#then will probably write their portrayal info

[affarista]

the itch to add neuvillette.... but i'm gonna wait until the rest of the fontaine story is out.

[lurkingshan]

Once again I'm here because I'm angry. There's been a lot of talk about Boston and what Jojo wanted or not to say about sluts and whatever. I, and other people I think, were struggling with the idea that Jojo would actually want that message out. So I went to see some interviews. And got kinda shocked about one thing that he said. (btw this is an actual quote.) He was talking about Boston reasons for his behaviour Jojo: Bad people don't need to have a backstory. They are just born sluts. A bad character doesn't need... (and then the interviewer says - he doesn't need tragedy to be bad) Exactly. And then he gets asked if he thinks Boston needs redemption and he emphatically says NO. And then talking about how much fun is writing the character he says this: Boston is such a fun character to write. yeah unpredictable he's like, he doesn't care. he doesn't have morals so we just like goes with the flow. bad people? no morals? humm... i don't know... So yeah, now I don't really know what to think about it. I was wondering what are your thoughts about this. I'm still gonna watch some more of this, because I'm a masochist that needs all the information, but yeah, I thought I would share. Thanks for the space

Yiiiiiikes. Okay, first let me preface this by saying that whenever I am reading/watching something that was either translated to English or spoken in English by a person with a different first language, I try not to get too hung up on specific word choice. By necessity we tend to go for the simplest possible words to convey meaning in those situations, and thus a lot of nuance gets stripped out.

That said, the sentiment is clear: Jojo saw Boston as a villain character without a moral code that he could deploy to cause chaos wherever he liked in the story. And he is definitely conflating his villainy with sexual promiscuity, which is the worst part of this quote and unfortunately aligns with the way that finale, and ultimately the themes of the show, were written. It definitely makes me side eye Jojo and as I’ve already said, I won’t be so inclined to trust him nearly as much next time.

Only Friends, however, has more than one writer, and I don’t think they all see it this way. If you think Boston is purely an irredeemable slut, you don’t write his breakup and reunion with Nick in the way that this show did. You don’t give depth to his situation with Atom. You don’t show his sincere emotion, his hurt, and his earnest desire to be with Nick while he can. With all the info we have now and in retrospect, it kind of feels like there was a bit of a tug-o-war going on with Boston’s story.

My understanding is that Den Panuwat, one of three writers on the show, is the one who adapted the novel version of the story, and there he changed Boston’s final arc significantly. Rather than Boston fucking Atom, he made his final conflict about his dad’s political career with Boston’s sexuality being used as a weapon against him. He wrote Boston and Nick ending on good terms. And he wrote a final chapter for Boston where he arrives in New York, finds a more accepting society and queer community who accept and understand him, and thrives.

I’m sure there were some non-artistic reasons why we couldn’t get this version of the story in the show (the politics story was likely vetoed for censorship reasons and they probably couldn’t afford to show us Boston in NY, for example), but the fact that Den wrote it signals that his perspective on Boston is not fully aligned with what Jojo said in that quote above. Perhaps we have him to thank for the empathetic portrayal and humanity we did see in Boston despite Jojo’s perspective on him. And Den has another show coming soon, so maybe we’ll see a clearer read of his own perspective on queer sexual politics without the GMMTV restrictions when we watch Playboyy.

[voxasks]

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03.07.24 — inbox closes at 30 asks .

[pretty-little-martyr]

for some reason am remembering the episode from the 2003 show Dead Like Me that featured 2003's best case scenario at having cis people write a trans woman and how much I genuinely enjoyed that episode. the premise of the show for anyone not familiar (which is probably everyone) was that Grim Reapers were real, were the recently deceased who were randomly picked for the job, and had to individually collect people once they died and pass them on to whatever personal heaven they'd envisioned. the Reapers often aren't given much info about who is going to die and therefore have to talk to people around them to learn the name of the to-be-deceased. and that episode takes place in the lobby of a plastic surgeons office where there's a bunch of ladies and One Dude (character is actually a trans woman, but played by a cis man because. y'know. 2003 American cable television.). she's there to get all of the surgeries done at once (not how that works .... again, 2003 cis writers) to finally "transform into the woman she was always meant to be" [paraphrased] and it always really stuck with me because 1) the actors performance was so .. genuine. she was excited to be there because she had waited her whole life to do this. and she wasn't very young either. 30 or 40 perhaps. an extremely convincing and earnest performance from a presumably cis man. 2) the show handled her with genuine grace. it wasn't funny that she was in there, it was funny that our main character George (cis girl who goes by that name, very interesting from a trans angle as well) was like "why's a dude in here" before learning that the character was not a man just "looked like one." 3) it treated her subsequent death as a genuine tragedy. the thing is with each of the humans we get introduced to we know they're gonna die. and for the most part the deaths are silly and bizarre—one dude slips on a banana peel and gets his neck broken by a revolving door, one person drowns to death under a water cooler, etc—but this one wasn't. I don't actually remember how she died because I can't find the goddamned show anywhere and you can't buy it, either, it got canned after 2 seasons anyway, but I remember George being genuinely heartbroken that the trans woman didn't get to live the life she wanted to. and it's of course all quite clumsy and inept because it's 2003 and they clearly either didn't have a trans person in the writing room or one of the writers mayhap didn't know they're trans yet, I have no idea, but in light of how many frankly disgusting portrayals of trans people and trans women in particular I saw on TV growing up that one has always stuck with me for the tender and serious way the subject was handled.

there's probably an entire essay to be had about both that whole episode and a transmasc reading of George. that show wasn't one that cracked my egg I don't think, because when I first saw it I was too young to parse the idea (I was somewhere between 10 and 13), but it was my first introduction to the idea of being trans. I rewatched it in 2019 when it was briefly on Amazon because my college email acct gave me free Prime Streaming and god the episode hit me like a truck. I'm pretty sure I cried. I want to watch it again and really dissect it because its lack of mockery in a time when it was very much in vogue to mock trans women fascinates me.

im also pretty sure I remember that after the woman passed, the other Reapers misgender her casually because again, 2003, they're acting like she wasn't a woman yet, but I think George notably doesn't. I may be misremembering though. I do remember George being deeply, deeply upset by the unfairness of her death though.

[girlfromthecrypt]

i don't mind the rambles, don't worry. but yeah, honestly trans people even when we're not shown in media as specifically unattractive, we're not like. depicted as attractive either. we don't get to be like objects of attraction if that makes sense? we get to be like side characters and shit. and top surgery or any surgical scars are generally pretty damn taboo because ooOOOOoooo we're mutilating something or other or whatever the fuck it is. even irl, we're generally considered a stereotypically unattractive group. when trans people are rarely represented, we don't get to be like objects of attraction. we're usually "and here's the lesson! don't be mean!" one off characters or best friend characters (assuming we're not horrible stereotypes). plus a lot of medias arent eager to add us in in general in fear of losing their more conservative audiences.

it's totally fine when you rant, I do it too (as demonstrated by the above), I've had quite a few VN/IF creators apologize to me about like rambling about their games and like, I'm asking questions because i love the media. I get the feeling, cause I get that about other stuff. but seriously, info-dumping about something you've created that people love is awesome for fans (not to speak for all of us, but generally it seems to be)

Ngl I'm blind to a lot of that media portrayal bc I'm not entrenched in a lot of media anymore. I "conceived" Basil as trans from the start (he was a LI/supporting character in a nosleep story [horror writing subreddit over on Reddit] I never ended up posting), and in my mind, he was just always "him" and always pretty cute. I was comfortable enough writing a trans character bc one of my oldest friends is a trans man, and he let me ask him just about anything I wanted to know. Ofc I researched most of the necessary info on my own, but having him around was still helpful and very reassuring. (In hindsight, this is also making me kinda sad bc that friend and I have kinda drifted apart since...)

I was kinda hesitant about sharing though bc I was afraid of getting things wrong, but hey, if what you're saying about the mainstream portrayal of trans folk is anything to go off of, I'm probably doing okay (nervous laughter).

Actually, have an excerpt from the original story Basil appeared in! [Note: he's WAYYY dorkier and socially awkward in this than in Such Happy Campers. He's also a landlord in this, so the vanlife stuff and spiritualism is part of his overhaul for SHC. But original Basil makes the same amount of horrible jokes.] [more below]

I was prepared to camp outside that house. That turned out not to be necessary, as right at that moment, a peculiar-looking youngish man appeared in the doorway. Pieces of striped tapestry clung to his threadbare tracksuit and glue coated a good portion of his hair.

I asked him if he’d just been in a fight, and he assured me he’d merely been putting up new wallpapers in one of the apartments. When I asked whether he had something for me to rent on short notice, he was surprisingly cooperative. He introduced himself to me as Basil, and enthusiastically welcomed me to the house and the neighborhood. When we shook hands, our palms stuck together. 

“Sorry… I had an accident with the glue,” he explained, grimacing awkwardly. “Don’t worry, I got something to wash it off. You’d best come in.”

With a glance at our entwined fingers, I told him I obviously had nowhere else to go, to which he replied that one could say my hands were tied.

Been meaning to share this snippet for a while and this seems a good opportunity. This was how he "looked" at the time/how the main character describes him:

I admittedly always considered him very attractive, albeit goofy-looking with his fluffy blond mustache and mullet. Something about his appearance inspired trust and openness, and the warmth he exuded was more than welcome.

So yeah, that's some of Basil's history. In this old version, he was actually kind of insecure about his surgery scars (which were fresher at the time, and he hated a lot of his looks in general), which I ended up discarding because I much prefer him with astronomic levels of smugness. Like, I want him to be fully aware of how good he looks.

I'm very happy with the current version of Basil, and I'm glad I "saved" his character for this IF project instead of posting his story back then. I just realized (while I was writing the nosleep story at the time) that I LOVED writing him and wanted to have him there in a bigger project, which ended up being SHC.

Okay yeah I'm about to be one of those IF authors you mentioned bc now I need to apologize as well. I went on a huge tangent here. Hope this particular infodump was at least somewhat interesting to you! Either way, thanks so much for the talk.

[notfreetoday]

Chinese 8 Characters

Hello hello it's time for another BL-related cultural tidbit, this time from Stay By My Side Ep 9! I've been told this was simply translated as "8 Characters" so I thought I'd add a little info about this. And whilst we're at it, let's also talk a little about what we've seen of Bu Xia's family's Taoist temple.

I'm going to preface ALL of this by saying that I don't for a second expect the show to portray much of these cultural elements accurately (I mean much of the portrayal thus far has been pretty tongue-in-cheek anyway). Taoism as it is practiced as a religion in Taiwan is really more of a mix of philosophical Taoism and Chinese Folk Religion, and these concepts and superstitions are a very real part of everyday life, so the majority of Taiwan's (and some Chinese) audiences will be familiar with the very basic ideas about ghosts and Taoist temples and rituals. The elements that you do see in this show are pretty much just a caricature of "actual" practice, and are common misrepresentations in media anyway so it's really fine that the show is just using it as a plot device.

The Chinese 8 Characters, or 八字 (ba zi) may alternatively be translated as 8 character horoscope, or 4 pillars of destiny, or zodiac, or destiny, or fortune. Basically your time and date of birth corresponds to 8 different chinese characters, and using these 8 characters, one can calculate and determine things about your fortune, your health, your likely path in life (in the sense of ups and downs), your compatibility with another person, and even the small things like your lucky colour, number, day of the current month/year etc. It used to be the way to arrange marriages, and in fact a marriage could be called off purely on the fact that the couple's 8 characters did not match or were inauspicious. (A common way to say you've got beef with someone is to say "our 8 characters don't match" - basically implying you guys were destined to be enemies.) It's often the plot point of many period dramas too - a child is born with an unlucky set of characters, or rather characters that are in direct conflict with perhaps the patriach of the family and is thus either killed/abused/sent away. Although nowadays most people don't place much emphasis on Chinese Astrology anymore, it is still used often enough for eg to pick an auspicious day for weddings etc.

Tl;dr it's like tarot card reading + your zodiac + your horoscope all rolled into one, on steroids.

You can do things to improve your luck, or to curse someone else, based on your/their 8 characters. Similarly, you can tie the 8 characters - aka their destiny, for all intents and purposes - together, which is what Sis is talking about here with JC and BX. The stipulations that "[JC] must be pure of heart" and "BX has to write the characters himself" etc are probably just added in for effect (because Taoist rituals don't really work like that 🤣). Specifically, because it is the fate of BX's family and clan to be able to see and hear ghosts, they are going to "control" or "suppress" that part of BX's fate by using JC's 8 characters to "control" BX's. That said, people usually use elemental objects to "augment/alter" the luck/fate foretold by one's 8 Characters - not actual humans 🤣 - but yes this show is not about accuracy and it sounds just about legit enough for the plot point of a show 🤣🤣

Btw in case you were interested, the "secret family manual" from Grandpa that Sis is holding up is the 道家神符灵咒秘传 (Secret Manual of Taoist Talismans and Spells) - which is something apparently written during the Qing Dynasty that you can buy off shady Chinese e-shopping sites🤣. Here're some pictures of the supposed contents!

BX's Family Temple

As mentioned, it's a Taoist temple - even without the manual, we would know this because BX's wooden sword is a Taoist - plus exorcisms and the like are usually more associated with Taoist practice

BX's wooden sword is actually a Peach Wood Sword - these, or Coin-Swords are commonly used in Taoist Rituals, and are often thought to be able to offer protection. However, it's purpose in rituals are mostly ceremonial - they represent the actual swords that were used way back when (after all it's no longer legal to carry swords and well, they're heavy). They are many folk legends surrounding Peaches/Peach wood, so those, combined with the use of sword arts in Taoism, has led to the common belief that Peach Wood sword can ward off evil spirits, bring fortune and wealth, offer protection etc. Also - BX swinging the sword around in his room, whilst looking very cool, is more chinese traditional dance than it is proper ritual use (BX's actor Wei Zhe is afterall, trained in Chinese dance)

It is unusual (but certainly not unheard of), as the show mentions, for a girl to take over the temple as Bu Xia's sister does (and even more unthinkable that someone taking over ritual rites would make a mistake like burning a talisman by accident and thinking it'd be ok hahaha) but this is resolved very simply by the show as "well Bu Xia is too scared to take over"

[ae-azile]

I really love the way you write each character in Progression. This latest chapter made me think a lot, mainly because I somehow didn't expect for Kinn to have this trauma. It is somehow interesting how Kim and Kinn are very different in this regard. Kim was virgin, was sexually assaulted and now he is considering bottoming for Chay (all by himself and because he wants to). Meanwhile there is Kinn, who was also sexually assaulted (but we don't know more info yet) but he also has high bodycount and is no virgin (he can have sex without love) and yet he didn't tried bottoming in all his sexual life. It is such interesting parallel and I am now truly worried about Kinn and about that incident. This story is so great and I am looking forward to more:D

Hello, anon! Thank you for your message and kind words about the story and my depiction of the characters! It really means a lot, and I'm glad so many seem intrigued at the depiction of Kim being a victim in this regard. I wasn't sure how readers would view it since he is portrayal is often viewed as a masculine and strong leader who can display a short fuse. But I also felt like this was a good reason to give him a background such as this to contrast from the abuse against Kim in this story.

While I won't reveal Kinn's sexual trauma (yet), I will lay out a rough timeline to explore why he responded the way he did to it.

Tankhun's, Kinn's, and Kim's mother died suddenly. Regardless of whether she passed from natural causes or not, this would be incredibly traumatic. I know the ages in the books differ from the vague ones on screen. But in Progression, I feel like Khun is around 31, Kinn is 29, and Kinn is 22 going on 23. But when their mother passed, Khun was close to 16 going on 17, Kinn was 14, and Kim was about 7 or 8. They were very young. Considering she was likely a dual presence (a fierce leader, protector, and business woman, but also a nurturing mother) this would have been a huge loss. It would have created a massive hole no one even tried to fill but Milan, but she could only do so much with the tension in between the families. Since Kinn aligns himself with his mother in the first episode, I imagine he was close to her. I also imagine more responsibilities were forced on Khun when it came to being the heir, taking care of his brothers, etc. Korn likely distanced himself - maybe from guilt, maybe from grief, or maybe because he did not prioritize caring for three grieving sons. But Kinn was old enough and close enough in age to Tankhun to understand the stress likely on his oldest brother and and his father. Since Kim is too young to hold in his grief effectively, Kinn likely held in everything.

Kinn is sexually assaulted in some manner by a very prominent businessman and investor. This is all we know so far, but it happened a couple of months after his mother's death. He is forcing every feeling down to not be a burden that he tells no one. He is old enough to know "it could have been worse." He knows Khun would not let it go. He probably has no idea how his father might address it. He may respond with vengeance, or he may dismiss it due to the role this man has in their lives. He does not want to jeopardize Khun's well-being or put stress on his father, not when they have bigger things to tend to. Despite likely still loving his aunt, cousins, and possibly even uncle at this point, he still can't fully trust them due to being raised not to. He has so many people he could tell, but feels like he can tell no one.

Six months after being assaulted, Khun is kidnapped. Kinn faces his brother and protector possibly being dead and is actively being prepared to become the new heir. These potential responsibilities become incredibly real when he becomes solely responsible for Kim in a safe room. Kim is inconsolable due to feeling more of an attachment to Khun, as well as losing his mother roughly eight months before. He's a child and can't control his emotions under such a high magnitude of trauma. As much as Kinn tries, he can't either. He's 15, already has had two horrifically traumatic things happen to him in eight months, and now faces possibly losing his brother and becoming heir. He loses control and screams at Kim, saying cruel things to him until locking himself in the bathroom. It is an incident Kinn remains deeply ashamed of and never forgave himself for. He realizes he doesn't like not being in control. He doesn't like being wrong.

A few weeks later, Khun returns traumatized and shows signs of significant and complex PTSD, which causes a secondary diagnosis of agoraphobia. Kinn is informed within a couple of months that Khun will no longer be heir and that he will be. He feels less control than ever, resentment against things and people he probably can't quite identify, and now feels he can't lean on anyone since he can't do that anymore. People can only depend on him.

All of these things happen in less than a year. While he eventually finds "love" with Tawan, he never finds it within him to express what happened. Part of it is likely Tawan never challenging their roles in the bedroom, another part of it could be Kinn subconsciously finding something off about their relationship but being too blinded by his feelings that he can't evaluate it further. He was also likely very young while involved with Tawan - late teens to early twenties. It wasn't enough time to identify how much his sexual trauma shaped him - or the rest of the trauma he experienced that year. All he knows is that he needs to be the one in control. When he finds out about Tawan's betrayal, this further traumatizes Kinn and makes him more guarded and quick to anger than ever. After that, he mostly engaged in sex that he has full control of. He ensures this by paying for it. He treats these men well enough and makes sure they get home safely, but he does not explore what he may or may not like in the bedroom, nor do the men he pays to have sex with fit his type. They are much more delicate and have a smaller build than Tawan and Porsche do. He probably yearns for someone who challenges him (like Porsche ends up doing), but his trauma and upbringing cannot allow that.

As for Porsche...I feel like out of everyone, he could truly confide in Porsche. But so much time has passed and Kinn has been so conditioned by his father, his circumstances, and by himself that he has no idea how to express that trauma to the love of his life. Porsche is sweet with him and happy with their sex life, but probably would appreciate switching things up occasionally. I think part of Porsche recognizes there may be a very complex reason as to why they haven't tried it the other way around yet, but Kinn isn't talking. He is kind to Porsche, but likely gently pushes the conversation to the side. I don't think he has ever planned on telling Porsche, despite how far they have come and how serious their relationship is at this point. However, a few of their huge initial conflicts were rooted in Kinn's need for control.

One of these instances was sexual in nature and a form of assault inflicted on Porsche. Despite Porsche being the one to "pursue" Kinn, he was under the influence and could not consent. His feelings the following day are troubled and complicated, as are Kinn's. Kinn apologized for this transgression twice. Porsche forgave him and fell in love with him once seeing a much more genuine side of Kinn, but he was only able to see it once Kinn no longer had control and they established some semblance of equality in the forest. Despite that, I feel like the event brings Kinn a lot of guilt. It is also an example of how destructive Kinn can be when he feels out of control but HAS to maintain some semblance of it in order to not be knocked down from his position of power - a position he strived for and obtained after being forced to make it a goal.

The TL;DR on that last paragraph is that Kinn likely has not confided in Porsche about this particular trauma (or that eventful year in general) because he feels like he has no right after crossing that boundary with Porsche. The circumstances were much different, and Kinn's complex and untreated/not understood trauma likely led up to something like that, but it still happened.

He definitely never planned on telling Kim. But with Kim and Kinn both becoming more open with each other and re-evaluating their pasts in their own respective ways, I think this has shifted something in Kinn just enough for him to blurt a hint of that trauma out. Now that Kim is actively working towards getting better, he is much less avoidant with hard topics - especially hard topics that aren't his own. He likely takes Kinn's impulsive and vague admission much more seriously than he does his own assault, and Kinn's takes Kim's much more seriously (plus was traumatized by the rescue). They can only treat this type of violence with the gravity and attention it deserves when it happens to someone they care for, rather than themselves.

Since Kim's descent into his depression and subsequent kidnapping and assault are covered in Progression, my contrasting points are much shorter.

While Kinn feels like he has to care for everyone he considers family, Kim doesn't have the same responsibilities. He wants to separate himself at least some aspects to his family - going as far as creating a separate persona to be who he wants to be in his professional life, only to never fully escape it due to his own trauma and mafia ties. He craves love - something shown through this romantic lyrics - but has guarded himself so heavily due to his dangerous connections, introverted nature, and (in this story) likely falling on the autism spectrum. On top of that, he is demisexual in this story, although he hasn't given himself an official label. All he knows is that he would only consider sex if it was with someone he loved. Chay is the only person he felt those feelings for. Due to Kim's secretive goals, how guarded he is, and how hard it is for him to express himself, he dropped the ball. Monumentally. That heartache and guilt impacted what was likely an already underlying depression and Kim gradually lost control.

I see Kim as someone who also needs control, at least initially. But losing so much of it and not being able to express how much help and support he needs makes him feel completely isolated. That isolation, depression, and desperate need for love and support makes it so Kim doesn't necessarily want the control back. He needs someone else to take the reins. This is shown when he willingly goes with his kidnappers, despite knowing he very well may die or face serious trauma/injury. This shows how much Kim now avoids taking any control back. He has no idea where to start since his life has completely unraveled. By the time one of his kidnappers assaults him, he does briefly try to fight. But the drugs in his system and his weakness from his eating disorder make it so that control can't be obtained. His assault is only cut short only when Chay takes control (by completely losing it, ironically enough) and almost beats his captor to death.

Kim doesn't really think about sex with Chay after their reunion until the prospect of it seems as if it could be likely when they are waiting out the storm. It gives Kim anxiety and he still has mental health concerns that he is working through. But like Chay's absence was a major reason for Kim's descent into his depression, his presence, support, and friendship after Kim hit rock bottom is a major reason for his healing. So Kim develops a deep appreciation, love, and trust for Chay - even deeper than his original feelings. Chay has become someone he feels safe around. That trust has led Kim to find himself becoming a person that more closely aligns with the person he had only wanted to be prior to all of this. Add that to Chay now making a habit of protecting and comforting Kim? Kim wants to hand the reins over Chay. He makes Kim feel safe, despite their complicated history. Kim no longer sees handing over control as a weakness because it has led to him having more love and support. This mindset is crossing over into his and Chay's growing sexual relationship. While Kim is a virgin and Chay has acquired a huge list of partners during their separation, this dynamic and Kim relinquishing the need for control has strangely given Kim MORE control with his growing agency. That agency is also giving him confidence to try more things with someone he loves and trusts deeply.

This answer was so much longer than what I initially planned and I don't know if it all makes sense. I probably gave too much backstory away, but it is what it is! Feel free to engage or give your thoughts on it all, but these are mine based on both my views and analyses of the characters in the show, and of the events that have unfolded in this particular fic.

[hiohaku]

SHIPPING  INFO.  answer  the  following  for  your  muse(s)  so  people  know  how  shipping  works  on  your  blog.

What’s  your  OTP  for  your  Muse(s)?

i mean gojohime is an obvious answer ...

What  are  you  willing  to  RP  when  it  comes  to  shipping?

i feel like in some senses this can be common sense .. i won't write minor x adult , cheating ( if it's discussed , maybe ? ) or like non - con.

How  large  does  the  age  gap  have  to  be  to  make  it  uncomfortable?

idk just dont make it be like .. minor x adult or some kind of grooming thing. i don't know , don't be weird ?

Are  you  selective  when  shipping?

yes , generally i just prefer to ship with people who give me the same effort and energy i've given them and in general people i know well and talk to frequently. i have to have some kind of chemistry with the other mun, as well as our muses ofc. i also prefer to write out development, rather then jumping from friends straight to dating or whatever the dynamic ends up.

How  far  do  steamy  moments  have  to  go  before  they’re  considered  NSFW?

mmm it's suggestive if they're just naked but once there's like .. acts of sex then i'll start tagging it as nsfw -- under a read more.

Who  are  other  muses  you  ship  your  muse  with?

man , i mean there's plenty i could name ? but -- im pretty open about shipping and to be honestly i could probably ship ?? most things ? i just require that chemistry and development - -i used to write so many crack ships ! so .. most things aren't out of the question. except weird ships like ?? utahime with any of her students or something along those lines yk ?

Does  one  have  to  ask  to  ship  with  you?

yes, please . i don't like to assume things and through my 10+ years on this site, i've come to know that it's easier just to ask .

Are  you  multiship?

yes and no ! i'm exclusive multiship -- i only ship with one portrayal / blog of any specific muse and only ship with that particular blog.

Are  you  ship  obsessed  or  ship  more-or-less?

eh , i can write either way ? i wouldnt say im obsessed but i love a good ship , especially if we've developed it and talked about it enough to make our muses intertwined . relationships help characters grow and develop.

What  is  your  favorite  ship  in  your  current  fandom?

uhhh gojohime obviously , chosoyuki ...

Finally,  how  does  one  ship  with  you?

literally just tell me you want to ship , if our muses have chemistry and such we can develop a relationship ! i will say , i usually prefer to write relationships with people who i talk to frequently and know well .

tagged  by  : @chipen ;) tagging  : @kuraokcmi , @usagimen , @ak4rin , @lotusgrieved

[emeraldxsplash]

SHIPPING INFO. answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐓𝐏 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄? A healthy and focused mindset and a life full of fulfilling challenges? In all seriousness, while I do have ships that I enjoy for this character, I wouldn't consider any of them an OTP.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐏 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆? Actually, just about anything. I'm interested in exploring a range of dynamics, including some less conventional ones. In terms of roleplay, my main focus is on development. I'm not a fan of jumping into something just to stagnate. This goes extra for shipping. Dynamics that go nowhere leave me feeling stifled, so I just prefer to avoid it. For me, the buildup to the ship is the part that's fun, less so the ship itself.

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐏 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐅𝐘? The answer here varies quite a bit depending on the verse. As a general rule, the younger a character is, the smaller the age gap should be. Age gaps between older adults tend not to bother me.

𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆? I tend to be, just a little. I want our characters to have good chemistry, of course, but I also prefer to mesh well with the other writer. I like for our writing styles to work together, and I like to be comfortable with the other person on a personal level, too.

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐅𝐀𝐑 𝐃𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐎 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘'𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖? I mean... by definition, if it's not something I'd be comfortable with my boss seeing, that's the line.

𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇? There aren't any presently.

𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔? Yes.

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏? Not terribly often, if I'm honest.

𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏? Yes.

𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐄��𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 - 𝐎𝐑 - 𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒? I'm indifferent towards shipping.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌? They put something into the Kars/Esidisi water. I think about them a lot. I also get caught up on what Erina and Robert have (or rather, what they don't. Perks of loving the same man include having a best friend for life long after he's gone.) I could go on for hours and hours, days even, about Joseph and Caesar, and have. I don't know. I left my heart in Battle Tendency. You can probably ask me about any ship though and I probably enjoy it.

𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘, 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔? #1 Let's talk! Worst that happens is I say no, which I probably won't. I'll probably say something along the lines of, "Let's see what happens." #2 The part where we see what happens. My warning is that Kakyoin is a very difficult sell on just about any ship. I will not alter my portrayal to make a ship work. If it feels natural and organic for him to bend, then he will. Otherwise, it's just not going to happen.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘: I stole it. Insert sunglasses emoji.

[autumnslance]

Hey there, Aeryn! I was looking over your fiction writing and saw that you suggest to one writer that a break might be needed due to burnout, how long would you recommend? My personal question is when creating your characters do you write them separate from their in-game counterparts under a different name? Been wanting to play through the story but I struggle to do so as when an idea doesn’t work, the character suffers. Any advice?

I was looking over your fiction writing and saw that you suggest to one writer that a break might be needed due to burnout, how long would you recommend?

Burn out is dependent on each person, and their current circumstances. Real life can have a tendency to cause issues there, and it's important to not beat one self up too much about things outside of control. Handle what can be controlled, what you can change and adjust, and when you start to feel like "Man I want to create something again/I wish I could create something again" that's probably the sign, actually, you're wanting to get back in the creative saddle.

And it's going to be rough and feel difficult and like everything sucks, but you gotta push through that. I fully acknowledge my writing in 2017 and 2018 is much rougher and tentative, as I was getting past some of my own burnout and getting back into the swing of regular writing.

I've seen it likened to opening a long-closed gate in a dam; gotta let the stagnant stuff out before things really start to flow again.

My personal question is when creating your characters do you write them separate from their in-game counterparts under a different name?

Currently my main OCs have their same names in game as in my stories. You can actually find Dark Autumn, Aeryn Striker, C'oretta Khell, and Iyna Cauld on Coeurl. I have alts cuz I started playing before NG+ was a thing, I was an old school RPer who likes making new OCs, and I simply cannot ever fantasia Dark Autumn. None of the "supporting cast" OCs have in game representation (just Anamnesis files).

I don't worry too much about how the characters are in game versus in story. I make some vaguely almost IC decisions or choices based on some things, but even with the same names, the in game characters are just avatars I use for visuals; this is actually why I play Dark through MSQ first, to get my own knee-jerk reactions out of the way. Only sometimes my avatar in game as I play informs the ideas I thought I had for the OCs I write about. When playing Aeryn specifically, I end up thinking about how Aeryn would feel and react, and am often surprised. And then consider: is it worth trying to keep the original idea, or is the new idea better?

Which is how I ended up with a wolnpc ship I never intended, or how I realized she had a jealous streak. I just let the avatar vibe and decided if I wanted that to affect my story ideas or not. And there's plenty I do do in game that has nothing to do with my story portrayals, or vice versa.

But also not all character ideas are going to work, or even need to, and letting a character idea grow and change as you learn who they are and what you really want/need for them is fine.

@driftward actually might have some good advice there too, as her initial ideas for Nyx, written in an earlier FFXIV Write, didn't end up working out. Nor did an earlier miqo'te character that was fantasia'd into the elezen we now know and love as Zoissette Vauban. The stories and character info were written...and then reworked.

Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out what we want and how we go about it. Retcon is not a dirty word. If a character idea isn't working, think on why, and what needs to step back and adjust.

[otome-mondays]

Collar x Malice: Unlimited Review 🐈‍⬛

Ok I know I recently posted a Collar x Malice review, but I’m going in order I played these games. Who’s ready to jump back into the world of Collar x Malice! So some background info to start: this is the first fandisc I have ever played, and as of writing is the only one I’ve played. Because of this, I’m not generally sure what the standards are for fandiscs. I also played this back in 2021, so it has been a while. Please go back to my previous review on Collar x Malice for trigger warnings (use the otome mondays tag)

Spoilers Ahead

Prologue

So to start off this game, we have a separate prologue. You do have to play the prologue because it unlocks all the after stories. So let’s see how this game starts out! Well, for starters we have one of my least favorite things: retroactively adding characters and events that would’ve DEFINITELY been mentioned in the original if it happened. Yeah, needless to say I was not please at this start and quickly became frustrated having to unlock routes. Oh, right if you want to play anything else you have to unlock each boy’s route separately with their prologue choices. So fun! Let’s actually move on to what I bought the game for, 3/10.

Sasazuka Takeru 🍩

So for the after stories, I started with Sasazuka. I saw a recommendation to just pick one that you enjoyed but wasn’t your favorite or pick your favorite to start the game since there’s no need for a route order. I did originally place Sasazuka’s route as solid middle ground in terms of my favorite love interest and also route itself, so it seemed like a safe bet. And thank god it was! This one starts up after the events of his best ending and him rejoining the cyber crimes division. The main conflict here is that Sasazuka and Ichika are learning how to balance work and life and being in a relationship together. The pacing was pretty solid and even though it’s short, it’s enjoyable! If you liked Sasazuka’s route, you’ll enjoy this after story. 8/10.

Yanagi Aiji 🚬

I decided after Sasazuka’s route, I was going to get Yanagi’s out of the way. I do enjoy all the characters, but Yanagi is my least favorite out of the LIs here. After the events of Yanagi’s best ending, we have the start of the after story. Yanagi’s started his private detective agency and everybody’s getting back to normal life. That is until Yanagi’s older brother randomly shows up and threatens him to rejoin the police. So this story mostly focuses on that conflict. This is another cute and short story, so if you liked Yanagi’s route you will like his after story. 8/10.

Enomoto Mineo 🪭

I honestly picked this route next on a whim, and I’m glad I did! This story picks up after he’s been reinstated into Field Ops 2 and now the couple work in the same building. Enomoto’s route definitely focuses on him maturing and developing his relationship with Ichika, and it’s so refreshing to have a portrayal of a healthy relationship in a game (which is rich coming from me tbh). Thanks to his after story, he moved up spots on my favorite LIs list. Honestly I don’t see how anybody would dislike this route. 10/10.

Shiraishi Kageyuki 🐱

Shiraishi yet again stealing the show for some of the best writing…it’s a shame he has this weird extra character. I feel like it’s obvious, but this story has a lot of angst. Because of Shiraishi turning himself in and all of his crimes he committed, he’s under arrest and contained in a special cell. Unfortunately, random extra dude is the main issue in Shiraishi’s story. It is nice to see his growth though as a character. I feel like they did him dirty by making a third of his route flashbacks to the og game. 7/10, Shiraishi fans will probably enjoy but it could’ve been way better.

Okazaki Kei 🏃‍♂️

So I saved my favorite for last, and I’m glad I did! After the X-Day events have wrapped up, Okazaki returns to HQ and Ichika stays with SRCPO. This story also focuses on the two of them trying to navigate being in a relationship and work and life. I was a bit disappointed to see that Okazaki kind of regressed and goes through the same growth all over again but speed run edition. Even though it ends good, this story is kind of meaningless because of this. It isn’t a bad story, just disappointing. Sorry for all us Okazaki fans, 7.5/10.

Other Routes 🐈‍⬛

So let’s talk about the additional bonus routes. To play any of these extra stories, you do need to play through all the after stories. First, let’s go over the Adonis route. This takes place after Yanagi’s tragic end. Ichika joins Adonis after everybody she has cared for is murdered and Zero convinces her to join. It was nice to see Ichika interacting with the Adonis members and how they showed Ichika and Zero have a horridly toxic relationship. If you do want to see all this route has to offer, you do have to replay it a couple of times. Due to this, it’s a little more repetitive than enjoyable at points. Still nice additional content, 8/10. We also have some extended short stories, one from Kazuki’s perspective during X-Day, a semi-Minegishi route, and a semi-Yoshinari route. Kazuki gets an 8/10, Minegishi gets a 4/10, and Yoshinari gets a 7/10.

Overall Thoughts 🐈‍⬛

I like the idea of a fandisc and I think some elements were executed very nicely! Unfortunately, I do have a few issues with some of the content here (mainly the random dude being added and prologue entirely), but I still would recommend it for anybody who enjoyed Collar x Malice! 8/10

Since characters stay the same here, I’m not adding an LI ranking. I will add my route ranking though!

Route: Enomoto > Sasazuka > Yanagi > Adonis > Kazuki > Okazaki > Shiraishi > Yoshinari > Minegishi > Prologue

Resources 📝

I once again used CGs and screenshots from the game and I relied on Otome Kitten’s walkthroughs.

[lollytea]

If Willow reads both Azura and Cosmic Frontier, which one do you think she will love more? Like in another Halloween scenario will she costume-up with Lumity or with the boys?

Willow is implied to be at least somewhat endeared with Azura, though it's likely most of that comes loving Luz so much and wanting to support her. It seems like the reason Azura doesn't sell on the Boiling Isles is cuz it's such a cheesy unrealistic portrayal of witches that no self respecting witch would actually enjoy it. (Except for Amity. But Amity is an autistic icon.) However, judging by Willow's Halloween costume, she has no problem indulging herself by dressing up as a silly parody of a witch every now and again. So she'd totally be down for humouring Luz and Amity by doing a trio costume. But ONLY if she can dress up as the villain.

I can't see her being able to read through all of the books (there's only so much shmultzy ridiculous writing she can take. Its only funny for the first few chapters.) but she's probably watched a few of the movies and allowed Luz and Amity to gush about it to her. She's a casual fan if anything who enjoys it ironically but still has a soft spot for it cuz her besties love it so much.

When it comes to Cosmic Frontier, I think she'd definitely enjoy it more than Azura but she wouldn't become obsessed with it like Hunter and Gus are. She reads the first book because she's stupidly in love and was like "That's was nice :)" but doesn't really have any strong opinions about it. It was a fun way to kill a few hours.

But Gus and Hunter fucking AMBUSH her cuz they want to know her THOUGHTS. But they end up getting carried away in their info dumping and spoil the next few books before she can even think about reading them. Willow doesn't really care. She enjoys her boys being excited way more than the books themselves.

Hunter could definitely talk her into joining them for a group cosplay. There's a number of things he could talk her into. So she's out here dressed as a character from the sequel she hasnt read and she has no idea who they're supposed to be but Gus and Hunter are just ecstatic that she's participating. She thinks her costume is really cool tho. For no particular reason.

ANYWAY people really want Willow and Hunter to bond over Cosmic Frontier but me personally, I prefer it being Hunter and Gus's special thing, while Willow is just a very confused but enthusiastic girlfriend.

You know what I really want? Really really want? Luz and Amity have a fantasy. Gus and Hunter have sci fi. I really want Willow and Vee to both get into the same nerdy genre at the same time and gush over it together. My personal headcanon is that it's superhero comics.

[holysaintscathedral]

I finished reading Priest by Sierra Simone earlier today and I want to rant about this mediocre book. This book is a prime example of why "growing up Catholic" doesn't mean you're able to write an interesting story regarding Catholic characters or relay any accurate information about Catholicism nor does being a “former librarian” mean you’re going to be a competent writer. I’m already forgetting some details about the plot and characters so I’m making this post before I completely forget everything about it.

I read the prologue and it immediately foreshadowed the overwhelming blandness of the novel and its characters, with its poor prose and corny exposition with info that the reader was already going to learn throughout the book. If I was Simone's editor, I would have made her rewrite it entirely or scrap it outright. Creative writing classes should use this prologue as an example of what not to do in your introduction.

So the novel is written in first person perspective of Tyler Bell, a young Catholic priest. I don't buy for a second that this dude is actually a Catholic priest who went to seminary for several years and has served as a priest for three. His voice in the story feels entirely inauthentic and he's not a believable character. The author may have been a Catholic but I honestly don’t think she ever retained any understanding of Catholic priests, the priesthood and the experiences of priests or ever bothered to look into these things. A little bit of research in this area probably would have helped in creating a more believable, and likeable priest.

He meets and eventually falls in love with Poppy Danforth; a white woman born in immense privilege with a good education and (here's the kicker) she's a former dancer in a gentlemen’s club. She comes to Tyler within the first few chapters for counsel and she’s sultry, sexy and openly sexual so of course Tyler starts lusting after her. She feels like the stereotypical “worldly woman” that pastors warn men against and I don’t hate her but I don’t like her either.

Both Poppy and Tyler are bland, uninteresting and unlikable people so I honestly could care less about their relationship and whatever supposed love they had for each other. He leaves the priesthood for her and they get married, which is nice I guess.

I'm kinda tired of the male hard dom/female submissive dynamic you see in a lot of mainstream romance novels so a lot of the smut wasn't my cup of tea. I did, however, enjoy the blasphemy and sacrilege featured in a lot of the love scenes they had together admittedly.

I think Simone just wanted an excuse to write smut starring a priest from her former religion, and that's fine, but she barely managed to string together an interesting story or develop her characters all that well. This novel is forgettable but I suspect it could have been executed better with a more skilled writer.

I wasn't expecting a masterpiece of fine literature or an informative brochure on Catholicism but if my Catholic Church hating self is calling your bluff on your portrayal of Catholic characters, settings and beliefs, you have a serious problem. I enjoy some light reading from time to time where I don't have to think too deeply about the plot and characters but this book was only somewhat entertaining. I only finished reading it out of a stubborn refusal to let any book go unfinished.

Other noteworthy things:

The Bishop comes across as a bumbling fool and was sheepishly asking Tyler to go to a conference in the first act and.....I don't think Simone understands that priests have a vow of OBEDIENCE to their bishops. If Bishop Bove wanted Tyler to go to a religious conference, he would simply tell his subordinate to go and Tyler would have to go. The dynamic of a Bishop and a Priest is not one of equals, especially with how easily that relationship can turn extremely abusive and toxic.

Tyler claimed that the Liturgy of the Hours is almost obsolete and.......I don't think that's even REMOTELY true. It may be less common among laity but I wouldn’t say the Liturgy of the Hours is completely an absolete practice. It just feels a little baffling for a Catholic priest to make that claim.

Poppy's ex boyfriend leaks photos of her and Tyler together in the third act and Tyler (of course) becomes a famous internet hot priest meme and has a fanclub called the Tylerettes 🤮🤮🤮🤮. This fact damn near killed me with cringe.

Tyler does this thing in his narration where he’s oh-so-worried that his sexually dominant, aggressive way makes him a bad Feminist Ally and anytime he mentioned this, I could imagine the author nudging you, the reader, and smugly saying “See? He’s not a misogynist, he’s a Nice Guy!” It’s nauseating and it made me instantly dislike Tyler and nothing could ever redeem him after that.

In their first tryst together, Tyler makes her orgasm twice and she just gets up and leaves him in the church after their done with each other and I can’t stress enough that you should never do that to someone???? Like ever?????

At first there isn’t a lot of aftercare or discussions of boundaries, which really rubbed me the wrong way, especially since they engaged in impact play, degradation, face-fucking, some light somno and rather rough sex in general.

I’ve read better romantic and smutty stories regarding Catholic priests here on Tumblr and over on Archive of Our Own and Wattpad and a lot of those stories were written for free and on the writer’s spare time. If you enjoyed this book, that’s fair but I’ve read far superior works and I can’t get myself to really like Priest all that much, which is disappointing.

[jedibetray]

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝.

private and mutually exclusive portrayal of BODE AKUNA from star wars' jedi: survivor survived by bee. a story of: being the hero of your own story, fatherhood above all else, mercenary gunslinger, how far can the hero fall, the force, watching the world burn, survival above all else verses for star wars universe as well as au universes. main verse: jedi survivor canon ish until the final fight. au ending - accepting mercy on tanalorr.

deeply affiliated with @jedilone

primarily written in the first person. see stats for basic info/bio. playlist. other blog: @str1ga

RULES:

ONE . The first rule of my blogs will literally always be don’t be a dick. I don’t have time for it. You don’t have time for it. Just don’t do it.

TWO . I don't have any triggers, but if you do please let me know!! this blog will contain a boat load of triggering content including but not limited to gore, violence, and mature situations. I generally don't tag triggers unless I'm asked, but I tag things with NSFW when it needs to be.

THREE . I do practice mains and exclusives, because sometimes you just click with people and that's ok! I will follow duplicates of MY muse, but unless it's a friend, I generally won't follow duplicates of exclusive muses.

FOUR . This blog is limited to interactions with mutuals. i always follow back / follow first if i feel like we can write together. if i haven't followed you back after a few days, it probably means i won't be following back to write. for the sake of my profession (i'm a high school age educator) i will not be following back anyone younger than 21.

FOUR CONT. While i do not follow back younger than 21 because i feel icky if you're young enough to be my student, my messages are always open if you ever need anything! if you need an adultier adult to talk to about something i can always try to be that for anyone. i know how important trusted adults are.

FIVE . This blog will be mostly private. I'm here for a good time not a long time. If you want to write with me, the best way is to DM me and say yo bitch let's RP.

SIX . My name is bee. i'm 32 years old. i've been writing on tumblr for like 10 years and rping in general for over half my life. i met my significant other through rp. we just moved across the country so i could go to rabbinical school. obviously i'm super busy but i love making friends!

CREDITS . graphics commissioned from @gilbertsrph. image credits to @animatedjen! mdni banner credit to @cafekitsune.

[bewitched-bullet]

Hi bewitched-bullet,

I'm the anon who talked about their "irreconcilable differences" when it comes to how to portray the characters the other day. I only mentioned it in passing because my main point was their lack of communication. Now I'd like to elaborate on the character portrayals. Like I said I've followed them for a year. And for the last 5-6 months I've observed their interactions on an almost daily basis.

(I'm a peaceful and gentle person and I hope my writing has reflected those qualities)

TL;DR: John has been trying to establish the relationship as a middle-aged couple; Sherlock's characterization is more in Series 1.

During this short six months, I've seen John's love declarations at least 4 times, which was either doubted, ignored, or "forgotten" the next day by Sherlock. Not big declarations, but those that came naturally as a result of the scene. John was apparently discouraged (since probably 3 months ago? It's so hard to search the posts with the Archive turned off) and even stopped acting jealous when there was Sheriarty. Oh, there was one time, I think your other followers may also remember, that John and Sherlock talked about John playing clarinet. It was a huge reblogged post and in the end John posted a photo of him playing clarinet with a ring on his finger. When followers pointed it out,John asked Sherlock something like "what could you deduce from me wearing your family heritage ring?" The question never got a reply. I'll send you links of love declarations when I get some free time to search through the blog.

Sherlock, on the other hand, is portrayed mostly as in series 1: reckless, brilliant, petulant, etc. and cranks up those qualities even more than Series 1. From time to time he forgets Rosie's existence. He also adds a characteristic that was not in BBC canon: Sherlock's lack of understanding of common daily expressions, like heart=feelings. I've seen him given anatomy lessons to followers when it came to "heart" and such. When followers questioned how he was able to go around his work if he didn't understand very common expressions or having edibles at home when Rosie lived there, John explained something like, "oh, he's toying you guys. That's not the case". The thing is that Sherlock behaves the same with John, so "toying with followers" doesn't explain it. The real reason is that they see characters at different timelines/ life stages.

I haven't followed them long, but I could already see for a while now that they couldn't meet in the middle ground, so the problem went back even further. I saw posts that saying the group doesn't talk as mods. Let's say that I wouldn't be surprised considering the lack of communication I've observed. This mess could have handled so much better if they had real communication along the way. They should have parted their ways a long time ago if they successfully communicated that the differences were irreconcilable. Personally I don't think it'll ever work out with zero behind the scenes, especially among characters with a long complicated canon history.

Best Regards

These are extremely good points for the role play community.

If their interpretation of a character they are playing doesn't vibe well, be cordial and try different characters, make adjustments, or separate ways.

The John mod mentioned that they have a 3 year history of rping together. The blogs are only.....2 years old? So they were rping together for a year before coming to tumblr.

If the John mod was dissatisfied with their character chemistry and rp style(s), a year is more than enough time to figure that out.

Of course people can change their minds. But as we have seen from Mycroft/John and Harriett mods, they refuse to speak out of character to deal with the more serious issues.

It's a mess

Search tag "a scandal in tumblr" for more info.

[findyourrp]

💙 Hello! :) 23F (she/her) looking for 18+ partners only. I won't write with minors so please don't ask.

♤ Fandom/s I'm looking for:

Genshin Impact.

♤ Ships:

Alhaitham/Kaveh (looking for Kaveh. Looking for a more canon portrayal please don't uwu him.)

♤ Plot:

The plot I have in mind centres around pre-canon/Akademiya/early roommates Kavetham.

(I have an ex's/forced roommates to lovers again variety of this plot I really wanna try too 🙏)

I will explain more in dms!

♤ Info about me/Requirements:

I have a literate/novella writing style! If you can’t match at least a min of 300 words(/discord text limit), I probably won’t be into the RP all that much. 

Please be descriptive and semi-lit, I always put effort into all into my replies and expect my partner to extend the same courtesy with proper grammar and capitalization. (I won’t respond to the all lower text style in the RP itself but idm outside of rp in ooc).

I enjoy OOC discussions and collaborative plotting with my partners, as well as expressing enthusiasm for our characters. Creating playlists and vision boards, things like that. While OOC interaction isn't mandatory, I'm open to it!

Consistency and activity are crucial; I strive to be active and responsive, so I appreciate the same in return. If you anticipate being offline for more than a couple of days, please communicate that in advance rather than leaving without notice. 

I exclusively write on Discord! 

♤  If you’re interested, feel free to reach out! I’ll only be responding to direct dms/asks to avoid spam blocking!

.