catinthesun2

[catinthesun2]

if you are a fan of the poem "what resembles the grave but isn't," you might be interested to know that the poet, anne boyer, resigned her position at the new york times magazine today, and her letter is worth reading in its entirety.

[catinthesun2]

you have to be sexy but you have to be sexy in a way that's kind of bloody. you learn this early because you are wearing a ruffled skirt and the snow around your ankles kicks little sand particles against your calves. baby's first catcall. welcome to sexiness! welcome to the eyesore of your own body!

you have to be sexy like high heels. like sculpted eyebrows. like lean stomach and highly treated hair. you have to be sexy like youth is sexy, which means you have to be sexy like boxtox and plastic. a 30 year old can be sexy but she's not going to be bloody, and they like the bloodiness of it. a 30 year old is sexy when she is a whiskey glass and a wooden desk.

but you need to be sexy like an open mouth. you need to be sexy like a bitten apple. like plucked skin and white-knuckling the waxing kit.

so sex is a performance, not an enjoyment. for a while, you just assumed everyone else was also in on the joke - nobody actually likes sex that much, right? like, some men probably do, but why would you? it is like a gender - your gender is sexy. your gender is the performance of sex. you are thigh highs and garter belts. which, to be fair, do make you feel sexy.

part of what does make sex good is that you can tell that other people want you, which means the performance of sexiness is both bloody and wanted, which is good, which means you are winning at having a body. being wanted is the prize. being wanted is the thing you are searching for, not hope. you think you are looking for a soft grave in easy loam, but that is bloody but not sexy. to be sexy you must be bloody like a red open sign. bloody like a handprint. this will make you wanted.

any wanted or unwanted body is subject to supply and demand, which is to say that the more demand, the better you are valued. you must be highly demanded to be valued. this is stated in matter-of-fact by some men. sometimes it is a priest that says it, and sometimes it is a podcaster, and sometimes it is the 45th president of the united states of america.

(if you do not have any experience with being told your value, i want you to grab the nearest bird to you and i want you to crush it into a thin paste in your hand. spit into the center, and then hold your fingers closed tight around it for days and days, long after the rot has set in. feel bones itch inside of your fist. this is only a fraction of what it actually feels like, but it will suffice for a moment.)

good sex feels like you have earned their desperation. you have earned your own value. for a while you operated under the understanding that everyone knew about the power structure, even him. that their desire to take you - the violence of it - means that you must desire to be caught. little prince, guardian fox - you would rather have cut your own arm off. you liked the secret, cunning little voice you keep tucked into a box. you think you are fucking me. i am not even here right now. you are fucking what i conned you into perceiving. this is a painting, not a person. dominion over the body before all things.

so you bend your body like a wheat shaft and learn the steps so perfectly that it almost seems graceful. (if you do not have experience faking your own connection to your body and sexuality, cut each of your articles of clothing just a little bit incorrectly. pour fishbones into each of your meals. this way, you will experience the average noon on a tuesday.)

you have to be sexy like light spilled over a desk, but not desperate. not a noose. you can't be sexy like an electric guitar, you are the acoustic. you have to be on top of the bull but you can't have control over the animal.

okay, okay. the little rabbit of your heart went to sleep so long ago that winter has ravaged your concept of the human soul. there's something very-bad inside you, something that has taken over, a little fetid and rabid animal, angry and hurting and willing to bite first.

oh but even that's a pain that's sexy. open your mouth. be careful not to let the canines show.

[catinthesun2]

Ace culture is sitting on the floor at midnight with your college friends as they talk about dating apps and slowly realizing the only people you ever dated were out of social obligation and you’d much rather runaway to become a woods-goblin and spend your life making jam.

[catinthesun2]

Why is asking permission for certain things, both romantic and platonic, one of the cutest, most heart-fluttering things ever?

"Can I hold your hand?"

"Can I kiss you?"

"Would you like me to carry your jacket?"

"Can I hug you?"

"Would it be alright if we cuddled?"

"Can I play with your hair?"

"Might I walk you home?"

"Can I tickle you?

"Is it okay if I kiss you goodbye?"

"Can I hold onto your arm while we walk?"

"Can I rest my head on your shoulder?"

"Is it okay if I call you (nickname)?"

"I'd really like to kiss you right now, if that's okay with you,"

"Would you let me take care of you?"

[catinthesun2]

“This is not fine, and you should not be okay with this.”

[catinthesun2]

Prompt #218

“Kid, you’re going to get yourself killed,” the villain said.

The hero swayed on their feet, dizzy stars warping their vision as they wiped a stripe of blood from their mouth up their arm. Slowly, they slid one foot forward, settling back into a defensive crouch.

“No,” the older villain protested. “No, don’t do that.”

“Y-you’re…u-under arrest…”

“Are you seriously going out fighting other villains this way?”

The hero lunged, but everything spun. The street careened toward their face when a firm hand dropped on their shoulder, stopping them in a tilt.

“If you’re going to do this,” the older villain said, “at least let someone show you how to do it right.”

[catinthesun2]

[catinthesun2]

Absolutely no prizes for guessing which show I stole these dialogues from.

Anyway, the context here is that Ballister is teaching Ambrosius some of his dirtier tricks in hand-to-hand combat :>

I am permanently stealing "sunshine" as a nickname for Ambrosius from @peachblossom-odyssey 's How Familiar The Danger series (go read it right now! it's amazing! gooo)

Here is another excerpt from the same WIP :>

#oooo! i like this one

[catinthesun2]

I feel like writeblr people aren't sending asks to each other as much after that kerfuffle over whether asks need to be individual to a person's projects to count as "supporting" writeblr. Please reblog if you are happy to receive ANY asks, even if it's the same question other people get! I KNOW I AM!

[catinthesun2]

New Writeblr here !

Hi everyone, my name is Stella! I've been on Tumblr for a bit more than ten years now, but never on the writers' side of it. I'm 24, and I write mostly YA Fantasy (though I'm looking to branch into adult at some point as well).

I'd love to meet other writers around here, so please interact if you'd like to be mutuals! I'll leave a bit more about my current WIP under the cut.

TITLE: Vineyard WIP/Winery WIP

GENRE: Young Adult, Contemporary Fantasy

SETTING: A winery in the South of France and its adjacent, weird little village.

COMPS: OUTER BANKS meets STRANGER THINGS, THE RAVEN CYCLE and GRAVITY FALLS

STORY:

17-year-old Nora has had an eventful summer - her sister died, her body maimed beyond recognition by an unidentified beast, and she’s had to take care of her wraith ever since then, for the linden tree by her house has the ability to awake the dead from their slumber. But when her parents announce they’d like to make the winery into a guest house for tourists, Nora will have to fight to keep the dead alive, or risk grieving what she’s never truly lost.

It is easier said than done, especially when the murderer strikes again - and perhaps it was never really a beast, but someone close instead. Alongside Myrtille, an aspiring journalist, Dorian, a boy who can walk through dreams, and Silvan, who got closer to the creature than anyone else, Nora will have to find what exactly killed her sister before moving out of her childhood home once the summer returns.

[catinthesun2]

Desperate Dialogue

"Please, don't leave me alone!"

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate."

"There is no other option."

"I don't know what else to do."

"Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"Please, I really need your help."

"I need you in my life!"

"This is extremely important for me!"

"I'm desperate, I really need this!"

"Just play along, please!"

"No, no, no, please no!"

"I will do whatever it takes!"

"Please, just hear me out!"

"Stay with me, please!"

"You hear me? I love you!"

"Come back, right now!"

"No, no, don't leave me here!"

"I can't do this any longer, I just can't!"

"What can I do to make you believe me?"

"I'm desperate, ok? Please, just help me this once."

"I need to show them that I'm serious about this!"

"We won't make it out of here if we don't work together!"

"The moment you turn around, our deal is done!"

"I really need you to do this for me."

"You can't leave me, I won't allow it!"

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee or become a member! And check out my Instagram! 🥰

[catinthesun2]

We've temporarily disabled the ability to request a new account invitation as a preventative measure due to a spam attack. If you already have an invitation, you can still use it! However, anyone currently in the queue will not receive an invitation until we turn it back on.

Additionally, we have temporarily disabled the form on the Technical Support & Feedback page and taken the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports page offline. Anyone attempting to access the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports will receive an error page about being blocked from archiveofourown.org, but don't panic -- this is not the case! It's just the default error displayed by Cloudflare. You can continue to access the rest of the site as normal.

Lastly, the Organization for Transformative Works' donation page -- which is hosted by a third party provider -- is currently offline due to a DDoS attack. This is the only donation form the OTW uses, so please be cautious of scammers impersonating AO3 or the OTW to solicit donations. We are unable to take them at this time.

July 11, 2023 - 23:50 UTC

[catinthesun2]

You rule a tiny kingdom and all of your citizens are monsters. You gave them a place they can belong, and they’ll defend it to their dying breaths.

[catinthesun2]

hello writeblr !! i wanna take a sec to let people celebrate their own writing, so reblog this with a line you’ve written (from a wip, or just something random that came to you) that you’re proud of !!

[catinthesun2]

You Guys are Too Hard on Yourselves

Sometimes after I post a piece of advice or a suggestion for improving your craft, I see a lot of you guys in the reblogs talking about how you wish you could be a good writer and take said advice, or that you feel like a failure for not already doing it.

Now listen here, look me in the eyes, you are doing enough.

The last thing I want is to discourage anyone from writing, so I need you to internalize this. You are doing enough as a writer. Yes even if you haven’t written in a while, even if you’ve never been published, or have been rejected a million times, or have never finished a draft. You guys are enough for even trying, and I need you to start recognizing yourselves and being proud of the work you do and/or the ideas you have.

At the very least, start practicing not getting down on yourselves when you hear advice or read someone else’s work. You will only ever get better, don’t start doubting yourself now.

Let’s do a little exercise. Reblog this with three things you think you are totally nailing as a writer, I’ll go first:

                I have a keen sense of pacing.

                I create interesting dynamics between complex characters.

                My ideas are weird and fun and reflect me as a person.

Now go forth with positivity!

[catinthesun2]

“What part of ‘I’m dangerous’ isn’t getting through to you?” 

[catinthesun2]

"Don't touch anything. Just leave it alone."

"Haven't you heard? I'm immune to curses. Blood of the gods."

"Let's not test the limits of your 'divinity' today."