#I hope this makes sense anon!

[layla-carstairs]

Honest question but why do you think CC should've stuck to the pre-TLH stories rather than treat them as broad strokes? I feel like that'd be incredibly limiting. I get that COT was disappointing but that's because it was messy in general. I don't think sticking to the short stories would fix its issues at all.

I mean, I don't see it as limiting?? because generally speaking if an author wrote something & then published it, you would expect anything written & published in that series/universe afterwards would follow that established canon. like you would expect a sequel to follow the canon of the original, and in my opinion its the same principle here.

I do understand that a lot of time has passed since the Midnight Heir, and some things change. but my issue is more that so much changed, characters started to become unrecognisable (James and Grace mostly). For example, Jesse's death is described differently in The Midnight Heir, and it's said he died at 16, not 17 like it is in TLH. I don't really have any strong opinions about that changing; it's relatively minor & doesn't really change much. Similarly, it's hinted James might be an alcoholic, and somewhere along the line that's obviously been changed to Matthew having problems with alcohol. Again, its minor & does still appear in some capacity in the main series. I'm okay with that.

My issue more arises from things like Grace explicitly being a warrior in TMH, a very good one at that and loyal to Tatiana. Or James' self destructive behaviours and general personality in TMH (very snarky and cruel for funnies). Both are very major things that TMH establishes, and probably two of the biggest takeaways from the short story. Yet, neither of these characterisations are followed through with in the main series. It feels more like James and Grace are two completely new characters then their TMH counterparts. (I am my mother's blade & my father was cursed whereas I? I'm damned are probably the two most well-known TMH quotes and they sum up Grace & James pretty well)

The Midnight Heir was also published as it's own book outside of the Bane Chronicles. It was written and presented as being important to The Last Hours... and then it wasn't.

Also there's definitely a difference between stuff CC published on tumblr/twitter/etc and actually published content. Stuff that she said would happen on tumblr in 2018 that didn't end up happening is disappointing, but I get that. Things change, and I can see trying to follow all of that as incredibly limiting for an author. But a fully published short story is a totally different matter. because they're canon! Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy is pretty much required reading after finishing TMI & before starting TDA, so many important things happen in it (like Simon becoming a shadowhunter & parabatai with Clary for example).

obviously a lot of freedom comes from writing a book/series from scratch with no expectations, but TLH was never going to have that freedom; it's the sequel series to a prequel series 😭. That presents certain challenges, sure, but sometimes the best art comes from limitations & working with them. at least in my experience lmao.

It might be hard to believe, but I actually enjoyed ChoT for what it was (I know I complain about it a lot 😭😭). Like I couldn't put it down, and ended up rating it 4.5 stars on storygraph. My issues are more about TLH as a whole, and missed opportunities/potential that could have made to series better. wistful thinking mostly.

[natasha-in-space]

Hey so i too read your yooseven hc post but I wonder how would seven show his care towards yoosung cuz in that post i mainly see yoosung is like mainly the who is the "giver". And im not saying its bad (please dont take my words negatively) because i can also see seven himself feeling like yoosung is the one who "does more" than him in the relationship and perhaps may feel insecure about it from time to time because he never really had someone go this far for him, its not something he is used to.

And at the same time, while seven for most of his life have been the "caregiver" mainly because he is aware that he is the stronger twin and the one who could do something (so its more out of necessity) yoosung on the other hand has the innate need to be needed and be the "bigger" person even tho unlike seven he never had to feel the compulsion to be the said "bigger" person out of necessity because he has always been the youngest both in rfa and his family but he wants to be someone his loved ones can rely on because thats what makes him feel personally fulfilled, thats his love language. I hope im making sense

So i can see yoosung struggling in that aspect in the relationship with basically anyone he is been with including seven so I also wonder how it would be like in their relationship with seven as a dynamic

Hmm, yes, yes, I can totally see what you're talking about, anon! Relationships are messy, romantic or platonic, so it's only a given for both of them having to face a few difficulties, these ones included. Now, this is only my personal interpretation based on how I portray these characters, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt!

All I can say is that it's a process. A messy one. It all depends on the context. Do they confess their feelings to each other before taking care of Mint Eye? After? Does Yoosung have to deal with Saeyoung's avoidance like his mc's do during his route? Or do they have no time for that? Small details like these do matter in the long run. There are many, many ways you can write them getting together, and that's what makes it fun to play around with in the first place.

When it comes to the already established relationship... I believe they'll make it work. Not without a couple of mishaps, of course. Yoosung, in comparison to Saeyoung, is someone who is very open to communication, and he has no problem with openly talking about his feelings and asking Saeyoung to do the same. Saeyoung, on the other hand, will have some struggles with that aspect. It'll take him some time to move on from his previous ways of dealing with any difficulties, however big or small. This might lead to some conflicts between the two.

It's always hard to see your loved one pretending like everything's alright or outright denying that there's a problem when you know they don't have to do it alone. Saeyoung does this from the place of love, he really does. He doesn't want to burden anyone with his struggles and he'd much rather use this anxious energy to make his loved ones happy instead of making them needlessly worry. It's not healthy, but it's the only way he knows how to deal with his issues. For Yoosung, this might come across as Saeyoung not trusting him to understand what he's going through, and that stings. It's like Saeyoung thinks he's not strong enough to handle it. Yoosung has a... personal grudge against anyone keeping secrets from him. For a good reason. So, yes, this can become a major problem for them.

But, that doesn't mean they can't make it work. They care about one another. Saeyoung is not smothering Yoosung with gifts or putting up a lighthearted facade in front of him out of annoyance. He's doing it because he genuinely believes that's the right thing to do. I truly think Yoosung can figure it out. He's a deeply empathetic person at heart. He might get frustrated at times and he might need some time to get his thoughts in order, but he knows Saeyoung cares for him. And he knows when he's having a hard time. The tricky part is figuring out how to have this important talk.

It's really about balance. No relationship is perfect, just like none of us are perfect. Neither Yoosung nor Saeyoung had a serious romantic relationship before, so it's going to be very clumsy at times, but that's okay. At the end of the day, Saeyoung would never want to hurt the ones he loves most. He is willing to take notice when his actions start having a negative effect on Yoosung, and he is more than willing to apologize. As for Yoosung, he wants to know the real Saeyoung, more than anything. He might get a bit heated and pushy at times, but he will learn how to be more mature.

As for the way they show affection to one another... again, it's about communication. Saeyoung is the type of person who will show his love through his actions, while Yoosung is more on a verbal side. I truly think they know each other well enough where these differences won't be a problem. Saeyoung doesn't mind getting all mushy and romantic at times to see Yoosung blush and giggle. Meanwhile, Yoosung knows Saeyoung's gifts are so much more than just physical objects.

I guess you could say... they are learning together?

[l3viat8an]

Beel brainrot he’s such a big big softie and I love him because of that but he’s also a cocky shit and just HUGE his shoulders and BIG hands he can lift you like it’s nothing no matter how much you weigh and he takes pride in that. But more then anything he loves that whenever you’re near him, you just seem so small and the way he’s cannon had you sit on his back so he can do PUSH-UPS HE IS SO JACKED AND I NEED HIM CARNALITY.

Feeding my own size kink I fear 😣

Beel brainrot is some of the best <3 he’s just so big ‘n fuckin’ hot!!!

And!- and!!!- just imagine being at the gym with Beel! you’re there to ‘spot him’ drool over him <3

He’s all sweaty, his tank top is sticking to his chest when he asks you to help with his next set!! It’s adorable how eager you are to help~

Beel sits on the floor in-front of the bench and pulls you down into his lap, facing away from him and at the huge gym mirror -fuck you really do look small in his lap- you hear Beel say something about how he wants to work on his core strength- and he tells you, you’re the perfect wight for a quick warm up!!

Making sure you’re as comfortable as you can be, he starts hip thrusting up into you…..it’s a little clumsy at first, so naturally, Beel puts his hands on your hips to keep you steady ofc.

When Beel’s done playing with you- warming up he sits there with you in his lap for a minute….he leans down to press a few, quick kisses along your flushed neck, before he makes eye contact with you in the big gym mirror and winks, “Wanna help me in the shower?”

[simplydnp]

I thought they'd already used a red heart on twitter?

yes, anon, you are correct. it was a birthday tweet from dan to phil.

at the time... whew. it was a lot. universe shifting. rules being rewritten. it was a big deal. thing is, birthday tweets between the two of them have always pushed the line of sappy, and, generally, we let it slide. we didn't want them to ever stop the sweet birthday tweets. cause they're not really just for them, they're also for us. and, for me at least, it was always a little bit like... birthdays are private yknow? it's their things. so even though we went wild over the heart, there's plausible deniability there; it's a birthday tweet. they almost exist in a vacuum--never talked about by them after it happens. it absolutely set the tone for the year, even if we didn't know how much at the time.

but this, today? oh boy. oh god. alright.

they're both wild. but this is another level. firstly, phil's tweet. that is an extremely public declaration from one phil 'i dont cry' lester. he hardly ever shares those moments and experiences with us, so admitting it at all was like wow okay this is serious. the attempt to downplay the emotions but also hit harder with 'danny' like an overly fond nickname can save it. catastrophic. phil tends to keep all that close to his chest. but instead, he chose to broadcast it for all of us. he could've told dan (who was absolutely sat next to him) this. and i bet he did. but i bet he also needed people to know. everyone to know. as he posted it to both twitter and youtube.

and then dan. self-admittedly bad at taking compliments. known for talking extensively. always down to snark/self-depricate. replies with a heart.

no minced words. no disregarding praise. and not even a black one like he usually does. it's orange. on theme and in our face! the next closest colour to red.

he didn't have to say anything. but we once again find ourselves witnessing another intentionally public response. specifically chosen.

what does it mean? ask them. but it's fucking loud.

[canisalbus]

As I sit here tending to a nosebleed I think about how that was the first picture I saw of your characters. His open, almost casual self loathing resonated with me. So much of people with "gross" physical traits seeking love is explored only in metaphor, but here is art that shows it without shame.

Your dogs make me feel like a real human being. Thank you.

.

[bg-brainrot]

Sorry to bring the horny but what are your spicy headcanons for Astarion? (Ascended and spawn version)

No need to apologize anon-- this is a safe space for horny 🫰🏽

And ooo I haven't done any spicy headcanons before! I've only done the rogue!Tav ones before, but let me take a crack at it since I definitely have thoughts 🧐

Let's see... Spicy Astarion Headcanons w/GN!Tav (18+ Explicit warning ⚠️ all are set post-personal quest ⚠️ TW: Astarion's trauma)

Spawn Astarion

While he's not wholly comfortable engaging in intimacy for a while, he does enjoy exploring, testing out new ways to touch each other, figuring out what he likes/dislikes. There are stumbles along the way, and his healing journey is naturally not linear, but when he finds a few things he does like, the two of you are all too eager to capitalize on them.

One of those things is how much he enjoys looking into your face as you come. Whether you're in his lap, standing in front of him, laying before him-- he's finds it so much easier to stay connected and in the moment when he's looking directly into your eyes, watching you come undone to his touch.

Always a playful man, he also relishes taking his time with foreplay. Long, lingering touches, deep, kneading massages, soft, brushing lips... it's almost painful how slowly he enjoys taking his time to work you up, enjoys the same in return. But, gods, is it just as lovely.

Once he realizes how much you enjoy the sound of his voice, whispered right into your ear-- he can't stop murmuring loving little things to you. At first, you worry it's an act. After all, so were his initial sweet, honeyed words. But when he's losing all control, moaning a stuttering 'I love you' into your ear as his movements falter, you know that none of this is an act.

Despite maintaining a lot of his composure with you initially-- again, an act-- once he feels safe, comfortable in your arms, his carefully crafted composure falls to something real and a lot more sloppy. His dexterity and control seems to plummet in the heat of the moment, his fingers stumble in his eagerness. More than a few times, the two of you are left laughing, breathless as he finishes quickly or your latest exploration fails.

While he's happy to pleasure you, it takes some experimentation before he's comfortable with you reciprocating. In part because it's what he was used to, seducing targets for Cazador, but also because he's just not sure what he likes. The first time he enjoys your pleasuring him, you do it over his clothing, slowly, grinding the full length of him as he directs your hand with his.

More than anything, he needs to feel you, warm and alive, pressed against him after the fact. Sweaty, hair askew, blood usually trickling from a bite wound, he loves you most post-climax. And whether or not you'll have another go is immaterial, because, in the moment, all he wants is to drown himself in your mortality.

He never says it, but many of his favorite things are things he was never able to do in the 200 years of cruelty under Cazador. Looking into your eyes, telling you he loves you genuinely, taking his time, messing up-- all of them are new for him, ways of reclaiming his body and his sexuality.

Since beginning to re-explore his boundaries, his favorite situation together is you seated in his lap, your foreheads pressed together, your hands clutching his shoulders for support while he rolls into you, his own hands gripping your ass. When he's close, he whispers onto your lips, "Gods, you feel so good. Love, I-I can never last with you like this, can I?" When he comes, his lips meet yours, his hands wrap around your back-- as if trying to meld you to him.

Ascended Astarion

After ascending, he is eager to try out all of the new things his power affords him-- this includes his new body heat. With your own new undead form, he feels all the more alive. The first time he realizes what a thrill it is to have your cold body pressed against his heat, he can't get enough. He spends an entire day directing you to touch him, shivering in the wake of your chill touches.

And now that he can taste, he also wants to taste you-- everywhere. Not just your blood, but your sweat, your tears as you come for him. He will lap at you like a man possessed, all the while telling you how good you taste, how he would tear the hells apart for a mere drop of your release. His mouth, already such a potent drug, is relentless in its exploration of your flavors.

When it comes to the other attributes of mortal men he's received, why, his sex drive is through the roof. Every time he sees you make someone grovel before you, witnesses you exert your power, he can feel himself growing hard at the sight. More than anything, he wants to take you right then and there -- but he stills his hand, waiting until the day you're both seated on his throne.

While he doesn't go so far (yet), he makes no move to hide how he feels about you, often demanding your attention afterward with no more than a look, a finger curl, and a lick of his lips. It's a silent claim as well, showing anyone brave enough to watch whose consort you are.

As his consort, he will do everything in his power to ensure that you're taken care of. This means that, even if you think you're satisfied, Astarion will continue to tend to you, bringing you to climax after climax. It's only when you're left an utter, blubbering mess that he knows he's done enough.

He loves feeling that control over your pleasure. Above all else, he loves knowing that you, a powerful adventurer, crumble before him like anyone else. That thought drives him-- it means he fucks you often, he fucks you hard, and hells does he fuck you at a pace the gods would balk at.

As far as his own satisfaction goes, he's quite vocal about it now. He tells you exactly what he wants and when he wants it. When you stray the course, try something new, his hand is at your head, your neck, your waist-- keeping you right where he wants you.

He's also quite liberal in his praise of you, always ready to tell his beautiful consort what a pretty little mess they are for him, how lovely they feel when they clench around him, how their body could bring the very world to ruin with its perfection.

Since ascending, his new favorite situation is you on your knees, cold mouth around his cock, eyes watering, hands desperately trying to pleasure yourself, all while he looks down at you with half-lidded eyes, holding your head in place, whispering down silky sweet words of encouragement, "That's it, my treasure. Yes, gods, you take me so well. More. More. Yes, just like that. Give me everything." After he spends himself into your mouth, he will always be quick to bend down for a kiss, eager to taste himself on your lips.

[sugoi-writes]

Funny prompt where you shake your butt on Alastor!

Oh darlin... you dunno what you're doing to me. Vdusjsusjsjs. (Some of accent is hard for me to write... I may make a voice recording tomorrow to convey what the drawl might sound like, as a person from good-ole-Louisiana)

DRUNK DANNY ASKS, AGAIN. BECAUSE I CANT STOP

❤️❤️❤️

You had been in a close proximity, one that you were rarely granted. But this, by far, was the most common way:

Right now, you were cheek to cheek with Alastor as you danced, his humming and hands guiding you along the makeshift dance floor. The lobby was full of similar dancing, everyone having a great time. Reopening was going off without a SINGULAR hitch! The music was perfect, everyone was enthralled...

That was, until Alastor spun you into his embrace, hands ghosting along your hips. Your mind raced with a risky idea as he was about to spin you back around. You tried to reason with yourself... But the Devil on your shoulder overtook you. You ground your ass onto Alastor, meek at first as you gazed back at him.

The Radio Demon sputters as he tried to get you to cease, but you just reached behind yourself, hand tangling in his hair as your hips moved again.

You gazed back at him with half lidded eyes, grinning," What's the matter, Al~? Never danced like this before?"

The growl that came through his chest made you squeak; you were spun suddenly, barely missing the twitch in his smile. Your arms flailed for purchase, landing on Alastor's shoulders as he dipped you into a dangerously low angle.

"Dear, this is an important evening. Please, refrain from this nonsense. People are present."

You grinned, hiking a leg up his as you pulled on his lapel. The cheap champagne you drank gave you courage. You were brought back to your feet as Alastor disguised your bickering with a close-knit tango, his hand gripping your waist tightly. A few poses were struck that went with the music, your head thrown back as you smile. Even now, you were unable to contain your grin. And Alastor knew that spelt trouble.

"If you want me to stop..."

You fall flush against him again, a hand on the one that gripped your waist. as you gave him a particularly sensual grind. You felt Alastor grunt against your scalp, your leg raising against his once more,"...then make me~"

You yelped as Alastor spun the both of you, lifting you up into the air with ease. You threw both arms out as you were aloft, arms coming back in when Alastor dips you again, this time a hand tracing your collarbone.

"Darlin'...," he drawled, without a filter, making your throat run dry," You don' know what you've just asked for..." As Alastor brought you back to your feet, Alastor takes your wrist and leads you from the dance floor," 'Mama said it wuzn't nice to stare... Mama said it wuzn't nice to tease. Mama never said I c'uldn't make y'scream."

As you rounded the corner, Alastor slams you against the wall, his breath already ragged," And Doll... I'll make sure you wail like'a bitch in heat."

[transmascissues]

Different anon. FGM is nearly the same to "bottom surgery". It's mutilation based on sex and genitals. The intent doesn't make it any less destructive or sad.

first of all, FGM is not at all nearly the same as bottom surgery, even just from a technical perspective. as many people in the replies of the last ask have pointed out, one difference is that bottom surgery involves the penis being either created from the clitoris or constructed on top of it, not removing it as with many forms of FGM.

but, for the sake of argument, let’s say they are similar surgeries on a technical level. do you really think it’s the kind of surgery that makes FGM bad? would you say that somebody who received a similar surgery for medical reasons was a victim of FGM?

what makes FGM “destructive and sad” is that:

it’s done to people who don’t want it.

it’s done to people who don’t actually know what’s being done to them or what the risks or consequences might be, so victims often find themselves living with complications for the rest of their lives that they never agreed to.

it has many potential harmful effects and no actual benefits.

gender affirming surgeries like bottom surgery don’t match any of those points. they’re:

performed only on people who actively want them and chose to have them done.

only ever done when the patient can give informed consent, meaning they know what the surgery entails and what the risks could be and have chosen to do it with that knowledge.

proven to have mental health benefits for the people who receive them, and are often considered medically necessary on that basis.

fundamentally, bottom surgery is an exercise of bodily autonomy while FGM is a violation of it. that’s what makes FGM so bad and makes the two so vitally different. mutilation is an act that causes serious harm without any true benefit; FGM fits that bill, bottom surgery doesn’t. saying the two are the same is like saying a medically performed abortion is the same as pushing a pregnant person down the stairs to cause a miscarriage: it focuses solely on the most literal understanding of what’s being done without any regard for the details or the impact on the people involved.

the problem with FGM is the fact that it’s being performed on people who can’t give informed consent and who will likely suffer from it while not gaining any benefits from it. if you actually care about victims of FGM, you should be upset about the violation of their bodies and lifelong suffering they’re subjected to, not the fact that it’s their genitals that are being altered.

[bixels]

So i have a small nicpic i wanted to share with you about your interpretation of spike in the au and i want to make two things clear before i talk

1) i havent watch the series for a little while as of now so i might be misnterpreting a aspect of this chatacter that might have never been there and only apeared in fan content and personal interpretation (since that whats been keeping me on the fandom)

2) this is not a big problem about the au i matured enough to not get angry at a interpretation of a fictional charater

Now here i go

I feel spike being the same race as the rest of his familie makes him lose a part of his character that might have not been central but was still something interesting about him and is the idea of not mayhering how diferent he looked from his adoptive family (and his cominty as a whole) he was he was still seen as part of it

Again this isnt a big problem with the au as a whole its just a small nicpic that i have about the au and its not going to make me hate the au

This was just my opinion that i wanted to share and im interested to know your opinion about what i said

I understand this criticism and agree that having Simon/Spike be a different race than Thea could speak to their relationship in the original show.

My reasoning for designing them both to be African American is this. I believe Simon's adoption is enough to explore the feelings of separation and exclusion he may have with Thea and her family. The original show doesn't bring up Twilight and Spike's racial differences much because they originally didn't consider Spike to be a part of Twilight's family. As far as I know, there's no moment where someone says, "Wow! You're telling me you're related to Twilight Sparkle? But you look nothing alike!" because Spike was more so Twilights... familiar than anything.

Later episodes that explore their familial dynamic poses the conflict through Spike's adoption. There's one episode where Spike's "biological father" returns, and Spike accuses Twilight of not being his real family, which breaks her heart. There's another that delves deep into Spike's feelings of exclusion from Twilight and Shining Armor's siblinghood. Basically, in discussions of family dynamics, the show places more emphasis on Spike's identity as an adopted sibling rather than a dragon.

I really do believe a multiracial family would be good representation, but the racial dynamics would not be something I'd be interested in getting into. That's not to say I find real multiracial families problematic or uninteresting or unappealing or unimportant. I just wouldn't be interested in having to explain in-text that Simon (non-black) and Thea (black) are related over and over; it would grow tedious. It adds an extra level of writing complication and opens up racial discourse (discourse that I feel is unrelated to their relationship in the original show) that I don't want to concern myself with, especially because I have no experience in navigating such discourse.

[candyheartedchy]

I know you don’t ship with him anymore but do you have any advice for drawing Jax’s hands??? They’re giving me trouble

This guide helped a lot, especially when drawing cartoony/gloved hands!

But from how I explained it to my younger cousins once is that picture the thumb as a “Chicken Leg” and use that or the pointer finger as guides to the rest of the movement of the hands.



[theheirofthesharingan]

Very random but do you have any headcanons about Itachi and by extension Shisui's lifestyle in the modern era? For example, would they use Android or Iphone, or what sort of food preferences they would have like gluten free or vegan? Or what about their workout regimen? Not to mention, the kind of shampoo they would use (sorry if that's too specific)

I personally see Itachi as a very reticent person who would thrive in marathon training outside of any combat training. Do you have any opinions about that or anything related to Itachi headcanons in general?

In the modern AU, I see Itachi going through the same kind of things he does in canon, but on a lesser scale. His dynamic with his family and Shisui would be more or less the same.

Itachi is the Android person. He doesn't like showing off and is content with the simpler things in life. He is vegetarian. Shisui doesn't mind eggs and some seafood.

His favourite person is Sasuke. Obviously. But Shisui is up close as well. There were times in Itachi's life when he had no idea what was going on and Shisui stood beside him. Itachi is always thankful for that.

The only thing Itachi doesn't compromise with is his hair. So, he regularly does shampoo and uses conditioner on his hair. Shisui doesn't really care about his own and if he's running out of time, he doesn't mind using washing powder on his hair either.

Itachi is definitely introverted. Though since in the modern world he might not be training rigorously because he's not a ninja, he'll spend a lot of time studying.

He reads Kafka, Murakami, Plath, Dazai, Dostoevsky, Nabokov, and Camus a lot. Shisui tries to get him to read something else as well but Itachi gets bored of his recs real soon. Shisui and he argue a lot on the kind of books they like. Sasuke just stays out of their arguments because he's more of a comic book person. His arguments tend to be with Naruto the most. And they're never on the same page.

Itachi has a strained relationship with his parents. It's not too bad, but he feels uncomfortable whenever he's home. He knows he's loved, but he can't bring himself to be comfortable with his parents around. His strict father and his mom being an ideal wife have contributed a lot to him being inexpressive. Being a genius, a prodigy, best at everything is tiring. Everyone thinks he's having the best of all worlds, but in fact, he sometimes breaks down because he can't handle it. As if he's not allowed to fail. He wants his parents to be proud of him.

He knows he's the best at what he does. It's not outright arrogance but confidence that shows in his persona. He always ends up stealing the limelight, no matter who the object of centre is meant to be. It occasionally causes a rift between him and Sasuke. No, Sasuke doesn't say it out loud, but Itachi understands that Itachi stealing the attention that Sasuke deserved hurt his little brother. He hates seeing Sasuke sad because of him. Once he understands what is wrong, Itachi always removes himself from the picture, making last minute excuses why he can't make it. It happens with him and Shisui too. But Shisui tries to make him understand that he doesn't mind it and it isn't his fault. Though Itachi won't listen. He doesn't like being inconvenience to the people he loves.

Itachi is Sasuke's rock. Every time Sasuke needs something or wants someone to root for him, he always has Itachi's support. What he doesn't realize is that Itachi needs his support just as much. Itachi finds dinners with his parents comfortable only when Sasuke is around. Sasuke talks a lot, and that's therapeutic for Itachi. Sasuke's presence makes his life so much easier.

Both the brothers sometimes have heart-to-heart with each other. Sasuke mostly rants about his life and Itachi offers his opinions and suggestions, most of them work out for Sasuke. Sasuke wants to know about Itachi too and Itachi has no idea what to say about himself and his life. He doesn't want to burden Sasuke with all that he feels. Not that Sasuke doesn't manage to get some answers out of Itachi. He's understood that asking his older brother questions directly won't help. So he beats around the bush a lot until Itachi begins to speak.

One day when their parents were out of town, Sasuke managed to pry some answers out of his brother, and was horrified to know that the Itachi Uchiha had struggles too.

Ever since they were kids, Shisui would come over to the Uchiha household for sleepovers. And when Mikoto and Fugaku fell asleep, all three kids would indulge in pillow fights. Sasuke and Shisui would gang up on Itachi because that's one of those things that draw some reaction out of Itachi.

[damianbugs]

What you mean by" willis todds love for jason is the reason bruce failed him" ?

Sorry ive seen your post and I agree with everything but this just kinda suprise me, not hating, just curiuos

HELLO! so this is a take that is based on pre-new 52 todds, before they were simplified to the one dimensional (and classist) personalities they're known for now. neither of them were shown to be abusive or willfully negligent, but rather found themselves in bad situations out of their control and died, leaving jason to fend for himself.

in the most simplest way what i mean is willis todds self sacrificing actions of turning to crime in order to provide for jason and catherine is the key defining part of jasons life and why he views bruce's love for him as 'not enough'.

(of course, the actual proof of this is like. one single panel and its not even said by jason. however i think it is something that can be found in jasons character through other, less obvious situations.)

in jasons initial (public) return to gotham and that long and convoluted plan to mess around with batman psychology to get the two of them and the joker in the same place, it all seems like a well planned out revenge story until the final conversation:

Batman: Under the Red Hood

it always stood out to me, not just because of how absolutely heart wrenching the entire moment is (definitely read utrh if you haven't, at least once), but because it really gives you an insight into what love and loving someone means to jason.

to him it's an all encompassing responsibility. this idea that love is something that you need to be able to prove by the quantitive value of what you'll sacrifice for it. in this case, jason is saying i love you" in the way he truly believes gets across how much he means it; i would kill the person who hurt you.

whenever i read this part of utrh, another situation immediately pops into my mind. and that's when jason found out two-face had killed willis todd.

Batman #411

upon finding out two-face had killed willis, jason goes on a brief grief filled rampage, swearing he'll kill him for what he did. it's important to note that up until now, jason had assumed willis was still in prison, only to find out he was actually murdered.

again, it's this idea that love is the extremes you'll go to for family. jason was well aware of willis' less than legal means to make money, and even bruce makes a mention of it in.

Batman: A death in the family

i imagine, like a lot of what fuels jason to fight crime now, guilt is a major deciding factor in a lot of his choices. it's this guilt that he feels upon hearing about willis' death that makes him take it out on two-face. it's even guilt that plays a huge factor even in new 52 stories (such as Cheer).

so when he returns to gotham, or even before that, just hearing about what bruce had done following his death (locking the joker up instead of killing him, taking in tim as his robin) were, to him, clear evidence that he did not love jason in any way that mattered. that bruce did not love jason as much as jason loved him.

because loving him means giving up your morals. loving him means sacrificing your health and your time and your safety.

but bruce didn't do any of that in a way jason could see.

i imagine to someone like jason, who lost every parental figure in some capacity, whether it be to illness or crime or something else entirely, the evident disregard for him was as painful as any rejection could have been.

a lot of how jason feels and acts can be seen in much more interesting ways if we all look at him for he is; an unreliable narrator. he is missing huge chunks of story, especially when it comes to bruce, and has no choice but to act irrationally on the little truth he does know.

of course we the readers, and some other characters, know just how hard jasons death was for bruce. how destructively he mourned for his son.

but again, the surface level proof of it is not enough for jason, who's entire life has been love through sacrifice. but now, it's a sacrifice bruce can not ever give him.

Batman: Under the Red Hood

[911bts]

Hi! I was on the 911 wiki and trying to understand the difference between when an actor is labeled a guest star versus a recurring character. Does it just have to do with the initial contract they’re offered for the season? I thought it was about the number of episodes, but since John Harlan Kim was recurring in s4 but Anirudh was labeled as guest in s5 despite appearing in all but 2 episodes I was confused. Thanks!

I KNOW I have a breakdown of these labels somewhere on this blog but I can't find it so:

Main/Regular is someone who is contracted to be a lead on the show. This doesn't mean they are in every episode of the season though.

Current mains are: Angela, Peter, Jennifer, Aisha, Kenny, Ryan, Oliver, Gavin

Previous mains are: Connie, Corinne, Marcanthonee, Rockmond, John*

*For only Season 4, John was actually a series regular. It's believed, but not confirmed, to have been because of visa + pandemic reasons since he's from Australia.

Recurring is someone who comes back for multiple episodes and is planned to.

Some examples are: Anirudh, Arielle, Lou, Bryan, Debra

Guest is someone who is in one episode (or has a small return).

An example of the returning guest cast is like the guys from the cement microwave & merry-go-round calls. They returned, but it was a one-off and not in a major capacity.

This is a rather general breakdown. There's some more technical terms. Technically, there's levels below guest cast and such. If you want the deep dive, here's a resource.

[livingincolorsagain]

Hi, can I make a short ramble request?? Pls, tell me the beauty of why sam's the sun and bucky's the moon?? I have minimal understanding of what this dynamic means and I wanna know how, welp.

Have a good one ahead of you!

Hi, anon, you’re always more than welcome to do so! <3

The sun/moon dynamic is about opposites attract. The sun character is usually upbeat and optimistic, while the moon character is more reserved and moody. That’s what I think it is on the surface anyway.

I don’t think that’s necessary why the sun/moon dynamic works for sambucky, though. Sam is the sun because he burns bright, is warm, and, well, has more boiling beneath the surface than he lets on. Bucky is the moon because he’s quiet and he’s resilient and he’s steady and optimistic, and yeah, okay, he reflects Sam’s light. Like, he lets himself be lighter around Sam, and he gives Sam the space to let out everything he always tries to hide and hold back. Bucky wears his heart on his sleeve, he is quiet and moody sometimes, but you can look at his face and just see him. You can’t just look at Sam’s face, he burns too bright.

But, well, that’s the whole point of the moon, right? To reflect the sun’s light and light up the sky when it’s dark? That’s why I think the sun/moon metaphor works for them. Bucky takes in some of Sam’s fire and use it to make the dark days a little lighter, for both of them. And Sam lets him.

[atthebell]

do you have any recommendations/resources to learn spanish?? i've been using busuu for about 104 days now, imo opinion it's actually pretty fun and i like it but i think my main problem with it is that it goes too fast?? it's hard to explain. it's also started to feel kinda repetitive to me. i still love busuu and i'm going to continue with my course, but it'd be nice to also have something else. like, preferably not an app, maybe a textbook or a website or something :D i don't really WHERE to find resources for language learning, despite being bilingual, i never really had to look on the internet to learn the languages i speak now, i picked it up from the people around me you know?

i've also been ''using'' duolingo but tbh, i really hate it. it feels boring to me, everyday it's ''ok what sentence am i going to be forced to write for the 40th time today?'' the single 'square' has 5 lessons and a 'unit' has around 10-8 of those squares and to finish a 'unit' you have to do about 50-45 of those lessons, which is shit because a 'unit' is only going to teach about 3 sentence structures and if you're lucky maybe 5. it's so shit, those greedy fuckers basically made it unusable. i've been using for about 140 days now, every single day i take at least one lesson, and it STILL has not taught me a SINGLE spanish tense. btw, i even had an entire phase where i would finish UNITS in about an hour and a half (1 min or less for every lesson) and still not a single ''pretérito Indefinido'' actual pain 🫠🫠 one day ll delete that app, one day (i guess that's why i like busuu in the first place, it actually teaches you these tenses and even some slang while duolingo makes you write ''papá, quiero visitar a nuestra abuela'' for the 700th time this week)

i want to watch vods and stuff, but tbh, i feel way too embarrassed? like, i don't know enough spanish to really understand them and even when they say basic sentences that i understand, i still have to listen to it multiple times and slow down the clip for me to really get it. the thing with spanish is that i'll understand the meaning of the words being said but i need to take a second or so to really comprehend what they mean together you know? i don't want to have to watch the stream slowed down because that would definitely make me feel stupid 😭 maybe when i have better spanish i'll start watching vods. although i do listen to spanish songs sometimes, it's fun :D

first thing: you don't have to feel embarrassed about needing time to process things/needing to listen to things slowed down. language learning is difficult and there are a lot of obstacles for many people; this is something i do understand and want to stress that i get that it's hard. you are not a bad person or an idiot or whatever for having a hard time understanding things-- you are still learning, and besides that, sometimes hearing things isn't someone's strong suit (it absolutely did not use to be mine, but i've practiced a lot and gotten much better at it. i'm still much much better at reading text in other languages, but it is something you can always improve on). if you need to take extra time to watch things, that is not a personal fault of yours nor does it make you stupid. everyone has different skill sets, and you can always practice to get better.

second thing: my own criticisms of both busuu and duolingo, along with their strengths. duolingo first, because i've used it since like. idk like 2016? not consistently but i've used it far more over the years and i'm very familiar with various changes they've made and the esp, ptbr, and french courses. busuu ive only been using for a few months

to get it out of the way, the recent change to laying off translators and using more AI in lessons. this sucks, obviously, for a myriad of reasons. machine translation cannot match with human translation, and frankly never will be able to. there are vast amounts of nuance and cultural context necessary for translation, along with the fact that an AI led course does not actually hit on all the things someone needs, particularly on a basics/foundational level. and from an ethical standpoint, laying off a ton of human translators because you think you can replace them with inaccurate machine translation sucks and is why so many people have dropped duolingo, myself included.

duolingo also has limitations in terms of format-- it gamifies language learning, which can make it feel more accessible to people and makes people want to open it and practice every day. however, most people use duolingo to do one lesson once a day and that's it. they're not getting in practice from lessons previously completed, they're not drilling vocab or conjugations, they're not actually maintaining or even remembering what they've already learned. obviously there are people (like myself, when i still used the app) who practice far more than that and continue to drill previous lessons, but that's not the majority, and it's not incentivized by the app. the paywalling of completing certain lessons and being able to drill error words also sucks for this reason. basically duolingo is not an ideal setup for actually maintaining knowledge once you go through it the first time and also the way the courses are laid out just. does not, imo, actually make sense. they rarely actually explain what they're trying to teach you and they don't get into enough detail on most concepts. and there is no incentive to review, which is hugely important. not an ideal situation for language learning, especially on its own.

my pros for duolingo: it gets you to practice daily. this is honestly what i use busuu for at this point-- when i get a notif for it, i open it up and flick through a lesson, but i also pull out a textbook or two to look at things there and practice stuff. if whipping out duolingo every day helps you practice a language, that is, at bare minimum, something. preferably you should be studying for at least 15min if not up to an hour or more of a language a day in order to really pick things up and maintain them; you can absolutely use duolingo or busuu for that (busuu i think is far less well formatted and oftentimes the lessons are very specific vocab, at least in the later courses).

for busuu, my issues are like. it's a poorly made imitation of duolingo, aside from a few things. the community aspect is something i REALLY like-- being able to send an exercise to a native speaker and get feedback on what to work on is great, especially with how it's a short answer question that lets you form your own sentences and try out vocab in context. that's a wonderful feature, and i really think it gets at something duolingo is completely missing.

but yeah like i said in terms of the lessons, busuu has very strange ways of teaching things. firstly, it's usually super specific topics and vocab that aren't paired with anything conceptually that helps you progress. usually in a language course, it's best to pair a concept you're working on with either relevant vocab or something that can be used to talk about similar subjects/in similar ways (for instance, subjunctive with food/restaurant vocab, so that you can build sentences both with the new vocab and using the new verbal form in ways that make sense, i.e. "I'll have whatever she's having, If I were to order the pasta, I would get a salad too," "If I were richer, I would always order filet mignon" (side note subjunctive is very difficult for eng speakers so idk if these examples actually make sense 😭))

also busuu will repeatedly teach me something phrased one way or with a certain word and then mark me wrong and insist i use a completely different word/phrase. i cannot figure out why it keeps doing this it's very frustrating. and it has recently been teaching me some european portuguese which is not what the course is supposed to be so i'm just baffled by what's going on there.

another positive for busuu, at least in contrast to duolingo, is it teaches you the vocab and phrases before quizzing you on them, which duolingo does not do. this is like a positive and also an "eh, idk" because i get why duolingo does that-- it's trying to throw you into using surrounding context to figure out what a word means, and that's a very good way to practice, but i think it doesn't necessarily achieve it well and sometimes will just spring random words on you without enough context for you to know what it's referring to without just clicking on the word anyway.

also neither app are good at teaching you verb conjugation or tenses which is really unfortunate for spanish and portuguese in particular, as they're both languages where verbs are really really key AND where understanding tenses and their names are important, particularly for native eng speakers who never got taught tense names or like. any terminology for languages in english 🙃

also here is a thing i wrote up complaining about duolingo & verbs ages ago: Duolingo does not teach you things explicitly. It expects you to pick them up in a semi-immersive style, which works okay most of the time for most people but for many people makes actually learning and understanding parts of a language very difficult. For instance, it won't teach you the exact difference in usage between ser and estar, in Spanish or Portuguese. This difference is something I spent weeks on in Spanish class in high school and continued to review the rest of my time learning Spanish in an academic setting-- it is a key element of two of the most important words in the language. Duolingo also doesn't explain stem changes or irregular verbs and their typical endings-- it simply expects you to pick these up and memorize them through sentence usage. Basically it's very obvious Duolingo was created by english speakers who were never taught key elements of their own language (this is not a dig on their personal fault; i was also never taught any of this shit about english) and don't know how to go about teaching a language, and the limited format doesn't help.

third thing, finally getting to what you actually asked: there are a lot of resources for learning spanish online! i'm not as familiar with them as i'd like, as i learned spanish in an academic setting, but i'll do my best to list some things out and anyone else can feel free to add on. i've been meaning to make a language learning advice post for literally ages and i guess this is going to become it lmao.

here is a video explaining how to make duolingo work for you along with other resources: A Linguist explains how to make duolingo actually work (tl;dr pair duolingo with conversation partners, textbook work, listening to music, watching movies, etc. etc.)

i've tagged this with my language learning tag, which has a bunch of resources including some specifically for learning spanish.

tumblr user salvador bonaparte has a drive of free textbooks you can check out here, including a ton of spanish resources. i also recommend looking around the internet/specifically linguistics tumblr to find more resources as well as looking at used bookstores/amazon/etc. for spanish textbooks to use, as that will provide a more thorough foundation along with other programs/types of learning.

i've never used babbel or any other online program like it, but spanish tends to be one of the more resource-heavy languages because it's so widely spoken, so typically spanish programs on various apps/sites are REALLY thorough (duolingo's spanish program is by far their best course, with a ton more resources than most other programs. you can go up to the equivalent of at least c2 on there i believe, versus many other languages where they don't even list the CEFR levels)

finally, the not-so-online answer: if you're in college/have a nearby community/junior college, consider taking spanish classes there! this option probably costs the most out of any others, but i genuinely think an academic setting is the a great way to learn a language for many people. if you're not one of them, that is totally fine, but an actual spanish course at a college is likely to be the most thorough way to learn the language. also many CCs/JCs offer spanish classes online, so if you can't drive or for whatever reason can't go to in-person courses, you'll likely still have options.

this is everything i can think of right now but i also want to add once again that learning a language is difficult!!! i know that, and i know that i complain a lot about monolinguals, but i am specifically complaining about people who refuse to engage respectfully with languages that are not their own and dismiss anything they don't understand as being stupid/not worth their time/culturally worthless. i am not complaining about people like you, who are trying really hard to engage with non-english content AND are trying really hard to learn another language.

i also think learning languages is one of the most incredible experiences there are and that expanding the kinds of cultural and social boundaries that you engage with is a really important facet of humanity that i wish more people would participate in. i get riled up because this is something i'm really truly passionate about, not because i think anyone is stupid or whatever for not learning. i want people to just try it and give it a chance, even if it's hard for them, and i'm glad that you are trying, anon. <333

[wispscribbles]

hi i just discovered your beautiful art so i obviously needed to scroll down your whole blog to catch up on everything you posted haha

i just wanted to say that i got way too emotional after reading that post of yours regarding mw3 and your mental health… on one hand i’m so sorry that you felt that way, but on the other i feel it with my whole heart

ghoap content especially for me helped me these past few months with my mental health in ways i would never have expected, it was my solace and inspiration, i started working out too and got back into drawing, got a lot better at it as well!

but unfortunately i get way too fixated on fictional stuff and there comes a time that my brain switches up and connects the things i liked and comforted me with things that make me extremely uncomfortable and stressed out, especially if i fall down a fandom rabbit hole that i would never have searched up, beacuse i know myself, i know my limits and triggers but i feel like i’m not a part of the fandom if i don’t like and interact with every single headcanon, art and ship

these past days i was really down because of that, and the things i read (why did i do that???) and now when i think of ghoap i think of that stuff and im scared that i alienated myself from the one thing that made me happy

but discovering your art and with that your post reminded me that im not alone in these feelings, even if it’s not the same exactly, and i wanted to thank you, for sharing your thoughts that time i guess haha <33

((sorry for rambling))

Long reply under 'keep reading' !! CW: talk of triggers and MCD

Always feel free to ramble my way!!! How nice you could find some comfort in my art and ghoap stuff. Especially in my mw3 post. I've been considering deleting it a few times, but hearing it maybe helped to read in some way makes me happy I left it up.

I get where you're coming from - I very much use these fictional characters as a safe space, but ppl view them very differently. There's room for it all, "don't like, don't interact" is very much a policy I agree with. It's important to mute words and be aware of your own triggers as you browse stuff in this fandom, because there's such a wide variety of stuff out there. You do NOT have to interact and agree with every thought people have on this ship, that's impossible and super stressful. There's plenty of stuff and headcanons I don't vibe with. There are no 'requirements' that you have to meet in order to enjoy fiction.

It's part of why I enjoy ghoap - that their dynamic resonates and has sparked so much creativity and outlets for so many - but it also means there's gonna be a lot of stuff u don't necessarily agree with or feel comfortable with. For example, a lot of folks use the MCD in mw3 as a way to explore grief, which I think is really cool, but on a bad day that could potentially get my brain in a bad headspace, so I only check out that art and those fics when I feel okay. There's also a bunch of stuff I'd never want to interact with, and that’s fine !!

I'm personally quite vanilla and a sucker for exploring the softer, more domestic aspects of these characters. It's what brings me joy. I know there are parts of this fandom who don’t vibe with what I make at all, and would call it untrue to the characters. Some creators enjoy exploring the more violent or toxic sides to the source material. That's just how it is, we all need different things from fiction. As long as we're capable of chilling in our respective sandboxes, then all's good.

But if you're like me, and enjoy the softer things, then definitely be aware and careful while exploring this ship and fandom. I've seen takes on these characters that are so far removed from how I view them, that they're basically the complete opposite, and it can leave a very bad taste, especially if you're the type to hinge your safe space on fiction.

Just... be mindful of yourself and your potential triggers, be respectful and don't interact with things that make you uncomfortable to the point of feeling unsafe. Shape your own online experience to your best ability.

Hope you're doing okay and still find joy in ghoap <3