#i am looking respectfully at all these mods

[going-to-ikea-for-the-fries]

One of your "It's a Match" chapters gave me an idea. LOVE that series btw!

What if Gaz is a virgin so Simon let's him lose his virginity with his gf? Simon is there to guide Gaz and make sure he does it right so you get as much pleasure out of it as needed. Then you give Gaz the ride of his life while Simon controls when and where he gets to cum. The poor man whimpering beneath you from the edging and denial until he finally gets permission to cum.

Sub!Gaz x Dom!Simon x Switch!Reader

(Feel free to ignore this as well.)

Took some creative liberties with the prompt and made Switch!Reader a mean/brat tamer domme even if Gaz isn’t necessarily a brat (just felt more practical for me to do it). Sue me.

Sharing is caring. || Gaz x F!Reader x Ghost

Rating: E Words: 4.7K (this one got away from me sorry) Pairing: virgin!Gaz x gf!Reader x bf!Simon CW: smut, voyeurism, hotwifing, domination/submission, oral sex (m! and f! receiving), unprotected piv, fairly rough/forceful sex (BUT CONSENSUAL), praise, slight verbal degradation?, body mods (piercings). other tags: pre-established couple, loss of virginity, pre-agreed upon conditions, consent checks, no beta we die like soap. a/n: no thoughts, just vibes. NOT PROOFREAD

Simon first brought it up one sleepy Sunday evening, when you two were lying side by side in bed, his arms snaked around you as you read an e-book, his eyes glued to the TV on an episode of some crime show.

“You know,” He had said, Roman nose rubbing the top of your head affectionately. “I’d like to run something by you.”

“Hm?” You cooed as you rolled your head back on his chest to look up at him.

“So Kyle has this problem,” Simon began to explain as he looked down at you, brown eyes peering through his blonde lashes.

That got your senses tingling and you immediately set aside the tablet to dedicate your attention to the topic at hand, turning your body to properly face him, your arm coming to rest on his shoulder.

“What kind of problem?” You questioned, an eyebrow raising in intrigue.

Simon’s eyebrows twitched lightly, a tell-tale sign he was about to bring up something ‘embarrassing’, some good gossip. “Go on!” You immediately insisted, catching the little microexpressions on his face.

“He’s a virgin.” Simon revealed, causing you to gasp, pulling your head back and shaking it in confusion.

“NO?!” You said in shock. “With that pretty face of his?” You blinked.

“I know.” Simon says and then cocks a brow upward. “So what do you say?”

You didn’t need clarification, you simply smirked and shot him a look.

-

That’s how you ended up here.

Simon made all the arrangements, established rules with Kyle, and finally brought him over the that following Friday.

“You sure about this, sir?” Kyle asks, ever respectfully, sat on your living room couch, with you by his side, Simon sitting across from you on the arm chair by the chandelier.

“As sure as anyt’in’.” Your boyfriend replies and casts a glance at you. “You sure, da’lin’?”

“100% sure.” You answer, before glancing at Kyle. “Are you sure about it?”

“I… I am. But… It’s… It’s your relationship, I don’t want to cause an issue.” Kyle tells you, looking at you sheepishly, dark lashes fluttering anxiously over those stunning brown eyes of his.

“It’s not our first time doing this, I’m sure Simon’s told you all about it.” You reply in a reassuring tone.

“I know but…” Kyle says as he looks at you, your hand on his knee, finger drawing light circles on the denim of his pants.

“We’ll start off slow, at your pace. If ever there’s anything you don’t like, we’ll stop.” You assure him. “Simon’s here for that, after all… Not just for my sake, but yours too.” You add.

Kyle nods and gulps down a deep breath, casting one last glance at the form of his lieutenant, sat imposingly on the arm chair, legs spread open, lounging without a car in the world. One of his legs is bent near the seat, the other stretched across, foot resting on the edge of the coffee table, and arms resting comfortably on the rests, one of his hands holding a tumbler of Bourbon. His head is cocked to the side with interest.

The young sergeant nods again and slowly leans toward you. One of his hand tentatively wraps around your hip, fingers grazing the expanse of your ass in the shorts you’re wearing, while the other grabs you around the back of the neck, his lips connecting to yours.

Your warm, wet tongue swirling with his, soft breaths and gasps coming from your mouth as you let him take the lead for a moment... it’s all making his confidence grow. Sure, he’ll need guidance eventually, but for now he’s got this.

His hand slides to cup your ass, grabbing it with a greedy grasp, squeezing his fingers into the thickness, the other sinking into your hair, fingers gently clutching your scalp as they tug into the hairs.

He’s kissed plenty of people before, this isn’t new for him, and yet, it still feels completely different, in the way you’re not ‘his’ to kiss. But, somehow, that makes it all the better.

Slowly, your lips separate and you glance up at him a single look to check on his state and he nods imperceptibly, which causes your hands to slide down his chest and begin feeling him up.

His arms wrap around your waist, pulling you atop of him, hands sliding under the fabric of your top to feel up your back as your own find the hem of his t-shirt and tug it up to expose his chest.

Your fingers trace his pecs, his abs, nails softly drawing down atop him, making him shiver. He’s younger than Simon, his skin infinitely smoother, his body fat percentage definitely lower, not a trace of hair on him. It’s so different from your boyfriend… And you welcome the change.

You help him take off his t-shirt, throwing it haphazardly to the side and then lower your mouth onto his jaw, neck, shoulders, collarbones… You’ve barely started and the poor kid looks like he’s already seeing the universe and all its stars, his cock having sprung to attention so quickly that the bulge in his pants keeps rubbing against your inner thigh.

Slowly, you slip down from atop of him, your hands sliding down his body as you kneel before him on the floor, hands tracing over his thighs in the jeans he’s wearing, fingers squeezing his strong muscles through the fabric.

“You’ve never gotten a bj before, have you?” You ask him, eyebrows cocked and eyes locked onto his face. He shakes his head immediately, muttering something about ‘getting a handy’ back in secondary but that was the extent of it.

“Poor thing.” You coo at him. “Never got to feel a pretty mouth wrapped around that cock, hm?” Yo teased him playfully, watching how his eyes widened, eyebrows scrunching pitifully, as you undid his belt and tugged down his jeans.

“You’re in good hands, Garrick. She’ll take good care of you. Has a very talented throat.” Simon pipes up behind you. You don’t even have to look behind you to spot the smirk on his lips, the way the dulcet of his voice comes just short of a boast and a brag of how lucky he himself is, and how lucky Kyle is that Simon was willing to share you.

You help Kyle out of his sneakers and jeans before beginnin to palm him through the black cotton of his boxer briefs, his cock already peeking up from behind the waistband, leaking precum in anticipation. “Someone’s eager, hm? Are you excited, Kyle?” You quip to him.

“Mhm. Very. Very!” Kyle nods, his eyes glued to every single movement of yours, from the way your hands palm at his bulge, to how your fingers caress his smooth skin, to how they hook onto the waistband and roll down his underwear, peeling it off his body.

He’s big, bigger than Simon, even, though not as thick… He’s circumcised and he’s perfectly shaven. You wonder if he did that for your sake, or his own preference. There’s a thick vein running down the underside of him, one you can’t wait to feel pulse against your tongue.

Taking his cock in your hand, you stroke it slowly before allowing your tongue to run atop of it, base to tip, your tongue gently grazing the leaky tip, spreading the precum over the head before slowly parting your lips and guiding him inside.

The moan that escapes the boy in front of you makes you smirk, he twitches below you, fingers clenching on either side of his thighs, as if resisting squeezing into tight fists as you slowly allow his cock to slide deeper into your mouth. Then, you start bobbing it, up and down, cheeks hollowed out and lips grazing the warm skin leaving a mess of saliva around him.

Kyle’s quick to react this time, his hand grabbing you by your hair, legs trembling on either side of you. Your eyes shoot up to find his, only to find that his head is falling back onto the back of the couch, eyes screwed closed, mouth hanging open like he’s experiencing an out of body experience.

“He’s certainly enjoying himself, isn’t he?” Simon remarks behind you, receiving a finger signal from you, a sign of agreement, a preestablished way of communicating, since your mouth was busy. “That feel good, Kyle?”

“Y-Yeah… Yeah… I-It… God…” Kyle groans in between swallowed breaths. Poor thing, you want to coo at him, already too lost in the pleasure to even speak… Oh, how beautiful he’ll look soon, fucked out under you, drunk on your pussy…

You don’t notice Simon coming up from behind you until you feel his hand grip your head, atop of Kyle’s, calloused fingers digging into your scalp. His other hand shoots out to grab Kyle’s head from the back, pulling it forward so he’s forced to stare at you.

Then, your head is shoved forward, Kyle’s cock sliding down your throat with no warning Simon’s hand holding you in place, while Kyle’s eyes widen and an obscene moan escapes his mouth. Simon controls your head, pulling and pushing you onto Kyle’s hip. 

It’s no wonder that Kyle’s whole body starts to tremble, eyes widened and having trouble staying focused, or open, mouth left wide open as Simon makes him fuck the back of your throat, experienced eyes keeping watch of your reactions and signals and of Kyle’s…

He’s controlling the speed at which you go, how deep you take his cock down his throat, how much of a mess you make with your spit, and how long you get to breathe whenever he pulls you off before pushing you back on. A reminder. He’s always in control.

“Come down her pretty throat, go on, Garrick.” Simon demands. Kyle, poor thing, has already been holding on with teeth and nails to keep himself from climaxing too soon, wanting to prove himself as more than just inexperienced… But Simon’s order is so severe, he can’t keep it up… And he lets go, twitching in your mouth and shooting his come down your throat.

Simon lets go of you both, giving you a moment to catch your breaths, brown eyes staring at the result of what you just did, you, out of breath, a mess of drool down your chin, and eyes welled up with tears, and Kyle, out of breath, a mess of drool around the base of his cock, and eyes glazed over.

“Good job, da’lin’...” Simon tells you, pulling you up ever so slightly, kissing you sweetly, his tongue piercing flicking across your tongue, as if he’s looking for a taste of Kyle in your throat. 

After a moment, he pulls back and looks at Kyle. “Now, you’re gonna thank her for the favour she made ya, hm?” He warns. “Let’s take this to the bed. C’mon.” He demands, taking you by the hand and leading you to the bedroom, leaving Kyle to have to keep up.

Simon, unlike you, is a practical man. He doesn’t waste time. By the time Kyle has made it to the bedroom after barely 20 seconds, he’s already got you naked and splayed atop the mattress, a pillow placed under your hips.

He’s on his knees in front of you and beckons Kyle closer with two fingers, before he uses those same two fingers to rub over your folds and spread them open, revealing just how wet you’ve gotten from merely giving Kyle head. “You see that?” Simon coos at him while you stare at them both, holding yourself up on your elbows.

“Y-Yes, sir.” Kyle replies with a nod, his own hand reaching to touch you, carefully sliding between your puffy lips, gliding across easily through the slick. 

Simon grabs Kyle’s wrist and carefully guides it across to your clit, finding it with the speed of a man that’s been fucking you often since you two started dating. He knows your body, knows you better than anyone, and he’s about to show Kyle exactly how to touch you to get you to fall apart like he does…

You immediately stiffen up when you feel the pads of Kyle’s fingers against your clit, the pressure behind them coming from Simon’s hand as he rolls his fingers in light circles. It’s familiar and it immediately causes you to hum in pleasure and hiss, lying yourself back on the mattress.

“Ideally, you always keep something touch that needy little clit there.” Simon explains, more like he’s giving an anatomy lesson than having a threesome. “Be it a tongue, a finger, what have you.”

Simon’s hand then slides Kyle’s fingers away, making you whimper from the loss of contact. “Be patient, da’lin’, you’ll get more soon.” He quips. “Needy girl… Thought you were going to be all bossy with Kyle, now look at you…” He coos. 

Simon turns Kyle’s hand over and, using his own hand, parts your puffy cunny before helping Kyle push two digits into your slick warmth. Kyle’s fingers are no biggy, not thick and calloused like Simon’s, and they’re surprisingly easy to take on. You moan softly at them, before becoming just a bit more vocal when Kyle’s fingers pad over your G-spot when Simon curls them just so.

“Right there, you see that?” Simon beckons, Kyle responding with mild agreement that you don’t even register because, soon, his fingers start moving, fucking in and out you per Simon’s instruction, while your boyfriend’s tongue quickly finds your clit, the cold piercing rubbing and flicking at your most sensitive spot, causing your back to arch on the bed.

“Oh, fuck, Simon…” You whine, legs already shaking, more so per the stimulation, which causes your boyfriend to use both of his free hands to keep your knees spread open as far as he could comfortably get them, tongue still lapping up at you with purposeful strokes.

The shaggy blond hair of your boyfriend vanishes for a moment, as does the experienced tongue touching you, before it gets replaced with Kyle’s slightly messier and uncoordinated attempts, Simon observing Kyle and noting your reactions and how much weaker they are, upset at the lack of proper stimulation.

“C’mon, Garrick…” Simon croons. “Your tongue’s sharp enough to roast Johnny, but you get here and it gets shy?” He taunts, before using his hand on the back of the sergeant’s neck to guide him a bit.

“I’m trying…” Kyle remarks, his face feeling warm against your skin, showing he’s likely blushing despite his darker complexion hiding it, his fingers still moving in the way Simon taught him, his only saving grace.

“Scoot.” Simon remarks and pushes his head aside, ever so slightly, causing him to rest against your thigh. Simon’s head pushes in near Kyle’s, resting against your other thigh, and his tongue catches your clit again, though the angle at he’s at now, slightly at an angle, allows Kyle to spot the way Simon moves his tongue: soft circles, zigzagging side to side, lips also rubbing against you.

Kyle watches closely, eyes widened, pupils blown with lust at the sight of Simon’s face so close and going down on you so eagerly, his eyes glued to your face up top, as if checking every single reaction you have to your boyfriend’s mouth. And react you do. Your moans are louder, jumpy, desperate, your hands grabbing the bed covers and squeezing tight, your cunt seeking Simon’s mouth as you fuck yourself onto it.

Kyle wasn’t the type to watch porn often, having little time and little interest in it, more so because he knew it wasn’t a good habit or realistic to expect it to be realistic… But the sight of Simon’s lips sucking and rubbing into your slick like it was the most delicious meal he’s ever gotten to eat was better than any of the porn he’s actually seen.

Simon’s able to make you come undone in a matter of minutes, the whimpers and needy moans, the shallow breaths, the way your head was left spinning, lolling to the side as Simon eased you down from your peak and then dropped a chaste kiss to your thigh before standing up again. 

“You saw that?” He teases Kyle, who nods eagerly, no words coming to his lips after the display he just got. “You’ll get there eventually. With practise.” He assures him before patting him lightly on the shoulder. “Up you go.”

“How are you doing, da’lin’?” Simon asks, checking on you as you nod and show him a thumbs up, causing a chuckle to come from his chest before he takes a seat in another armchair in the corner, a spot he usually uses when having insomnia, right by the windows, to work on his laptop while you sleep near him… Except this time being used for something else.

“Go on, then, continue.” He demands as he sprawls out on the armchair, legs spread and already undoing his belt and fly, seeking relief from the tight feeling in his own jeans.

You nod eagerly and quickly shift to be sat on the bed, pulling Kyle toward you. “You still want this?” You ask him as you look him in the eyes… As if Kyle, needy the way he is now, after the sight of you coming undone on Simon’s tongue, would ever be able to answer anything other than a resounding ‘YES!’.

“Mhm… I do.” Kyle assures you with another nod… So, you kiss again, hands sliding over each other’s bodies just like they had on the couch before, exploring the free skin, allowing Kyle to grope you more easily. He seems fixated on your ass and thighs, fingers kneading the extra meat in them and holding you close.

His cock has long recovered from his first orgasm, now rubbing against your tummy as he kneels in front of you on the mattress. But not for long. Soon, you’ve laid Kyle on his back, and you’re straddling him, one leg on either side, slowly rubbing your folds over the length of his veiny cock.

“You’re gonna take ‘im for a right, da’lin’?” Simon asks, your eyes seeking him out in his armchair. The way you’re positioned, he can see all of you. Your pretty tits, the way your lips spread to rub against Kyle’s shaft, your legs parted open and knees digging into the mattress.

“Mhm…” You reply, your expression having shifted once again from the needy, submissive mess he had made of you, to a more dominant, playful one as you look down at the sergeant below you, looking up at you like he knows he’s in for a wild one.

“Go on then… But try not to break him, yeah?” Simon teases and winks at you, his hand already palming his cock through his own black boxer briefs.

“No promises…” You quip in return and wink back, before, carefully reaching a hand forward to lift Kyle’s cock from its resting spot against his hip.

Slowly, you sink yourself into it, his narrower build a lot easier to accommodate than Simon’s girth… But you soon regret how eagerly you did it, when you feel Kyle’s sheer size slip inside easily, his tip striking your cervix forcefully with that one swft motion.

“Bloody hell…” You grunt and bounce back a bit to relieve the pressure. “You’re big, aren’t you?” You tease Kyle who’s already unresponsive, poor little thing, eyes twice as wide as they had been when you gave him head, barely nodding in response.

Shifting your weight around, you plant your feet on either side of Kyle’s hip. “I’m gonna move, okay?” You warn him, setting your open palms on his thighs, behind your back, earning another nod from Kyle.

Slowly, you start to ride him, each bounce of your hips drawing the most delicious moans out of Kyle, his head lolling back over the foot of the bed, eyelids fluttering and his back arching.

“Gah- Fuck-” Kyle grunts, his breath already ragged before you’ve had time to do anything, just slowly moving, feeling his lengthy size rub against your walls as you force him to bottom out every time.

Kyle’s voice gets higher, whinier, his forehead dribbling with sweat with each thrust you force his cock to deliver into your slick cunny. “Feels… so… sososo so good…” He whimpers, his tone almost pathetic.

“Yeah… does it feel good?” You croon at him, a mischievous smirk on your lips, his cock drawing soft moans off your mouth as well.

“Yeah… yeah… yeah…” Kyle nods needily, his breath staggered and swallowing excess saliva.

“Yeah? Was it all you were expecting, pretty boy?” You tease him some more, earning another handful of needy ‘Yeah’s, his mind too overwhelmed with pleasure to consider saying anything else. “You don’t want me to go faster then, do you?”

“No… no… faster…” He replies, his head shooting forward, clearly eager to experience what ‘faster’ would feel like.

“Oh? Then you were lying? It doesn’t feel good, you need it faster?” You croon at him as if he was behaving like a brat and not like the good boy he really was.

“No… nO… it’s- it’s-!” Kyle tries to reply, desperate to clear the misunderstanding. Not that you give him time for it, as you speed up the speed of your bouncing, taking him in harder with each strike of your hips coming down onto his.

“GOD- YES!” Kyle shouts, eyes shot open and back curling upward, his head snapping forward to look at you and watch the way your pussy swallows every inch of his veiny cock, before letting out a huff and falling back on the bed again, desperate for more.

His hands grab onto your thighs and hips, fingers digging in hard, as you ride him, sweat beginning to slide down your forehead, down your cheeks and neck. Your eyes flitter over to Simon in the corner.

The smug fucker is watching everything with a nasty little half-grin on his lips, brown eyes darkened with lust as he watches you play with Kyle, making him squirm and whimper below you.

“Play with your clit for me, da’lin’.” His voice rings out amidst the frequent and whiney moans coming from Kyle. One of your hands slips away from Kyle’s thigh behind you, finding your clit and rubbing it slowly as you keep bouncing atop of Kyle, hips stuttering lightly as the pleasure becomes more intense.

“That’s it…” Simon says with a chuckle from his armchair, fisting his cock leisurely, as if the sight in front of him wasn’t worth any more from him. “How’s his cock feel, da’lin’?” Your boyfriend asks you.

He’s playing with your head, much like you’re playing with Kyle’s… making you go back and forth between a submissive and dominant mind frame, deriving pleasure from the mind games he’s forcing you to take on.

“It’s big…” You whimper in reply. “So big…” You murmur, your eyes soft and needy as you look at your boyfriend, watching the wicked look in his face..

“Don’t look at me, look at him…” Simon tells you. “Fuck ‘im right, he deserves it.” Simon adds. “Poor lad, been so long without experiencing a pussy…” He teases. “ow’s it feel, Garrick?” He turns his attention, and yours, to the sergeant below you.

Kyle nods pathetically. “Y-Yeah… It’s- Ah-” He whimpers, eyes glazed over with pleasure, too far gone in it, too overwhelmed with the feeling of a warm, wet pussy sheathing his virgin cock.

He’s too fucked out to think… And you’re bound to join him soon enough, with the way he looks below you, your fingers playing with your clit, and his cock swiftly hitting a spot inside you that no man’s ever reached before…

Your hips stutter atop of Kyle’s, your legs straining and tired, sore from the rhythm and position. You shift positions, leaning forward, hands coming to rest on his hard pecs, your head hanging atop of Kyle’s, facing him better.

You grind back and forth, trying to regain strength to continue, feeling Kyle’s tip rubbing deep inside of you, so deep and hard… You can’t help but whine.

“She’s getting tired, Kyle. Go on, it’s your turn.” Your boyfriend quips, his voice dripping with power and command over the two of you.

Kyle didn’t need to be told twice, his arms wrapped around your lower back and he bucked up like a bull, tossing you both aside, the bed creaking with the movement. Whatever insecurity he had is gone.

He pushes your thighs apart with his hip and starts pistoning into you with barely any regard for rhythm or how deep he’s going, his face buried into your neck as he plows into you, grunting and whining like an animal in rut. Not that you mind.

You’re used to Simon (and sometimes a few other mutual ‘friends’ of yours), men who are experienced, who know what to do, how to do it, who aren’t sloppy or erratic, who’s hips don’t jerk with each plunge into your warm cunny… It’s completely different with a bloke like Kyle. Inexperienced, green, but eager and desperate and…

You’re moaning loud and often, nails clawing at his smooth scarless back, eyes rolling as each snap of his hips claps against you like a whip, his cock burying into you to the hilt and back out before plunging back in.

Once more, Simon’s quick to come to your side, quick to crouch by the side of the bed, eyes admiring the way you both act and move, to keep a keen eye on your reactions and his, ready to pull him off you like a mutt that’ll hurt his mate if the owner doesn’t make him dismount…

But he doesn’t intervene. Not when you’re moaning like a whore, with Kyle sweating and grunting atop you, his eyes screwed shut and looking like he’ll lose every and any ounce of restraint he has in the next 3 seconds, somehow pulling the will to go on from sheer fucking air.

“You gonna flood ‘er little cunt with your come, aren’t you, Kyle?” Simon coos as he rests his forearms on the mattress, a perch to watch better.

“Y-Yeah! Yeah!” Kyle replies with an eager nod, eyes opening for a moment to look at Simon who’s so close to him.

“Yeah? Are you?” Simon continues egging him on. “You gonna fill my girl with your load?” He adds, his voice dropping to a more authoritative tone.

“Y-YEAH!” Kyle raises his voice, a bit more determined, but still deep in his natural state… obedient, ready to die for his superior, for his lieutenant.

“Go on, then,” Simon demands. “I wanna see. I wanna see you fill ‘er up.” He adds. “Tell ‘er you’re gonna do it.”

Kyle’s head turns a bit to look at you, his warm brown eyes blown wide with lust and desperation, his skin slick with sweat, his plump lips parted to let in desperate gulps of air.

“‘m gonna…” Kyle grunts as he shifts his weight lightly, his nose leaning against yours. “Gonna put my come so… deep inside you…” He warns you.

The look in his eyes, the desperation in his tone, the warning tone of his that does not at all fit his personality… Somehow it all comes together to rip the filthiest orgasm out of you, your head rolling back, eyes squeezing shut and a loud whine slipping from your parted lips as you squeeze and contract around Kyle’s cock.

Kyle can’t last not even a second longer the moment you start to come around him. His eyes fall shut, his back arches and he digs his fingers into the bed, toes curling and legs shaking as he fucks his come inside of you, drool slipping down his parted mouth.

“Good job.” Simon’s voice remarks next to you, satisfied and almost… proud, while you’re both too lost in the high of pleasure to even recognize his existence in the room or that you’re… alive, really.

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

Our Copyright Problem Submissions

The two Maori artworks (New Zealand does not have a fair use/fair dealing clause for parody/satire, and while this MIGHT qualify as review/criticism, this is tumblr. I am not comfortable saying this is NOT satire):

Kohatu by Selwyn Muru at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington

This Land is Ours by Buck Nin at the Auckland Art Gallery.

The other Indigenous artwork that hit a stumbling block (Kent Monkman's website requested we fill out a form, and Mod Salix couldn't make it load, and other mods didn't find the time, so we erred on the side of caution instead):

mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Resurgence of the People by Kent Monkman on the artist's website, it is on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. commentary: (Art) history as I used to learn it was very whitewashed seeing this large painting harking back to the so called 'canon' but focusing on native view point, gives me life. (anonymous)

The three tumblr artists who did not get back to us! No reposting here!

The Watcher by seamlessoo We've actually been unable to refind this one after the submission for some reason!

Untitled by petersolarz commentary: The colours are so bold and crisp, it reminds me of toothpaste and i get the urge to eat it. Would it be soft, like toothpaste? Or crunchy, like hard candy? I want to eat it to find out, but since I can’t, I can only stare at it again and again as I try and figure the answer. It also feels like tubes of neon illuminating the night, and like a zap of electricity. It’s something about those colours being so bold that draws me in. I want to touch it. I want to crunch it. I want to squeeze it. I can’t think of many paintings that intrigue me so much and draw such a strong emotion. (thegirlsinthecity)

Internet Cat by hannahlockillustration commentary: Look. At. Those. Colours. It’s so bright and vibrant and full of joy. I want to 1) hug the cat, he looks very fluffy, and 2) jump into the screen and live in this vibrant world. It almost hurts my eyes, in the best possible way. I keep zooming in to look at all the little details. I want to burn this image into my eyelids. (thegirlsinthecity)

and one artist who respectfully declined to have their art entered!

grendel-menz

[unwhitewashthebadbatch]

Hello, really appreciate the work you're doing to bring awareness! I was wondering if you have thoughts/resources/suggestions etc. for fic writers who want to portray the clones well. I'm genuinely thinking that adding an author's note might be a good idea, but I'd love to have thoughts on respectfully mentioning the clones' appearance within fic itself. Thank you so much for all you do!

Hi, and thanks!

When it comes to writing, it's sometimes easier to come up with a list of "Dont's" than "Dos". This guide from NaNoWriMo is pretty straight forward!

Of course, there are some caveats: unless this is a modern AU, you can't directly say the clones are Māori because that term doesn't exist in Star Wars. However, this doesn't mean that their features don't! From another character's PoV, you could say they have even brown skin, dark eyes, and dark curly (not coily) hair with broad noses. You can tweak these for your level of prose, such as saying "warm" brown skin or coal-dark eyes/hair--but do NOT use food descriptions, as this is objectifying and dehumanizing. So no "chocolatey" (I have seen this) or anything like that.

Some authors like to code their characters as being from a certain culture, race, or ethnic background. Think of how Temuera Morrison portrayed Boba in The Book of Boba Fett and the Mandalorian, where he proudly put his Māori culture at the forefront of his fight in the latter show. I'm much less versed on the basics of Māori culture and ways of life than I am other cultures, so I personally don't know how to code the clones in the GAR as such. This is where research is important, both in terms of doing your own reading and reaching out to Māori cultural experts if they are willing to explain something.

One thing that I've seen that's quite popular in fics/art is Tā moko, which are the tattoos you may see some Māori with, like this:

However, Tā moko is sacred and, from what I understand, relates specifically to one's ancestors, whakapapa (genealogy, loosely), and rank within society. Non-Māori can use kirituhi. @/tu_edmonds on TikTok/Instagram is a Māori bassist for Alien Weaponry who has Tā moko and also has a video explaining the difference between that and kirituhi. He's also got loads of other good explainers for Māori culture and language.

Physically, don't be scared to make the clones short! Temuera Morrison himself is only 5'7". I don't know why they made the clones six feet. Morrison also has a stockier build, the way a lot of Māori do, so don't be afraid to describe them being bigger and less cut/lean than the 180 lbs they supposedly are in canon (although I refuse to believe that's true because that is incredibly thin).

This might be more than you bargained for, whoops! But these are the basic things I could come up with for describing clones in fics!

There are other ways to support #UnwhitewashTBB, if you like. I've been looking at and supporting @end-otw-racism (highly recommend you support them too!) and people will change the title of their fics or tag there works with #EndOTWRacism, as well as bookmark them/add them to collections? I'm not sure how exactly it works.

But if you or anyone else understands how this works, and your work is explicitly non-racist in nature (and focuses on the clones) I don't see why you can't also tag your work or write an AN that says #UnwhitewashTBB.

Hope this helps!

~ Mod CH

[k9emote]

Hey there K9 :) Just wanted to share this since you said the ones who were wronged and wanted to talk to you and explain their side of the story could I'm just here sharing my friends message that's all/lh

Hey K9. This is Prox. I want to keep my own blog free from asks and such, so I’m having a friend post this in my honor. Please read it all the way through. It’s my side of the story regarding your recent apology post.

Hi,

I hear you, Proxy.

I'm sorry for misunderstanding some of what you did.

I still think, in any context, having OC's with number names is not okay. My opinion won't change on that but to each their own. Those are my boundaries and I've spoken enough about it already.

Thank you for apologizing about how you spoke to me. We were both tired, and both were nasty towards each other. stuff happens, and I forgive you.

I'm glad you've been educated about proshippers, and thank you for apologizing about the demonization of dog breeds. I hope you're able to grow from your fear of them and experience just how sweet they can be.

As far as I can remember, we NEVER said "I hope proxy kills themselves" or ANYTHINGGG like that because that's disgusting and I'd fucking never. If me or my mods said anything like that, I am so so sorry. I'm pretty sure the closest thing I might've said about that is "if you ignore victims kys" which is pretty broad but I understand can look like it's targeted at you and I am so sorry. I hope you are safe, genuinely.

I have used harmful coping mechanisms in the past, I admit. And I am working daily on fixing those. I've been doing a lot bettet as of recent.

Thank you for reaching out respectfully.

I hope you are well, and I hope that anyone who decides to harass you or ANYONE blocks me and dies in a hole.

oh and one note I forgot to add - that person who was complaining to us has since been banned for using autism as an excuse to use number names (they couldn't reclaim) and refused to let us help them. they defended others who purposely went against our boundaries and we do not associate ourselves with them.

[starandsims]

Starandsims Introduction

Hello and welcome to my simblr! Here you'll find links to my gameplay as I play through different challenges, legacies, and just whatever I feel like doing!

Currently Playing:

The Carter Legacy - a decades challenge following the Carter family, currently on gen 2 circa 1910

The Poche Legacy - a Pokémon type legacy challenge following the Poche family, currently on gen 1 normal type

Personal information and more under the cut

My name is Star (she/her) and I've been simming since the Sims 2, I have a lot of nostalgia for the old console games since I didn't have a computer until Sims 3 and didn't have a gaming computer until Sims 4. I'm mostly Maxis Match, I like to think I don't use a ton of mods and CC but in reality my mods/cc foster is overflowing.

Please feel free to ask me anything or comment about my characters and stories! Constructive criticism is welcome but please always be positive and encouraging in your delivery! I'm an adult but I still get my feelings hurt sometimes! I would say I'm WCIF friendly but the truth is I might not able to figure out where something is from. I don't use reshade or gshade or photoshop, I just edit my photos in Canva so my screenies don't always look professional but I strive to do my best and focus more on writing and story!

I am NOT a builder, most of the builds in my game are downloaded from the gallery. I do so appreciate all the builders out there and will always post somewhere what build I'm using, but I won't put it on each and every post! My playstyle is to use random traits and follow the whims of sims, for example I never try for a baby unless at least one (or sometimes even both) person has the whim for it (I do lock in the whim though lol). I never save and start over, whatever happens happens and I live with it and try to use it in the story.

I use a custom lifespan with MCCC in which every four sim days is a year, I use 14 day seasons and generally have at least two holidays in a season. This is just what makes the most sense to my brain and I have a personal handwritten timeline for each save to keep up with when things happen and use that to inform when relationships should progress and precisely how old sims are.

I focus on a lot of family gameplay, I rarely play just one sim unless I'm just starting a save - and even then I usually make some sims to be their family and friends going into the save. I do a minimal amount of rotational gameplay through my saves, I usually focus on one specific household and then occasionally will go through other households in the save to clean them up and things like that. Maybe spend a day or two with them just to see what's going on and then return to my main household.

I am an adult and a lot of my stories will involve more mature themes, if you are under 18 then I would strongly suggest you avoid posts that are more mature in nature. Everything will be tagged and more explicit posts will also have a warning in the title, but use abundant caution just in case! If anything is ever missed in tagging I respectfully ask that you message me privately to alert me!

[thenewfuture]

Thank you, thank you Sparks. It's been a long time coming, but we are finally done with this first arc on this blog. Which means; it's time for our very first:

ARC OVERVIEW!

Now what is an "Arc Overview", I hear you ask. An Arc Overview is where I give you the general rundown of everything in this arc; things I liked doings, things I didn't like, maybe some fun facts of things that didn't make it in, etc. With all of that out of the way, let's take dive i to the "Jabberwock Island Arc Overview"!

....

........

...............

Really? You all made it and stuck with me through this thing? Seriously? Wow... Thank you all so much. I first want to take this time and just show my gratitude for you all, for being here, supporting me and the story of this blog. It really means a lot to me.

I want to give special attention to @etriansquad-yssey, @dtgvxg, @daebreaker1, @xsuicunex2, @spyrkle4, @overanalyst556, and every anon that has been here since day 1. You all are amazing, and without you this story wouldn't have gone anywhere. So I thank you for all the support you've given me. It truly mean a lot to me in ways words can't even begin to say.

Another shout-out and thank you to is to @ghostshadow-k-r, without they didn't need to draw Kebi sprites for me, but they did, and I am eternally grateful for that. And thanks to you, our little mascot looks even more adorable!

And it's no secret that I have been inspired by Mod Bubbles, Mod Poi, and Mod Creeper's blogs of ASOOT, NWPM/DTFA, DRSurvivor respectfully, so if they see this I want to thank them again for their hardwork and for inspiring me to pursue a story blog of my own. And one more thank you to Mod Poi as well, I enjoy our talks together and your help. I really appreciate that.

But yeah, hoo wee, onto the actual arc itself. And, I feel it didn't that long at all, I mean time flew by so fast, like-

.....huh? ....Oh, I'm sorry, what? .....It's been long...like a long, long time..... W-Well, okay then....h-how long could it have been...?

A YEAR?!?!?!!?!?

That's not good.... Uh, heh heh heh......

Well, I'm sorry about that. This arc did take much longer than I was anticipating.... But with work and personal life shenanigans, as well as my mental health states, and sometimes just being not motivated or tired to work on the story did slow it down a bit...

I hope to not have this be the precedent for arcs going forward and will try my best going forward, but I think I can say the next arc won't take as long.... I hope....

Not only helped by times even I was tired of where I was in the story and just wanted to move on to the next beat because it sounded much more fun. Or simply because I forgot what I wanted to do or have characters say in certain moments.

But there was a lot I did like in this arc. I liked writing Hajime and his struggles, and the whole side arc with Mahiru was done well, I liked getting the chance to include Kebi, that was fun, and getting to show off Tenten.

But there are two big elephants we need to address, so let's do it now shall we?

Ah yes, Nagito Komaeda. Danganronpa's icon and forever meme boi. Who I am sure sparks no discourse whatsoever with his presence.........haaaa...

Writing Nagito has certainly been challenging, as you've seen I'm o the belief that not everyone should have immediately forgiven him and Nagito shouldn't be babied because of his disease and health. He is smart enough to solve the crimes or at the very least, have some suspects in mind when it comes to the class trials so he is very intelligent. And while Nagito has gotten his share of humble pie from the anons, there have also come some toxic fudge as well drizzled in there. I need not go any further for many of you to know what I'm talking about. And maybe I have mistakenly gave the impression that this kind of behavior was allowed because this arc went on for so long, but even so, there have been numerous moments where the line has been crossed.

This arc has been about characters coming to terms with their actions and striving to better somewhat, and they can't get better if they are constantly stepped down on when the attempts are honestly being made. Redemption is not an easy path for those who choose to walk it, but they also shouldn't be deliberately run over either.

But for the most part, it was pretty tame. I mean, could you imagine if there was another character like this who I may have written worse and have constant discourse battles in my ask box about this concept everytime they were on screen? Pfft! Wouldn't that be wild! Ahahaha-

Oh...it's you...... Heeeeeeeee.........Hiiiiiiiiii.......

Look, I have not hid this. Hiyoko is not my favorite character in this cast. Probably in this whole franchise. But even still, I tried to make do with Hiyoko to the best of my abilities, but as you can see, it didn't bode well with a select few.

"Unsalvageable" Many claimed Hiyoko was unsalvageable, and it's easy to see why. I will admit. I may have gone overboard with the annoying bully part of character, which as you can see brought an onslaught of dicussions and ask from her many fans or "simps" as me and Mod Poi like to address them by. And to think...this would have been so much worse...

I think it's about time I tell you all what I initially had planned for Hiyoko that would make many hate me, huh? So I'm pretty sure after Hajime's therapy and intervention session, we would just time skip to when Mikan wakes up. She has amnesia, can't remember anything, yada yada yada. All that stays the same. Except one thing; Hiyoko's there this time. And she would claim that Mikan is merely faking her amnesia. And so to prove it, Hiyoko would go see Mikan alone, bully her some more like pulling on her hair, hitting her etc, and even trying to kill her as revenge, the same way Mikan did to her. Everyone comes in just in time to stop her, then Mahiru would end her friendship with Hiyoko, and the arc would essentially end the same.

........So you can see why I dropped that, right? I'm going to claim what I rewrote was better, it was still kind of messed up, but I needed Hiyoko to truly awaken, have her eyes opened and truly reflect on what she had done. All Hiyoko does is deflect and dismiss any sort of consequence that comes her way, Hiyoko needed to be face with the reality and to stop living in her own little bubble. That was I was trying to go for with her here. And if I ever did wrong by her, then I apologize and I will try to make her better as the arcs go on.

All in all, writing this blog has been fun, stressful, calming, exhausting, exciting, and frustrating. ...But I loved doing it. And once again, I'm thankful to you all for sticking it with me this far.

I'm going to take a little break to fine tune some parts of the next arc going forward, but I also have some posts planned to stay in touch with you guys. So until then look forward to that, and I will you see you all when we return for the next arc which is...the Future Foundation Arc......

....oh god.... A-Ahem! See you all then!

-Mod

[saintlethanavir]

LEV I NEED TZIPPORAH KNOWLEDGE IMMEDIATELY. GIVE IT TO ME. ANSWER 5 QUESTIONS OF YOUR CHOICE FROM THE LIST.

LMAO I LOVE YOU ASH BLESS YOU

Tell us about your Tav! Name, class and subclass, race, pronouns. Do you have a headcanon for where they're from? Their family? Are they a Dark Urge? Or did you choose an Origin Character? Was it an easy decision?

Lord Tzipporah 'Tzippy' Frostmoon, Storm Sorcerer, Tiefling (Undead), They/Any. They're from a noble family in Baldurs Gate that was cursed to be without magical abilities in their lineage for centuries due to a terrible unspeakable sin committed by a necromancer in their bloodline. That unspeakable sin was born of tragedy in the wake of an attack on a small town by a group of Red Wizards. The Red Wizards had killed a farmers partner and son, so in a desperate attempt to revive them the farmer -- and origin of the Frostmoon bloodline -- they made a pact with Caiphon. It wasn't the revival that was considered a sin though. The farmer kept his farm and family well, amassing wealth and respectfully abiding by Caiphons wishes. It was his great grand son that brought ruin to the homestead by attempting to make a spectacle out of their pact and draw upon a power that wasn't for him. A terrible disease descended upon the farm, the crops died, and the grand son ran from his dying family with all their gold and riches. He started a whole new family in Baldurs Gate and managed to lie his way into a place of nobility. Without gifts and worship given, or even a thank you, Caiphon cursed his lineage just as his daughter was about to be born. Magic would be erased from them until a certain time in the future when a child would be born with Caiphons eldritch blood flowing through them. That would be Tzipporah who was born with the tell tale eldritch sign in their left eye that glowed bright, radiant purple. Their family sought to marry them to an influential wizard from Waterdeep (yes I am talking about Gale lol) but they ran off with their boyfriend Marith when they found this out (Marith is an asshole do not route for Marith).

The undead part would come later. It was hard not choosing the Dark Urge again LMAO but I'm having fun with their background for sure!

2. Was there something about the character creator that just couldn't capture your Character? Please tell us about their hair, facial hair, tattoos, piercings, disabilities, their trans or intersex body, or anything else you're comfortable sharing.

Much like me, Tzipporah has issues with chronic pain! Specifically in their legs. They use a cane to help with this and braces as well. They also should have some piercings in their ears but for some reason it didn't register in the CC LOL. They're also supposed to have top surgery done but the mod I was using wasn't working I guess? RIP

19. Did your Character spend a night with a companion either the night of the party or earlier? Is it someone they have a continued interest in?

I fully intend on romancing Astarion again LOL. They're going to spend a night with him, and definitely will have a continued interest in him as well. If I can make it work they'll be in a polyam romance with Gale and Astarion, though they did not intend at first to be with Gale considering he's someone they were engaged to before. I think there's something spicy about an unintended and assumed unrequited love that way that blossoms into something very sweet.

23. What are your Character's thoughts on the dream visitor?

At first Tzipporah is interested in what they have to say and knows they look like Marith, who they don't remember too well (due to the whole dying thing). It isn't until their memories start to solidify again that they begin associating the dream visitor with manipulation and they actively don't want to talk to them, and develop insomnia because of this.

30. Do you have other pets as a ranger or in headcanon?

Tzipporah will eventually have a cat familiar! I'm not sure what their name will be but I really want them to have an emotional support animal of the cat variety, probably a main coon!

[logicalstansadvice]

Is Seb bulking up for Thunderbolts?? What do y’all think? /

it's definitely the baddy clothes

Anon 2: Blaming pants! We saw him just a few weeks ago, and he didn't look bulkier than usual yet. 6+ months till Thunderbolts begin filming, visible change will happen later, imo (if it happens at all. He wasn't particularly bulky in 2019-2020 for TFATWS, just in good shape).

Anon 3: I’d say it’s both the pants and he wants his thighs back and I am here for that a** 🥵

Anon 4: Definitely the baggy pants and the angle. He might be already training for Thunderbolts, but there's no way he would bulk up that fast. The LACMA thing was only 10 days ago.

Anon 5: Maybe he’s just been eating well with Annabelle. 😈

Anon 6: I'm aware this opinion is not likely to be shared by most mods, but I would trade like a month of Seb in shorts and long black socks to see him in some fitted outfits again 🥲 I miss those skinny jeans days

Anon 7: Uuuuuuuuuuu daddyyy ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Anon 8: I am most definitely not looking respectfully 😍🥵

Lady Danger - 😂 at these comments!! I wouldn’t mind a little more junk in Seb’s trunk. But don’t invoke the black socks, Anon 6!! 🙅🏻‍♀️

Ruby Woo - I'm sure the skinny jeans will be back soon enough, lol. Not a fan of the pants, but his hair and shades look nice!!

[not-an-a3-fan]

July Birthday Boys!

One last day to wish the July Birthday boys a happy birthday!

We really should have worked on this piece earlier into the month. bUt wE dIdN’T sO nOw wE’Re hErE 〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜. Fuck that pattern. None of my homies like the pattern. - Mod Hydrangea

Everyone give it up for MVP Mod Hydrangea who carried this entire piece while I just sketched the Kumon. Give her all your support this is no longer a request oh my gods >:3 - Mod Peony

[will-o-the-witch]

Antisemitism in Witchy Spaces

And no, I will not be putting it under a cut.

I started recording every time something happened in hopes it would show how antisemitism actually manifests in witchcraft circles. It eventually got to be five parts long and instead of having people reblog incomplete versions of the post, here is the whole thing in its entirety. Give it a read. Seriously. Read the whole thing so these things can happen less.

Facebook Witch Group: post is made by a user with a profile picture of a clear nazi swastika. After being notified, admin declares the user is allowed to stay because the group is a “judgement free zone.” 

Facebook Witch Group: Jewitches were assumed white by default and pitted against other groups, as if Jewish people are leveraging their identity to “play up” their own oppression and undermine others. Many openly Jewish witches are harassed out of the group.

One of the mods in that same group discovered they “might be Jewish” and became the sole authority on Jewish issues despite having zero connection to the culture or any kind of confirmed Jewish heritage. They were eventually caught lying about their entire race/ethnicity/background.

A witchy discord group implements a rule that outlaws all mention of all closed practices (including Judaism) “to protect from appropriation,” even if the person has legitimate claim to the practice. When I pointed out this basically forced me into hiding, admin says, “you can be Jewish. Just not here.”

A user identified themselves as a Kabbalist. Later in the discussion, they were surprised to learn Kabbalah was Jewish in origin, admitted they didn’t know a single Jewish person in real life, and argued that Kabbalah couldn’t be that bad because Arianna Grande also used it. (”Are you saying she’s wrong too??” yes)

Another user is called out for appropriating Kabbalah and proceeds to sling antisemitic jokes until they are banned.

Just. So many more people appropriating Kabbalah and becoming hostile towards any Jewish person that expresses discomfort. (Including one person that even gave themselves a Hebrew username)

A group of users too big to argue with talking about how amaaaazing working with Lilith is. A few Jewish folks respectfully ask them to be mindful of her origins. They’re not given attention. (Or what attention they are given is only to debate her origin.)

Discord server has rooms for every major subcategory of Paganism and one room for “Abrahamic.” Christian witches completely dominate the conversation.

I mention on my blog that I am a proud Jewish person. One of the comments shortly after is “go be Jewish in Israel.”

A Nazi sympathizer joins a Discord group, reveals themselves, is banned, and proceeds to try and join over and over again through different accounts.

I check my blog activity to find a nazi witch blog had gone through my feed and liked a ton of stuff so I’d be sure to see their username (they did this to other notable tumblr blogs as well.) Looking at their bio revealed their agenda of proving Nazis “weren’t all bad,” and their dash included an open invite to a holocaust denial discord server.

A tumblr thread gets big of a bunch of witches arguing to cancel the word Sabbat because of supposed antisemitic origins. Jewish people chime in to insist that we really don’t give a shit about Wiccans using the word Sabbat, and not to speak over Jewish people and declare what we’re offended by. Tumblr arguments ensue.

I get “called out” for baking challah. That’s not antisemitism but it made me laugh really hard. (It’s okay for goyim to bake bread, obviously. Just don’t be weird about it somehow.)

“High magic” and ceremonial practitioners ignoring or brushing off their tradition’s origin in blatant appropriation.

A user shares a magical Hebrew chant to a group for everyone to use. It includes a name of Gd, even though the group is largely Pagan. They didn’t realize that was a part of it because they don’t speak or read Hebrew.

Another discord group asserts in the rules that members of closed cultures may be openly themselves and discuss their craft, but not in an educational way.  Meanwhile, a mod practices exclusively Hermetic Kabbalah. I don’t have the strength to get into it.

Discord server-wide prompt ping: Tell us about your Christian upbringing! (This isn’t “pure” antisemitism, but it sure does erase those of us who weren’t raised in Christian households)

The nazi witch blog starts making rounds again, dropping asks in multiple inboxes to the effect of: “Jews are anti-pagan and anti-gentile, so why can’t we be anti-Jewish?” (Hopefully I don’t have to explain why that’s a shit take

I joined a discord server and see people discussing different religions, at some point I point out Judaism doesn’t share every major Christian belief. People start challenging this, one person even saying (essentially) “Jewish people might not believe in Hell, but Judaism does because they believe in the same God as Christianity.” (????)

That same conversation, Modmins quickly shut down discussion and some members suggest we not speak about religion to avoid making lurkers uncomfrotable/ to avoid giving people a reason to hex us. Even though religious discussion had already been going on. (I left after that.)

Another Jewish tumblr brings up the history of violence against Jewish graves, and  explains how taking graveyard dirt is considered an act of desecration by traditional Jewish law. Another user argues that because their practice considers it a rite of honor, taking graveyard dirt from a Jewish grave should be okay. They explicitly said they would take it from my grandparent’s graves. They said they would take it from my grave. Multiple people have to explain why you shouldn’t eagerly desacrate people’s graves.

Another Jewitch once shared a story with us: A woman claimed she was able to contact (or had already been contacting and working with) that person’s ancestors who were killed in the Shoah.

A person discusses why Kabbalah is appropriation. One person’s counterargument boils down to: “I was told I was Egyptian in a past life, therefore I may have been Jewish, therefore I have rightful access to Kabbalah now.” (Side note, pretty sure I’ve also seen people mention “past lives” where they were killed in the Shoah.)

A discord server adds new roles, including Qlippoth and “Kabballah.” I inform them that 1) They didn’t spell it right and 2) I hoped that it would be respected as a closed practice. The mod response was essentially, “it’s not closed, are you a Rabbi?” When i asked “are you Jewish?” they would just continue to assert that my voice on the issue wasn’t valid unless I was a Rabbi. (Rabbis have no one unified belief on pretty much anything, btw.)

Another mod came in eventually to try and be more helpful, but still hesitated to make any changes. (The suggested changes were either taking off the Kabbalistic roles, or adding roles that were more inclusive to other types of Jewish magic. We’ve got more than just that.)

This could be more ignorance than “true” antisemitism, but I’d be amiss if I didn’t preserve someone asking “What about Hermetic Quaballah?”

In a discussion about Lilith, one person asserts to my face that Jewish people cannot be witches without forsaking and publicly denouncing their entire religion and culture. Therefore any Jewish anything was up for grabs for witchcraft purposes, and all Jewish witches present were mistaken in some way.

Another person in that same discussion describes an (incorrect) origin story for Lilith, which involved Judaism’s malicious plan to take local mythical figures and portray them as demons to oppress the other local religions and further their “rabid monotheism.”

Through the comments of the old thread, I learned about Wiccans trying to make their own mezuzot, which is hilariously off base.

A semi-prominent witchblr user has an epiphany, and begins posting about how “most conspiracy theories hold a large amount of truth.” While they say they don’t want to delegitimize Jewish pain, also believe that Jewish people control all the banks, and the Holocaust was a “strategic move” to create a narrative of Jewish oppression and delegitimize any conspiracy theories

At least one other tumblr witch sees this blog and comments with enthusiastic support. (along the lines of “Yes, the truth is coming out! Preach!”) Their account looks really normal otherwise, so they were just quietly interacting with the community while harboring these beliefs.

Joy of Satan, a well-known neo nazi propaganda site disguised as a Satanism resource, comments on one of my posts with a link to their homepage.

Somebody in a Discord chat goes to the #closed-practices room and asks a genuine question about Lilith. Several goyim respond with incorrect information and challenge any Jewish voice trying to speak in dissent. One person even says they have spoken with Lilith directly in the past, and anybody who believes she is restricted just doesn’t understand Lilith/the Divine as well as they do.

A popular Facebook group focused on calling out cultural appropriation begins making rounds. Jewish people (and lots of POC) are shamed if they do not find something as offensive as the collective group, even if the other group members are not actually members of that culture.

A narrative forms that tarot is a closed practice, ignoring Jewish mysticism’s influence on it and insinuating that Jewish people have no right to reclaim it while other people profit off of our appropriation.

A person (not even on anon!) Comes into my inbox saying that “Abrahamic religions” are anti-Pagan, anti-satanic, and anti-women, so they should be allowed to be “anti-Abrahamic.” They also conflated Lilith with a Hindu deity with no actual backing for it. Turns out they’re a Joy of Satan promo blog.

Someone digs up an old post on Lilith share her personal story (and try to receive validation that they’re the exception and should be allowed to appropriate her.) When she doesn’t get what she wants, she asserts I “need to do shadow work” for responding in my (terse, but not malicious) tone, and asserts she knows more about Lilith than us and that Jewish people are disrespecting Lilith. She then digs up OTHER posts I had personally made about Lilith to comment on what “bullshit” they are.

Someone asserts that Jews are only co-opting the term “appropriation” from other minorities (and don’t have our own legitimate claim to it) and that Judaism is only closed because we “think we’re the chosen ones” and therefore better than everyone else. (This is a deeply GROSS misunderstanding of the chosen people thing, btw.)

A popular occultist account on Tiktok responds to Judaism being a closed practice by “joking” that he’s going to beat our heads in.

A group gets recommended in a chat I’m in. When I warn them about the antisemitism I experienced in that group, I am met with doubt and asked to provide (what would have been months-old) screenshots of the offense and people insinuate that I am actually working to silence other minorities (because the group was social justice focused) in some way for levying these “allegations.”

A group signs me on to be a moderator for no other reason than the fact that I am Jewish. They didn’t really know anything else about me, but they knew they needed representation in that area. Benevolent, but still notable.

Later on, a mod tries to insinuate that I have never truly experienced oppression or felt unsafe because of my background, and refused to recognize that Jewish oppression existed at all without adding a “but...” or saying I was playing a victim card and somehow undermining her own struggle. Just for saying antisemitism exists, not that it’s more or even equally important as other types of oppression. Just that it exists. I leave the group.

Somebody makes the distinction in a group that not all Pagans are witches and not all witches are Pagan. A moderator of the group says they “disagree” and believe all witches are Pagan. I (and others) reassert that our respective religions don’t fall under any definition of the word and we do not identify as Pagans. Their reply: “in your opinion.”

I gently point out (in what was a friendly conversation up to this point) that something they were doing could be seen as appropriative or offensive if they didn’t go through the proper channels. The tone switches abruptly and suddenly they’re accusing me of “believing in cultural superiority” and gatekeeping knowledge. Another person joins the conversation solely to back them up, and says I am “pouring out negative energy” by talking about this.

This same person also calls me a false witch, asserts that my power/magic is meaningless, etc. There was no reason for them to believe this other than my religious affiliation.

A person asks me to sic Lilith on somebody on her behalf. I tell her I’m not comfortable doing that on command, especially with strangers. It felt like she just wanted to use my traditions “through” me and get free magical labor. (This same person later called me a r#tard and a sh#male when she got banned from a group I helped run.)

I make a post venting about antisemitism. In less than ten minutes, somebody has reblogged it connecting my vent to Israeli politics. The original post never mentioned Israel.

I share a post that covers a rough history of antisemitism over the past 1000+ years. Though the post only mentions Israel in brief passing (and was much more about the historic geographical area than the modern country,) somebody concludes that I am “anti-Palestine.” For.... reblogging someone mentioning Israel in an academic context. I guess. Anon is sure to send me all of their opinions about it.

I reach out to a mod of a group with concerns about appropriation and offer to help educate the mod team if they have any questions about stuff. I get banned.

There are two servers dedicated to ceremonial magick and its ilk. One has a mod who has been called out by Jewish people online for years and claims to know more about Hebrew/Judaism than actual Jews. The other is not as outwardly hostile, but the meme chat is FILLED with borderline nazi shit.

I receive a wave of anonymous harassment containing some very disrespectful and NSFW elements mixed with kabbalah and asking about my Rabbi. They either have friends helping out, or change IP addresses to bypass multiple blocks.

There's a nuanced, interfaith discussion about respecting Abrahamic practitioners (and not taking the Torah/Bible/etc. at only literal face value with no critical analysis.) People flank in to combat this, citing why they believe God (using the yud-hey name) and their followers are all horrible based on citations from the Bible which are taken at only literal face value with no critical analysis.

I get waves of asks requesting I explain various aspects of Judaism, which I'm nearly always happy to answer. Over time though, it's clear a few individuals are taking advantage of it and ask things increasingly asinine and easily googlable, fixating on subjects not even relevant to my practice. Eventually I realize they're just using me as their personal research machine for closed topics and hit the block button.

Another discord debate about Lilith sparks up. After HOURS of heated discussion and full articles of emotional labor from several Jewish people, the person admits that they had agreed with us the whole time. They just wanted to "play devils advocate" and make us argue (aka dance for them) in order to get a "deeper understanding" of the issue.

Now with fun new additions!

[writingwithcolor]

How to Write Non-Fluent ESL English

@interneet​ asked:

Hey, I’m reading a story at the moment where immigrant characters speak in incredibly broken English. It’s really jarring. Is there a way to respectfully write characters speaking in broken/non-fluent English without it coming across unrealistic and racist or would you advise just leaving that out of your writing altogether?

This is going to turn into a bit of a guide…I’ll try not to get too carried away with linguistics stuff :)

A Note on Terminology

I’d definitely go with “non-fluent” over “broken,” as the term “broken” has quite a negative connotation that also tends to be used in describing stigmatized languages, language varieties, and dialects that are, in fact, used properly according to their own internal rules (AAVE and many Global Englishes, to name a few). 

Another term you should know for this guide is ESL and L1/L2. I’ll use L1 to refer to first language, L2 for second language, and so on—you can keep adding numbers. ESL is “English Second Language,” which is pretty self-explanatory, but there is a crucial distinction between that and dominant language. I myself am technically ESL, as I started learning English at around age 3. However, since I live in the US where English is the dominant language, I quickly gained in English proficiency and lost Japanese proficiency. While I still have around middle schooler proficiency in Japanese, English is my dominant language now. An immigrant character may be ESL but completely fluent in English.

Should You Write It?

It depends on whether or not the character’s English proficiency is plot relevant. Keep in mind that with writing non-fluent english, you don’t want to overload speech with mistakes, or make it incomprehensible. The most you should do is use it to establish character (say a character has just moved overseas, and in the story their English improves over time) or to further plot (maybe there is important info that needs to be communicated and there’s a barrier). If it’s not relevant, and it’s just in order to establish that they’re a foreigner, don’t do it. It’s Othering, and there are other ways to establish culture and culture shock. As I said before, not all immigrants have a poor command of their destination country’s dominant language. 

The How-To

There are two components that I’ll address: 

The types of errors to include, and

Writing accents (or not)

First, grammatical features are better to use than phonetic ones. We’ll get to why when we talk about accents, but for now, note that it’s more respectful to use for ESL errors than pronunciation. Here are some examples of grammatical features: 

Word order

Inflections (eg. the attachment of affixes like -s, -ed, etc. to indicate tense, person, number, etc. of a noun or verb)

The presence or absence of certain morphological constructs that appear in some languages but not others (eg. Japanese has topic markers like wa, and English doesn’t; English has definite/indefinite articles like the but Japanese doesn’t)

If you’re writing an ESL character, ask beta readers & mods on this blog who speak the character’s L1 to see if the grammatical features of your character’s ESL speech are consistent with typical English fluency errors. Here’s an ask I answered on Japanese, and Mod Rune gives a good example on Korean here: 

A Korean is more likely to try and put someone’s title behind their last name (e.g. Obama President rather than President Obama, Lestrade Inspector instead of Inspector Lestrade)

Second, we want to avoid in-dialogue portrayals of phonetic differences, which is also called “eye dialect.” Here are some examples from a piece of media many of us are probably familiar with, but I don’t think deserves a citation: 

“Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?”

“Eh? No, don' go! I've — I've never met another one before”

“Anuzzer what, precisely?”

“Another half-giant, o' course.”

Both speakers have an accent that is shown within the writing through misspellings of the words they’re speaking (one is French, one is West Country English). This is a stereotypical (and often hard-to-read) portrayal of accents that Others the speaker and unfairly puts either their dialect differences or their perceived proficiency in English at the forefront of their dialogue. And this is with European characters! Imagine how this would look on people from other parts of the globe. 

Another major reason why we want to avoid eye dialect is because of the racist history of (pejoratively) writing accents in literature. In early American writing, Black characters were written according to minstrel stereotypes, and with it, a stereotypical way of speaking that was emphasized through eye dialect. Here’s a thesis that explains the history of eye dialect in American literature to supplement that idea, if you want to learn more. In addition, unless you’re a linguist or dialect coach who is trained in the phonetic inventory of the L1 & speaker tendencies, you tend to perpetuate media stereotypes that may not be reflective of actual speech. This can be very harmful. 

Here’s a link on how to describe accents instead, and here are some good perspectives on being a 1st generation immigrant and struggling with accents (how that affects them when they’re teased for it, and also strategies they have taken to overcome a knowledge gap). 

In Conclusion

Before writing an ESL speaker’s English in a different way from the rest of the cast, consider whether or not this is really needed in your story.

If you do decide to write their speech differently, look at the grammatical features of their L1 and talk to real speakers of that L1 to get a realistic idea.

AVOID EYE DIALECT! 

Thanks for stickin’ with me, folks. 

~Mod Rina

[saintobio]

pov: he’s a racer and you’re the finish line. (3)

↳ oikawa tooru/reader (feat. miya atsumu)

summary. driven by the thrill of illegal street racing, an esteemed racer from Miyagi shows up and makes a tough bet against your abusive boyfriend in exchange for you.

genre. angst/fluff, action, street racer au

cw. illegal street racing, mentions of physical and sexual abuse, mentions of past suicide, reference to substance abuse (drugs), strong language, gambling, guns, violence (please read at your own discretion)

notes. it got hella dark in here lol i am sad but also excited to post the final part!! thanks so much for reading this street racer oikawa short fic i rly hope u guys enjoyed it <3 i might consider a lighthearted suna spinoff to this series :>

previous <- masterlist

3/3

Kim didn’t get the chance to tell you about ‘Isabel’ because Tooru came out of the bathroom just before she was going to give you the answer you wanted.

You believed talking about Isabel was something they avoided in this house, otherwise Kim wouldn’t have hesitated to tell you everything about her in front of Oikawa. You couldn’t measure if it was something to worry about and you certainly wouldn’t want to know that you were stepping on someone else’s heart in exchange for Tooru.

Isabel couldn��t possibly be his current lover, right?

You waited for your chance to hear the full story, patiently and respectfully, even though you could see that Kim wanted to tell you then and there. If not for a busy day ahead of her, you would’ve had the time and space to be alone to talk about it.

However, now wasn’t the perfect time. They had to be at their automotive garage to run their business and accommodating your concerns were the least of Kim’s priority right now.

“Seijoh Auto Repair Shop,” you read out the signage as you hopped out of Oikawa’s Nissan R34 Skyline. “You guys tune cars?”

He nodded, walking inside the garage while holding your hand. “Vehicle modifications and customizations. We also do repairs for exhaust systems, transmissions, and all that,” he answered, pointing towards an Auto Parts shop across the garage. “You see that over there, baby? That’s where I get all the high performance parts. Street racers in Miyagi would go there to get whatever I have under the hood and then they go here for mods.”

As impressed as you were, you also remembered to point out his Skyline that looked exactly like a replica of Paul Walker’s car. “Let’s talk about your R34 Skyline, Mr. Fast and Furious geek. Did you purposely customize your car just like Brian’s?”

“You got me.” He let out a faint chuckle before urging you to sit on top of a table where Mattsun’s huge toolbox was laid out. Tooru stood in between your legs and placed his hands on your thighs. “It’s cool, right? That bad boy’s not cheap, either. It’s got a higher market value after the movie came out and I exhausted all the money I earned from street races to build the exact specifications. It’s hard earned, that’s why it’s my favorite car.”

“I wonder what’s under the hood,” you innocently pondered, thinking about the exact modifications that he did on his engine.

The corner of his lips lifted into a sly smirk and you could see his eyes briefly checking out your body before looking back at you. “I’d prefer to see what’s on top of the hood.”

You blushed at the memory of the previous night’s steamy sex on top of his McLaren Senna. There was no way in hell you could ever look at the car and not be reminded of that night.

Tooru was about to kiss your lips until the crew’s footsteps and loud teasing had distracted you two.

“Okay, sweethearts. This isn’t a motel,” Kim commented in good humor, stopping in front of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX that was currently under repair.

Mattsun followed shortly, opening his toolbox beside you with an amused smile. “Where were you two last night?”

Makki showed up, grinning before he did his best imitation of you, “A-Aaah, Tooru! Mmh.. Yes, yes faster!”

“Oh my god! Stop,” you squealed, hiding your embarrassed face on Oikawa’s neck.

Your guy, however, was laughing along. “Shut up, Makki. I bet my ass you jerked off to us.”

“Disgusting!”

You were partly grateful when Iwaizumi came to end the teasing as he delivered another news that quickly took the crew’s interest. “Hey, I was just at the auto shop and guess who ordered a Magnaflow xMOD in time for Friday’s race?”

“Your mom?” Hanamaki joked which earned a middle finger from Iwaizumi.

“Semi Eita,” he confirmed, turning to Oikawa who remained unbothered.

“Fuck that guy, bro,” he merely said as he leaned his back against your chest. “He’s just gonna end up losing to me either way.”

Kim sniggered while wiping her hands with a towel. “What car you gonna use this Friday, baby?”

Oikawa shrugged as if it was obvious enough. “Skyline.”

You didn’t mean to chime into their conversation but you thought that your idea could help, “Why don’t you use the Senna?” you asked naively.

The guys laughed at what seemed like a funny proposition and Tooru leaned in to kiss your cheek as a response. “You’re cute,” he stated. “But no one’s gonna take me seriously if I show up in an expensive ass car, baby. It’s underground street racing, not Formula One circuit.”

You ended up pouting because you didn’t have any fucking idea about it. Back in Hyogo, they simply did street racing for fun but they seemed to take the whole street racing scene more seriously here in Miyagi. It was definitely a huge change of atmosphere.

Tooru pecked your lips to erase your silly pout. “Come watch Friday’s race. I’ll win one for you again.”

Oikawa’s crew was vastly different from the Atsumu’s crew and some of the main differences were easily noticeable through their bond. With Oikawa’s crew, they were more chaotic but highly experienced with automobiles. Atsumu’s crew, on the other hand, were more relaxed and the only people that were causing the chaos were the Miya twins.

You loved two groups of people equally, but now that you lived with them and was basically part of Tooru’s crew, you learned to appreciate the great company they offered you. They gave you a warm welcome and treated you like a family right away, despite being with them for only a couple of days. It felt nice to finally belong somewhere where you weren’t being disregarded or treated like dirt by one or two people. For them, anyone Oikawa liked, they also liked.

It was on a Thursday night, which was the night before the race, when you finally had the chance to be alone with Kim on the balcony of Oikawa’s house. The guys were downstairs playing videogames so you were assured that no one would bother you two.

She was drinking a cold Corona beer while looking at the stars in deep thought and you took this opportunity to bring up the question that had been lurking inside your head for days.

“Kim,” you called for her attention, which she immediately gave. “About Isabel?”

Her eyes quickly recalled the last conversation you two were in. “Right, well—”

“Sorry if I seem so nosey or anything,” you explained beforehand, just in case. “I’m just really curious ‘cause I don’t wanna find out that I’m Tooru’s sidehoe or something.”

Kim found humor in it. “No, you’re fine. I would’ve been curious, too.”

Silently, you were wishing that you weren’t going to end up hurt with what she was about to say.

“Isabel was his girlfriend for six years,” Kim explained. “But he’s been in love with her more than that.”

Yup, that definitely hurt. You couldn’t even understand why there was a pang of jealousy creeping in your chest because it was just unacceptable for you feel that way. It wasn’t like you and Oikawa could magically fall in love after a few days, even if you were easily and strongly attached to him, you had to know your place.

“Where’s she now?” you silently asked.

She exhaled a deep sigh. “You’re gonna be shocked but... she ended her life two years ago. Her uncle, he physically and sexually assaulted her and the trauma she went through eventually made her commit. Oikawa didn’t find out about it until a week after she died. She never told anyone about the abuse ‘cause she was scared.”

It almost felt like your heart dropped to your stomach after hearing about what the poor girl went through. At the same time, your heart was hurting at the puzzle pieces that were slowly coming together as a whole.

“God, I’m telling you Oikawa was so enraged after that. None of us could talk to him because he was angry at the world—at the fact that he didn’t get to do anything to spare Isabel’s life and the fact that her demon uncle ran away instead of rotting in jail.” Kim’s eyes reflected the pain that she was feeling for Oikawa because she had been around him longer than you could imagine. She had seen it all. “You know, the reason why Oikawa would drive across Japan, from town to town, isn’t just because of street racing.”

Your eyes locked with hers. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, Isabel’s uncle is still hiding somewhere across Japan and Oikawa made it his lifelong goal to search for him,” she explained, pausing to give you a few seconds to fully understand it. “Oikawa’s trying to find his traces and he vows to kill the guy with his own hands. He wants to avenge Isabel’s death.”

You were left extremely shocked at all the information you were hearing. You truly, truly did not expect that it was this serious. It was difficult to imagine how much resentment Tooru had inside of him because you thought losing his dad was already the peak of his pain. He also lost his soulmate, his one and only, in an exceedingly brutal way.

“It’s sad and scary, right?” she asked, looking up at the night sky. “Isabel was such a beautiful girl. She’s extremely gorgeous, so kind, so gentle. You know those types of girls that just makes you speechless on the first look? She looks like an angel, to be honest. Oikawa and her were the perfect match and we all supported their relationship because they were really each other’s soulmates. Unfortunately, it just ended tragically for both of them.”

You fell silent, listening to her words while admittedly feeling an ache growing deep down. Inside your head, you could picture him out with the girl he loved with all his heart and thought of the should’ves and could’ves if she was still alive.

“Maybe that’s why Oikawa’s wrapped around your fingers.” Kim then turned her head back at you. “Because you kinda look like her.”

Actually, you realized it wasn’t just that.

When Oikawa saw you for the first time, he also witnessed the abuse you were going through with Atsumu and it must have struck a nerve on Tooru’s desire to act as a hero to the abused. He saw Isabel through you and he thought that saving you would give him a sense of comfort. You reminded him of Isabel with what you were going through and it was the only reason he even pursued you.

You were simply going to live off of her shadow and as much as it hurt, it was the raw and hard truth.

Tooru noticed your sudden odd behavior when you woke up that morning and scooted away from his warm hug. He thought, maybe you were just having a bad day, but even until the night of the race came, you had been silent on your own as if there was a battle going through your head.

Call it rash or whatever, but he did care about you more than he ought to. You were like a magnet, a gravity with a force strong enough to keep him attached. He barely knew you other than the stories you told him, but it did feel like he’d known you for so long.

“Wanna hold my hand?” he asked affectionately as he parked the car along the parking space for tonight’s race. Makki and the organizers managed to close down the street for tonight’s race while the cops were busy involving themselves on a homicide case in the city.

“I’m fine.” You avoided his gaze when you got out of the car and he figured that something was wrong. Were you missing that blond toolbag from Hyogo? Were you homesick? Those were his theories. However, he saw you smile for the first time today when a familiar guy with dark middle-parted hair came to greet you. “Suna!”

“Hey! I almost lost my way,” the guy immediately ranted after embracing you. “How are you? I got your stuff in the car.”

As a man, it was natural for Oikawa to stand behind you and claim his territory. He knew Suna was only a good friend, but the guy was still loyal to Atsumu so he was only being cautious.

“I can’t believe you drove all the way here,” you said, apologetically. “I really missed you and the guys!”

“We miss you, too.”

“Sup, bro.” Oikawa offered Suna a manly handshake that he soon returned. “You should join the race tonight. We got a four-man quarter mile race and we need one more racer to fill the slot.”

Suna seemed delighted. “What’s the bet?”

“Maybe fifteen grand,” Oikawa casually answered. “Or a pink slip, whichever works.”

“Man, pass. I don’t have enough cash,” the guy chickened out. “Next time.”

Oikawa simply grinned. “That sucks, bro. I’d want to see your GT86 doing god’s work.” He later moved closer to you, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind and leaning in to kiss your temple. Thankfully, you didn’t move away from his touch.

Suna noticed the affection with a surprised look. “Are you guys, like, dating?”

“I don’t know,” Oikawa teased, looking at you. “What’cha think, baby? I think we’re dating.”

You shook your head, but still let him intertwine his fingers with yours. “Too early to say.”

“Dude, as long as you treat her right, I support it.” Suna shared a look between him and you.

Your attention was shortly diverted when the three of you heard the sound of an engine violently revving nearby. It was followed by a loud bass-boosted song Pump It Up playing from the stereo and you realized that it was Iwaizumi’s dark green Subaru BRZ.

He parked his car next to Oikawa’s and got off with Kim greeting everyone enthusiastically.

“Hey, guys.” Kim quickly saw Suna and offered her hand. “Hey, baby. I’m Kim!”

“Kim, stop calling everyone ‘baby’,” Iwaizumi scolded before greeting the new guy. “Hajime. Nice to meet you.”

“Suna,” the guy responded in the same friendly manner.

You were the one who introduced the guys to him just so he had an idea about the acquaintances that you’ve made in Miyagi. “Kim and Iwa are in Oikawa’s crew,” you paused, seeing the other two. “That’s Makki and Mattsun, also in the crew.”

Oikawa was visibly confused, just as you were, when he saw Makki’s girl cousin looking at Suna in utter shock.

“Sunarin, what the fuck?”

“Yo, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“You tell me, bitch.” The girl crossed her arms. “You following me?!”

“Holy shit,” you muttered in amusement, realizing that it was the girl from Suna’s neighborhood. First of all, what, where, and how was she in Miyagi?

“You’re the one following me, the fuck?” Suna retorted in grave denial. “I was here for Y/N, not you.”

“I’m here to visit my cousin for the weekend,” she clarified with an eyebrow raised. The whole crew found it hilarious how the two seemed to hate each other so much. “Makki, don’t tell me this loser’s gonna race tonight.”

Tooru immediately dismissed. “Nah, he’s not. You could, though.”

Makki’s younger cousin huffed. “No way, I’m just gonna lose to you.”

“Don’t embarrass me with that lack of self confidence,” Makki told her before looking at the crew leader. “Hey, Tooru O’Conner. I got word we can start the race in ten. Semi’s here and two other guys also filled the spot.”

With excitement filling his veins, Oikawa lifted your chin and made you stare at his caramel eyes. “Ride with me.”

They changed the route to a 1km stretch because Oikawa complained about the quarter mile being way too easy for him. His opponents simply went for whatever he wanted because they were only racing to beat him in the first place.

Your grip on the seatbelts were tight the moment the flagger yelled ‘go’ and Tooru had immediately stepped on the accelerator at the signal. The sound of the turbo got deafeningly loud when the four cars sped off the road with people cheering on the sideline. Kind of suprising how Oikawa ended up tailing behind a burgundy Toyota Supra MK3 with white race stripes. Apparently, the said car was driven by a guy named Semi Eita and he appeared to be a skilled driver.

Although Oikawa was only second in the lead, he was calm and collected while he shifted his gears with full focus. You realized how different he was from Atsumu because the latter would have already been cursing or yelling angrily. Meanwhile, Tooru simply manned the steering wheel with one hand and held the gearshift on the other. The muscles on his forearm were flexing with each precise movement but you paid more attention to the way he was licking his lower lip with a smirk.

“Watch this,” he said, oversteering the car and losing traction but still managing to control it as he drifted on the corner. He was drifting in a complete 90 degree angle, passing his opponents with a smug face. “Yeah, boy!”

Your lips formed a small smile at how cool your ‘boyfriend’ looked while he did that.

The Supra caught up when both cars entered a narrow street and you were kind of nervous at how close the car was from you. “Oh my god, Tooru,” you muttered, holding your breath.

“It’s okay, baby.” He quickly grabbed your hand and made you grip the gearshift—he was doing it so he could hold your hand while he drove off. “Nice body kit, bro.” He took a good look at Semi and gave him a playful wink before he skillfully turned to the left.

More tire-screeching sounds, more engines roaring.

At one point, a neon green Mitsubishi Eclipse had almost collided into Oikawa’s rear end which essentially caused his distraction. He was annoyed by this and had made you tighten your grip on the gearshift as he bumped the car with his sideframe. The Eclipse skidded to the side and completely lost its control.

“You’re so mean,” you told him when you saw him grinning at the unfortunate fate of the Eclipse.

“Baby.” He glanced at your eyes and then to your lips before watching the road again. “If I win tonight, can you give me head?”

You suppressed a chuckle, shaking your head at his silly request. “If you win. The Supra just utilized his NOS.”

Oikawa watched Semi’s arrogant smirk on display when he drove past him after acquiring more speed with the Nitrous Oxide. You figured that maybe the Grand King would be dethroned tonight, but he thought otherwise.

“Too soon, bro,” Tooru confidently claimed, glancing at his speedometer and flipping some switches but you had no idea what purpose they had. Once again, he drifted towards the last turn before his car increased into a superb speed.

Guess you were giving head tonight.

Oikawa kissed you in front of everybody after he won the race and yet, people still surrounded him, particularly the girls as they all vied for his attention. It didn’t bother you because you didn’t really feel like you were Oikawa’s real girl, but a simple prize. A trophy. Just like how you were to Atsumu.

The night was still young and the cops were nowhere in sight. Due to this, they decided to do one more race with Iwaizumi’s participation this time.

Oikawa, acting as a supportive best friend, was busy hyping him up just before the race would start and you took that opportunity to take a quick bathroom break.

“Where you going?” Suna asked while seated on the hood of his car.

“I’ll be back,” you assured, making your way to the nearest convenience store you could find.

You ended up finding one just across the street and the lady from the counter was nice enough to let you use the bathroom. When you got outside, she gave you a look of recognition as if she knew exactly where you came from.

“Street racer?” she inquired.

You smiled and shook your head. “No, just came to watch.”

“Oh, did Oikawa win again?”

Her question surprised you. “You know him?”

“Everyone knows him,” she answered. “He used to come here with his girlfriend, too. They were really perfect together. It’s sad to know about what happened.”

Almost everyone who knew Tooru had been saying how him and Isabel were a match made in heaven and it was leaving you utterly hurt. You understood that she was no longer alive but this doesn’t change the fact that she had more significant memories with him than you. You were just a filler to the void she left and even if Tooru did learn to love you eventually, you would always just come second. That was all you’d ever be.

He was just using you to move on.

While you made your way back to the racing scene and having a million thoughts running in your head, you barely noticed that someone was trailing behind you as you made a turn to the dark alleyway.

Your heart stopped.

No.

“Get in the car,” Atsumu growled, pointing a gun at your head. “Don’t speak another word.”

You were holding your tears while you sat at the passenger seat of Atsumu’s car, feeling anxious and frightened for your life, feeling terrified and traumatized, feeling all the worst things that more than a single person could take.

Tooru was too good to be true.

Now you were back in your abuser’s car because you couldn’t leave even if you wanted to. He had threatened your life and everyone else around you if you didn’t listen to him.

You couldn’t escape when he drove through the city while you eventually released your muffled sobs. “I don’t wanna be with you anymore.”

Atsumu let out a laugh, a cruel one, that almost sent shivers to your spine. “You wanna be with him? You don’t know him.”

“I’d rather be with him,” you stated, swallowing hard. “Than to be with a bastard like you.”

“Try,” he challenged. “I can just kill the both of you then, if that’s what you want.”

“You’re fucking crazy.”

He was about to respond, however your phone started ringing loud enough that it almost made you jump from your seat. Both you and Atsumu saw Oikawa’s name on the caller ID and it felt like the anxiety in your chest was only growing each second.

“Answer it,” he instructed with gritted teeth. “Put it on speaker. Tell him you’re leaving. Tell him you’re not coming back. Give him a reason why you’re leaving.”

You were paralyzed.

“Fucking answer it, bitch!”

The rage in Atsumu’s eyes intimidated you into eventually answering Oikawa’s phone call and taking a deep breath.

Atsumu stopped driving and had parked the car on the sidewalk of a barely lit street. He eyed you warily as you pressed on the phone and he pointed the gun in your direction.

“Where are you?” was the first thing you heard from Oikawa on the other end of the line. “Baby, please tell me.”

Atsumu urged for you to speak while threatening you. At this point, your breathing was ragged but you managed to speak, “I’m leaving for good.”

“What do you—What’s this? You’re not leaving me,” he spoke in urgency. “I’ll go to you. Let’s talk about it.”

With your eyes closed, you poured your heart out to him. “I-I can’t stay with you and be in your life knowing that... that Isabel, she’s the person you see when you look at me. I can’t stay with you knowing that I’m only just with you because I remind you of her and the sad thing is I can never surpass her. I can never be her. I never belonged to you, I... I belong to Atsumu because it’s my reality. Even if my relationship with him is imperfect, he’s who I belong to. It’s the life that was given to me.”

It was true and you just had to accept it. This little runaway with Tooru was just a taste of heaven but you deserved to go to hell with Atsumu because that was simply your fate. You already knew, after hearing it from everyone that Isabel was and would always be the person that Tooru could ever offer his life to. Not you. Not a stranger he merely won as a prize.

“Tell me you’re fucking kidding right now, Y/N.” It was the first time Oikawa called you by your first name and his voice sounded painfully grim and serious. “Who told you about Isabel?”

“That’s not important.”

“It is important!” he yelled through the phone. “Isabel’s gone. It’s been two years and fuck, I know I’ll always love her but I’m allowed to find someone else and love again, too. I’m genuine with everything I ever said to you and I don’t want you to go back to that lunatic ‘cause he won’t treat you right!”

Atsumu scoffed at Tooru’s words while gesturing for you to end the call. Your heart felt suffocated at the realization of your final moments with the guy you thought could save you from misery. The truth was, he couldn’t. You two lived very different lives that weren’t fated to merge together.

“I-I have to go,” you said, sniffing silently.

“No, tell me where you are right now! Baby, please.. Please.”

“I’m sorry.”

Atsumu snatched the phone off your hold and ended the call while you were wiping the tears from your face. You couldn’t understand why you had to live a life like this when you deserved so much more.

“So fucking dramatic,” Atsumu snarked before he started sniggering. “You’re good for mentioning the Isabel chick, though. I heard about her, too.”

You turned your head away from him and didn’t speak a word.

“He can be convicted as a criminal, you know,” he added, clearly entertained at the thought. “I found out some things about that punk and the reason why he was in Hyogo was because he was after that chick’s uncle who lived four blocks away from us. Poor man almost got beaten to death, broke several bones, but that stupid punk of yours was a pussy and spared his life for some reason.”

You tried to conceal the horror on your face at the information you just heard. At the same time, you felt Tooru’s pain and how hard it must have been for him to see the man that abused the girl he loved.

“You wanna be with a criminal, huh?” Atsumu mocked, pulling your chin to face him. “Stop moping around before I spit on you. We can just go back to the way we were. You love me.”

You forcefully pushed his hand away. “You’re the criminal here. You’re an abuser and a drug addict, you disgusting pig. What did I even do to you?”

And he couldn’t even answer. What he did instead was to grab his gun, which startled you, and then he started guffawing at your frightened expression. “This gun isn’t even real. You’re really stupid.”

You clenched your fist and glared at him. “You’re sick! You’re fucking mental.”

“Say what you want,” he said, pulling you by your shirt as a way of intimidation but not long before he noticed the hickeys that Tooru left all over your shoulder blade. His hand balled into a tight fist while he gripped your shirt and you already knew what was about to happen. “You fucked him?”

“Many times,” you spitefully retorted. “And I liked every second of it—”

Atsumu slapped you across your cheek and it sent an extreme wave of shock and disbelief all over your body. You looked back at him with eyes full of fury before you smacked his face in return. You ought to return what he was giving. Every bit of it. So when he later grabbed you by the jaw to look at him, you pulled away and spit on his face, but the bastard enjoyed it.

He fucking enjoyed it.

“You’re dead to me when we get home.”

You sat in complete silence and chose not to utter a single word after Atsumu laid a hand on you. Needless to say that you were taken aback by his violence and you started worrying for your own sanity once you finally go back to Hyogo. You knew his threats weren’t empty and you had no way out of it.

He was driving along the freeway at 12AM with a satisfied but somehow stern look on his disgusting face, probably thinking of all the cruel stuff he planned on doing to you.

His expression, however, had immensely turned into alarm and frustration when he eyed the side mirror and saw about three cars speeding off to chase him.

“Shit,” he cursed under his breath, forcefully stepping on the gas to increase his car’s speed in urgency. You turned around to take a good look at the cars and recognized them immediately. The sound of the turbo and the speed of one specific car already gave it away—it was the R34 Skyline.

Tailing behind it was Iwaizumi’s BRZ and Makki’s 350Z who both skillfully evaded the other cars through the light freeway traffic.

“Oh my god,” you gasped, feeling the adrenaline and the anxiety combining.

They were coming to get you, and they were coming fast.

You heard a loud horn from Tooru’s car as he went past an SUV that was two cars away from where you were and you managed to get a glimpse of his face for a brief second. You recognized that the look of determination and the unwavering focus he had was the same expression he displayed on the day he raced to win you.

“Sit the fuck down, will you?!” Atsumu whined like the little bitch he was and used his remaining NOS.

You staggered on your seat from the sudden boost and almost hit your head on the window if not for your seatbelt. “You own a GTR and can’t even fucking drive.”

“Shut your fuckin’ mouth.” He was exceeding the speed limit, dodging the cars that were blocking his way until his car grazed into a sedan. “Get outta the way, man!”

The Skyline’s engine roared and you knew Oikawa was pretty close even without looking back. It caught you by surprise when the BRZ appeared on your left side, the Skyline to the right, and the 350Z drafting on the rear end. Atsumu tried to steer his car but Oikawa willfully bumped him in return and made sure to keep him inside the triangle they created.

You were cussing inside your head as you started overthinking of how this could lead into a fatal car crash or a lawful jail time. It certainly could, but Atsumu had been cornered to drive off the freeway and steer the car into the frontage road, eventually entering back to the city.

Atsumu was cussing over and over knowing that he could never outsmart these three cars because Miyagi was their territory. They knew these roads better than anyone else and it wasn’t much of a shock until Atsumu’s reckless driving made him turn to a dead end with Oikawa drifting to block his car. The two other cars joined the makeshift border and you were still panting from all the adrenaline rush.

Surely, all of these made you dizzy but you didn’t miss witnessing how Oikawa angrily stomped off his car, pulled Atsumu’s door open, and grabbed him by the collar before harshly thrashing him on the floor.

You got off the car in surprise and tried to stop the two. “Tooru!”

He threw a hard punch across Atsumu’s face—once, twice—the blond guy was laughing with blood in his mouth. “You gonna kill me?”

“Tooru, please!”

“Hold her.” The said guy pointed at you with a stern face and you were later pulled back by Kim and Mattsun while Iwa and Makki helped him with Atsumu.

The dark expression on Oikawa’s face scared you because you’ve never seen it before. This was a different version of him. It was scary and menacing with no trace of his normally flippant personality.

You tried to get away from Mattsun’s grip and turned to Kim for some help but she refused. “Sorry, we follow Oikawa’s orders.”

“We got someone to track your phone,” Mattsun added while the brawl continued from a safe distance.

You saw Atsumu trying to fight back as he managed to hit Tooru on the cheekbone but the guy kicked him against a wall with Iwaizumi and Makki holding him back. “What did we fucking agree to, huh?” Tooru questioned, grabbing Atsumu’s shirt. “You tryna snatch her off in my territory?”

“She’s not yours to begin with,” Atsumu answered back which earned him another punch. You could no longer bear seeing more violence.

“Enough!” you cried, hands shaking. “Please, Tooru. I’ll come with you. Just... Just stop this now!”

It was hard for him to listen to you and simply let Atsumu off but with his crew’s reassurance that they weren’t going to let your abuser go, Oikawa eventually stepped back. For you.

“We’ll take care of this douche,” Iwaizumi promised.

In an instant, Oikawa was heading off to you and pulling you to get inside his car. Atsumu was spewing some words protest even until the Skyline drove off.

That was the very last time you’ve ever seen Atsumu Miya.

It was afternoon when you wake up from Tooru’s bed feeling an intense rush of pain searing from your head as you barely recalled the events from last night.

“Baby,” he softly whispered, moving some hair out of your face before he touched your cheek. “You fainted last night.”

You realized he was holding you in his arms with your head resting against his chest. “Wh-What happened to Atsumu? Please tell me you didn’t—”

“Cops sent him back to his town. He’s got a restraining order,” he narrated. “He can’t get anywhere near you.”

You let out a sigh of relief at the fact that he didn’t end up into something worse. You hated the guy for sure, but you weren’t heartless to wish that he’d just die.

“Are you mad at me?” Oikawa lifted your chin so you could look at his caramel eyes.

How could you get mad at him?

“No,” you answered, your eyes not leaving his.

“I’m sorry for not telling you about Isabel.” He pressed his forehead against yours as he delivered his apology. “But I promise you, I pursued you because I genuinely want you to be mine and you’re not just her replacement or however you call it. I swear it’s not that. I like your smile, I like how you’re not afraid to speak your mind, I like the way you make me feel—I like you, in your own unique way. I can’t let you go. I’m asking for your chance to let me be here for you and I’ll work hard to prove to you that I’m sincere. Even if I have to show you every single day how much I wanna be with you, I’ll do everything. Just stay with me.”

You touched his cheek and sighed. There were two choices you could make and it’s a) to go back into your miserable and abusive relationship with Atsumu or b) stay with the guy who, despite the circumstances of how he met you, was willing to be a better man and treat you right.

And fuck, you’d be dumb not to choose the latter.

It was only natural for him to still have Isabel in his heart and you weren’t going to take it away from him. She held a special place in his heart that would always be there and it was okay. You were already comforted by the thought that Tooru wanted to learn how to love again, just like you, and be happy with someone else.

Cruel world, truly. You two didn’t have the best ending with your previous partners but here you were now, finding each other to make up the broken pieces.

It wasn’t just about winning you through a race anymore. It was so much more than that.

“Promise me you’re not gonna play with my feelings?”

Oikawa offered a heartfelt smile. “You don’t have to ask, baby.”

You pulled him for a kiss, a gentle and endearing one that left your heart fluttering in bliss. You were glad to have chosen this heaven with him and wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

The past was definitely just in the past. Everything else should move into the future. This, you, him. Together. Maybe you two could be each other’s ride or die. Maybe this was your fate after all.

For now, he pulled away to meet your gaze. “Let’s go for a drive?”

“Where to?”

“Isabel’s grave,” he answered. “To let her meet you and say goodbye.”

“Tooru...”

He planted a kiss on your forehead, reaching for his keys on the bedside table and handing it to you.

“Hope you’re good at driving a McLaren.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

general taglist: @x-cloudyyyy @iwazubean @elianetsantana @cottonheadedninnymugggins @centvry @kageyamakock @sunnsettee @bluesylveon2 @tsukkisfatsimp @cuddlesslut @mysteriousparker @asdfghjkl7things @02hhsailor @anejuuuuoy @minswags-posts @chemnerdkuroo @misssugarless @deeznutss @tanakax123 @oikawa-bubs @lust4keiji @black-kuroover @stel9

@bakus-stuff @l0v3y0ub0nn1 @kagsluvr @ems1des @daylghits @oiikawaslut @chaeringpop

[interact-if]

I’m sending this in because it seems like I could get good opinions from not only you but also the people who follow you. I have an idea for an IF, and I’m very excited for the story. My question is, would people be offended if I made the playable MC physically female that identifies as female and all the ROs physically male that identify as male? I have seen some out there that are strictly M/M or F/F, and I’m so happy they exist because I feel that population is underserved. I just feel, not having the experience, I could bring justice to writing LGBTQ+ (and I don’t want to offend anyone in that community by writing something incorrect), mostly when it comes to sex (which I plan on including in my game). I support games that have those relationships in them and admire them, even play those games, and I don’t care who plays my game. The more the merrier! I still want the characters to be diverse. One of them will be of a descent that is based on Japanese culture and many others, based on Persian culture. I also want the playable MC to have any skin tone/features the player wants. I just want to know if this…will have people coming after me? I want to tell my story, but I don’t want to be attacked for it, if that makes sense?

I really don’t mean to offend anyone. I just don’t want to cause trouble, and I just want to respectfully ask for people’s opinions on this.

Hello! So, before diving into our response, we’d like to emphasize that we are but five individuals running a blog devoted to interactive fiction. We are neither the end-all-be-all voice on this matter nor necessarily a representative mouthpiece for the community.

First off, you can write whatever you would like to write; as the author, you have absolute control over what you produce, so nobody is going to stop you from writing what you want to write. It’s also important to write what you enjoy.

That said, the community is, in our experience, very inclusive, and largely devoted to providing a space for the queer community. We can understand the desire to have an appropriately inclusive and diverse game, and why you particularly want to turn to characters of color to bridge the gap; however, substituting characters of color for queer characters to claim diversity in a project is possibly something that will receive the wrong kind of attention. Furthermore, assuming that writing characters of color well is any less complex than writing queer characters potentially suggests that said characters could end up underdeveloped or tokenized. (See Nines' and Roast’s response below for more context)

All of that doesn’t mean you can’t make a game that’s genderlocked and restricted to M/F romance, and I don’t think anyone will be offended by such a game, but it might limit your audience. At the same time, there are (many) other visual novels that have this format, so it’s not something unheard of. As far as CoGs and text-based games go, as far as we’ve seen, they are rarely genderlocked unless for plot reasons, etc.

There is also a chance that you may receive feedback requesting that the MC be un-gender locked, or for additional ROs to be added of different gender, or for the ROs to be made gender selectable. These requests may be gentle, insistent, kind, or aggressive, and they may only occur at the beginning of your work, or may occur throughout your game development. Maybe they’ll never happen at all. It’s impossible to predict the future, but in our experience, we have often seen this occur to games in the past with RO gender imbalances, locks, etc.

As for searching for feedback, if you’re looking for feedback but you’re not pursuing the CoG format, may we suggest the Reddit subforum? It’s a little difficult for you to get the feedback/dialogue going here that you’d likely like to get, so Reddit’s format may be more conducive to your needs.

In the meanwhile, those who would like to provide their thoughts are encouraged to respond in the comments of this post. Please remember to be polite with your discussion!

— — —

The above is our general mod response; a few of us wanted to offer some individual thoughts as well, and those can be found below. These are personal opinions and reflect each individual mod’s thoughts, rather than a collective response.

While it can be a little daunting to write about something you’re not familiar with, writing often broaches topics with which we don’t personally have first-hand experience. Additionally, queer relationships are ultimately still relationships between people—they’re not all that different from heterosexual relationships. If you’re worried about the way you’re portraying your content, that’s something well-curated beta readers/testers (from the population you’re trying to represent) can help test for, and give feedback on. And on top of all of the above, that’s not to mention the potential issues associated with substituting in POC to replace queer people, which is perhaps not what your intention is, but is what it feels like your intention is (see Roast and Nines for all the ins and outs on why this is an issue). Ultimately, I stand by the opinion that on the most basic level, most will not be offended by a game that’s about a straight, cisgender female MC—yet some, or even many, may be off-put by such a game. I know I, personally, am. (P. S. Also consider that the MC has to interact with the other ROs that she isn’t romancing, as friends, enemies, acquaintances, what have you—having selectable ROs, for example, also allows the player to “diversify” their acquaintance group, if they so wish.) — Dani

I understand that this ask is coming from well-meaning intent but I would just like to state that writing characters of color is not easier than writing queer characters. One of them isn't a substitute for the other. Writing characters of color and writing queer characters are separate matters entirely, and both come with its own difficulties. Wanting your characters to be diverse, while admittedly lacking the perspective to back such identities, is still a murky water to navigate.

Personally speaking, and I really do have to be transparent about this, the way certain sentences were phrased in this ask rubbed me the wrong way. Still, I understand that this isn't malicious, just someone who is asking for guidance, which is something I can't fault. We all have to start somewhere, you know? That being said, if you really want to write diverse characters, my general advice is to do research. Lots and lots and lots of research. No author is exempt from that, honestly.

Find helpful articles, journals, studies, video essays, etc. to aid you in writing your characters. If you still feel like that's lacking in some way, which is a valid concern, being open to feedback from the appropriate people is also a good way to improve. The integrity of a project is important, but so is reasonable criticism against, for, or about it. Keep an open mind, educate yourself, and don't be afraid to ask for help or clarification should it be needed. — Nines

Nines says it well that queer people and poc are not interchangeable nor any 'easier' than the other. The fact that you're willing to do research and include characters of color yet not include queer characters tells me that you're afraid yet misconstruing how much effort actually gets put into cultural research.

There is a 'purity culture' that goes around tumblr that claims that diverse characters have to be perfect, have to have no flaws, cannot die, cannot have trauma, cannot face adversity, they must be perfect and good and happy.

I think this is bullshit.

I also think the backlash from this 'purity culture' community is what is creating so much fear in authors (including queer authors!!) in making characters with different backgrounds and identities than their own. In making queer characters with flaws and tragedy and negative characteristics.

If we only ever wrote what we knew, what we've personally experienced, fiction would be a very boring world.

Being afraid of representing a community wrong is a valid fear, but it shouldn't stop you from trying. You can write what you want to write, but it shouldn't be limited by fear.

Do your research. Get sensitivity readers. Be open to feedback. Be willing to be afraid, but do it anyway.

If, in the end, you decide to gender lock, make it an informed decision at the very least, and if you are including characters of color, know that that is a heavy amount of research too, and should be handled with the same care as what we've said on queer characters.

And like we've said before, we are not the voice of the community, we cannot give you permission or our blessing or flawless feedback, we are just five people running a blog. — Roast

Alright this was already mentioned a bit before but I wish to add my two cents: M/F relationships are the norm anywhere else in real life, and if you feel like there's no space for you and your relationships in a mostly-queer community then you might want to recheck if this is the community you wish to have as your target audience.

No one's going to be offended if your story is cishet, as we said, but you are extremely reducing your audience by doing such. The appeal of interactive fiction is that a good bunch of us have played female-mc-straight-love-interest visual novels in the past, having to endure being misgendered or romancing people we might not be attracted to.

The current interactive fiction community we're trying to promote has opened a million doors for everyone to explore themselves, so don't be surprised if your story, no matter how good, is ignored due to this aspect. Most of us have no interest in being forced to play as something we're not.

Again, we cannot tell you what you can or cannot do. We don't speak for the community, we speak for ourselves and for this blog. Maybe every comment we've made was incorrect and your game turns out to be successful, really, but it's what we believe you should keep in mind. — Cruz

Honestly, I don’t have much to add since everyone here mentioned and discussed important facets of this ask! At the end of the day, we are not a group who can or will ever dictate what you can or cannot write. That is not the purpose of the blog or the reason why we’re working as hard as we are. 

There have always been games with this specific set of characteristics: gender locked MCs and/or ROs. Some people may enjoy it, others may not, for whatever reason. 

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee anything in terms of how people will respond to a game, because people will react to content differently. All we can do is offer our perspective and the potential things that may happen in the future based on the experience the lovely devs above have had. (fellow interact-if mods, my beloved ❤️)

It’s always admirable for people to reach out when they’re unsure, and I’m sure there are infinitely more opinions that vary or are similar to the ones in this response. But there you have it, some of our thoughts! 

Goodluck with your project! — Mars

[firelxdykatara]

Hello! I say this in the kindest way possible, but can you please provide evidence that theowelspeaks is a terf? I'm a black zutara shipper and for years have really felt shoved by the fandom and it hasn't been my safe space. But YOUR blog and you made me feel better. I'm not in your discord but you're being accused of racism. I don't follow the owlspeaks and wanna support you but if you're being accused of racism why are you calling someone a terf?

Can you please show where they are a terf? I'm only asking this because I really REALLY love you and I support you. And if they are a terf, you need to provide evidence. It is heavily suspicious when a person of color calls out a white woman on racism and you don't address the accusations but just call them a terf. I want to support you I really do because you made me feel comfortable in the fandom, but I need to see concrete evidence that they're a terf. Never mind, I saw the whole situation and honestly I'm disgusted I ever follow or looked up to you. You're literally no different from other racist white shippers. I think there went my love for zutara.

I'm going to take this at face value--not that, on any real level, I actually believe you were a follower of mine or did anything close to due diligence, because if you were or had then you would know that I never actually called that blogger a terf--and answer as respectfully as I can. Mostly because I want anyone who has genuine issues with anything I've said or done to know that despite whatever's going around about me right now, I am willing to listen to criticism if it comes from a place of good faith.

(You can think whatever you want about my insistence on 'good faith', but the fact is that I have weathered being slammed with accusations of pedophilia and other horrible things over differences in headcanon of shit like character ages or writing a fic set years post-canon because I felt like it, right down to the insistence that I'm a horrible racist because of my url, so no. I'm not going to listen to someone slinging slurs and buzzwords in my inbox just because they claim to be a poc. And before that sets anyone off, the slurs I'm talking about are aimed at my queerness. I do not consider being called racist or a white bitch or whatever slurs, because they aren't.)

First of all, once again, I never called that blogger a terf. You can easily read my post about them for yourself and see that--ctrl+F for the term 'terf', and you will not find it. Why? Because I called them out on peddling radfem rhetoric, (which they are) not for being a terf. All terfs are radfems--it's in the name--but not all radfems are terfs, although all radfem rhetoric is exceptionally harmful to queer people in general, and queer poc more than most, as is the nature of intersectionality.

Anti-kink rhetoric, and the insistence that some kink is inherently harmful and that no one could legitimately have these kinks or fetishes without being mentally ill or traumatized, is radfem rhetoric. That's where it comes from, that's where it leads to, and I'll be honest here, 'radfem' is not an identity label. It's an ideology. You do not get to parrot core tenets of that ideology and then claim to not be a radfem. That simply isn't how this works.

Furthermore, I have no idea who the person behind theowlspeaks blog is. I will take them at their word that they are not white, but that doesn't exactly narrow things down--and considering the fact that they chose to put me on blast for their small but dedicated ring of followers rather than actually coming to me personally first about any of this (their blog is very obviously a burner, and it wouldn't have been that difficult to approach me since I've only ever turned anon off once, for one night to give myself some breathing room, and otherwise my asks and DMs have always been open), I have no reason to actually care about what they're saying. But I point out the lack of knowledge of their identity because a) they didn't even reveal themselves as not white until.... yesterday? or something, when they were directly asked about it, and b) trying to frame this as 'white woman accused of racism calls person of color a terf' is... disingenuous at best given the fact that I have been calling them a radfem (which they are) since well before they posted that screenshot and my name wound up on their blog, so you got the order of events just a little backwards.

I blocked them initially because of the radfem rhetoric they were peddling about kink and fetishes, and I have the right to establish that boundary. This blog is for me, it is my space, and I do not have to expose myself to views I find gross or harmful just because they dress it up in faux-woke terminology and try to pretend they actually care.

If they cared about real people more than the fictional characters they are so adamantly 'protecting', then they wouldn't have brushed off the actual racism (from one of their followers--they're more than happy to blast me without any evidence, but that's hardly out of the ordinary for people like that) that was brought to their attention by refocusing the discussion on the fake people who literally can't be hurt by any of this because they don't exist. They wouldn't be ignoring the two woc who chose to contact them and tell them why they made the choices they did regarding both the discord and the smut week event, while being perfectly happy to platform anons who may or may not be who or what they say they are.

I, for one, am not going to apologize for caring more about real people than fictional characters. I'm not going to apologize for thinking it's absolutely ludicrous to pretend that fiction is somehow harmful just by existing, especially when it's appropriately tagged so that anyone who finds the content harmful can avoid it. I'm not going to back down from these opinions just because a handful of people have apparently decided I'm a horrible person because of it. And I'm certainly not going to apologize for thinking it's despicable that someone who was not involved in the conversation chose to leak out of context screenshots rather than privately contacting any of the people involved or even going to any of the mods, before going right to an anonymous blog. You may not care about me or my mental health, but I had panic attacks because of that leak--not because I said anything untoward in that screenshot, not because I've ever said anything in that discord that I wouldn't happily stand behind on my blog, but because I no longer felt safe. And I am not going to bare my trauma to a complete stranger to justify that lmfao.

So, like, think what you want to. I'm pretty sure that blogger is getting high off of the drama they are creating, none of which would actually have happened or been any real issue if more people were able to think, gee, maybe this work that is tagged with things I don't want to read about is not for me! Maybe I shouldn't read this piece, since it would probably upset me, and there's plenty others around for me to consume! I do not trust that blogger's intentions. I do not trust that they actually give a shit about any real people, or they wouldn't have posted an out of context screenshot of... literally nothing tbh, when they had no right to and are now protecting the identity of the person who leaked them instead of giving a shit about any of the real people in that space who no longer feel safe because we aren't sure who we can't trust.

But you've already made up your mind, and I can't change that. I genuinely hope you have a nice life, and find fandom spaces more suited to your tastes.

[cryptid-jack]

ok this is hella random but I know approximately 0 things about mass effect but your art is really fucking awesome and uh I am looking respectfully 👀

Well with the release of Limited Edition now is the very best time to rectify that >w> The requirements for PC aren't terribly high compared to most modern games (plus all the fun mods!) and it's available on console...

come play with us, friend. come play with us

[petrichormeraki]

The Blind c!Tubbo Post (Tubbost)

(TW: Scopophobia, Eye Scarring/Discussion, Ableism Mention, Death Mention)

SO! literally nobody asked but I would like to share with you all my headcannon for Tubbo after the Festival.

I'm one of the many who depict canon deaths as scarring left over after respawns, and my first depiction of Tubbo after the Festival was him with blast scars over his face, blinded by the firework shot into him at close range. I also depicted him with his eyes permanently closed in every art...

...which I have NOW learned is not actually how eye scarring works! (Or maybe burn scars specifically DO glue your eyes shut, I'm not a doctor, I've only done some digging.)

Then I started to wonder what Tubbo's eyes WOULD look like open after the Festival, since there would be no way his eyes made it unscathed from an explosion right between them. It was then I discovered macular corneal dystrophy!

Macular dystrophy is specifically the name for the corneal opacity caused by injury/scarring! And yes, while I know "cloudy eyes = blind" is an insulting caricature of blind characters in media, in this instance I think because the discoloration is a direct symptom from scarred blindness, it's not just another half assed able-bodied depiction (I hope).

(However; if I'm incorrect, I implore blind folks to let me know and I'll scrap it immediately 👍. Also, Tubbo's situation is very very specific, so I went more general with my research since I couldn't find anything about eye injury related to explosions specifically.)

So, I found how it'd look for Tubbo to be blind after his execution. The next thing was to figure out how getting around in canon could be explained with my fanon interpretation of Tubbo being completely blind.

This was obviously the bigger hurdle, since I was/still am an uneducated, inexperienced person with full sight. To tackle the task to have a blind interpretation of a character without being offensive or ignorant, I turned to @cripplecharacters, who were INSTRUMENTAL in educating me on disabilities. (MASSIVE thanks, y'all!! I would still be researching and not creating if it weren't for you :,3)

You can visit the blog for specifics, but what the mods have done was compile an FAQ about blind folks for those who genuinely didn't know anything about them (read: me)

It was through them that I learned the dos and donts of depicting a blind character in my work, hence why my final headcannon of Tubbo is a) completely able to independent and mobile, NOT infantalized, b) almost always has an earpiece to explain the surroundings of the SMP's constantly shifting environment so he can realistically move around without hurting himself, and c) IS NOT COMPLETELY INHIBITED BY HIS BLINDNESS, emotionally or physically.

Of course, there's always going to be things he can and can't do because he is now blind, but in the grand scheme of things, Tubbo adapted well to his situation after time to get used to it. Becoming blind did not depress him or confine him, and it certainly did not stop him in his journey of self growth as a character.

I struggled with this, as I didn't want Tubbo's disability to be obsolete in the long run; blindness is now a part of him, and it was important to me that that is shown; but I also didn't want his loss of sight to, well, completely cripple him. I know it's a slippery slope to maintain as someone who never has gone through or experienced any inhibition of sight other than run-of-the-mill glasses, and I know I definitely didn't learn everything about how to properly convey a blind character.

That said, I open the doors to educate* me if you wish! Tell me if I was offensive or incorrect in any of my above research! I want to be respectful over all else when I draw/write disabled folks.

Basically, TLDR: in my fanon interpretation, c!Tubbo is blinded after the Festival, and I did a lot of research to depict his blindness realistically and respectfully, and I made this post at 2:45 AM because 👉 insomnia 👉 so sorry if the wording is a bit funny in places.

*please only comment if you're a professional in the field of optometry/eye injury or a blind person yourself! To those who are full sighted and just as inexperienced; this literally cannot be explained by you, so please refrain :)