#if anyone has more of this it is a very specific niche that i love

[gothkrislemcheslut]

i’m so corny and i cry over snoopy movies so this is very on brand for me but god why does it absolutely get me every time someone draws an older/current version of a band member/artist alongside their younger self, or just like puts pictures of them side by side with some lyrics? if anyone is ever looking for a way to make me incredibly emo over band people… do that

[ao3commentoftheday]

Hi! I have a writing related question. I have a major problem finishing things, specifically the second half or last third. I'm a pantser, and have tried planning to help fix the issue, but it's just...not my style. I plan and it all changes anyway. This problem has been going on for a long time and by now I'm fairly sure the culprit is psychological/lack of confidence. I know logically this is a common occurrence and I likely just need to push through, but I simply can't do it, most of the time even with shorter works (I then feel worse about myself as a writer, which makes the problem worse, etc). I guess what I'm asking is, if you or anyone has been in this situation, and some general tips or words of wisdom lol. I know the issues, but still can't seem to fix it. It's affecting my ability to write and now I can't even start stories like I used to either. It's making me miserable. I love writing and want to have it "click" again; right now I just feel sort of broken, creatively speaking.

I'm not very fandom social but I do read this blog all the time, it's a gift. So helpful on so many different topics, and I felt comfortable finally reaching out here ♥️ Thank you for everything you do here

I think you know part of the issue. You know that you can't finish works and you know that planning doesn't help you. You think there might be a lack of confidence, but you don't seem all that certain about it.

I think you should dig in a bit more and see what the actual culprit is.

Are you worried that your writing is bad and will be poorly received?

Are you worried your story is too niche and no one will read it?

Are you worried that the things you write might lead to harassment or bullying of some kind?

What you'll notice about all of those things is that the worry is about how other people will react to what you've written. That's something that's completely out of your control.

To get back to the joy of writing, try writing something just for yourself, with no intention of posting it. See if that helps you get to the end. Often people who have issues with perfectionism or shame or anxiety will put off finishing projects because they want to avoid the judgement that comes after something is finished. If it's never done, no one will tell you that you did a bad job.

If you're like me, then planning is the opposite of helpful because as soon as the plan is in place, it feels like the story is already written. Instead, try working with a plotline that has lots of different ways that it can go. Make it into a kind of "choose your own adventure" but for you, the writer. As you get to each stage in the story, leave choices open so that you can go left or go right - but you can also go up or down or swing in a circle.

Refocus on the parts of writing that feel more like play than like work and do more of that. Reconnect with the joy of it. Then, when you actually like it again, you can figure out whether you actually still want to post your works and how you can deal with your worries then.

*hugs* it's a rough spot right now, anon, but I think you'll get through it. Let's see what advice the rest of the blog has to give.

[books]

Writer Spotlight: Rose Sutherland

Rose Sutherland @rosesutherlandwrites is a Toronto-based writer who grew up a voracious reader with an overactive imagination in Nova Scotia (where she once fell off a roof trying to re-enact Anne of Green Gables!). She's been to theatre school in NYC, apprenticed at a pâtisserie in rural France, and currently moonlights as an usher and bartender—in between writing queer folktales, practicing yoga, dancing, singing, searching out amazing coffee and croissants, and making niche jokes about Victor Hugo on the internet. She's mildly obsessed with the idea of one day owning a large dog, several chickens, and maybe a goat. A Sweet Sting of Salt is her debut novel.

Keep reading for more about character arcs in A Sweet Sting of Salt, Rose's favorite fanfic tropes, and some excellent reading recs 👀

Can you tell us about A Sweet Sting of Salt and how you came to write it?

A Sweet Sting of Salt is a queer (f/f) historical reimagining of the classic folktale of the selkie wife, set in 1830’s Nova Scotia. I call it a “reimagining” because while it draws on the folktale, it’s not a retelling of that tale so much as a story playing out in relation to that mythology. I’d wanted to write something centering a love story between two women for a while, but the initial spark came from a Tumblr post! It suggested the idea of selkies testifying before the UN as victims of human trafficking, which reminded me of all the things I disliked about the original folktale and its inherent darkness that is generally glossed over, starting me down the rabbit hole toward finding my own story.

How did you approach research for A Sweet Sting of Salt, and what is a favorite historical fact you learned?

I joke that I did a lot of research by osmosis: I already had a lot of base knowledge about the location, having grown up in Nova Scotia, and then set the story in a period that I’ve been absorbing information about in a low-key way for ages—1832 is also the year of the student rebellion in Les Mis, so I’ve been gleaning tidbits about this era since I first got into the musical and book back in high school. However, I had to do more specific research into things like British divorce law, period midwifery, and animal husbandry. I also visited some small, hyper-local museums on the South Shore that gave me an invaluable glimpse into daily life. I also did some fun practical research into things like “How long does it take to walk from x to y?” and “How cold IS a plunge into this body of water in March?” (Spoiler: Very.) 

A fact that fascinated me but didn’t make it into the book was that some early European settlers in the area were granted lands by luck of the draw, pulling from a deck of playing cards: Each card was assigned to a specific 50-acre lot, and whatever you pulled, you were stuck with it.

When we meet them, Jean and Muirin are isolated for different reasons. What do you hope readers still searching for their people take away from A Sweet Sting of Salt?

That there’s always hope. It’s valuable and important to keep reaching out to the world around you, to be open, and not cut yourself off—the biggest reason for Jean’s loneliness at the beginning of this story is the way she has come to keep everyone around her at arm’s length, shutting herself away out of fear, and refusing to let anyone truly get to know her because she thinks that’s the best way to protect herself from being hurt again. Reaching out to others can take a real act of courage, especially if you’ve had bad experiences in the past, but “your people” will reach back to you.

Found family elements play a strong role throughout the novel, within supernatural and mundane settings and across species. Was this something you intended from the beginning, or did this grow out of writing the relationship between Jean and Muirin?

I always intended for Jean to have a found family of this type, which is something that a lot of queer people identify with, but those bonds also got stronger and more meaningful as I wrote, especially once Jean and Muirin began growing into their own family unit—their new relationship and the real danger that comes along with it put pressures on Jean’s other relationships that I hadn’t originally considered. Disagreements with Anneke and Laurie over Jean’s choices arise from their deep concern and love for her, and her own love and care for them, reflected in her responses, is a big part of what made them feel like a real family, for me. Jean and Laurie always having each other’s backs while also being the first to call one another out on their bullshit ended up being one of my favourite dynamics in the whole book.

The selkie myth carries an inherent element of transformation. What is a character transformation you most enjoyed writing, and why?

On a character level, the change in Jean’s worldview following a conversation with her childhood sweetheart meant a lot to me—it heals an old wound for her. I love how grounded and self-assured she is afterward, in spite of the daunting task still ahead of her. But my favourite transformation to write was the antagonist’s mask-off moment, where they directly threaten Jean for the first time. It’s so sly and coded so that only she will understand the menace behind it, a real dun-duh-dunnn moment, which was a lot of fun for me—I also enjoy the foreshadowing elements in that exchange.

This is your debut novel. Did anything surprise you about getting it from manuscript to published book?

Oh my gosh, how LONG it took! After I finished the original draft and decided it was worth attempting to publish, I spent over a year revising based on my own thoughts, input from beta readers, critique partners, and my mentor, Maureen Marshall (whom I connected with through the now defunct Author Mentor Match program, and whose book, The Paris Affair—about a young gay engineer attempting to help Gustave Eiffel secure the funding to build a certain celebrated Parisian landmark— is coming out in May). After that came a full year of querying agents and getting rejected. A lot. People loved Salty but weren’t quite sure what to do with her or where the book would fit in “the market,” which was hard to deal with at the time but is hilarious in retrospect: Salty was snapped up less than a month after she finally went out on submission! But that was back in 2022, and the book is only coming out now. Publishing can be painfully slow.

You’ve written fanfic in the past—do you have a favorite fanfic trope?

I’m not sure either of these counts as a trope, but I adore a character that’s “pure of heart, dumb of ass”, and love a truly unhinged Fanon Explanation For Canon Object. As a longtime Les Mis stan, I ship Tholomyes/Getting Punched. If you know, you know.

Do you have any favorite queer retellings of folktales you can recommend?

Right here on Tumblr, I’m a huge fan of @laurasimonsdaughter, who writes delightful riffs on classic folktales, truly inventive urban fantasy spins on old lore, and her own original folktales. 

I’m currently reading Spear, an amazing queer, gender-bent, Arthurian novella by Nicola Griffiths. Anna Burke’s books Thorn and Nottingham are up next on my TBR. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of brilliant queer historicals that aren’t retellings (I recently loved Suzette Meyr’s The Sleeping Car Porter and Heather O’Neil’s When We Lost Our Heads) and wonderful historical retellings that aren’t queer (I highly recommend Molly Greeley’s beautiful, heartbreaking Marvelous, about the real-life couple that inspired Beauty and the Beast). Queer, historical retellings aimed at adults seem to be considered quite niche, still, and can take some digging to find! So, throwing this out to Tumblr: Do you have recommendations for me?

Do you have a writing routine? Is there a place/state of being/playlist you find most conducive to your writing practice?

My routine is chaotic at best, but I find I do my best work earlier in the day, so I usually scribble in my journal while I have breakfast, and then progress to working on my current project as I drink my second cup of coffee. I’m lucky—my day job is an evening gig, which mostly allows me to write on my preferred schedule… but I’ve also been known to have a bolt of inspiration strike at 10pm and dash home to write until well past midnight on occasion. Nothing quite like the hyperfocus zone!

What’s next for you? Are you working on anything you can tell us about?

No official news yet, but I’m currently working on a story set in 18th-century provincial France based on a true unsolved mystery of the past. It has me delving into a very specific branch of French folklore, and I hope future readers will pick up on common threads with one popular fairytale in particular. I’m really excited about where this one is headed, but keeping the details close to my chest for now!

Thank you Rose for taking the time to answer our questions! If you love queer fantasy and old folktales, grab yourself a copy of A Sweet Sting of Salt, and be sure to share your queer folktale reading recs with Rose on @rosesutherlandwrites!

[rthko]

Hi :) I read The Tragedy of Heterosexuality and loved it — do you have any other books you’d recommend about gender/sexuality? Thanks <3 I love reading your long posts, you have really insightful ideas and I think we view the world very similarly

Glad to hear that! Here's some context for anyone not in the loop: The Tragedy of Heterosexuality is a book about Heteropessimism, or rather, finding a way out of it. The notion is that heterosexual love is doomed because men and women are just different by nature, and it manifests through relationship self-help books, incels and pickup artists, and the memes and ramblings of countless straight women who they wish they could just be lesbians. Jane Ward think heterosexuality as we know it self sabotages through what she calls the misogyny paradox: straight men love women, except they don't love women. But she doesn't think heterosexuality is doomed or prop up political lesbianism as a solution. She calls for mutual respect and actually leaning into the heterosexuality of, well, actually liking each other, rather than try to "queer" it. This is part of a really interesting turn in queer theory where heterosexuality has emerged as a subject of study--another good example is Hanne Blank's Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality.

So I want to start out by disclaiming I'm not actually that well read. This is something I've been trying to work on more recently. That said, here are some gender and sexuality recs:

Two essays by Gayle Rubin: The Traffic in Women and Thinking Sex. I don't completely cosign everything she says, but these are monumental texts. Thinking Sex is topical especially as the "sex wars" keep playing out.

Gender Trouble by Judith Butler. Everyone's heard of this, so my specific recommendation is to skip to part three and the conclusion, where the text is at its most concise. Butler's theory of gender performativity has exploded beyond their initial reach, so they've since had a lot of interviews and given talks that address a wider audience. People who have read both Gender Trouble and Bodies that Matter tend to recommend the latter text, but I still need to.

The Trouble with Normal by Michael Warner, or if you want a shorter version, his essay "Normaler and Normaler." Even if you're not against marriage in its entirety, his criticisms are so incisive and helpful, especially now in countries where gay marriage was passed but proved to be a dead end. It also really gets into gayness as identity versus behavior, which seems to have exploded into a huge conflict recently. This is how you get people who are on board with queerness in the abstract but appalled by its real-life specifics. I also still need to read Fear of a Queer Planet.

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde, is a collection of speeches and essays by one of the most influential Black feminist writers. "Uses of the Erotic" especially stuck with me, where the erotic is taken not so literally but as a sort of creative synergy with political implications. If you've ever heard "the master's tools will not dismantle the masters house," that's included in this collection.

Close to the Knives by David Wojnarowicz, also a collection of speeches and essays, is one of my favorite books on AIDS. The rage is palpable and crucial, and the essay "Do Not Doubt the Dangerousness of the 12-inch Politician" is eerily resonant today as politicians still stoke violence on TV (and now social media).

Lately I've been getting more into trans writing, with Transgender History by Susan Stryker and Whipping Girl by Julia Serano. The former alarmed me with how much I didn't know, and the latter blew my mind. It was written at a time when trans people, for better and for worse, weren't really in the public eye except for in niche circles, and academia about trans people was about or at the expense of them but not by and for them. Her mark is so tangible today. My next read will be Reverse Cowgirl by McKenzie Wark after hearing rave reviews. I think I'm going to like it.

I am also accepting recs!

[1004tyun-archive]

❥ late bloomer

✿ pairing: non-idol!taehyun x noona!reader

✿ summary: your high school and college years were nothing short of uneventful. no first dates, no first kiss, no first boyfriend, nothing. but when you and taehyun hit it off at an art exhibit and start a relationship, you know you want him to be your first for everything. but does taehyun know he's your first?

✿ genres: established relationship, smut, slight angst

✿ warnings: slight age gap (reader is 25, taehyun is 21), virgin reader, soft dom taehyun, body worship, mirror sex, voyeurism

✿ word count: 5.8k words

✿ a/n: hi friends! i've been noticing an increase in the taehyun noona lover agenda, so i thought why not toss my hat in and give y'all a noona reader fic of my own? i hope you enjoy <3

very special thank you to @cherrypeaking for being my sounding board while writing this fic! screenshots were shared, tears were shed, memories were made 🥹

You zoom down the streets of Seoul with purpose, the wind blowing through your hair as you blast Carly Rae Jepsen’s entire discography in your car, not caring if anyone’s bothered by the way the bass shakes your car. Today’s a special day, after all.

You and Taehyun’s halfiversary, to be specific. It was like pulling teeth trying to get him to play along with the gimmick of celebrating the first six months of your relationship, but you were too excited not to celebrate it. You had a feeling there would be many more months to come, you knew it from the first date. You’ve never been more certain about anything.

You roll up to Taehyun’s apartment complex and turn your music down to a whisper’s volume. You text him indicating that you’re outside and he steps out moments later. He looks so dashing in a white dress shirt, black pants, his dark hair pushed back, and a Rolex adorning his wrist. As soon as he slides into your car, you’re hit with the scent of his woodsy, floral cologne.

Does he have any idea how irresistible he is?

“Happy halfiversary, baby,” you say and lean in, smiling into the kiss he gives you. You playfully smack him on the arm when he doesn’t return the greeting and he holds back a smile, his lips pressing into a line.

“Come on, you have to say it too!”

“Or what, the magic won’t work?” he asks dryly.

“Come on, say it!” you whine, then cross your arms. “I’m not driving us to our reservation until you say it.”

His smile gets harder to suppress as you give him puppy eyes, you can tell his resolve is beginning to crack.

“Happy… halfiversary, Y/N,” he finally says. You pump your fist and kiss him on the cheek. He can’t stop himself from smiling and neither can you.

If there’s one thing you’ve grown to admire about Taehyun, it’s his dry sense of humor. He takes so much pleasure in messing with you, but you love to return the energy, pushing the boundaries of just what you can get him to do in the name of love.

You switch to the playlist you and Taehyun made when you first started seeing each other and warmth spreads in your chest as you reminisce.

It hasn’t been too long you started dating, but every day has been so bright since Taehyun entered your life.

You’re relieved by everything he is. Protective, kind, warm in his own special, Taehyun way. His warmth radiates even as he sits across from you and holds your hand, rubbing your knuckles with his thumb. The flame of the candle between you enhances the brown in his eyes.

Being an art museum security guard is a niche job that requires you to look tough and always be on your toes, but being around Taehyun allows you to let your guard down.

You’re the older of the two of you; you’re a couple of months into being 25 and Taehyun turned 21 just days before you met, but you turn into such a giddy child whenever he’s around.

You swing your arms as you hold hands and walk through the city streets together, and Taehyun watches you in amusement, a quiet fond smile on his face.

You make your way from the restaurant to the grocery store to stock up on snack foods for the night.

As you and Taehyun load your many bags of snacks into the trunk of your car, it finally hits you.

You’re going to be spending the night with him for the first time. You’ve never spent the night with a boyfriend before, much less even had a boyfriend before, period.

Your CRJ marathon continues as you drive back to Taehyun’s apartment. Want You In My Room starts to play and the heat rises in your cheeks. You try to keep your cool as the song plays. You’re having good conversation, but of course it settles to silence in the middle of the first chorus.

♪ I wanna do bad things to you / Slide on through my window / (I want you in my room) / Baby, don’t you want me, too? ♪

You get flustered and quickly switch to the next song.

“Subtle,” Taehyun remarks and you want to bury yourself in your steering wheel.

Despite your prior embarrassment, Taehyun has your back pressed against the wall the moment his front door shuts behind you. His hands slide up your waist and to the side of your neck as his lips press against yours.

He kneels in front of you and runs his hands up your legs and under your dress to play with the tops of your sheer tights.

“Can I take these off?” he asks, running his his hands down to rest on the backs of your thighs. He’s so breathtaking from this angle, looking up at you with those eager, glittering eyes.

His breath is fanning against your thigh, sending tingles up your spine and making you dizzy. Every cell in your body is urging you, screaming at you to say yes.

And yet…

“Wait,” you say, breathing a little heavily. “I… uh, I-I didn’t shave.”

“That doesn’t bother me.”

“Well, it bothers me,” you emphasize, sounding more offended than you intended. Taehyun pauses to look at you for a moment before the warmth of his hands slowly leave your body. You feel a pang of guilt and offer a meek apology as he rises to his feet.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.”

But that’s the problem. You do want to, you really really want to.

But there’s a massive roadblock that always stands in your way whenever situations like this arise.

A roadblock called inexperience.

You change into your pajamas and spend the rest of the night watching competitive cooking shows on Netflix while gossiping about your work lives and sharing snacks like you’re two kids having a sleepover.

You fall asleep on the couch snuggled into his side and you’re stirred awake by his movement.

“Let’s get to bed,” he says sleepily. He helps you up from the couch and you can’t ignore the butterflies in your stomach as you realize you’ll be sleeping in the same bed together for the first time.

Once it dawns on you that you’re sleeping together, you’re too giddy to possibly fall asleep. You say goodnight when Taehyun falls asleep, but you’re still up, taking in the atmosphere of his bedroom. He has blackout curtains but a small, round galaxy lamp casts shadows on the ceiling and grants the perfect amount of light to the room. Everything smells like him, floral and woodsy like his cologne, but also like the lavender scent of his hair shampoo.

You could imagine yourself here more often.

When you wake up hours later, all you can do is stare at Taehyun’s sleeping face. He looks so peaceful when he’s sleeping, even with his mouth slightly open and messy hair.

“Morning,” Taehyun says. His morning voice is so sexy, it warms up your entire body. He throws an arm over you and snuggles you closer. You’re close enough for the tips of your noses to touch, close enough to hear his breathing.

“G’morning,” you say then kiss the tip of your boyfriend’s nose.

“I made a brunch reservation for 10:00,” he says. “It’s a quarter to 9 now, so we have time.”

“Time for what?” you ask.

“Time for this,” Taehyun pounces on you and kisses you. You kiss him back and things get heated pretty quickly with his tongue making its way past your lips and into your mouth.

Your heart catches in your throat when you feel his morning wood poking at your inner thigh.

“Wanna make a mess before we get ready?” he asks, his tone suggestive as he slips his fingers past the fabric of your worn t-shirt. Your heart is hammering in your chest as the warmth of his hand against your waist makes you dizzy.

“I-I think we should start getting ready,” you say, shying away from Taehyun’s touch. He looks a bit disappointed but ultimately does what you say and removes his hands from your body.

You quickly get up to get your clothes for the day and go to take your shower.

The rest of the day is awkward, to say the least.

You and Taehyun walk back from brunch. You reach for his hand and hold it, but he doesn’t hold yours back. Taehyun, the chronic hand holder, not reaching for your hand as soon as you left the restaurant already raised a red flag, but him not holding your hand at all?

You get back to his place and take a seat on the couch. Taehyun sits on the couch too, but not immediately next to you. And at first, you chalk that up to him needing a bit of space. It’s not like he was icing you out, he wasn’t kicking you out, after all. He was still in the same room with you, just a little more quiet and distant than usual.

He’s pretty quiet for the rest of the day, giving you tacit responses when you ask questions and giving a half-hearted laugh when you try to tell a joke or make him laugh.

You finally notice things are wrong when he’s cooking dinner. You wrap your arms around his waist and he exhales through his nose.

“Now you want to touch me?” he asks. Your heart breaks a little as you let go of him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you ask.

“Nothing.”

Oh, so now it’s back to the short responses?

“No, it’s not nothing,” you say, it’s impossible to hide that you’re upset. “What did you mean?”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” he asks. Where did this tone come from? He sounds like he’s joking, but not really. It’s really setting you off.

“Clearly there’s something I’m not getting,” you say.

“Then maybe you need some time to figure it out. Time away from me.”

You’re taken aback.

“Taehyun, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying you should probably go,” he finally turns to face you and his face is devoid of any warmth. When he looks at you with those cold eyes, it’s like the warmth leaves your body as well.

You search his face for any inkling of mirth or signs of him joking, but you don’t find any.

He really wants you to leave.

“Fine, I have work tomorrow anyway,” you stuff your clothes back into your bag, and storm out of Taehyun’s apartment without even a second glance. He doesn’t even look at you as you leave.

You walk to your car, not being able to hear much over your heart pounding in your ears. By the time you’re seated behind the wheel, your heart plummets.

It hits you that you’ve hurt your boyfriend’s feelings big-time. You didn’t need to see him on your way out to know that.

You can’t even bring yourself to start your car. You sit behind the wheel and hold back your tears until you can’t any longer, tears spilling down your cheeks while you mentally beat yourself up for having done this. Why were you so afraid? Why were you going out of you way to drive a wedge between the two of you?

It’s like you wanted him to hate you.

You check your phone at every red light, hoping and praying that he reaches out to you first, but to no avail. No message, no phone call, nothing from him.

A sinking feeling festers at the pit of your stomach. You’re not sure if you even want to go home, but you can’t think of anywhere else you could go.

Your housemates Jihyo and Nayeon are sitting in the living room laughing at something on TV and you know you’ve tanked the energy the moment you step through the door.

“You’re back,” Jihyo greets from the couch. “How’d it go?”

“It was… nice,” you say, voice strained.

“Y/N? What’s wrong?” Nayeon asks, clearly detecting that something’s wrong.

You can already feel the tears returning and you can’t stop them from falling. You break down into sobs and both Jihyo and Nayeon get up to console you. They lead you to the couch to sit down and you tearfully explained everything that has led up to this point.

“I hurt him,” you say between sobs and Nayeon rubs your shoulder. “He’s never gonna speak to me again.”

“Did he say that?” Jihyo asks.

“No, but he didn’t need to. Ever since this morning, he’s been tiptoeing around me and walking on eggshells trying not to upset me. He didn’t touch me, he didn’t even sit near me. He probably thinks I hate him.”

“Sounds like he thinks you’re mad at him,” Nayeon suggests.

“I’m not mad at him, I’m just.. scared of messing up.”

“Why are you so scared of going through with it?”

“I-I don’t think I’m ready. It’s something I want, but I don’t feel ready. There are only so many articles you can read and videos you can watch in preparation. Nothing compares to actual experience, and until meeting Taehyun, I’ve had none. What if I do something wrong? What if there’s something wrong with the way I smell or the way I taste or I can’t get into the right positions or—”

“—Y/N, no one’s first time is perfect,” Nayeon says. “The only way it can be close to perfect is by communicating with each other.”

“Right,” Jihyo adds. “Just like how you can’t read his mind, he can’t read yours either. You have to talk things through with him, even if it’s hard.”

You fall silent.

“Does he know he’s your first?” Jihyo asks.

You shake your head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Y/N, you should tell him,” Nayeon says. “He should understand, he loves you.”

“After tonight, I’m not so sure he does. I don’t wanna lose him.”

“Please, you should see the way he looks at you,” Jihyo says. “He looks at you like you hung the moon and put every star in the sky. You’re not gonna lose him over this, just talk it out.”

You keep Jihyo and Nayeon’s words in mind as your fingers hover over your phone screen the following afternoon.

You have to do this, it’s now or never. A knot forms in your throat as you begin to type.

you: Hey are you busy tonight? I want to talk

taehyun: We’re talking now

you: No I wanna talk to you in person

you: If that’s okay

you: We can meet at that cafe you like

taehyun: That’s fine I have time after work

you: Okay see you then

He doesn’t respond and your entire body gets tense. Jihyo wasn’t wrong about this being hard.

You end up arriving first, standing outside the café with your hands in your pockets mentally hyping yourself up for this difficult conversation. You can do this. It’ll be hard but it’s important for your relationship.

You spot Taehyun from the corner of your eye and walk toward him, greeting him and giving him a hug. He doesn’t hug you back, that on its own worries you, but you try not to let it discourage you.

“How are things?” you ask from the across the table.

“Fine,” he says. His tone is so cold, not like the playful kind of cold tone he uses to tease you, but genuinely cold, distant even. A frigid silence settles between the two of you and your throat tightens.

“I wanna apologize for last weekend,” you start. “I didn’t mean to be so weird.”

“It’s fine,” Taehyun says, his voice is tense and it unsettles you.

“No, it’s not fine. I hurt you when I didn’t mean to, and I’m sorry.”

Taehyun is unusually quiet, part of you wants to ask him why but you also want to give him the proper space to think.

"Y/N, be honest. Are you trying to break up with me?"

That question hits you like a slap in the face.

"What?"

"Whenever I try to touch you, you always push my hands away, change the topic, or run away. This didn’t start with last weekend, it’s been going on for a while now and I don’t know if I can take it anymore. What am I doing wrong? Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"No, no. Taehyun, you're not doing anything wrong."

"Then why are you pushing me away?"

"I’m not pushing you away, I just…" you hesitate, looking down at your hands then back up at Taehyun, who's looking at you expectantly. He’s a bit upset, but it's clear that he wants to hear what you have to say for yourself.

The thing is, you aren't completely prepared to say it. You swallow, fighting the dryness seizing your throat.

"I’ve spent all my life feeling invisible. My friends had their first kisses before I did, got married before I did, started having kids before I did while I couldn’t even get a date. I felt like time was running out for me, and then I met you. Taehyun, you make me feel seen. Being with you makes me feel like the lovesick teenager I never got to be. Before we got together, I'd never had a boyfriend, been on a date, held someone's hand, or had my first kiss. You've been my first for everything, but whenever sex comes into play, I-I get scared.”

“Scared?”

“Scared that I won’t measure up, scared of how you’d react. You’ve had years of experience with different partners while I just bought a vibrator for the first time this year. Can you believe it? 25 and I just bought my first sex toy,” you say with a wry laugh. “You make me so happy, Taehyun. There’s no one else I’d rather have my first time with, but the thought of disappointing you or making you slow down for me hurts too much. I don’t want to do that to you."

There’s a long silence between the two of you. Taehyun pulls you into a tight hug. You’re startled at first, but you soon close your eyes and wrap your arms around him in return.

“I don’t even know where to start,” he sighs. “I’m- I’m so sorry, Y/N.”

Another thing you’ve learned to love about Taehyun is his firm belief of actions speaking louder than words. The way he holds you tight in this café speaks for him perfectly. Sometimes words aren’t needed and this is one of those times for him.

“Let’s make some plans,” Taehyun says, determined. “I’m gonna give you the best first time you’ll ever have.”

As the week progresses, Taehyun texts you asking about your sexual preferences, your kinks, anything you’d like to try, and you answer to the best of your abilities. You blush when he tells you the things he’d like to do to you.

Things like tying you up, spitting in your mouth, overstimulation, the works. He emphasized that he’d only do these things if you want him to, but little does he know that you’d let him run you over with a tractor as long as he called you his princess while doing it.

But maybe you’ll reserve those for after your first time. Baby steps.

You open your underwear drawer and the tip of your one and only vibrator is staring you right in the face.

You stare at it for a good minute, wondering if you should bring it along on your journey. You suppose it wouldn’t be a bad idea and tuck the toy into your purse.

You throw on your best dress and heels and make your way out the door. Your heart is beating at a thousand miles a minute but talking things through with Taehyun all week combined with your housemates’ good luck texts this morning give you all the confidence you need.

Your heart is pounding as you walk down the narrow hallway of his floor and get closer to his apartment. You knock on the door and you’re greeted with a surprisingly dressed down Taehyun. He’s got a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants on, a far cry from the glam look you decided to go with for today.

“Wow, you got all dressed up for me?” Taehyun wraps his arms around your waist and kisses you.

“I feel so overdressed,” you confess.

“Don’t worry, that won’t matter later,” he says with a smile and your cheeks burn. He leads you to his bedroom, but you can hardly wait to touch him, to kiss him, to feel him.

You don’t even make it to the bed before you pounce on him, pressing his back to his bedroom door and kissing him hard. He leans into it almost automatically as his hands find your waist to pull you impossibly closer.

“Have I ever told you how sexy your legs look in tights?” Taehyun asks, running his hands up your legs.

“No, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it a couple hundred more times.”

“As you wish,” Taehyun kisses your neck and his hands go to the tops of your tights. He peels them off of your legs and casts them to the side. He sucks on the skin of your neck and you sigh at the sensation as he leaves a few pretty hickies behind.

His hands trail up your ass and to the invisible zipper on the back of your dress. Your heart skips a beat as you feel your dress slowly fall off of your body and pool around your feet on the floor. Taehyun grabs your shoulders and turns you toward the full-length mirror. He snakes his arms around your waist to hug you from behind.

”God, look at you,” Taehyun whispers against your skin. “I can’t believe no one’s gotten their hands on you yet. How did I get so lucky?”

Taehyun sits at the end of the bed and pulls you down onto his lap so that you’re still facing the mirror.

“Lift your hips,” he says into your ear. You do as your told and lift your hips so he can take your panties off. Once he rolls them down your thigh, you wriggle out of them and kick them off to the side. Taehyun unhooks your bra and pulls it off of you, letting it fall to the floor next to your underwear.

It’s a little embarrassing, sitting in his lap completely naked while he’s fully clothed.

Taehyun explores your naked body with his hands, fingers dragging up your thighs to your stomach to squeeze your breasts. You close your eyes and relax into his touch, feeling every individual callus on the skin of his palm. He slides his thumb over your bottom lip and you sigh, granting him access to your mouth. He shoves two fingers into your mouth and your tongue lazily swirls around his fingers before you begin to suck on them.

“That’s it, princess. You’re a quick learner,” he says and you tingle from his praise. He thrusts his fingers in and out of your mouth and you suck on his digits with every movement.

After a minute or so, he pulls them out of your mouth with a wet pop. Your eyes shoot open when you feel his saliva coated fingers in your pussy. Your back arches from the sensation and you make a noise you’ve never heard yourself make before. Taehyun chuckles.

“You’re so cute,” he whispers and kisses the shell of your ear. “So wet already and we’ve just barely started. I can’t wait to make a mess of you.”

He grabs your jaw with his free hand and turns your head to face the mirror head-on.

“Keep your eyes on the mirror for me.”

You obey, but it’s so hard. Your vision goes blurry as you watch as his fingers thrust in and out of your wet, throbbing entrance. He curls them in just the right way to have you moan so loudly that you shock yourself. You throw your hand over your mouth, but Taehyun quickly removes it.

You've never seen or heard yourself like this before. He’s driving you absolutely wild.

His erection presses against your ass and when you grind against it, his breath hitches.

He rubs at your swollen clit with the heel of his palm. It’s enough to have you clamping your legs shut and squirming in his lap. Taehyun uses his free hand to hold your leg open as he continues to tease your clit at that same, excruciatingly slow rhythm.

You come undone, high pitched moans leaving your lips as you writhe in his lap and he holds you in his strong arms. He continues to finger you through your orgasm until you’re reduced to a panting and whimpering mess.

“Good girl,” he whispers. “You’re so good, princess.”

You go limp in his arms and he holds you, closing his eyes and burying his face in your bare shoulder.

“Are you okay? Do you have enough energy to get on the bed for me?” he asks. You nod and he helps you up anyway, taking your hand and getting you properly seated on the bed.

You sleepily watch as Taehyun slowly undresses, pulling his t-shirt over his head and tossing it into the nearest laundry basket. He pulls a foil packet from the pocket of his sweatpants and places it on his nightstand.

And then, suddenly, you have a lightbulb moment.

“Can we try something?” you ask.

Taehyun raises an eyebrow. “In the mood to experiment already?” You nod shyly and he leans in, eager to listen.

“Can you get my vibrator from my purse? I want you to use it on me.”

It’s a simple little thing, a pink silicone rabbit vibrator about five inches tall.

“What do you want me to do?” he asks, hand resting on your thigh.

You shrug, “I don’t know, be creative.”

“How about you show me how you use it?” he tosses the device to you and your mouth goes dry.

“You’ve used it on yourself before, right? I want to watch you use it.”

You’re frozen in place as the gears in your brain slowly turn in an effort to process what he just said.

“You’re already naked, love. Just get in the usual position you’re in when you use it. I won’t judge you, I promise.”

You’re hesitant but you eventually roll over onto your stomach and shift onto your knees so that your ass is in the air and your face is buried in the softness of one of the memory foam pillows. It smells just like his shampoo, you close your eyes and bury yourself in the scent until your eyes suddenly snap open and you remember what you’re in the middle of.

You can’t see Taehyun but can you feel his eyes on you and it sends a shiver down your spine.

“I’m waiting,” he says in a teasing tone and your face heats up. You press the button at the bottom of the vibrator to turn it on and hold it against your pussy, not yet sliding it inside. You take a breath and rub it against your slit, your thighs twitching when it brushes by your sensitive clit.

“What do you think about when you touch yourself?”

You jolt at the question, already feeling flushed.

“Don’t be shy, you can tell me. It’ll be our little secret.”

He must think he’s so funny. It’s hard to concentrate, your mind is already foggy as you try to focus on your own pleasure while trying to put on a good first show for your boyfriend.

“Put it inside,” he says, softly but commanding. You do as he says, mewling as you push the silicone toy into your dripping core.

“Do you imagine me fucking you?”

Taehyun hovers over you, his toned chest pressing against your back. He kisses your shoulder and slides a hand down over your busy hand, helping you to thrust the vibrator in and out of you.

“It doesn’t compare to me, does it? Doesn’t stretch you out and fill you up like I can, either.”

The mere thought of having him inside you is enough to turn you on even more. Your pussy tightens around the toy, but he’s right. It isn’t enough. You want— no, you need more.

You need him.

“What’s wrong, princess? Can’t cum? Not even with me helping you?”

Your eyes are brimming with tears, you’re so close yet overstimulated at the same time and you’re not sure you can take this any longer. You wordlessly shake your head.

“Want my cock instead?” he asks and you nod fervently. He pulls the vibrating toy out of you and the vibrating sensation that initially numbed your pussy is replaced with the head of Taehyun’s cock. You whimper and he kisses your shoulder.

“Let me know if I need to slow down, okay?”

You give a nod and he plants another kiss on your shoulder before aligning his cock against your pussy and pushing into you. You hiss, hands tightly gripping the cotton sheets beneath you as you feel him slowly fill you. Your body feels like it’s on fire, stretching around him burns, but the pain slowly starts to settle in the boundary of pleasure as Taehyun slowly slides into you until he bottoms out.

You’re pretty sure you’ve elevated to higher plane. You can feel every curve and vein of his length inside you, he fits you so perfectly.

“Are you okay?” he asks, voice soft as a feather.

“Mhm,” you sigh. “Feels so good…”

“Mm, that’s my girl,” he rubs your thighs and up towards your stomach. “Relax, okay? I’ll take good care of you.”

You steady your breathing for a moment before he drags his length out of you and plunges it back in. He thrusts particularly deep and hits a spot that has you drooling and grabbing the sheets until your hands start shaking.

“Fuck, Taehyun…!” you cry.

“I’m here, princess. I’m here,” he says soothingly. “You’re doing so good.”

He continues to pound into you, hitting that same spot over and over, it feels so good you could cry. His girthy cock is filling you up, stretching you out so perfectly; you can’t imagine why you waited so long for this, but you’re so glad you’re experiencing it now.

Your entire body runs hot and your thighs quake as you feel a pressure building in your hips.

“T-Taehyun, I’m… ‘m- shit, I’m so close,” you squeak.

“Cum for me, princess. I want you to fucking drench me,” Taehyun says, thrusting faster. “Come on, give it to me.”

You cum so hard that your entire body shakes and your voice breaks. You call Taehyun’s name over and over like it’s a prayer and he holds you tight. Your reaction is enough to push him over the edge as he fucks you through your orgasm.

“You’re mine, Y/N. You’re mine, no one else can have you,” he breathes, thrusting in you faster and faster until he finally cums. You shudder at the way his cock swells inside of you. Your chest rises and falls as you try to catch your breath.

“C’mere, I wanna look at you…” Taehyun pulls out and turns you over on your back so that he’s hovering over you. The outline of his toned body has your heart racing. It’s only been seconds but you already miss the feeling of him inside you.

“You’re so pretty,” he leans in to kiss your forehead and you instantly get butterflies. He falls onto you and you wrap your arms around his waist. You lay there for a minute, still catching your breath until your breathing is in sync.

“Y/N, I want…” his words trail off, he looks flustered. You silently urge him to continue and he gives you a shy, hesitant look you’ve never seen before.

“You might not have been my first, but I want you to be my last,” he confesses. “I know it might be too soon to say it, but I—”

Before Taehyun can continue, you grab his face and kiss him. It’s clumsy, your faces mush together in an awkward kind of way but you can’t help the way you’re feeling. All the admiration and fondness you have for him overtook you like a tidal wave. You separate and he stares at you with wide eyes.

“Sorry, continue.” you apologize, breathless. Taehyun looks at you with amusement.

He chuckles, “No, I think that spoke for me just fine.”

“Come on, say it.”

“Are you gonna interrupt me again?”

“Only if you want me to,” you say with a suggestive raise of your eyebrows. Taehyun laughs, it sounds like the ringing of bells.

“I love you, Y/N. I wasn’t kidding when I said you’re mine.”

You smile, holding back your tears of happiness, “I hope you know there’s no getting rid of me now that you’ve said that.”

“Wouldn’t want that for the world,” Taehyun kisses you and lays his head on your bare chest. You run your hands through his hair.

“I love you, Taehyun. I love you so much.”

[captainofthetidesbreath]

What classes do you think the mighty nein would play, were they to play dnd? Bonus round would they be good at dnd.

I had a post about this like back in 2020 or something that I cannot find, so I don't know if my opinions have changed since then. I don't have anyone down as DMing because I assume that even their forever DM has a preferred class.

Fjord - Cleric I don't think Fjord would like tanking that much because getting attacked makes him nervous, but he doesn't want to be a glass cannon either. I think that he would initially go for cleric because he simply wants to be useful and helpful, but he didn't necessarily realize how big of a job being the cleric is. He starts out as a just Cure Wounds dispenser, but quickly flourishes into a Holy Terror Wrath Of The Righteous Divine cleric. He loves doing that. His mechanics are solid and efficient and he's tactically astute, but he's a timid roleplayer who struggles to initiate scenes. He's solid if drawn into scenes and forgets to be self-conscious because he's got a better character sense than he thinks. Literally do not ask him what the overall plot of the campaign is because he cannot remember no matter how hard he tries; he remembers individual PC arcs though. I think he'd also like paladins, bards, and druids, and I do think he'd be willing to play some of the more involved fighters like the Knights subclasses and the cooler rangers.

Beau - Wizard She wants to be the person in the game who gets all the information, and that's usually a wizard. She wants to put her little hands all over all the lore, and also she loves having a spell list that's a billion miles long. She does not want you to know that she feels so smugly satisfied playing a character who can do the research and have the connections and know the information. She absolutely hates that this means she's made of tissue paper, so she tends toward Con wizard. Her mechanics and exploration work are really good, and she is stellar at engaging in the world in a way that's highly informed by her character class. She struggles with the roleplaying part of things a lot. She has a decent grasp of character, it's the actual RPing part that she has trouble with. If you can convince her to play a charisma caster, which she is afraid of doing, she'd also enjoy bard a lot. Also monks and artificers.

Caleb - Wizard This is self-explanatory. Caleb is a guy who plays a wizard or the full damage caster in every single game. This is who he is. He is great mechanically until you gotta discuss non-spell stuff. He did, in fact, read that portion of the rules, but it was never relevant to him, so he deleted it from his head. His spell choices and use are phenomenal though. He min-maxes but specifically for the weirdest, most niche element that is useful one time, but it is extremely clutch that one time it's relevant. He is also great at the storytelling portion, though his roleplaying can be a little dense or dry. If you can make him play something that's not a wizard, druid or bard. He will not play a healer druid or bard though.

Veth - Warlock She wants to make bad decisions in her games, and she loves that a warlock comes prepackaged with bad decisions. She has a solid grasp of her spellcasting mechanics, but also finds full casting intimidating. She loves the concept of being a wizard in theory but actually playing one stresses her out. She is a very loud and excitable player, which can be a lot of fun if, uh, loud. She fucking supports you and is into whatever it is you're doing, especially if it's so dumb to do. She is inventing the weirdest and most ambiguously intense patron relationship of all time. She also would enjoy paladins, rangers, artificers, and the fancier fighters (again, the Knights subclasses). She could be eased into cleric if a niche in the party is clear and her mechanical role is structured. She can totally handle full casting, including wizards, she just psyches / stresses herself out.

Jester - Bard I feel like people are going to be like "what about barbarian," but I think that Jester tried it once and the comparative lack of options made her really frustrated. She loves the idea of hitting things, but she hates it when 80% of her options is just hitting it. She is attracted to the charisma casters though, because she really likes the charisma skillset, and she really wants to cast a lot of spells. Out of the charisma caster options, she likes bards best because she loves being a little good at everything. She tends to be a little over-competitive about it and gets sulky when she doesn't feel useful enough. She is actually iffy on mechanical nitty-gritty, but her basics and groundwork is solid so it's fine, but she's a really great if melodramatic roleplayer and her social encounter work is great. She is deeply engaged in the narrative and is intensely invested in every NPC. Buys so fucking hard into the suspension of disbelief. She would like the fancier fighters and paladins better than a barbarian.

Molly - Bard He is playing the stereotype bard of everyone's nightmares. I will not further elaborate.

Caduceus - Ranger He does like to ask the plants and animals question in-game as well, and rangers let him do that and have a bit of magic too without being overwhelming as a class. He isn't super interested in doing complex characters; this is not being bad at D&D, to be clear, it's just a preference. He's your friend who is here to play a simple character because he just wants to hang out with you, which I think is always very sweet. That said, he is not very good mechanically. It's a lot of stuff to keep track of even with 5e being a little simpler. I think he would also like playing paladins or the straightforward fighters, or a cleric if he can decide what his niche is and stick to that specifically. He doesn't vibe with barbarians.

Yasha - Druid She is initially drawn to the class for the vibes (always a valid reason to be drawn to a class), but I think she enjoys having spellcasting options and options that aren't "hit it". She is a timid and awkward roleplayer who has a lot of trouble there, even though she has a lot of fun making up backstory and engaging with the lore and story. Her spellcasting is creative and experimental because she loves weird. She is one of the button pushers of the table and is giggling when she does it. (She and Veth are menaces, lmao, it's great.) I think she'd also enjoy bards, maybe clerics and warlocks, and the fancier fighters and rangers.

[obae-me]

Hello, and welcome to another installment of niche content containing another mash of my two special interests. Written out of boredom at the airport. Today's edition, fueled with my excitement of being able to go to none other than Miku Expo 2024, I give:

The Brothers As My Favorite Vocaloid Songs!

Yes, I know, please, quell your excitement. I know everyone was waiting for this one. I will take no criticisms or judgments, only enthusiastic additions.

Warning: While nothing stated in this post needs a full content warning, if anyone decides to look up these songs, many songs themselves have plenty of individual warnings, so please search with caution.

Lucifer:

Now, the song I think he'd actually enjoy listening to is Daughter of Evil. It's got tragedy behind it, the song is a bit more classical/waltzy, exactly the kind of thing he likes. However based off his vibes alone, I'm gonna say Honey I'm Home. Mostly because I love Ghost and Pals but also because religious trauma. And I know other people agree with me because I've seen fanart of it.

Mammon:

I think Mammon would listen to Sand Planet. Oo, or Bring it On. Do I have a detailed explanation as to why? Not really in so many words, but it just seems like something he'd listen to, I feel it in my bones. I will not be taking any questions. Now the song I think he embodies? Wildcard. I mean, the whole motif is about playing cards, it's upbeat and fast paced and I love it and I love Kasane Teto even more.

Levi:

I will physically fight anyone who doesn't think Levi listens to Rolling Girl at least once a day (I won't actually fight anyone but I feel very strongly on this matter). It helps him get through hard times but it also makes him cry. Which...same, Levi, same. But if Leviathan were to be a song itself, I'd have to pass it over to Volt Tackle by Deco*27. Pokémon, talking about fighting and struggling at first to capture someone's love? Oo, or Digital Girl. It's got him written all over it. (Or if I want to be sad, give him Anthropophobia)

Satan:

See, Satan is hard because I never know if I envision him listening to heavy metal or if he prefers soft melodies. And, I mean, I know he can like more than one genre at once, but picking THE song I think he'd listen to is hard... but if I'm going off of what I like as well as gut instinct... Abstract Nonsense. Now, selected off his character, I'd have to pick Hikari Yo. It's just very emotional and desperate and the poor demon boi is like that on the inside quite a lot. WAIT or Pathalogical Facade! Oo, lots of options for Good Ol Satan.

Asmo:

Easy, he'd love Gimmie×Gimmie and I don't think I need any further explanation on this opinion. I actually think Asmo would unironically like a lot of vocaloid songs, personally. And as for his songification, I handpick Aishite, Aishite, Aishite. And I know there's a lot of different people's interpretations to this song and everything and people get very... I guess territorial when it comes to this song (at least from specific corners I've seen) but it makes sense to me. It's a really popular song and it's hauntingly beautiful and it's about wanting to be loved and adored and this is MY post so I can say whatever I want about it.

Beel:

Beel is another one that's hard for me to pin down... I think his music taste (joke not intended) is rather eclectic. He probably actually has no real preference other than more upbeat songs to make it easier to work out to. In which case I get to pick whatever I wish. For him I would make him listen to Happy Halloween. I don't care what time of year it is, it's cute and upbeat and about getting treats and it's one of my favorite songs ever. Now one to embody him?... Goodness that's even harder. I would love to say Appetite of a People Pleaser, but Beel's not a people pleaser... I actually don't know! Maybe I am a sham of a fan. I am open to suggestions for my baby Beel.

Belphie:

You know I have to pick Tokyo Teddy Bear. This mans is too edgy not to listen to it all too often. Plus, it's a classic. And, you know I have to make this all even sadder by giving him the song Error. Because I like to make myself cry. And Belphie needs a good cry, let's be honest with ourselves.

I'm also going to add the Distortanist as an honorable mention for unhinged Lesson 16 Belphie.

[autism-rizz-tournament]

Autism Rizz Tournament

Rizz: Originally short for "Charisma", Rizz (for this tournament, at least) refers to the appeal, charm or general "ability to pull" a character has, either romantically and/or sexually. (The character doesn't necessarily need to be attracted to anyone to have rizz. If they can make others fall for them, it counts)

How to vote

Propaganda

Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time/ Adventure Time: Fionna and cake)

Bro gets super hyperfixated on his studies of magical artifacts , with a scene where he's infodumping about something he's reading about and paying zero attention to anything else in a fun lighthearted manner. There's also a scene in fionna and cake where he has a meltdown that looks to my autism ass like something of a sensory overload. He also is big into reading (did I mention that?) and goes on little autism walks alone to process stuff He's also got a crazy magic girlfriend chasing him because of his rizz, along with his literal doppelganger alt universe clone hitting on him. His fluffy hair, cute little glasses and snazzy sense of dress lead to even more rizz.

I LOVE MAH CURSED MANNNNNN hes so adorable I WANT ONLY JOY IN HIS LIFE

Marina (Splatoon)

While not canonically autistic, she does have a lot of autistic traits--she's rarely seen without her headphones (to the point where her ears aren't modeled in game), her tentacles constantly moving could be seen as stimming, and she has a very strong interest in machinery, to name a few. Marina also has a crush on her bandmate, Pearl. While it is never directly stated in-game, supplementary material basically confirms it. The Japanese version of the Splatoon database has described her as a "maiden in love," with the specific words used being in romantic contexts. Along with that, she has drawn a manga about Pearl, drawing flowers and hearts around her, and generally acts affectionate towards her in-game. It is unknown if Pearl reciprocates canonically, but she does have a very close relationship with Marina. She reciprocates Marina's hug at the end of Octo Expansion, and she is seen to be quite worried about her in the second trailer for Side Order. Pearl x Marina is a very popular ship in the fandom for these reasons.

she wears headphones near-constantly, is obsessed with heavy machinery, and is skilled in multiple forms of art (music, shoujo manga-style visual art, and stage design). she also notably chose team Order in the Chaos vs Order splatfest, and her dialogue in the announcement suggests she's resistant to change (though it could also just be interpreted as her being gay for her co-host)

this was a partly 'for fun'-type headcanon i quietly held for a while that i think was kinda niche at the time (though it is entirely possible i just wasn't in the right corners of the fandom) but then side order released and brought with it a ton of new reinforcement. to get the question of her rizz out of the way, people were so consistently horny for her while splatoon 2's splatfests were ongoing that it actually caused drama because her team typically had the popular vote and people chalked that up to participants voting based on their favorite hosts' opinion rather than their own. whether that's true or not is hard to prove, but the fact that it was plausible illustrates my point, and her popularity was even referenced in-game at one point. there's also MAJOR subtext that she and her bandmate pearl (who reads as adhd to me) are dating. now for the fun part, listed in no particular order but will probably trend towards sillier argumentation as it goes on. (includes some mild side order spoilers) the "final" splatfest of splatoon 2 was chaos versus order, and marina's reasoning for picking order implies a resistance to change. this is reinforced in side order, in which she has to reconcile her inner desire to live in a consistent world with the fact that she knows forcing other people to conform for the sake of that is immoral when a rogue ai hijacks her virtual-reality program. - she shows signs of having social anxiety in a lot of dialogue, and it even arguably extends into her visual design because of her consistently pouty eyebrows. - at one point a childhood friend of hers mentions a time she infodumped to nobody in particular about excavators for 2 hours straight, and then pearl says she regularly goes on for longer now. - she has skill in a ridiculous amount of art forms: music, stage design (for splatfest battles, not music performance), shoujo manga-style visual art, and even programming, game design, and 3d modeling. -the logo of the virtual-reality program she designed is an infinity symbol, which also shows up in a few other places throughout it. - always seen wearing headphones, outside of specific promo art and images from her military backstory.

[casukaga]

Please talk about what you love the most about your lil blorbos (Cable and Maverick and anyone else!) and what has been a fun challenge while playing them! And any other details that you're like "this is so neat but so niche so no one will know unless this VERY SPECIFIC SCENARIO COMES UP"

HEHEHEH WELL SINCE YOU ASKED….. :3c

cable—

i fuckin love this guy.

the basic rundown of cable: he’s charming, charismatic, loves spontaneity, and loves living life dangerously!! he’s all about doing what makes you happy and is a big advocate for self-love. they’ve got a high self-esteem and know their self-worth (he knows he’s hot shit and loves himself a lot!! ❤️) they also used to work at a brothel and are super open about their sexuality. this guy? horny. they love performing and pole dancing and wearing high heels. he’s also very affectionate and loves any and all kinds of physical contact. he’s also aromantic and pansexual!! he is platonic partners with my gf’s character, ophelia 💕

you ask me what i love about cable and it’s just. all of him LMAO.

i love cable sm because there’s a lot of myself in him (i made their character at a time when i was doing a lot of self-reflection). also he’s so open and honest and self-confident, i’m like— WOW, i aspire to be like you someday…

if i were to give a challenge i have while playing them… i love rp (it is my favorite part of dnd), but i fear i’m not the best at improv. i tend to get nervous during sessions for this campaign specifically. i think it’s that i’m so self-conscious about playing cable accurate to how i imagine him in my head that i’m just a bundle of nerves. i’m nervous at first, but eventually i get into a groove the longer the session goes on. though, these past few sessions especially, i’ve been pretty happy with how i’ve been playing him!! it delights me when my friends tell me they love cable as well 🥺

i also play leiana, my high elf druid!!

i realized i haven’t talked about her / showed her publicly on social media at all, so here she is. i don’t have as many things to say about her as i do cable, but i love her all the same!!

she was the first character i tried to give an accent to (irish), and while my irish accent is definitely not that good— it is what it is. this is just how she sounds like, and it’s good enough for me.

leiana is a cartographer and she loooooves bugs. loves bugs. which is very much not like me because i am, unfortunately, a little bug hater. but leiana has such a fascination with nature and bugs especially. she studies bugs and likes to pin them (she only pins dead ones she finds, she would never kill a bug herself) and she has a collection of pinned bugs!

she also has a pet tarantula named fenri, who can change colors! (he’s primarily pink and matches leiana’s hair.)

leiana is no stranger to grief and she fears dying. currently she is trying to distance herself from the party for Reasons 🥲

while i have a few more dnd characters, they are for upcoming campaigns that i have yet to play in!! cable and leiana are the two i am actively playing at the moment :3

maverick is also in my brain constantly these days, but unfortunately i cannot talk abt xem for reasons….one day i will gush abt them to my heart’s content…

thank u for letting me chatter abt my ocs, i give u a little kiss on the forehead

[dantenyhpmir]

Under the Mask

Pairing; Konig x F!Reader

Plot; When a bullet goes through Konig's mask and he survives you suspect there might be something supernatural under that cloth

Warnings; CNC, unprotected sex, Oral Sex (F Receiving), Eldritch horror themes, supernatural sex, anal play

Word Count; 3340

Dante Nyhpmir Masterlist

You and Konig had been seeing each other for a while now. Well seeing each other in a way? You weren't sure. You spent every lunch together, never running out of anything to talk about. He always asked about your day, checked in with you. It was sweet, he'd listen to you ramble on about your niche interests. Whatever side of the internet you found yourself on this week, he'd listen to your stories for hours. He especially loved when you'd talk about all your favourite horror novels but how you'd never watch scary movies. "The irony" he'd say. Offer to watch the movies with you but never really finding the time to do so. He had reached your hand once on a mission though caught himself and let go before the others could see. That's basically seeing each other right? You weren't supposed to fraternize, especially at this ranking but something about that made it even more appealing. You knew the others were. You had no proof of Ghost and the other woman on your sniper squad, Zero but something was going on that Price turned a blind eye to. He could do the same for you and Konig, no?

No. Konig was different. There was something very specific about him that they kept their eyes on more. Ghost they left alone, let him run around the shadows killing as he pleased. Quietly. Konig was bigger, more violent and loud when it came to his missions. Never missed a target.

Price wanted to know where everyone was on a mission but they tracked Konig. He only had so many hours that were free before we would be ushered away. Making horror movie hours difficult to actually pull the trigger on though heightened the thrill. Made you want him a bit more than you already did. You couldn't pretend that he didn't dismiss your observations though. Anytime you'd question why he was so heavily watched compared to the others, he'd deflect. "I'm not being watched anymore than anyone else" or "I think you're seeing what you want to see." It wasn't in a harsh tone either, rather gentle when he said it but you knew he was hiding something.

You had never seen his face. He never let you. You'd try to hold his face through the cloth that drapes down over his eyes but he'd always gently move your hands away, to the back of his neck or shoulders.

Your mind starts wondering if he has something to hide underneath. Like actually hiding, not just a scar but …. What could you even be hiding? It had been months though, spending time together, sneaking off when you could, a lot of late night chats yet, he never kissed you. Did he even have lips underneath? Stupid. Stupid thoughts.

They didn't seem so stupid though after the latest mission. You were watching Konig much closer than usual. Your sniper is meant to be trained on the enemies but your scope couldn't leave Konig. You wanted to see him move, see if the cloth would ever jossl in a way that you could make something out. It seemed silly, that shouldn't be your priority compared to training your eyes on the enemy but it added up when you saw a bullet go through one side of the cloth and then the other but he stood still, calm and unaffected. Really, unaffected.

That should've killed him. Should've taken his jaw clean off but nothing. Absolutely nothing. The next few days your brain is realigning. Before you know it you're doubting yourself and each time you replay what you saw in front of you, it shakes out differently. What you saw turns into what you believe you saw, what you think you saw. It kept you up at night. You had lived a rough enough life before joining 141, most of the team had. You knew your brain would change memories the more you replayed them. Or at least distort them. The distraction of if you really saw the bullet go through his mask all became too much over the next few days. Zero had noticed but you'd shrug it off. How could you share anything with anyone, there was nothing to share. Yet. You could find out. If you found the mask.

It was late. Everyone had their debriefs. Konig was last. Always last. You and Zero were first, Price wanted the woman to still feel prioritized. Honestly it wasn't something you thought about but right now "ladies first" was perfect for your plan. Giving you all the time to sneak into Konig's room while everyone was occupied waiting for their meeting with Price.

You search through as many of his things as possible. Trying not to upset where they might be too much but folding the clothes back to how they were was a skill you didn't exactly have. Especially in your panic. What were you doing? Could this have really driven you SO unhinged that you snuck into a man's room to look through his things. This is the kind of thing you'd hope a man would never do to you. And yet. You just, needed answers.

It dawned on you for a moment, why were there only clothes. Where were the pictures? Where were plants or any decorations. It was just a dark room with a dresser and bed. Nothing else….

The search became more and more desperate. Why would he even keep that mask if it had happened. Why would anyone? What would it even prove if you found it? What wo-

It was buried beneath the others. You held it up and light from your cell phone flashlight Shawn between the holes. Not the eye holes. Lower.

Where the bullet went through.

It takes a minute to process before you hear him.

"Liebling" he calls to you "What are you doing in my quarters?"

When did he even come in, you never heard him?

"Konig" you don't turn around. "Did, did a bullet go through your mask?"

You can feel the steps he takes, his body standing behind you. His arms slowly wrap around and lower your arms. His chest pressed against your back.

"It was, how you say, a close call" he says calmly as he takes the mask out of your hands.

"I saw it Konig" you finally turn to face him. "It should've gone through your jaw."

"You must be mistaken" He reassures

"Konig I can see the holes in your mask from the bullet?!" You yell but something catches your eye. Something moved under his cloth mask and your eyes dart around him.

There's silence.

You don't know what's wrong but you know something is in the air. Your spine knows when you're in danger. You played your hand too soon and he steps closer. His chest pushing against you as you catch your body with your hands leaning on his pecs.

"You should not have come here my pet" he says looking down at you

You can't move. Even now, even with every sense of danger, he isn't saying anything hostile. How does he possibly manage to wake every nerve in your body but calm it at the same time. You can't go anywhere. You can't move. You won't move. You want answers.

"Konig" you say calmly, looking up at him.

He says nothing. Just watching your eyes. Sensing all your fear and empathy drenching from them.

"What is under your mask?"

"You won't understand"

"I'd like to try"

He does nothing.

"If I show you, no one will believe you." He says calmly.

"Konig what is going on?! You can't bare to kiss me, you don't have a jaw, is there anything under there?!"

"I can't answer that"

"You won't"

"It's not something, explainable."

"Try me"

He exhales, slowly taking off his helmet and holding his hands at the bottom of the cloth mask.

"You won't be able to unsee it Liebling"

You nodd. Not understanding what you're getting into. No one could. No one can prepare you for something your mind doesn't really grasp.

Konig pulls the cloth off his head, it relieves everything and yet, nothing. His face isn't human but it's not anything you'd seen before either. It's like your mind shuts down what it's actually seeing, it can't fathom it. The closest thing it feels and looks like is light. Light radiating off him and also tentacles? Not like octopus but.. .. not anything close to an animal that's on earth. You've read about these before. Eldritch horrors.

You're so hypnosised by the glow as some of the tentacles curl around your face. Holding your jaw the way a man would with his hands. Konig's forehead touches yours as the tentacles wrap around and pull your face closer. One tightens around your neck. Your brain switches from the beautiful seren energy of the light to a moment of pure fear as it tightens.

Your eyes widen and you stare at his eyes in panic. Were these eyes ever human?

"Konig, are you going to kill me?" You ask with a gulp

"No," he says gently "I'm finally going to have my fun with you"

Your body is wrapped up completely, where the other tentacles arms came from you had no real idea. The room was pitch black, you had no clue where his body began and where the other arms and darkness began. You could only see his eyes. Staring at you. Wanting you with every slight change in eye direction. Caressing you before the extra arms would. His face antennules let go go of you as you realize other tentacles had already made their way to your body. Holding you. You didn't know when that happened but they were there. From the pitch black of the floor.

They slowly moved around your ankles, pulling off your shoes. Running farther up your legs to your belt and taking off your pants. As it took your shirt off it wrapped your arms up again behind you as you turn back to look at Konig. What you think is Konig. The closest thing he has to a human form as you're wrapped up in the dark by what feels like his minions. But they aren't their own people. People

Time didn exist. It all happened so slowly yet it didn't really seem like it changed. You didn't feel like you changed yet you were a part of this force. Whatever was rilling up in the dark and wrapping your body. Your now naked body.

You can't feel the floor. Some other being is holding you. Like you're floating as the tentacles wrap themselves around your wrist, tightening. Curling back around your ankles, slowly sliding up. Biting their time with your body. Holding on and caressing the back of your knees, and with each twitch they get tighter. Each slight jerk of pleasure your body makes, it responds too and tightens.

You close your eyes drifting off in pleasure as they curl up even closer. Wrapping around your thighs, you can feel the edge of them just close enough to your lips but not touching. Not yet. They wait patiently for Konig.

Your eyes open. You can see him. Standing in front of you. What you think is Konig. Those are his eyes. His human eyes. It's hard to make out his face and he doesn't really give you much time. He puts the cloth back on over his face but the tentacles attached to his jaw like to peek out. Say hello. Meet the parts of you they hadn't gotten the chance too yet.

It was terrifying. And euphoric.

Your body was completely on display and pinned there for him. To play with. To do whatever he wanted. Whatever that could look like.

His fingers tips delicately touched the top of your skin over your stomach, slowly moving and wrapping around your waist as the tentacles around your thighs pulled at you. Spreading you. His hands pulled your body closer to him and the other beings holding you obliged.

You couldn't look away, you also couldn't talk. Nothing would come out of your mouth when you tried. Konig stayed dead slight ,too but what was there to say?

You only watched. Eyes wide and mouth unable to fully shut.

The helper tentacles finally stop spreading you once your lips had pulled apart so Konig had a perfect view of your clit before he could taste it. Somehow, through all of this, your body was washed with excitement and a stand spread across your lips as they opened. Konig raised his hand for them to stop and they followed right away.

Was he it's leader? Brain? Were they physically connected some how? How did this work?

None of that matters. Not once the tentacles from his face started caressing between your thighs. One slowly massaging the spot where your legs met your pelvis, the other curling around your waist, another reaching around behind to hold your ass. Honestly you lost track of how many there were. You lost track of time. Your thoughts. Everything. You weren't here and with each tentacle doing its own job, you could let yourself go. Your eyes glaze over as another finds its way just around your ass, then tighter into a grab.

You yelp. It's the closest thing you've made to a noise since you've been here. Since, that, thing, Konig, whoever, took over your body. All of them are drowning in what feels like, spit, moving around your body. One makes its way to your back entrance. Gently running back and forth. Waking up every nerve. Your eyes light up. No noise this time. Just Konig's eyes staring up at you as it wriggles its way in, stimulating you to a fault as you whip your head back but his companions won't let that happen.

One of the floor tentacles wraps itself around your neck, another to the sides of your head, pushing it forward. Your eyes back on Konig's as his face destroys you. As if you dared to see, you dared watched. You weren't allowed to look away now.

You could feel it curl between your lips. Two of them, slowly making their way inbetween you, crawling closer and closer. More wrapping around your waist. Tighter and tighter. One moves from your lip to your clit, just ever so slightly wrapping around, massaging it as the other traces the entrance to your cunt in slow circles. Reminding you where it was headed, what it wanted.

You can hear inside your head, Konig's voice. Many of Konig's voices, some off set, some in trance with one another. All saying the same thing

"Don't look away"

As it registers they bury themselves inside you, pushing as deep as they can while the other pieces wrap around your waist and stomach and pull you in closer. You let out a scream of shock but another aiding tentacle pushes your jaw up to shut it. It can't entirely, you're too in awe. Can't stop moaning at the other stimulation but Konig can't have anyone hear. No one else can enter this place and find what he is, so he has to shut you up.

It moves closer and plunges itself into your mouth, something for you to gag on while the rest of you can be finished off. You can't escape this, do you want too? It was overwhelming and terrifying and objectifiying and yet every nerve wanted to be woken up. Even as your eyes rolled into the back of your head, your vision pointed to what was being done to you.

To the pieces spreading open your lips and feeling every inch of your wall, stretchy you out as the other put pressure on your stomach so you could feel the roof of your own cunt being pushed against. Your clit being slapped and then caressed at a moment's notice. Every possible drop coming from you spreads around your lips and drips down on the pieces wrapped around your legs. Finding their way to the sensitive spot between your ass and cunt. The final tentacle at your back door never letting up. Never not letting you know every nerve and feeling you had there.

All of it at once, all it was so overstimulating. Tears ran down your face as you choked and gagged on another piece. The ones holding your wrist behind your back got tighter and pushed your chest forward. Your breasts on display as more tentacles wrapped around them. You try and gasp for air, it was the last thing that hadn't been touched.

If you had air you would scream for a break, just for a moment. Catch your breath. Hold off but your mouth was full. Something told you, you didn't need your mouth to communicate. You heard Konig's voice in your head. He had to be hearing yours? He had to know how scared you were, how thrilled you were, the break that you needed.

He knew. He didn't care. You could see it in his eyes and his voice echoed in your head.

"Let. Go."

Your drool falling all over your neck. You're a mess. Leaking everywhere as the tentacles have their fill with you. You go to scream as your body writhes, but all there is to hear is the muffling choking sounds of you gagging.

"Don't look away" echoes again

Your body pulsing. The tentacles try to hold you, you can feel every response to yours. How it blends together, how they'll find a spot that twitches, push and build, you'll react and it repeats, all in harmony. All in over stimulated overwhelming harmony. Your body couldn't take much more, it wasn't prepared for this.

"You wanted this" rings in your ear

"You wanted to see me" echoes

Your eyes shut but you still see his eyes. They've followed you to wherever you are when you enter your mind

"You can't hide from me" Konig's voice echoed.

Feeling chased into spaces you didn't think he could follow. Your eyes shake open as your body finally let's go. It has to be present, has to be in this exact moment where every sense comes to life and let's go as your body floods with an orgasm it didn't think it was capable of. To have so much attention to your body just explode out of you. Your body jerks and writhes for, you don't even know how long, as the tentacles let it move as it needs too. With every twitch adjusting to you to make sure you were comfortable as you drip and drip onto the pitch black abbyuss of the floor.

It takes a long time before your body is able to fully calm down. It's exhausted, being used so heavily. The pieces bring you to bed, lay you down gently. Konig covers you up and you curl up next to him. Laying on his chest. His eyes looking down at you. Not saying a word. Not explaining anything.

Your hands reach up to his jaw, but not touching. Waiting for them to accept the touch as one of tentacles reaches out to touch your hand, Konig turns his head to have his forehead touch yours and the tentacles caress your face as your eyes flutter and your mind fades away into sleep out of pure exhaustion.

His voice rings in your head again. Echoing.

"I wanted to do more than kiss you"

Your body needed rest. To recover.

It felt like days had passed, you weren't sure they hadn't but you still couldn't move when you managed to wake up. Alone. In his bed.

There was a note left for you.

"I told them you were sick, stay in bed Liebling. I'll take care of you tonight."

You curled back into the covers. You had searched for answers but hadn't even left with a single one.

Only more questions.

That you couldnt fathem.

Dante Nyhpmir Masterlist

[sgiandubh]

I want to ship SC, trust me I do and I love them together, but I just can’t fathom how far they stretch a fake relationship (her and T). Like for example the recent picture of them holding hands- now it’s not an insane gesture but definitely one we haven’t seen before. So maybe they truly are just a private couple. But in my heart of hearts I just love her and S together so much, and don’t know what to think because on one hand they are simply everything together and on the other it seems like she really is with T. I’m confused 🥲 what’s your take?

Dear Confused Anon,

I will be brutally honest: no, I do not trust you and I do not care about your crocodile tears. Not a single bit. In fact, once I will be done with my answer to you, you are most probably going to press CTRL+C, then CTRL +V. And run to the nearest Mordor sweatshop, in the hope one of the Three Sopranos will insult me again.

You see, to trust you, I would have to speak with at least a handle, not a coward in disguise. And then, even DMs are neither always safe, nor always honest - I have recently learned it the rough way, despite my best efforts, tried (and up until now failed) to forgive and will never forget.

By now, I suppose everyone got a good look at this splendiferous picture:

Take a long, quiet, hard look at it, Shire.

So organic it could kill a moth colony on the spot.

So heartfelt - she doesn't even look at him.

So sentimental - that icy smile of hers. A happy couple, indeed.

A general round of applause, all across the Nation.

You are very wrong: it is not the first time they are holding hands, I mean, sort of. The much touted London marathon pic immediately comes to mind - although you'd have to admit, I looked and looked and he seemed to be checking her pulse, rather than being lovey-dovey.

A real private couple would never stoop as low as a cheap, laborious retcon, in retaliation for a couple of thousand people speculating on a niche blogging platform.

It took four years, a month and four days after that Remarkable Week-end to see McSideburns clumsily try and claw her hand. Remarkable, indeed.

And are you trying to tell me the MC didn't shake your beliefs and this does?

This perfunctory, formulaic, scripted AF, blip?

Wow. I have no words, Anon.

That unkempt, bland person - for God's sake, mister, tuck that damn shirt in your pants! - looking like the elephant in the china shop at a carefully curated event celebrating the supreme form of French refinement?

This is insulting, to say the least. To her (and her prized image), to Chanel, to this fandom, to S and believe it or not, to himself, too. Granted, the Berluti shoes are showing some improvement and are now clean. Hmph.

So here is what I think, Anon (and I know people are going to shriek and guess what, I do not care, for once):

It's been at least one year this fandom has been asking for this specific pic and for this specific whiplash. A childish tantrum, as she is regularly throwing. Mind you, that doesn't even come close to the painfully slow, monumentally boring Flukenzie Floozy Saga and looks as staged as the Ochoa & S London sighting (ah, patterns!).

This is the reaction to our scriptwriting ineptitude.

This is also the reaction to some underground shenanigans, directly related to a birth certificate apparently being peddled around. I will not discuss this, yet know just that: this is a legal claptrap, right there. I can, and if needed I will prove it. With the cold, surgical precision Mordor is so afraid of.

But she is a mother, for Christ's sake!

A mother!

As I said, I am not a mother and never will be. I do not wish this trial on anyone. But if I know something about life, I can guarantee you a mother would do whatever it takes to protect her child(ren).

Including taking precisely this kind of sad and forgettable pic.

So, there's that. We choose and we choose now: we fall for it once more and let the playbook fiddle with our insecurities once more and post endless trails of old pics once more to soothe the searing indignation.... Or GROW THE FUCK UP and show to whom it may concern we're not buying this shit anymore.

I know what I'll do. You're on your own, Anon: my tough love took you only this far, down the road. Sorry for the length. It was needed.

For the moment, I just booked an appointment with Miss Fotoula (roughly Claire, hehe), my genius hairdresser. I will ask her to refresh my dirty blonde mane.

[zombie-bait]

Omg i just realized I have something tiny to add to the whole James Somerton debacle. I'm currently watching the hbombguy vid (as you do when procrastinating assignments) and I remembered something that stood out to me in James' old videos.

So I used to be a fan of his stuff. I am also a fan of Hannibal and IWTV. He made a video covering both so naturally I was very hyped. It was called 'The Gay Appeal of Toxic Love.' The vid itself was fine (I don't remember having any super strong opinions of it besides being excited to hear ppl mention Interview cuz I had recently become obsessed) but one thing did stand out to me. In the IWTV section he mentions Nicki and, naturally, his death:

"After becoming a vampire, Nicky becomes nearly catatonic, and eventually slips away from Lestat entirely. And after centuries of dealing with depression and severe mental illness, Nicky kills himself."

(sourced from this transcript: https://github.com/TerraJRiley/James_Somerton_Transcripts/blob/main/Transcripts/The%20Gay%20Appeal%20of%20Toxic%20Love.txt)

To anyone who's read TVL, I don't think I need to explain that Nicki had not, in fact, been around for centuries. "Nicki had lived to be 30" has been rattling around in my head since I first read it.

And like, obviously I don't expect every youtube essayist to read several long-ish novels to have a full grasp of the series' deep lore, especially when the focus was largely on IWTV and Loustat rather than the entire Vampire Chronicles. Still, it makes you wonder a bit about the quality of the research being done here. You can find the proper info in like, 5 seconds by just going on the fan wiki so I'm not sure what his sources were. And that's the issue at hand, isn't it?

At the time I felt a tiny bit smug recognizing the error but in light of everything that's been revealed, it's kind of telling. I'm not saying this part was plagiarized (I haven't found anything but others on reddit have found issues with different sections of the same video) but rereading the transcript it comes off as someone who clearly doesn't know much about Interview.... It feels like he's reading through a loose summary of plot points rather than analyzing a piece of media that actually means anything to him. It's very much Interview for people who don't know Interview which, one could argue is fair. Especially beyond book one, VC is a niche series and a lot of elements that are important to certain characters or plot lines cannot be summarized quickly for an audience unfamiliar with it. A good writer, who's done a lot of research about the specific topic they have chosen to make a video on, would be able to balance this. There is a LOT to analyze about queerness in VC and its a shame to see one of the more popular queer media channels half-assing it just to churn out videos heavily made up of other people's work. In retrospect he had several videos like that, where he would discuss things like manga/manhua communities while clearly having little knowledge on the nuance of those subjects. He was an outsider who presented himself with a strange amount of authority.

This was content created with the sole intention of propping up queer stories and history, yet it's built off stolen work from queer authors and doesn't actually care that much about exploring the communities it features. Vids like the IWTV one weren't really fact checked because it's only people like me who would might give a shit or even notice anything is off in the first place. There's a bit of a similar vibe in some of his other vids where he undermines the experiences of queer women because he clearly has not taken the time to learn about the nuances of representing queer women in media. These are things that irritated me when I first started to notice them but I put those concerns in the back of my mind because I cared about the topics he was covering and was excited to see these discussions becoming more mainstream.

The revelations of this evening have been disappointing to say the least.

(also for the record I know he made other more recent vids about IWTV but I haven't seen those and even if his account was still up I don't think I would lol

BUT

I did look at the transcript for his 'Vampires and the Gays Who Love Them' video (found from the same link I included above) and this quote about the IWTV AMC show is sending me: "Daniel has never grappled with the complexities of being gay"

Shoutout to straight, uncomplicated icon Daniel Molloy. Devil's Minion was a mass hallucination, spread the word)

[chocotonez]

chapstick kisses- hueningkai/reader

a/n: hopefully we’re thinking of the same chapstick challenge LMAO?? anyways I’m a sucker for lip balm and collecting weird flavors so I will project on you so sorry xoxo

warnings/genre: fluff, giggly hyuka, banter, reader has weirdly niche lip balm flavors?? lots of kissing, tell me if anything else should be tagged!! :>

“There’s no way that’s not vanilla,” Hyuka scoffed, as you laughed at your poor boyfriend. It was an old trend, but Kai stumbled upon it while going through some old videos, and he will gladly take any excuse to kiss you!! “That’s vanilla.”

“It’s not vanilla!” You retorted. “Close though, it has vanilla in the name.”

“There’s no way you’re not counting this. Vanilla is vanilla, does the rest of the flavor really matter?” he asked, playfully rolling his eyes at your specifics.

“Okay okay, do you give up?” He sighed, licking his lips once more for the sweet, artificial balmy vanilla left from your kiss.

“Fine fine, what was it?”

“Vanilla cream pudding!” You laughed, Kai giving you a flabbergasted look.

“This challenge is bad. I don’t even get a prize if I guess correctly!” He whined, as you got the next lip balm to try. Applying it generously, you turned back towards the 6’ baby. He was so pretty, sunlight filtered through the windows while he rested his head on one of his stuffed animals, hair a bit messy, lips a tad swollen from the constant kisses, and his eyes. You couldn’t get enough of him, but he felt the exact same way about you.

He was admiring practically everything about you in that moment, he admires you every moment of course, but something about the way your face is still all scrunched up with joy from his failure to guess ‘vanilla cream pudding,’ as a lip balm flavor made his heart skip a beat. Your happiness was the most beautiful thing to him, but that’s too cheesy. He’ll stick to making you happy so he can see your smile.

“Okok, next!” You moved over, lightly pecking Kai’s lips before he leaned forward, a habit. He loved kissing you, but he always tensed up. Which moment should he do it? Would he be awkward? Does he make that weird face guys usually do before they kiss someone? Is he a bad kisser? Any excuse for him to kiss you is immediately accepted and welcomed!

“Oh, is it…Pineapple? It’s very sweet though,” he backed away from you, a bit breathless as he licked his lips once more. “If this is another one of those weird ass flavors-“

“This one’s easy!” You smiled, as he rolled his eyes. “Need me to kiss you again?”

“I always need you to kiss me.” It was half a joke, a quarter of him accidentally speaking his mind, and mostly truth. You couldn’t help but laugh though, just briefly pressing your lips against his once more, surprised as he suddenly grabbed the back of your head and continued to kiss you. You squeezed his free hand and moved back, laughing at his look of pure adoration. You didn’t think anyone was capable of being this cute.

“Pina colada?”

“Yes.”

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Always.”

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

Hey, it's been awhile!

So, I don't know if you know about the Disney Villain Recruiters. You might have heard some whispers about them if you've been in the twst fandom long enough. They're a very niche part of Disney Japan, so don't be surprised if you don't know them. They're basically minions of disney villains turned human in order to recruit new minions during Halloween at Tokyo DisneySea. There are a number of videos of them on YouTube (I recommend dahjEt_'s channel)You can find out more about them here: Disney Villain Recruiters: An Introduction

And this is pic of them:

I was just thinking recently about how they would approach Yuu and the shipping war within the House of Mouse.

People in the fandom pretty much agree that Jack Heart is Ace's older brother. Jack teases Ace a lot about being so far behind in the shipping race despite being Yuu's best friend. He's on the RiddleYuu ship his Queen and all of Wonderland, but he secretly ships his brother with Yuu.

Eight Foot Joe totally sympathizes with Yuu's situation being overworked by Crowley as he himself is overworked by Ursula. Joe is secretly a Chad, just a tired Chad. He gives some pretty good advice to Azul on how to woo Yuu.

Veil on the other hand gives pretty bad advice to Rollo about how to pursue Yuu. Farja is also enthusiastically shipping JamilYuu

Apple Poison, aka tall Apple Boi, and Lady Hock have soft spots for Yuu in spite of their stoicism. They don't care much for the shipping war, but they're protective of Yuu.

Mr. Dalmatia and Pretty Scar are pretty much like the animal children when it comes to protecting Yuu. They're both like the "Get you dog" vine. In fact, I actually did an animation of them a little while ago. You might have to scroll down a little to see the video: https://www.tumblr.com/tickledpink31/720236920779800576/bio?source=share

Hi! It has been a while - how have you been? I hope you're all good.

So I have heard a thing or two about the Villain Recruiters - like I saw a post with a picture of them in a Disney Villain blog once but I have no idea who they are but now hearing about their job - wow the idea is absolutely fantastic and would totally get me to join the dark side!

I have a soft spot for the villainous henchmen so I can imagine the sort of shenanigans they would get into with their animal counterparts - Eight Foot Joe mucking about with Flotsam and Jetsam, Malfie and Diablo side-eyeing each other whenever the goblins mess up because they are the only competent henchmen there, the list goes on...

Also I just want to say that I absolutely love your art - the drawings? excellent. the video? phenomenal.

I lowkey think that this would cause a smaller war between henchmen over who Yuu's favourite 'older brother/sister' is.

I also have the mental picture of Yuu being a precious smiling sunshine girl and then you have the NRC boys and Disney Villains as dark shadows looming behind her, their eyes promising a tortuous death to anyone that looks at her.

Personally, I don't really understand the Jack as Ace's brother thing since he seems to work directly under the Queen, who had long since passed since passed before Ace was even born (also isn't Ace supposed to also represent the Jack of Hearts since he steals the Queen's tarts just like the Knave of Hearts (otherwise known as the Jack) did in the poem/book?) - but then again I consider Maleficent to be Malleus' grandmother even though that's completely impossible so I'll let it slide. Plus it makes Ace's behaviour towards Riddle and the Queen's rules even more hilarious if you consider his brother is one of the people who enforces them. Just wait until Riddle finds out - he'll have a conniption!

I don't really know enough about them to write anything more specific but the idea sounds awesome!

[aingeal98]

More orv thoughts but the contrasts between Dokja's relationships with YJH and HSY really are so very interesting. Specifically right now I'm thinking of how we start the novel with Dokja already obsessed with YJH. Not exactly rose tinted glasses but this character kept him alive for years because of how much he cared about him. Him being real doesn't change that, Dokja just kind of accepts the murder vibes and works around them.

But then with HSY at the start he thinks he doesn't know a thing about her. Their relationship is formed on the pages and by the time we hit the mid 300s where she's firmly involved in the dynamic between the two mains to the point of doing the killing herself in front of them to change the trajectory of their lives forever thing they're both so fond of attempting, you can clearly see how much Dokja has grown to care for her when he doesn't realize it's a fakeout. And the following chapters where he's looking at her and thinking about her and it's like oh wow. He loves her.

And I was grinning so hard while reading it. One of the core themes clear from early on is that Dokja loves YJH and the story is going to be about how that love endures and grows despite everything thrown at them. And it takes up so much narrative attention that the slowburn HSY carving out her own little niche in Dokja's heart that's distinctly different from the rest of the squad (and that dynamic climbing it's way up to stand different but on the same wavelength as Dokja and YJH) is done so subtly and brilliantly. I went from unsure of how anyone is going to come close to YJH in Dokja's heart and mind to enjoying every aspect of the yhk dynamic because they're all so insane about each other. Like they're firmly a trio now and I got to watch the entire build up of HSY becoming a part of it all while insisting that she's only helping because the two of them are too stupid to work out their issues without her.

And the best part is I still have like 150 chapters to go. 10/10 no notes give me more of the two edgelords growling like angry cats every time Dokja brings up that one time they were engaged because while he may be waking up to the fact he's in love with both of them they clearly still have an issue or 100 to work out before we get to a non murdering each other poly relationship.

[writingjourney]

I’m in need of some advice and kind words. As a fellow writer I’m really struggling to believe people will and want to read my stuff. There’s no real engagement anymore and I’m worried that if I post my long-form fic that no one will give it a chance. It’s really bringing me down because I love it so much but it feels like no matter what I try to do my stuff just doesn’t get seen or liked? I’ve even thought about changing my entire way of how I do things since I don’t think the way I write is working for the masses. How do you keep up the motivation as a popular writer and do you have an advice?

Hello anon!! I feel like this is something many of us currently deal with. And first of all I seriously hope that you do share your story!! ♡

To be completely honest with you the lack of engagement in the fandom has for sure impacted my own motivation which is why I haven't been putting as much time into longer fics (nor the Friday Nights series or IKNBS, I do write but I refuse to force myself). I don't feel any urgency because uploading fics hasn't made me as happy as it used to. It feels like only other active writers are reading fic atm and it creates a lot of pressure on creatives to stay super active.

I'm aware that I'm insanely privileged to have the engagement that I do have, that the type of stories I want to write are also the type of stories that generally seem to appeal. However, engagement tells you NOTHING about the quality of your work, only how many people are active in a fandom or like a specific pairing/character/trope. Your own unique voice matters more than numbers.

I also notice that a lot of people who used to read my works have disappeared which I completely understand. The fixation can ebb away during times of inactivity or when a certain hype dies down. People just don't get that dopamine hit anymore and move on. It's also entirely possible they get tired of a certain style of writing and prefer other writers at times, what do I know. I definitely don't blame anyone for that. First and foremost people should read for their own enjoyment and engage with fandom in a way that makes them happy. It makes no sense to pressure people into engaging. A huge issue right now is people overthinking these things which makes support transactional instead of genuine.

I don't care much about notes but I REALLY miss the feeling of sharing a fic with people who are excited for it, that sense of an active community. BUT the activity will come back – the movie will come out, new music and videos, heck even a whole new Papa!!! That's the natural flow of things. We can't be excited and super active all the time, we need phases of calmness as well (which is an act of rebellion in the capitalist hellscape of overproduction and churned out content. I am honestly glad Ghost is taking it easy).

Now, I recommend you write your story exactly how you want to!!! do NOT change it for the sake of popularity because it will lose its very soul and you will struggle to be happy with it by the end. You know how you want to tell your story and nothing else matters. It will find its readers or you can wait and share it at a later point. I recommend that you approach other writers and readers and intensify that contact, make friends and talk to them about your stories, hype each other up, share snippets. It's even more meaningful to know people you like enjoy what you do. I am currently working on super niche fics for non-Ghost characters and I'm honestly having a great time chasing that dopamine by just writing what I'm really into and sharing it with friends. Fandom is community, fandom is fun and we can work to make it better for everyone.

A few general tips when it comes to making stories accessible: Format them to be readable (paragraphs!!), add a "read more" break, add proper content information and a nice summary to draw people in, add some visual appeal like a banners or stock image edits (like i do for IKNBS) and then tag the fics with relevant tags (and only those). Also make sure to tag the OG post, tags on reblogs do nothing for reach. Engage with the community when you feel like it and it's likely that the community will engage back. Being supportive is worth it, being kind is always worth it even if it amounts to nothing.