#I mean it's still obviously mostly [redacted]

[teddybasmanov]

Hey, so literally nobody cares, but I organised my writing (AO3 and Tumblr titbits) and song takes masterlists by fandom, in case someone (who's not me) actually wants to find something on this blog.

[rebouks]

Okay! Time to spill the tea, except it's not really tea, it's more like lukewarm juice aka my future plans and some more ramblings.. ahem ⚆_⚆

First of all, I wanna say just how much I enjoyed creating Somnium. It all started during lockdown... I found myself working from home full-time, I had the perfect excuse to be the homebody I was born to be, I had a lot of time on my hands, and once I found simblr I couldn't resist joining in. It didn't take too long before I decided to hop on the storytelling train and before I knew it, I had a new hobby! Except.. that hobby kinda consumed me. I didn't even know where it was going to begin with, but the more involved I got, the more obsessed I became. Hyperfixations amirite?

The point being.. I think I spent a little too much time on Somnium, which left me little time for much else and I don't want to fall down that hole again. In the future I'd like to challenge my perfectionism! What does that mean? Well, it means not making poses for every scene, it means not being restricted by a complicated overarching plot that requires forced filler scenes and timelines and needs to make sense, it means less dialogue, or gasp! no dialogue at all, it means not getting hung up on continuity with editing and g-shade and font style and blah blah etc etc. I'd even like to incorporate some gameplay too, since I miss just.. playing now n' then.

I want the freedom to think of something silly, or weird, or completely off topic and to be able to run with it instead of being bound by a plot that needs to progress. Am I making sense? I hope I'm making sense. Basically, I'm calling this next venture a "story not story" because rather than it having one large plot, it's going to be more like clusters of subplots with some gameplay, weirdness or silliness in between...

Forever In Between will kick off around about two years after the events of Somnium. Mostly focused on Oscar and his family, we'll join them on the journey of life as Robin and his siblings grow up in the Bay.

We'll also spend some time with other favourites too like Noah n' co. Salton, Ivan & Bruno, Suzie, Miya & [redacted] and Matilda, among others! Maybe we'll even see what Wyatt's up to at some point 👀 As we all know, life isn't always sunshine and rainbows, but Forever In Between (or fib for short) will be a lot less heavy, though hopefully no less interesting!

Obviously, I don't have any set plans but I have a few specific scenes and ideas in mind already, as well as some vague subplots planned for most, if not all of the main characters from Somnium.

Also! Although Oscar is very much still a main character, he'll be sharing the spotlight with Robin too, as I have a lot in mind for that special lil' guy.. tehe!

So, what's next?! I want to make a lil promo before I start and then I've gotta.. y'know, actually start working on it. I have the first few scenes in mind but then we're wingin' it baby! The best plan is no plan and all that... I'm being kind to myself though, so idk when we'll start, real soon though!

I've already given everyone makeovers and gotten a few of the main builds out of the way, enough for me to get started at least, and I'd like to make a new navigation/pinned post too.

I wanna be more organised as well, so story posts will be tagged as "forever in between" & "fib" and bloopers, extras, builds, cas pics etc etc. will be tagged as "fib" & "fib extras"!

Okay.. I think that's it. See you soon! 👋

[moon-blanket]

Going insane about the last two videos !!! What is happening right now !!!!!

Avior being able to see Starlight's home for the first time in person-- the both of them trying to take the little victories where they can get them considering all that's stacked against them :(((

And yet the Ear-Ringing continues.

But it's nice to learn a little more about Inchoate Demon feeding needs !!

"My Starlight, so determined and so beautiful. Both for those things, and separate from them. In every hell we find ourselves, you're heaven to me." I'M GOING. TO SCREAM. God what is with Redacted Characters and being so Poetic. This is beautiful. Starlight is his Home now, i'm falling to the floor.

Their cute moment getting interrupted by more Ringing :(( and RUMBLING ??? Oh god, it's actively getting Worse. A VOICE ? He feels nauseous even though D(a)emons can't get sick.

VOICE DISTORTING ??? Oh god it sounds a little like Hush. and it Keeps sounding like the time Hush used his powers in the First Video. is Hush trying to reach out to Avior ? And not Starlight ?

Is Hush the Sovereign's way of communicating with the Outside World ?

Avior asking to be held before he goes to Aria to try and figure out what's wrong :((((( Poor guy. HIS VOICE DISTORTING WHEN HE THANKS THEM ??? Hey. Hey that's Scary.

-------

Hello Blake. We're back in the fucking Building again. Already i notice that his Symbol is Different. Also looks like Hush's ??? This is getting Ominous now !!

"We're done here" Is... Is he letting Sunshine go ? OH MY GOD HE'S LETTING SUNSHINE GO ?

oh GOD he's wiping their memory. Oh but memories of Elliot still remain. Thank God. SCORPIOUS MENTION YIPPEE !!!!

"I'm going direct to the Source." WHAT does this mean. Is he going to the Sovereigns ? How is that possible ?

HE'S GOING INTO THE SHADE ROOM ?????? "I'm doing this for You. All of this. For you. You'll be Happy. You'll be safe...." ??? WHAT ????? HE JUST LETS THE SHADE GET HIM ??? WHAT ???? HE'S FUCKING DEAD ????????

BRACHIUM ???? THE SOVEREIGNS WANT HIM PASSED TO THEM ??? THAT'S THE DEAL HE MUST OBEY ??? WHY ARE WE GETTING SO LOUD RIGHT NOW.

Oh my god, Blake actually made it to the Sovereigns. He actually did it.

"I've been expecting you." A Singular voice ?? I assume it must be a Sovereign, but aren't they all fused together at this point ? Did they manage to split apart for just this One instance, or is this something else entirely ?

------

So now it's my turn to ballpark theories.

Hush, Blake, and Avior are mostly likely bound together in Some way. Maybe. I have Two (and a Half) Ideas:

1-- Hush is somehow reaching out to Avior, or they're Linked some way. Every time Hush uses his powers, Avior hears/feels it. And because it seems like people are hunting Hush so frequently, he has to use his powers more and more often-- which in turn makes it worse for Avior.

2-- Blake could be Hush, sure. I like this idea. Very interesting twist. He is obviously crazy enough to go to the Sovereigns, maybe this IS his "Deal with the Devil" situation. And they're using him for whatever purposes-- probably Freeing Them.

Maybe Doc stirs up the old residual feelings he had for Bestie in his past life, which is why he feels the way he does about them. Or maybe Doc IS Bestie-- we never got confirmation on if they were Empowered or not. He can't save them as Blake, but he can save them as Hush.

2.5-- Blake OR Avior could be Hush's Brother, the one that Hush said is out to get him. Maybe Hush is an unwanted byproduct of the Inversion-- something the Sovereigns did not expect maybe-- and Blake/Avior is tasked with finding him and seeking him out.

OR. hear me out. Vega is Hush's Brother. Maybe. In some weird twisted way. Vega wants to go to the Sovereigns, yeah ? I wonder what's going to happen when/if he reaches them. Or Hush is just another stepping stone for him to reach the Sovereigns or something, maybe. This is probably NOT it at all lmao.

-----

The timeline is about to get Real Weird, Real Fast I think LMAO. BUT HEY, SUNSHINE IS GETTING OUT OF THE BASEMENT !!! WOOO !!!

Oh my god I wonder how that's going to play out with Elliot, Aaron, and Smartass. And how the Department is going to look into things going forward. What happens when they find Blake's Body in that room ? Is everyone going to be pulled into this mess now ? And we still don't know what Vega is up to right now lmao.

I'm on the edge of my seat !

[forthedancingandthethriving]

Had a funny idea for an optional recruitable character that could potentially be "added" to Equinox's Journey as either part of the "The Dragon that Faces the Earth and Sea" update or some more minor, less-plot-important update down the road;

Alexander, a bounty hunter/anti-imperial vigilante of some notoriety who's been operating out of a tavern on the edge of some kind of mystic forest that's a major area in the game. He's a somewhat tall human man with brown hair (including a short but stylish mustache) wearing a mostly grey-blue classic D'n'D-Ranger-type outfit made for both protection and mobility, and primarily wields some kind of magitech crossbow...gun...things (since from what I've seen in the posts so far I figured it would be the kind of game to have stuff like that).

He's pretty obviously a Beyonder like Root, seeing as he can't remember anything prior to being found half-mauled by a monster in the woods by the Tavern owner (other than his name at least), he doesn't quite fit the game's artstyle... aaaand almost all of his dialogue is in stereotypical mid-2000's gamer slang.

...Yeah it's Swag. He got noclipped like Root because that seems like Exactly the sort of thing that would happen to him. Unlike Root his amnesia wasn't the result of the transportation itself but due to his injuries and trauma from that mauling I mentioned. He's going by Alexander because I'm making that his real name (remember; when he first met Chris in the first Guards 'n [REDACTED] episode he refused to give his real name and demanded he be addressed by his Gamer Handle), and I figured that 1: it made sense that with the amnesia he'd potentially remember his given name but not his preferred alias, and 2: if he still went by Swag it'd be a Dead Giveaway for who he is and where he came from. Instead his somewhat generic appearance and name allow him to just read as a Funny Metajoke Character.

The reason he's against the Espi Empire boils down to "Of course the Empire's evil, all empires are evil. It's logistically impossible for one government to rule that many nations without committing numerous horrific ongoing atrocities" He had no idea about the cultist stuff but considering the setting he isn't surprised by it when they get him up to speed after his recruitment sidequest is done and he joins the party.

(just thought it would be funny. feel free to ignore if it doesn't work with the story you're going for)

OH THIS,,, I LOVE THIS,,

Yeah, I'm definitely going to add Alexander/Swag, especially because Root would get the feeling she knows him. But she doesn't get why, so she keeps her mouth shut, especially because of her tolerance to the slang he uses, meaning to her, he is someone she probably knew of her in her past. Still, doesn't mean she doesn't get a little annoyed..

[agentplutonium]

Year End Review - Fic Edition

I saw @mr-laveau do something similar but with their art, so imma do it with my fics. Really this is just an excuse to show off my favourite fics from 2023, and give a bit of commentary on them. So let's do this. If you want to do something similar go ahead!! I think it's super fun.

Stats

How many words did you write in 2023? 50, 496

How many works did you post in 2023? 6, which is lower than I thought it would be

What fandoms did you post for? Redacted Audio, mostly, but I do have one singular NeXus fic

Pluto's Top Three

See, normally I despise picking the top three, but this year it is actually pretty easy. I think it's cause there are fewer to choose from, but also there are fics that really stood out to me this year.

1. Who Are You, Really? [NeXus, Cher & Sherlock character study, complete, T, 2547 words]

Out of all of my fics this year this is probably my favourite. It is the first fic of NeXus that I wrote, and it means a whole lot to me. I'm not sure why I like it so much but it probably has something to do with the fact that my first ever NeXus fic came out half decent. I usually have awful writing for the first fic in a new fandom. It also probably has something to do with developing my favourite found family out of that series so far ngl. For this fic I really wanted to focus on developing these two listeners, obviously, but also lay down what I think their relationships are like with the other characters surrounding them.

2. Like Real People Do [Redacted Audio, Sam/Darlin', Imperium AU, T, ongoing, 35018 words]

This is on this list because it is my baby. I have been working on it for so long. I have had an obsession with the au and now I am just determined to finish it. I really wanted to play with the idea of Darlin still being alive in the Imp! and ran with it honestly.

3. Let Me (I Will) [Redacted Audio, Milo/Sweetheart, M, complete, 1988 words]

While this isn't my best-written fic, it certainly is my most sentimental. I wrote this fic at a time when I was injecting my own demisexual identity into Sweetheart. If I could, I would rewrite this fic, but I will definitely be doing similar in the future. Mainly because I want to read fics that speak to me, and share them for those who may also relate.

[laufire]

may reading meme!

BOOKS

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle. This one introduces Mary. I wish she'd gotten the treasure and become a rich heiress 😢

Inheritance by Devin Grayson. Loved it. I'm definitely gonna track down her other prose novels. I made a good guess on who [redacted] from very early in the book, practically from the first, and it was still quite gripping. The funniest thing, however, is how unequal each of the former sidekicks' sections are lol. Was she just going through the motions with Garth? Although, by virtue of being the one I know the least about, it did make me want to read his comics. Roy's and Dick's were more even, both with incredibly poignant, poetic flashbacks I adored, but you can tell DickAndBruce is where her heart is and their dynamic was showcased beautifully imo. Her characterization of Ollie is... surely controversial, and doesn't quite match how I see the guy, but it didn't bother me.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This one is a reread, though it's been a decade since I read it for the first time. I've read it even more slowly than the first time around, pondering over practically every passage. Nabokov's prose is simply sublime, and Dolores's character is one of those that stays with you for how much you read into her.

COMICS

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. The first issue enchanted me, and the last one was a very apt ending for the story. The journey to get there let me down.

FCBD 2024: Barda Special Edition. This is a preview for an upcoming story. A young Barda is charged to break the prisoner Scott Free, as the beginning of their romance. Theirs is a ship I've been curious about for a while, and I really dig the premise, so I can't wait to read it.

Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper. A short, gritty origin story that builds on the Selina we see in Batman: Year One, written by the same author as Lois Lane (1986). I really wish her sister was more present in Catwoman's story in general, tbh. She was featured in Selina's Knight Terror mini, which I might end up rereading.

The Bat-Man: First Knight. Three-part run set in the 40s, the original Batman setting. A tale of monsters, human experimentation, and the effects of the second world war. I enjoyed it, though not wildly, but it confirms I'd enjoy more historical settings in my comics.

War Games. Oh boy. OH BOY. My kill list grew with each page I read. The missed shot at a proper story with robin!Steph, the incredibly uncharitable way she's written... all to end in the grossest example of character assassination I've ever seen with Dr Leslie Thompkins, all to relieve Bruce of his guilt for his part in Steph's demise. I wanted to read the arc because I thought it was important for some Steph-focused storylines I want to write that build up on it (mostly by subverting or contradict him), but with few exceptions (SOME of Steph's Robin arc, the school plot, Tarantula's appearances, and the parts touching on Dick's downward spiral, for example) it was all so hateful and mean-spirited. Even the prelude to the proper arc, starting with Bruce and Cass's visit to Jason grave to use him as a cautionary tale against Steph, or that storyline about the teen mothers... death. Death to Dan DiDio for one thousand years.

Outsiders (2003). I'm including the Teen Titans crossover arcs (including both Secret Files and Origins issues, both GREAT), and the Outsiders: Five of a Kind arc where Batman is a shit xD (it also did make me wanna read the continuation in the next Batman and the Outsiders run). The art was... Mixed, by which I mean that sometimes it was fuck-ugly lol, but I loved the run. Winick gets me. I have a special place in my heart for Jason's little arc, OBVIOUSLY, but my favourite parts are, second, Dick's arc, and first, ANISSA AND GRACE. I as a lesbian owe Winick much for that one. They're the main attraction for the continuation, ngl. I also loved Shift and Indigo, btw. So damn tragic 🥲

[morgenlich]

heta sexuality and gender hcs no one asked for

liet: pan. huge fucking romantic. @doomspiral once described him as a cis man who could be nb but isn't and yeah. he feels kinda masc relative to the guys he spends a lot of time with but is way more fem than most people realize (he does use 3 in 1 bodywash/shampoo/conditioner tho)

poland: gay af, also demi af but he's only recently realized that's a factor and not just like. catholic guilt. i've said before somewhere he mostly uses masc pronouns because like. it's hard not to in polish (since it's one of those languages where like every part of the sentence is gendered) and has no desire to do hrt or anything, but don't be fooled he is not cis.

prussia: bi, and has a harder time coming to terms with his attraction to women than his attraction to men. painfully cis.

belarus: vaguely biromantic, kinky ace who likes to have sex for the drama of being a domme. cis woman in a "sure why not" way

russia: extremely gay, possibly even rivals feliks here. cis but with trans vibes (i mean this as a compliment)

germany: gay but thinks he can't rule out being bi because never having felt attraction to a woman doesn't mean he never will, right? almost as painfully cis as his brother.

england: gay and trans, somehow

canada: bi, cis on a technicality. not aspec but not not aspec.

usa: pan, cis in a "has never once spent any energy considering gender at all" sense. no interest in a formal relationship bc who has time for that these days

veneziano: pan and loving it. i flip a coin for his agab

romano: pan and totally indifferent to it. his agab also gets a coin toss

liech: the femmiest femme lesbian who ever femmed

switzerland: ace aro but the most painfully cis of all the countries tbh

hungary: bi, gender is [redacted]. the rare tall long-haired butch

austria: bi, is the opposite of liet in that he comes across as more fem than he really is bc of all the super masc people he's constantly surrounded by (is still pretty fem tho). if he let himself play around with gender he might unlock something, but he doesn't, so he won't.

france: obviously pan, cis but regularly fantasizes about being able to swap body parts mr potatohead style, impossible to tell if this is in a Transgender way or just a "this man wants to experience all the variety physically possible in the bedroom" way (probably a bit of both)

[schismusic]

Thoughts about my old band, Tim Hecker, people I (don't) like

My old band was called M[redacted]. Let's pretend for a second we can say that with an absolutely straight face and move on.

I stumbled into two other people's project and about seven years later everyone involved stumbled out of it, just as ungracefully, in the quietest way our pachyderm feet allowed us to. I - again: all of us, really - wanted an outlet to attempt to make music, maybe more to scratch an itch than anything else. I'm pretty certain I was more than prepared to just leave it behind as soon as it had lost its bang, until it suddenly felt like I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. To an extent, I guess at its worst I felt like I could have been the only person in the band who actually wanted to write songs more than anything else. It obviously wasn't true, but shit just got stuck for years on end.

I was listening to Tim Hecker earlier tonight, like I did on many a night while still in Meeting Meat, usually sulking because "nobody gets what I want to do with the band", not realizing that it was probably for the best for everyone involved. Tim Hecker actually sort of radically altered the way I write music: all of a sudden I did not give a shit about the riffs, or the technical execution, it became a matter of vibes and of meaning and intention and gesture and describing space and yeah basically I just wanted an ambient project, which I later realized wouldn't work, so I just decided to add a fourth-to-major sixth progression in every single one of my tracks because it sounds massive and everything was right with the world once again. So I was listening to Tim Hecker on YouTube, for some fucking reason, mostly because I am a heathen and forget that there are more convenient and less infuriating sites to listen to music on, and I say infuriating because YouTube somehow felt the need to recommend to me some video made by a guy denouncing "woke Disney" or some bullshit. At that point I felt a weird sense of discomfort come over me, which reminded me of that feeling an absolutely thankless, pointless task leaves you with. It felt surprisingly close to what the last months in the band felt like. Rick DuFer, if you read this, I hope you forget your password to all of your social media accounts, possibly forever. Specifically I was listening to this:

I don't like being a one trick pony, never did actually. Children usually repeat what their parents laugh at/with, I found that trite when I was three. I love playing the guitar and writing songs, and I suppose a measure of distaste with what you've grown to know too well can get to you at times - Christ, at one point it happened to me with my current band, even. Maybe it's just fear of commitment, I don't know. But my near-decade with Meeting Meat nearly broke my will to make music; for the longest time it didn't feel liberating, or rewarding, or right at all. I did it for the live shows and every single rehearsal was hell, especially after about 2018. I absolutely despised my audience for the most part and every time I heard them woo and yeah! at our covers I genuinely wanted to just start ripping the strings off my guitar with my teeth and spit blood on top of every single one of their faces or something equally horrifying and distasteful. Those were the days I wanted to disappear, never be perceived ever again, and yet here we were making stupid fucking Instagram stories instead of rehearsing and trying to get more live shows and for a while we even accepted acoustic sets, which I hated with a vengeance. Right before the pandemic hit, we were rehearsing for an acoustic show our drummer had specifically requested as her eighteenth birthday present, and believe me when I legitimately thought I would rather not go out of the house for another year or so than actually go out and do this piece of shit fucking gig. Careful what you ask for?

Considering one of this past year's highlights was being offered an acoustic set for a college radio in a different city, I guess people really do change.

Lately, and much more often than I am willing to admit, I find myself staying up really really late for no specific reason. It's usually some record I haven't listened to in ages: at the present time it's Caterina Barbieri's Patterns of Consciousness, which unsurprisingly was my most listened-to record between 2018 and 2019, which I could careen into how it was the soundtrack to a very shitty period of my life/my own personality and then into a whole story about how Caterina Barbieri has seen way too much of me in the last five years or so and everytime we meet I feel like I'm putting her on the spot, but that's a story for a different time I guess. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked - when I'm up late I guess I can kind of pull myself together for long enough to at least try to get something written down. I remember this person, a childhood friend of my drummer from the aforementioned old band, and for some reason we felt like we had to talk in a very old-fashioned manner, that was cumbersome and took up insane amounts of space, and also that made our fleeting thoughts into something tangible and real and physical, I don't know, shit's wild when you're sixteen and want to have sex with everything that moves and especially if they're a blonde girl with big blue eyes that somehow ended up into your life entering from the backdoor and felt like she would have been a friend if she lived any closer, so as I was saying we decided that it would be a good idea to exchange letters. But not in the normal way, we had notebooks and we wrote our letters in them, and then when she'd come visit my drummer I would also come say hi and we'd trade our notebooks to see what the other person had written on them, and what comments they'd left on our previous writing. Sort of like an interactive diary even? Picturesque, for all intents and purposes. Shit's wild when you're sixteen and you feel like you're more important than you actually are.

(As I'm writing this I realize that we never really stop feeling like we are more important than we actually are and that is the way humanity works, essentially, and this realization and the deconstruction of the information it entails are probably the biggest obstacle for anti-speciesism because certain fragile people would never, ever, for one second admit that they are worth what they routinely make a point of eating in the most theatrically elaborate way possible. Not like vegans can't be self-appointed, it's ultimately a matter of exercising power over other living beings, we love it when we crush something living and the blood flows out of our hands. On an unrelated note, I love it when the people come up to me after my shows and tell me that "what you do on stage is always unexpected" or that "I can never tell where your songs will go next". Go figure!)

It might be absolutely unsurprising for you all to know that I did write songs in the letter notebooks. After recording with NUMBERS and the Operators, I feel less of the urge to get something out and more of a slight push to look, touch and feel around myself for possibilities, to sense where my current artistic position can lead. It finally feels like I'm beginning to do this for myself and not for other people to look at me and go WOW. Too bad it only took fifteen years of graphomania. I keep thinking back to that Catullus line where he refers to Volusius's "Annales" as "cacata carta" and to this one comment my Latin teacher made once - the fact that papyruses were rolled up and therefore took the shape of a cylinder when stored away implied that "cacata carta" was to be interpreted as if the whole papyrus was shat out by Volusius, and not just that it was smeared with shit.

Honestly though, how do I top an ending like this here?

This here is the Caterina Barbieri record if you want to check that out I guess:

[munamania]

7, 11, 19

hi lmao this is literal months late but i need to complain at work rn sooooo bad so hiiii <3

7 (a character i began to hate not bc of canon but because of fandom) obviously steve. oh my god i mean canon became insufferable too largely bc the duffers dont have a backbone and seemingly caved to insane fanservice but jesus christ. oh my god. i dont care! shrek voice he's not even a main character! and somehow a good 90% of his fans are just plain old misogynists wonder why that is (some sort of jealousy weird inferiority complex and the whole mom babysitter thing and well idk im just spitballing). basically im sick. i dont even go there anymore but it still brings up such a stupid angry reaction in me like shuuuuuut the fuck up oh my god other characters exist he is not the most interesting part of this show or at least not when it was kind of okay in fact he serves his purpose so incredibly well as a side character. i dont think any other characters compare to this level but like honestly i have to take a few seconds to breathe whenever people talk about men as babygirls or whatever just because of all that.

11 (number of fandom related words ive filtered) 29. not too bad. there are some i can probably get rid of cause i dont follow people that post abt them anymore and well some of them. no matter the extent of tagging i will never escape. so

19 (i'm mad/ashamed/horrified i actually kind of like..) idk ive mostly purged myself of the idea of guilty pleasures or anything. like i guess that i didnt mind watching the pirate show just bc of its associations even tho it's not my favorite thing or anything it was just like whatever. there were some hot lesbians there and some silly moments hello ensemble characters. i still think people hyped it up to me a little too much (not u lydia) ummm. i simply shant name some of the old redacted fandoms i was there for. somewhat participated in. certainly was a freak about. one in particular that just has to stay deep down and if i ever go back will probably have to redact if i post at all about but um. yeah other than that

[cathartes-aura-shitposting]

ARGONUS INFO: the five point interspecies relationship test

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[TW WARNING: this post is meant to make a proper guidelines on interspecies relationships. this will make mentions of bestiality, rape, and pedophilia. scroll down at your own discretion]

[the above is best viewed if opened in new tab]

welp, too late to back down now. moderate mature filter on for soon-to-be clear reasons.

behold: the harkness test!

    no, seriously. this is my take on the harkness test if it was an actual thing people had to rely on to make sure their relationship with their alien anthro wolf GF is legal and moral. and, trust me, i may be a complete weirdo furry in the eyes of many, but i'm far, far, FAR from the degeneracy that the furry fandom can get to at times (and if the infamous *REDACTED* The Wolf incident and eerily similar ones have taught me anything, it's that the degenerousy can make the mariana trench look like a pond with how rock bottom it is). so, i decided that the entirety of my omniverse needed some kind of ground for what would be considered bestiality and what wouldn't. thus, the five-points interspecies relationship test (aka the five-point test) exist.     technically not quite a test, but more of a law that exist to protect sapient species in relationships and set a very clear ground between bestiality and a regular ass relationship (Mainly sexual relationship). usually, by the time a world has implemented this law the world already has other sophonts species well-established in their society.

i got mostly everything down on the image, but i'll go into each and every point for extra clarification.

1-are both parties of equal sapience and intelligence?     obviously directed towards sapient beings. this is usually where it starts. 2-are both parties of legal age for their respective species?     this law typically refers to not only the age of sexual maturity but also the age of consent. however, this law will often times also include the legal age of marriage as well.

3-are both parties able to properly communicate with and understand eachother?     this directly ties into both 1 & 2, as you need both to even get to this part. both parties MUST be able to communicate with eachother via proper language, and MUST understand eachother's languages should one party not speak the other party's language. in the majority of world, typically both parties must speak the same language.     unlike the harkness test, BODY LANGUAGE DOES NOT COUNT EVEN IN "SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES"! this is because many sophont that are incapable of speaking/understanding other languages will often always have a translation device, such as a collar, a microchip, ect.     the only "special circumstances" that would otherwise force both partied to use body language is if they are unable to communicate at all, temporarily, for a short period of time. key word on "Temporarily, for a short period of time", since that's the only possible exception in this case. even then, it's still pretty dangerous to solely rely on body language. so if you really want to get it on, it's best to wait until both parties are able to communicate again.

4-are both parties able to properly consent to eachother's actions?     this one's rather self-explanatory, and a pretty solid question at that. this, again, ties into all three previous questions.

5-DO BOTH PARTIES CONSENT THE THE ACTIONS OF EACHOTHER?     aaand this final part of this law/test/questionnaire is perhaps one of THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION in this test. this part is known as "the criminal trap", as certain types of (let's say "really horrible a deplorable") people will take everything above and think to themselves "yup, everything says yes = automatic consent". unfortunately, though, just because they passed all four of them does not mean they automatically consent. thus, this final part is extremely important to make sure that doesnt happen.

    now i'll admit that, while the five-point test is very important to world full of different races and sapient beings, it's not entirely foolproof. some places are very strict about following this rule to a point were said relationships are downright impossible, other places tend to care so little about the law that people are able to get away with breaking this law (...and many other laws as well). the more beings that enter into other worlds and intergrate into said world's society, the more important it is to make sure this law is not only put in place, but also to make sure it is as balanced as possible.

also, here are a couple extra facts:

    -like stated in the image, even in worlds were this law is put in effect, the actual public reception on said relationships can vary, often having some influence on the law itself. for example, on modern-day argonus elkinets are generally pretty good at implimenting and enforcing this laws, but still have some stigma about certain non-elkinet species.     "interpecies" relationships between two different elkinet species have been around for as long as the elkinets themselves, and to them a human-elkinet relationship is no diferent than that of any other relationship. however, relationships between elkinets and uplifted/sentient animals (dinosauroids, common ponies, tranforgees, ect) are often viewed in a negative light, even when the animals passes the test in flying colors.

    -"but what if one fails it?" you may ask? well, like stated, they get charges with either rape, beastiality, pedophilia, ect ect, depending on where they failed in the test (as well as failed in life in general). sometimes they serve extra time because they broke the five-point test law itself.

if i have anything i missed or come up with later, i'll probably add it later.

[electionfraudking]

“Hey, doll,” He leaned against a wall, looking at his notes.

“Hey, Braig. What’s happening?”

“I did some experimenting with Stanley.”

“Alright. Tell me everything.”

"Alright. So, I kept things on the DL, but I think he was starting to catch on a little bit towards the end. But I'm pretty sure he just thought I was fucking with him. Anyway, I need to test it out a bit more, but it looks like he believes anything said as fact, even if it's phrased almost like a question. It can't be a full question, though. I tried it, it doesn't work."

“Alright, ” Xigbar heard faint splashing on the other end of the line. What? “ Run by me what you said.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but apparently that was just a pause, because she continued:

“Not that I think you- not that I think you tried to be mean- I don’t- but if you- not that I-” Was she always this uncertain? “ You can, like, hold onto that until later. Not in a state to handle that right now. Had some. Thoughts .”

"... Okay, doll. I have some good news, if you want that." Maybe it would help with whatever mental issue she was dealing with.

“ That’d be lovely.”

"Turns out, he's actually a pretty good shot," Xigbar hummed. "Only missed a couple times."

“ A- a good shot? Was this a shooting lesson?”

"Yeah. Didn't want to give him the gun and then not teach him how to actually shoot. Could blow his foot off or something." It was an exaggeration. The gun he'd given Stanley wasn't nearly powerful enough for that.

Silence.

"He's not gonna , obviously. I really drilled the safety parts into his head."

“No, no, I know,” She said. More water sounds. Was she in the bath? … No, he didn't want to think about that. Not the time to get distracted.

“Braig, I’ve been thinking,” She continued, “Will the gun be any- will it be any use? [name redacted] will confiscate it. It’s a- it’s a glorified teddy bear, isn’t it? A comfort, sure, but useless? He can’t kill him, or I die.” A pause, “I’d like to- I’m afraid i’m not quite as well versed with secret weapons as i’d like to be. But if possible, I’d like to give him as many as we can.”

"He's real adamant about shooting [name redacted] in the kneecaps. Who am I to take that away from him?" Xigbar shrugged. "As for secret weapons… Do you still have that amulet you took from him? Like- do you know where it is? Team Lit had an extra I swiped, so we can use that to at the very least monitor him."

“He’s very particular about jewelry. I was only ever allowed to wear the wedding ring. I’m certain he’ll take that, too.”

"Hm. Maybe there's a way we can hide it? Maybe…" He paused for a second. "Implant it in his skin somehow?" First he was trading him away like a possession, now he's suggesting cutting him open. It's a wonder Showie was still putting up with him.

“Ah! Braig ! ” He heard splashing- okay, probably in the bath- and the sound of what was probably her hand hitting her head. He heard a whooshing noise like she was shaking the phone, but that ended soon enough , “I- we can talk about that later! Ah!” some deep breaths, “It’s okay, it’s okay, keep talking. Keep talking, let’s get back to the notes. ”

"Okay… So, one thing I noticed was he seems to prioritize the easier commands first. I told him some wrong information, but presented it as a fact, and he took the time to process it before he finished shooting a bottle. The information wasn't anything bad, just something he and I both know is wrong. I told him his favorite color is orange. We all know it's actually beige, but he agreed with me anyway."

“Good to know,” She said thoughtfully, “But go ahead and set that one back to normal when you get the chance, okay? I’ve already finished the friendship bracelet, and it’s mostly beige. Speaking of, you never did give me those measurements.”

"My bad," Xigbar laughed. "I'll go hunt down a measuring tape later, okay? Promise. Anyway- Didn't mean to, but it looks like I gave him a command the other day. This one is actually pretty good, though. He checks the safety every time he puts the gun down or picks it up. He was makin' me nervous, just shoving the damn thing in his pocket like it was nothing."

A pause. Probably didn’t mean anything, it seemed Showie was the type to think before she spoke.

“And the- the safety on a gun, where is that? I’m afraid I’ve never- I mean-”

"You want me to teach you, too, doll? I can make that happen."

He heard a smile when she spoke, “I think it’s a good idea, I-” the smile went away, “I… oh, well, nevermind. Next note?”

"I told him not to fire until I gave him the okay. Waited a full minute. Just watched me stare at my wrist. I don't even have a watch."

“Well, to be fair, I’d do that too,” She said, “How can we be sure it’s actually a will issue and not just him choosing to listen?”

"I don't, but I'm going to assume it's a will thing. I phrased it like a command. Continuing- He agreed with everything I said, as long as I phrased it like some sort of fact. At one point, I made it too questiony, and it didn't affect him."

“Good to know. Can I hear your phrasing?”

"One sec. 'Didn't you say you were going to stop eating buttons?'. When I did the color one, I just tacked a 'right?' on the end of it. So there's a limit to how much of a question it can be."

“Good to-” A pause, “He eats buttons?”

"Yeah. It's fuckin' weird. I actually saw him eat one once. Just took a bite out of the red one he's got."

“... Huh,” She said, “Odd.”

A pause.

“ Did any other commands not work?”

"None so far, but I'm planning on getting some more testing in if I can." He debated on telling her the name thing. Obviously, he already knew it, but… "... I got him to say your name. Well, not say , but you know. He told me your phrasing of 'not to tell a soul', so my guess is it worked on the basis of I don't have one."

“......... You don’t?”

"No heart either, but they're almost the same thing."

Silence.

“ No?”

"Metaphorical heart. Not a physical one. I have a physical one- I wouldn't be alive otherwise. I'm a Nobody."

Silence.

“Are you insulting yourself or is that some kind of term? In the first case, I disagree. In the second case, spill.”

"It's a term." He laughed again. "Glad to know you like me, though. … I'd wink, but. Phone. Also one eye. Anyway, it just means I stayed myself after losing my heart. Only the strongest wills can do that." Subtle brag.

Silence.

“Alright, pause. I’m going to need to know what ‘losing your heart’ means.”

"Means exactly what it sounds like. It's gone. Probably a Heartless running around somewhere now. B-”

“ Braig, assume I’m an idiot here, okay? Explain anything you haven’t actively seen in the force field, alright? Assume I don’t know. What’s a heartless?”

"Little critters formed out of the darkness of people's hearts. They can also be formed when a person fully falls into darkness, or when they just straight up lose their heart. Losing your heart happens with a keyblade. Get stabbed in just the right way, and… you get the picture."

“... Did someone hurt you?”

"Huh? Oh, no, Doll. Don't worry. I chose this."

Silence.

“... I see.” She sounded a bit… put out?

"... You okay?" What did he say? How does he keep doing this?

“Of course! Um, what does it- what happens when you lose your heart? Besides becoming a Nobody. You said it is what it sounds like, but I feel like that’s only obvious to you because you know what it means.”

"You get stabbed, or in some cases, you can get it ripped out by heartless, and you pass out. When you come to, you're completely numb. No feelings. Just the memory. Then you're a Nobody. Kind of a switcheroo thing. Heartless are hearts, Nobodies are bodies. Like an Iceland/Greenland sort of thing." He purposely left out the fact that under the right conditions, hearts grow back. He was avoiding thinking about that. For no reason, of course. It's fine. Everything is fine.

“... Oh…. okay.” She sounded more put out than before, “Next note?”

"Yeah… Okay. This one was unintentional, but it still worked, so you don't need to have intent to control him for it to work. He mentioned something the Narrator had said once, and I said it was stupid. Because it was. He instantly agreed with me. Even started talking a little shit about the Narrator. Not sure if that part is fully related, though."

“Continue.”

"He brought up the video game thing again. I told him I'm still not from a video game ," it was still a bit of a sore topic, "and he finally agreed. I didn't do anything to convince him, so I'm assuming it's related to the way I said it as fact."

“ Alright. Is that all?” Her voice was… different… than it was at the beginning of the call.

"Oh- I also told him to calm down once. He got too excited about shootin’ kneecaps. He did calm down in his signs, but I should've found out how he was feeling before."

“ I see. And that’s all?” Colder, was the word for it. Didn’t sound like the same Showie that had been trying to reassure him at the beginning of the call.

"Yeah, that's about it." Xigbar paused. "Did I say something wrong?"

“No, I believe you told the truth.”

"That's…" He frowned. Okay, yeah, it's been a while since he'd talked to a woman this much, but usually he was decently good at not pushing buttons unless he wanted to. "... Are you mad at me?"

Silence.

"I thought you wanted me to figure him out-"

“ That’s not it.”

A pause.

“ I’m not mad at you.”

A pause.

“ I don’t understand.”

" ... I don't, either." He had no idea what she was upset about.

He heard a shaky breath through the phone. More water noises.

“The- give me a minute, the fucking water got warm. Hold on.”

Silence broken only by clinking and quiet swearing for about a minute.

“I fucking hate when the water gets warm, it makes me feel like his hands are on me- it’s dreadful,” She said, and he heard a door open, “ I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be anywhere near here. This is awful.” He got the sense this is not what she was mad about.

Still, he had to say something that had a shot at clearing the air.

"That reminds me- I managed to talk to whoever runs Fuckable Old Man Battle. They're going to make a bracket that all four of us can be in. And I know that PvP is enabled in there, so to speak."

“Great,” she said, “More time around him . I- I-” He heard the sound of cloth rustling- was she getting into bed? “ Fuck! I- I’m not mad at you. I’m not.” More rustling.

"What I mean is, he'll be open to being killed. There won't be any consequences. You can shoot him in the dick all you want."

Silence.

“ Honest question.”

"What?" Scary.

“ Do I let this fester and hope it goes away or do I just say it and deal with whatever your answer is?”

"..." Xigbar took a breath. "Look, Doll, whatever it is, I'm not gonna be upset or anything. I am really bad at being mad at you."

Silence.

“ That.”

"What?"

“ What is that?” She sounded more confused and a little hurt than angry.

Oh.

Oh.

It finally clicked. Goddamn, he was stupid.

"It's not- I'm not fucking with you when I say shit like that. Honest. I know I'm- it's-" Xigbar found it really hard to figure out the right words here. "I still have memories . Traces- You're only completely numb like that when it first happens, y'know? I'm not just saying shit to say it." That was probably the wrong way to say it.

Silence.

Fuck. It was definitely the wrong way to say it.

“ What do the stars look like where you’re from?”

FUCK.

"That could mean a lot of places. Daybreak Town had so many stars- It looked like the sky was just. Full of glitter. The World That Never Was had none. Just black emptiness, until Kingdom Hearts showed up."

“Have you seen the milky way? If that makes any sense?”

"Once or twice. When I went to a world that had it. It's weird to explain- They all operate on different rules. They're like pocket dimensions. Most of them even have different flows of time."

Silence.

“ Time?”

"Say a year passes for you. In certain worlds, that could be a week, a decade, even a minute. Some of them just loop forever, the same events over and over for eternity."

“I feel like that sometimes.”

A pause.

“What about forests?”

"There's tons. You should see the one in Corona – It's beautiful. Didn't get to go there much, but I did like it a lot."

“Maybe I should.”

"I could take you there someday, if you want."

Silence. Rustling of cloth.

“ When’s the furthest back you’ve been? If time flows differently? You mentioned Heracles?”

"Yeah, even talked to the guy once or twice. That's what, Ancient Greece? I've been there a few times."

This was fucking terrifying.

Did he fuck it all up? She wasn't acknowledging what he'd said. Despite the fact that she was technically asking about him, it was all so impersonal. She was clamming up, or something. Her voice was too damn calm.

“ That’s where I’m from. Different, I don’t know, different world, though.”

"Y-Yeah… You said that guy was an ass, right? This one was too naïve. Acted like a golden retriever. Hate that guy."

“The Heracles from this world, Hera drove him to madness and he murdered his wife and children.”

"... Holy shit. That's fucked up- and that's coming from the human experimentation guy." Please laugh.

“ In Greece, did you see houses? Ones with space? Or were you not in that part of town?”

"I didn't really see houses, sorry. I stayed out of towns. But the place I was by most recently, I'm pretty sure it was called… Thebes, I think."

“Which one? I know of two.”

"The one by, uh- Mount Olympus. That was right there. Sora ran up a vertical cliff, it was insane. Kid scares me sometimes."

Silence.

“ When-... no, actually. You have winter, right?”

"Yeah- The actual weather of it though depends on where you are. Just like regular places, I guess."

“... Humor me a second?”

"Winters in Daybreak Town were short, but it snowed a lot. The real fluffy, powdery stuff. When-" he cut himself off, shaking his head. "Okay- Are you okay? You're freaking me out."

“I’m admittedly still thrown from our earlier call.”

"Yeah, that's- that's to be expected. It's still better than just… dropping it on you after it was over, though. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea." None of it was a good idea, but… It's not like he had a choice.

Silence.

“You were planning on dropping it on me after it was over?”

"Less of a plan and more of just… I didn't want to tell you. I was… scared." That. Was not fun to admit.

Silence.

“ I…” a deep sigh, “ lots of conflicting signals from you today, Braig.”

Has talking to women always been this nerve wracking? Xigbar couldn't remember the last time he'd been this nervous. He'd died. Multiple times. And yet somehow that was easier than this.

"I- … I meant it when I said I care about you."

Silence.

“ Hi.”

"Uh-" Oh god what the fuck does that mean? Should he backtrack? Would that just mess things up more? What the fuck does he say??? "... Hi?"

“Hi,” She yawned. She yawned?

"Maybe you should- Maybe you should go nap or something?" Escape???? Possible escape from this conversation???? Please?????

“I’ve been in bed for the past few minutes now.”

"Y-Yeah… You sound sleepy." He needs to have an out. Go figure out what to say next time to smooth all this over. Definitely not just afraid.

“Today has been terrible,” She yawned. Then, almost as an afterthought, “I meant it when I said I’m not mad at you.”

"... Maybe not mad, but you sound upset."

Cloth rustling, “ and you sound very concerned for a Nobody.”

"That's-" Nope. No comeback. She had him there. Xigbar went silent, frowning.

“ You don’t have to really- honestly, I’m just speaking recreationally here,” She said, “ I have been for the past few minutes. I want you on the line and- I don’t know- vocalizing? That sounds weird-” yawn “ -vocalizing at me, I guess. Just. But I think i’m done with the conversation. I have been for a few minutes now. Don’t leave me, though. Just, fuck, say shit?”

"... Okay." Xigbar took a breath.

Okay, this was.. a relief. It didn't help the whole 'conflicting signals' thing she'd mentioned, but at least it was something. All that wasn't just her clamming up because she didn't like him now, or something. Not that he was worried about that. Definitely not. He didn't care.

He launched into some story about finding Demyx slacking off somewhere and blackmailing him into doing his missions for a week- Something light. Inconsequential. He needed to shake off all the concern that had been driving him. Not that he was concerned. He wasn't.

"... And then- You know where I found him the next day? Same broom closet. Dude didn't even switch up his hiding places. He's lucky it wasn't Saïx that found him, otherwise he would've had a lot worse to deal with than a few extra missions."

A yawn. “ Today’s been rough,” She muttered, “ Wish you were here, Braig.”

"... I wish I was, too." If he was, he probably wouldn't have had to make that deal. Threatening that freak would've worked in person. He could've gotten her out of there a lot sooner, too. "I will be soon."

“ I know,” She said, “ I just wish that wouldn’t, like, harbinge.”

"Maybe I can get everyone out of it. I think if I threaten [name redacted] in person, that would work. I wouldn't kill him, but I could maim him a little. Just enough to show him I mean business. Scare him into fucking off."

“ I still want to watch through the movies with you. But I- maybe they’ll be a distraction? You’ll be- once you get here, you’re staying, right?”

"Of course I am. I'm not leaving you alone in there."

She hummed. “You kept picking the left side of the bed.”

"Do- Do you want the left side?"

Cloth rustling, “ I don’t- when I- remember when I wrecked your shit?”

"I still have the bruises. I'm surprised nothing broke.”

“ Right side of the bed will do that to ya,” She muttered tiredly, “ fucked up and evil side of the bed. 1000 devils in the world and 999 of them are on the right side of the bed. And the last one is hiding under it. Right side of the bed is the leading cause of death in our nation today,,,” She trailed off.

"Doll, if you want to take the left side, you can have it." Is he allowed to laugh? He's not gonna laugh. Just to be safe. Things feel better; he didn't want to fuck it up. "Even better, we just get one that's super wide and sleep perpendicular. Instead of right and left, there's up and down."

Quiet laughter.

"Get bunk beds. I already have that camp counselor shirt, right? It'll fit." She was laughing, so might as well keep making jokes. Fix this godforsaken conversation.

“ Bunk beds defeat the purpose,” She muttered, “And it’s only the right side, anyway. I’m fine on the left. Do you have horses where you’re from? These sentences are connected.”

"Uah- Not really- Probably a good thing. Horses freak me out. Too fragile."

“ Sometimes, there exist horses that are fine if you are on one side and kick murder death death kill die one thousand deaths if you are on the other,,, It’s me i’m horses.”

"I figured as much. You definitely kick like one."

“ Pirate-ass.”

" Hey, that's surfer pirate to you, madam."

She giggled, and he heard a kind of wsh-wsh-wsh-wsh cloth type sound, like she was kicking her feet under the covers, “ Gods, never call me ‘madam’. Me and my horse kicks will find you.”

"Alright, alright, I won't. Don't need you actually breaking my nose this time. Got enough going on with my face." He laughed. "What do you want me to call you, then?"

Silence.

"Come on, you gotta have something you like." Definitely subtle. Good job, Xigbar.

“ Ummmm,” She hummed thoughtfully, “ Doll is fine, that’s fun. I guess I haven’t really thought about it. Haven’t ever had to. I… I… if you wanted to, you could use [OM2T], but not around anyone. Top secret. And no one else can use it or they die one thousand deaths. And I melt like a witch. But you could.”

"You sure? You hate that name- Why would you want me to call you something like that?"

“ You’re different. Besides, I hate [OMITTED LAYER 2] and [OMIT-2]ie. [OM2T] is nice. It’s elegant. Exclusive. And no one’s ever called me that before. You can though. Imagine I am handing you a [OM2T] license along with the license to kill i am returning.”

"'Different'... Oh." It was all he heard. He completely zoned out after that. It felt. Weird. Sure, he'd heard Stanley say it, but that was Stanley. He didn't care what that button eater thought of him. Showie, though…

Why did he care? He wasn't supposed to.

"Oh."

“ You okay Braig?”

"Y-Yeah- fine." Definitely not fine. He wasn't supposed to be feeling anything.

Was his…? No. It had never happened before, it can't be happening now. It can't.

“ You don’t sound fine,” She sounded concerned and a lot less sleepy, like he’d woken her with…

She continued, “ You sound… are you okay? If- if that was too much, I can back off-”

" Did you know…" he started. "Under the right conditions- Hearts can, uh- they can grow back?"

“Oh!” She sounded… delighted? “ I mean- oohh, are you okay?” Concerned again.

"... Nice save, doll."

“ I thought so, yeah,” She said.

"So… that's what the problem was earlier, huh?"

“ Imagine if someone had been flirting with you for the past month and then they said ‘Oh, yeah, by the way, I’m completely numb and have no emotions. You think I liked you? As if!’” She said with a not so flattering Xigbar impression.

"I don't sound like that." Yeah, that's the only problem he had with that. Sure.

“ Yeah, okay, Braig. Sure.” She sounded like she was holding something back. Maybe a laugh. Maybe another ‘as if’.

"You suck." He grinned and flopped down against the wall. "Did you really think I don't like you?"

“ You literally said yo-” a pause. “ Nevermind.” Though she didn’t sound angry.

"I told you my name. I feel like that should've been some kind of giveaway." Wait. Wait. What the fuck was he saying. This wasn't normal.

“ It was a giveaway. Then you confused me. We’re good now.”

"Skill issue."

“ Oh-! Die one thousand deaths in the spike pit, Braig, the skill issue is on you for being incapable of speaking to women.”

"Are you victim blaming me for getting keyblade stabbed?" He gasped in mock hurt. "I thought you were better than that, doll. Shame on you."

“ Skill issue on your part for not remembering when I said ‘Did someone hurt you’ and you said ‘Oh no, doll, don’t worry, I chose this.”

"I am being victim blamed right now. You're harassing me. I'm being harassed. I'm so hurt. Jail for Showie! Jail for 1000 years!"

“ Silence, goon, ” She said.

" You silence, girlboss."

He heard her chuckle.

"So, what were you saying about Demyx?"

"Oh, yeah…-"

[captain-aralias]

Fanfic asks: 💖 and 🎯

why thank you for asking. here's the scoop:

💖 What made you start writing?

it's been a thing i've been doing a long time. i wrote a tamora pierce fic when i was 13 about how numair arrived in tortall, that i then re-wrote later when i was 16. then i got big into potter between azkaban and goblet of fire and then big into m/m, which back then we called slash (i mean, i still call it that) through remus/sirius. i can't remember why i wrote the tortall fic at all, but i remember specifically getting given a magazine article about people writing fanfiction and that making me seek out fanfiction.net - and from there i met people and found livejournal, etc etc.

i started writing 'carry on' fic because..... i thought i could? i was looking for a new fandom. i tend to be monogamous for a long time, and then it starts to tail off... i was in the tailing off phase for blake's 7. i read fangirl, which is all about writing fic, obviously, so that helped me think 'hmm.... fic', and then 'carry on', and i thought: 'yeah, i could write something for yuletide maybe, just to see how i feel'. but all the prompts were dull, so i didn't do that.

i was still blogging semi-regularly on dreamwidth at the time i read carry on, so i've just gone back to look at what i said, and i've been reminded that also... at the time i went looking almost everything was fluff: mostly post watford happy boyfriends. and nothing was about vampires. also, the fandom was so small! i recorded that there were "around 1,500 works over 1,000 words in a fandom of 2,200 works on AO3".

even ban had only written quite a few really good things by then, no 'rebel rebel' for example. so basically i read a bunch of fic and i was like - "omg, what is going ON here? where's the biting, sex, and politics????"* and then i started to write 'the mage's heir' - which addressed the things i thought were missing.

and now i write carry on fic.

and lots of people write about biting.

*there was some. e.g. 'catch me if you can' predates me by a few months, but really not much.

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

i've answered this before.

also:

[redacted comments about 'Unintended' 😅]

—

from this list of asks

[kaoarika]

One of the manga series that I had to pause my purchases in 2019 was "Erased". And similar to other series that I paused back then, I'm being able to get closer to its end*.

I haven't watched the anime (although did hear ppl not liking some things were there, was goign to check it on Netflix but it was "recently" removed from there) and now that I'm a volume away from its finale, I may check the drama adaptation (that I think ppl liked more) once the finale isn't too fresh in my head.

And, I have been enjoying it? I don't think I have many series that qualify as "thriller" and/or mystery, but the whole premise of a guy going back to time (through what he calls "revivals") to solve a series of murders and the murder of his own mother, was interesting. Also, it's very frustrating because... well, late 20s Satoru is mostly on his 5th grader body and he, obviously, can't do much as a kid in 1988, w/o lifting suspicions of what he knows of the future and the fact he is an adult, especially if the murderer might be close by.

The thing is, obviously...

He kinda wins? Some of the murders that happened in his pre-revival storyline didn't happen... but, at the cost of "sacrificing" himself.

I knew that [redacted] was kinda suspicious, and the reveal of him as the murderer was gut-wrenching, to say the least.

I don't want to say that Kei Sanbe is a genius with the reveal, because I knew the candy the guy had were incredibly TOO obvious, but perhaps it was used as a "red herring" at first, because the suspect has some certain tics and it's known that you can replace old habits (smoking) with newer ones (chewing gum, candy, etc). I dunno if it's similar in Japan and other asian countries, but the candy being kept in the murderer's car gave me whole "stanger danger" PSA culture that my generation (well, maybe gen X and millenials?) learned or were taught when we we were children... it's probably a VERY OBVIOUS red flag that this guy was not as "good" and "trustful" he may have appeared at first.

And I feel that Satoru, being in his late 20s, should have suspected a little.

I also say gut-wrenching because Sanbe offered this red flag as some "red herring" at first. But, w/o other suspects left... it had to be him. And the reveal sinks when Satoru realize that the guy who offered him a ride to follow a red herring, basically kidnapped him.

And it starts to make sense, because the dude was basically "disguised" as one of those adults you have to trust and you are familiar with, and while he may not have been one of those that offer "free candy" to children (hence why I mean by obvious "red flag" hint dressed as a "red herring"), it is revealed he DID offer other similar "gifts" as a way to lure children in before killing them off :/ (who knows, but there's also a chance he did use candy to lure children, as well... WELL, he lured Satoru when he found out his "secret stash" in his car, didn't it?)

I didn't expect the whole twist of the murderer attempting to murder Satoru as well AND the whole 15-year-old comma he had. Obviously Satoru's timeline changed and all. But some things didn't and MY GOD, the GUTS of the murderer becoming a politician... and when you realize he ALWAYS had been there it's just... sadfaafdgdf.

FUCK. And the way he STILL plans to "play" with Satoru's well being is just *bite bite*.

----

*To be fair, I have finished a WHOLE lot of those series. I think the only left that I started then are FMA (95% of the original publishing tankoubon volumes are OOP; the publisher announced they will publish the kanzenban edition later this year?, however) and... Blade of the Immortal, I think? (technically, they still do reprints of these from time to time, but I have my priorities and this one is in the lower position). I do have others (Ranma and A Silent Voice) I wish to complete... but reprints WHERE...???

[tripleyeeet]

Hello!! It is me 💿 anon coming to ask you about the playlists of your newest fic! I saw you have ones for each character and was wondering if you have specific lyrics/songs that helped you develop each character? All the playlists that are out so far and fab btw!

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD

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💿 anon, my beloved!

first off, omg thank you!! second, yes, of course there's lots of character inspo that revolves around music! i find a lot of the time my fics come from song lyrics and sort of sprout from there —prey included. the whole fic was based around these lyrics from the neighbourhood’s song of the same name:

something is off, i can't explain you know what i mean, don't you? something i saw, or something i did that made me like this could you help me?

obviously i can’t go too into detail because that’ll spoil the fic but the lyrics definitely encompass avis and loki’s relationship as a whole. in the story they both feel sort of cast aside by the people they’re meant to be closest to and because of that, find a lot of comfort in one another during moments of solitude.

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for loki, i have a whole playlist of songs that remind me of him but for prey specifically one song comes to mind that i definitely lean towards when forming his psyche/how others perceive him. that song being they don’t want by electric wire hustle.

pretty much the whole song is very prey-esque but specifically the first verse i think really encapsulates the overall first impression loki gets from most of the team:

all around this town people stop and stare i can feel their eyes upon me see it in the face, there's nobody there i've felt that look before they don't want me here

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moving onto avis who, despite some subtle differences is still very similar to loki. they’re both lonely and stubborn and frankly, quite broken but are also in this constant state of trying to showcase themselves as essentially perfect individuals. they force others to perceive themselves as capable of dealing with anything when really they're just these fragile little guys who want to be loved.

that being said, a lot of loki songs definitely overlap but honestly i find avis to be a bit more vengeful? basically, in the story she has this level of externalized rage that loki tends to hide away rather than release, making her overall character a bit more brash as you might be able to hear in the playlist.

overall, i'd say there are two main songs that really brought avis's character to life. the first being destruction by joywave which i think is a good example of her relationship with SHIELD and how she consistently feels threatened by it's presence.

oh my god, there's nobody who can set me right i've been sent to torch the palace down in broad daylight i wanna know who you told 'til they're all laying on the floor frozen to the core i wanna know who you told till it's nobody anymore

moving on to the second one: stuck on the puzzle by alex turner is definitely a song that connects to both loki and [redacted]. not really a spoiler but both parties are very interested in avis for different reasons. and although the lyrics are very romantic in nature i kind of feel like they apply to both relationships in their own unique ways? if that makes sense?

nobody i asked knew how he came to be the one to whom you surrendered

any man who wasn't led away into the other room stood pretending

-

which finally brings me to [redacted] who i've gotten a lot of inquiries about. for obvious reasons i can't tell you a whole lot about them but just know they're essentially a deity that a particular group within the fic worship.

that being said, a lot of the songs that inspired their character are mostly just vibes. not a lot of songs contain a ton of words aside from desire - slowed by hucci which is a pretty on the nose description of how [redacted]'s seen by everyone outside of their group.

i wanna breathe into your well see, i gotta hunt you i gotta bring you to my hell

and yeah, that's it! i know it's a lot read and very ramble-y, so if you took the time to read this, thank you! i had a lot of fun answering!! :)

[neil-neil-orange-peel]

32 for the fanfic ask post!! :)

32) Are any of your characters based on real people?

I probably don't have the longest list of OCs, if I'm being honest, because most of the fic I've written has just involved canon characters. The OCs I do have aren't so much based on real people, more on other comedy characters (I mean, I hope they're not carbon copies, but y'know, comedy characters are good character bases for fics about sitcoms 😂).

That said, my TNS OC Andy Arsole is based on Ade... although not Ade as a person, more just what an Ade character in TNS might be like, if that makes sense? One day I will actually write Of Bastards and Arseholes, where Andy and Alan argue in the Commons. Maybe.

As for other OCs that I've based on pre-existing comedy characters: the three poltergoosts from A Bastard's Carol were - fairly obviously, since Rick kept pointing it out 😂 - based on Neil, Mike, and Vyvyan. Since Rick got to be the Scrooge, they got to be the ghosts, so to speak. They were fun.

I have four other TYO OCs who have yet to see the light of day. They are part of a Modern/Ghost AU, which will be a massive project since there are eight main characters! The four OCs are each meant to correspond to one of the actual Young Ones - although I'd say they're sorta... better adjusted... on the whole. 😂 Their names are Harvey Poole, Robin "Rob Lowe" Lowe, Madison "Mad" Dean, and Lily "Will/Willy/Dickhead" Shakespeare. Any guesses who corresponds to who? I don't think I've ever revealed their names before, damn...

Oh, and they got a Balowski, of course, so he's based on Alexei and the other Balowskis.

My final fandom OCs pop up in The Basterds of Hammersmith (which is about Vyvyan's family; a TYO/Bottom crossover that is more elongated and angsty than I can honestly justify, but HA!). The first part of the story is very OC heavy because it's centred around an OC: Adelaide "Addie" Basterd. I've already had a few people tell me they like Addie, which really warms my heart. ❤️ I know it can be harder to get into fic with OCs, since we're all really here for the canon characters, so I'm very grateful to the people who've given TBOH a chance.

The comedy character I use as a base for Addie is Edina Monsoon from Absolutely Fabulous. There are some pretty major differences in circumstances: Addie is a teenager, not a middle aged woman; Addie's living in the 1940s, not the 1990s; Addie is working class, not rich. People might look at Addie and not see the comparison at all, and that's fine since I don't want her to be a straight up copy. Addie's supposed to be a much more sympathetic character than Eddy, anyway. I'm really putting her through it! 😅

The other important OCs in TBOH include Eduard [SURNAME REDACTED DUE TO SPOILERS], who isn't really based on anyone. At a push, I'd say he's Ade playing another German character - but he's not really the Red Baron (from Blackadder) or Ace (from TCSP Slags). There's also the Head family, who are relations of a certain Dick Head. Running with the Ab Fab thing, Mrs Head is sorta based on Mrs Monsoon. Dicky, on the other hand, is based on Arnold Rimmer from Red Dwarf. Why? Well, because he's my OC and it's my fic so I've let myself be self-indulgent. 😂 There are some Heads who haven't been introduced yet, so I'm gonna keep mostly stum about them... apart from to ask you all to smoke me a kipper.

There are other minor OCs in that fic - it's fucking massive, so much of it is still a WIP - but I've already waffled enough now. 😂

Thanks for the ask!

[baeddel]

Please. Please can you tell me what a baeddel is and why people (terfs?) used it in a derogatory manner on this website for a hot minute but now no one ever uses it at all

you asked for it, fucker

[2k words; philology and drama]

baeddel is an Old English word. i have no idea where it actually occurs in the Old English written corpus, but it occurs in a few placenames. its diminuitive form, baedling, is much better documented. it appears in the (untranslated) Canons of Theodore, a penitential handbook, a sort of guidebook for priests offering advice on what penances should be recommended for which sins. in a passage devoted to sexual transgressions it gives the penances suggested for a man who sleeps with a woman, a man who sleeps with another man, and then a man who sleeps with a baedling. so you have this construction of a baedling as something other than a man or a woman. and then it gives the penance for a baedling who sleeps with another baedling (a ludicrous one-year fast). then, by way of an explaination, Theodore delivers us one of the most enigmatic phrases in the Old English corpus: "for she is soft, like an adulturess."

the -ling suffix in baedling is masculine. but Theodore uses feminine pronouns and suffixes to describe baedlings. as we said, it's also used separately from male and female. but it's also used separately from their words for intersex and it never appears in this context. all of this means that you have this word that denotes a subject who is, as Christopher Monk put it, "of problematic gender." interested historians have typically interpreted it as referring to some category of homosexual male, such as Wayne R. Dines in his two-volume Encyclopedia of Homosexuality who discusses it in the context of an Old English glossary which works a bit like an Old English-Latin dictionary, giving Old English words and their Latin counterparts. the Latin words the Anglo-Saxon lexicographer chose to correspond with baedling were effeminatus and mollis, and Lang concludes that it refers to an "effeminate homosexual" (pg 60, Anglo Saxon). this same glossary gives as an Old English synonym the word waepenwifstere which literally means "woman with a penis," and which Dines gives the approximate translation (hold on tight) male wife.

R. D. Fulk, a philologist and medievalist, made a separate analysis of the term in his study on the Canons of Theodore 'Male Homoeroticism in the Old English Canons of Theodore', collected in Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England, 2004. he analysed it as a 'sexual category' (sexual as in sexuality), owing to the context of sexual transgressions in the Canons. he decides that it refers to a man who bottoms in sexual relationships with another man. i don't have the article on hand so i'm not sure what his reasoning was, but this seems obviously inadequate given what we know from the glossary described by Dines. Latin has a word for bottom, pathica, and the lexicographer did not use this in their translation, preferring words that emphasized the baedling's femininity like effeminatus, and doesn't address the sexual context at all. Dines, however, only reading this glossary, seems to decide that it refers to a type of male homosexual too hastily, considering the Canons explicitly treat them separately. both Dines and Fulk immediately reduce the baedling to a subcategory of homosexual when neither of the sources to hand actually do so themselves.

by now it should be obvious why, seven or so years ago, we interpreted it as an equivalent to trans woman. I mean come on - a woman with a penis! these days I tend to add a bit of a caution to this understanding, which is that trans woman is the translation of baedling which seems most adequate to us, just as baedling was the translation of effeminatus that seemed most adequate to our lexicographer. but the term cannot translate perfectly; its sense was derived from some minimal context; a legal context, a doctrinal context, and so forth... the way Anglo-Saxons understood sex/gender is complicated but it has been argued that they had a 'one sex model' and didn't regard men and women as biologically separate types, which is obviously quite different from the sexual model accepted today; in any case they didn't have access to the karyotype and so on. the basic categories they used to understand gender and sexuality were different from ours. in particular, Hirschfield et al. should be understood as a particularly revolutionary moment in the genealogy of transsexuality; the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft essentially invented the concept of the 'sex change', the 'transition', conceived as a biological passage from one sex to the other. even in other contexts where (forgive me) #girlslikeus changed their bodies in some way, like the castration of the priestesses of Cybele, or those belonging to the various historical societies which we believe used premarin for feminization [disputed; see this post], there is no record that they were ever considered men at any stage or had some kind of male biology that preceded their 'gender identity.' the concept of the trans woman requires the minimal context of the coercive assignment at birth and its subsequent (civil and bio-technological) rejection. i have never encountered evidence that this has ever been true in any previous society. nonetheless, these societies still had gendered relations, and essentially wherever we find these gendered relations we also find some subject which is omitted or for whom it has been necessary to note exceptions. what is of chief interest to us is not so much that there was such a subject here or there in history (and whatever propagandistic uses this fact might have), but understanding why these regularities exist.

a very parsimonious explanation is that gender is a biological reality, and there is some particular biological subject which a whole host of words have been conjured to denote. if this were the case then we would expect that, no matter what gender/sexual system we encounter in a given society, it will inevitably find some linguistic expression. if, like me, you find this idea revolting, then you should busy yourself trying to come up with an alternative explanation which is not just plausible, but more plausible. my best guesses are outside the scope of this answer...

anyway, all of this must be very interesting to the five or six people invested in the confluence of philology and gender studies. but why on earth did it become so widely used, in so many strange and unusual contexts, in the 2010s? we're very sorry, but yes, it's our fault. you see apart from all of this, there is also a little piece of information which goes along with the word baeddel, which is that it's the root of the Modern English word bad. by way of, no less, the word baedan, 'to defile'. how this defiled historical subject came to bear responsibility for everything bad to English-speakers doesn't seem to be known from linguistic evidence. however, it makes for a very pithy little remark on transmisogyny. my dear friend [REDACTED] made a playful little post making this point and, good Lord, had we only known...

it went like this. its such a funny little idea that we all start changing our urls to include the word baeddel. in those days it was common to make puns with your url (we always did halloween and christmas ones); i was baeddelaire, a play on the French poet Baudelaire. while we all still had these urls a series of events which everyone would like to forget happened, and we became Enemies of Everyone in the Whole World. because of the url thing people started to call us "the baeddels." then there was "a cult" called "the baeddels" and so forth. this cult had various infamies attatched to it and a constellation of indefensible political positions. ultimately we faced a metric fucking shit ton of harassment, including, for some of my friends, really serious and bad irl harassment that had long-term bad awful consequences relating to stable housing and physical safety and i basically never want to talk about that part of my life ever again. and i never have to, because i've come to realize that for most people, when they use the word baeddel, they don't know about that stuff. it doesn't mean that anymore.

so what does it mean? you'll see it in a few contexts. TERFs do use it, as you guessed. i am not quite sure what they really mean by it and how it differs from other TERF barbs. i think being a baeddel invovles being politically active or at least having a political consciousness, but in a way thats distinct from just any 'TRA' or trans activist. so perhaps 'militant' trans women, but perhaps also just any trans woman with any opinions at all. how this was transmitted from tumblr/west coast tranny drama to TERF vocabulary i have no idea. but you will also find - or, could have found a few years ago - i would say 'copycat' groups who didn't know us or what we believed but heard the rumours, and established their own (generously) organizations (usually facebook groups) dedicated to putting those principles into practice. they considered themselves trans lesbian separatists and did things like doxx and harass trans women who dated cafabs. if you don't know about this, yes, there really were such groups. they mostly collapsed and disappeared because they were evildoers who based their ideology on a caricature. i knew a black trans woman who was treated very badly by one of these groups, for predictable reasons. so long-time readers: if you see people talking about their bad experiences with 'baeddels', you can't necessarily relate it to the 2014 context and assume they're carrying around old baggage. there are other dreams in the nightmare.

the most common way you'll see it today, in my experience, is in this form: people will say that it was a "slur" for trans women. they might bring up that it's the root of the word bad, and they might even think that you shouldn't use the word bad because of it, or that you shouldn't use the word baeddel because it's a slur. all of this is a silly game of internet telephone and not worth addressing. except to say that it's by no means clear that baeddel, or baedling, were slurs, or even insulting at all. while Theodore doesn't provide us with a description of how we can have sex with a baedling without sinning, and it may be the case that any sexual relations with a baedling was considered sinful, sexuality-based transgressions were not taken all that seriously in those days. there was a period where homosexuality within the Church was almost sanctioned, and it wasn't until much later that homosexuality became so harshly proscribed, to the extent that it was thought to represent a threat to society, etc. and as i mentioned, there are places in England named after baedlings. there is a little parish near Kent which is called Badlesmere, Baeddel's Lake, which was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Domesday Book (as having a lord, a handful of villagers and a few slaves; perhaps only one or two households). it's not unheard of, but i just don't know very many places called Faggot Town or some such. it's possible that baedlings had some role in Anglo-Saxon society which we are not aware of; it could even have been a prestigious one, as it was in other societies. there is just no evidence other than a couple of passing references in the literature and we'll probably never have a complete picture.