#honestly did i need to do this many stories?? nope did i do it anyway?? DUH

[ima-ghost-art]

If you're still doing oc prompts how about somecats "moment of happiness"

(The OCs - 1, Bellona - 2, Pennyfathing, 3, Kismet, 4, the kittens) (THIS time in canonical order)

Bellona

Bellona smiled, stretching back on the old boxes she was sitting on, hand on her bump as she stared lovingly at her mate and eldest kit. Merlinite was teaching their little Alonzo how to do pirouettes.

She truly couldnt believe how much she loved her little family, and the fact that they were so soon to welcome two more kittens just made her heart sing.

Bustopher had dropped by not long ago, with enough rice pudding to last a few days, Bellona knew he would be back in time for her to give birth, along with Jenny and Jelly of course.

She missed the rest of jellicles dearly, but this was what was safest for her family, and as an now ex Protector, she wouldnt hesitate to make sure her family was safe. So she chose to live in the moment, and embrace the life she and her mate were making together.

Merlin picked up Alonzo and spun him around, filling the air with bubbles as the kit laughed. Bellona smiled, as she enjoyed her moment of happiness.

____

Pennyfathing

Penny grinned as Quaxo twirled around him in dizzying circles. Their impromptu picnic turned dance show being their entertainment for the evening.

He clapped as Quaxo took a bow, the kittens fur glittering like star light. Pennyfathing was entranced, his bestfriend was capable of such wonderful things and he was lucky enough to be allowed to watch him and the little bits of magic he would harness when he preformed.

You could probably call the kit star struck, and Penny wouldnt bother denying it. He loved Quaxo. And he loved every little moment he was able to spend with him, even if it was eating a mouse on a dusty old blanket in a forgotten alley.

Penny moved to let Quaxo snuggle up against him, tired after doing so much spinning.

A warmth spread through his chest as he remembered the offer he was given a few days ago, a new tribe looking for magical cats and fighters. He knew now he was going to except the offer, and bring Quaxo with him so they could become powerful mates just like he had said!!

But for now, Pennyfathing let them just sit there in comfortable silence, two kittens cuddling on a dusty old blanket, enjoying a moment of happiness.

____

Kismet

Kismet was a blushing mess! Never once before, had they met a person who could get them this flustered than Etcetera.

Once a calm and collected Protector of the Streat Cats Tribe, now a blubbering bundle of words trying to make sence, and they couldn't be happier!

Their tibes had been working together more closely after the passing of old Deuteronomy, and so they had bumped into eachother as if only fate itself had brought them together!!

And well, Kismet couldn't help it, they were smitten at first sight. Etcetera was just so sweet and excitable, if only a bit loud, but that didnt matter when she looked at them like they carried the sun in the sky.

Their leaders had approved, Old Jillymonty and Lady Jemima even offering for them to switch tribes if they wished, but the two had agreed of spending time in both for now.

Kismet had fallen in love with the best queen in the world, and the moment she asked to be mates was the happiest moment of all.

____

The Kittens

Hiraeth and Eglantine sat talking on top of the old car, and Cecily sat not too far away on the tire. Together with Lucideus and Tilibubble, as they were the oldest, they were all on babysitting duty while most of the adults were all of hunting.

They didnt mind the arrangement, it was nice not to spend the morning getting dragged around by Jelly and Asparagus doing chores.

Most of the younger kittens were in the main clearing, being entertained by Luci as she put on a mini show with all the dance moves she had learned from Bombalurina! Melon and Diotima stepping in to be her back up dancers, as Hiraeth sang for them from his little perch.

Yippee, Dyluela, Aggie and Pumpkenna sat at his feet, switching from watching Hira and the show.

Atlas sat up near Tili in the watch tower, Noddy, the youngest, sat on his lap as he chatted quietly to his aunt. The three much preferring to watch their friends where it wasnt as loud.

The Deuteronomy - Jones litter were mostly watching the performance, the triplets making sure to join in singing with their cousin, along with Russet and Azalea, when the moments called for it! Though the oldest, Maxinellie was taking a nap by Cecily's feet.

Admetus and Aristotle were also having their morning snooze in the pipe.

Finally MollyMay, Oopsie daisy and Elysian were all cuddled making daisy chains by the nursery.

All in all, the day wasnt that special, it was normal as any other, but if you would find there the meaning of what happiness is, in a moment like this.

[nonbinarypirat]

I’m catching up on Bungou Stray Dogs and I got to chapter 39 and wow… what a bad chapter. Or I should say, I VERY purely written, mishandled chapter. So I wanted to talk about why I hate this so much (even though so many people have probably talked about this here and other platforms.) Get ready for a rare known Iruma breakdown. But also I’m so mad about this chapter so this is going to be more of an unhinged rant then a well written post. Warning: child violence, abuse, abusive cycles, and sympathizing an abuser

This chapter is somehow a thousand times worse than what the anime did? I wonder if the people in charge of the anime also didn’t like this part and decided to cut it short and get through it as soon as possible and move on. Though it could also just because of how fucked up it is. No matter the reason, I went into this chapter hoping that maybe there was some context lost from the anime to manga but nope! In fact the manga goes further with trying to make you sympathize with a literal child torturer? It honestly makes me appreciate the episode just a tiny bit more for not including his oh so tragic backstory 🙄. Look, no matter what you have gone through, you don’t get the right to abuse a child. Plain and simple. Just because you were abused doesn’t give you the right to do it to someone. I get that the abuse cycle is not easy to break but once you fall down the same path you are ALSO a fucked up person! And you deserve to suffer for your actions. I wished he got a worse death than a car accident tbh 🤷.

Anyway, I hate how every character in this chapter acted like Atsushi was being irrational about not wanting to know why the headmaster was around? That’s his torturer, the man that literally made his life hell? If he doesn’t want to know, don’t force him. Like, could it give him closure, I guess. But he should be the one seeking that out. Quite frankly, once it was found out the headmaster was involved Atsushi should have been pulled from the case. Give him some distance to process everything rather having to learn about his abuser’s life story or whatever. Like I said, if he wanted to learn that info he should but only if he wanted. Idk why it treated him not wanting to know as acting irrational. I feel like every character treated him like this, from Tanizaki to Akutagawa to Dazai. Instead of comforting him in this difficult time they just… didn���t do anything? Obviously Akutagawa wouldn’t but why didn’t the other two do anything to make him feel better? Only Dazai did really and it was shitty. Full stop bad.

Which leads me into the crutch of it, I hate how they made the headmaster out to be a father figure or mentor. He’s not?? What the fuck are you on about. Like, I could see it if there was fake comfort, subtle or advert manipulation by being nice sometimes. Then it would have been a situation of, he’s the only father figure I ever had but he hurt me in the worst ways. And that’s where the ending could be. Not to say it would still be a well written depiction of abuse, it still tries to get you to empathize with the man, however, I could get where all the complication in Atsushi would lie. But this man was literally the worst human being to walk the face of the Earth the entire time we see him in the manga. So it makes ZERO SENSE. I guess that’s the angle they were going for, he’s the only adult man I know but it does NOT work at all. How is he a “mentor.” Just because he said to hate me not yourself? Fuck that shit, Atsushi does not need to feel bad for that man just because he was trying to make him strong or whatever bs excuse he has. Oh wow, he got him flowers. How ‘bout you pay for his therapy bills?!

If they really wanted to have some nuance, instead I feel like the conflict should have centered around Atsushi still not feeling safe or like he isn’t really dead. Like he can’t allow himself to relax despite the fact that he knows the facts. Especially since the headmaster was a big threat throughout his life, having him suddenly die would be a large shock to the system and go into denial mode. Thus, Dazai or someone else could help him move on and he could finally breath a sigh of relief. Or maybe he’s scared that other workers of the orphanage will try to find him. Maybe he tries to go back to normal, doesn’t give himself time to process, and it all comes crashing down and he has to grapple with the fact that he will never know WHY the headmaster treated him like this. Honestly, not having it answered would have been better because often people don’t get an answer why abusers act the way they do. This idea could add another reason why Atsushi is conflicted between happy and deeply upset because the headmaster is gone but now he’ll never understand why he was treated so horribly. And grappling with the idea that maybe he will never know or understand. Which is tragic but would be a better written and understandable conclusion.

BSD just really dropped the ball with that chapter. It had a great opportunity to bring a nuanced perspective onto why Atsushi may not be elated with his death and get further perspective on him as a character. But instead it focused too much effort on making a child abuser sympathetic because he also faced abuse in an orphanage and some people died and so he tried to make Atsushi strong or whatever. Atsushi deserved a better end in than chapter that Dazai calling that gross piece of shit his father.

Edit: I wanted to add that as much as I hate this chapter I liked the parts where we got to see how bad Atsushi’s life really was at the orphanage. I mean, it hurt for sure but getting to see this put into perspective fully why Atsushi has a hard time pushing through his trauma and past. Like, PTSD is no joke and that was reason enough, but seeing how far it got really showed that. Which makes me mad when people imply he should have gotten over it already or similar statements. Like, dude if that was me I wouldn’t have made it to 18. It’s actually impressive his resolve to live despite everything. Kind of wished we saw that in the anime as dark as it was but once again, I think it was not included specifically because of how poorly it handled this topic. Not gonna lie, it would piss me off enough to not finish the show (not that it’s too much of an improvement but it at least is like, bad writing but a pass).

[fantasygerard2000]

Read your arguments for Magnifico and honestly they aren't as well presented either. They are just mainly assumptions rather than actual things established in the movie. Especially calling him a narcissist and associating a disorder, which you are trying to use the NPD version here, to natural prone to evil traits. We can say he's vain, but we really need to not touch narcissm here

This is not me saying he's not a villain or that I particularly cared for him btw. He's a very boring villain and character overall. They all are ngl.

The movie just has a tone problem with its characters cuz at the end of the day they had an entirely different story in mind just to revamp it and confusing animators and writers what these characters are supposed to be like. Amaya was evil at one point but since they scrapped that now she's just clueless but also witnessed all the "bad things" Magnifico has done which makes her an accomplice but also not really shes just a background character that just doesn't do anything significant.

But yeah Magnifico is one of those characters where I don't see him as a victim or a compelling villain either cuz the story doesn't establish anything to make me care. Same thing for Asha though

It's just every time I read something from Magnifico fans or hater or whatever you fall in, it's just assumptions based on preconceived notions of other Disney villains

"The evil queen and Gaston are villains because they are vain!" No what made them villains is that they killed and did other evil deeds because they couldn't stand to be second best and thats based on their vain. Magnifico's vanity doesn't do anything for his villainy other than sing an obnoxious musical number. If some part of his vanity had any part of his villainy it's immediately overshadowed with that stupid book that supposedly makes it's users evil a very useless detail for a villain that is naturally bad from the start. Wouldn't it had been interesting if Amaya assumed the book turns you evil but it actually doesn't Magnifico has always been like that? But nope, the book establishes this lore

Anyways sorry for this essay it's just this movie messed up on so many beats that I can't help but see why there are so many conflicting opinions of these characters. They either have nothing or the movie gives them conflicting goals that don't add up

Oh, so we entering ethics of diagnosing a fictional characters now? Magnifico has traits of a narcissist but I never said anything about him having NPD, or diagnosing him because I ain't no psychiatrist and I know full well that diagnosing a character with a disorder has obviously unfortunately implications towards real people who have them so I avoid doing that. If I did so unintentionally, I apologize because that was not my intention.

Gaston and the Evil Queen are villains because their stories are personal to their main characters. Snow White and the dwarfs see the queen as a villain because she wants Snow White dead for being prettier than her. The reason she hasn't been overthrown because she's literally the queen and people don't want to piss her off.

Same with Gaston who the town sees as a public figure and a bit of a local celebrity. Belle only sees him as a self entitled jerk but what made him crossed it is when he threatened to send Maurice into the asylum if Belle refuses to marry him.

Tremaine is a better example because she does what it takes to make Cinderella's life miserable just to make herself feel better. She would have just find another rich man to marry and leave Cinderella, but no, she chose to remain in that house and treat her as a slave in her own house because she wants to. It's her spite and pettiness that made her dedicated to treat Cinderella like garbage.

While Wish does indeed have issues, the people who are confused about it are either just not paying attention or are just looking for an excuse to be angry at not understanding it. Wish is very straightforward with its story and themes yet people who sympathize with Magnifico flat out refuse to get it in their heads that Magnifico is a straight up cult leader and just like real life cult leaders, they isolate their followers, feeding them beliefs so that they can only rely on their leaders.

The reason why I'm vocal against Magnifico defenders are largely because they treat him like he did nothing wrong and accuse Asha of being the real villain for suggesting him to doing his dang job as a king and granter of wishes. Recently, I just don't like to engage with them, largely because just like with debatebros, debating with them is just a waste of time and stressful.

Playing middle ground against the haters and the fans isn't exactly a hill worth dying on because if you genuinely don't care, you wouldn't be participating in telling both sides are incorrect.

And to be honest, after seeing so many people talking about how Wish is not as good as the stuff they like, I just honestly stopped caring about what they say. Even getting recommended videos about why it's animation and music sucks, I just don't watch them and dismiss them. I get that Wish was not a good movie, so was Chicken Little and Home on the Range yet those movies still have fans that grew up watching them.

If you like Wish, good for you. And if you hate it, that's fine. Different tastes in media is not an issue. Its when people who care too much about things they don't like are the ones causing the problem, and they can easily solved if you just don't give them a darn.

[dangermousie]

I finished the first four eps of The Last Immortal and it's honestly, a surprise delight.

The trailers were AWFUL and I only checked out due to my fondness for Zhao Lusi but while this is nothing groundbreaking, it is a really really fun watch. I wasn't annoyed for a second and you know how rare it is, especially when the tone is light?

It's a fairly typical xianxia story that benefits enormously from two things:

1 - The episode number limit. There are some dramas that have suffered enormously from it but most xianxia (Till the End of the Moon being a notable exception) could and now do benefit from that 40 ep limit. I've always found most of them incredibly bloated with insane cast of forgettable side characters, side quests and repetitions (did Ashes of Love or Immortal Samsara or Eternal Love of Dream need to be 63, 53, and 56 eps respectively? Nope, nope, and nope.) There are still too many side characters but they don't take over the screen anywhere near as much, because there is no time. This is glorious.

2 - This drama is proof that casting people who fit the roles and have great chemistry is crucial. I can almost feel the full body shudder I'd get under other circumstances from the immature, careless god and his wild, petty and equally immature spirit beast. But ZLS and WAY not only have lovely chemistry, they somehow manage to imbue their characters with such sense of fun and sweetness and good nature that I just root for them and want to make them sandwiches with crusts cut off. Like - I genuinely like them.

Anyway, this is fun!

[shmowder]

Hii I’m cringe free so here is my self-insert as I don’t have any other pathologic ocs :(

Name: Katerina Katina

Age: 27 years old

Job/Credentials: painter! I imagined she would do portraits for the Kains and the other leading families but can also do paintings for anyone in town

And she would just be an NPC

Katerina was born in the town and has lived her whole life there, though she did want to go to the capital to study in art but unfortunately for her she took too long to decide and ended up married to a guy who wants her to stay so she does

She does like the town and since she feels it’s too late to study art anyways she doesn’t want to leave anymore, maybe she’ll just visit the capital one day

She doesn’t have much friends she just talks to the Stamatins often, she WAS once friends with Vlad Jr. but not anymore (I thought he was just a pathetic kinda guy but nope I do not fuck with racists)

Also friends with Verdell Popov another oc which I hope my partner submits here!

She believes in the Mistresses at least Nina and Victoria still not really sure about Katerina Saburov or both of them for the matter

She does believe the steppe legends as she is friends with Verdell who is from the kin and even enjoys hearing about them

Not sure about authority she tries not to get in trouble and doesn’t really like any of the families especially after doing portraits for many of them

Definitely tries to help the Haruspex the most even if she was scared of The Ripper at first, later she’ll offer him to sleep at her house if he needs and if her district is plagued would give him quests and when he’s done she’ll give him food in exchange

Sorry if the writing is wonky somewhere I’m not good at telling info in English shshdh also I’m including a drawing I made of her in Pathologic 2 dialogue

Yes, a painter! I always wondered where all the ruling families got their portraits from? Especially since the paintings shared a similar style, one which clearly contrasted with Peter's more abstract and fluid works.

She is woven into the story seamlessly, I really like the fact that she has an already repeated name. It makes it just more realistic, yk? It makes sense for the most popular names of the time period to get repeated a bunch in a town this big.

Saburov and Block, Victor and Victoria, it's a small detial but provides a touch of realism. We've all known multiple people who shared the same name throughout our lives.

Her connection to Andrey and Peter does make sense. They're both interested in steppe legends and art. Maybe she did the paintings in the brokenheart pub, too?

I love her blue scarf. I know it's not intentional, but it matches Artemy's blue sweater. Poetic how he's the one she'll willing to help the most, does she believe in his cause and the Termite ending? In destroying the Polyhedron, despite the agony, it will put her two friends–the Stamatins–through?

Including the wedding ring in the art is such a good detail too, her curly/wavy hair is very lovely. God, I wish we could've seen more diverse hairtypes in pathologic.

It is lowkey ironic that she doesn't like to get into trouble yet befriended The Stamatin and used to be friends with Vlad Jr. Honestly, even if she does, she is a little too useful to the ruling families for them not to let her go with a slap on the wrist.

Keeping such a talented painter under their thumb and inside the town? Especially an artist who never went to art school, so she doesn't realise her actual worth or talent. Her only other point of reference is Peter, a literal genius in his field whose talent is beyond comprehension. So much so, Nina had to drag the twins to town no matter the cost.

It's also sad in a way, like a beautiful buttefly who may never see its own colourful wings. Who's trapped inside an artificial greenhouse, never wandering to the lush garden outside, and for love to be the one thing chaining her too? That's just amazing.

Your art is amazing! I can tell a lot about Katerina from the body language alone, the nervous side glance, the tendency to touch her fingers.

The wedding ring being silver rather than gold. Ouch.

"I shouldn't have yelled at him" Is she referring to her husband? Do they fight often? Or someone else entirely.

What a lovely and flushed out OC you have! <33 I'm so happy you told me about her, I can't wait to see your partner's OC as well. It's a unique thing for two OCs to have a slightly intertwined story, to be friends in every universe.

-

unrelated, but I wanted to thank you for the lovely ask you sent before. Encouraging me after the person pretending to be a different anons thing. I never got the chance to reply because the matter was resolved. Still, thank you greatly for your sweet words.

[rei-ismyname]

HEIR OF APOCALYPSE #4 - A WET FART TO END A TURD OF A MINI

So... This was a waste of time at best. I'm not going to bother with any literary analysis because I don't feel like putting more thought into it than the author, so I'm just going to dunk on it. Spoilers below the cut.

If you read my previous entries, you'll recall I reasoned that Mr Sinister would be part of the climax. He was in opposition to everyone else in the mini and had more page space than any two other characters put together. A Chekhov's Gunman, if you will. NOPE. Doesn't even appear. Emma asks where he is and Warren says he fucked off. WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT THEN? I didn't want any more of him, but I wanted a story that's internally coherent. He was already a nonsense addition to the cast, and his presence just makes it a mini full of shit jokes and OOC responses to him murdering everyone's friends. He choked everything else out. Readers already have Sinister fatigue from Krakoa, where he was a crucial character - here he's just infuriatingly needless like a child licking all the cupcakes. The child is Steve Foxe, the saliva is Sinister, and the cupcakes are character work and a plot. Would've been nice, but get fucked I guess. Let's check in with the rest of the contestants.

I've read this sequence four times and I still don't know what is happening here. Meant to what, Doug? You can communicate with a fucking rock but can't tell us what's going on? You deserve to get turned into a golden idiot. I take it back, nobody deserves that.

O.....okayyyy. He doesn't pick Cable. This is gibberish. This is the end of Cable's time in the book. Lucky him. I said I wouldn't do any literary analysis but ARGGGHH. This is all information both parties, AND the reader, know. No new context, just taking up page space.

Sup, Forge? You remember how you were going to solve global homelessness and starvation? You'd built this whole system and were excited. You already knew it would work but I'm going to tell you anyway. (Can Apocalypse see the future? Wtf?) Shame it needs Krakoan biotech.

You're just the best. What this world truly needs. Except... You made a bad thing once so you can fuck yourself buddy. Bit rich coming from Apocalypse, no? 'Deserve' is moronic coming from a social Darwinist. He doesn't get picked either.

Alas, Tumblr only allows 10 images per post. Danielle Moonstar will not be featured bc I don't want to explain it then dunk on it. Just trust me when I say it sucks. She doesn't get picked and she's quite fine with that. Maybe Big Blue learnt nothing from his ridiculous Egyptian traps and decided to make one of his four living children heir? Five if you count his clone, Evan, who is just the sweetest kid ever.

I wonder if he's still calling himself Genesis. That'd be funny cos that's Apocalypse's wife's name. We never did see Evan on Krakoa, what's up with that? It would have been the perfect opportunity for what Age of X-Man bungled - interrogating the reason for his existence, destiny, fate, etc. Would he rethink his position on Nature/Nurture upon seeing Apocalypse behave responsibly and selflessly? Many of the other clones had their personhood affirmed - why not he? These are all very good questions that I'll come back to one day, but I'm honestly just trying to build some tension where STEVE didn't. It should be obvious who 'won' using the process of elimination.

Dougie! You're a good kid. Maybe even the best. We know this already. He picks him btw. He picks Douglas Ramsay. Cypher is the Heir of Apocalypse. Does it matter that he survived the Pyramid obstacle course through luck? Or are we meant to assume he 'solved' whatever dumbshit puzzle it was? It's quite clear Big Blue chose who he wanted to and the Tournament somehow helped that process. Doug ends up in Egypt whereas everyone else is on Arakko. Seems like it should be the other way round but whatever. How did Apocalypse get there? The transporter I guess. This really could have been a one shot.

Were you here for more than a panel of Emma Frost, Laura, Rictor (who actually wants to be here and has a relationship with Apocalypse) or Warren? Too bad, fuck you. Were you here for ANY Exodus, Armageddon Girl, Monet, Gorgon, or even Sunfire who teased a way more interesting story in issue 1? Double fuck you. You get nothing. All people I care about more than Sinister and his dumb jokes. May as well have done a Deadpool movie tie in LIKE EVERY OTHER FUCKING COMIC THIS WEEK. Okay I'm getting distracted - Doug wins the nebulous position of Heir and a ... Transformation. Drumroll please.

Woo! Bei and Warlock sightings! It's nice that they're supportive and they're the first good thing in this book. The second is that Arakko isn't blown up or moved to another dimension or whatever. We might see it again, hopefully in better hands than this kick in the balls. Anyway, let's see what Doug looks like post-transformation and wrap this shit up. Hopefully he doesn't look like an idiot.

HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA. Oh my god he looks ridiculous. His face and body language look like mine the first time I saw him. 'Fucking really, dude? This doesn't feel like a reward.' Gold, short, Apocalypse - That's what Doug looks like now. Big Blue can alter his own body at the molecular level and he chose Mini Me from Austin Powers 2. Ororo grew up in Cairo, maybe she can call his dumb ass out for cultural appropriation? He looks like a Halloween outfit or a bad cosplayer that doesn't know he's white. White boy dreadlocks given human form.

Is he fine with being renamed as well? Revelation is another word for Apocalypse, the greek translation AFAIK. It was mentioned a lot in Immortal X-Men and Excalibur. C-3PO here could tell him that too. It makes zero sense.

I can't see how this is close to a good thing for Doug, sorry, REVELATION. Apocalypse is kinda world famous as a genocidal lunatic. He may have worn a suit to the Davos economic forum and dropped awesome one liners but it's easy to forget that was a setup. They had 20~ dudes with psi-blockers, body armour and assault rifles to kill them. Unless he included some massive physical upgrades and defenses Doug is in great danger. I hope he got to Egypt by other means bc his days of commercial flight are over. Forget flight, going to the shops to buy food will terrify everyone he sees and he'll probably get murked by a SWAT team. Fuck this is dumb.

OUTRO/SLIGHTLY MORE SERIOUSLY

Okay, it's happened, I've accepted it. Heir of Apocalypse was hot garbage and Doug looks like a fool. What now? Doug has inherited the job of 'shepherding mutantkind' with his words. I know Warren is not listening to him lol. Why would anyone else? Big Blue built up *some* goodwill during Krakoa but blew it at the end. Look how many of the contestants showed up to keep an eye on him. Most of them. Nobody trusts this MF and looking like a gold version of him can only hurt his efforts. A good writer can make anything work, but those kind of pitches getting accepted are rare.

Sigh. What seems more likely to me is some dipshit making Doug a villain. I really hope not, because let's face it, Apocalypse's motivations were always nonsensical. He's like the Phoenix - totally iconic but becomes harder to take seriously each time it's used. Hickman and Gillen, respectively, are exceptions to that and part of their success was retconning the idiotic shit that had been overused and then recontextualising the concept from the ground up. One could argue that Doug as Heir of Apocalypse is doing just that, but if that happens that writer has a lot of work to do.

I'd LOVE for him to get his own book examining exactly how one fills that role with Doug's skills, powers, experience, and worldview. Truly, I would, but the Marvel formula is built on punching and Doug doesn't do that. He's just said he's not going to do that. The easy/obvious path to take is to have Doug go craaaazy (ugh) or be changed into Violence Man from whatever Apocalypse did to him, which would be a waste of time. It'd just be Apocalypse 2: The Goldening. Sadly it's probably most likely.

Until then, I guess Revelation is a gold idiot that's probably not appearing in any books. I'd love for him to show up to the bar Anole works at in NYX or something but let's be serious here. This wasn't even good bad, 'twas just an incoherent disappointment.

[escapismblue]

hi. look, if you don't want any negative opinions on the new Frontiers DLC, then just skip this. I do have some positive things to say, but mostly? not really! anyway, full opinion under the read more thing.

Alright, I'm going all in on this. I've kept my mouth mostly shut about my gripes about recent Sonic stuff but no. Nope, I'm not keeping my mouth shut when the games are my favorite part of this entire franchise.

I love the base game of Frontiers. I have sunk so many fucking hours into it. I genuinely think it's close to 80 hours. It still had some issues, but nothing that really... stuck out to me worse than like "well that wasn't perfect" or "that was kind of annoying." Mainly because I absolutely saw the base game as a step in the right direction. It wasn't perfect, but it was fun and it was getting there. Mainly the story was not great, (had a lot of good concepts but was very underdeveloped in those ideas,) but. But but but. Then they said the DLC would basically fix the story and oh my god I was so excited.

I spent days thinking about what they might do. I didn't think any of my ideas would be even close to canon, but it was fun. Honestly, my only hope for DLC was that there would be some level of emotional payoff. I didn't expect the kind of payoff we've gotten before, but anything more than what we got originally. Well, okay, we got a little more than the base game but you know what I mean. There were basically no emotional payoff.

There were emotional beats, don't get me wrong, but absolutely no payoff for said beats. And it wasn't like the emotional beats were bad! They were basically the best part of the story, but nothing came of them. Sage literally told Sonic that his friends weren't handling the cyber corruption well and what does he do in response in the cutscene? FUCKING NOTHING. Maybe a grimace, but no words, no nothing.

I will be 100% transparent, I didn't finish the DLC myself. I'm not gonna go on about how fucking hard it was because that's been covered before, but I watched the cutscenes to see if the absolute frustration I was feeling while playing was worth it. I didn't think it was.

Though, actually, I will complain about how fucking hard it is to unlock the map because literally why is so hard? Is it because they just wanted to make it harder to unlock fast travel because that's honestly bullshit in my opinion. Whatever, some of the harder map challenges were fun but most of them were just absurd.

Anyway, back to my point. Because I didn't play it myself, there may have been optional cutscenes or more dialogue while you're playing that gives a little more than just the main cutscenes, but that's not good enough for me!

That was a gripe for the base game too! Important context and lore should not be optional! And even still, it makes it clear, that the story is still not a main concern. And look, I get it, it hasn't been a main concern in a long time, but it is disappointing that the main draw was 1. the story fixes and 2. getting to play as Amy, Tails, and Knuckles (and god Knuckles does not control well.)

Another positive thing though, I did like playing as the other characters and I do hope that playing as other characters stays for more games. Sonic is my boy, but it is fun to have other characters.

But hoo boy I'm getting to my biggest point now. One that I think a lot of people are gonna disagree with, but honestly I just need to get this out.

I do not like how Amy, Tails, and Knuckles were connected to the Ancients. Now hold on, let me explain. At first, I thought this wasn't even a valid complaint, because I thought I wanted Sonic to be unique and have all the special things, but no. This actively makes Amy, Tails, and Knuckles less interesting! It puts even more focus on Sonic.

I like Sonic being connected to the Ancients because he's already extremely connected to the Emeralds. And look, I know they were already hinting at it in the base game, (all four being connected,) but the DLC made it obvious enough that I can't ignore it.

And look, I know it's probably just trying to be a "history repeats itself" story but that's not clear and I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

First, let me just say, that you did not need to connect Knuckles to the Ancients because he already was. There is already plenty of connections between the echidnas and the Ancients. (ahem ahem Chaos) but my main point is that it makes Sonic's supporting cast even more connected to him. It makes even more of their lives revolve around him.

I fucking love Sonic, almost everything I write is focused on him, but oh my god his cast is not there just for him.

Look, if you like it, cool, but I just. I worry about the future of these characters if this is their fix for Frontiers. Out of all the characters (minus Sonic because I cannot objectively judge his character,) Knuckles is written the best. Because his story didn't have anything to do with Sonic specifically. Him deciding to go off on his own had nothing to do with Sonic, it had everything to do with his own life. He was going off on his own because he's taking control of his life instead of letting his duty control him. (Which was, again, sort of ruined by tying him to Sonic directly through the Ancients.)

Tails, I will say, is inherently connected to Sonic and that's okay. He's a kid and Sonic's brother. I like him becoming his own character that is less connected to Sonic, but they can't seem to decide if that's what they're doing or not. And like. It really just feels like they're trying to fix the criticism modern Tails gets in a super roundabout way.

I'm not even going to touch Amy. I've never really liked what they've done with her and I'm not even. Nope. I don't think they know what to do with her and I will continue to just do whatever I want with her in my fics.

Also I hate Eggman being any sort of ally, but that's mostly because the games I tend to focus on have him be an absolute asshole and I like him that way.

Anyway, some more positive things to round this out:

The voice acting is very good! Sonic's deeper voice makes me want to go feral, Amy's voice actor conveyed her emotions really well, and god Knuckles laughing scene is literally I think the best cutscene second only to Sonic's new form.

On that note, I really do like Sonic's new cyber form. I wish they did more with it, but that's not a new problem so I'm not gonna harp on it. They rarely give forms a lot of time besides normal Super.

I really liked that the final fight was basically only Sonic. It's not that I don't like people helping him, but for final fights I tend to like it being just Sonic or like. Shadow or Silver.

This DLC did make me appreciate Sage more and that's not nothing. Because I didn't love her at first. Then again, that also could've been because I like how some fans handle her.

Music slaps.

Alright, anyway. I might do a rewrite for Frontiers now. Until then. o7

[bloustorm]

tagged by @aobawilliams

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

just 4

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

9,731 words3,338

3. What fandoms do you write for?

AO3 I got My Hero Academia, Trash of the Count's Family and Kiss the Abyss, but I also got various wips for Naruto, DC, and some other fandoms or crossovers like DCxWC

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Woes of a Drunkard (341)

How about No (76)

Burned-in Fingerprints (24)

When did I lose you for real? (18)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah! I always try to respond to the immediately, I myself like when the author responds to something I wrote in a comment (though I also try to write longer comments) and I think it's nice if it just gets acknowledged that I saw that they took their time for it. Also comments give me live and kudos just do nothing for me.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That would probably be "When did I lose you for real" if I ever manage to finish that fic whoops

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uh hard to say actually, like Burned-In Fingerprints ends pretty positive if I remember right but like How about No doesn't even get angsty at all? but I would say it's a neutral ending so yeah. Fingerprints.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, but like my fics aren't that well known obviously or haven't really been written out enough to have anything offensive in it lol. I really need to finish my wips one day

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, that's a secret /j Idk what's meant here with what kind, anyway only a selected few are allowed to read that anyways

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Hmm haven't written anything just thought about it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so (unless it was done without my knowledge)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, there's kind of an idea of doing it with @grolahvol and possible @fanfiction-artist-prototype but that's up in the air for if it ever happens

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

...yeah no idea right now, come ask me another time. (It tends to change on the day)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

*crying* all of them.

Would really love to actually finish the posted stories I have on ao3 but I am currently so OUT of the fandom that it will take a while before I can look at the again I guess, like I literally have the third chapter almost ready only needs simple edits but nope

16. What are your writing strengths?

I honestly got no idea? I probably got some I'm just not sure what it could be.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

word hard. Also no idea how grammar works beyond "whatever feels right to me".

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Eeh, I probably wouldn't do it because it's bothersome having to look up a translation while you're reading a fic, unless it's something that fits with the context or just a few words here and there. Also switching languages in the middle of thinking is so hard to do, why would you do this to me. + like it just feels awkward to write it in another language, at least to me. Or to read it, there are a few language that can make it work but like german is not one of them (at least to me)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Uhhh technically like the Ga'hoole movie or something mabye?? that was even before I knew about fandom.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

UGH, I like the Drunkard one but How about No is also really funny

tagging @fanfiction-artist-prototype @aro-aizawa @slagathorius-maximus and uhhh whoever else sees this and writes

[justal0wk3yg4mer]

Things I've Said: Ghostrunner (Spoilers)

Me: *Player/My actions* Character Dialogue

My man...bot, woke up a chose violence.

Sweet free running. *Immediately misses a jump and dies.* Ooohhh...I'm gonna lose sleep over this.

Air zoomies?

MATRIX bitch!

He does a lil' sword twirl, that's adorable.

Bro first mission took me fifteen minutes...I'm really gonna lose sleep.

You're bossy for someone who's asking for help to get out of prison. And you're very rude 😠

Mmmh, that gravelly voice.

Ninja slaves?

Is he lowkey calling him fucked up?

SUPER MURDER ZOOMIES

I feel like I am staring at the virtual eye of Saron.

Why can't Zoe be the voice in our head? She's such a nice rebel.

I've already died so many times, I don't need competence.

Bitch, there is no trust; spill the tea Zoe.

Jack's gone deviant.

No, no, no, no, please don't jump at me. I'm delicate, please. *Screams as enemies proceed to do just that.*

Good, stay on your side of the barrier and I'll stay on mine. Respect the boundary.

I completely forgot that I had throwing stars.

So I'm an airbender now?

Stop with the compliments, they are beginning to sound vaguely perverted.

I'm sorry, you prepared for an uprising? Then you knew that a multitude of people don't fucking like you.

I'm not a criminal. Just your friendly neighborhood Ghostrunner 😄

Bootleg Ghostrunner.

Can Jack have a gun now? No one cares about your (Architect) weapon preferences, Jack need a fucking gun.

I would like to correct my previous statement. This, this is the bootleg Ghostrunner.

Never have I met a character where I knew off the rip that they were going to betray the main character and every time they say something it just solidifies my opinion. Maybe I'm not playing enough games, but this dude is pretty obvious.

Zoe no! Don't leave me alone with the talking headache!

What the fuck was that!? It makes sounds and--I can't. Nope.

This is the first time you (Architect) have said something that I completely agree with.

Dammit now I agree with the crazy lady. Both of you are fucked.

This is beginning to sound like ex's going at it with their kid in the cross-fire.

Edgy Doc Ock?

WHAT DID I SAY!

That is called a dictatorship with delusions of self preservation.

Go off Jack. *A little later* GO OFF JACK!

You (Adam) look like a lil bitch.

Sequel baiting? *Checks* Yes, yes it is.

So let one thing straight...I am not the best gamer out there. My type of games are the open world story driven kind where I can spend hours fucking around. When I started playing Ghostrunner, I was flabbergasted at the control system and died soooooooooooo many times. But, I really liked the world design and the story so I powered through and honestly, I ended up enjoying it. It is such and underrated game and I was excited when the DLC came out. You best believe I'm gonna play sequel (there is one in development), and find out what they did to my bot Jack. Anyway, I figured y'all would what to see how badly I struggled. For your viewing pleasure (and comedy) my death count for Ghostrunner! (Feel free to let me know y'alls count and any tips and tricks)

Death Count: 3,076

[berenwrites]

Beyond the Battle - Chapter 22 - Stranger Things - Steddie

Beyond the Battle­: Action & Consequence

Click here for All Posted Chapters

Summary: Steve hits things with a bat or gets hit depending on who you ask. He definitely does not have anything to do with the psychic stuff. That is El’s domain. However, as Vecna is defeated, the rules change.

Pairing: steddie (Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson)

Other Relationships: Steve & Robin, Steve & Dustin, Eddie & Dustin

Rating: Teen

A/N: Multi-chapter story, updated regularly. Honestly not sure how many chapters it will have yet because it's still a bit hand wavy in the middle, but definitely more than 12. Thank you to my beta for find my mistakes and to all those who read/like/reblog.💖 Follow #st:beyond-the-battle for updates.

Also on AO3

Chapter 22. An Ordinary Morning?

Max had given him a smile and a wave as he and El were ushered out of the hospital room. The doctors had been discussing removing one of Max’s casts so they could x-ray her arm to see if splints were necessary anymore. It wasn’t as if he could just step in and tell them anything, so he just hoped they didn’t keep her waiting too long. Max was likely to find some power tools and do it herself if the professionals took too much time.

Joyce had also invited him back to the Hopper/Byers residence for a large breakfast, but he had politely declined. He was flying high and he was kind of hoping that maybe Eddie would be interested in celebrating his success. He’d vaguely planned on food in there somewhere as well, but he’d taken one of his shakes with him and hadn’t needed to use anywhere near the energy he had the previous day, so that was secondary on his agenda.

“Thanks, Joyce,” he said as she pulled up in front of his house. “See you later, El.”

“Bye, Steve,” El replied with a big smile.

“Make sure to eat something,” Joyce told him in her motherly tone.

“First thing on the list,” he fibbed with a smile of his own.

He gave them a wave as he let himself in, kicking his shoes off and heading for the kitchen, hoping to find Eddie where he had left him a couple of hours previously. Who he actually found was Wayne, sitting at the table reading a newspaper.

“Good morning, Mr … Wayne,” he greeted, correcting himself at the last second.

“Mornin’,” Wayne replied, taking a sip from a mug Steve was sure did not come from his house.

“Find everything you need?” he asked, placing his backpack on one of the chairs, and taking out the sports bottle from inside.

Moving over to the sink, he turned on the tap so he could wash it out.

“Eddie showed me,” Wayne replied. “Nice kitchen you have here.”

“Both my grandmas are big on food,” Steve explained as he used a little dish soap on his bottle. “My mom likes to cook too, she just doesn’t get much time these days. I guess I inherited the gene too, so the kitchen gets a lot of use.”

Wayne made a humming sound.

“Eddie not around?” Steve asked as he walked over to where the coffee pot was three-quarters full.

“Went a bit of a funny colour and said he needed to lie down,” Wayne replied. “Told me not to worry, it was just an after effect of something that happened that he couldn’t talk about, an’ the doctors had given him a clean bill of health. That true?”

Steve did his very best not to let his instant worry show, grabbing himself a mug and filling it from the coffee pot before turning round.

“If it’s what I think it is, then yes,” he replied, hoping that he was pulling off nonchalant. “But I’m guessing that isn’t going to stop either of us worrying anyway.”

“Yep,” Wayne said.

Steve took a sip of the coffee and was thrown out of his worry by the shock of the taste.

“Did you change out the coffee?” he asked, taking another sip. “God this is good.”

“Nope,” Wayne said, “just did what I always do.”

“Then I think you worked a miracle,” he decided. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check on Eddie.”

“Be seein’ ya,” Wayne replied, going back to his paper.

Taking his coffee, Steve walked out of the room trying to look as if he was in no hurry. Once he was through the door, he sped up. He left the coffee on the table on the landing at the top of the stairs and hurried into his bedroom.

“Eddie?” he said when he found his boyfriend sitting on the bed, knees pulled up and head down.

As Eddie lifted his head, dark, almost black eyes met his own. He shut the door behind him.

“Thirsty again?” he asked, even though he was pretty sure of the answer.

“Like a man in a desert,” Eddie replied. “I was about to cook Wayne some breakfast and it just hit.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” he said, walking across and sitting down close to Eddie.

“Max all okay?” Eddie asked.

“Fit as a fiddle and ready to chew off her casts,” he replied with a smile. “I think if El wanted to take over the world we’d all be in trouble because she does innocent amazingly well. Owens bought the story hook line and sinker. He has people dealing with everything to get Max sorted as soon as possible, but it’s probably going to take a couple of days because they have to do tests to confirm what we already know.”

“How are you feeling?” was Eddie’s next question.

“Really good, honestly,” he said. “I was hungry again after, but my shake sorted that out and it didn’t take even half as much energy as before. It felt easier too, like doing something I’d already practiced.”

“Maybe you learn people,” Eddie suggested.

“Maybe,” he agreed with a small shrug. “So, shall we get you sorted?”

Eddie gave him an unimpressed look.

“Steve,” Eddie said, “it may not have been as hard as yesterday, but you healed Max this morning. I don’t think donating blood is a good idea.”

“Honestly, I’m good,” he promised. “Not that I don’t intend to go downstairs and eat a whole second breakfast as soon as we’re done. But I refuse to leave you up here suffering.”

“I’m not suffering, I’m just really, really thirsty,” Eddie protested.

“Tell me it’s not driving you crazy,” he countered.

Eddie didn’t say anything.

���Look, I know what thirst is like,” he decided to come clean. “When we were in the Upside Down, after those damn bats got me, I was so thirsty when we got back right side up, I wanted to stick my head under a faucet. And after the Russians, oh god, whatever they pumped into me and Robin, it made my mouth like the Sahara. We almost fought over the water fountain, which was funny, because two teenagers in sailor outfits stoned out of their brains fighting over a source of water, but so frustrating. And I’m pretty sure those two experiences are just a reflection of what you’re feeling right now. So, please let me help.”

Eddie still didn’t say anything.

“I don’t want to put you through that again,” Eddie finally admitted, voice so small Steve could barely hear him. “I hurt you.”

Reaching out, Steve took his boyfriend’s hand.

“Okay, confession time,” he said. “I wasn’t kidding about the kink stuff. When you bit me last time, I liked it, I really, really liked it, if you get my drift. And I think if you hadn’t been so overwhelmed by the whole thing, you probably would have noticed how much I liked it so quickly.”

He was pretty sure he was blushing like a schoolgirl with her first crush by the time he finished speaking.

“You liked the pain?” Eddie asked, eyes wide.

“Not specifically,” he admitted. “The pain was pretty irrelevant actually, but you sucking on my wrist. that was definitely, very much not irrelevant. If you’d kept going, I probably would have embarrassed myself.”

He did not want Eddie getting the wrong impression, so he spoke very plainly.

“Really?” Eddie asked, because tact was not always one of his finer points.

“Yes, absolutely yes,” he replied. “And at some point, I’d really like to explore that further, but your uncle’s currently downstairs, so please can we postpone that?”

“Wayne’s half deaf from working with heavy machinery his whole life,” Eddie said, and Steve could have sworn his eyes sparkled.

“Still seems rude to leave…”

Steve shut up when Eddie’s lips covered his own. He was only human, and Eddie kissed like a drowning man in search of oxygen. Who was he to argue.

“Please let me make you feel as good as you make me,” Eddie whispered against his mouth.

He moaned as Eddie climbed into his lap.

“You’re incorrigible,” was the best he could do as a comeback.

“Is that a yes?” Eddie asked, kissing along his jaw and down his neck.

“It’s your fault if I can’t look your uncle in the eye ever again,” he replied, well aware he had already lost this round, “but yes.”

“Can I touch you?” Eddie asked, running one hand down his front between them with very obvious intent.

“God yes,” Steve said, already hardening in his jeans at Eddie’s actions.

So much for sensible conversations. Steve rested one hand on Eddie’s waist and used one to prop himself up on the bed. At which point, Eddie made very short work of getting into his pants.

“Holy fuck,” Steve whined as Eddie’s hand slipped into his boxers.

“Let me know when you’re gonna go,” Eddie said, leaning back and looking at him, eyes dark and red-ringed, and fangs showing in his pleased grin.

Steve had no idea what Eddie had in mind, but he could follow instructions. He was going to warn Eddie it was unlikely to take long, but Eddie moved his hand in such a way he forgot how to speak for a couple of seconds. He hadn’t been touched by anyone else in a while now, most of his recent dates having been abandoned long before anything hotter than kissing, and then the apocalypse making survival the only thing on his mind. He was sensitive and responsive, and that it was Eddie’s hand on him was making it that much more.

Biting his lip and counting backwards from one hundred were the only things between him and this being over embarrassingly quickly.

When Eddie started nibbling on his neck, teasing him with blunt incisors and licking over the same spot, he almost lost it straight away.

“Now,” he managed to stutter out before his body completely betrayed him.

As his orgasm hit, Eddie bit and everything whited out. The pain wasn’t irrelevant this time as it joined with the overloading nerve impulses running through his body and he gasped, barely able to breathe. He had never in his life felt anything like it and it went on and on and on as Eddie sucked on his neck. Never had he imagined anything could feel this good.

Thought vanished from his head as all he could do was feel.

When Eddie pulled back, instincts fired and the soreness on the side of his neck disappeared without him consciously thinking about it. Which was a good thing, because sensible brain function was still beyond him.

“Wow,” Eddie said, and Steve opened his eyes to find his boyfriend staring at his neck.

“Yeah,” he agreed, as he scraped together the few braincells he had not just completely blown.

There was blood on Eddie’s lips and chin, and his pupils were blown wide and dark, and Steve thought he had never seen anything more inviting.

“Come here,” he said, bringing both his hands to either side of Eddie’s face.

He didn’t care that he was tasting his own blood as he claimed Eddie’s mouth with his. They began to fall towards the bed because he was no longer bracing them, but he kept on kissing. He never wanted to stop.

Ten minutes later he was reluctantly back downstairs, all cleaned up, making excuses and doing his very best not to look Wayne Munson in the face. He wasn’t sure how well he was pulling it off.

~*~

Steve was expecting a phone call for arrangements for later in the day when he had agreed with El he would do some more experimenting with her and Will. What he was not expecting was for Hopper to arrive in what looked like a new truck, with El and Will in tow.

“Hi,” he said, opening the door.

“Our house smells funny,” El said as she walked in. “Hello, Steve.”

She gave him a quick hug.

“Argyle accidentally smoked in the house,” Will offered the explanation. “Is it alright if we practice here?”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied, “come on in. We’ll just have to be careful once Wayne gets up though. He’s sleeping at the moment.”

“Hey Supergirl, Will the Wise, Chief,” Eddie greeted from behind him.

“Still not the chief of police anymore,” Hopper said, entering with a plain brown box in his hands.

“Looks like you have a nice new truck though,” Steve said as he closed the door.

“It’s a bribe,” Hopper said with a grin.

“For what?” Eddie asked before Steve got there.

“Owens offered me a job as head of security at the lab,” Hopper replied. “I told him I’d think about it and he gave me the truck to sweeten the deal.”

“They’re going to keep the lab open then?” Steve asked following everyone into the main living area.

“The way Owens tells it, it’s too risky not to, what with the Russians knowing about the Upside Down,” Hopper explained. “It’s going to be a monitoring station.”

“So, no more experiments on kids?” Eddie said.

“Only me,” El replied. “I wish to understand more about my powers.”

“Okay,” Steve said, because he really hadn’t expected El to sound so happy about something like that. “So, you’ll be taking the job then?” he added, looking at Hopper.

“Oh yeah,” the ex-Chief replied with a grin. “No way my daughter is going in there without me watching every damn thing they’re doing.”

That did go some way to explaining why El seemed perfectly happy with the idea.

“Just don’t want Owens taking me for granted, so I’ll keep him on the hook for a while,” Hopper added. “Munson, this belongs to you,” the man went on, placing the box on the coffee table.

“It does?” Eddie said, stepping past Steve.

“Picked it up from Powell this morning,” was the short explanation.

“My books?” Eddie asked, eyes lighting up with hope.

“Take a look,” Hopper said, looking very pleased with himself.

Eddie flipped the lid off the box like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Hell yes,” he said, joyfully, “come to me my pretties.”

Several Dungeons and Dragons manuals came out of the box first, being placed reverently on the table, before Eddie paused. Steve watched, fascinated as Eddie pulled out a dark blue, spiral bound notebook, treating it as if it was the holy grail. He even lifted it up and kissed it, before pulling it to his chest and wrapping both his arms around it. That was when Steve caught sight of the hand-drawn Hellfire logo on the front.

“Thank you, Chief,” Eddie said without a flicker of playfulness in his tone. “You don’t know what these mean to me.”

“I think I can see, Kid,” Hopper said in a surprisingly fatherly tone.

Steve really wanted to wrap his arms around Eddie but had to suffice with smiling and putting a hand on his shoulder instead.

“I need to plan a new campaign,” Eddie decided with an overexcited gleam in his eyes. “A campaign to end all campaigns in honour of our triumph.”

“Awesome,” was Will’s reaction to the announcement.

“Dining room table is all yours for planning and playing, if you want it,” Steve offered. “I would offer to steal your DM throne from the school, but that might be a bit obvious.”

“How do you know about my throne?” Eddie asked.

“Dustin never shut up about it,” Steve replied with a grin. “Do you know how many coolness points a throne gets you with Henderson.”

Eddie’s grin at that was utterly infectious. Steve had to sit on his desire to kiss it off his boyfriend’s face.

“Right, well that’s my delivery job done,” Hopper said before Steve could make an idiot out of himself. “Give me a call when you want rid of these two terrors, and I’ll swing by to pick them up.”

“Dad,” El protested as being called a terror, whereas Will just laughed.

“I can drop them back,” Steve immediately offered.

“After what they’ve been planning, I think I’d rather you didn’t get behind the wheel,” Hopper replied, heading back for the door. “Good luck with them.”

Steve was suddenly nervous at the look of glee in El and Will’s eyes.

End of Chapter 22

Chapter 23

[hummingbird-games]

Dev Diaries

October 1, 2023

My goodness, it's the first devlog post-Crushed release!! How did that happen???

And where the heck has 2023 gone?!?! 🙃

Okay, pausing--for like four seconds--on the sillies, I've got some updates for y'all, so have a seat and get comfy.

Crushed updated build is out!!!

Now with the rest of the partial voice acting!!!

It was a super fun experience with the VA and I giggled a lot to hear the words I wrote spoken into existence. I think the next project I work on with voice work will also be partial. However, I can't imagine doing a whole game with full voice work. I can feel the mental break down from that possibility making its descent....

The postmortem was longer than I anticipated it to be, so it shall be posted separately (and with a read more for your scrolling needs) sometime! I go into (more) details on my inspiration and the process from hesitant idea, to jam entry, to a full-blown game, and all the heartbreak and burnout and catharsis in between!

You can also search 'gamedev rambles' or 'crushed vn' where I've already blabbed about Development Tingz LOL.

2. The HBG Twitter account has been nuked.

Yeah. Apologies if this is how you're finding out about it. I honestly have no idea where my audience is located as y'all are a quiet (but supportive) bunch. But for me as a player, it hurts because many of my peers are only on or are most active on Twitter.

However, me and the bird app have been at odds for a while so I guess it was just a matter of time... 🥲

3. Game Jam Gemini Mode

Alright, time to get serious-serious. (HA!)

While I was Fighting The Good Fight concerning getting Crushed up before the summer ended, I started dropping hints about the next project I wanted to work on with Yuri Jam (and Once Upon A Time jam) coming up.

Well. After giving it some thought, forcing myself to pause long enough to breathe, catching up on personal reading and other things, and again, giving it more thought: nope.

I could ignore this decision which I hate and push on anyway, but the consequences are not ones I want to deal with, nor will I be physically able to handle. (Yes, this is a direct reference to my health lol).

My plan about this time was to start reaching out to people and create a team--given that I banged out a script at lighting speed just so I knew what roles I needed and was prepared. I'm still not sure where that burst of frenzied energy came from, but it's gone now.

And then in between making Crushed live and getting the first voiced update done, I started to feel really weird. Like "Hello, Anxiety My Old Friend" weird. And I kept berating myself for dragging my feet, especially as Yuri Jam (and OUAT) are so 'chill' and 'easy-going' and why was I still freaking out? What was wrong with me???

Anyway, once the last voiced update went live, it hit me how utterly exhausted I was. Still am(?) So it's insane to think I was somehow going to have enough energy to lead a whole ass team to create one more project before the year ends. Even if said project was under 5k words.

Even as I write this saying I'm done, a part of me keeping scheming up ways to make it work.

But I wouldn't be doing it for the right reasons anyway (i.e. feeling like I should participate in more jams because every other developer is and I'm a bad indie dev if I don't, and feeling this desperation to prove I can tell other kinds of stories. ahahahaha)

A L S O I am broke 😂 And money talks louder than anything else!! This was the year--and continues to be the year-- of medical expenses and emergencies so like...gotta recover from that too.

The Knight Dance (my short Yuri idea) shall return, but next year at the earliest. And who knows? It might benefit from me not working on it now. Or that's what I'm telling myself so my brain will chill.

4. Tackling Ko-fi

I keep saying I'm going to start putting content on ko-fi, or posts, or something, and I keep proving to be a liar. That ends soon!

I've been playing around with the idea of adding both content for subs and one-time donators as well as free content, these things all exclusive to ko-fi. So there's an incentive to you guys to visit and an incentive for me to keep up with it.

There's a lot to the world of HSD/Crushed that just didn't make it into the games, and probably won't for a while, and then there are drabbles and longer stories that would be fun to write and share for anyone who's curious.

Okay!!!

In conclusion!!!

Go play Crushed!! Go support some game Kickstarters!! Go support a Pateron/Ko-fi of your fave creator!! Go replay some games!!

And watch this space for the Crushed postmortem and my yearly games & demos wrap up!!

And maaaaaaaybe catch me on the sideblog where I embody the cringe gamer girl I truly am???

~ Gemini

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia,

I need some advice. I've been writing a story and posting it online and it's acquired a decent amount of readers.

I have this one character who is a secondary character, not a main, but they've become very popular with my readers and I've been getting many asks on when I'll be writing a story for this character, where they are the mc.

The problem is I don't feel the same way about this side character as my readers do. In fact I don't care much for them at all which I suppose is weird? I care about my main characters obviously but this side character is like... honestly I have no idea why they've become so popular. I've been trying to see them the way my readers see them, because surely there's a reason they've become a fan favourite, but I just... can't. It's so upsetting and frustrating because I love my main characters and want to focus on them but then I feel like I'm betraying my readership because they clearly want me to write a story about this character.

And then I feel angry at myself because why the hell can't I feel the same way about a character that I myself created? What's wrong with me?? Do I just need time to sit and flesh them out more? Will it take time for them to grow on me?

Anyway I would just really appreciate your thoughts on this. Have you ever created a character that you don't hate but don't particularly love either and then that character becoming extremely popular with readers?

How do you deal with that?

Thanks for reading my rant.

Hi anon,

There's actually a very simple answer to this which is (probably) going to make my response a lot shorter than your ask (probably not given how long my responses are).

You cannot make everyone happy because you are not all the same person. That's just...normal. It's normal. You're a human person and therefore have your own likes and dislikes, and other people who are not you have their own likes and dislikes, and our job in life isn't to make sure we all share exactly the same likes and dislikes.

Therefore all you have to do when people start talking to you about this other character is just go 'that's cool that you like them so much! I don't feel the same way though.' And if people are becoming too pushy in your comments, just make an author's note like 'please stop asking me to write stuff about (second character) because I don't want to and I'm getting tired of saying so, thanks!'

That's it. Done. You can find 100 ways to put down the boundary, but the idea that there is something wrong with you simply because you have preferences, is like, nope. Nothing wrong with you, stop giving yourself a hard time for being a human being.

Like in this instance, you are just a plain ordinary human being who has preferences like the rest of us and all you need to say is 'that isn't my preference' in the way that feels natural to you.

And yes, this happens to me a lot re: some of the characters I've made, in different permutations, and I'll I say - and have said in comments, ask responses and more - is 'that's cool that you like them so much, unfortunately I just don't feel the same way.' It's happening these days when people keep asking for Augus/Gwyn and I smile and say 'you have 1.5 million words of them, please go read it or write your own.' It happened all the way back when people cared way more about Bunnymund as a protagonist than I ever did or have since. And for every single really annoying 'will you ever make one of them get pregnant and have babies' request, I lay down a boundary.

That's a normal part of life, anon. People are different to you and have likes and preferences of their own. Sometimes they'll try and persuade you to share in those likes. And sometimes you will and you'll feel inspired. But not sharing in them is completely normal.

You deal with it by having boundaries, anon, that respect your preferences. :)

Tl;dr - You are not other people. Stop trying to become other people. Stop giving yourself a hard time for not being other people. Respect what you like and dislike, and set your boundaries accordingly.

PS: You invented the character as a secondary character, that's probably why you don't feel like writing them as a primary character; as it was never their/your intention in the first place. It's normal to not feel the same way for them / about them!

[damelucyjo]

Buckle in, guys!

Episode 4 - Big Week

Cute sleepy Jamie 🥰

I love Phil & Brett together and want them together forever!

THE FUCKING HEAD TORCH!! 😂

Ooo we love to see a Phil bum 😏

Nate’s got his own place? Nice

Him knocking ‘Ted’ off the table, chuckling, then picking him back up is all we need to see where Nate is going

Sleepy Ted is a cute Ted

Fucking Sassy. If I close my eyes does that mean this didn’t happen?? 🫣

Yes, because we need another reminder of how good Ted is in bed 👀

Sassy! You do not tell this man you do not like his puns! That’s like telling him to his face you don’t like him. Just rude really

Does this man not take his top off for sexy time?? Or just get dressed again afterwards 🤔

I have many opinions about Sassy, but knowing he’s opening himself up and trying to just get that reaction is cruel. She’s a cruel woman

Eww. They did not kiss. Nope, didn’t happen 🫣 Brett, I will never forgive you for this

Also, I know we’ve not been in Ted’s bedroom much but it seems a lot bigger now?? Or is that just me?

Again, Phil and Brett are gold. Brett, you’re forgiven

Oh Jamie. Ew

YEEAAHHH!!

Girl, you are obsessed with your ex-husband. LET. IT. GO!

You look hot though so… as you were

Oop single players 👀 of course she asks about Sam 🥴

I FUCKING LOVE BARBARA 😍

‘Who’s Jack?’ Girlie can’t help herself with the gossip 😂

God, that shade of blue looks really good on Hannah 🔥

Does Keeley not know her boss’ name??

I love that you can’t tell if she’s being genuine or sarcastic 😂

Why are they explaining this to Leslie?? 😂

All that effort to not think of the most obvious question. Please never change boys!

I think them fighting like child siblings is my new favourite thing?? you just know Brett had the time of his life writing this stuff for himself 😂😂

👀 Higgins worried he’s gonna make them kiss 😂

Their reaction to the news Sassy stayed - perfect. Beards little shimmy dance is the best

I absolutely love how over the top these diamond dogs meeting calls are getting, and that they all have a position to be for them

THANK YOU BEARD FOR CALLING HIM OUT ON THE NATE STUFF 🫡 and straight up telling him he’s a mess. That’s a best friend right there!

Fucking co-dependence anonymous 😂

Roy wanting nothing to do with these meetings but listening from his office anyway. King, honestly

Calling him like a dog 😂 how many times did they have to do this before they could get it

Another ‘gay’ joke 🤦🏻‍♀️ but Uncle Trent sees you, Colin 👀

Okay, I actually really like Zava. I don’t know how it’s gonna play out, but I think he is good for the boys. Even if letting his kids name themselves is a bit whack-a-do 😂

Isaac in his pink trackies, looking all hot 🔥🔥

Oh no! The sign!! (But actually how can they not see that tear down the middle?? Do they just never look at it??)

Isaac thinking it was his hand though? Brilliant. And testing it on Jamie before image really thought it through 😂 I love you, bruv. Please never change

It is adorable though how attached they all are to the believe sign

Queen Jade is back!

Nathan making fun of people (that they have absolutely no idea about) but still having to backtrack and verify he meant nothing by it… hmm. I see you, Nate, you’re still in there

Jason Jelly 😂😂 thank you Jade

Dani’s oldest friend being a 108 year old names Javier is just precious. Protect this boy at all costs!

Oh Shandy 😔 please don’t let that ‘being the boss’ comment be foreshadowing for something. I really don’t know how I feel about you yet 🤔

The blurring of their faces, but still being extremely recognisable is genius

I absolutely love these boys, showing Zoreaux how accepting they are of him changing his name and just going with it (and of course Colin isn’t in the room to see 🤦🏻‍♀️)

Brett to be the one to write Keeley talking through how much Jamie has changed… 👀

Within the story this is upsetting footage to see Nate destroying the sign, but watching Nick fumble about was glorious

I love how Trent just fits into this group so effortlessly. Thank you, uncle Trent, for the footage 😎

‘Jane’s sister is in town’ OMG could you imagine! Now I kinda wanna see that 😂

Fuck you, Rupert. But hey Anthony Head 🔥😍

Nate also can’t help himself with the puns,,, interesting

Nick has done an amazing job portraying how conflicted Nate is. I do really feel for him. I may not have liked what happened, but I do understand it

Fucker Rupert reminding him to call him Mr Mannion 😡

All these texts are a fun thing to pause and read. Also it’s interesting to see who he has a contact photo for and who he doesn’t…

But Rebecca’s picture is the best

OMG IT’S REBECCA! TIME FOR A SOLO TED & REBECCA SCENE. I don’t think I’m ready 🫠

She’s so straight faced with her jokes. They’re perfect for one another 🥰

‘Of course you are. That’s why we get along’ that is the correct answer, wife of Ted. No hesitation at all

Her coming down to check on him under the guise of telling him she wants to win all because she had a conversation with Sassy and knew he wouldn’t be doing well 🥹 WIFE HER UP TED!!

O K L A H O M A 😳 triggered

Is it insensitive to use a word to get a man to speak, when that word was a tool taught to him by the guy who was his therapist and is now in a relationship with his ex-wife?? Just asking 👀

Of course he’s a progmess (why do I feel like I’ve heard that before🤔)

Thank you, Ted, for reminding her she doesn’t have to keep fighting that fucker. She’s not going to listen, but thank you for saying it 😂

Will fucking falling off the bus with the bags 😂 and the reporters reactions😂 I love this show!

She has to reapply her lip liner 👀 great call-back Mr Goldstein!

I kinda love Bex for making jokes about Rupert like that in front of Rebecca. She actually seemed surprised she did it, too

Keeley, babes, who the fuck puts in a tampon like that?! 😂😂

I also love this whole tampon talk was written by Brett

Omg that Nate reveal was hilarious

I really do feel for this poor boy. He’s so lost too 😔

Ooo Keeley 👀 I see you girly 👀

Them all having a different answer to the riddle 😂

Aww, poor Higgins 😂

I bloody love how all I’ve the place Barbra is. Katy is brilliant!

‘Barbra’s obsessed with Rebecca’ yeah, as am I. You’re not special! (But is she though? I don’t see it. Are you projecting, Shandy??)

And that line about wearing her skin as a suit 😳 I’m watching you, Shandy 👀

You do not cross Mae! How dare you wear that shit in her pub!!

🎵I’m forever blowing bubbles🎵 uh oh. As a Brit I think I’ve been conditioned to sing along. I can’t help it 😂

Ooo the coaching boys aren’t happy

Hannah’s best acting is seeming interested in football 😂 she needs awards just for that

I’m by no means a football expert. I’m only English and have it ingrained into my person! But Zoreaux is not a good goalie! He always comes so far out and they always get past him. Why haven’t they switched back to O’Brien yet?? Surely his butt still isn’t torn

Ooo she’s pissed 🥵

Another Ted & Rebecca scene 🥰 We’ve been spoilt!

Oh she is not doing well! 😂

‘I believe in you, Ted’ ‘And it’s intense’ 😂 we know these two have a time keeping it together so I’m gonna need to outtakes of this one😂

‘Off you pop’ there it is 😂 iykyk

They obviously said to Hannah do whatever you want as he walks away and I love that. She’s such a dork 🥰🥰

These boys have come so far. I’m so proud *wipes tear*

I actually love seeing them all so angry. You’d think ripping up that sign is purely against Ted, but he’s also shit on something they all truly believe in. Getting these boys to forgive him will be the hardest hurdle for him to overcome

Poor Ted. Nate really is all over the shop!

Aww, poor Rebecca 🥺 & Leslie’s ‘it’s okay’ 🥺 my little heart

I need to say it again; I love Barbra 😂

Oh Rupert, you naughty boy 🫣 very telling for Rebecca though, I think.

I love that Ted is also coaching Beard & Roy. They made a mistake that he knows that’ll learn from. No need to get angry 🤷🏻‍♀️ Better luck next time

What’s he gonna do with that footage?? 👀 who you showing, Ted??

Thank you reporter for calling Nate out for being a dick 👍🏼

Bones & Honey 👀

I actually like this version of Bex. She seems like she kinda stands up to him, making these jokes. But she can’t be blind to how he still is with his ex-wife. It’s very strange behaviour, my boy. Knock it off

YES! Tell him babes. Fuck him up!! Is he going to be worried? Me thinks not

Okay, Jack & Keeley are cute. Fuck off Shandy

Isn’t it the Bantr lot that Jack works with? That funded Keeley’s firm? Did you just really fuck up babes??

I do not like you, Shandy. I hope you don’t ruin things for my girl

Oh, so it’s Rupert in front of people then? Mr Mannion behind closed doors?? The mind games have already started Nate. I’m sorry friend

And he’s giving him some thy big he wants but wouldn’t get by himself. RUN NATE RUN!!

And he’s clocked him & his secretary 👀 will he tell him? Use it against him?? 👀

Nice drink call back to the gala 👍🏼

Sweet baby Jamie, ready and eager to work 🥰

That quote read out on TV is just like the Nanny McPhee quote I’ve had in my head about Zava - ‘When you need be, but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me, but no longer need me, then I must go’ 😳

Why has Ted’s Lego got grey hair? What happened?? Did I not notice that before???

Well done, Ted, for having the necessary conversation with Michelle. Hopefully this can be the beginning of you actually talking to people about how you feel 🫡

He mentioned family 👀 interesting 👀 there’s a blonde looking for a family, I think 👀😂

Is she proud of him? Me too, babes

Grant 🥺🫡🥰

Woah, that one was a lot, huh! Another great one in the books. And I spy a certain ex named John credited to be in the next episode 🫣 so that should be fun!!

[vio1315]

Oh right 

I keep meaning to do a life update

Because long time followers remember when I posted a lot of personal struggles on here and I like never follow up on that stuff

And have since stopped posting personal stories as often whoops

Honestly I don’t remember everything I left as a loose thread that could be ‘is she okay’ so basically:

>Yes I am okay

>Most the stuff I was having trouble with happened like 5+ years ago now

>I am still pretty shut in, but I have a good job and I do go out once a week technically

>Much more mentally stable, I don’t really get the sort of empty feelings I used to anymore

>Every day I am unsure if I am like 🤖 to other people, or if I live normally. But I have unworked a lot of the emotional repression stuff I was doing subconsciously, and have gained a capacity for the ‘feeling of love’ (since love isn’t really a feeling, but you know the feeling I mean). Idk if I never experienced it before, but if I did it was Extremely rare compared to now. I certainly had devotion, but idk

It’s like ‘oh my prayers were answered on this topic again :0 ‘

I think I am pretty content generally, but I still don’t have happy feelings or fun feelings that often on my own, but this is super normal for me and doesn’t bother me the way the ‘void feelings’ did. It just vibing

>I did get a few extra sensory issues, probably from being shut in, but nothing that makes it any harder to go out. I should go out more still, but not many ideas of where to go for now

>I lost touch with the rest of my rl friends more or less (ﾟ⊿ﾟ) I went through a big thing of making myself not burn bridges and then like 4 months later they stopped contacting me anyways. I haven’t really felt any issue about it so have been leaving it be, but I guess I’ll crack that case back open if it ever starts to feel like a big thing that needs to be done

>My family is doing pretty well : ) 

>Story stuuffffff. I went through about a year of work to make my to do list better, so now I can focus on writing, sort of. And hopefully I can finish my script for TTF in good time now after the Big Delay of relaying the foundation and needing to get life in order. It will take a Long time because I insist on doing all 10 arcs before starting to draw it, so like... I still am mostly gonna be quiet on the topic for awhile

>Life plans? Nope, never. I still live very in the present, so I will just continue my job till I get fired probably and try my best to keep using my free time well. Or start

>Nobody wonders about this but I swear to you, vitamins/supplements make me sick every time I take them. Like literally sick. Like with germs and things. How????? How???? They had nothing in common between the three diff supplements, but each time I started I would get sick for like 2 weeks or a month ??? But I will keep trying to see if this is actually happening because ??? How ????

>Oh yeah, I am trying to get my health better and actually gained much weight 🥳 maybe someday exercise too, but I wanna tighten daily schedule first

>I am looking at some other mental disorders where I think ‘do I have that???’ But just for the sake of communication. I still don’t really need medication to manage the strange stuff. Coping mechanisms generally work pretty good for me, and learning to weed out bad ones and so on. I haven’t felt ANXIOUS in a bit now, and idk maybe not as often. I know I was like a year or two ago, but it goes down every year overall.

Lots of things that used to make me anxious just don’t so much anymore

That’s everything I can really think of right now

Life is basically good overall for me. 

Health is good for me, though I still need to work on actually doing things to be good to my body.

Socializing is pretty good in the forms I do it, but I still need to go out more to prevent my brain from getting weird about ‘sounds and feelings I can’t control’ and all

Fam : ) 

Everything is chill actually. I basically vent here less now just because I have more opportunity to vent directly to people when there’s a need to wjdnejd but I don’t think anything major comes up that often

But also my emotional memory is really low hwjdnwjd like I know for a fact a year or two ago there was a month where I was super unwell and stressed, but legit idk what that felt like, I just know it happened

So maybe the frequency Could be similar, but I wouldn’t know it 🤔 but certainly less major events happen, and that’s good with me

Just an update cuz I realize it’s easy to vent and all, but when things resolve, it’s less interesting to talk about, so you leave people hanging unintentionally, since posting directly on here barely feels like talking to anyone anyways, super easy to let that go

I am not a private person honestly, so hope this doesn’t seem weird to anyone widjsjdn

[thegranddewru]

so i hated tua season 4. so disappointed. so many ways.

spoilers, and a rant for the umbrella academy season 4.

first, topic adjacent, i want to say that, the way people are so riled about a few, fairly chaste, kisses between a baby adult actor and a fully adult actor vs not caring a bit about a child actor recreating a very large number of brutal, gory murders, being sprayed with fake blood, being told to act as though all this gore is commonplace -- and then all that brutality being set up as being a cool badass, is such an encapsulation of culture's weird attitudes about sex vs violence and what levels of it are appropriate at what age.

that being said, i hated that line, but i hated almost everything except paranoid germaphobe klaus. because nothing served a purpose at all.

when they say kill your darlings, these guys killed everything except their darlings, aka the scenes they liked but didn't serve the plot.

it was plot what plot but without the porn element, (or even the fun element) just some mild kissing between two characters i guess someone shipped because everything is shipped by someone.

was that in the comics?

even if it was, since it didn't matter to the story, it should have been replaced with something that did.

the waste! like there was plot there to be had, it just wasn't used. think about it. five's life goal for 50 plus years is to stop the apocalypse and save his family. so all those fives being stuck in that cafe make sense because he doesn't even consider his family needs to cease to exist. they just brushed right over that realization. just rushed him to the end goal as if he wouldn't be rocked by that at all. and then his family is just like okay yeah, we will do what you say, as if they would suddenly just all trust and agree out of nowhere, because it's not like the season was about getting them to that place.

honestly i think all the seasons suffered from this to some degree. always feeding more trauma and no resolution every season. the things they did and learned never fed into the end result in a satisfying way, with season one being somewhat of an exception, but only because at that point there was still space for them to make everything matter. And the relationships never develop or improve even though the show acts like it's about that being important.

but this season was just the most useless because it does even less and then that's it, there is no room for things to develop into anything. It was all for no reason.

i came back for the characters each time but this season was even useless for that.

do you think keeping everyone miserable, making them more miserable even, was supposed to make it less sad that they die in the end? like was that the point, this is all useless and pointless because they were always not supposed to be there?

i hate that.

i hate the way it ended so neatly for reginald too, he had resolution.

and it isn't like the siblings really had a choice to make in the end. the wifu did that. so there wasn't even much resolution in them accepting it.

this is a case where the ending makes everything that existed before it pointless. the past seasons did not create in them the ability to reach their inevitable end place. it didn't enable them to defeat reginald and then be the ones to decide to save the world.

so what was the point in the rest of the show? does that make sense? fiction isn't supposed to be like real life where you go through a bunch of painful shit for no reason. one of the points of fiction is to make sense of things. this didn't do that in anyway.

nope i hate it. it was bad, i don't think anyone can convince me it wasn't just bad.

[bethany-thinking]

Read Along: For Women Only: Your Love Is Not Enough (part 1)

In this series, I'll reread a book that was handed to me as a young mom or wife to read and write random reactions to it now that I have almost 20 years of marriage and 15+ of being a parent under my belt. I'm going to start with For Women Only. While this certainly not the worst book recommended to me in some ways it's one of the more deceptive with it's flashy, modern cover and appeal to science.

I'm starting with chapter two because it's more interesting.

Chapter 2: Your Love Is Not Enough: Why Your Respect Means More to Him Then Even His Affection

This chapter is built on the assumption that if given a choice men would chose to be alone and unloved over being inadequate and disrespected, whereas women will chose the opposite. This is based on a story, a survey question, and a tenuous Bible interpretation. The Bare Marriage website has in-depth articles on the issues with the survey.

You don't have to be a survey expert though to see that the book is taking a weird direction when Feldham states that most of the men taking her survey had trouble answering the question so then it occurred to her that it must be because they thought respect equalled love. Maybe that should have been the point where she realized writing a book about how men need respect and women need love is a bad idea because it's really difficult to have a good relationship without both (for men and women).

She then goes on to say that many women are just perplexed when their husbands don't feel respected because they wonder "what did I say". No worries, Feldman will solve this for us perplexed women by pretty much just telling us not to say anything that might make our husbands feel the least bit uncomfortable.

How do you know when you have crossed that disrespect line? Feldman has the answer for that too. Watch for anger! Do I need more respect if I'm feeling anger that this book was handed to me as a young wife?

Okay, so respect has to be earned right? Nope, Feldman tells us that respect is to be unconditional just like love this is based on the sketchy interpretation of Eph 5. Also, respect is a choice. And, it's "not real unless you show it". Okay, so now that we know our husbands are going to be angry if we don't do this and we have to do it no matter how they act and that it's a choice that we have to embrace 100%, let's find out what it means to respect our husbands! Need #1: Respect His Judgement

defer to their judgement not treat him like a kid trust his decision-making abilities Okay, this all seems fair but honestly, women need this too. They don't want to be treated like kids either or disrespected when they have an opinion based on knowledge.

Need #2: Respect his abilities

Men need to figure out stuff for themselves. How do we enable this?

Don't offer to help them fix the DVD player. Feldman says this shows distrust (in italics!)

In fact, this quote is so great it gets one of those special quote boxes, "Problem is, we want to help them--and guess how they interpret that? You got it: distrust."

Also, we shouldn't ask them to stop and get directions (thank goodness for GPS so at least Siri can help out). In fact, if you tell your man to get directions you are interfering with him "conquering Everest" It's not clear whether you are allowed to turn on Google Maps or correct a wrong turn in my edition of the book. Maybe that's updated in a later version!

"Next time your husband stubbornly drives in circles, ask yourself what is more important: being on time to the party or his feeling trusted."

The section concludes with telling you not to "tell him how" and to support him. Feldman does allow for some "true advice" but we need to watch out because it quickly becomes "instruction." Also, if you don't want to stand up for your man because he doesn't deserve it, you don't get an out there. Feldman says you should do it anyway because it will lift you both up.