#like that is how you write intimacy

[thestarlightforge]

The government didn’t bomb the gay parts of Seattle. They left an infection to kill them all

Ohhh Craig Mazin, when I catch you 😭💚

[teamsasukes]

Was Itachi's forehead poke to Sasuke a sign of distancing himself and not wanting Sasuke to get involved, rather than just a mere sign of affection? I saw a few people talk about that and how it's weird that Sasuke does that to his family considering the original meaning.

yes, you've got an accurate handle on the original meaning of the Forehead Poke. fundamentally it is an expression of distance that itachi wields at times when he cannot be with sasuke. and it seems to be a throughline of his childhood: sasuke asks itachi to do something as mundane as train together but itachi continually refuses on account of his duties as a shinobi.

it is not a gesture devoid of love -- it's not as though itachi ever delights in dismissing sasuke (on the contrary, he is always regretful). but there's a cruelty in the uncertainty of it all: the most direct translation is "maybe next time", so itachi fails to provide even an assurance that they can, like, hang out next week or something. this chasm between them is then widened by itachi promising, on the night of the massacre, that he might allow a final battle between them if sasuke ever proves competent enough to bother fighting, leaving sasuke in protracted pursuit of the looming specter of his older brother.

this distance is really only bridged (barely) in their final scene when itachi lays bare the truth of his motives, his regrets (which are lacking, to put it mildly, but for sasuke this is nonetheless momentous), and his unconditional pride in and love for his little brother. the Forehead Poke is notably absent here because textually, the enforced distance wrt sasuke is framed as itachi's greatest wrong. (seriously, itachi says something to the effect of: i shouldn't have done All That because maybe you, my 7-year-old brother, could have brought change to our clan... thereby reducing inconvenience for konoha, of course. the paucity of virtue in massacring the uchiha doesn't really register for him even during this reconciliation, and it's deliberate... because the author doesn't see it as much of an issue either!)

anyway, it might seem odd for sasuke to repeat this gesture with sakura in chapter 699, then, particularly because it seems to be invoked in a manner identical to itachi in his neglect. kind of an odd way to signify a happy ending for these characters, right...?

well, it works for me solely because it is not identical! and naruto's english dub is my worst enemy. i would grab a couple of manga panel screenshots in the original japanese to prove it, but it's easier for me to just plug these scenes from the anime. here is an itachi Forehead Poke (0:51) and here is sakura seeing sasuke off at the konoha gate (0:33). there's a subtle but meaningful distinction in the phrasing: "mata kondo da" vs. "mata kondo na". which, in effect, alter the meaning from "maybe next time" to:

(there's an excellent tumblr post from years ago which performs a substantive analysis of the japanese in both contexts, but eludes me now. pls send if any of you have a link to it!)

so personally i adore its inclusion in chapter 699 specifically. it obviously carries a great deal of weight for sasuke and it's meaningful he chooses to express it to sakura specifically despite leaving the entire team behind -- in lots of ways, and more than any other character, i think for sasuke, sakura is the anti-itachi. (that would require another post to elucidate.) so not only is it an expression of regret at unintended distance, but, more crucially, it's a promise of return. i think it's incredibly sweet that sasuke can repurpose the gesture from something soul-rending to something hopeful.

(also deserving of another post lol but this scene also achieves a neat and, crucially, subversive callback to sakura's foundational insecurities... it's like poetry it rhymes)

all that said, i understand why it reads as something different once we are then given the context of chapter 700 and gaiden... i dislike both of these installments, primarily for the implication that distance becomes a love language, so to speak, between sasuke and sakura/sarada. these relationships are ruled by distance and sasuke accepts it. it's disappointing! his journey to learn about more of the world in chapter 699 jibed with the character's arc until that point. this does not.

my unpopular take is i think this has just about nothing to do with sakura or the sasusaku relationship and everything to do with authorial outlook on sasuke's actions in part 2. and for the record, i maintain that these crimes ultimately amount to very little -- violence and death are occupational hazards if one is a shinobi. konoha is also foregrounded by a cold calculus on the worth of human lives; i'm sure sasuke's indispensable role in saving the world outweighs the killing of a few samurai. i just think kishimoto needs sasuke to atone, somehow, forever, via endless service to the village. and he also cannot sensibly write a kakashi- or naruto-headed government that would impose any meaningful punishment, so sasuke is relegated to a state of permanent rootlessness in some dumbass quest. it's a sacrifice on his part, but contrived for a number of reasons, chief among them being that the sasuke we came to know in the original series would literally never internalize konoha's ideals in this manner. so even though the Forehead Poke in gaiden and boruto retains the elements of promise and anticipation of eventual reconciliation, it feels kind of... lame and weightless. there is a superficial signal at growth but materially, for the parties on the receiving end of the Forehead Poke, very little seems to change.

frankly, i think we are meant to view sasuke's love as noble (and sasuke himself as penitent, suggested by the ascetic quality of his life). sasuke is still doing things differently than itachi, insufficient though it may be: he is honest about the reason for his travels, he does not rush to dismiss sarada when she needs emotional support, his motives are selfless rather than selfish (sasuke guards against the threat of the otsutsuki; itachi... wanted sasuke to kill him, in no small part as a desperate ploy to end his own suffering, notwithstanding the subsequent damage that would be inflicted on his thoroughly traumatized little brother). gaiden is surprisingly candid about the distance as a source of distress for sarada, sakura, and even sasuke, but by the end everyone understands why it must be as it is. the state above all! (you'll notice even itachi's apology to sasuke held this precept intact... there is a reason the series closes with sasuke accepting his old hitai-ate.) it is admittedly vexing, considering the totality of evidence here, to see sasuke's nomadic status in boruto pinned on how much he hates his dumb bitch wife and not, you know. the shockingly bad politics underpinning the narrative.

i appreciate the attempts of sasuke enjoyers to explain his distance as natural aversion to konoha, but this isn't canonically backed by any interiority (which seems to be absent in boruto-era team 7 at large) and moreover it requires miscommunication between sasuke and sakura (or even naruto) so great as to be unbelievable. i've accepted that post-pt2 sasuke is an unfortunate victim of kishomoto's nationalist views. his weird takes on how a man like sasuke would behave in a loving relationship and likely desire for a continued revenue stream don't help either. yes i will weep forever...

TLDR: i think the Forehead Poke fits in chapter 699 precisely because it diverges from itachi's. i resent its recurrence suggesting distance from loved ones is an inevitable condition of sasuke's life to which he's stoically acquiescent.

[biscuityskies]

I had smth in the drafts for wip Wednesday two (electric boogaloo) and then I despised all of my writing so here we are with wip Wednesday THREE with uhh. Would you hate me if I said pinch points again.

Obi-Wan wakes to the soft rumble and slight vertigo of the ship in hyperspace— and the quiet breaths of Cody asleep in his arms, his head pillowed on Obi-Wan’s bicep. He can feel Cody’s pulse from where his hand is pressed against his bare back. Steady, slow. Present. It accelerates with each inhale, slows down again before the next inhale. All of the pain that Cody has felt, all of the times his heart has stuttered, it’s as though they never happened as Obi-Wan feels the constant, reliable beat of Cody’s heart beneath his fingertips.

He feels it when Cody wakes, too, not much later. His heart rate speeds up to a waking rate, and all of his muscles tense against the length of Obi-Wan’s body with the sense of waking in an unfamiliar place before relaxing again under a newly familiar touch.

His gaze snaps sharply to Obi-Wan’s. “Was that real?” he asks in a hoarse whisper.

Obi-Wan smiles at him, traces his thumb down one of the marks that he accidentally made last night along Cody’s back just to watch him shiver under his hands. “What does your heart tell you?”

[gomzdrawfr]

the way my doodles are squishy and silly while my writings are full of sadness and misery needs to be studied.

[dennisboobs]

one day i'll post my fic and you can finally witness this monster of a playlist that fuels my insanity

[yappacadaver]

Not to be a huge hater but I see so many people hard coping with the lich thing by making it some sans undertale skeleton fucking goofiness and I’m like. See where the change in tone gets us. Dao through inquisition would’ve had the guts (lol) to directly say “without his flesh and with his dick and balls in an urn, emmy can’t feel your tender caresses” instead of just the extremely lukewarm “some of his senses could be dulled”

[cuntphoric]

There are literally women writing mlm smut. I don’t understand 😭😭

🐺anon

I WAS LEGIT REWRITING MY TAGS TO PUT THAT LMFAO

[valtsv]

i guess i HAVE to finish that VALshrue fic now. both of them in fact.

[violensense]

also not to get into top or bottom discourse cos idc for it, but i do think dex would enjoy being in the bottom just on the premise of its him indulging in the intimacy and vulnerability of it

[dewdropsintheevening]

Why do you love her?

When you ask me "Why do you love her" I find my words tangled on my tongue

I cannot describe to you why I love her Mere words could never do her justice

Her love is gentle Her love is kind Her love is selfless Her love is unconditional

I look for her in every painting I observe I look for her in every song that is sung I look for her in every poem I read I look for her in every dream that I've dreamt

When we meet It is as if time has stopped completely My world is taken up by her presence I feel at home for the first time in many lonely years

When you ask me "Why do you love her so?" I find my mouth numb For mere words could never describe what we have

She took me in my broken entirety Observing my cracks and imperfections She saw the rotting garden inside of me And tended to it, as a mother would to her sick child

For every scar she saw She kissed it to make it feel better For every wound reopened She embroidered new skin for me

She doesn't see a wilted garden She doesn't see a worn down garment She doesn't see a tainted piece of flesh Nor does she see a waste of breath

She does not see these things Like others most often do She only sees my entirety And she deems it beautiful

When I am broken into pieces Backed into a corner and shaking Naked and vulnerable like a feral dog She doesn't scorn, nor shun

She takes me in And soothes me Like a mother would a crying infant Gentle and reassuring, she tells me

"Everything will be okay."

When you ask me, "Why do you love her?" I find my mouth empty, my only answer being "She loves me too."

[sysig]

What is it that draws me to you (Patreon)

[moe-broey]

Some. Sort of spectrum. From most likely to least likely.

And by kitten-pile I mean This

I'll put a transcript under cut for easier reading! 🫡

How Likely Are They to Kitten Pile?

__

Mirabilis: "are you tired..? do you need a break...? ohh we could take one together..."

If she likes/trusts you even a little, she wants to cuddle about it!!!

-

Sharena and Peony: "Okay! 💖 Yay! 💖"

Shari: The only thing stopping her is social conventions -- making her MORE likely to jump at the opportunity!

Peony: Learning social awareness as she goes, and is surprisingly good at it?

-

Triandra: "Aren't we a bit old for that...? But... even so..."

Embarrassed, conflicted, but feels strangely nostalgic at the notion...

-

Plumeria: "I'm not so petal-soft that I'd resort to such INDECENCY, I mean even if your intentions are Pure USE YOUR HEADS YOU FOOLS!! Girl, the IMPLICATIONS!!!"

Desperately wants to join the kitten-pile, but her Issues and Pride gets in the way.

-

Moe: "aw, so cutes!"

Generally touch adverse, extremely picky even with the people it likes/loves -- everything is entirely on its terms.

[chiefambassador]

another thing that tickled me in my thumbing through josie’s entire dialogue library again was how big of a fan she is of varric’s books.

Josephine: Oh, I could listen to his tales for hours. He actually let me read a chapter of his next book he’s writing. My friends would be sick with envy if they knew! It’s excellent, but a bit different from his past works. Only three beheadings so far.

[nexility-sims]

🌷

[unfortunate17]

If I wrote a Friends with Benefits AU, would you all want it to be set during Hillerska or with aged up Wilmon?

[jacqcrisis]

Realizing I'm once again putting myself in danger of getting worried comments from people about their favorite character getting the shit kicked out of them too much in my fic but

BUT

this time I have an excuse. Astarion really did get the fuck beat out of him Every. Fight. from partially through act 1 up until I respecced him at the beginning of act 3 in my first playthrough. That dude needed all of the healing. All the time. Drinking all the health potions. Covered in blood. Most of the cleric's healing words are for him and him alone. Just on the ground, moaning in pain, the little death save counter over him while Ronan rushed to aid him and I, the hapless player, got a little twitch under my eye from the rogue losing out on a turn he could be stabbing once again.

I'm just documenting. I'm just relaying canon. He goes through an arc of getting good at combat in the background of the romance and self-discovery. It's fine.