#I will try to write something

[inkskinned]

this is just my opinion but i think any good media needs obsession behind it. it needs passion, the kind of passion that's no longer "gentle scented candle" and is now "oh shit the house caught on fire". it needs a creator that's biting the floorboards and gnawing the story off their skin. creators are supposed to be wild animals. they are supposed to want to tell a story with the ferocity of eating a good stone fruit while standing over the sink. the same protective, strange instinct as being 7 and making mud potions in pink teacups: you gotta get weird with it.

good media needs unhinged, googling-at-midnight kind of energy. it needs "what kind of seams are invented on this planet" energy and "im just gonna trust the audience to roll with me about this" energy. it needs one person (at least) screaming into the void with so much drive and energy that it forces the story to be real.

sometimes people are baffled when fanfic has some stunning jaw-dropping tattoo-it-on-you lines. and i'm like - well, i don't go here, but that makes sense to me. of fucking course people who have this amount of passion are going to create something good. they moved from a place of genuine love and enjoyment.

so yeah, duh! saturday cartoons have banger lines. random street art is sometimes the most precious heart-wrenching shit you've ever seen. someone singing on tiktok ends up creating your next favorite song. youtubers are giving us 5 hours of carefully researched content. all of this is the impossible equation to latestage capitalism. like, you can't force something to be good. AI cannot make it good. no amount of focus-group testing or market research. what makes a story worth listening to is that someone cares so much about telling it - through dance, art, music, whatever it takes - that they are just a little unhinged about it.

one time my friend told me he stayed up all night researching how many ways there are to peel an orange. he wrote me a poem that made me cry on public transportation. the love came through it like pith, you know? the words all came apart in my hands. it tasted like breakfast.

[seiwas]

just thought about stepdad bakugo being caught off guard the first time your teenage son calls him “dad” 🥺

it’s after years of being with you. their relationship isn’t bad by any means—it’s okay; it’s good. but your son has called him katsuki for the longest time, and he was happy with that, perfectly content even (at least, he thought he was).

it was enough that your boy dubbed his cooking “the best in the entire universe and beyond”; it was enough that your boy trusted him enough with a few harmless secrets that you may never know. it was enough that you’d both welcomed him into your home, into your lives, in a way that’s made him feel like he belongs.

it was enough (at least, he thought it was), until your kid comes home with a group of friends one day and they ask him, “who’s the guy in your backyard?”

between the scrapes of soil against his gardening shovel and mild hearing problems, katsuki shouldn’t have been able to hear anything—but he hears this loud and clear.

your kid tells his friends, “oh, that’s just my dad,” like it’s the most obvious, natural thing in the world and it hits katsuki square in the chest.

the next thing he knows, he’s smiling, eyes a little wet but not yet crying (—is what he’ll tell you later). it’s a small curve of his lips, but it stays plastered on until the moment you come home.

you wonder, when the three of you are cleaning up after dinner, “what’s got you all smiley today?”

he looks at you, back a little straighter and chest puffed out just a bit more. then, he glances at your son just an earshot away, wiping the table clean; he turns to you, mumbling, “tell ya ‘bout it later.”

(like he’s got all the pride in the world, like he’s got all the love in the world).

[hiimcanadia]

I've always kept my bookmarks private, not because I'm embarrassed or I'm putting negative comments in them or anything, just because if I have the option to keep extra information about my habits hidden on an account that anyone could find I will almost always take it

However I've seen some people say that not having public bookmarks is "suspicious" or "not respecting the culture of ao3". So I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on this and see how many people are in the same boat as me lol

[nuperflore]

"You stabbed me.."

You managed to wheezed out as you're holding the katana by the blade that has stabbed through your stomach.

"You actually STABBED me!"

Laughter is the only thing you can managed to react. Truly this is the finale of your measley life. No more negligence, no more staying in the shadows, you'll be free and it's all thanks to the robin in front of you.

"Wha.. no! I didn't- I mean-"

He couldn't find the correct words. He can't even find it in himself to bring the blade out which will cause more bleeding and death by blood loss.

Stop laughing! He cried out yet couldn't find a voice to sound it out.

You couldn't. You couldn't stop. It keeps pouring and pouring out from your lungs. You should speed up the process because he clearly would like that. EVERYONE will clearly LOVE that. Especially when they won't even come to your rescue. They will instead rush to HIS. HIM. IT'S ALWAYS HIM. IT'S ALWAYS DICK. IT'S ALWAYS JASON. IT'S ALWAYS TIM.

And it's always Bruce.

Never you.

The horrible sound of removing the blade snapped out the remaining family and they immediately on instinct try to disarm the ones holding the katana. It's too late now. The blade is out. The wound continues gushing out a waterfall of blood.

Long awaited Part 2.

[egophiliac]

Final manifestations for Book 7?

I'm trying REALLY hard not to build up any solid expectations, because I wanna go in ~fresh~! they're already so far away from anything I thought would happen (not in a bad way, I'm just accepting that I'm on Miss Yana's Wild Ride at this point and we're seeing this thing through 'til the end, by gum). so it's nothing too major, but:

they've been handing new crying expressions out like candy lately, I want to see some delicious Malleus tears.

honestly I want everyone to cry buckets. their tears sustain me. the more Silver angst specifically I get the happier I am.

SILVER!!!! 👏 VANROUGE!!!! 👏

just let him have this. the poor boy's been through so much. let him have his big "I'm proud of you, son" moment with Lilia.

I'm 100% expecting Grim's arc (and probably whatever's going on with Crowley) to be its own episode, but a nice hook to leave us hanging on would be good!

a nice hook though, please, I don't think I can take another "Grim is attacking us! now wait eight months to find out what happens :)" cliffhanger...

some Meleanor? as a treat? just a little bit, a tiny quick flashback or something, please Twst I just, I just want to see her again. let her have a little ghost cameo like Dawnathan Knight got. Lilia and his kids are all having their big group hug or whatever and she can gently fade in to be all like

(turning asks off until I'm done playing, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE Y'ALL)

[makingshortstorieslong]

A little zine about how I (still) have trouble saying the word aromantic.

I've never made a zine before! I was inspired to try it because @queerliblib mentioned a zine making night in an email. That hasn't happened yet - its on June 26th - but once I had the idea, I couldn't wait, lol. It was nice to put something down on paper and have the finished product to hold onto.

Image descriptions under the cut:

Page 1: Three tiny speech bubbles say: "Do you have a bf? Do you like anyone? What's your type?" A big speech bubble says, "Oh, I don't date." The big speech bubble comes from a heart colored like the aromantic flag. 

Page 2 says: I could say: "Actually, I'm... ...aromantic." ...aro." ...aromantic asexual." ...aroace."

Page 3 says: But there are a few problems:

aromantic: Has been misheard as "A Romantic".

aro: Opaque if you don't already know the term.

aromantic asexual: A mouthful! And sounds...scientific?

aroace: shares The Big Problem: it may require a vocabulary lesson!

Page 4 says: It doesn't actually come up too often! Which is fine. My coworkers, my neighbors, and strangers don't need to know I'm aroace. I just wish I could say it sincerely when I do want someone to know. 

Page 5 says: I always have to smile - laugh - hedge. "Oh, well, actually, I'm kind of like, aromantic? Basically just not interested."

It's been more than 8 years since the first time I said it out loud!  I'm certain of it, but I still can't say it like I mean it!

Page 6 says: The most memorable time I said "I don't date" the guy I was talking to asked "Oh are you asexual?" and I said "Yeah, actually. And aromantic." And we moved on.

That was nice. 

Page 7 says:

The times I've lead with "I'm aromantic" -- well, there's only one I really remember:

"I didn't use to think that was a real thing." 

Other than that time -- even if I use the word, I always explain what it means first! 

Page 8 says: I just hope that one day I'll feel like I can say, simply, confidently: "I'm aromantic" and "I'm aroace."

The words "I'm aromantic" are big and dark green, the color of the top stripe of the aromantic flag. The words "I'm aroace" are big and bright orange, the color of the top stripe of the aroace flag. Three hearts below the words are colored to look like the aromantic, aroace, and asexual flags. 

[bizarrelittlemew]

i can't wait to be 30+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 40+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 50+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 60+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 70+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 80+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 90+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to look back on my life and know that i loved things deeply and passionately and was inspired to create and was part of communities with incredible people from all over the world brought together by the stories that touched us

[trilliath]

honestly shout out to the dead dove: do not eat creators, the darkfic authors, the people who can unflinchingly stare into their darkest desires and curiosities and give them life enough to share with other people. It's absolutely so much harder than it looks to pull off

[kangals]

friendly advice from vetmed: I know that when your animal has an infection that is generating a lot of discharge, you want to describe that to the veterinarian, because it’s a concerning sign. that is true. I also know that the most common word for this type of discharge is “pus,” so it’s logical that that’s the word that you’ll use when describing what’s going on. and in English, we often add a “-y” when we’re using a word as a descriptor.

but. the word. the word you are looking for. is purulent.

please stop sending in messages telling the doctor that your dog has a “pussy wound.”

[keferon]

So uh..I sure hope no one’s personality reshapes after that experience haha

[universesrising]

imagine the ''four gets messed up by portals'' trope, but set right in the beginning of linked universe, when everyone's meeting for the first time

example: imagine everyone gets thrown through the portals, ending up at the same place, and while 8 of them are freaking out like "WHERE AM I. WHAT HAPPENED. WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE" the camera just pans over to four, solidly out cold on the ground

the poor guy

[inkskinned]

we were sitting on the floor and i was cutting out tiny pictures to make a collage for a friend's birthday. you were on your phone and you laughed about something, and i was still in love with you then, so i asked what had you giggling.

"sorry. i was just..." you took a moment and went back to texting. "i was telling someone about how you're afraid of the dark."

i'm afraid of the dark because something bad happened. "oh." i felt a little slinky of shame crawl down my throat.

you glanced up, and maybe it showed on my face, because you rolled your eyes and held the phone to the side casually so i could see the group chat. "what? was it a secret?"

i looked down to the scissors in my hand. "i just..." no, it's not a secret. it just felt like something private, something serious. saying why would you tell someone that just feels like an accusation. it's unfair. i honestly am not even ashamed of it, it's just a fact about my person that i don't usually share.

what a strange experience. is this a human thing or a generational thing? for our grandparents: did they need to worry about how quickly someone can just... share your personal information? again, i didn't even really have a true objection. what could i say? i want any person in my life to feel they can be honest with their friends. it's not like i said don't tell anyone this.

i cut out another letter to complete the rainbow happy birthday, started hunting for the exclamation mark. i heard you sigh dramatically.

"don't make a big deal about this," you said.

this entire conversation was a pattern for us, and this was when we got to my least favorite part of the pattern. i would get my feelings hurt in some oblique not-technically-terrible way, and then it would be making a big deal about something. you'd get frustrated for me for being soft, but i was born soft. you knew i was soft when you pierced me. it's one of the things that made controlling me so easy.

"i'm not," i felt my voice crack. the question came without my wanting. "why are you guys talking about me?" and why are you saying that thing? why not like - i'm telling them how you're generous and kind and pretty.

you let out this low, tragic groan. "oh my god." you tossed the phone away from your body. "there, see? i just won't talk to them if you don't like it."

the rest of the hour went the way it always went, between us: i said i don't actually mind if you talk to your friends but -, you found a way to call my minor expression of discomfort "being dramatic." you got upset that i had been offended. i ended up apologizing, even though i hadn't actually done anything.

afterwards, you picked up the phone again. after texting for a little bit, you snorted. "okay," you said, "but it is kind of funny you're afraid of the dark. i mean, when you think about it."

[junkdrawerfan]

One thing I am getting a bit tired of in batfam fanfics is Tim being “morally grey” or being able to work with morally grey people for the wrong reasons.

Tim Drake is the moral center of the Bat Clan. He was introduced to pull Batman back when he got too close to the line. He does the same for Dick and other heroes throughout his runs. He believes in Batman’s code.

The point—the whole point— of Red Robin is Tim testing his moral code (Batman’s Moral Code) and choosing to reaffirm that code with his own reasons. He tries to kill the man who killed his father, gets close, and then stops it because he can’t kill, even if it might be justified like taking down a dangerous serial killer who purposely targets superhero’s families. He takes up the mantle of the fallen Robin (Red Robin) as a preemptive punishment because he believes he’s going to break the code and then proceeds to save, help, trust, and befriend people because at his core he can never become the Fallen Robin — no matter how much he tries to push himself over that edge or to logic his way out of empathy.

Tim Drake believes in the no kill rule because Tim Drake believes in redemption and second chances and helping people even when they don’t want to be helped.

And that is why he can work with morally grey people. That’s why he can make friends with League Assassins and work with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. It’s why he has, arguably, the closest relationship with Jason (depending on the run of course) and see the best in Jason. It’s why he advocates for Cass’ redemption when she’s fresh off the league. It’s why he has a good relationship with Helena (that’s her little brother!) and Selina.

Tim can work with morally grey people because he believes in the best of them. He believes in their redemption and their ability to chose the right thing. He will offer his hand again and again no matter their background or their past choices or if they hurt/betrayed/tried to kill him. It’s why he can forgive and move forward.

Tim is like Bruce at his best. Their moral code allows for a million chances because they are, at their core, optimists playing at cold rationality. Tim and Bruce would never have become heroes without that optimism and empathy. Bruce for obvious reasons. Tim because if he didn’t see the best in people, he would have tried to take Batman out himself before Bruce could become a killer.

Tim Drake is a menace. He is the superhero community’s favorite little brother. He has issues with boundaries and internal foot-in-mouth syndrome. He is off putting and socially inept and makes up for it with pure sincerity and practicing social behavior because he cares (The Handshake! Y’all know what I’m talking about!)

He’s been damaged by his time as a cape. He’s not as trusting as he used to be. He’s changed and grown as a character from the naive 13 year old who tracked Dick Grayson down at Haly’s circus because he just wanted to help. He has contingency plans for his best friends and his family at 17+ when at 15 he swore he never would.

But he is still, at his core, a good moral person who believes in redemption with an eternal optimism that defies the logic and rational he clings to.

(Side note: Tim is far more trusting than Bruce.

It’s why he has more positive relationships with lots of people, not just morally grey people. Even if his trust is damaged, he’s not Batman. He can never become Batman. Him becoming Batman, not just wearing the cowl but becoming him, is Tim’s Bad Ending because that is a Tim who lost his hope and empathy and trust to the darkness.

Bruce can withstand that darkness and cling to his optimism even as he lacks trust. Even when he needs reminders of why he does what he does.

Dick can too. Dick is Batman’s true heir because Dick can be a Batman who hopes and trusts even when consumed by Darkness (even when Bruce was dead and he was drowning under the cowl because of his grief, he still thanks Babs and teaches Damian that it can get better but that’s a meta for another post).

It is one of the fundamental differences between the three, in my opinion.)

[vibragarlic]

(ID in alt)

part 2 of deltarune as pokemon sprites! part one is here (link)

also, its disability pride month... i put in my headcanons of kris with hearing aids and a bilateral cleft lip! susie has down syndrome (thinking mosaic Ds) and esotropia!!!

and just in case... don't reupload or use please

thanks everyone for the love shown so far ahhh!!!

[random-cockroach]

*runs away at the speed of light*

[anxietyriddledsquid]

comic i drew out of a scene from the clone wars novelization by karen traviss