#HELP ME ENGAGE

[carinelian]

<h1> WRITEBLR INTRO </h1>

this is overdue

man i miss l4d

ANYWAYS! hello writers of tumblr! cari here. i'm a twenty-something that's working on a million shit at once, BUT i am working! been here quite a while but never did figure out how to do this intro post, so in my mind i have written the perfect one. as always, simulation is quite different from the actual product.

three things about me:

i happen to specialize in stream-of-consciousness posting like THAT is my gig idgaf anymore whatever takes off or not I AM DOING THIS FOR THE LONG HAUL

i encounter stuff all the time like there are multiple posts here of my centipede encounters, sometimes big spiders

i love hyping up fellow writers like in a very bro way (you will not understand this now but i promise you will. later.)

three things about my writing

i love slow burn. even better when they got conflict of interest. ESPECIALLY when their motivations are completely at odds with with each other and now all the little things will add up to big things that blow up in everyone's faces. i'm sure this is like, Conflic Writing 101, but the flavor i aspire is like, controlled doom type of shit. i can't exactly verbalize it rn but we;ll get there. probably like a few novels in

i LOVE three-way/four-way relationships. like, you know what happens when someone likes someone who likes another one and another one likes another one? i like relationships in my stories messy

yes, most of my stuff might be relationship-driven, but i'm well-aware that this stems from my desire to connect. yes, i reflected on this. i'm sure in my bones i got the whole, ' i will grow for myself' type of thing going on irl, but i actually wanna explore that in writing too, as i post stuff on tumblr. i wanna try that again. i hope all of you will share this journey with me.

three things about this blog:

what's up with three? instant coffee.

actually everything you need to know about this blog is right here lol

third thing

three of the stuff i wrote/amwriting/willwrite(LOL):

Into the Gallows [COMPLETED, SIXTY CHAPTERS (I CANT TYPE SIX MY NUMBER SIX IS BROKEN)] - was actually gonna give you the short, IMDB pitch version but you know what, YOLO, i'm gonna give u the whole MEAL

It takes a special kind of assassin to fumble a hit over 20 times, but then again, Aster Mortem has always been one of a kind. In fact, he was so special that he got away with multiple attempts of regicide, and instead of being beheaded, he was allowed to rot in the coldest cells of Serberos until he figured out where he went wrong…or when his target had finally died.

It takes a special kind of target to escape assassination over 20 times, but Emperor Dominique Sibylla was no one special – not at all.

One death sentence later, the assassin meets the emperor in his second chance at life… 22 assassination attempts apart. Now, it’s a race against time to see if history will repeat itself, or if Aster can kill the emperor before he is even crowned.

“Into the gallows we go."

Read it all for free: https://tapas.io/series/Into-the-Gallows-/info

2025 COLLEGE CRIME-FIGHTING WIP - at least, accd to my Jan 27 dashboard post:

a new suspense, action and crime series in a modern university setting, featuring sassy creative writing professor, a journalism professor playing detective, students (who are unfortunately caught in this mess), plus an ensemble cast who may, or may not be, the urban legend everyone is looking for

Coming on June/July 2025 on the nearest writing platform!

PERSONAL WIP - personal.

And that's a wrap! I like this cursive so imma write like this but pls follow or whatever i need to Engage(TM)and broaden my horizons and whatever

sending all writers a power-up like BAM be hit by this writing buff LETSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[starry-bi-sky]

I am loudly pushing the batdad agenda i am loudly pushing the— DPxDC Prompt

“Woah. You look like shit."

Granted, that’s probably not the first thing Danny should be saying to the guy that just bit the curb, but in his defense; he’s not running on 100% right now either.

The man -- tall, towering, and broader than Danny is tall -- whips around on his heel, black frayed cape flaring out impressively. Danny would've whistled in appreciation, but he takes the time instead to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood running from his nose across his cheek.

"Sorry." He blinks widely, not even flinching as the man with the horns zeroes in on him. "That was rude of me. I have a really bad brain-to-mouth filter; Sam says its what always gets me into trouble."

And she's not wrong either, per say. His smart mouth is what landed him in this situation -- with blood blossom extract running through his veins and cannibalizing the ectoplasm in his bloodstream. Thanks Vlad.

The man grunts at him; a short, curt "hm" that shouldn't make Danny smile, but he does because he's somewhat delirious and probably concussed. The man keeps some kind of distance, sinking towards the shadows of Gotham's alleyway like he dares to melt right into it.

If it's supposed to scare Danny, it doesn't work. Danny's never been afraid of the dark; he's always been able to hide himself in it. He blinks slowly at the mass of shadows.

"You look hurt." The shadows says, blurring together around the edges. Danny squints, and licks his lips to get the blood dripping down his chin off. Ugh, he hates the taste of blood.

"I am." He says, "My godfather poisoned me. M'dying." The agony of the blood blossom eating him from the inside out looped back around to numbing a while ago, so all he feels is half-awake and dazed.

"Hey," Danny stumbles forward towards the man, a bloodied hand reaching out to him. "You-- you're a hero, right? You're not attacking me; which is more than I can say for most costumed people I've met." Maybe it's a poor bar to judge someone at, but he's already established that Danny's not in his right mind.

The man makes no change in expression, but Danny realizes blearily that it's hard to tell with the shadows on his face. He stays still long enough for Danny to latch onto the cape -- stretchy, but almost soft under his fingers.

He looks up blearily into the whites of the man's eyes. "Can you help me? I don't-- I don't wanna die." Again. He doesn't wanna die again. He blinks slow and lizard-like. "I mean- I'll probably get to see mom and dad again, but I told them I'd at least try and make it to adulthood."

There's a clatter down the street, and Danny's ghost sense chills up his spine and leaves a bitter, ashy taste in his mouth. He immediately knows who it belongs to even before the deceptively gentle; "Daniel?" echoes down the way.

"Daniel? Quit your games, badger, Gotham is dangerous for children."

Danny's mouth pulls back, and blood spills against his tongue. "Please." He rasps, and grabs onto the shadow's cape with both hands. "Please. He's going to kill me. Please--"

"Daniel? Is that you?"

His lips part, dragging in air to plead with the darkness again. He doesn't need to, the whites of his eyes narrow, and the cape whirls around him before Danny can blink. Soon swaddled in shadows, the Night lifts him up, and steals him away.

[baph0meat]

this is the Gaza Family Funds Directory, a spreadsheet of palestinian families' gofundmes, sorted by the amount of support they've received thus far. please choose as many as you can from this list to donate to, even just a dollar.

in addition, the sheet also contains a link to a gdrive folder with designs for flyers/stickers that you can print out and place in your community. if you truly can't spare anything directly now, please consider doing this so you can get these links in front of people who can donate!

it also remains urgent to keep the people of palestine connected in the face of communication blackouts; please contribute esims! it is very easy to do and is fully explained on this page: https://gazaesims.com/

if you cannot afford the price of an esim individually, there's a campaign currently running on twitter to which you can contribute whatever you can afford ($1, $3, whatever) to a larger pool which will then be used to buy esims collectively. there's also the crips for esims for gaza fundraiser, which operates similarly. there are probably more than this! i chose these two for this post bc they are currently active + both have easily vettable proof of donation (screencaps in the qrts of the twitter campaign, financial accountability document in the crips for esims campaign.)

finally, look into local grassroots organizations in your area so you can stay in the loop on protest activity. many such orgs have accounts on instagram. if you are in the us, looking for local chapters of the PSL, the palestinian youth movement, or national students for justice in palestine can be a good start.

please, please, please: pick something here and do it. i know it can feel overwhelming and there may be an urge to tell yourself that you'll reblog this now and get around to it later. instead please choose one thing. even if it's just finding orgs in your area and following them so you'll be notified the next time there's a protest. even if it's just downloading the flyer designs and looking up a print shop where you can run off a stack of copies. make a decision to do something tangible right now, even if it's just a first step.

[serevarin]

jan ptáček. hans capon. little birdie. flowers in his wreath: begonia as "caution", blueberry as "trust", holly as "protection", lavender as "I will never forget you". ... *whisper* and also as "lavender marriage".

[bixels]

As cameras becomes more normalized (Sarah Bernhardt encouraging it, grifters on the rise, young artists using it), I wanna express how I will never turn to it because it fundamentally bores me to my core. There is no reason for me to want to use cameras because I will never want to give up my autonomy in creating art. I never want to become reliant on an inhuman object for expression, least of all if that object is created and controlled by manufacturing companies. I paint not because I want a painting but because I love the process of painting. So even in a future where everyone’s accepted it, I’m never gonna sway on this.

if i have to explain to you that using a camera to take a picture is not the same as using generative ai to generate an image then you are a fucking moron.

[vaguely-concerned]

I really really like that lucanis reaches the 'there must be some way through this' realization 'off camera', so to speak, while presumably looking at rook explaining the situation to spite. it just. hits right. he gets that moment to himself after 'this place is a nightmare, why would I want to stay here' to come back into focus, to gather himself and think it through in peace, outside of the demands of anyone’s gaze (including the player’s!), while rook takes care of spite’s confusion and urgency and distress as he can’t himself in this shattered state. they're inside his soul, but he still gets that moment of privacy, with rook and spite there and supporting but not intruding. idk there's just something so good and right-feeling about it. rook's presence in lucanis' mind at its most vulnerable and frozen could have felt SO invasive if the quest wasn't written as skillfully as it is, and I get skeeved out by that kind of thing incredibly easily so it's a testament to how well it's done that it always feels safe and supportive. lucanis has had both his bodily and psychological (slash spiritual/existential) integrity and autonomy violated so brutally and repeatedly, and having even the way the camera perceives him here grant him the dignity and respect and privacy of soul he hasn’t experienced in a long time… it’s a whole thing huh. No wonder it’s taken me a while to put it into words lol 

(also what a contrast to what solas and rook have got going on, and what a sly way to slide the point of comparison in there to build to the thematic whole. the solas version of this IS of course wildly invasive and skeeves me out but in the intended delighted horror movie way. solas, too, was let into someone’s soul through the cracks in the wake of a traumatic event, and he IMMEDIATELY sought to turn it to his own benefit and use that trauma as a weapon against them fhdsja I’m sorry but it’s just such a character-revealing instinct for him to act on without hesitation and I love how terrible he is, it’s all so unforgivably premeditated and consistent.

rook acting out of the desire to make sure lucanis is ok vs. solas going ‘well. When life gives you oops killed my friend, make dead friend poisoned lemonade and make his loved ones drink it. this sunk cost fallacy isn’t going to perpetuate itself’ is such a neat contrast and it’s not in your face about it but it’s still there, deep and solid down in the thematic narrative. rook doesn’t do anything to or in lucanis’ mind, really — they negotiate their way through the layers of defense and are let through, and they help him make the whole thing more explicable, but they never exert any force or go rooting around for anything that doesn’t present itself to them first. solas goes about gathering ammo for when he's going to nothing personel kid this person from like the first moment fhdskh doesn't waste a second before he's on that gaslight gatekeep girlboss grind. the fact that the game goes out of its way to show there IS a respectful, non-selfish and kind version of this process makes what solas is doing even more deliciously awful (glee) and rook and lucanis’ relationship (platonic, romantic, whatever it might be in any given playthrough) all the more moving to me)

[lazylittledragon]

I saw on your IG you had some nasty comments about this but as a curvy girl, THANK YOU for the way you draw Karlach and Shadowheart's bodies!! They're both so soft looking :')

YOU'RE SO WELCOME LET THEM BE SQUISHY

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

I’ve seen people saying 431 wasn’t written by Horikoshi but by his assistants; is there any truth to that? (Sorry if this isn’t the type of question you like to answer, you’re honestly the most reputable source I know for MHA)

The only reason people are saying this is because they hate the content and want an excuse to dismiss it.

We have no reason to believe this chapter was written or drawn by anyone other than Horikoshi, who has a team of assistants as all manga artists do.

The only middle-men here would be WSJ editors and executives, who have regular input on the story's direction and execution. One could theorize about how much pressure and of what kind there might have been on Horikoshi, as the creator of a hugely popular and lucrative shounen series, to hint towards the possibility of a heterosexual relationship at the end, especially considering WSJ's relationship to the "settle down and have kids" politics of modern Japan. But that's all it would be: theorizing.

Regarding editorial overreach, Horikoshi has said that he will tell the story he wants to tell. I'm not positive, but I think he went through several editors trying to find a good fit, someone who would respect his vision instead of dominate it. It would be insulting to insist he is some helpless victim with no agency whatsoever. Or, for that matter, that he would ever allow someone else to draw his manga for him, slap his name on the title page, and call it a day.

I have no special information in this regard, but my guess is that Horikoshi arranged to end the serialization of the series where he wanted to, then had meetings with his publishing team to discuss what kind of material he could create to fill the final tankōban, which needed extra material to meet publishing standards. 431 is the result of that.

At 38 pages, it could have been two serialized chapters. But it wasn't.

The thought I keep coming back to is that 431's pages are after Horikoshi's afterward in the volume. I've heard that people are trying to say that 430 and 431 are BOTH "up for interpretation" or "just future possibilities," but consider this: only one of those was included in regular serialization and can be read back-to-back with all the other chapters in the usual way.

That chapter directly parallels the first chapter in a number of extremely meaningful ways, both visually and thematically. That's 430.

The other chapter, for whatever reason, comes after Horikoshi's comments on the story's conclusion. It is literally separated from the rest. Maybe this isn't that significant, but I don't know any other final ending chapter like that. Demon Slayer's volume-exclusive epilogue comes immediately after the serialized chapters, with the only break being a two-page extra explaining character genealogy. Gotouge's comments come after the brand new epilogue.

All of that, plus the content itself, contributes to me personally feeling like 431 is just extra. It's undeniably Horikoshi's work, but it doesn't draw any strong parallels to the established themes of MHA. It isn't necessary to the conclusion of the story we've followed.

But for what it's worth, I haven't seen anyone in the jpn fandom bring up whether 431 is canon or not, because they don't care. Japanese fandom is very flexible and self-indulgent. Fanworks and headcanons regularly contradict canon and no one cares even a little. It doesn't matter if the chapter is "canon" or not, they'll do what they like either way.

I have seen a huge range of responses from jpn fans. Some see it as confirmation of a het ship, others see it as open-ended. Some find the outcome sad, some felt it was hopeful. Many people had mixed reactions of happiness and sorrow.

I saw at least one person interpret the "put down the camera" note as providing the fans the opportunity to "freely imagine what happens in the future." Another person questioned how they were supposed to interpret that phrase in conjunction with Shouto's monologue about "inevitability."

I'm gonna go Plus Ultra here and reach far beyond the framework of your question, so let me just say this: No one has to care about the creator's intentions. No one needs permission to ignore canon.

For one thing, we are only ever guessing what the creator's intentions are. We can only surmise and make arguments based on our interpretations of their work.

To act as though there should be one sole authority that dictates what the audience is allowed to think about art is ridiculous, and that includes the creator.

Because art is completed by the audience. Art is communication. In language, the speaker knows only what they intended, while the listener knows only what they interpreted. We may discuss our perspectives in different ways to try to understand each other better, but in storytelling, the audience doesn't interact that way with the creator. They interact with the art itself.

Art means something new the moment it touches another human heart.

Who I am, what I value, my experiences in life, all of these influence how I see Horikoshi's story. And that's a good thing. To remove myself from that—to insist that who I am as a person has nothing to do with what art means to me—is to diminish the meaning of art itself.

I don't need Horikoshi to agree with me. I don't need him to see things the same way I do or tell me I'm right. He wrote a story about the complex, profound love between two boys. Whether he thinks that love means they'd wanna kiss each other is completely fucking irrelevant to me.

The love is on the page, where I found it.

Other people may think it means something different or fail to see it entirely, and that's fine. That's their relationship to the story. That has nothing to do with me.

I'm glad Horikoshi got to write the story he wanted. I wished I liked his extra chapter more, but them's the breaks.

[poyell]

The speed in which @empanadastheresurrection ‘s Au has infected my brain needs to be studied

[son-of-avraham]

I've been doing a lot of reflection as of late, especially after this past class.

This past class was about the Torah and Tanakh in general, and the way the rabbi talked about the commandments (specifically the ten commandments) has made me really reflect on how I interpret them, specifically the fifth commandment, or honoring your mother and father.

This is a commandment I have wrestled with for a long time - in fact, it brought me away from g-d at multiple times. I was severely abused when I was incredibly young by my mother, and I used to feel insulted at the implication that I were to honor her while she got to live a better life. It was hypocritical, in my eyes.

But this rabbi surmised that this particular commandment was because parenthood is an act of creation, something that is like the g-d from which we come from. My realization is this: I don't think we're necessarily meant to take even these commandments literally.

I this particular commandment is more of a call to honor creation - creation is a gift, and like any gift, many people simply will not like it and will discard it. The person who abused me created me, but she did not honor creation. She didn't honor me, but I can still honor it.

I have started to honor creation much more. I'm too young, too unstable, not mature enough to be a father (though I fantasize about it), but I create all the time. I create relationships, I create with my hands through crochet. I create memories, I create my world. And I can honor who I am and where I came from that made me who I am. I've been learning one of the mother tongues of my family (Italian, since part of my family originates there) and it was judaism that inspired me to do this.

I don't think g-d wants me to honor my abuser. I think He wants me to remember the Holy action of creation. When I am a father, that act of creation will be Holy, and indeed, I am already joyful about the thought.

I have seen many people struggle with this particular commandment, but I think this perspective helps me personally. I don't think I ever have to forgive my abusers (plural), and I don't think I am commanded to simply because they happened to be family. I am commanded to recognize the holy, to elevate the mundane. In doing so, I will remember g-d. Through creation, I honor g-d and everything he has done for us, for me, and for our collective people.

[recent-rose]

yknowwww there is something... deeply uncomfortable about the way mel never speaks directly to viktor in the 'build hextech weapons' scene. she really only speaks to jayce. plenty of people have pointed this out already but like the one scene they actually share a meaningful interaction and she treats him like he's beneath her. all this after jayce has emphasized how important viktor is, that hextech is theirs, together. she unequivocally ices him out, there's no other way to interpret this scene. the way it's shot too - from viktor's perspective, looking up at her, as though to reinforce the same belief in him. like he doesn't even bother expecting respect from her - or anyone from the upper echelon of piltover. he's fully accustomed to being dehumanized by everyone around him at this point. sometimes even by jayce, despite the trust they clearly have in each other.

then of course after this scene is viktor experimenting on himself. it's pretty clear that he has internalized his own dehumanization. crazy.

[moeblob]

"Engage was good. The endings were pretty nice. Except Alfred, fuck him, I guess." -someone in a server I was in once (affectionate)

[battleweapon]

Sketches and filigree practice 𖦹

[strawberryicemoon]

I'm still thinking about Pokemon Horizons 89. I mean. Pokemon's anime just did something for the first time. Something it could never done before because it never could have been allowed to do that. Pokemon Horizons is allowed to be traumatizing.

Not that nothing traumatizing never happened to any Pokemon characters including ash before, or that death was a huge taboo bc the ghost type literally exists, but there is a BIG difference between an episode about grief due to losing a loved one to age or illness vs. a tragic accident in front of the protagonists eyes. Or vaguely alluded to neglect/trauma played for laughs. It's not about what happened so much as the impact of the event on the story going forward.

And before you say Ash has died, or that Lucario died, or Friede isn't dead, there's a big difference between the death of a character we just met, or that dies in backstory, or is brought to life right after (and also the movies just get a bit darker in general) than a character who has appeared in a majority of episodes so far and is close to the main cast. Pokemon just killed off a main supporting character. A member of the main cast. And not from something like old age, but a young healthy man. Now I don't think Friede is actually dead ofc. They would never.

But the characters do.

For a year. At least.

They're letting the characters marinate in that devastating loss.

And even if we the audience find out Friede is alive in a couple weeks, they still let his fate hang in the air for several weeks. And even if we the audience find out his fate, it will likely will still be some time yet before the characters do and their characters going forward are going to be informed by this trauma in a way that Ash never could be. Because Ash couldn't change. So anything bad that happened to him had to be something that couldn't directly, tangibly affect him going forward. Things that could be pushed into the background and ignored by the writers. The writers can't ignore Friede's death, he's too central to the plot, the kids growth up until this point and the seasons iconography. The plot is going to have to completely pivot around this event.

Like yes we are getting a Time Skip, and that is HUGE for Pokemon. But that Time Skip deeply tied to Friede's fate. The time skip is a whole year where the characters have been pulled away from the plot because of the loss of Friede, the 6 heroes, and the framing of the Rising Volt Tacklers as the villains by Spinel.

So it's kind of a big deal to me is that they just functionally killed 3 people (and a Charizard) in one episode. Two of these are definitely permanently dead. One of whom was a member of the main supporting cast. Again, its not that people (villains mostly) haven't occasionally died. The point isn't that they're dead per se, but that their absence has radically changed the direction of the story. They've traumatized those kids and there's no going back. "Roy forced to grow up", "Liko is depressed".

The kids post time skip will not be the same as before, and them witnessing their mentors supposed death is going to be the reason why. Like I don't think the show is suddenly going to be depressing either, that's where the year timeskip comes, in so the loss is less raw. But still.

Friede isn't quite a main character but still they "killed" A MAIN CHARACTER OFF.

The irony of people stopping paying attention to the anime because Ash left, but Ash's departure opening the doors for the Pokemon anime to go wild is not lost on me.

[lesbianfakir]

For anyone who missed when I talked about this, I’m organizing a low stakes mini zine for princess tutu. Soley because our tag is SO EMPTY rn and I want to generate an event in the fandom.

Planning for a tentative release in September so it can be like a fun summer tutu event but I’m workshopping this with a friend who knows more about zines than I do—release date can be pushed back if needed.

Any and all contributors are welcome (since it’ll be a pdf I don’t foresee needing a set page count so anything goes) though I will be checking in with everyone to make sure their pitches are appropriate for the zine (and by that I mean do NOT make me look at the teenagers having hardcore sex pls and thank you)

Finally I wanted to throw this out there:

Feel free to send me your ideas on how to make this a fun event for everyone. Whether that’s gamifying it by like assigning people teams or giving out silly rewards (I desperately want to make an ultimate #fakirgirl badge/sticker for our bravest soldiers) or I don’t know, making themed sections of the zine so we have a part where people say pick a fairytale they like to theme their piece around. We’re in the planning phase so no idea is a bad idea

I just want this to be a fun, collaborative project so we can come together as a fandom and enjoy a show we love

[maxthesillyy]

saying “chloe was always destined to be miserable” or smth else along those lines, completely ignores the themes in the game of moving past and growing from grief and trauma

you think chloe would just never get over her grief in the Bae ending? that she went through zero character development after hell week? even now that she has an ACTUAL support system?

im not saying the trauma and guilt will be easy to get over, but the Bae ending gives her an actual chance to TRY.

she’s never had the opportunity, space, energy or support to try. saying she’s just destined to live and die miserable no matter what you do makes it look like the whole idea of accepting the past and moving onto the future completely flew over your head.

you can play the "it's fate/destiny" card as much as you want, but this game is about people first, powers second.

the idea of fate and destiny is never canon. it's just something the characters say to cope with their life— to try and make sense of it. but the reality is we'll never know the actual truth of all why it all happened. we just know it works out in the end either way.

and on a further note, both fucking endings follow the theme of “accepting the consequences of your actions”

max literally lets an entire storm destroy her ENTIRE HOME TOWN, but you think it doesn't count because she gets the girl at the end of the day.

if anything the bae ending follows the themes closer than the bay ending-max rewinds just one last to make none of it happen. erases one last mistake instead of accepting all of them.

and lastly, i also think it’s kinda fucked up to say “chloe is max’s nostalgia/past that she needs to let go of” as if chloe is this mysterious person thats more of a concept than person. instead of an entire person we spend the whole game with who still has an opportunity in life.

she’s a person too, just like max. it’s a really weird justification for why the Bay ending is “better.” i get part of where they’re coming from, but it just doesn’t work when you consider literally everything else.