#theres so many but off the top of my head. augh

[dracwife]

i love you monster f/os that take such care in handling their lovers, being aware of their own strength and using not even a fraction of it to adore their partners, ones who know not the true nature of their beloved's power until they need to use it to protect the ones they love in a blaze of firey passion

i love you immortal f/os who have waited centuries to find love once again, who spend hours pondering if they will ever find a kindness in the world that a lost lover once showed them, only to find it in the most unexpected of places; who begin to wonder if their gift is truly a lonely, accursed existence until they find happiness once again in the arms of someone new

i love you undead f/os who shine at the feeling of being seen for the first time since dying, who wonder if they are doomed to live another life only to have what they once did torn away once more, who wonder if they even have a soul anymore only to come to the conclusion they must, for if they didnt surely they would not have found their soulmate, someone who brings them the warmth of life again

i love you doomed f/os, who shy away from the touch of another, fearful not for their own safety but of the one they love's, who weep not out of self pity but because they want so desperately to melt into the arms of a lover, whose curse is broken by the sheer power of their lover's dedicated adoring so that they may love together once more

pr*ship/c*mship dni

[spectralsleuth]

Now that we're entering into 2024, I'm asking some artists and writers that I follow:

1) What is the one piece you're most proud of from this past year?

2) What are some pieces that you would have liked more people to see? If you can include links, I'd love to go check them out!

3) What were your top three favorite pieces (art, comics, fics, etc) that someone else has made this past year?

(As always, no pressure to respond! Feel free to just ignore, or let me know if you'd rather I not send you these kinds of asks in the future.)

This is such a sweet and fun ask!! Thanks so much! I enjoyed seeing other authors answering this it’s so hype to get it myself.

1. This is hard to answer, because this year I tried to do something different with every fic I posted. When I got a concept I very pointedly didn’t shy away from it because it seemed difficult, or I thought I might be bad at it, so there’s something that makes me proud with each one. IF I HAD TO CHOOSE THOUGH I’m going to cheat and pick two.

What it Will Be I’m proud of this because it fell out of me SO EASY. I felt like the process of writing it was a testament to how hard I’ve been working at improving all year, and it came together very quickly and very well. I’m also proud because I incorporated @heckitall ‘s comic page to base it off of, and I’d never tried writing fic for a visual media like that. It was super fun!

On the OTHER end of the spectrum is Case of the Hidden City vs Lou Jitsu because it is VERY technically and narratively complicated and is by far the most ambitious thing I’ve ever written. It’s very hard, but I am VERY proud because I haven’t QUIT it. It’s not complete yet, but it is a good amount of the way there and I’m excited to finish it. Probably once I’ve recovered from surgery lol.

2. This sounds insincere maybe, but I really am happy with the engagement I get on my fic. I really do write my fic for me, and while I love to make sure as many people who want to read it can find it, at the end of the day I don’t like assigning people homework! I went through my whole works list and scratched my head and really tried to think of there was anything I wanted to plug, and I don’t think there is!

I guess I’ll post my lowest viewed, my Swanatello fic! @tangledinink ‘s AU I’m sure everyone’s familiar with lol. I knew that one would be lower when I posted it, if only because it has prior required reading (Swanatello). But I wrote it mainly because the AU was starting to reach a critical point and I REALLY wanted to write fanfiction of how I fantasized an ending might be, so I could go back and read it for comfort. I love Odette and the lore Kayson made for his AU, so I’ll plug this only because I think some people may have missed it!

3. Three works!! JUST THREE?? AUGH.

little kid with a big death wish

By @remedyturtles ! This made me leak tears the whole way through, so huge CW’s obviously. Not only was it one of the best fics I’ve ever read, but I got the privilege of seeing how talented Rem is behind the scenes a little and saw how they write and work and I really want to emulate them going forward. One of many all timer fics for me, for sure, I’d love to read any original fiction they put out.

The Whispering Forest and Other Tales

By @sroloc--elbisivni and @kithnkin ! I love love LOVE the feudal Japan fusion, the research, and the perfect blend of Usagi Yojimbo’s universe with what the Riseverse would have been like in this era. Even the little segues into what they’re wearing and eating is endlessly fascinating to me. Every single character is written to be the best and most interesting version of that character I could imagine. Theres Leosagi, there’s a PB&J murder mystery, there’s spookiness- AND Raphael Hamato gets wifed up!! WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? I love people that write a fully fleshed story that could be a standalone universe, without losing ANY of the flavor or humor or narrative of the original source material.

And last is I’m Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now

@tangledinink has such a good grasp of family and writing, and realistic portrayals of what would HONESTLY HAPPEN if you discovered literally any aspect of the ROTTMNT narrative. Not even taking into ACCOUNT the turtle nonsense, how do you unpack a family that’s been devoted to destroying a magic monster and sacrificing themselves, or a Dad that fought in a death match battle royale for over a decade, or a RIVAL CLAN OF NINJA? All the characters are written SO WELL, and Kayson does a fantastic job of never letting the characters or story fall into cliche tropes. Their characters are always super detailed, to the point where I really feel it if they’re hungry or hurt or itchy. Which is a weird thing to point out but they make sure you really FEEL the situation. Also like, turtles in highschool? Body dysphoria? My CO-CEO of Hamato Yoshi???

What a great year!! I had so much fun in fandom this year and made a lot of friends.

[vind3miat0r]

Send Me a Character & I'll Tell You game

Avoir (I had to lol)

KSJDHFKD YOUUUU /nm /lh

My first impression: oaugh he was so mean to us in the beginning :( honestly? i did not like him (shocker i know). setting aside not having context for why he was acting like that, his character just did not strike a chord with me. the only thing that i really liked about him is that he yaps a lot and uses fancy words, and im like a moth to a flame when it comes to that shit

My impression now: THAT IS MY HUSBAND RIGHT THERE!! ughhh i love him and his character development :( hes so tragic and just. augh. he lives permanently in my brain now, the brainrot is real. i dont think im "could quote word for word" levels of obsessed, but ive listened to his audios enough times to know what hes going to say next in some instances. really a whole 180 i did there

Favorite thing about that character: his absolute adoration for Starlight. in the flashbacks, you can hear how much he loves and cares for them, and i can practically see him gazing at them starstruck, its beautiful. literally makes my cry anytime he says "my starlight" im so deadass rn 😭

Least favorite thing: honestly theres not really anything i dont like about him?? hes literally my favorite character so ofc im gonna be biased 😭😭 if anything, id like to hear more abt his past. i know he told us that story abt him and Circinus, and presumably there was more from the first time they were in the trap together, and id really like to see that, as well as their initial growing closer (again, ik that we saw some of that, but id would still like to see a more detailed version of it. like, who dropped the first "i love you"? and etc). other than that, i cant name anything off of the top of my head that i dont like abt him

Favorite line/scene: OAUGH. I HAVE SO MANY.. for scenes, definitely the entirety of "Back to The Real World With Your Demon." i was screaming internally the whole way through, and Avior realizing Starlight had gotten their memories back will always have me in a chokehold. and shoutout to his hbs and springback audios too. for lines, "The things I feel for you fly in the face of every justifiable fear and suspicion that this situation has burned into me" GETS ME EVERY TIME MAN, HE SOUNDS SO SOFT AND IN LOVE AND GRRRHASGHFDGF

Favorite interaction that character has with another: considering that hes literally only ever interacted with Starlight and Circinus on screen, id have to go with when hes helping Starlight get to sleep and (again) his hbs and springback audios. while i do like angst (why else would i listen to his playlist mutiple times per month), im such a sucker for fluff its not even funny

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: again, considering that hes only ever interacted with Starlight and Circinus, there is a whole slew of characters that id love to see him interact with! probably another demon character, like Warden or Gavin, those would be fun!

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: theres a character in a fandom named Caduceus Clay that my bf rlly likes, and i think him and Avior have a similar vibe :)

A headcanon about that character: augh i have so manyyyy 😭 ill just put down a few lol

Avior studied Greek and Roman mythology as a hobby during his first years on Elegy. he was at first intrigued by how thousands of years ago, the Greek had named the stars (which as you know, the d(a)emons are named after), and he just fell into a rabbit hole of legends and mytology after looking into it

he acted as a steward to Warden (the lore implications this would have would be CRAZY methinks)

after getting Starlight out of the trap, the areas of his body where his magic had torn itself away from him became white scars that resemble explosion scars. they're on his hands, arms, general chest area, and most of his tail. he also gained a facial scar from the fall he experienced

A song that reminds of that character: Upon Cobblestone Streets by The Family Crest. a while back i saw someone say that this song rlly fits Avior and Starlight's dynamic, i gave it a listen and immediately cried cuz they were RIGHT!!

An unpopular opinion about that character: two words: BODY💥WORSHIP💥 thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[aurriearts]

For the artist asks!! 2, 7, and 11!!

answered 2 over here!

7. Favourite works of all time excluding your own?

HRM ok non-exhaustive/off the top of my head

klimnt's the kiss

literally any of @/ardellian's pieces

my besties joel's (@artbykoshouu, esp this one. augh) and mort's (@geek-o13 - pathologic piece!!) art! :3

michael leonard's very homoerotic paintings (which is why i did the ricardo study in the first place)

@/capricule's ego death fh fanart (eye strain, i think about this daily)

11. Favorite comment you’ve ever recieved on your work?

god theres so many! my favourites are the commenters that want to eat the art + long commentary abt how they reacted to it (HI BEKAH <3). however the most MEMORABLE hands down has to be this one

#disco elysium#i cant stress how beautiful every piece of fan art#for this game is#its insane#disco elysium fans huff paint fr

it cracks me up every time i remember cos it was so out of left field. paint huffer (affectionate)

[mindless-self-pudding]

The night after Leon Kuwata's execution, Mondo was wrenched from his bed by a series of pounds coming from his front door. It had taken him forever to finally get to sleep, and being woken up at 2 in the God damn morning by some idiot banging to get in made him a little more than ticked off. As he rubbed the exhaustion from his eyes, his mind suddenly caught up with the situation they had all been placed in; whoever was out there could be trying to break in and kill him. His heart leapt into his throat as he warily eyed the door, still rattling with every slam of the person's fists. Mondo briefly thought of trying to return to his slumber, but that couldn't be the greatest solution. Who's to say they wouldn't try again the next night? No, he should nip this in the bud now. He wouldn't kill them...maybe just teach them a lesson, keep them from trying anything funny with him or anyone else. So he crept from the safety of his blanket and across the room on the balls of his feet, deftly snatching one of the duo of kendo sticks leaning on his wall. One well placed hit from this would surely make the would-be murderer think twice about whatever dastardly plot was rolling around in their head. With his heroic mindset steady in his head, Mondo tip toed to the shaking door. In one swift movement, he swung it open, and a sound akin to a whip crack filled the air as he brought the stick down on his unexpected guest. "Augh!!!" Mitsuo launched himself backwards as he narrowly missed the strike, covering his mouth as his startled scream ended. He was trembling from head to toe, and his watery eyes were almost pink from how bloodshot they were. He looked defenseless, and for a second, Mondo thought of tossing the stick over his shoulder, but he couldn't take any chances. "You tryna fuckin' pull something, Ito?!?" "N-no! Of course not, I...I just..." "You just WHAT?" "I needed to...I-I wanted to see you!" "So you could try and get outta this place, right?! You got a plan for yourself?!" "Christ, Ōwada, we both know you'd snap me in half before I could try anything!!" A decent point. With a sigh containing a mixture of relief and annoyance, he let the hand holding the kendo stick drop to his side. "...whatever you want, it better be good," he snarled, "I'm tired as shit, and I wanna get back to bed." He watched Mitsuo fold his arms over his body and chew on his lower, chapped lip. Anybody could tell something was bothering the guy; normally, he would just slam the door in his face, but something in his gut was telling Mondo to help him. "...I...can't sleep," was Mitsuo's answer. "You can't---don't you got fuckin' insomnia or whatever? Of course you can't sleep." "This is different." "How??" His teeth dug into his lip again. "I can...God, I can still see his..." Again, Mitsuo trembled, and shrunk more into himself. Mondo knew all too well what he was talking about, but still, he asked, "See what...?" Tears pricked at his eyes that he quickly brushed away. "When...when I close my eyes, I-I can still see Kuwata's face after Monokuma...there were...so many baseballs..." The battered visage of their classmate's corpse immediately thrust itself to the forefront of Mondo's thoughts. He swore he could still smell that faint scent of blood...but like anything that bothered him, he stuffed it back down to the recesses of his mind. It seemed, though, that Mitsuo had yet to master that. "Shit, man, what do you want me to do about it?" was all Mondo offered in answer, "You want, like...I dunno, a hug? 'Cause...I don't really do that..." "I-I can't be alone tonight." "Huh?" "I just...I can't...I'm too scared to even try to sleep by myself..." Oh, God. Mondo could already tell where this was headed. With a tired grunt, he rubbed at the back of his neck, a nervous tick he picked up from his brother. "You gonna ask if you can stay the night, aren't you?" he mumbled. He still didn't really know why he hadn't slammed the door in his face yet, let alone why he was even entertaining the idea of another guy in his room sleeping over. Mitsuo's teeth visibly ground together as his fingers dug into the sleeve of his own shirt. "Only for tonight. I'll sleep on the floor, in the bathroom, wherever, just..." "Why me? I mean...shit, I figure I'm the most dangerous one here. I could strangle ya to death in your sleep." "...you won't." "And how the hell do you know that? 'sides, even if I wasn't dangerous, we haven't talked all that much. We ain't even really friends, so..." "I just...trust you. You know?" Mondo knew. Out of the time they've spent together, they've had three conversations, two of them being part of the morning meetings, but he couldn't shake that feeling of comfortable familiarity he had with Mitsuo. He even caught himself almost using his given name the few times they spoke. "Out of everyone here, I feel like I can trust you the most. I can't explain it, but I---" "Fine." "F-fine?" Mondo let out a deep sigh as he stepped to the side of his door. "Get in here," he uttered, "Hurry up, 'fore someone sees us out here like this." Mitsuo seemed to sag in relief as he hurried past him, stepping into a room that was no doubt similar to his own. Mondo lazily followed him, locking the doorknob closed before setting the kendo stick down in its place. He half expected Mitsuo to give him shit for all the gang memorabilia thrown caddywampus around the place, but he was quiet. Mondo got the weird sensation that he'd seen his room before, like maybe once he left the door open on accident and Mitsuo had crept in. Whether he did or didn't, the other man was silent. "Just toss me another pillow," he said, moving a few feet away from the foot of Mondo's bed, "I can camp out right here. You won't even notice I'm there." "Shit, nah. You're a guest, right? You can crash on the bed, I'll take the floor." "...strangely gentlemanly of you, but it's fine, really. I can sleep down here." "You really refusing the hospitality of a gang leader?" Despite the situation that Mondo normally would want to supremely not be in, he found himself cracking a smile as Mitsuo let out a chuckle. "Are you gonna cut off my pinkie if I do?" "I'm tempted." The next few minutes were a little bit of a blur, kind of mixing together in his memory. Mondo knew that one moment, they were arguing about who would take the bed and who would take the floor, and the next, he found himself crammed onto the surprisingly small double bed with Mitsuo, their backs turned to each other and the lights out. How much time had passed now? He couldn't see the clock to make sure, because of the darkness and how his eyes were shut closed. Beside him, Mondo could hear the steady rhythm of Mitsuo's breathing, slow, deep, and soft. The guy must've finally fallen asleep. Maybe those things he heard about insomniacs sleeping better in other places was true. Come to think of it, the bed felt just a touch more comfortable to Mondo than before, like he could slip back into his dreams at any second. It was harder for him to think of the memory of Kuwata's execution now, too. He knew this feeling, and he also knew he should probably sneak out of the covers and crash on the floor, but this sudden coziness had ensnared Mondo like a snake coiling around its prey. His eyes refused to open, and any movement he tried to make to break free of this spell turned into him nuzzling deeper into the mattress. He'd try again in a minute. Just 60 more seconds, and he'd crawl out of the bed. ------ He felt himself stir in a situation that he was extremely familiar with. He could feel Mitsuo's warm breath on his back, one of his long arms draped sleepily over Mondo's stomach. Sleepily, his hand flopped over the fingers that had somehow crept under his shirt and he wound their legs together tighter beneath the duvet on top of them. Everything felt right, and perfect, and he thought that he could sleep for a million more years as long as Mitsuo stayed right there, holding him in that tender embrace. Then Monokuma's morning announcement played over the television screen in his room, and Mondo promptly became the most awake he had ever been in his life. There was another man in his bed. He was cuddling that other man in his sleep. He was the LITTLE spoon while he was cuddling the other man. It took everything Mondo had not to let out a yell. Mitsuo, as exhausted as he seemed to be last night, stayed blissfully asleep during both the announcement and Mondo playing his own private game of twister to break free from his octopus technique of snuggling. As the biker scrambled to his feet from the bed, he was gasping like he had just gotten off a rollercoaster. His heart was pounding, some weird breed of panic was starting to bubble in his chest, and part of his mind was begging him to get back in bed and into the safety of Mitsuo's arms. The shower. The water should be on, now. Mondo flung himself to the bathroom, unsure if he had ripped off all his pajamas as he leapt into the stall. When he turned the knobs, the water that sprayed out of the showerhead from the newly awakened pipes was bitterly ice cold. He stood there under the wet onslaught almost literally frozen, his teeth chattering in his skull. If Mitsuo was still asleep when he finished, maybe he could escape outside and pretend last night never happened, like his arms hadn't burned a warm, soothing imprints into his skin. Like for one night, one night in a long time, he didn't have nightmares of any kind. But he knew, deep down, he couldn't. -------- theres so much red in the first dgrp what the f uc k

[zenyattasperceptrons]

sj rambling like goddamn for real

///////

i know it’s not “time for rhetoric”

theres literally people chanting na/zi slogans on the street. and that’s terrifying. and i don’t even know the half of how terrifying it can be. and it needs to stop. yeah.

but. ive been grappling with this phrase in my head for a while. im not quite sure it makes sense yet. but it’s something like, “opposite is not dissimilar.” if something is “opposite” it actually has quite a lot to do with the thing it’s opposite to. It’s across from this thing on one single axis, as opposed to catty corner and off in another section on the y coordinate and blah blah...

so. yknow. no, i don’t think people who use tactics similar to the alt-r/ight, but on the other end of the political spectrum are “just as bad.” it’s very difficult to be “just as bad” as... actual... na/zis ....but. I do think those tactics are incredibly polarizing and short-term and...well, violent. And I don’t know if you’ve looked around America lately (I wish I could stop looking around), polarization looks like an absolute shitshow. I mean, part of it is that the loudest voices are the most extreme, so the ones you hear about are the ones who are pretty set in their ways.

But there are people who follow more right-wing politics that aren’t that polarized. Yet. And they’re probably thinking, yknow...what a mess their party has become. Like, in some ways, don’t you really wish we could trade for Romney right now? Like, he’s obviously not the #1 choice but if your only option was Romney or this, I would take Romney. And I bet a lot of republicans feel that way too. They don’t want to be associated with this. Some might very strongly feel that it needs to stop, they just...aren’t sure what to do about it.

And there’s not a lot of entry points for that when all of the talk going around is something like... yknow.. “all republicans are horrid beings and this was the obvious outcome of their beliefs” etc etc and. so. there’s not a lot of places where people can go and get something like. “okay. we don’t agree on some things. and we’re definitely going to hash that out. but we can do that LATER. right now we need to work together to stop this absolute cancer from taking over america.” but aside our differences. work together. it sounds optimistic, but...is it naive to say that people on any side would like there to not be na/zis in america right now? i... hope not.

i just. I don’t want to be “opposite” to this group. I want to be the wrench in the entire system. I don’t want to hammer this nail so deep into the ground with brute force that you don’t see it anymore, but it might still wiggle out if the floorboards loosen. I want there to be no need for this nail. I want to redo the entire floor, yknow. I want the people who have these beliefs to...not feel anymore like they need them. Now that...that’s naive. That’s idealistic. But I think working with that goal in mind is better than. Not.

I just don’t know how to deal with the short term problem while considering long term effects. i dont have the answer here. maybe...maybe we need to do whatever we can to stop this from happening right now

but. maybe this is a cycle. maybe what’s happening is the pushback just keeps springing over with as much force as it took to push it back down. I haven’t...been alive to see most of these cycles so it’s really hard to make a big picture out of it but. Bush? We hated him. What a shitshow! He was so bad we all rallied together to get Obama elected, and that was good. I’m glad that happened. But then...republicans were so mad about this yknow, the entire government refused to do anything his entire administration. how many times did they do that stupid vote to repeal the ACA instead of getting actual work done? and we thought they were just...being extremely childish about this whole thing! making policy isn’t about standing steadfast in the ground and refusing to move, it’s about compromising and figuring out a solution that can move forward.

and then...the pushback was, unfortunately, this guy. which i still have trouble believing got legitimately elected. i don’t think my heart can take the idea of this guy getting legitimately elected. and...what did the democrats do? they said, no. we’re going to sit and oppose every single thing this guy wants to do. and... i want them to do that. i desperately do. but now i understand how the republicans felt when obama was in office. i can’t say i agree with those feelings, i don’t think “oh, well what they did under obama was okay i guess,” but i understand what it feels like.

but. how do you compromise when your parties are growing more and more polarized with more and more separate ideals and more and more sentiment that the other side is evil and wants to destroy you.

because. well... personally, i can’t think of republican policy without thinking of people...dying in result. in direct result. people need food stamps to eat. they need welfare and health insurance, god do people need health insurance. these policies will kill people, and that is my genuine belief.

and i don’t understand how republicans can oppose what we stand for. I don’t.

But... I do believe they feel the same way. Somehow. I can’t explain it, but I know they feel this way. We are a direct threat to their lives. I don’t agree with it. But it’s a fact that that sentiment exists in some people.

so where do we go from here. we can’t relax and begin to compromise unless they relax and begin to compromise at an exactly equal pace. and how do you do that? how do you enforce that? how do you enforce trust and goodwill? how do you take the first step forward in letting the barricade down without getting completely stampeded by people who are, at this point, absolutely happy to take the opportunity?

i don’t know. im lost. i’m completely at a loss here as to how to move forward.

but i know that pushing back with brute force is...going to end in violence. somehow. we can’t keep up like this. something is going to break. our government cannot operate like this anymore. let’s be honest--it’s not operating like this anymore. our government is no longer functioning.

and that’s how things change, i guess. that’s how colonies threw off their colonizers. a violent revolution. that’s the way to do away with the system and build another on top of the rubble.

but since when has that worked out. that’s not an option i’m excited about. people will die. we all know how war works these days. it’s not a bunch of volunteers going off into an empty field and fighting in the name of their country. it’s personal. it involves civilians. it’s long and drawn out and it’s automated. innocent people get involved. all of those people we’re trying to protect with government benefits--what will happen to them if there’s not a government anymore. i just.

i don’t know what the conclusion of this post was supposed to be anymore.

i think what i really want to say, and what i really want to be true, but wishing isn’t going to make it come into existence

i want to release the pressure. i want people who are capable of doing this, and not in immediate danger, to reach out to those around them and talk to them. i want to be human to each other and i want to be understanding. i want to talk about ideals. yes, i want to sit down and have a goddamn talk about ideals and that doesn’t make me a traitor to our cause because there are so many of us and we can be doing different things at the same time! violence is a shitty patch-up job for what’s going on right now. if you’re in direct danger or someone close to you is in direct danger then yes, take action, please, protect yourself, protect those close to you, protect strangers who need your protection, but don’t pretend like self-defense is a political solution to what’s going on right now. it’s necessary, but it’s not addressing the root cause. we can’t go around perpetuating it because that’s not what we should want. we want people to feel safe because when people feel safe they don’t enact violence against other people at least in the large, large majority of cases. i don’t want those who can’t defend themselves to have to continue relying on other people to help them, i want them to feel safe on their own. i don’t want to put vulnerable people’s lives at risk for the sake of some kind of righteous vigilante justice. i want to have a system that works and to me what that means is people who are willing to talk to each other and be compassionate and address concerns and just. just be human! connect! hold fucking hands and sing songs together!!!!! fuck it!!!

fuck it!!!! the tools of violence are bad tools and the second we lay them down they’ll get picked up by people who will use them against us and idk about you but i dont want to keep violence in an iron grip all my life!!! AUGH