#i don't think this one actually needs cws

[gabessquishytum]

Modern arranged marriage AU. (CW death threats)

Dream is a prince. Not the heir, but he's the prince of THE royal family, and with so many scandals tied to his name, he's got an ultimatum. Either he marries and settles down in privacy somewhere far, far away, or they send him far, far away on a "mission" to "help", and if he happens to die out there, well, the family can be publicly very sad about it.

Hob has joined the army as soon as he possibly could, while he was practically still a boy, due to being an orphan and wanting somewhere to fit in. He's been whisked from one modern war to another for years. He retired from the army at one point when his wife, also from the army, was expecting their second, but we all know what happened to Hob's family. Alone once more, he shamefully returned to the army.

When Hob finally earns a high enough rank and enough medals and rewards to retire for good (it's not like he ever LIKED the army), he earns himself one last medal, given to him by queen Night herself. Night sees a great opportunity in this still quite young (going on his 40's) retiring soldier. She asks him to marry her son and offers a large sum of money and a mansion as a competition. While Hob thinks it's fucked up, he's still a protector and hero at heart and accepts the offer just so the prince doesn't have to marry someone not as kind as him.

You know what? I'm making this omegaverse because I want to. Turns out they are true mates. They find out at the wedding ceremony - Dream goes crazy for Hob's scent (he's been a soldier for so long that he smells like gunpowder, sand, and protection) and Hob almost pops a boner at his own wedding ceremony when he smells Dream (old books, dust, softness). Dream has one last scandal when they pounce on each other in the car right after the ceremony and don't arrive to the reception, but then they are allowed to live in privacy happily ever after.

- 🚒

I do love a true mates story, and this is really absolutely adorable - I love the idea of older, slightly grizzled and world weary alpha!Hob stepping up to protect the younger omega prince.

When Dream was informed that he'd basically been sold off to some old war hero, he despaired - he was imagining some horrid old creep like Lord Burgess. So he's pleasantly surprised at the sight of Hob, who stands nervously in his old ceremonial uniform. He's got lovely brown sun-drenched skin, greying hair, and kindly eyes. Dream’s heart softens even before he catches Hob’s scent - that's when he goes a bit weak at the knees. Dream has had many lovers of all kinds (that's why he's being married off) but he's never felt such an urge building within his body. He might actually be in love, and he hasn't even made eye contact with the man yet.

During the ceremony they touch hands, and Dream has sneakily removed his gloves so that he gets to touch Hob skin-to-skin. He almost moans. Hob’s hands are big and warm and rough, and Dream actually has to hang on tight just in case his legs do actually give out. Hob winks at him cheekily, and squeezes his hand when they walk together back down the aisle.

They do pounce on each other in the car, but not before Dream feels the need to hurriedly come clean about all his shortcomings - how he's not a virgin, he's not sure if he wants children, he's prone to terrible mood swings - of course Hob just smiles and kisses him very softly. He wouldn't mind if Dream was the devil. They're true mates, and Hob is hardly perfect either. He just wants a chance to be happy.

The sex in the car is very good, as demonstrated by the way the vehicle rocks alarmingly back and forth while all the windows steam up. The video clips circulate for days, and honestly? The public are pretty damn thrilled to see Prince Dream and his dilf husband getting their fairytale ending <333

[boothillssugarmomma]

Steel Here

(Boothill x Fem!Reader)

cw-: Body dysmorphia, slight talks of hating themself, other than that fluff fluff

🎀 authorsnote: Rn I'm feeling like my body isn't great so I used this fic to sort of get it out! And it actually felt great!

please don't steal my work!

Boothill’s quietly sitting in his room that you begged him to have on The Astral Express. As his girlfriend you've been trying to get him to stay around more and he adores it.

But it also gives him more time to really think...and he doesn't know if he likes that part.

Ok...he hates it. He hates that fact that he has to see himself when he passes a mirror, he hates it when he feels his cool steel against his face, he hates how he can't feel your hugs...

Boothill stands and looks in the mirror, flexing his mechanical arms softly and glancing over his fake abs. He shakes his left metal leg and sighs.

He hears the small mechanical noise of his bedroom door and looks over to it. He smiles softly as he sees you.

“Hey sweet thang...” He shoots you a warm smirk, trying to cover up what he was doing as he quickly sits on his bed. You glance over at the mirror and back to him. Piecing it in your mind what exactly he was doing. “What do ya need hon...?”

You're silent as he asks. No response as you just blink. Your eyes communicate to him that you want him to tell you what you saw.

Your boyfriend sighs a little. Placing his head in his hands and closing his eyes.

“Don't gimme that look...” He breathes, obviously frustrated as he looks back up at you, “Fine...I'm startin' to wish I was me again...I don't want this body anymor'.”

"Oh honey..." You whisper softly as you sit next to him on the bed. You place a hand on his back but remember he won't even be able to feel it...

“See...now would ya look at that...?” Boothills voice drawls, he places a hand on your thigh and sighs as you shiver at the cold metal. “I...guess this is ma' life now..." He scoffs softly. "Can't even curse...it's all 'muddle fudger' this and 'fork that' and 'son of a nice lady'..."

"Boothill sweetheart..." You whisper as you lean against him. "Don't say that..."

Boothill hesitates on resting his temple against your head, he doesn’t need his body reminding him that part of his ridiculous body is only metal.

But he doesn’t know what else to do to comfort himself. He’s frustrated to the moon and back, frustrated at being in this body he doesn’t want.

“I don’t think you understand, darlin’” Boothill whispers. “I miss the me I once was. I just… don’t feel quite like myself anymore…”

"You're still...my Boothill..." You pull away gently and grasp his cheek.

The corner of his lips quirk upwards at your words, but the warm touch and caress of your hand on his cheek still doesn’t feel the same. He wishes of his could feel the same kind of texture he once thrived from and took for granted in his human skin...not just his face.

It’s almost...cold to him.

“You’re the only one who can remind me of the old me that’s still lyin’ somewhere underneath this piece’o’junk body.” He murmurs.

"It's not a piece'o'junk..." You imitate him with a smile. "Boothill... you're amazing just the way you are..."

There you go smiling. If there’s anything that’s capable of changing his mood for the better, it’s you.

Boothill gives you a chuckle. “Look who’s sweet talkin’ who now,” his voice is a bit more lighthearted than previously. “You’ve gotta stop bein’ like this darlin’. You’re gonna make me blush.”

You smile softly and kiss his cheek. "Honey...look at me..." You take his face in your hands. "I love you..."

Boothill smiles, feeling your lips press against his cheek. His hands find their way to your wrists, gently caressing them and wishing he could feel your skin. He knows it's definitely a lot warmer than the cold of his steel.

“You’re a real charmer, y’know that?” He says, his voice low and amused. “I don’t reckon I can look anywhere else when ya say things like that.”

"Now...how can we make you feel better?" You hum softly in his ear.

“You have no idea how bad I want that...” Boothill replies with a grin. He pulls your face closer to his and whispers into your ear. “But you’ve got to keep those sweet words of yours comin’.” Boothill’s voice is low and seductive. “I’m starvin’ here, darlin’.”

"Pamper Queen tonight aren't we?" You laugh, placing your hand on his chest.

“Only for my darlin’.” He teases, placing a hand over yours and gently rubbing his thumb against your skin. Boothill’s other hand caresses your cheek. “Let’s be frank; you’ve gotten me spoiled rotten, and I ain’t mad about it.”

Your face contorts into a look of pure thought. "Here...since you give me massages sometimes..." You get up and walk over to his closet.

Boothill’s curious as his gaze follow your movements, hands resting on the arm rest. He wonders if you’re looking for something specific.

“Whatcha lookin’ for, darlin’?” He asks, tilting his head to rest his cheek on his metal palm, fingers pressed against his chin.

"How about we polish your metal?" You pull out some wax and a waxing machine.

Boothill’s expression changes into something resembling a mix of disbelief and shock, then into amusement as he bursts into laughter. He had an expectation for what you were going to do, but this wasn’t it.

“Is that a euphemism for something I’m not gettin’?" He jokes, his laughter trailing into a playful smirk as he watches you closely.

"Well...I don't know the equivalent of a massage for cyborgs!" You whine playfully.

Boothill chuckles as he playfully rolls his eyes at you. “Oh, I’m certain a few people out there would call this ‘metal maintenance’ or something.”

He then rises to his feet. “And I wouldn’t mind havin’ ya give me a good ol’ metal maintenance, darlin’. But I hope you know I’m ticklish in some spots.”

"How are you ticklish..." You murmur and plug it into the wall.

Boothill chuckles again, crossing his arms as he gazes down at the metal machine in your hands. “I’m ticklish ‘round my neck and behind my knee, believe it or not. I ain’t kiddin’.”

He walks over to you and stands before you, a grin spreading on his face. “I’ve got a feelin’ you’re gonna use this as a weapon against me, aren’t ya?”

"Phantom tickles on the knee I guess..." You hum and fire it up. "And it's NOT a weapon..."

“Aww, shoot… and here I was, thinkin’ you’d give me a break.” He quips, shrugging his shoulder and letting out a small chuckle.

In truth, Boothill is a little excited for you to polish him. “How are you at polishin’ machines, darlin’? Cause it ain’t gonna be clean if you don’t know what you’re doin’...” He teases as he glances at the polishing machine, then back at you.

You hesitate and cough. "I'm...great?" You quickly get to work before he can question anything.

Boothill raises a brow as he eyes you with a small, amused smirk. He has a feeling you're definitely not good with these machines.

“I’m sure ya are.” He teases, a small, playful chuckle falling from his lips.

While Boothill initially stands still, he can’t help but feel a little ticklish as he can feel the machine polish the outer surface of his thigh. “Careful with that…”

You giggle softly as you keep polishing his metal body. You slide up to his neck and carefully polish it.

A soft, amused chuckle leaves Boothill as he can’t help it. Your gentle polish on his neck is a little ticklish, which causes him to tense up from the sensation. He’d definitely describe it as ticklishness. He rests a hand on the back of your head as you polish his neck, caressing the underside of his fingers against your skin.

“Oh, what a sight to see. I’ve got my pretty lady polishin’ me to perfection.” He teases.

"D-Don't distract me or I'll move!" You whine.

“Distract you?” Boothill murmurs, his lips tilting into a small smirk. “I’m just complimentin' you.”

He gently moves your chin with a finger, guiding it to meet his gaze as he gazes down at you. “And don’t move. I like the way your beautiful eyes look when you’re focused on me.” A tease disguised as a compliment.

You freeze as your heart pounds in your chest...which was not the best move because the polisher slides right off him and shoots at the wall.

A small gasp leaves Boothill when he watches the polisher slide off him. But then he bursts into a hearty chuckle, his hands resting on his waist. His eyes are closed while he laughs, and when he’s done, he glances at the wall where the polisher’s been launched into.

“That wall didn’t do nothin’ to deserve that, darlin’...“ He teases through stifled giggles.

"Y-Yeah well...you distracted me!" You whine before sitting in his lap.

Boothill pulls you onto his lap and rests his chin on your shoulder, his arms naturally wrapping around your waist. As you lean against him, he can see the machine embedded into the wall from the corner of his eye. He shakes his head and laughs again.

“You’re a feisty one, aren’t ya?” He teases, nuzzling his face to the crook of your neck and trailing his lips against your skin.

"It's not like I did it on purpose..." You mutter into his hair.

Boothill lets out another chuckle, feeling the warmth of your breath against his head. “I know you didn’t.” He murmurs, letting out a low sigh that’s a mix of contentment and relief.

He gently presses his cheek to the top of your head, his fingers gently rubbing your waist. “I’m just teasin’ ya, darlin’. You wouldn’t hurt a fly. ‘Sides, look at the bright side.” He adds. “At least the machine didn’t land on my toes.”

"You don't even have toes!" You blink and roll your eyes.

Boothill’s expression turns into a grin as he laughs, pulling you closer to him. “See? Told ya you’re the feisty one.” He teases, tilting his head to kiss your temple. He places another kiss on the top of your head, savoring the feeling of your warmth against his.

“Maybe I don’t have toes.” He begins, placing another kiss on your cheek. “But this body’s got everything else ya need.”

"See that's my Boothill..." You smile warmly. "Don't think of yourself the way you were before...and if you do...let me know?" You whisper.

As he hears your words, a soft smile forms on Boothill's face. He places a hand on your cheek, gently stroking the side of your face as his other rests on your waist.

His eyes look deep into yours with affection, and a corner of his lips quirks upwards. “That's a mighty good offer ya’re givin’ me here, darlin’. But I’d rather you stop me from thinkin’ like that before I could.”

"Now that is a better plan..." You smile before leaning in to kiss him.

Boothill’s eyes flutter to a close as your lips press against his, a warm fluttering feeling erupting in his chest. The kiss is slow and tender, and he melts against your touch as he pulls you a little closer and into his embrace.

Once the kiss ends, Boothill opens his eyes and sighs, feeling calmer and a lot more pleasant than before.

“You’re way too good for this broken ol’ geezer.” He whispers affectionately.

"Boothill...honey... you're not even old!" You laugh softly and nuzzle against him.

Boothill lets out a low chuckle, his hand gently caressing your skin as he leans into your touch. "You sure about that, darlin'? I feel like a relic with all this metal on me."

He glances down at his metallic hand, flexing his fingers. Then, he looks back at you with a smile. “But as long as you’re tellin’ me otherwise, I guess I ain’t.”

"That's what I thought~" You press a kiss to his forehead.

A smirk spreads on Boothill’s face as he watches you kiss his forehead. He lifts a hand and gently caresses your face, his thumb rubbing your skin.

“Ain’t you a precious one?” He muses, his grin widening as he gazes at you. “I reckon I ain’t that old after all.” He adds, his teasing tone laced with an affectionate edge. “What gives you the right to be so adorable?”

"I'm your girlfriend, it's my job!" You smile warmly.

Once again, Boothill’s gaze falls into yours, and he feels a flutter in his chest at your words. He rests a hand on your waist, caressing your skin with the back of his cold metal fingers.

“You’re right,” he murmurs, a warm smile spreading on his face as he nods. His eyes lock with yours, and he lifts a hand to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear.

“And I reckon you’re doin’ a real good job at it, darlin’...” He adds, his voice low, warm and affectionate.

"Y'know... I'm always going to be here..." You smile. "Hey, hey!" You start to giggle. "I'm 'steel' here..." You joke.

Boothill lets out a loud laugh, shaking his head as you throw in a joke. He takes your hand and intertwines his fingers with yours, lifting it to his lips and planting a kiss on your knuckles.

“You’re real clever,” he murmurs, his eyes crinkling at the corners as his smile grows wider. In all honesty, he appreciates the effort you’re putting into cheering him up.

“Ain’t a doubt in me that you’d always be here for me, darlin’.”

You kiss him one more time. This time more passionate and love infused. As you pull away you smile. "I'll always...be here..."

The unexpected passion in your kiss catches Boothill off guard and leaves him breathless. As you pull away, he lets out a low gasp, his grip on your hand tightening just a little.

When you declare your promise, he presses his forehead against yours, his eyes closed as he lets the moment sink in. He feels a wave of warmth wash over him, and he whispers back.

“I’ll be here for you, too, darlin’...”

🎀End🎀

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[verkja]

Word Find Tag

Thanks for the tag, @winterandwords :)

Excerpts are from my ongoing longer story, as usual. I was tagged to find rain, pain, again, and plain.

Rain

Only a few days of rain graced the scrubland each year; it was nearly a desert. Therefore, the mercenary company had truly terrible luck to end up drenched on a stormy afternoon while wandering across the barren land. Mures wished he could say he was surprised.

Pain

Though this wasn’t the first time Damian had found cause to deal out pain in retribution for wickedness, it was the first time he’d had tools so well-suited to the purpose on hand. The rack and some of the other torture devices in the dungeon had rotted away, but most of the smaller ones had survived, safe in a mouldering but sturdy chest.

Again

‘Thanks,’ said the man, taking the proffered pamphlet and sitting down on the other end of the bench to read it. After a few moments, he gave a snort of impressed amusement.

‘Hanife’s at it again,’ he said. ‘Most obscure little point about sōm-ëlttë; see, Pomare’s argument is sound for the most part, but she found one tiny flaw and blew it up into a whole new paper.’

He flapped the pamphlet in front of Radomil, indicating an essay which the spellsword had no time to read before it was pulled away again.

Plain

Mures looked blankly at the socks.

‘These are for me? They have patterns on them,’ he said after a minute.

‘Yes. Do you not like that? I can make a plain pair if you want; there’s enough yarn remaining.’

‘No, I just -’ He stopped, tracing a bony finger along the twisting lines in the wool. ‘Thank you,’ he said, after a pause.

(How this works is, you go through a WIP, published story, or whatever else and find one instance of each word, then post it with a paragraph or two for context.)

Tagging @world-of-fire-and-flight , @starlit-hopes-and-dreams , @whumpinthepot , and @space-writes to find single, double, cup, and serve - no pressure if you don't want to! (Yes, I had coffee on the brain.)

[bonefall]

it is healing to come onto this blog and see basic respect for diasbility after being in other corners of the fandom and reading the words “snowkit could never be a warrior because he wouldnt know what anything is. he wouldnt even know what a clan is because nobody could explain it to him” said in full seriousness

Im..... That statement is so ableist I cannot even imagine the worldview you'd need to have in order to come up with that.

They really think the only way anyone learns anything is through verbal-speaking-words-noises? No one has ever observed something before? Not even once?

This is beyond touching grass, this person just fell out of the fucking Jurassic Period when all they had was ferns and stegosaurs.

I just...

OH YES. I remember my first day of Society Lessons as a hearing person, where the everything was explained to me. Via Audiobook. FIRST they spoke and said, "you are standing on the ground." It was a life changing revelation, and the world began to spin.

But it did not stop.

THEN they said, "there are fingers on your hands." The sensation of flesh and bone crackling into existence is indescribable, but I did not yet know pain, until they told me, "that hurts." I began screaming immediately.

And yet... it continued.

They explained so much. Chairs. Tables. Walls. The sky. Frogs. Ionizing radiation. Breathing. I was told all of it, in one sitting, and only then did I understand. Only when my ears were bursting with normal hearing knowledges, did they begin... my final test.

A strange wall-chair-finger emerged from the sky-of-the-wall, stood on the ground several times, until it was in front of me. A second one came behind it, this one slimmer. The audiobook gave these things names;

Human. Father. Mother. Door. Walking. It was completely impossible to know what these things were until that very moment.

I watch a human dip a hook into water and produce a fish, and I recall my Society Lessons where they called that "fishing." I am decked in the face by a nefarious hooligan, and I have only the audiobook to thank when I know I have been "punched" by a "bad guy." It was only the magic of verbal-speaking-words-noise that made me understand that there are "other people" and that they "do stuff."

Sometimes, even, in "groups."

Before the Society Lessons Audiobook, I knew nothing. I was pure, innocent, uncorrupted by concepts such as "parents" and "door." I am grateful every day that there is no such concept as "being shown things" or "simple logical reasoning" or "looking."

Blessed be those amongst us who escape the horrors of the Society Lessons Audiobook. I pray that you never learn what anything is. Be free! Free as a bird, which also knows nothing and famously cannot learn. 🤗

DEAF/HOH FOLLOWERS I'm losing my mind do you want me to bump a 'Hearing Disabilities Herb Guide' to the top of my priorities? Something you can use to bludgeon whackadoodles like that. This is ridiculous

Obviously not a MEDICINE guide but like; common causes of hearing disability in clan cats. Accommodations for hearing loss vs congenital deafness. Actual difficulties of not having that sense Clan-by-Clan. Debunking of misconceptions like... not being able to learn APPARENTLY.

[telekitnetic-art]

Have you seen the formline art in splatoon? It's present in a variety of salmon run decals and on some of the locker graffiti. Idk if the Devs just googled "salmon art" and got indigenous art and decided to copy it or what. Not sure how I feel about it personally.

Long post incoming, gonna put a break here. Also sorry for the late response, I wanted to take a couple days to formalize my thoughts together before responding fully.

I have, I remember noticing in 2018-2019 (when i first started playing splatoon 2) how much one of the decals/graffiti located on the ruins of ark polaris back in 2 sort of resembled a formline bear and salmon. (near the logo in this screenshot, I couldn't find a clear picture online)

Back in 2019, it was pretty easy to think of it as coincidence or a stretch for a comparison. But with splatoon 3's salmon run decals, the resemblance is far easier to see, specifically with the TS-ORBRS graffiti and the TS-SCHL graffiti.

(also this was the best image size I could find for the graffiti images, sorry)

A couple of the banners have the designs on them as well:

The website Sealaska Heritage has info such as textbooks and an online doc about formline art (specifically geared towards Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian nations' style) with lots of info about formline art, and the Seattle Art Museum website has an info sheet (with credits listed as being from the Sealaska Heritage site as well) breaking down some of the basic shapes of formline art.

with this chart, you can definitely begin to notice the similarities between the Salmon Run graffiti and formline art. the ovoids, crescents, and u-shapes appear noticeably in some of the graffiti such as ORBRS and SCHL.

For perspective, here are some formline pieces featuring salmon or fish from various Indigenous artists from various nations.

"sk’ug sdang" (Two Dog Salmon) by Robert Davidson (Haida)

"metal medallion", by Crystal Kaakeeyáa Rose Demientieff Worl (Tlingit Athabascan)

"Salmon People" by Alano Edzerza (Tahltan)

"Jumping Chum" by Stephanie Anderson (Wet'suwet'en)

"Salmon" by Art Thompson (Nuu-chah-nulth)

And that's literally just the surface of dozens of Indigenous artists from the PNW.

With these pieces, you can begin to see the resemblance that the graffiti designs have. A lot of the heads follow the pattern of utilizing ovoids for both the head and eyes, and u-shapes for the bodies and crescents to fill in specific areas are also common. For example, TS-SCHL has a small school of fish where the bodies are entire ovoids.

However, there are a couple flaws in the graffiti designs too. With a few of the designs, you can see they utilize the u-shape (see the formline shape breakdown from Sealaska again) in designs like TS-WHP and TS-SMFR. I can't speak for every Indigenous formline artist ever, but from how I've been taught to design formline art from my family, the u-shape should connect to the rest of the form instead of free-floating. I drew a quick example here:

you can see similar mistakes with a different kind of u-shape with TS-RLPL and TS-C0HK.

Another very specific mistake that takes a bit of squinting to make out is that ovoids are sort of top-heavy, for lack of a term I can't think of right now. The line or the area should be thicker on the top then the bottom. This mistake is frequent in the graffiti designs utilizing ovoid or ovoid adjacent face or body shapes, like TS-ORBRS, TS-C0HK or TS-SCHL.

Full disclaimer, I am not an expert at formline art. I've been practicing it under the tutelage of my aunt and father for about 3 or so years now, and there are definitely cultural variations that come into play as well. My culture's formline art style can look completely different from someone who is Haida or otherwise. This critique of the graffiti designs is based off my knowledge and skill at formline art, as well as critique and feedback that I've gotten from family. Formline art isn't just something you look at and replicate, there is a specific process of utilizing the shapes and negative space that you need to account for too. Some shapes have their own rules for how they're used as well.

Despite the beginner mistakes, the clear resemblances are pretty definitive proof that a good section of the sticker/graffiti designs for the salmonids are meant to be, or at the very least based off of or inspired by, formline art.

Splatoon's lore has a lot of elements of taking inspiration from real life culture (which is sort of one of the main elements of the story, the squids and octos are basing their society off long dead humans). Hell, Shiver and Frye are two prime examples of Splatoon working in real world culture into their setting and characters.

With that in mind, using an art style that's exclusive to an ethnicity of people as inspiration or baseline reference for the game mode that's all about taking natural resources from a species that in-game dialogue tends to treat as dangerous and lesser-minded is... not a good choice. Especially an ethnicity that has historically been ravaged and attacked by settlers for natural resources.

Now, technically if you do digging into lore for salmon run, you can find out that the salmonid are not as simple-minded as the dialogue in-game (I am staring directly at the deep cut big run announcement dialogue we've gotten so far -_-) makes them out to be. The salmonids do trades and commerce with the octarians for equipment and gear. That's why they have such technically high tech gear, like the scrappers with their shields that actually resemble octarian shields and the flyfish with their missiles and flying aircraft. That's also why power eggs show up in the story mode; they're from the salmonids' trades with the octarians.

So the salmonid could technically be as just as smart as the inklings, which is why the dialogue and some of the portrayals of the salmonid are confusing and contradictory (shiver's dialogue from the first big run, that one promo picture of an inkling walking a smallfry on a leash????). I think a good bit of the fanbase sort of thinks of the little buddy we get during the game as a pet, and I'm sure that much more of the fanbase/playerbase doesn't really care about the lore whatsoever. Salmonids sort of have a similar vibe to me as hilichurls from Genshin Impact, where the lore tells you that they're smarter than people assume while NPCs talk of them as less intelligent monsters. And you're also caught in this paradox where killing/fighting them feels morally wrong but the gameplay loop has you continuously doing that while also telling you on the downlow that you should sort of feel bad about it.

Rassicas did a really good video on translating salmonid lore from various interviews, which is where I learned a lot about the salmonid lore that doesn't really get explained/brought up in the game.

The usage of formline art in Splatoon has me sort of mixed on my opinion, because besides using an Indigenous art style for an enemy species that are considered lesser in intelligence by the NPCs, Indigenous art and culture as a whole has suffered a lot under colonialism. I don't know how much awareness whoever is reading this has about Indigenous history and colonialism, but Indigenous culture as a whole was banned in North America by the respective governments from being practiced by the respective cultural groups. Things such as ceremonies, regalia, and even practicing formline art were banned from being used by Indigenous people. Non-Indigenous people however were free to use it, which is why a lot of bastardized versions of Indigenous regalia and culture exists. You can see it in non-indigenous spiritual practices utilizing Indigenous practices and terminology like spirit animals and dreamcatchers, and sports teams utilizing Indigenous culture in its labelling and mascots. That is where cultural appropriation comes into play. And before I get anybody commenting about this, the salmonid formlines don't count as "cultural appreciation" because as far as the info available is concerned, there wasn't any Indigenous people that were consulted for the designs. And even if there were, I again have mixed feelings about Splatoon utilizing an Indigenous art style as a design piece for an enemy character in the franchise.

On another note, this isn't the first time Indigenous cultural appropriation has popped up in the Splatoon franchise. There was actually a headgear that was unreleased in the first Splatoon game called "Warrior Headdress", and you can guess what it looked like.

Yeah. That was all levels of yikes and I'm thankful as hell that it didn't make it into the game (technically it's not in the game as a wearable item, but you can spot it at the very back of the headgear shop ingame)

So Splatoon has utilized Indigenous culture as inspiration beforehand with the games, so it's not much of a stretch anymore to think that the salmon run graffiti designs were based off formline art or was an attempt at formline art.

I'm not really sold on the idea that the salmonid are meant to be representative of Indigenous people though, nor do I believe that utilizing formline art for the salmonid was a malicious decision. But it was a slightly ignorant decision at best, because again using Indigenous specific art for a species of enemies that gets fought for their natural resources and is referred to by some of the NPCs as basically being lesser-minded animals is really not a good decision.

This whole thread is not meant as a guilt trip for anyone who likes the salmonid lore, has bought any of the salmonid graffiti stickers, or enjoys salmon run, nor is it an accusation of the devs for maliciously misusing Indigenous culture. I actually really enjoy salmon run for it's PSP and concept, but this design aspect gives me mixed feelings as an Indigenous person. And to be honest it's hard to label intentions or the thought process because there isn't any info available on the development of salmon run and those graffiti designs specifically. So it's hard to know if the devs employed an Indigenous artist for feedback or if they indeed just looked at some formline art of salmon and tried to replicate it or used it as inspiration. I'm inclined to believe the latter judging by the beginner formline mistakes seen in some of the designs. There is an art book coming out soon for Splatoon 3, so maybe that will give more info.

To wrap this all up, I don't think there is really anything to be done about the designs. The game has been out for a while and I don't know if the game would change the designs at this point. I also don't think this should stop people from buying the sticker designs in game or playing salmon run. However, it is important to learn about the context of these designs so that you know why they exist and why they can be harmful, and so devs and creators can avoid making the same mistake in the future, and so Indigenous issues with cultural appropriation can be made more aware in the public space and not be ridiculed by non-Indigenous people. And again, I am just one Indigenous person so there may be other opinions from other Indigenous people on the graffiti designs and how they should be handled or viewed.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and have a good day!! Be sure to check out some actual Formline art made by Indigenous people, like the ones I listed near the top of the post!

[moregraceful]

the follow-up to last night's insane overshare post is that my sister called me a half hour after i hit post, we talked for over two hours and she gave me some much needed clarity and empowerment, but also much needed unconditional love. i said, when it happens, i will be starting over, there's so much i will no longer have, i won't even have cutlery, i threw all of mine out when i moved in, and now i don't have any, and she said, oh, it's okay, i'll buy you the same set of cutlery that me and my husband use.

you'll escape. you'll live. i'll buy you cutlery.

out there in the world i have a family who loves me. they'll buy me cutlery

[rawliverandgoronspice]

re: my last post, but I kind of have a good serving of criticism in my heart about the whole "gerudos as men r*pists*" trope that I've seen bouncing around in fandom since like 2008 at least (and before that I assume), but it's. not a particularly fun topic. so.

[mattodore]

60 questions with Matthias | playlist, pinterest | ->

1. What’s the one thing they would save in a fire?

There's nothing he'd save. Or… if living creatures count, then he’s saving his cat, Odious.

2. What’s their biggest regret?

Hm… internally he’s very conflicted about this. He wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it, but he regrets his father’s declining health and eventual death — not because he’d want his father to live longer or even because he cared for the man, but because it doomed him to years of psychological torture and physical abuse before he became a legal adult.

3. How would they fare in a zombie apocalypse?

Matthias wouldn’t last long. He wouldn’t kill himself, per se… but I think he’d let himself be bitten. He’d welcome it, actually. Why prolong the inevitable? Actually, I don't even think he'd necessarily get bitten... I think there's a very high probability that another survivor would eagerly waste their ammo to get him to shut up for good...

4. Where do they see themselves in five years? Ten?

Matthias doesn’t plan ahead further than a few weeks. This man has zero long term goals.

5. What’s their most useless, weirdest, or least marketable skill?

What’s the use of having a slutty OC if not to give them the totally useless ability to tie a cherry stem with their tongue in mere seconds? He practiced this party trick together with Imani when they were teenagers.

6. What are they like in the bedroom — well-rounded lover or wooden plank?

Very well-rounded. An Olympic gold medalist grade lover. Unashamed of any act and willing to try anything. Very experienced thanks to all the debauchery. He’s at your service.

7. Have they committed a crime before? Which one(s)?

Yeah. For starters, Matthias allows Sehyuk to conduct criminal business at his parties, which... probably would land him in jail. He also partakes in illicit substances when he wishes to. Extortion. Assault. Attempted murder. He’s paid for sex, which is illegal where he lives. Also a ton of underage drinking when he was younger.

8. If they were an animal, which one would they be? Which one would they think they’d be?

Matthias is very wolfish to me, but, now that I'm thinking about it, I also think he resembles a cougar. I think he’d believe himself to be something more elegant, though… like the Akhal-Teke horse, perhaps. He’s absolutely wrong, though… I don’t think there’s any suitable answer to this question for Matthias that isn’t a predator of some kind.

9. Do they cheat to win or play by the rules?

He’s cheating to win, always. Fuck, he'd cheat to lose too. He likes playing games... so long as he's in control of the outcome, he's virtually a wildcard.

10. What do they fantasize about?

Matthias doesn’t exactly have hopes. He has desires, sure, but they’re more so related to short term pleasures. The thing is, Matthias doesn’t really fantasize about things. If he wants something, he goes to get it. He’s a man of action with charm, money, and time at his disposal. The exception to this being, of course, Theo. Theo is the exception to every rule in Matthias's book. He’ll fantasize about waking up to Theo curled into his chest, watching Theo study and poke his tongue out from between his lips absently while trying to memorize what he’s reading, washing Theo’s hair for him (which I absolutely need to make an edit of... him rinsing Theo's hair and washing his body... yeah. Utter devotion)… Matthias imagines very domestic scenarios when he fantasizes about Theo… well, some of the time. Matthias is a rake and a hedonist, so you know what the rest is…

11. Who’s the most important person in their life?

Imani. Later, this shifts to Theo.

12. What’s their ideal vacation like?

Technically he’s always on vacation since he doesn’t have a job and does whatever he wants… but being on or by the sea, laying out under the sun, with a book and some good wine in hand is his favorite way to pass the time. When he fantasizes about sweeping Theo off his feet and taking him away from all of his responsibilities and pains, Theo joins him laying under the sun. Theo is beside him — or, better, Theo is laying on top of him — sleeping soundly, his skin blemish free, his brow unwrinkled, smelling of suntan lotion and sea salt.

13. What is/was/will be their college major?

Matthias didn’t go to college. He saw no need to — why look to professors less intelligent than himself for knowledge he already had? Matthias was a precocious child and at a young age held an intelligence that was startling and fostered a very cruel mind. He knew very little of emotion until he met Imani.

14. What’s their favorite book genre, if they enjoy reading at all?

Poetry and nonfiction. Matthias reads obsessively. He used to sit on the floor of his father’s library and just read book after book. The denser, the better. The more complicated the characters, the more interesting. He analyzed both the fictional characters as well as the historical figures in the books he read. Not necessarily for fun, as he was learning how he ought to behave since his interactions with people were so limited. Nevertheless this, uh... still didn't hold up well enough when it came time for him to actually interact with people that weren't just servants in his household. He also has a lot of strong opinions about literature... he's a snob.

15. How would they describe themselves?

Hm… I think he’d say he’s detestable. He wouldn’t mean it in a bad way, though. He’d say it while smiling.

16. How would others describe them?

Me, personally? I think Matthias is horrible. Love and light <3

Theo: Sturdy and strong. Silver-tongued. Exhausting. Resourceful. Infuriating. Duplicitous and buried in subterfuge. Safe.

Imani: Bitchy and fucked up. Calm, though, when it matters. Solid. A little unsettling to people who aren’t used to him. It’s not his fault he’s the way he is. Doesn’t know how to act right. Desperately needs to settle down. Unmoored.

Sehyuk: Mouthy.

17. What’s the most ridiculous thing they’ve ever spent money on?

God, I don’t know… he blows through money like it’s nothing (because, to him, it really is nothing). Oh, actually I have a good answer for this! It wasn’t expensive, but he bought a muzzle before. Sexual reasons, obviously, but I find it to be… exceptionally funny. He bought it personally.

18. What’s their dream job?

Nothing. He doesn’t dream of labor or contributing to society. He’s happy to be outside of everything. Additionally, he thinks society is fucked and is very nihilistic.

19. How’s their financial situation?

Matthias inherited his father’s oil company and fortune, then got out. He’s rich.

20. Who’s their go-to person for advice?

Imani. She’s his only real friend.

21. What’s one secret of theirs that could potentially ruin a relationship they have?

Matthias isn’t actually very secretive. I mean, unless you count the whole charming facade of his… which Theo sees through anyway. Hm. I guess Theo doesn’t understand the full scope of Matthias’s cruelty and just how far he’s willing to go for Theo… which I do think would scare Theo a little if he ever found out. Theo does distance himself for a while after witnessing a violent altercation between Matthias and someone else, so… Matthias’s violent side is something that strains their relationship, even when it’s never been aimed at Theo (and never would be).

22. Are they a dog person or a cat person — or something else?

He doesn’t care for pets, honestly. I can’t picture him with a dog, like, ever, but he does have a cat. Wasn’t an intentional thing, either. It just happened. He’s not very affectionate with it, but I do think he’s attached.

23. What’s one childhood memory they’ve never forgotten?

The feeling of breaking another boy’s hand for trying to take something of his. It was very easy… which fascinated him. I think it’s one of the first instances of violence he’d enacted on another person. It also set forth a chain of events that affected the rest of his life. I think as an adult he looks back on it and wishes he could reprimand the eleven-year-old version of himself who acted so hastily and honestly. He’s long since learned to ignore his violent impulses in favor of the social contract. He’s not ashamed of his inherently violent nature, but he is… restrained in that regard. Facades, you know.

24. Do they have any phobias?

I think he believes he can rationalize anything and logic his way out of a lot of potential fears… nevertheless, he has a fear of sleep. He has horrendous nightmares.

25. What’s one thing they’re utterly incapable of doing without the help of someone else?

Feeling real. It’s why he throws the parties he does and engages in acts meant to stimulate some kind of pleasure… he feels numb without it.

26. What’s one topic they could never get tired of researching or learning about?

Matthias enjoys history as a whole. He’s very analytical… I think he enjoys looking at history from sociological point of view. What made man act this way? What motivated this decision?

27. What’s their favorite genre of music?

Matthias doesn’t often listen to music, but when he does he’ll listen to jazz. If anything, he prefers to listen to birdsong.

28. Who, if anyone, do they dislike most?

His mother.

29. If they could change one thing about themselves, physical or otherwise, what would it be?

Nothing, really. Matthias has a huge ego. I think it clouds his judgment sometimes, because, really, he should be working on that personality of his… lmao.

30. What’s their political stance?

He considers himself to be outside of Society™ and doesn’t care about politics. He’s filthy rich… so. Y’know. Comes with the territory, generally speaking. He could pay his way into and out of anything. Detests conservatives, though.

31. Are they religious?

No. He thinks, vaguely, that his parents might’ve been religious, but he never paid too much attention to that. If they were religious, they didn’t care about him enough to even try to induct him.

32. What were they like in high school?

Matthias has always been haughty, but he was particularly disdainful as a teenager. He was argumentative with his teachers, who he considered inferior to himself, and would correct them or even insult them to their face. The boarding school he went to with Imani allowed corporal punishment, so he would often be met with a slap for his insolence. He was a heartthrob regardless. It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to say he had a string of admirers. I think he’s always been bolstered by his intelligence, looks, and money… so even when he was younger and less adept at charm, his confidence did a lot for him. Even despite his cruelty.

At the “therapeutic” boarding school he was sent to by his mother for “troubled teens” he kept up that argumentative streak of his for a while… but he did eventually break. The violence he faced there was much more extreme than at his previous boarding school and alongside the psychological torture… his pride was torn apart. He got quieter. He learned to conceal his reactions and thoughts and rein in his impulses.

33. What’s the worst injury they’ve ever had?

Broken ribs and a punctured lung.

34. Do they work to live or live to work?

Neither.

35. Do/did they want children?

Absolutely not. The bloodline dies with him and he toasts his glass to it.

36. What’s their favorite thing about themselves?

Hm… his mind or his looks.

37. What’s their favorite thing about their significant other, if they have one?

He loves how sharp and perceptive Theo is as well as how caustic he can be. He loves when Theo gives others a dressing-down, even and especially if he’s on the receiving end. Theo is very intelligent and interesting and Matthias loves to pick his brain. Physically, he loves how soft and pretty Theo’s cheeks are the most. I also think he really loves the beauty marks on Theo’s ears and the four on his chin and the two under his eye…

38. If they hear something go bump in the night, do they get out of bed to check it out or do they stay put?

He doesn’t bother getting out of bed, no. He doesn’t get much sleep, so if he hears something he’ll assume sleep deprivation is causing him to hallucinate.

39. What’s one skill they wish they had?

He wishes he could understand certain emotions better.

40. What do other people find annoying about them, if anything?

LMAO. There’s a lot to find annoying about Matthias when you really get to know him.

41. What do other people love most about them?

His money, his dick, his charm. In that order.

42. What’s the typical first impression after meeting this person?

He’s charming and very handsome, but something doesn’t feel right…

43. What do people notice first about them, as far as their appearance goes?

The size of him at first when seeing him from across the room. Then his eyes as he comes closer and the details of his face become clearer. His eyes are startlingly pale and his gaze is very intense.

44. Does this person try their best to be honest or are they not above lying to get their way?

He’ll do anything to get his way. He also just lies for fun.

45. What kind of movies do they like?

He’s very boring and snobby when it comes to the arts, so… I don’t think he watches movies very often. Nature documentaries, maybe.

46. Are they the life of the party or a wallflower?

Life of the party in every sense of the word.

47. Are they an early bird or a night owl?

Well, he’s an insomniac, so… lmao. I think he prefers the morning, though. He’s sitting outside or by an open window whenever the birds start to wake.

48. Are they a good kisser?

Exceptionally.

49. Do they think about what they wear or do they throw on whatever they find first?

He owns a lot of easily pairable clothes and doesn’t get too adventurous with his fashion… so he doesn’t necessarily need to think about what he’ll wear, but I think he does anyway. He knows what looks best on his body and what gains attention, so he gravitates towards those pieces. He has a personal stylist as well, though they’re more just on retainer for events.

50. Do they have any insecurities?

No.

51. What is their favorite thing about themselves?

This is a repeat question… it’s still gonna be his mind and his looks.

52. What’s their diet like?

Generally, I’d say he eats very healthy. He doesn’t limit himself or anything, though. He’s a hedonist at the end of the day. He loves decadent foods as well.

53. If they could only eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would it be?

Affogato al caffe.

54. What’s their body count, if they have one?

It’s very high. I really couldn’t tell you and I don’t think he could either.

55. Who do they look up to most?

No one. Now, if we change the wording a bit, though… Who does Matthias adore and revere? Theo.

56. What do they smell like?

I’ll just copy something I’ve already said here… Matthias wears strong cologne and is very recognizable by it. His signature is Francis Kurkdjian’s Oud Extrait de Parfum and on occasion he wears Oud Satin Mood. Meaning, there’s a rich scent about him that’s spicy with leathery undernotes. Warm and masculine without being obnoxious. Occasionally floral.

57. How do they feel about drugs?

Fun for a little bit, but that’s it. He isn’t addicted. The more time that he spends around Theo, the more he resents them.

58. If they could change one thing about their life, what would it be?

How he lived from ages 15-18.

59. What motivates them?

A desire for something he can’t name, something that makes him feel... an indescribable feeling. (It’s love. He wants love.)

60. What are some of their simple pleasures?

Aged wine. Good books. Depraved sex. A nice breeze. Satin sheets. Strong coffee. The sound of Imani’s nails tapping on her phone. Theo playing with his fingers.

[syn0vial]

yesterday, i learned that one of my acquaintances from church is like, gleefully and unreservedly supportive of the gazan genocide despite going to a church where every sermon for the past few weeks has been about the horrors and tragedy of said genocide. like, i could not fucking believe how hilarious he seemed to think it is that innocent palestinians are dying, just grinning and laughing and shaking his head and rolling his eyes when my pastor and i expressed horror at the innocent people being killed. just remembering it makes me choke up with anger.

anyway, i'm going to be very stupid and try to talk to him about it this coming sunday. i'll use all my teacherly tricks to try and gently lead him to feel one single scrap of empathy for the victims of israel's civilian massacre, but lbr: he'll probably respond with the same amount of glee and condescension as last night and it's going to end with me making me a scene at church.

but i know i shouldn't. so here are some things i should NOT say, no matter how angry he makes me:

i've always hated the sound of your voice, even before you said such horrible things. you say everything with such condescension. when you read the gospels in church, i have to hide my face behind my program to hide my grimacing. you make the words of christ himself sound like a grift of some oily used car dealer who thinks he's smarter than he actually is. i pity you for going through life with such a voice, and pity you even more for thinking it charming.

it baffles me that you'd allow something as basically human as compassion for the suffering of others to be so utterly sanded away by propaganda. it's pathetic that you could laugh at innocents dying. you've let yourself be lobotomized by a clumsy surgeon and style yourself wise with the icepick still sticking from your skull.

i've always thought your face looks like an easter island head sculpted from a raw chicken breast.

see? none of those would be productive, no matter how truly they express my feelings about this person.

thus: people of faith, pray that god grants me the wisdom and restraint to not light this motherfucker up in the middle of coffee hour. amen.

[cookinguptales]

just saw a person online talking about how they have EDS and that's why they get "cigarette paper scars" and I googled and like

do you mean to tell me that everyone doesn't have these

[daswarschonkaputt]

I saw “lwj doesn’t like jyl” in your wip list and I’m so intrigued, would you tell us a bit about it?

ah this ask is so old now, idk if you're still interested, but sure, i can talk about it.

so, fandom seems fairly set on the fact that lan wangji hates jiang cheng. like, i feel like no-one's arguing that fact. but i see a lot of lan wangji getting along really well with jiang yanli, which i think is... yeah, fair enough, but my brain was like, okay, let's explore a universe where he hates her too. why does he hate her? what does he hold against her? how justified is that hate? is it pettiness? or does he have a genuine grievance? how does he moderate this, given that wei wuxian definitely still loves her?

content warning under the cut for discussion of child abuse, in line with what we see of yzy's treatment of wwx in canon, but applied to a modern setting.

around the time i was musing on this, i read a modern au of mdzs that had wwx as the victim of horrific child abuse in the jiang household, and the fic was sort of about him reconnecting with jiang cheng and jiang yanli years down the line. (don't ask me which it was, because i do not recommend it.) and i was looking at that premise, and i was like, hmm. i could do something with this.

the more i worked on it, the more it started to feel like a jiang yanli character study, almost. her strengths and flaws and regrets became a central part of the fic. i really wasn't interested in doing the slash fic demonising women thing. i wanted to write her with depth and sympathy, whilst also demonstrating her flaws (that wei wuxian would be blind to).

here's a few bits:

the opening scene of the fic:

JIANG CONGLOMERATE STOCK PRICE REACHES TEN YEAR LOW FOLLOWING CONCLUSION OF LIBEL CASE Read: After the Yunmeng People’s Court ruled today against Yu Ziyuan, wife to chairman Jiang Fengmian of the Jiang Conglomerate, stockholder confidence in the company dropped, leading to their lowest share price in nearly thirteen years.

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY ISSUE APOLOGY TO WEI WUXIAN, SCHOLARSHIP AND ENROLMENT REINSTATED Read: Tsinghua University has issued a written apology for the “hasty” sanctions they issued against post-graduate student Wei Wuxian, who has been the subject of a month-long libel case from his former family.

“I LIVED EVERY DAY BELIEVING I WOULD WAKE UP TO DISCOVER HE WAS DEAD.” – TESTIMONY FROM JIANG DEFAMATION CASE REVEALS HORRIFYING REALITY OF CHILD ABUSE IN HOUSEHOLD Listen: Leaked audio from the Jiang Family’s defamation case details the horrific physical abuse inflicted upon the defendant, Wei Wuxian.

YU ZIYUAN ARRESTED FOR AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, ATTEMPTED MURDER; FACES UP TO TWENTY YEARS IN PRISON In Photos: As Wei Wuxian attempts to escape the crowd following his decisive victory against the Jiang Family, Yu Ziyuan’s exit from the court is interrupted by Yunmeng Police.

--

Staring at the sky When all of this started, I was so mad about what Wei Wuxian was doing. I was convinced he was a white-eyed wolf, and he was lying just to get back at a family he’d ended things badly with. I was right there with all my classmates, trending #expellweiwuxian all across weibo. Now that we know the truth, I’m so deeply ashamed. Wei-xiaozhang, I’m so sorry!!

Paralysed by the flow of time I don’t think I’ve ever listened to something that made me quite as upset as Dr Wen’s testimony in the #JiangDefamationCase. To think about her as a young med student, stranded across the country from him, trying her best to keep him alive, yet knowing it could all be for nothing if Yu Ziyuan had a bad day and killed him… And the fact that it was her that kept records of his injuries and abuse – evidence that Wei Wuxian had thrown away himself – just in case he ever needed it… It makes complete sense that when he finally ran from the Jiangs, he ran to her. Wei Wuxian, marry that girl before someone else does!

Three for free and two for too Fuck everyone in the Jiang Family who covered up the abuse that was happening. Fuck every single member of their staff who saw what was happening and stayed quiet to keep their job. And above all else, fuck Yu Ziyuan.

Three for free and two for too Prison’s too good for that bitch.

--

Jiang Yanli thinks of her life in moments, most often.

Part of it, she knows, is due to the tumultuous nature of the household she grew up in. There was a thick tension that sat heavily over their house, even when A-Xian wasn’t mouthing off in front of their mother. There were so few moments of unabashed joy that Yanli clung to them all the harder – and just let the other memories slip away.

There was one, when she was seven: the day she met Jiang Wuxian. He’d been tiny and bright-eyed – untrusting but eager for affection. She’d loved him the moment she saw him.

Then, another, at eighteen: a little tipsy, hiding from the crowds at her parents’ Lunar New Year party, when Jin Zixuan looked at her like he finally saw her, and the caught her mid-laugh with an impulsive kiss.

Twenty, legs weak as she walked to the altar. Twenty-two, with Jin Ling in her arms for the first time, tiny and precious and utterly untainted.

The most important moment, though, the one that turned her life on its head, happened three days after her marriage to Jin Zixuan.

They were on their honeymoon. He’d taken her to dinner at an exorbitantly expensive restaurant – even after a year of dating Zixuan still liked to posture. The evening is dimmed somewhat by alcohol; Yanli is a consummate lightweight, and she and Zixuan had already split a bottle of champagne in their hotel room before surfacing for food. She can’t remember exactly what she said, but it’d been something like—

“If my mother knew I was ordering steak, she’d slap me.”

It wasn’t intended to be anything more than a careless remark. She’d said things like that before, and her friends had never made it seem like something terrible. At most, she expected a little light teasing about watching her figure. Maybe a shallow smile.

Zixuan gave her neither. “Is that why you always order a salad when we go out?”

Jiang Yanli had blinked. “Ah,” she said without meaning to. The deviation from the expected script threw her. “That is…” She didn’t want to misrepresent anything to Zixuan, but she couldn’t think of a way to explain herself without making his misunderstanding worse. “You know me. Kind of a glutton. My mother just—well, someone has to watch what I eat, or else I’d never have fit into my wedding dress.”

“Kind of a—” Zixuan cut himself off. “Yanli,” he said, “you’re—you’re tiny. You eat like a bird. I always—you should eat more. I don’t care if I have to buy you an entire store’s worth of new dresses. I just want you well.”

Yanli looked down at the dinner settings in front of them and felt her mouth go dry. She shouldn’t—Zixuan was being—perfect, as always. It was nice. But for some reason, his words made her feel—agitated. Uncomfortable. Like there was something treacherous to be found in his kindness.

“I am well,” she said, at length. “Please,” she reached across the table to lay one of her hands over Zixuan’s. “A-Xuan. It was just a joke. Forget I said anything.”

Jin Zixuan turned over his hand and laced their fingers. “If your mother were here,” he said, very serious, “her hand would never even get close to your face. Even if I had to take the blow for you. So order whatever you want.”

In retrospect, it was such a small thing. It shouldn’t have mattered. But it—struck something, deep and fundamental to her very being. Her hand would never even get close to your face, echoing around her head for days, weeks, afterwards. It was the first time she had ever thought to consider her mother as anything other than an absolute authority. It was the first time anyone had ever suggested that they might protect her from her.

She thinks about it a lot.

She thinks about it when she holds Jin Ling, and wonders if there will ever come a time when A-Xuan will have to protect their son from her. She thinks about it when she visits Jiang Cheng each year, on the anniversary of Wuxian’s disappearance. She thinks about it in quiet moments, when her hands are occupied with laundry or housework, and her brain is able to spiral out and play with words like abuse and childhood trauma.

And she’s thinking about it now, stood on the steps of Yunmeng’s People Court, watching A-Xian try to fight his way through a crowd of reporters. Her hand would never even get close to your face. Yanli’s father is collapsed on the ground beside her. Jiang Cheng is arguing with the police officers leading their mother away. Zixuan is back home with their child – a courtroom is no place for a toddler.

Her hand would never even get close to your face.

It had been so easy for Zixuan to make her feel safe. She wasn’t living at home anymore. She was married. Her husband was wealthy enough to take care of them without any help from her family.

She can’t imagine—

Her hand would never even get close to your face.

—how much more difficult it must be, to make Jiang Wuxian feel safe.

There’s a clatter behind them and Jiang Yanli turns her head slightly, to catch sight of a young woman rushing down the steps after A-Xian. Yanli recognises her. This is Wen Qing. She testified for A-Xian.

Yanli watches her place her tiny body between A-Xian and the press. Wen Qing stretches her arms out, forcing her way back, giving A-Xian space. She says something sharp and short to A-Xian. When he nods, she grasps his hand, and she forces her way through the crowd, A-Xian following in her wake.

Yanli watches them both until they’re completely swallowed by the mass of cameras and microphones.

“Jiejie, say something.”

Yanli’s attention snaps back to A-Cheng. Both her brother and two police officers are looking at her expectantly. “Oh,” she says after a beat. “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?”

Jiang Cheng growls. “They’re saying we can’t follow them to the police station to talk to Mom,” he says. “And I said they’d be hearing from our lawyers.”

Oh, A-Cheng, Yanli sighs internally. Always so convinced of his own righteousness. “We should take Dad home before dealing with any of that,” she says gently. “Gentlemen, am I to presume you are members of the Yunmeng Police Precinct?”

“Yes, ma’am,” one of the officers says.

Ma’am. How ridiculous. I’m not even 30. “Then we know where to send our legal team,” she says easily. “A-Cheng, we can get Mom out of jail later. For now, can you help me with Dad?”

“They had no right to—”

“A-Cheng,” Yanli says, stronger this time. “I can’t lift him on my own.”

Jiang Cheng cuts himself off. He looks between their father and the police officers, hesitating, before he sighs, and kneels down to hook his hands under their father’s arms. “It’s okay, Dad,” he says. “Come on. We’ll get it sorted out.”

Yanli looks around them – at the teeming mass of reporters, barely held back by their security team, at the place where just moments ago, A-Xian had staggered out of the courthouse, victorious but no less wrecked for it, at the police car pulling away with their mother in handcuffs—

Yanli looks at it all, and can’t help but feel that this is the kind of mess that can’t really be sorted out.

and the little snippet that inspired the entire fic:

(cw for discussion of injury, and fairly horrific child abuse)

(context for this scene: wei wuxian is sick, and as such has to cancel on lunch with jiang yanli. when she hears he's sick, she makes him soup, and brings it by his apartment.)

“Oh,” Jiang Yanli says, looking at the kitchen. “This is…”

Lan Wangji follows her gaze, not entirely certain what she’s noticing in particular. He has chopping boards out, piled with vegetables he was in the middle of preparing, when Yanli arrived. There’s a pot of stock simmering on the stovetop, and a steamer that’s half-filled with dumplings.

Jiang Yanli smiles helplessly. “I guess I never expected either of you to be able to cook. A-Cheng’s hopeless, and the less said about my husband in the kitchen the better. And A-Xian… I guess I don’t know anymore. Does he cook?”

Wei Ying doesn’t so much cook as he attempts to kill his tastebuds – and his husband – with spice.

Jiang Yanli hovers inside the kitchen door. Lan Wangji watches her, quietly.

“I understand,” she says at length, “why you don’t like A-Cheng. He is rude to you. I—he hasn’t figured out yet, which parts of our mother’s teachings he wishes to keep. Please be patient with him.”

Lan Wangji’s fingers pause on the knife. He does not say what he is thinking, that he has little sympathy for the plight of Jiang Wanyin. That it is simple to him: a woman who beats a child under her care is not one who he would listen or obey in any circumstance.

It isn’t his place to say such things.

“So, I understand, why you avoid us,” Jiang Yanli goes on. “But – I am not my brother. I have no quarrel with your relationship with A-Xian. You have been – good for him. So I hope – I hope we can be friends. For A-Xian’s sake,” she adds, “if nothing else.”

Lan Wangji looks down at the knife in his hands. It is sharp, and expensive, and he should not be holding it for this conversation. He places it down on the table.

“Thank you for your care,” Lan Wangji says. “Wei Ying will appreciate the soup. But we cannot be friends.”

She blinks at him. “Why not?”

“I dislike you.”

His blunt statement seems to have staggered her. She blinks, again. Tilts her head. “I—what?”

“We cannot be friends,” Lan Wangji repeats, “because I dislike you.”

“Oh,” Jiang Yanli says. “Mr Lan, I’ve never – if I’ve done something to offend you—”

Lan Wangji’s eyes fall to the Tupperware in her hands. “It is not what you have done,” he says, “but what you have not.”

Jiang Yanli follows his eyes to the empty soup containers she’s holding. “I—I don’t understand,” she says.

“When Wei Ying was thirteen,” Lan Wangji says, “Yu Ziyuan flayed the skin from his back. Doctor Wen still has photos saved from the incident. I have seen them. It is no understatement to say that Wei Ying is lucky to have survived – had the wounds become infected, he would have likely died. You brought him soup.”

Left unsaid are the events that prevented that: that Wen Qing had stolen prescription antibiotics from the pharmacy where she worked, risking her job; that Wen Ning had spent every penny of his savings on a plane ticket across China and taped the blister packs of pills inside a hollowed out workbook, that was slipped to Wei Ying under the premise of make-up work; that Wei Ying himself had applied ointment to his wounds with a cotton pad taped to the end of a ruler, unable to reach the network of lacerations stretching across his entire back.

“I – I always have,” Jiang Yanli says. “It makes him feel better, when he’s sick.”

She doesn’t get it.

“Yu Ziyuan left him lying in the dirt,” Lan Wangji says. “He had to crawl up the stairs to his room because he could not stand up without passing out from the pain. He vomited when he reached for his first aid kit, because it had been placed on the top shelf of his wardrobe by a maid. And you brought him soup.”

Wei Ying loves her for it, even now. Jiang Yanli, his jie-jie, who always brought him soup when he was sad. She is untouchable in Wei Ying’s eyes.

Lan Wangji will never forgive her for it.

“You were in a position to help him, long before I even knew what was wrong,” Lan Wangji says. “You moved out, went to university, met your husband – and for four years, you never said a word. How many times did you come back home and make soup? How many times did you see your mother’s cruelty written across Wei Ying’s body – and how many times did you choose to do nothing?

“I saw signs I didn’t have the knowledge to interpret, and I hate myself for never speaking up. It is my greatest regret, that I didn’t have the courage to end Wei Ying’s suffering even – one year, one month, one day earlier. But you knew all along. And you made him soup.”

[karmirage]

incomplete list of niche characters i restrained myself from submitting to the niche comic character tournament

Ryoko Sabuki/Radiance: 7 appearances. Granddaughter of Gwen Lou Sabuki, whom I did submit. Biggest sensation since Dazzler, which would mean more if Marvel remembered Ryoko existed. Light generation and manipulation, just like her grandma.

Ameiko Sabuki/Goldfire: 9 appearances. The dead sister of Ryoko. I don't think she ever even showed her face in her non-powered form.

Leyu Yoshida/Sunpyre: 9 appearances. The dead little sister of Shiro Yoshida/Sunfire.

Marnie/The Rumor: 9 appearances. Spider-Man side character. Badass old lady. Figured out Peter Parker = Spiderman in like two issues.

Takeshi Matsuya/Wiz Kid: 29 appearances. He's literally so funny to me. I think he should be allowed to say fuck.

Nuwa: 2 appearances, once in an X-Force annual and once in a Tabitha Smith oneshot story. Her personality shifts wildly between those two and they never elaborate on why.

Tamara Kurtz/Dragoness: 28 appearances. Evil and loving it. Has wings, but they're technological, not part of her mutation.

Rina Patel/Timeslip: 19 appearances. No hate to whoever submitted Robbie, but she is definitely the more niche New Warrior.

Georgia Dakei/DK: 13 appearances. I like it when teenagers sass tf out of adult characters I think it is so fucking funny.

Sybil Dvorak/Skein: 44 appearances. her original villain name was a slur and i am SO glad they changed it. canon sensory issues queen. Also evil and loving it. Canonically bisexual (for evil).

Larry Bodine: 1 appearance. This is the guy from New Mutants vol. 1 who killed himself after his classmates joked about outing him. Yes this is the issue of NM with Kitty's infamous slur speech.

Rebecca Littlehale/Lighttrakker: 3 appearances. Kid from Power Pack who could teleport to light sources she could see.

Helen Takahama/Jolt: 74 appearances, which makes her the least niche character here. I need to reread Thunderbolts. In MC2 (Mayday Parker's universe), she was an Avenger.

Charlie Burlingame/Charcoal: 41 appearances. Created by a reader via a Wizard magazine contest. Legal problems means that he was never brought back when he was killed off.

[behind-the-sc3ne]

sometimes i think about trying dating apps/online dating in general but i don't think i'll be able to attach to a real person again

[nutria--oscura]

Statement: Someone in my friend group chat sent the South Park clip of Cartman going into the woman's bathroom and saying he can use it cause he's trans (you know the one) and said that he would do what Cartman did.

Context: The person who sent it is the guy who was dead naming me and misgendering just about all the trans people in our group and then claimed that he's still learning (also sent me a message making me feel bad for telling him "fuck that and fuck you" in response to him asking me for my identification card to prove that my dead name is my real name; that I shouldn't have cussed him out cause "he didn't know"[got corrected so many times I lost count] and that he's "learning"[someone told him he needs to learn and he said "Well I don't want to learn"])

Result: The only people who have seen it so far are ALL and only the trans people in the group and no one has responded and the silence is DEAFENING

[sheepwasfound]

i am out here waiting things out 🧍

[scare-ard--sleigh]

one of my favorite cyril songs also includes an incredibly unsubtle, unavoidable piss kink element in the refrain so i can't play it in front of anyone :( it is so hard being me :(