage to.

You'll ignore his messages for a while, and he'll pretend that means you've started to move on. You will both go about your lives as you always do, day after day, each acting as though you're doing fine on your own, and lying to your friends when they ask if you've cut contact yet.

But neither of you will be surprised when a week later, early in the morning when you should be sleeping, your name lights up on Suna's screen.

do not copy, repost, translate or use my work to train ai. reblogs are appreciated <3

[wtaacde]

As a bilingual person who's been reading way too many fanfics with bilingual characters I reeeaaallly need to make a statement on how our minds work most of the time so people stop getting it wrong!

It's making me cringe so much 🥲

So I'm making a list of what I think is important to know when it comes to writing bilingual characters.

I've seen some simmilar posts on this topic, so some things might be repetitive but others are not, so stick with me. I'll be adding some personal examples to make it easier and more comprehensible.

So let's get started!

Master list to writing bilingual characters!

With no especific order os hierarchy.

1- This is the biggest mistake I see people making when writting bilingual character, so let's make this crystal clear: Bilingual people rarely mix their languages by accident!!!!

Especially if they've been living in a place where no one speaks their mother tongue and have little to no contact with their original culture.

Now, for the moments we do make those mix ups, it'll usually be with expressions we use all the time on our day to day lifes.

Let's work with examples!

I'm fluent in English, but my original language is Portuguese. In Portuguese, whenever someone is in a conversation we make this "éééééé" sound while we're thinking or unsure of what to say. It would be similar to the "uuuuhhh" people use in English.

I find myself and a lot of other Brasilian people saying "éééé" all the time even when speaking English, because that comes more naturally to us. It's an instict reaction that doesn't pass through the language shift that happens in our brain.

This also happens with more especific expresions. I don't talk to any foreign people, but when texting I catch myself trying to call people "amiga", which translates to "friend" and is normally used as an endearing term to call your friends or even strangers in a way to show friendliness. Now, not everyone in Brasil refers to their friends as "amiga", but I do, and I use it so much it slips in my vocabulary in English.

So, to summarize, there are expressions or words from our mother languages that come out almost as an instinct, but there usually aren't many of them and the frequency in which it happens is proportional to how much contact we have with speaking our native language.

2- Next up (and this is a funny one to me): it's easier to make math in our first language. If we were schooled in our first language, obviously. This could happen conciously or not.

So if you want your characters to have a funny moment, just have them do some math in their original language. This happens because we learned math and nurmbers in our mother language, and math is the same everywhere, so when we're learning another language we don't go through the same process with learning to use numbers practically like we do with words. So despite knowing what the numbers are called, it's still easier doing math in our language because our thought process is a lot faster and smoother in it.

3- We will revert completely to our mother language if we're emotional.

This could range from seeing a cute puppy and having a cuteness overload and instantly calling them cute pet names in our language to getting so mad that the only acceptable way to express our anger is to curse in our own tongue.

This sudden change happens naturally but they are intentional. We could totally curse and fawn in a different language but we choose not to because of the next point on this list.

4- Words are more meaningful in our own language.

I'll go straight to examples, because I know fic and romance writers are gonna have a field day with this.

When my dog was alive, I always talked to her in both English and Portuguese. But whenever I complimented her or told her I loved her in English, it felt fake. So I always repeated what I said in Portuguese and then I felt like I properly expressed my feelings.

So if i said something like "You're the cutest little baby in the world! I love you so much!" I always had to follow it up with. "Quem é a coisinha mais fofinha desse mundo todo? É o amor da minha vida? É, você é o amor da minha vida! Eu te amo mais que tudo nesse mundo!"

Only then did I consider she understood the depths of my love for her.

This also works in more angsty ways:

My parents were always very distant, so during one especific Father's day, when I was a kid, my school, as usual, had us making DIY presents for our fathers. We were supposed to write messages on the gifts and all my classmates were writing "eu te amo" on theirs. I couldn't write it, but it still felt like I had to or it would be weird. So I wrote "I love you" instead, because it felt less like a lie. Now, let's focus on the fact that I was a child. I had barely started learning English. I was nowhere near fluent. But it still felt easier to write "I love you" than "eu te amo". I never said "eu te amor" to my parents again.

Now, we had some fluff and some angst. Now let's get to humor!

Swearing always feels better in your own language. Do with that what you will.

5- On the subject of swearing, we will talk shit about anyone right in front of their face in a language they don't know and use different languages to mess with people.

This doesn't even need to be done with our first language (although it would feel more satisfying). Any language would do as long as the other person doesn't understand it. Bonus points if we get to do that with a friend/group of friends.

When I was a teenager I had just one friend that was also fluent in English. We used to talk to each other mostly in English for three reasons: the first one was obviously to practice, the second was to gossip with each other without people understanding and the third was so we could pretend we were foreigners and see people's reactions. We were two little shits that talked about the craziest stuff and no one bat an eye.

6- Now, let's finally look in the correct and conscious ways in which we change languages in the middle of a conversation.

First one and the one that happens the most is when we forget a word in one language.

I do this all the time and it sucks! I constantly forget how to say "concealer" in Portuguese and go around asking my family what's the translation even though no one speaks English in my house. I can't even remember the translation right now! A few days ago I couldn't remember how to say "pulseira" in English. It means "bracelet". It's an easy word. I still forgot it. Although I would recognize it if I saw it somewhere or if someone told me, my brain wasn't willing to do that work on its own.

So when this happens in real life, we'll always ask the people around us for the translation, even if they don't know the other language we speak, just in the hopes that they will understand the ✨ vibe ✨.

It's also really funny when this happens and the other person does speak both languages and also can't remember the translation. And sometimes we forget the word in both languages and have to resort to describing "the thing", which usually leads to a lot of misunderstandings.

Another way in which we change languages is when we want to use a very especific expression or memes in another language.

I'm gonna use Brazilian expressions for this because they're pure gold!

One that I find really funny (and somewhat family friendly for this post) is "o que o cú tem a ver com as calças?" which literally translates to "what does the asshole have to do with the pants?". If you think a little bit, you can still understand the meaning, but not all expressions work like that. If anyone's confused, the expression means that the other person is trying to talk about two different subjects that aren't at all correlated. You're basically asking "what does one thing have to do with the other?" with more crude language.

When we do this we can either just throw the expression in a different language and not elaborate on it, or try and explain it to the people around. It can vary.

7- If you have friends or family that also speak the same languages as you, you'll be shifting languages all the time without any warning.

I have a friend that most of our hangouts consist of watching K-dramas together. We live in Brasil, so we speak Portuguese, but we watch the k-drama in Korean and the subtitles are in English. During out binging marathon, we will speak all three languages with each other, even if none of us speak Korean. Sometimes we mix the words in all the languages, sometimes we have a full conversation in one language then switch to another on another point in time. Forgeting words in one language doesn't mean a thing in situtations like this. We'll just say the word in the language we remember and move on with the conversation.

This is everything I can remember for now. If anyone remembers other quirks of bilingual people, feel free to add on. If I remember more I'll keep adding to this post.

If you read all the way to the end, thank you and congratulations!

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

So because apparently both parties in my country oppose trans healthcare to some extent I want to make it very clear to cis people what healthcare they're opposing.

There's a lot of fearmongering about children undergoing medical transition. So I'm gonna walk you through what might happen to a child who is transgender and wants to go the full medical route. Let's say our hypothetical transgender child, I'll make him a him because I'm a him and I'll call him Rat because he named himself when he was 6.

So Rat would probably, unless he experienced precocious puberty, go on hormone blockers at age 9 or 10, a year or two before he would start experiencing puberty just to make sure he doesn't experience any female puberty symptoms. Then at about 13 or 14 he would have an appointment with his doctor and they would decide that he has been sure that he was a boy for many years now and he's at an appropriate age to start puberty, at which point he would be taken off the hormone blockers and put onto a dosage of testosterone that is typically of what his perisex camab peers produce naturally. Because he never produced estrogen he would not have grown breasts and not need top surgery. He would develop exactly how his camab peers develop.

Now I want to put an interlude here that literally all of this is reversible. At any point Rat could change his name back and go off the testosterone jabs and his ovaries would start functioning again and they would produce the appropriate estrogen to give him breasts and hips. He could take the same vocal training classes that trans women take, he could get laser hair removal on the places where appropriate, and it would be as if he'd never been on the hormones at all.

But he doesn't want to do that. He wants a penis so let's move onto that.

As far as surgery goes, he would not be able to have either metoidioplasty or phalloplasty until he was on hormones long enough to experience the necessary bottom growth to occur, which takes a couple of years. (At least that was what I was told in 2016 please lmk if standards have changed since then). So at this point we're already about 16 years old before surgery even comes up as an option at the doctor's office. And Rat, if he is particularly gung ho about getting a penis and his parents can afford it/insurance will pay for it, probably gets put on a waiting list for a consultation with a specialist in genital reconstruction. Let's say at that consult which probably takes a few months minimum to get into, he opts for the most similar to perisex male genitalia: phalloplasty with testicular implants. Right there we're looking at at least three different surgeries and not all of them are going to happen at the same time. He's 17 before he's ever even on the operation table and he's been consistently identified as male since elementary school. This is the fastest possible bottom surgery route I'm laying out for you here and he still not slanging it until senior prom when he'll give it an ill advised test run in the back of his parents Subaru with Kelly from the anime club. All of that is assuming there's a doctor who will do it for him that can fit him in. Some people wait years for surgery.

Now some people get top surgery younger, but guess what, breast implants both exist and can be removed. If a 14 year old gets a double mastectomy and regrets it when they're 23 they can get implants. If a 16 year old gets breast implants and regrets it when they're 20 they can get those taken out. Top surgery is not complicated and I've heard from guys who truely would not have made it if they hadn't gotten theirs done.

I know this won't convince anyone who opposes trans healthcare but I hope it at least explains transition to cis allies who support trans people getting healthcare but still might think minors not being allowed to have surgery is a moderate position. I invite any trans person to add onto this with a MTF perspective or how their surgeries helped them.

[hehe-hoho-ohno]

Submas canon vs fanon

The entire time I have been in the Submas fandom I have seen a lot of confusion about what is canonical and what is a wide-spread fanon. Both in the sense of people thinking things were canon when they were not, and (more rarely) people thinking things were fanon when they were not. So I thought it might be useful to put together a little guide.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with using fanon. I use most of these headcannons in my own fics because I like them and canon is dumb anyway. (Note: pokemon is a huge sprawling mass and tends to contradict itself, and there have been changes across the various games/manga/anime)

All quotations are taken from bulbapidia.

Nimbasa Trio - FANON

Elesa has no connection to Ingo and Emmet besides living in the same place. There is one interaction between them in Pokemon Masters, and while they are on friendly terms they don't appear to be particularly close. Similarly, the idea that Ingo likes bad puns/Emmet does not stemmed from their fanon friendship with her.

Uncle Drayden - FANON

The only confirmed family Ingo and Emmet have are each other.

Cilan is a huge fan - CANON

Cilan is a fanboy of both of them in the anime.

Ingo is the older twin - CANON

In the original Japanese Emmet calls Ingo "nii-san" which means older brother.

"Do you have any siblings? I have an older brother, Ingo."

- Emmet, pokemon masters

Emmet's joltik hoard - FANON

Emmet's galvantula knows the move cross poison. This is an "egg move" which can only be learnt through pokemon breeding. Since it would take several tries to get this move it probably would have left Emmet with a lot of Joltik. In theory. We don't see Emmet with joltiks in canon.

Ingo's kitty smile - CANON

He smiles like that in the manga. (Admittedly, it's not as exaggerated as the full on :3 people sometimes draw him with.) He also briefly smiles in PLA, but less cat-like.

Ingo's perpetual frown is unintentional - CANON

"<player>! Someone just told me something that troubled me deeply! They said that compared to Emmet, I'm too stiff! But that's just a misunderstanding! I know I smile when I'm having fun! I'd even say that I'm quite proud of how expressive I am when I speak! What? You say you've never seen me smile? I-is that so..."

- Ingo, Pokemon Masters

They are both autistic - FANON

They are related to the twin heros - FANON

They share similar themes and motifs to the twin heros/Zekrom/Reshiram but that's it. They have no canon relationship.

Both of them are heavily coded as autistic. However, it's never been directly stated in the games that they are autistic and (to my knowledge) nobody at Game Freak/Nintendo has confirmed anything.

Ingo has a receding hairline - (debatably) CANON

He is drawn with one in the art book. Does the art book count as canon? Until something in the main games says otherwise, probably. (Though there is some argument to be had that it might be an unflattering haircut instead.)

Ingo arrived in Hisui via wormhole - FANON

"For my part, I simply found myself one day here in Hisui, a region whose name I'd never heard... All I could remember was my own name. I was still standing there in bafflement when the Pearl Clan came to my aid."

- Ingo, PLA. (However, the art book depicts the pearl clan finding him facedown on the ground, so take his standing claim with a grain of salt)

We still don't know how he got there. Similarly, it is quite common to show Ingo arriving during a blizzard/freezing to death and generally in poor health/injured/unconsciousness. But the way he recounts it sounds much more peaceful.

It'a also common to have Sneasler be the one to find him. The art book (of dubious canon) shows a human pearl clan member finding him, and Ingo's quote seems to confirm that. It's possible Sneasler was involved but she isn't mentioned.

Ingo got amnesia from hitting his head - FANON

We don't know how he got amnesia.

Ingo remembers Emmet as "the man in white" - FANON

"I'm starting to recall a man who looked... like me. We'd battle and discuss Pokémon, I think... The words "I like winning more than anything else" flashed through my mind just now..."

- Ingo, PLA, about Emmet

He makes no mention of remembering Emmet wearing white or smiling.

Ingo calls her "Lady Sneasler" - FANON

Ingo only calls her Sneasler, no Lady. In fact, nobody calls her or any of the ride pokemon Lord or Lady because...

The ride pokemon are noble pokemon - FANON

There are 10 blessed pokemon descended from the heros of old, and these pokemon are revered by the clans and have wardens. The blessed pokemon are divided into two groups, the rides and the nobles.

The ride pokemon are not called noble pokemon, and they do not get titles. Mai talks about "the great Wyrdeer" but does not call him lord or noble.

"This suggests that even Pokémon that are not nobles can become frenzied..."

- Kamado, PLA, about the ride pokemon Ursaluna seemingly becoming frenzied

Ingo lives in Sneasler's cave - FANON

We don't know where he lives.

Ingo became a Warden because Sneasler liked him - FANON

"I showed a natural affinity for taming Pokémon, which is why I eventually became a warden. But still I wonder what my true purpose is here..."

- Ingo, PLA

There is no further information about his wardenship. There is no information on what his relationship with Sneasler was prior to him becoming her warden.

Ingo likes having photos because of the amnesia - CANON

"Ah, photographs. I appreciate having physical keepsakes—less ephemeral than memories. Would you do me the honor of posing for a photo with me, <player>?"

- Ingo, PLA, at the Photography Studio

Ingo has been in Hisui for XX years - CANON

The art book uses the placeholder XX for the amount of time Ingo has been in Hisui. Some have taken the double digits to mean 10+, however the first digit could easily be a 0. So, we still don't know. Net 0 information.

Emmet must be taking Ingo vanishing badly - FANON

We have not heard from Emmet.

***

That's all for now! I'm sure I've missed or forgotten something, feel free to add stuff in the reblogs! I might edit the list later to add more if needed.

[writingismyfortune]

prized possession | dan heng || honkai star rail one shot

published on october 22nd, 2023.

pairing: dan heng x reader

genre: fluff, with a sprinkle of jelly + possessive dan heng

word count: who knows at this point, but it is kind of short anyway.

synopsis: your boyfriend, dan heng, gets jealous over you talking with another guy that he doesn’t know. that’s the gist of it.

warning: lowercase is intended! there might be some spoilers if you are not caught up with dan heng IL’s lore. dan heng IL has me on my KNEES fr. i’m aware that “the guy that should not be named rn” and dan heng know each other. they just don’t know each other in this story.

it is a normal day in the xianzhou lufou, with the clear, sunny skies shining with glory.

along with a great number of cycranes soaring in the skies and the residents’ chattering the day away, xianzhou lufou is clearly a nation specializing in business. new ships arrive at the docks of xianzhou lufou as well, dropping off raw materials and such. starskiffs also does the same, picking up materials from xianzhou lufou and shipping them to a different places around the world. trade is one of the many reasons why the xianzhou lufou businesses flourish.

although it is the complete opposite in sclaegorge waterscape, a location that is a part of xianzhou lufou. this place is mostly secluded and not many people go here. however, it is a place that withholds xianzhou’s history. it is the place where dan feng was reincarnated into dan heng, the person he is now.

at the moment, dan heng is meditating near a pond in scalegorge waterscape, its own quietness and tranquility is pleasant to him. the sounds of water rippling from a nearby waterfall is also relaxing to listen to.

dan heng recalls how he and bailu explored many different parts of xianzhou lufou to discover more lore about dan feng, his past incarnation. he has to stand in the shadow of dan feng for the rest of his life, but he has come to accept this fact. it is something he can’t change, however, he is aware that he is his own person. this new revelation has unlocked a new perspective of his life. for once, he is alright with how his life is heading right now.

while he was meditating, he notices a familiar figure in the distance. or perhaps, he senses a similar feeling that he knows all too well. in other words, he is acknowledging their presence. when he opens his eyes and observes his surroundings, he sees you. however, you don’t seem to notice him yet.

why is that the case?

well, that’s because you were communicating with someone, that someone being another guy. someone that dan heng doesn’t entirely know. for some reason, he has a strong urge to protect you from this man, especially when this man is carrying a large coffin.

hearing you laugh because of what the unknown man has said caused an uncomfortable jab in his chest. seeing you smile because of another reason besides him makes him feel anxious and uneasy. he tries to meditate again to calm down his frantic mind, but the thought of you being with another guy makes him shake in his boots.

is he jealous? no way. he trusts you enough to know that you wouldn’t cheat behind his back. so why does he feel so tense when he sees you with this guy? he figures that it is one of your colleagues, but you two seem closer than that.

in fact, this guy is far more handsome than he is. with his luscious golden hair and his light green eyes. it’s only natural that he feels…anxious about this, right?

he’s afraid of losing you after all. he loves you too much to let you go.

and so, while you were casually conversing with this tall, handsome guy, you suddenly feel something wrapped around your waist protectively. looking down for a second, you see a turquoise-colored tail that you know all too well.

the guy that you were talking to was also astonished and confused by dan heng’s sudden appearance. he seems intrigued though as if he is aware that he knows who dan heng is.

looking back up at dan heng, you raise an eyebrow at dan heng. it’s like you’re silently asking him what is he doing, completely unaware of how tense he is right now. in fact, you are slightly taken aback by his sudden appearance as well since he just appears out of nowhere. you didn’t even hear his footsteps!

your guy friend introduces himself politely.

“greetings, kind sir. i’m luocha, a merchant from a foreign land.” he does a polite bow as well to express how genuine he is.

“you’re more than a merchant, luocha. your expertise on herbal medicine is fascinating.” you comment, a bit amused that luocha is actually introducing himself to dan heng. dan heng knows that you’re just being nice by praising him like that, but that statement made him a little insecure, deep down.

“you’re not wrong, i am skilled in herbal medicine and help those in need.” luocha chuckles, he nods in agreement. you only sigh and tell your boyfriend that you are helping luocha collect some herbs for pharmaceutical purposes.

dan heng slightly becomes less tense when you clarified luocha's statement. perhaps dan heng is still iffy about luocha, but he trusts you enough that luocha is telling the truth.

luocha then briefly tells you that he will see you later because he has some other matters to attend to. it seems like he knows that he is making dan heng uncomfortable for some unknown reason. he’s being considerate. in addition, luocha has a hunch that dan heng was silently telling him that you belong to him.

after all, he knows that vidyaharas are loyal, but territorial creatures.

when luocha leaves with his giant coffin, you also tell him your farewell. the grip from dan heng’s tail tightens a little, as if he doesn’t want you going anywhere right now. noticing this, you wonder why dan heng is so tense around luocha.

giving him a hug, you want to soothe his nerves. dan heng, a bit taken aback by this, immediately calms down when he feels your warmth and closeness.

you always know how to calm his anxieties. however, he is still insecure, but he decides that he will keep them quiet. he thinks that he shouldn’t worry your pretty little head about it.

his tail wraps around your body in multiple ways, entrapping you in his tail like a warm blanket. his tail is always very gentle and comfortable to you. the end of his tail starts ticking your cheek. you can feel how fluffy it is.

dan heng hugs you back, but his arms hug you such a way that he is protecting you from danger, even though there isn’t anything dangerous in scalegorge waterscape right now.

it’s like he is telling others to back off, just like what he did to luocha. without you noticing, he was staring down at luocha in the most subtle way possible. perhaps that is the real reason why luocha left. but you wouldn’t know that, would you? he thinks that it is only natural that he wants to protect you because he cherishes you deeply. this isn’t entirely wrong, is it?

you are his. he is yours. makes sense, right?

“where did you come from, dan heng?” you ask dan heng out of the blue, he did just pop out of nowhere while you were walking around xianzhou lufou with luocha.

“i do come to scalegorge waterscape sometimes. after all, it’s a place that holds many memories of my past life. i just saw you with luocha while i was meditating.” dan heng explains. it makes sense. dan heng then tightens his hug around you, not wanting to let you go yet.

“do you know why luocha carries that coffin everywhere? who is in that coffin?” dan heng then asks you a question, a bit tense about what you are going to say. you raise your eyebrows at this question, not even considering the fact why luocha is carrying a coffin in the first place.

“you know, i never thought of that.” you said. dan heng looks at you with one of his eyebrows raising now, a bit surprised that you didn’t think of that. dan heng then looks a little cautious, his expression looks genuinely concerned.

“i have a feeling that luocha is more than he meets the eye.” dan heng says with a hint of caution. “you should just avoid him at all costs, [your name]. what if he hurts you?” he adds.

“well, luocha can also be a mortician, which is why he is carrying that coffin around.” you exclaim. that’s the most logical explanation, but dan heng is still tense about this.

he didn’t like that you are friends with luocha. he doesn’t even trust luocha right now. is he being understandably cautious or overly paranoid? whatever it is, he doesn’t like the idea of you hanging around with luocha.

“a merchant, a doctor, and a mortician? can someone have that many occupations?”

“that’s a fair argument,” you replied. rubbing your chin in thought, you think about other reasons why luocha would carry a coffin around everywhere.

“[your name], i think you should just stay away from him for now on. i don’t trust him.”

“now you just sound jealous.” you respond with a hint of playfulness in your tone.

“i’m not jealous. i’m just making sure my girlfriend stays safe.” dan heng says.

“sure, keep telling yourself that.” you said, your teasing tone clearly distinct in your voice.

dan heng sighs in frustration, realizing that he can’t really change your mind. maybe he is jealous, but would he admit it to your face? no.

“i’m not jealous, i swear.”

“are you sure? would you like me to provide evidence that led me to this conclusion?”

burying his face into your shoulder, his cheek gently nuzzles with the skin of your neck. his cyan horns are close to your face now, seeing how sturdy they look up close. his horns emit a soft turquoise colored light. it’s barely noticeable right now, but it is there.

“that’s not necessary. i am just afraid of losing you, dear.”

“so you are jealous?”

“good riddance.” he sighs again and his turquoise colored tail continues to embrace you warmly. his arms are still around you too. after all, this is a very comfortable position to dan heng. you are always a good person to hug thanks to your soft skin and your gentle nature. in fact, the hug becomes more firmer and gentle, as if he doesn’t want to let you go out of his sight.

lightly chuckling in amusement, you rub dan heng’s back softly.

“your response just revealed your answer, honey,” you said gently. good aeons, dan heng loves it when you refer to him as cute nicknames like that.

“it’s only natural that i want to protect who i love though.” dan heng retorts back. you hum in thought, knowing that is a good explanation.

you are a gemstone that is more precious to a diamond, a gemstone that outshines the other gemstones. you are the only gemstone he has eyes on. you are perfect in his eyes. he is lucky that he found you first.

you are his and he is yours.

no one else will take you away from him, and no one else will take him away from you.

after all, you are his prized possession.

end of one shot. next chapter: n/a

[whoishotteranimepolls]

I've been waiting to respond since you made that post mocking us for wanting problematic characters banned from your polls because apparently you are not taking legitimate criticism of anime seriously. Because it is full of poor representation of minorities and lgbtq+ and you and all of your followers are laughing about it like it's nothing.

I will start with Yamato because everyone acts like one piece even though it's so full of misogyny. Having a trans character is amazing when I don't even think Yamato is actually trans. I'm pretty sure it's a translation error and everyone has latched on to it. So again that is not good representation if it's not confirmed representation and even if it was confirmed, it's not good representation. Yamato because of the one piece art style by default Yamato is full-blown a fetishization of trans people because all one piece characters if they are drawn, female presenting are drawn like sex dolls. So unless they go through an actual gender transition and not just a pronoun change. There cannot be good representation with Yamato because Yamato is a fetish, not a fully fleshed out character. I mean to boil it all down. I don't think the author is capable of having any good lgbtq+ representation one piece is just not a sophisticated enough story and the characters are just too shallow for that to be possible

Bleach did a similar thing with Yoruichi acting like it was so amazing to have a character of color and she is supposedly bisexual but she's just waifu bait and it reeks of misogyny and fetishization of BIPOC. She's a furry to top it all off. It doesn't help that the bunny chick from my hero is basically the new gen version of the same character, but at least she is disabled too. So at least they tried to do something with her character other than waifu bait

So I would like to know why every character I've seen promoted as great representation in anime for either the BIPOC or LGBTQ+ communities seem to only be horribly fetishized, useless, waifu bait. Not actually a good character.

And even when Japan is dealing with its own ethnic minorities and indigenous populations it still does a horrible job by playing into the Noble Savage stereotype Hollywood likes to play into. Have you not seen the anime Golden Kamuy? It's about Japan's own first Nations tribe and it's So disrespectful to that. I swear they could not have had a single person from Hokkaido, much less a member of the actual Ainu people involved in the creation of that anime or manga. And yet I've seen so many people brag about that anime and manga and how it's so good for diversity. When again, every single Ainu character acts like a bad native American stereotype from like a 1950s American Hollywood western. It's that bad and don't get me started on the fan service in that show. It's at a level that could be considered exploitative but it's okay. Some of the characters might be gay so it's representation. To top it all off it reinforces white colonial beauty standards because the main Ainu character is specially because she's half white and has blue eyes like her white dad and she talks about how she's going to be a new kind of better Ainu for the future because she's white passing. That show is a reductive racist dumpster fire and I can't believe anyone says otherwise.

But you said you won't ban characters unless the fandom becomes too toxic. But you really should consider looking out for the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities by not promoting toxic problematic characters and actually banning these toxic problematic characters and shows

Fandoms vs Illiteracy #1

Feel free to critique the essay but not the person nor the person's intelligence. Do not call names, degrade the person, or personally attack them in any way. The purpose of this series is to critique/analyze the arguments contained in the essays.

For those unfamiliar with the characters mentioned, here are pictures. The names are in the alt text.

And here's one of the promotional images for season 2 of Golden Kamuy

So now that everyone is a little bit more familiar with everything mentioned in the essay and knows the rules, feel free to do your own research and respond.

[nerdygaymormon]

I liked your post with all the scriptures showing that we are to love trans people. What are your thoughts about the changes made to the church handbook?

The LDS Church used to ban gay students from attending BYU. The church used to put a permanent notation on gay member's records and forbid them from having callings that work with children or youth. The church used to promote conversion therapy even when every major medical and mental health organization denounced such practices. The church forbade the children of gay couples from getting baptized.

Eventually the church reversed all these positions.

I used to speak up behind closed doors for queer youth to get to participate, it's been many years since my local leaders tried to do something like forbid a lesbian from attending girls camp or want her to be isolated at night in a cabin separated from the rest of the young women.

It is sad to me to see these same mistakes being implemented against trans/nb/genderfluid/gender nonconforming/intersex members.

Gay people were not predators, we were not the danger they imagined us to be. The same is true for those whose gender doesn't conform to the imagined binary.

How does preventing an 8-year-old child from getting baptized fit with Jesus' admonition to "suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me"?

How does limiting someone from gender-specific classes and callings fit with the apostle Paul's teaching that in Christ we are one, that "there is neither male nor female"?

Why is forbidding a trans youth from spending the night at FSY acceptable? It will be so stigmatizing.

We're really going to police the restrooms? Even me, an openly gay man, I am allowed to use the facilities with men even though I might be attracted to some of them.

This ban on "social transitioning" (meaning name/pronouns/grooming/clothing) continues the false notion that appearance equals worthiness and is in direct contradiction to God telling the prophet Samuel that "the Lord looketh on the heart." Social norms are not eternal norms and shouldn't determine whether an individual can receive gospel ordinances.

The top LDS leaders prefer the term "same sex attraction" instead of gay, lesbian and bisexual, and I think a similar thing is now happening as the Handbook language has shifted from "transgender individuals" to "individuals who identify as transgender" and "individuals who transition away from their biological sex."

None of these policies are required by doctrine, evidence for this is these restrictions didn't exist 5 years ago or even last week.

It's depressing the church doesn't remember the lessons from its treatment of gay people as it replicates similar policies.

It was already hard to be a gender diverse member of the LDS Church, and it just got more difficult. Everyone should have access to a spiritual home and church community if they want it.

While I can't control what the LDS Church does, I want you to know I embrace and support you. I wish I could sit on the pew with all of you and I wish I had a table large enough to break bread with all of you.

[lunar-wandering]

anyways as i mentioned earlier here is my absolutely nuts 'analysis' of Boboiboy having autism, and how each of the seven elementals kinda showcase a heightened version of an autism symptom-

so we're gonna go down in order (of manifestation for the elements)-

Boboiboy himself- he's just got the vibe, y'know? But also; it's been established he had no friends prior to moving in with his grandfather, which, y'know, is quite strange for a "normal" kid his age. He also tends to look at the people around him to know how to react in certain social situations (usually the person he looks to is Gopal which. Isn't always the best choice). Also the strong sense of justice is obvious (including that he goes so far as to help villains as well). (Yes this can be an autism symptom).

Halilintar (Thunderstorm). hear me out. Halilintar manifested due to overstimulation. I mean obviously the phobia of balloons is a huge factor here- but being in distress due to loud sounds is exactly one of the things that causes overstimulation for autistic people (could contribute to why he has this fear in the first place). One of the ways people might react to overstimulation is by becoming irrationally angry. Basically what I'm saying is that Halilintar spends most of his time on the edge of a meltdown-

Taufan (Cyclone). autistic joy. listen LISTEN. it's DIFFERENT from other people's joy, okay? a lot of autistic people experience emotions very intensely, it can full out take over you. also as far as i remember (it's been a while) he was the only one who had such an intense reaction to the mood changing potion- sure, the other people who had it were locked in one emotion, but none of them went as wild as he did- because he felt it a lot more intensely.

Gempa (Earthquake). i will admit, i struggled for a moment with Gempa- but honestly i think it's because he is, in my opinion, the one who's the most similar to OG Boboiboy. other than the heightened need to protect, which likely includes the sense of justice, I think Gempa is the one who masks the most out of all the elements. This is also why he seems to be the most neutral element.

Blaze and Ice. I'm doing these two together, because technically, their origin points are from the same thing: Burnout. It's just two very different responses to it. On the one side, Blaze is trying to, ironically enough considering the name, prevent burnout, by relieving stress (by doing things in the middle of night while no-one is looking and there's no pressure of social interaction). When there is too much stress, he falls into an overstimulated state similar to Halilintar's. On the other side, Ice represents the more depressed side of burnout- aka what happens after you actually burn out. It's why he's tired all the time.

Duri (Thorn). Okay so technically Thorn first manifested in battle but we're ignoring that. His tier 1 manifestation, as we all know, was mainly most definitely because Boboiboy got a concussion- but! Here's the thing; I don't think the concussion is why Thorn acts the way he does (though it's probably a part of it). I think, Thorn is just unmasked. The others all mask on some level, but Thorn just, doesn't. He doesn't really care how others might perceive him if he does 'childish' things or says things that no-one else understands because they didn't make the same connections he did, and he certainly doesn't care that deadpan telling someone their outfit is terrible might hurt their feelings, it doesn't even occur to him. He doesn't mask at all.

Solar. Again, technically manifested during battle. However once again we are ignoring that. It was established that the manifest condition for Solar (as Light), was for the elemental master (Boboiboy) to "expand their knowledge", and "read more". And, well, I know Boboiboy specifically read a bunch of science and history books and stuff, but honestly I don't think it really would've mattered what he chose to use to expand his knowledge, because Solar's main autistic trait is special interest. Because Boboiboy mainly focused on science and stuff, that became Solar's special interest, hence why he rambles off about formulas and stuff, and why he likes doing experiments. He hyperfixates on that stuff.

now. i could do the fusions... but honestly i haven't thought about the fusions enough to draw conclusions, so we're sticking with this

[cilil]

Hi, do you have any advices for budding writers on AO3 or here?

Hey! :)

I've given this some thought and compiled what I hope might be some helpful pointers, but if there's anything else or anything specific you want to hear more about, feel free to ask again. Also I'm assuming this is about the amazing craft of fanfic and not, uh, building a platform or whatever (I wouldn't be very helpful with that, I'm a nobody x)).

Share what you feel comfortable sharing.

So since you're asking about budding writers on AO3 and Tumblr, I take it you're at a point where you feel comfortable sharing your writing online, which is amazing. Nevertheless, I feel the need to once again mention (just for anyone who may be in the same or a similar situation) that it's completely alright not to be comfortable with it (yet) or not to share everything you write. I share almost everything simply because I'm annoying and it makes me feel accomplished and since I've grown pretty comfortable with it, I might as well; but not everyone feels that way and feelings also change. It's completely alright to write just for yourself or a small circle of friends.

Don't worry too much about "being good".

I will be the first to admit that I deeply relate to struggling with perfectionism when it comes to writing (and other creative pursuits). However, as someone who's been reading fic for many years, tends to be into quite niche and obscure things sometimes and is rarely spoiled by big fandoms' abundance of food, I want all writers, especially new ones, to know that you don't have to write the most amazing, perfect, publishing-ready pieces. What matters is your passion and creativity, which will show in your writing regardless of skill level. Not to mention that fic is free and in fact a tool for many to experiment.

That's not to say you can't strive to improve or be good - by all means, I find it admirable if you want to hone your craft and make progress as you continue to write. Just don't let perfectionism ruin your fun and stifle your creativity.

How to get better without trying overly hard.

Aside from just writing, writing and writing (that is the most important part though), how do you improve without making it a point to do so? Well, if it works for you to read/watch guides or you enjoy specific writing exercises, that's great, but one thing that I find gets overlooked a lot in writing spaces is simply: Reading. Just reading for fun.

I find that I often discover little things in other people's writing that I really like and then I think to myself "wow, that's really neat how they did that, maybe I could take a page out of their book" (pun intended) and make it a point to pay attention to these things when I write. Essentially, it's like creating a nice patchwork blanket which is your style, made up of your own voice and preferences as a writer and cool stuff you picked up on the road.

Let me just name some examples, which, yes, are also an excuse to shamelessly blow some writer friends of mine a well-deserved kiss of appreciation. @sauron-kraut writes incredibly polished short stories with beautiful wording and atmosphere that have a lot of little hidden things to discover and dissect, and I want to steal her ability to set the stage and hide those easter eggs. @a-world-of-whimsy-5 is an absolute legend when it comes to writing medieval and medieval-adjacent stuff, and I learned so much from her fics. @i-did-not-mean-to has a way of writing with such esprit and wit that I always end up in a good mood after, a style of narrative voice I've adored for over a decade, and I've greatly improved my humorous writing in particular thanks to her. @crackinthecup has the marvelous ability to craft extremely emotionally evocative scenes, which have encouraged me to be more courageous and experimental in my sentence melody and structure. @tragedybunny has a way of writing that reminds me of coming home to a warm and comfy place, and I will find out how she did it and how I can do it as well.

So as you can see, it can be super helpful to compare notes with your fellow writers. Never be discouraged by someone else's ability; instead learn and expand your own.

Feedback, criticism and community.

Let me just get one thing out of the way: You don't have to take criticism from everyone. Or at all. As far as I understand, the fanfic community has come to to agree that we're doing this for fun and don't give criticism unprompted/when we aren't sure it's wanted or welcome. As a general rule: Take criticism from those you would also seek advice from. Ask for feedback if you feel comfortable, and if not, that's a valid boundary to have and I will gently smack anyone who presumes to pick apart writing that was made for fun and generously shared with the community for free.

The community aspect, however, should be taken into account on other fronts. While I won't tell anyone they have to interact and believe that, in an ideal world, everyone's writing would just speak for itself, it is helpful to engage with the community. Things you can do (both on Tumblr and AO3 if also applicable/possible) include: Respond to people interacting with your works, interacting with other people's works (for example while you're doing your reading sessions and looking at other writers' styles) and just overall being present, being talkative, going with the flow.

Again, this is not a must. But I will say that pretty much all of us want positive responses and interactions on their work and that just won't work if you expect everyone to show up for you all the time and never show up for anyone else. Engagement, passion and community are our "currency" in the absence of money and reciprocity is an important element of that. A lot of friction and complaints in the fanfic community regarding lack of interaction or entitlement are rooted in misunderstandings of this fundamental principle.

But don't take this in a cynical manner. Seek out what you enjoy, share the joy and passion and you'll make friends just accidentally - which is the part that I find makes fandom on AO3 and Tumblr so much fun! (I don't even want to be a "traditional" author anymore, I want this instead😁)

Find your groove and groove along.

Lastly, make sure your writing is fun for you or else it'll become a chore and eventually get ruined for you as a hobby. This is unfortunately a continuous task as your needs and interests shift - for example you might be in the mood to do an entire drabble challenge one month and during another month you feel so drained that you couldn't do another one. Or you might want to write something different for a change. Or whatever it may be.

Either way, one recent lesson I've learned is that I got too tied up in obligations and it left no space for spontaneous inspiration, so I never got to write what I wanted to write in the moment and it pushed me quite close to burnout. Do yourself a favor and always hold that space for yourself. In practice, this could for example mean that you do one event and on the side write this cool new idea you had, instead of doing three events - which is fun and games until it starts getting too much and you don't have time for your passion projects.

Finding your groove also includes the whole technical aspect, such as which writing programs you use, which device (or none at all), where you write, how to make yourself comfortable, how to get in the right headspace for things. I would also like to encourage all of you to be a bit crazy and whimsical about this: For example I've gone to the perfume store, picked out a scent for a specific character in a specific scene and sniffed it while writing the description several times now. Do what it takes. And say goodbye to your squeaky clean search history - you will research some weird stuff just to get that one line right.

So yeah, these are just my random thoughts on fic writing and what has been helpful in order for me to have lots of fun with this hobby. Happy writing!

[simplyanjuta]

Making dynamic poses/animations that adjust to a sims body with Animation Tools by thepancake1

Made this short guide after talking to thepancake1. I haven't seen many people use this feature yet and felt like it might be worth sharing? There are some limitations to be aware of, but I think it's a useful option (for poses as well as animations) 😊

Many thanks to thepancake1 for the tools and for the helpful explanations he provided for this guide.

1.       Background and in-game mechanics

The way TS4 handles different body shapes and clothes in animations (for example, in order to avoid clipping) is basically by putting markers (“slots”) on the surface of a sims body that can be then used as (IK) targets with the in-game IK system.

As you probably know, IK (Inverse Kinematics) – as opposed to the default FK (Forward Kinematics) – is a set-up where bones in a chain are influenced backwards. So, for example, when you move a hand, the arm will follow.

In a similar way, what in-game IK does, is assigning a bone or slot to animate relative to. For example, if your sim is posed with hands on the hips, you can assign the hands to the hips slot and the game will then process the pose/animation and perform IK in real time to change the position of the arms and hands relative to the hips.

Note that there are limitations to this system, though, as only hands, feet and the root bind can procedurally target other bones/slots.

Hereby, feet targets and root target are mainly used in interactions with objects, in particular in sitting animations (where, for example, the root is targeting a chair slot).

Hand targets are mainly used for adjusting a pose/animation to a sims body shape and clothes.

The in-game IK always influences the complete arm/leg (chain: foot-calf-thigh/hand-forearm-upperarm).

You can find an article that provides some background information here: https://simsvip.com/2014/08/20/community-blog-the-sims-4-animations/

2.       Using the feature in custom poses/animations

Per default, when you make custom poses/animations with Blender and S4S, the relevant information that the game requires to apply in-game IK is not included. And so, you will notice that while a pose might look good with the base rig in Blender, it might not fit other sims with a different shape in game, in particular causing clipping.

You can use TS4 SimRipper to fine-tune a pose for a certain sim, but this might not be the solution you’re looking for, if you share your poses and/or want them to be compatible with different kinds of sims.

The animation tools now include a feature that makes it possible to use in-game IK with custom poses/animation as described in part 1.

Disclaimer:

The animation tools are in development and subject to change.

Currently TS4 SimRipper sims are not properly supported. (Although, imo for the purpose of the task, it doesn't make much sense to use them as models.)

As you can see in the comparison below, there might be some accuracy loss for the flexibility gained. (The position of the arms in the version without IK targets matches exactly the pose I made in Blender but doesn't work at all for the heavier sim causing extreme clipping. At the same time, the version with IK targets deviates a bit from the pose I made, but works for any sim.)

Below a short guide on how to set it up with the example pose I made.

1)      You can download the tools HERE. Make sure to check the installation guide and tutorials in the wiki tab for the basics. (Note: The tools were originally made for Blender 3.0 but also support newer versions, in particular Blender 3.3.)

Some additional tips for poses in another post of mine HERE.

After you set up the tools in Blender and have made your pose:

2)      Go to the S4AnimTools panel. Fill out rig name, clip splits and clip name as described in the tutorials linked above (also make sure to select “Allow Jaw Animation”).

3)      Find & click “Create World IK channels”. 

This will create 5 IK channels for the afore mentioned hands, feet and b_ROOT_bind bone. You can also add channels either by cloning the existing ones or clicking “Create World IK channels” again. To get rid of unwanted channels click “Delete”.

4)      Set up the targeted bones/slots based on the type of pose you made.

In my example, I created a pose where a sim has the left hand on the hip, and the right hand close to the thigh. Therefore, I added IK channels targeting the “b__L_frontBellyTarget_slot” and “b__R_ThighFrontTarget_slot”.

The slots are marked blue in the picture below. Some notes:

The slots are hidden by default, I made them visible for the picture. You can unhide all bones/slots available by pressing Alt+H. But I recommend doing this on a separate rig/in another blend file or undo it directly afterwards if you don't want all the (unneccessary) bones/slots blocking your view.

The selected slots worked well enough for my example, but you should figure out what is suitable for you. (Fo example, the HandDangle slots seem to be commonly used when the arms are hanging near the body.)

As orientation you can also look up clip files for EA poses/animations via the S4S Game File Cruiser and see what bones/slots are used as targets ("Warehouse" tab -> "SlotAssignments"; IKChainIndex: 0 - left hand / 1 - right hand / 2 - left foot / 3 - right foot /4 - root). On that note: The Clip Pack export loses/resets the slot data, but you can use it to find an animation and check its Instance ID to then search for in the Game File Cruiser. (If you know the name of an animation you can also determine its Instance ID by converting the name with the S4S Hash Generator.)

5)      To ensure an animation works properly and, in particular, blends with other animations in game, each IK channel should (also) target b_ROOT of the rig.

The bones are marked green in the picture below. This set up was recommened to me by pancake. Another experienced creator mentioned though that it's only necessary to target b_ROOT at the start and end of an animation, in his experience.

Also note that this seems to be a restriction for animations that are made as in-game interactions and might not be necessary for poses or animations used with Andrews Pose player.

6)      The start and end frame is set according to the length of the pose/animation (I want to use the pose as a CAS trait pose and set the duration to 150 frames = 5 seconds), except for the b_ROOT target for hands where the end frame is set to 0 in my example, since they are also targeting the slots “b__L_frontBellyTarget_slot” and “b__R_ThighFrontTarget_slot” during the animation.

Note: My example is a static pose. In animations, however, you can also target different slots at different times by setting up multiple IK channels and specifying the start frame and end frame respectively.

7)      Bake the animation by pressing “Bake IK”.

8)      Export the clip and create a package with your pose/animation as described in the linked tutorials above.

@ts4-poses​ @thefoxburyinstitute

[beaulesbian]

i'm caught up with end of wano, so here's some parallels from one piece that could be or don't have to be connected, but are still pretty cool.

long post ahead & wano spoilers

protecting new era:

rayleigh protecting zoro at sabaody from an attack by kizaru, ch 511

luffy protecting law from an attack by doflamingo, with same move as rayleigh above, dressrosa ch 782

at the end of wano, ch 1055, shanks telling ryokugyu a similar thing as rayleigh above ("don't pick the buds before they sprout. their era is only just the beginning"),

shanks "when the new shoots that just changed pirating history are exhausted, (..) are you that afraid of the new era?!"

---

zoro king of hell

same page as luffy protecting law - with haki clashing against doflamingo, the panels after that talking about supreme king haki - qualities of a king,. in this context for doflamingo, ch 782

at amazon lily ppl reacting to luffy using supreme king haki, while he doesn't know he just did, ch. 519. "that's the haki of the chosen ones' only one in millions has that spirit!"

vs, zoro unknowingly unleashing haki of supreme king for (possibly) the first time, ch 997

and later during his rooftop fight against kaido, (and still denies/ doesn't know what they're talking about, which is very interesting). ch 1010

then during his fight with King, unleashing haki, which makes others around fall unconscious (as mentioned above to doflamingo is a sign of supreme king haki), ch 1033

and some more chapters later, claiming the title of King of Hell (funny in this context it was told to doflamingo he was chosen by the heavens, and for zoro he became the king of hell. smth smth about the character work there).,

and as always - connected to luffy and his dreams!. ch 1036

then there's the asura figure surrounding zoro's powers,

and i find it so interesting that on wikipedia about asura (which zoro's sword and fighting styles are also based on with hindu and buddhist religions) is mentioned they're "considered enemy of the gods"

i like how it's the same phrase as we also heard in the manga before form law's flashbacks about corazon, ch 764

this is in the context of the people with the D. name, and then mostly used for law himself, and luffy and how far he's come to truly wreck the world government, as well as them being a threat to the celestial dragons.

luffy and nika:

from point above, i like how the "enemy of gods" being applied to people with the name D. is also interesting in the context of luffy awakening his devil fruit powers, which are named sun god nika. (i know that in the phrase "enemy of gods" mean gods as the celestial dragons, but it's still interesting)

which doesn't take away from luffy's character as i was a bit worried at first.

he's testing the new skills and powers, and he sees how he can reach the new limits he couldn't before. it might have been the devil fruit that chose who would eat it, but it's luffy and his dream that make the decisons., ch 1045

and ch 1049

luffy in ch 507 & 1053, his core ideals are still the same

---

not fighting someone

shanks not fighting the mountain bandits, and luffy not understanding it, ch 1

jaya arc, luffy and zoro not fighting against bellamy, and nami not understanding at first, ch 225

and ch 1054, momonosuke telling yamato not to fight the navy guy because he wants to be able to protect wano, and let yamato go to the seas as he wants to - it's just that similar energy that luffy has when he tells someone not to fight (or when to fight), without almost any explanations.

also loved this usopp moment!, - could be paralelled to his whole character arc. ch 1036.

he's so real for saying this to kin and kiku (and samurai in general). he's always scared and sometimes can be acting like a coward, but he always, always, stands up for his crew and fights to live through whatever hell luffy puts in front of them.

-- wano was so good and there are so many thoughts about one piece in my head now, about each of the characters and their development/meanings/themes! OTL

[unaloid]

WOY au notes

this is my swap au, if you haven't seen it, you can look at #swap au on my blog 👍

back then, i wrote down my thoughts on the characters new personalities and dynamics. but i didn't end up posting since i just kept editing it. so here is what i wrote!

~~~~ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ~~~~

basically i aim to keep the core personalities of the characters the same, even if they swap roles they are still themselves inside wherever i can help it. find a similarity between the characters and lean into it!

DOMINATOR: dawdle, name change suggested by @/kradeiz. i love it so much.

she is not 1000 years old, she is not a legend. she is just some immature woman who stole a hat. because she likes to take things 💚 she was down on her luck after fleeing her old galaxy for hat crimes, so wander helped her and quickly realized someone needs to keep her out of trouble. wander worries a lot for her when she goes off on her own.

she is selfish and tends to "look out for number one". she doesn't understand being told "no" and thinks, well i want it, so its mine.

when you watch episode "the prisoner", you don't get the sense that wander is being cruel in the episode. but if dom did the same thing, she would be laughing at him. if hater confessed his love to her, she is still laughing her ass off. she is a force of chaos more than anything.

WANDER: even while taking og!sylvia's role as a "toughguy", he is still 1000s years old and "the legend". he is wander the travelling hero who has saved many planets from villains, and will always lend a helping hand to those in need.

he is small but a good fighter that can take down a big opponent with tricks. wander and dawdle travel on his motorcycle, with which he has beaten many villains by challenging them to a race. wander offers a defeated villain his mercy, he still reforms people, its a bit of tough love ^_^ on the bike, dom holds onto his back or later he gets her a sidecar.

wander doesn't like to leave dawdle alone, he is always thinking of worst case scenarios

SYLVIA: "lady haymaker"! but i will still call her sylvia.

watchdogs had a lightning on their hats to match hater, so sylvia's army have a feather on their helmets to match her! the knight theming came from this. plus she is like a big dragon, so knights seem thematically appropriate. all she needs is a princess. her army call her "milady" instead of sir, and dawdle might call her "lady".

she is similar to og!hater in that her rage gets the best of her, so she wrecks her own plans often. why does she want planets? i guess she deserves some respect after always being shoved down by her family.

lady sylvia is bigger than normal, so she is taller than both hater and dom while standing up!! she needs an extra power, too, so she has fire breath!

dawdle is super annoying, she needs to be stopped, and stop saying we are friends and stop trying to ride my back. but maybe we can harness her chaos and use it for evil.

HATER: "sir hater". sylvia's minions are little skeletons called boneheads, but hater gets to be second in command because he is the biggest and strongest. his incompetence ruins things just as often... i originally thought, "they are like pinky and the brain," where sylvia is more competent and its hater who brings her down. but really, its more fun if they are both failing in different ways.

hater is bossed around by sylvia because she is bigger than him. he takes great pride in representing the army, being the best at what he does and being told "good job". it hasn't occurred to him that he could get recognition elsewhere, he wouldn't even know where to begin as a solo villain.

yupppp he likes dom. how conflicting, he's battling a lot of emotions when he's assigned to go capture and destroy her. she can often just talk him out of it bugs bunny style, running mental laps around him. she treats him cruelly and just finds the whole thing very funny.

PEEPERS: lord peepers.. maybe he should have a cooler name but i like to keep it simple. it takes a lot for me to change names lol.

he made it to the top due to being smart and nerd brain. i have the least to say about him because... you get it right? you can look at him and understand everything. its peepers if he was successful as a solo villain like he always wanted to be.

his suit is a big robot that he pilots, and its the big reveal that he's just a little guy in there.

i said this before, but sylvia does not want him. plots from the show about hater wanting dominator, can be supplemented by dawdle trying to be his friend. she thinks he is sooo cute and doesn't understand why she can't do whatever she wants. that's why she goes into his ship in this version of "my fair hatey" and they have to rescue her

SIDE CHARACTERS?????

the way i did the main characters was by lining them up in order of screentime and shifting to the right. there needs to be an end of the list so that the last character can swap to the front. i like that no one "trades" with eachother one-for-one like most swap AUs do, it changes the dynamics between characters more dramatically!

so if i wanted to add side characters, i'd pick the next group of 5 (or more or less) by screentime and do the same thing. i'm not a big side characters girlie tho, i prefer to only focus on the main characters, so i was not rly concerned with this at all lol. but there is a "right" way to do it, and i don't rly want to calculate all dat

(the only side characters i really like are major threat and emperor awesome)

[reyreadersblog]

ALRIGHT Y'ALL MADE ME DO IT!!!

My unpopular tig/tgg opinions!!

FIRST!

These are MY opinions and i'm allowed to have my own thoughts on certian things, just as you are, okay..? Just wanna..get this out of way, i know everyone is respectful in this fandombut still.

1. this is something that should NOT be an upopular opinion. AVERY IS THE MAIN CHARACTER FOR A REASON. okay? She is a girlboss, and she needs more appretiation, cus literally search up tig on tt rn. Everybody and their cat named Stewie is talking about Grayson and Jameson? WHAT ABOUT MY MG AVERY? And if you see any post about her, it's probably a hate vid about how Avery should've kept the money...SHUT UP. Read what she said carefully..."no one deserves that kind of power.." and then think about it deeply.

2. I DO NOT WANT TIG TO TURN INTO A TV SERIES (or even a movie). i can't name all the reasons 'cus then the the list would be endless. First of all, i know, I JUST KNOW, they'll choose the worst cast ever. And even if they find the most accurate cast for the Hawthorne brother i will still be dissapointed, because the images of them i have in my head...THEY'LL NEVER TOP EM. second of all, they will leave out important moments, just as simple as it sounds, and trust me they will, just like they do with most of the live adaptations of books. Third of all, SHIP WARS!!! I phisically can't with ship war, like I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF EM IN THE PAST WHEN THE BOOKS WERE STILL COMING OUT. And just the thought of Averygrayson shipper saying "yeah Avery and jameson were endgame in the books but they might change it in the movie..." GIVES ME NIGHTMARES. and overall, not everything needs a live adaptation yk? sometimes things just have to stay the way they are.

3. ...this is a bit contrevertial.and i don't want to sound like a hater since i've said this a multiple times before but Rohan's pov was my least favourite in the grandest games. Purely bcs whatever Savannah and Rohan had going on...don't get me wrong, i like Savannah (even tho she did and said some fucked up things) and Rohan, SEPERATLY. But them being together...idk man, they were too..."booktokish" for my liking, yk? and i do love banter and teasing, but they were like basic "i like you but i like winning more" "couple". Not to mention they were so random...like where did they come from? I remember when we first saw Sav and Rohan having the same symbols on their cards i was very excited, i expected a different dynamic between them...PLUS THE WHOLE GAME THEY JUST WANTED TO FUCK💀

4. Hating Alisa Ortega and loving Grayson Hawthorne is CRAZYYY, and i'm saying this bcs they're pretty similar in different ways. And the thing is people are mad at Alisa for "saying mean words to Libby" (she was literally doing her job, you would understand if you were at her place) MEANWHILE GRAYSON LITERALLY THREATENED A HEIRESS! (sayin this as a Gray stan) *sigh* y'all are something else🤦🏻‍♀️.

5. Ohh...this one is risky...BUT CAN Y'ALL STOP ACTING LIKE JAMESON IS BLAMELESS?? all i see is Grayson slander, AND I UNDERSTAND, he fucked up, but saying "Jameson was so much better than Grayson" is a lie, at least for me. (He was better for Avery tho) he fs made mistakes that fandoms chooses to ignore. Like lets not act like treating Avery like a toy wasn't wrong. Lets not act like him blaming Grayson for everything wasn't wrong. Let's not act like him reminding Grayson of Emily's death wasn't wrong. And i know that later on both him and Grayson had a great character development, but still, i've never seen anyone talk about this.

6. This isn't about tig. But LIKING JLBS WORK AND BEING HER FAN DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE GLAZING HER💀 (talking about an argument i had a while ago...) like is it so hard for your brain to understand that it's called having an opinion. Idc if it's JLB or any other author, okay? Like i've read almost every Jlb's books and i love them, AND i also publicly talk about how much iblove her work, does that mean i'm glazing her? UHM NO WTF💀.

7. LET. PEOPLE. HAVE. PREFRENCE. (I'm talking about ships btw) . Someone prefers LyraGray over Averyjameson, and that's okay. Someone loves Averyjameson the most, and that's also okay, someone likes Libbynash more then Xandermax, AND THAT IS ALSO OKAY.

I'll probably do part 2, i have more to say i'm just really tired rn.

Also it's not proof read so sorry if there are many mistakes.