#a side effect? something that just happened to me? instead of something i'm allowed to feel pride in?

[transcarcinization]

been closeted in my new job and i am discovering very violently how different being a gnc woman is to being transgender, mentally

#transgender #my art #like... being pushed back into 'shes gnc because she cant/doesnt prioritize being feminine' instead of 'they're gnc bc they want to be' #its this weird. stripping of intention #where my appearance is #a side effect? something that just happened to me? instead of something i'm allowed to feel pride in? #HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! IM BUSY REDISCOVERING DYSPHORIA

[holymusicalmothman]

I Can See You - Live Action!Sanji x Reader

Saw a post about wanting a fic with Sanji and this song that @its-a-show-stoppin-number posted and I knew I wasn't gonna get anything done until I wrote this. I've never written anything like this before to be honest. I kinda word vomited in a sense. The story just exited my fingers and here it is.

Warnings: Suggestive, kissing, secret relationship, nothing explicit, only implied, objectification of Taz Skylar's jawline, like. Why’s it so fine. Like. Dear lord.

No use of y/n, or those weird descriptor things, reader is gender neutral. Reader is however you imagine them

Word Count: 1.5K

Main Masterlist

It wasn’t something you had seen coming. It wasn’t like you, to be honest.

But he was just so damn charming. How were you supposed to resist?

Sanji hadn’t been part of the crew for long. A few weeks at most. But you had been watching him from the moment the crew walked into the Baratie. 

Tall. Strong. Nicely dressed. Polite. Respectful. Suave. Not to mention good looking. That jawline–in your defense, you HAD tried to ignore the blatant attraction.

Fleeting glances for almost a week, brushing past each other in the ship’s hallways. Fantasies filling your head. One specific dream of exchanging heated kisses in a dark corner had your mind racing whenever you were in the same room as the chef. 

It was impossible to function properly. 

Your job aboard the Going Merry was to document the events that occurred. Luffy thought it would be perfect to write down all of the adventures that would eventually lead to him becoming King of the Pirates.

And writing anything was impossible.

Blond hair and grey blue eyes kept your mind far too distracted.

So you decided to do something about it. 

Especially since you had caught his eyes on you repeatedly throughout dinner. 

So you took your time eating. A phrase which here means wasting your time until Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, and Nami had vacated the kitchen for the evening. Leaving you alone with Sanji.

As he stood to clear the dishes, your hand shot out, grabbing his sleeve and stopping him in his tracks.

You looked up into his eyes, your own wide with adrenaline. 

"Please tell me it's not all in my head." You said softly. "If it is, I promise, it'll be like this never happened."

"And if I say it's not all in your head?" He murmured the words, the tension so thick someone could have cut it with a knife. 

"Then I'd ask if you'd worry what the others thought. I'm not sure if relationships between crewmembers are allowed here. They weren't on my last crew. And I'm not too keen on asking Luffy if I'm entirely honest." You took a deep breath. "But I can't get you out of my head. It's like I'm addicted."

Sanji moved to rest his hands on either side of your chair, effectively caging you in. "So more like a secret mission. Just the two of us." He bit his lip and watched your eyes zero in on the action, a smirk spreading on his face instead.

You nodded, knowing you were in too deep to back out now.

Sanji continued, despite the fact that his eyes flicked down to your lips every few moments. "Everything professional, except when it's just the two of us."

You nodded again, your heart racing and palms sweating as the object of your desire leaned forward a little more, waiting for you to reach across that last gap separating the two of you.

Your eyes fluttered shut as that gap closed. 

As your lips careened into the chef's, he exhaled heavily through his nose, pulling you up to stand and then closer so you were pressed to his chest, your hands flying to tangle in his hair. 

The world around the two of you was a blur as you lost yourselves in each other. Clothes were shoved unceremoniously to the floor as you each tried to pull the other closer. You barely registered Sanji lifting you to sit on the kitchen counter, much less registering when the two of you had even moved from the table to the counter.

"You sure you want me sitting here?" You asked breathlessly, your newfound lover placing kisses down the length of your throat.

His laugh was husky against your throat. "It's a kitchen, darling. All the best meals happen in a kitchen."

That moment was the first of many. You had never regretted sharing a room with Nami more. While there were many kitchen escapades after that first one, the two of you still found a little thrill in having your secret. 

You spent time talking as well. You learned about each other. Likes and dislikes, pasts, dreams of the future. Sanji told you about his childhood with Zeff and his quest for the All Blue. You told him of your dream to be a famous poet one day and of your life on the sea. 

Something changed along those talking sessions. Something you liked. You wouldn’t call it a friends with benefits situation. You both knew it was something else, something deeper. 

Those words were just waiting to be said.

You two would lock eyes at random moments throughout the days and his eyebrow would quirk and you'd look away.

Nights would be spent with each other, sometimes words weren’t even exchanged. 

It was bliss.

One afternoon caught the two of you on the lower decks, encased by shadows. You had originally been working on writing down events in the logbook, but your lover had sought you out. 

Sanji had you caged up against the wall, kissing you with a fervor. As if you were the last meal he'd ever receive. 

He always kissed you like a starving man. 

However, you heard Usopp's voice getting closer to your hiding spot, calling for Sanji, and the two of you quickly separated and righted yourselves. 

He winked at you as you adjusted your skewed shirt. "You'll tell me more about how that dream of yours went later, right, darling?"

You smirked. "You wouldn't believe half the things I see inside my head." 

Sanji grinned, unable to resist capturing your lips in another kiss before slowly pulling away and heading down the hallway.

Nami cornered you later that day. 

"You've been hard to find lately." She stated. 

You shrugged. "I've been hiding away trying to find a quiet place to work on the log." This was the go to excuse. 

And Nami wasn't buying it. "It's been hard to find Sanji too."

Your eyes met her brown ones in questioning silence.

"I knew it." She muttered. "Sanji left his jacket on the floor in the hallway the other night. You do know we're not like other pirates, right? Nobody's gonna care if you two get together. 'Sides, pretty sure the only ones who haven't figured it out are Luffy and Usopp. But that's just a matter of time."

You were flabbergasted. "How in the--"

"You guys aren't very sneaky. Zorro found you two the other day. Plus the jacket."

Of course Zorro would find out first. But knowing that a relationship would be fine was also a relief to hear. 

You had just finished telling Nami about your's and the chef's so-called "secret mission" when Sanji brought lunch around a few minutes later. When he got to you, he handed you your food and your logbook. "You left this in the kitchen." And with a wink he walked away. 

"He's not even subtle about it." Nami stated.

You laughed. Sanji hadn't been subtle from the moment you met him at the Baratie. He had only stopped calling you 'madame' because you told him it made you feel old. 

He had immediately switched to darling, being far too suave and charming for his own good. 

You opened up your logbook. It had gotten easier to get back to your job lately. Apparently the dark hallway meetings and late night rendezvous worked perfectly in helping your focus.

You immediately noticed his note. 

"Meet me tonight"

You snapped the notebook shut, grinning like a schoolgirl,and Nami only rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You two are the weirdest." 

It was late when you began to make your way to the kitchen that night.

He must have been impatient, because you found him waiting down the hallway, still dressed in his suit and necktie. 

You never knew blue could feel like fire, but his eyes were smoldering as they met yours. He had you up against the wall in moments, his lips on your own.

He never did anything halfway, it was all or nothing. That thought crossed your mind as you began to lose yourself in the way he kissed you. In the way it was tender and yet passionate. In the way he caught your lip with his own. In the way he would sort of nudge his jaw forward in little movements. In the way his tongue always seemed to ask permission by gently touching your own lips and leading you into deeper and deeper kisses. 

You could drown in this man. 

The words slipped out in between kisses before you could stop them. 

"I love you."

But he just grinned. A smile so bright, were the sun out it would have felt threatened. Remarkably sweet for the heated exchange that had been occuring only seconds prior.

"I love you, too, darling."

And the heat was back. His hands, which had been holding you gently at your hips, slipped to lift you and press you harder into the wall as the passion returned. 

Only to come to a screeching halt as someone cleared their throat. 

Luffy stood a few feet away, struggling to mask his shock.

"While I'm happy for the two of you, maybe the hallways are not the best for such...activities?" he said.

You both nodded, mildly embarrassed to have been caught. 

As your captain disappeared further down the hallway, a laugh bubbled out of you.

Sanji turned to look at you, bewildered. 

Grabbing his hand, you led him away. "You heard our captain, gotta go somewhere other than a hallway."

Understanding spread across his face in the way of a knowing smirk. "I completely understand, darling."

I can see you, waiting down the hall for me, I can see you, up against the wall with me.

I can see you, throw your jacket on the floor, I can see you, make me want you even more

#opla sanji x reader #one piece live action x reader #vinsmoke sanji #sanji x reader #one piece x reader #opla #opla sanji #thismothwrites

[romanoffsbish]

The Ultimate Prize

Wanda Maximoff x Reader (No pronouns or gender specific body parts used)

Prompt Request (done backwards 😳🙃) | Wanda decides to challenge your resolve | WC: 2,416

Smut: Oral | Fingering | Glass Dildo / Temp Play | Choking | Degradation / Praising | Overstimulation | Squirting (W)

18+ | Minors DNI

"I'm bored," Wanda bemoaned, you didn't even spare her a glance so she raised the stakes, "Wanna play?"

You hummed, the only answer she'd get so early in the morning. Wanda practically squealed at your attention, but she didn't, instead she somehow kept her cool, sliding into your lap as she seductively dropped her tone, "First person to become turned on loses."

——

You ruminated on her taunting words for a few moments, waking up the rest of the way for the sake of the proposition at hand, you could already feel her heat. You leaned in closer, lips softly brushing as you chuckled, "Wouldn't you be winning though?" Wanda tilted her head, amusing you further. "If you so much as smell needy, I'll devour you whole pretty girl."

Wanda whined, she'd already failed before the game even began, she felt her panties sticking to her core. She'd had quite the dream about you, and the thoughts had yet to cease to flow through her conscious mind. It was something you'd picked up on, actually, it was her prior squirming that roused you into consciousness.

You kissed her right then, with so much force that you had to wrap your arms around her curvy figure to keep her from falling. Wanda gasped in fear at the sway of her body, allowing you to slip your tongue right over hers before it caressed the back of her teeth. You let her suckle on your muscle as you laid her flat on the mattress and slid your knee between her silky thighs.

"How bad do you want me, my love?" Wanda couldn't speak, she sinfully whimpered, pressing her core into your knee as she did, like a desperate whore. You chuckled devilishly in reply, "I'm gonna do the type of things that happen in your dreams."

The witch gulped as she saw the intensity in your eyes, a spark of fear shot throughout her body and she was squirming on the bed. The need was palpable, and you almost wanted to tease her, but you were just as horny, so you chose to jump straight into action instead. The redhead gazed up at you in wonder, eyes tracking the way your tongue wet your upturned lips. You were so cocky sometimes that it made her feel embarrassed.

This effect you had on her was borderline sinister, but fuck if it wasn't everything she needed, you were her addiction, and you very well knew it. "Open your legs wide for me darling," you purred and they instantly fell slack against the mattress, her hips stopped gyrating down and she waited for instruction. "What a good girl, who could've guessed you'd also be such a slut."

There were no more words, only direct action from you. Wanda cried out as you folded her body like a pretzel, her lower spine curved off of the mattress, her knees now settled on either side of her head and your tongue dove as deeply as it could into her warmth.

The sounds you made as you moved your head about while sucking and licking were lewd, and profitable. You couldn't help it, it was a purely carnal response. It was like heaven on earth, no one could ever compare to your beautiful, sweet witch. The one that would cook you a five star meal, and when you'd let her she'd feed it to you, but truthfully you always preferred dessert, usually before the entree; she never seemed to mind.

Your girlfriend was insatiable, just the same as you. Most mornings, if she actually made it to the kitchen, you'd find her cooking breakfast, in nothing but panties and an apron that read—Kiss the Chef, with an arrow that pointed down, an open invitation of sorts.

One that you dutifully accepted every single time.

Even with her body twisted, ankles crossed over one another behind your neck, Wanda was meeting your tongue with thrusts of her own, proving her strength went beyond her powers, her abs were well toned.

Wetness smeared all over your face, and you prayed that your pores would hold onto her scent for a while. People ask you for your skincare routine all the time, but nobody ever believes you when you say Wanda. They usually laugh it off, and you would just follow as it saved you the trouble of any forging competition.

You weren't exactly worried, listening to the way your girlfriend moaned your name was enough reassurance, but it was nice to know no one was trying to take her.

Wanda was too lost in the pleasure to feel the way you possessively gripped her thighs as your thoughts ran, holding her open so that you could devour her wholly. Nobody else could ever match your efficiency as you had her crying out, that gorgeous body of hers writhing in the air as her pussy creamed in mere minutes.

The witch wasn't ever going to leave, she found solace in your eyes, and unbound pleasure on your tongue. It truly was, as the people say, the best of both worlds.

As your lovers back curved in a downwards slump you knew it was time to offer her strained spine reprieve. So, with a far more gentle touch you lowered her onto the mattress, allowing her legs to unravel, milky thighs touched base with the sheets and she sighed in thanks as your lips continued to make out with her lower set.

A hum of satisfaction left you as her arousal continued to seep from her, the sticky remnants dribbled down your chin and soaked into the fabric of your nightshirt, which felt uncomfortable against your skin now, but you couldn't be bothered to stop what you were doing. Far too engrossed in the feeling of her walls trying to suck your tongue back inside, Wanda whined in unison, shamelessly expressing her need. You met her frustrated cries with two fingers that entered her and you immediately scissored them, stretching out the walls that worked overtime to keep them restrained.

With every thrust into her she became increasingly mindless, the most powerful, feared being on any Earth, and yet she crumbled so easily for you. You chuckled at the endearing thought, adding to her pleasure as your lips were wrapped around her clit.

Your free hand had been groping her breasts, deft fingers pinched at her nipples, your eyes peered up to see the fruits of your labor unfold; she looked ethereal, her mouth permanently agape, eyes crossed with beads of sweat illuminated beneath the early morning rays.

This unrelenting urge to be closer to her overtook you, even with your fingers buried deep inside her it wasn't enough, it never was. You briefly paused, ignoring her groans as you tore your own shirt off, and found that alone calmed the witch. Her glossy eyes ran over the nudity she'd been yet to see, and she smiled tiredly. You winked, enjoying the way her cheeks somehow managed to darken, as if being caught was a crime.

Wanda was always shy like this, even in the midst of passionate moments, she never lost the bashfulness. It was overall adorable, sometimes distracting, but not in this case because just as quickly as you'd pulled away you were back on her. Entering her with the addition of two more fingers, and with wet, plump lips that were more than prepared to catch her moans as they were violently ripped from her constricted throat. You felt the way the muscle bobbed beneath your hand and couldn't help but to grin against her lips and cheek.

The redhead had casually mentioned wanting to be choked a few months back, but up until now you'd only ever teased her. Whether that be when she asked you to help her with her necklace before a party, and you jokingly placed your hand there instead, or when you two would make love, your fingers would wrap around her throat, but never offered the pressure she craved.

Until today, when you made all her dreams come true.

Wanda came with a choked down scream, no sound left her but you felt the pleasure against your palms. There were no aftershocks, only continued writhing as you sought to overstimulate her, she whined, and weakly pushed at your chest, but you were determined.

"You asked for this baby, so take it like a good girl," you purred against the side of her neck, kissing over the red lines you'd left behind. Your lips trailed over her perfect jawline until they were back against hers where she sloppily kissed you. Her fingers dug into your shoulder blades as another wave of warm arousal gushed out of her, and pooled in your palm.

Wanda was panting wildly, in need of a minute, so you softly kissed all over her face to give her one. Without much effort you reached beside your marital bed and into a mini fridge, designated only for a variety of toys and mini waters. You pulled a bottle out, and took a long swig down before giving her the remaining sip. Wanda groaned in satisfaction, the cool liquid helping to ease her parched throat, but it dried up once more. Tired green eyes had found yours, and she knew it wasn't time for a nap, the darkness that enveloped your orbs meant she unlocked your true potential.

Then she felt it—a chilled tip against her warm hole. For a moment she wondered if it was you who could read minds, because her wet dream was unfolding in perfect harmony. You'd yet to tell her that she talks in her sleep... The way she moaned was a distinct praise.

The chilled glass dildo you used was unlike any other you two had used before, Wanda could tell you'd updated your inventory. This one was crafted with red and white swirls, almost like a candy cane but without the curve. It was undeniably thick too, you struggled to enter her, pushing beyond the resistance, which meant she felt every groove as it prodded against her used walls. Even with her slick, it got caught on her entrance as the icy layer offered further resistance to your harsh push. Wanda had to wait for reprieve, she needed you to pull out and ruthlessly ram it back inside repeatedly, but you were making her wait for the toy to warm up.

Every time she's complained before you just go slower, so she just took this time to breathe, especially since you've already given her three toe curling orgasms.

Her slow breathing actually helped in allowing a few inches of the glass to slip in with ease, Wanda shivered, from the cold or pleasure you weren't too sure, until a soft whimper left her cracked lips to insinuate both.

"Does it feel good baby?" Your voice was silky smooth, and sensual enough to make her cunt swallow the rest of the dildo up. Wanda swore in Sokovian under her breath as soon as she felt the fullness, her mind was too hazy to actually register your words cognitively. "Answer me, or I won't move." That she did hear, and she wracked her brain for the prior sentence, offering you a meek, "So good," just to get you to make it better.

You chuckled, "there's my good girl," a deep raspiness enveloped your words and made her walls flutter as you began to pick up a steady pace. In, out—in, out that's the way you did it until she was too used to the pattern. Her body was engaged, her slick seeping into the sheets beneath her proof enough, but it wasn't thrilled, so you swirled the dildo every few entries.

Her hips would jolt up with each swirl against her spot, just for you to press them back down to make sure she took it only as you intended. Wanda began to scream out her Sokovian expletives the more you gave, her eyes crossed and blurred whenever you bottomed out.

"Oh fuck," she cried out, hands clawing into your sides as she needed something to ground her. "You're doing so good for me baby, your pretty pussy's loving this." You winced against the skin of her neck, and bit down into it as her nails dragged down your sides, it was too much, your teasing words, and the mix of sensations.

It was jarring, really, the way that everything was contradicting, one second her body was frozen as the frigid cold encapsulated her senses, then it was like fire was blooming throughout her body with the friction. Wanda mewled as your tongue hotly slid up her throat, collecting the drops of sweat that began to roll, her skin so hot that the action actually cooled her down.

The pleasure that came from such a mix of feeling pushed her over the edge, hard. Her cunt sounded off, warm slick sloshed all over your exposed abdomen and you both groaned at the feeling. Everything went dark for the witch, her body all but shutting down as yours became more lively. You peered down to watch her arousal pour out of her aggravated hole, it had pulled the dildo in further before repelling it back out.

"You are just perfect," you keened while kissing her roughly. You tossed the glass piece onto the sheets somewhere while your lips moved with hers. It was a slow, sensual process the way you kissed her down from her high. Your hips softly ground into her pelvis, but you were careful not to push her too far, just moving enough to finally relieve your own aching sex.

It was subtle until you moaned into her mouth, the way your body shivered atop of hers enough of a sign. It was hot, and Wanda wanted to flip you over, but she was too tired. There was however a tease on the tip of her tongue, but you cut her off with your own as you laughed, "Looks like you failed." Wanda blinked harshly in disbelief, she truly thought she could hold up the illusion for a bit of teasing, yet she didn't even kiss you into mutual desperation. "What's my prize?"

"You can do whatever you want to me Y/N," Wanda gave up her illusionary grip on control, even if the truth was clear that you both lost. "Whenever I want?" She nodded rather enthusiastically, you grinned and softly pecked her lips. "Oh, you beautiful fool..."

——

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff fanfiction #wanda maximoff fluff #wanda maximoff smut #wanda maximoff oneshot #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x female reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff x y/n #wanda x you #wanda x y/n #wanda x reader #wanda x fem!reader

[acapelladitty]

Oswald Cobblepot/Reader - Teasing 💖🐧

Summary: A commission for the absolutely lovely @nygmanotnashton in which Oswald Cobblepot finds himself on the receiving end of some fun teasing.

A surprisingly warm late afternoon had forced a full retreat to Ozzie's office as it was one of the few areas within the Iceberg Lounge to possess enough tasteful luxuries to make the suspicious heat seem bearable.

As always, Ozzie had immediately taken up residence in his favourite chair, more of a throne really, while you settled yourself comfortably against the solid oak desk, perched with your legs hanging off the side to block the stack of drawers which were built-in to the furniture.

Ozzie's thick fingers move with surprising dexterity as he taps away on his phone with a casual pace. A soft silence hangs in the air as you split your attention between your hanging legs, bouncing off the small brass handles of each drawer, and the uncomfortable way in which your shirt is clinging to your sweat-slicked back. The evening plans were long set and a gentle rumble in your stomach sparked a fresh excitement for the restaurant which Ozzie had booked for you both.

An Italian with a four month advance in bookings.

Well, four months to anyone who wasn’t Oswald Cobblepot and his plus one.

"You're quiet." Ozzie mutters, catching your attention with a quick nudge of your leg.

Looking up, you met his gaze and the questioning look there forces a small smile to tug at your lips as you pick up on his unspoken concern.

"I'm just thinking, Oz." You answer, tapping the heel of your foot against the wood. "Nothing too fun or exciting."

"What would it take to make my pretty bird sing then?" He hummed in response, running his finger along your clothed knee until his palm enclosed the joint to rub at it gently. "A new foreign car? Some expensive trinkets? Or should I say, more expensive trinkets? How about a full inch?"

"Only an inch?" You cut in quickly while your body shifts, ghosting your shoe along the bulge in his slacks as you tease him with a sudden playfulness. "Now i’m worried. What happened to the rest of it?"

Ozzie’s laughter is easy and open, his large chest shaking with the effort as he fixes you with a heated glance.

"Keep your foot there and you'll be seeing it sooner than you think, dear."

He leans forward and makes to reach for the drawers which are hidden behind your legs. Sensing another opportunity for some fun, you spread your legs for him to reach between, rather than moving them off to the side. A salacious move which nets you another small chuckle as he presses his knuckles to the inside of your thigh before pulling free the middle drawer.

Unable to see what he's doing, you instead allow your eyes to wander past him to the extravagant fish tank which sits behind his desk. Fish of many colours and sizes flutter around the water with the casualness of creatures that know they're well fed and taken care of.

A feeling you know well, and one which makes a goofy smile tug at your mouth as you drop your eyes to Ozzie once more and lean forward enough to run a gentle finger along the back of his exposed neck.

"You're trying to kill me today." He growls, shuddering at the soft touch. His neck had always been particularly sensitive, and you exploited that fact with unrivalled joy.

Leaning back, his thick body filling his chair like the king he were, thick fingers produced a stack of crisp, neat bills which were wrapped together by a straining rubber band; the heft of the bills easily sitting at over an inch wide as he quickly thumbed through the money to ensure it was all there.

"Would this be enough?" A teasing smile touched at Ozzie's thin lips, the edges curling upwards as he held the stack of money out.

"Hmm," you pretend to think it over for dramatic effect, "I could probably buy something nice to wear out for dinner and then something even nicer for you to rip off after."

Reaching for the money, you find it snatched away in an instant.

"Hey-"

"Nothing for nothing, my darling."

"Ozzie, please. You don't have to-"

"Nothing for nothing." He repeats, the words gruff yet bordering on a sing-song quality as he reclines in his chair even further.

Grumbling playfully as you were forced from your comfortable perch, you join him on his chair - carefully placing your knees on either side of his bulging frame as you lean gently against his expansive chest.

Catching his lips in your own, he tastes of red wine and you groan into his mouth as he reacts to you immediately; wrapping an arm around your waist to hold you in place as he enjoys the messy kiss. His presence envelops you and you bite at his lower lip until you pull away to catch your breath a little.

"Maybe I should treat you to something nice. I think the King of Gotham deserves a little something for being so kind and generous to a poor little waif like me."

"Poor little waif." He repeats with a squawking guffaw. "You're too cruel for such a title. Besides, don't waste my money on me. Treat yourself and show the world that Oswald Cobbelpot knows how to keep his little bird sweet."

Dropping your hand to his crotch, you roughly cup at the heft of his bulge through his slacks.

"I wasn't talking about money." You growl into his ear and a satisfying delight washes through your overheated body as he visibly shivers in response to your unspoken promise of a much more physical treat later in the evening

#oswald cobblepot #penguin x reader #oswald cobblepot x reader #penguin x you #oswald cobblepot x you #penguin #gotham rogues #batman villains #oz cobblepot

[theskysungqueen]

to make things brief cause I suck at organizing what I have to say, the live action was definitely Something™.

Cast: 10/10 kinda biased personally but yall can't take this from me

Gordon as Aang and Dallas as Zuko were the standouts imo. Gordon needs some direction on line delivery and the angstier scenes but overall he's very charming and I'm so proud of him for getting so much exposure!

Ian as Sokka was great, I just wish he was allowed to be more...messy? like Sokka pretends to be chill and all that but he's actually dramatic so I hope that gets improved in the next season if there is one

speaking of improvement, Kiawentiio as Katara brought out a softer side to the character but sadly diminished her spark and passion. I like that Katara now actually feels like a younger sister, it makes sense within the context of the story that Sokka and Gran Gran would shelter her after what happened, but as someone said, her anger is so central to her character and I just wish that got shown more. It's more of a script and direction problem tbh, if you look at Kia's interviews she has the sass and feistiness Katara needs

Lizzy as Azula is great, the writing is a bit clunky though so she did the best she could with it. Can't really comment on Mai and Ty Lee yet because they're kinda just there but it's a nice setup

Maria as Suki? perfection show stopping never the same she is a queen and I love the tidbit of Suki backstory which she never really had in the og show. I love her being such a loser around her crush we love to see girlfailures girlfailing. I wish the writers didn't make them KISS though 😭 slowburn ftw

the adults were great

Writing: 6.5/10

There were genuinely good moments and I love the concept of mixing up certain plot points to condense the story

But they just suffered from too much Telling instead of Showing WRITERS PLEASE LISTEN TO THE CRITICISM YOU HAVE TIME TO IMPROVE PLEASE

Omashu, mechanist, and Jet plot mixing as a concept was fine, but it dragged on and my friends and I got bored of it. I like it in theory but if it was going to take THAT long couldn't they have just separated one of those storylines for a different episode?

I appreciate that they tried to develop the water siblings' relationship by making them the stars of the Secret Tunnels, but I would've changed the way they "conquered" the problem (really? badgermoles respond to love? cute in theory but like why). If anyone's watched Barbie: A Fairy Secret there's a part where Barbie and her frenemy accuse each other of why their friendship failed, and it helps them make up and breaks the curse put on them. So that's what I would've done, force them in a life or death situation in which they have to say the unsaid things, maybe hug it out and boom

The way they handled Koh and the Spirit World was a Mess™ but the effects were decent

Zhao meeting horrible ends in every incarnation is so deserved

Yue having more agency was a welcome change AND I LOVE THAT SHE WATERBENDS. Then waterbends even when the moon is gone. It's such a nice visual nod to the fact that she has the moon spirit within her

That said, the show could definitely use more visual storytelling, less weird dialogue. Like it's so strangely common for shows or adaptations these days to exposition dump. Like they did not have to make Yue say that the ocean spirit was angry, literally just show me the dead moon fish and I'll get the idea. Then Iroh says "That's Wrath" that's just redundant now isn't it

I like that they saved Katara bringing Aang out of the Avatar State until last even if it could've been done better

HOW DARE THEY MAKE ME LIKE HAHN HE WAS A JERK IN THE SHOW BUT THEY MADE HIM A GENUINELY GOOD CHARACTER. Yes to brown men not being portrayed as jerks but also in the original it was a nice contrast to how far Sokka had come because Hahn reflected who he used to be. But live action Hahn </3

I like that they showed the deaths and blood. I wanted a live action that was both lighthearted but more realistic when it came to the injuries and death, and that'd kind of what I got

Other thoughts + overall

You can tell they put so much heart into this show, watching the bts, the bending boot camp with the correct martial arts, the easter eggs, the nods to the comics, the beautiful adaptations of Cabbage Merchant and Secret Tunnel nomads, there's so much passion behind the show it's a shame it suffered in its writing

which is why if they read reviews and criticism from the bigger name fans (TheAvatarist, HelloFutureMe, etc.) it would really help them improve for future seasons! The cast is stunning already and they have great chemistry (hopefully gets improved too!)

The live action is just a different angle to the show. And I'm saying this as an Avatar fan–the original wasn't perfect, either. I had some problems w it but the overall show was genuinely so good and heartfelt, those problems weren't glaring enough to put me off (unlike The Dragon Prince, sorry). The live action definitely wasn't perfect, but it tried to give us a new look into Avatar. Again, no adaptation will ever be a 1:1 remake and none should be. Where's the fun in that? But while the show is so full of heart and with actual fans working behind the scenes, I doubt if they listen to any criticism that they can't pull this off better next season.

#atla #avatar the last airbender netflix #avatar netflix #netflix avatar #avatar the last airbender #netflix atla #avatar live action #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #iroh #azula

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Doting husband being over protective? Yes please. Thank you!

It was taking an absurd amount of effort not to growl or glare. Bruce had to content himself with standing behind your chair and rubbing your shoulders.

You'd warned him what was going to happen. The endless demands and the frankly ridiculous comments. You'd warned him and yet- nothing could have prepared him for it.

"Dad, It's fine it doesn't have to be-"

"It's not fine. You're going to wind up getting divorced and you're not moving back home when it happens."

And that was the least offensive thing. Neither of them were happy for you. And he could feel the weight of all their expectations for you, bearing down on you. You were physically trembling under the pressure. You were the scapegoat and the golden goose at the same time. The one that was the cause of and solution to all of their problems.

"If that happens," Bruce said intervening, "she won't need to. I had her write the pre-nup herself." He hadn't. But if you wanted to he would have. Anything you wanted at that point. Instead you'd had a third party do it- worried about conflicts of interest. And the rumors that you were a gold digger.

"Maybe you're not as stupid-"

"Stop," Bruce said, his voice sinking into a growl. Just enough to make your father flinch. You didn't talk much about what growing up had been like. Not much beyond a few little funny stories. But. He'd done his homework. And he knew. And he wanted Rex to know he knew. "You're not going to talk to her like that."

"You want to make something of it?" he challenged.

"I'll let you swing first," Bruce said calmly- it wouldn't take much. Even if his public persona wasn't much for fighting. Rex was only tough enough to pick on little girls. People who weren't going to fight back.

"Probation, dad," you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. "If you go back you go all the way back and I JUST got you off your tether."

Rex growled but turned away, "C'mon Reyanne," he said.

"Thanks," she huffed following her husband as he stalked out of the room. "Next think you'll want me to wear pink to the wedding. Gag me."

For a moment, when they leave. As you listen to them bicker their way back out the front door, Bruce doesn't know what to say.

"Sweetheart I'm-"

"Don't apologize," you murmur. "I've had a lot longer to build up a callous. And a lot longer to wrap my head around the fact that they see love as transactional."

"You warned me," he said, kissing the top of your head. "I guess I just- didn't believe it."

"I've spent my whole life trying to make them love me," you say, voice wooden. "Like there's some kind of secret code that will make them act like parents but-" You break off and shrug. "I haven't found it yet... if getting engaged to a billionaire doesn't do it nothing will."

Bruce snorted and took a seat next to you, pulling you against his side, "Their loss, Sweetheart."

"I think you're biased-"

"Do you know how many people I went to school with whose parent's would KILL, probably literally, to have a kid that works as hard as you do?" He chuckled. "You're amazing. One of a kind... And I hate that they don't treat you like that. I'm just sorry I lost my temper."

"Please don't actually fight my dad."

"No promises," Bruce said lightly. "If I ever hear him call you stupid again he'll be lucky if he doesn't need a feeding tube."

"Bruce-"

"Of course it's not me doing it if Batman-"

"Bruce."

He heaved a put upon sigh and cuddled you closer, "Fine. Only because it'll upset you."

For a long moment, he let's you sit in silence. Stroking your hair and reminding you that he's there. Comforted that he knew you weren't with them. That you hadn't been alone and sad after they left. That you knew he wouldn't allow their worst behavior. "Are you hungry, Sweetheart? You hardly ate dinner."

"Just tired," you tell him. "They make me so tired."

"Let's go take a hot bath, huh?" Anything to have his girl feel better. And if it had the side effect of getting you naked well- he wasn't going to complain.

#Bruce Wayne #Bruce Wayne x reader #doting husband!bruce #ask answered #minors dni #reader insert

[autisticlilith]

Something that always struck me about this 'fight' is that it felt really one-sided. Not because the Raven Beast is bigger, but because she's also way more aggressive. We see throughout the show that Eda in her Owl Beast form acts mostly on instinct (and her inner beast, once she starts talking to it, seems to just be hungry or cranky most of the time). We don't get much insight into how Lilith copes with the curse (like none at all after this), so this is going to be a lot of inference.

Off the top, I would like to reiterate that Hayley Wong has repeatedly asked that nobody repost or edit her art without permission. I'm going to be referring to stuff from the boards in this post, so here's the link if you want to look for yourself.

So, in this episode, Eda and Lilith are both angry—specifically at Gwendolyn, and with good reason. They both end up turning into beasts due to a combination of that anger, stress, and the fact their mom thought she was "helping" by taking away their medication.

But here is where they differ. Eda was angry about the current situation: her mom refusing to respect her choices, and causing unnecessary harm to her all day. And Luz even joined in. As Eda says, she has a right to be upset, though I don't think she meant to lose control over the beast.

That's just what happens when she reaches her limit. And she knows her limits, she's been dealing with this curse for 30 years!

Meanwhile, Lilith has been dealing with the curse for... a few weeks, at most? Unless you count dealing with the guilt of cursing Eda as part of that. We see that she's quite unaware of the effects of the curse, as she experienced some symptoms for the first time this very day. She essentially gets told to take an elixir if she starts feeling stressed, and then is left in the house to stew in her guilt and insecurity all day.

Gwen's lukewarm greeting, and the realization that she's paid consistent visits to Eda over the years, is enough to send Lilith into a downward spiral. She starts stress-eating ice cream, and makes cruel comments about King's dad abandoning him (a clear case of projection, and I don't think he really internalizes it after this episode, but seriously that's no way to talk to your 8-year-old nephew), and unfortunately the only voice of reason around is Hooty. Well, he tried.

I want to note here that she doesn't cry. She mopes, she complains, she gets rude and cynical; these are all things we've seen her do before. But she doesn't allow herself to honestly express her feelings, her wants and needs. What's she gonna say? "Hey Mom, can you please pay attention to me?" You can't just ask for things like that. And she's a grown adult, she's more mature than this. She was the head of the Emperor's Coven, for Titan's sake. Didn't she get enough attention there to last a lifetime? And didn't she learn how to repress all her useless emotions and craft a perfect persona to hide behind until she could no longer tell the mask from her face?

She realizes she's indulged her worst thoughts a little too hard when the feathers start popping up, and goes to take an elixir and calm down...

And there are no elixirs.

And she panics. She has no coping strategies for this. She doesn't even know what's going to happen to her, only that it's going to be really, really bad.

It has to be terrifying, and painful... and maybe, just a little bit deserved? This is the fate she forced upon Eda, after all.

We don't see any signs that she damaged the house after she turned, unlike the havoc Eda caused back in The Intruder. King runs to get help, because Eda or Luz would know what to do better than he does, and Raven Beast Lilith seems to pursue him, but she's not after him. She goes after Eda directly. There is no distraction (King also notes that light glyphs had no effect on her), there is no behaviour that can be explained as animal instinct. There is a violent, visceral anger, and instead of addressing its source, she flies out there to take it out on Eda.

This is why I don't buy the interpretation that Gwen started favouring Eda only after the curse. By that point, Lilith was an older teenager almost out of the house, and it's completely reasonable for the parents to be focusing more on the younger kid with a new mysterious illness. I think Eda was always the favourite, or at least got more attention in ways that made Lilith feel overlooked. Part of it was that Eda got in trouble more, whereas Lilith was usually quiet and well-behaved, so everyone just decided that Eda needed more help (which she didn't necessarily want) and Lilith needed none. Lilith got very good at needing nothing. So good that instead of talking to her sister about their impending duel, she decided to curse her in the dead of night instead. And then to keep it a secret until she found a way to undo it, because she never wants to upset anyone or cause a scene. And then to give 30 years of her life to an evil man's crooked system for nothing—less than nothing, she's only going to realize later.

Lilith's breakdown isn't about the fact Gwen is paying attention to Eda again. That's just the trigger for a lifetime of repressed emotions bursting to the surface all at once, and it's been coming for a while.

The Owl Beast seems to be mostly defending herself. At a few points she tries to flee, but the Raven Beast catches her. The Raven Beast is malicious, with exaggerated expressions of rage and what can only be described as cruel glee when she inflicts pain. This seems to come out of nowhere... but only if you haven't been paying attention to Lilith.

We know what Lilith is like at her worst. It wasn't even that long ago she threatened Luz's life in order to capture Eda. All while convinced that she was doing the right thing. She doesn't even have that shield now. She doesn't have much of anything, really, except her sister who refused to leave her out in the cold even after everything she's done. And this is how she repays that trust...?

We also know that Lilith wasn't in control of her actions as the Raven Beast. But that doesn't mean the beast was just doing beast things. I believe it was acting directly on Lilith's intrusive thoughts. Hurting Eda was her greatest shame, and the idea that she could do it again is a constant fear that she has. Unlike Eda, who has long been seen by others as a monster and had to fight her internalized shame about it, Lilith considers herself a monster while everyone around her is unaware of her inner turmoil. She's afraid of herself; she thinks her feelings are ugly and violent and unmanageable. And so that's what they became.

There was a sequence in the storyboards that was cut from the episode, presumably for time, where Gwendolyn tries to use a beastkeeping spell in order to communicate with her beast-daughters. It proves completely ineffective, so she goes to plan B, which is just trying to talk to them like a normal person (also in the boards, Gwen summons firebees to lift roof tiles for her to walk on, which I'm glad got changed to the tiles themselves being flying creatures. it's less distracting). There was something really affecting about watching her try to do things her own way one last time before finally admitting that she's failed the both of them. It painted the picture of this whole family who never talk about anything that's difficult or painful.

Then the scene plays out the way it does: Gwen's words get through to Eda, and allow her to finally face the beast and have an important revelation about herself.

And Lilith? Well, for all the violence she just showed, she breaks down in tears the second she is shown loving care.

When they've changed back, her anger is gone. There is no sign of the monster; there is only a sad, lonely woman who hasn't allowed herself to cry in so long that she almost forgot how. But she's safe now, and she's seen, and she's allowed this healthy expression of emotion. She collapses in the arms of her mother and sister.

After this, Lilith and Gwen had an off-screen conversation, where Lilith admitted she was the one to curse Eda, and decided that she was going to move back home. I could write a whole other post on that first point, but we've reached the end of the episode. I think a major reason why Lilith wanted to stay with mom and dad instead of with Eda is because she's afraid of hurting Eda again. Any time the curse acts up, she becomes a danger to the people around her, but especially to Eda, because of how much of her energy and guilt and shame has been focused around Eda over the years. She needs some time away while she figures out how to deal with the curse, to recover and build up her own identity. And of course, to build the relationship with her parents that she needed as a kid. Better late than never.

#toh #toh meta tag #lilith clawthorne #some kind of a beast was unleashed within me

[pomrania]

A common problem I have is that my brain, with neither my awareness nor consent, will set up dependency chains for my actions, ie "I can't do THIS because I have to do THAT first", which is an issue because it can get so nested that there's a LOT of things I'd need to do "first", or there's something ranging from difficult to effectively impossible, effectively blocking everything off along the chain. And this takes place below my conscious thought, so often I don't even realize that it's happened.

Once I've realized it though, the problem's not over, because I can't simply break through it, any more than you can reach a hand through your body and out the other side; the stuff that says "you can't do this yet", is the same stuff that allows me to do ANYTHING. (So technically I suppose I could in fact just break through it, but it'd be dealing harm to my self.) If I'm lucky, but not unreasonably so, I can "negotiate" the dependency, switching it for another requirement that's more possible to fulfill. Sometimes I'll take a look at it, and note that circumstances have changed such that one of them no longer applies. And if I truly believe that a requirement is genuinely literally impossible, instead of just "something that I personally am unable to do", it wavers in such a way that the chain gets reconstructed from the bottom up, which might or might not end up as something BETTER but it can't get any worse than "impossible".

And sometimes, if I'm REALLY lucky, I'll look at something and have a moment of realization that it's NOT in fact barring me, I just have to go around it, I hadn't seen that possibility from my angle. Which isn't "lol you realized that you're not constrained by dumb things like that", because the if-then chains are necessary to do any action upon the environment when causality is a part of physics, the problem is only when they're overgrown; it's more like... somewhere between "pulling a door you'd previously been pushing and now it opens", and "checking a board you'd never checked before, to find out that it's loose and can easily be pried away". I never know if the option was there the whole time, or if things had changed so only NOW was the option available; it's pretty much impossible to prove either way, so it doesn't really matter.

#no fandom #not a reblog #personal

[saltminerising]

S from Shadow here. First of all, I want to apologize for my part in the thread killer list. I know the list did damage to the entire UMA community and I think everyone in it deserves an apology for my idiocy. I also want to clarify some things about my role in the thread killer list, because there's some misinformation about me being spread around that I want to clarify.

I did not end up helping with the list. That was all D. I pushed for a longer time for skins to be considered thread killers. 2-3 hours was ridiculous at the time and I pushed for longer. The only thing I did was suggest a spreadsheet and offer to code it.

The reason I did in the first place is because I genuinely thought I was helping the community. I know it sounds dumb, but at the time I thought it was the right thing. I didn't stop to consider the effect it would have on the artists and if I had thought about it for even one second, we wouldn't be here today.

I understand now that what I said and offered to do was stupid and harmful. I'm sorry for all the damage I caused to the UMA community as a whole. I have edited that post where I offered to code the spreadsheet with an apology. I don't expect everyone to forgive me, I just want people to understand there was no malice.

I don't stand for art elitism. I think it's made the art community a toxic place and I try to go out of my way to encourage other artists. I feel like people have been assuming I was trying to be elitist when that wasn't my intent. I understand how what I said could be interpreted that I was and I want to work on that.

I am not friends with S, D, or RW. I don't think I'd really talked with any of them before this and I haven't talked to them since. Please stop calling us buddies. I don't know about the relationship between S, D and RW but I don't know them. I would really like if people would stop acting like I'm as bad as them. They all doubled down on the thread killer list being right, I didn't. They're full ass adults, I'm a minor. If the minor in the situation can admit they were wrong, the adults in the situation sure as hell can. Instead they've chosen to double down and I don't think they'll change their minds.

I've asked SMR to pause posts containing me. You're allowed to hold me accountable and be upset with me for my actions, I get it. However, it's messing with my mental health and that's why I've asked SMR to delete posts mentioning me. As horrible as you may think I am, I don't think what I did was egregious enough to justify severely messing with my mental health.

The idea of the thread itself is flawed. It's fundamentally "I hate this art, so I'm gonna go get another artist's art I like more!" This was inevitable. This thread was always going to be a clusterfuck and Aeq should have just locked it when this issue started. Something similar is probably going to happen again in this thread. The entire idea of this thread is doomed to fail.

Once again, I'm sorry for the damage I caused the UMA community and I understand I'm going to have to face the consequences of encouraging the thread killer list to grow. I just want people to understand my side and understand I didn't do it with malicious intent. I don't speak for S, D or RW. I don't know what their intentions were. I just wanted a chance to apologize and explain my intentions. I feel judged without the chance to explain myself. Thank you for taking the time to hear me out

#long post #skins and accents #forums

[pippytmi]

Kacy exes era was definitely something and so was your fic

All of those angsty prompts are sooooo good. The first one where it's late but you can't sleep so you show up at their door in pajamas 😭😭

Fully imagining Kate turning into peak Season 1 mean girl cause she isn't getting enough sleep and is making it everyone else's problem too and then Lucy also can't sleep and it's effecting her performance out in the field so Jane tells her to take a long weekend and catch up on sleep but she can't cause she can't sleep without snuggling right up into Kate

thank you omg i hope I lived up to the the angsty kacy post-exes era 🫡🫡🫡

and holy shit wait i can 100% see the vision for the sleep one? like. jane notices that lucy isnt doing her best and tells her point blank “whatever you need to get well-rested” so when kate opens her front door at midnight she is understandably very, very confused. totally imagine the scene going like this:

////

Kate answers the door with an (appropriate) amount of apprehension due to the time of night, but it melts away into soft, plain confusion when she sees Lucy standing there. “Lucy,” she says, quietly, sounding vaguely hopeful and relieved and—Lucy absolutely cannot allow that. 

(The hope, anyway).

“Hi,” Lucy says firmly, “I need to sleep here. Tonight.” She reconsiders her words a little and amends, “Please.”

“Is there something wrong with your apartment?” Now Kate looks concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Everything's fine. Can I—can we take this inside? Your neighbors will really hate me otherwise.”

“Yeah, of course.” Kate steps back to let Lucy in, watching her with that patient, perplexed furrow of her brow, and Lucy is extremely mad that she still finds it cute.

“Jane told me to come here,” Lucy says, once they're standing together in the living room and Lucy is pointedly avoiding eye contact. “Well not here specifically, she just made me take time off to get some rest and…well, she might have mentioned that you're a little off yourself. In her usual cryptic way.”

“Off?” Kate echoes, frowning. “Off how?”

“Well you've been a little—prickly. More than usual. At least, that's what my team has been saying, I haven't noticed anything.” That's a lie, but Lucy is trying very hard to show she doesn't care what Kate Whistler is up to nowadays. 

(Showing up today is just. A brief lapse in judgment). 

Kate crosses her arms. “I've been nothing but professional. If they sent you to complain—”

“That's not why I'm here, okay?” Lucy pauses to exhale deeply. “I can't sleep. I'm driving my team crazy and Jane finally told me to take some time off and…I think I just can't sleep without you.”

“Oh.” Kate blinks, outwardly stunned, and her frown falls entirely. “Does this mean—”

Lucy doesn't let her finish. “I don't want to talk about us,” she says. “I don't want to listen to you explain, or…or anything. I just want to sleep, and obviously, it needs to happen in your bed or it won’t happen at all.” She pauses. “If you’re fine with it, anyway.”

Kate just stares, for a moment. “Is this…wise?” she finally asks. “The ramifications of getting used to being around each other could be…” 

“Don’t analyze it,” Lucy protests. “And don’t look at me like I’m crazy. I just need one night of sleep or I’ll actually kill someone. Can we just, take it one day at a time here?”

“Okay.” Kate bites her lip, looks down and doesn’t look back up. “Sure. We can just stay together tonight and figure the rest out later.”

The act of giving in is very uncharacteristic for Kate Whistler, and deep down, Lucy knows why Kate is agreeing. She knows why Kate is so willing to let Lucy back into her bed despite their issues. And she knows why Kate is currently gently clearing off Lucy’s side of the bed that is so obviously slept-on instead of Kate’s usual side.

But Lucy pushes those thoughts deep, deep down, and instead buries her face into a pillow and listens to Kate’s uneven breathing. “I can hear you thinking,” she says, feels Kate shift behind her. “Relax, okay? We’re just two people…sleeping next to each other…to get one night of rest. It doesn’t have to be weird.”

Kate gives a huff of a disbelieving laugh. “Right,” she mumbles. “Not weird at all.”  

Already, Lucy feels like this is working, all exhaustion melting out of her body as she sighs. “You can touch me, you know.”

Kate coughs. “What?!”

“It it helps you sleep,” Lucy yawns, eyes already closed as she pulls the blanket a little tighter. She has an explanation on the tip of her tongue about how she knows Kate likes the grounding ability to touch, but it fades when sleep comes.

(She swears, though, that she feels the faintest brush of Kate’s fingertips at her waist right before it does).

#also can we talk about that latest ep bc im DEAD god i <3 them #kacy is truly. enveloping my brain i might cave and start a whole proper fic for them...im envisioning a celebrity au lets see how it goes #anonymous #preguntas #i need a fic tag #(sort of. i just need to look back at this lol)

[drdemonprince]

For the kink thing. As an Autistic person, I was restrained sometimes in elementary school, possibly early middle school because I was forced to put up with the classroom environment for the convenience of the school systems I've been in instead of being allowed to just go outside and not put up with people inside. It's hilarious to me that people try to defend restraining above all else instead of as like, a last resort in genuine emergencies where a kid could hurt another, because I ended up developing kink and fetishes around it that I've still got in my late 20s. Could you imagine the pandemonium over restraint defenders having to contend with defending the sexual side of restraint. Where there's adults giving kids all sorts of sexual fantasies and urges just so they can write on a sheet of paper about who threw tea into what harbor as a precursor to a revolutionary war? Especially when there's alternatives like just letting the kid read the textbook alone outside or something? Sorry if mentioning this interaction between adults and kids is uncomfortable but that's literally what happened to me. I honestly have no idea if that restraint can be defined as csa or if what happened to me counts as that, maybe that got normalized for me. You're a mental health expert you'd probably know.

Thank you so much for sharing about this anon. Before I respond let me clarify that I'm not the mental health expert, I'm a dude with a research PhD who's been in enough academic psychological spaces to recognize that most of what gets passed around as knowledge in our field are just pre-existing cultural biases with fancy scientific terms slapped on top of them.

What you experienced was abuse and coercion, and whether we deem that as sexual or not doesn't necessarily make a difference in terms of how bad and violating that it is. We also can't know for sure whether your kink came from this abuse, but that doesn't change the wrongness of the abuse or of how violating it must feel to enjoy sex that always harkens back to your abuse. You had a traumatic experience that has lingering effects, including being reminded of your abuse during sex, and that tells us all we need to know -- that you were hugely violated and that the violation lingers and affects how safe you feel in your body especially during sex.

Talking about the origins of fetishes is always tricky and fraught, some people in the kink world find that conversation endlessly fascinating, and others reject the importance of it entirely, but I think regardless of where one stands on that issue, it is useful for abuse survivors to be able to talk about how they have eroticized their mistreatment and the complex messy feelings that they have about that. not everyone gets a fetish from abuse, but for those of us who do experience a linkage, talking about it feels really important.

And when it comes to that dynamic, you certainly are not alone. I tend to think that much of my fetish for psychological coercion and mind control is strongly linked to growing up in an emotionally and psychologically repressive environment. Being expected to not only behave but to think and feel in a very narrow range of acceptable ways did a real number on me. as did being (forgive the term) groomed to serve as my parents' sole emotional companion and confidant. i didnt under go official ABA but i was conditioned to comply. and my body, the tricky little fucker that it is, has coped with that history by eroticizing it.

I'm actually really grateful to my body for having made lemonade out of this lemon. I could feel ashamed that my early experiences 'broke' me into only finding controlling and manipulative interactions arousing. and I could meet this need in an indirect, internally conflicted way, say by only dating people who actually are abusive because they're the only ones who really get me fired up enough to sexually respond. And I did do that, until my mid twenties. and it was very damaging to me, but not because what i desired sexually was bad. but because i was ashamed and i wasn't treating myself with respect, and those things are bad.

What works far better for me is being open about my fantasies and finding consenting adults with whom to play them out, and to educate myself on how to go about fulfilling them in a safer way. Or I can at least inform myself of the risks and the rewards and make reasoned decisions about them. that's good too.

That's all a long aside though. let's talk about you. I fucking hate that our educational system prizes compliance above learning. You're absolutely right, you could have just read a book about class subjects out in the grass far away from anybody and it's awful that instead you were locked into an overwhelming room and then physically restrained when you couldn't cope with it.

That kind of shit can really fray a person's relationship to their body and their notions of consent and that DOES affect their sexual relationships no matter what. ABA therapy grooms kids for being abused and for staying silent when they are sexually assaulted.

it can be a wonderful thing that your body coped with that lemon by making you the lemonade of a restraint kink, if you want it to be. But you're not any less enlightened or healed or whatever if you don't want to engage with that or if it's too triggering to. It makes sense that recognizing that your sexuality is linked to your abuse makes you feel gross and weird.

For me, what works is engaging with the kinks that scratch that powerful itch, and then engaging in aftercare, and not bothering myself with ideas about my fantasies making me broken or being ashamed of them or what have you. But from where you're sitting, you obviously have every right to be angry that perhaps your abuse was what saddled you with this kink, and that regardless of whereever the kink came from, your abuse means that enjoying the kind of sex you like is also linked to something horrible that happened to you.

I wish that we could have real, open conversations about this with the child restraint defenders and the child abuse apologists and every supporter of ABA. I would love to see their skin crawl with the realization that the abuse they put children through is so harrowing and world-shifting that some kids brains have to erect entire psychosexual defenses around them in order to cope. i get why you want to really throw that in their faces and make them feel as horrified as they always deserve to feel about advocating for this stuff.

But their reaction of horror would come with the implication that having a kink or a fetish is some kind of pathology, and obviously that's not an idea we buy into around here. it's not good for any queer people or disabled people to really make that claim. And in reality, the people you might want to share that information with, in a spirit of righteous indignation, would not actually be moved or persuaded by it. because they never cared about intellectual consistency or the consent of kids ever in the first place.

thanks again for the message, I'm sure it will bring a lot of self recognition to more people than you'll even realize.

#abuse tw #csa tw #aba tw

[aidanchaser]

hello chase!!!! i wanted to insert my own question so ❓what is your thought process when you edit your own works and what are some rules of thumb you use when editing?

oh noooooo you had to ask a hard one ahah. Thank you very much; I'll do my best to do it justice

I have common mistakes I look for, like I'm constantly using seemed/thought/appeared when simply stating what is happening is far more effective. But, ultimately, when editing my own work, my primary question is, "Does this [sentence/word/paragraph/scene] communicate what want my reader to feel/understand a)effectively b)efficiently c)creatively?"

Everything I change as I read and reread and reread my writing revolves around that question.

A really great example is the editing I just did on the 1920s AU! I'll do a side-by-side comparison for anyone who's interested under the cut

Here's the link to the first draft of the 1920s AU smoke-break scene. It was edited for grammar, but the first pass is never the best pass, and I revised the scene more intimately the next day.

The beginning of any scene needs to set a specific tone and communicate key details of the setting to the reader. This paragraph wasn't very effective at that.

It wasn’t snowing, though it certainly felt cold enough to. Marinette pulled her collar closed against her throat and cheeks, keeping herself as snug as she could. She had some privacy in the dark alley that guarded the back entrance of the Lucky Lady, but the click of her lighter must have attracted attention from the street. She saw the white suit jacket and vest that was becoming painfully familiar approach.

So I revised it with just a few concrete details just to add dimension to the space, so that I could more effectively introduce the setting.

It wasn’t snowing, though it certainly felt cold enough to start. Marinette pulled her collar closed against her throat and cheeks, keeping herself as snug as she could. She had a fairly narrow view of the street, illuminated by a nearby lamp, but the corner of the theater that backed the Lucky Lady cut through that light, giving her a space of quiet darkness to enjoy a reprieve during the chaos of an evening shift. There were not many out on a cold night like this, but a painfully familiar voice cut through the crisp air.

I also shifted from the visual of the white coat to the sound of Adrien's voice because I wanted to draw out the scene a little bit more! This dialogue from the original, while snappy and efficient, didn't give the feeling I wanted it to.

“What happened to your coat?” she asked. “I gave it to a gentleman who looked like he needed it more than I did.” The tip of his cigarette glowed orange, and he returned her lighter to her. His eyes looked warm in this dim light. She tucked her lighter back into her coat. “And what happened to your date?” “I called her a cab. I was hoping to chat with you before returning home.”

The beginning of this fic spends a lot of time dwelling on how suspicious Marinette is of Adrien's motives. This scene offers her a glimpse of his kindness for the first time, forcing her to reexamine her assumptions. The dialogue wasn't very effective or emotionally charged, so the quippy dialogue instead became:

It was indeed Adrien Agreste, chatting with a young man in a threadbare coat that looked like it might have once been a blue officer’s uniform, but had weathered enough snow and shrapnel to be little more than scraps. The right sleeve was pinned up to the shoulder. Adrien shrugged out of his coat and handed it to the young man. “There’s some spare bills in the pocket. Get yourself something hot to eat and a room.” He sounded like the boy who had abandoned her, not the man who had returned. His voice was gentle, uncertain. There was none of the swagger she’d seen in the young man in her shop that morning, nor the cold grin he’d sported when he’d entered the Lucky Lady.

Even though it's less efficient, it is much more effective. It allows me to linger in Marinette's loneliness a little bit longer before Adrien approaches her, and it lets me flesh out the post-war Paris setting with a bit more atmosphere.

I also spent some time revising the angelic metaphor paragraph. It was really important to me to include saint-reminiscent iconography around Adrien during this scene. I want my readers well-aware that even though Marinette is suspicious of Adrien, he's still the Adrien we know and love, and they can trust that I am going to explain his suspicious actions.

“I heard a rumor that if a gentleman is down on his luck, you’re the lady to see.” “I’ve been known to reverse fortunes,” she murmured. “From toppling those on thrones to lifting up those in the gutter. You don’t strike me as a man in a gutter.” He turned his head to blow a lungful of smoke away from her. The street lamp glinted off of his hair, creating a golden halo. “One man’s heaven,” he shrugged, and let the rest of phrase disappear behind a rueful smile. 

The above metaphor works, and I didn't change it a whole lot, but there are a few key shifts in the revision below:

“I heard a rumor that if a gentleman is down on his luck, you’re the lady to see.” And Adrien, like she had just moments ago, took in a long draw on his cigarette and held it in his chest.  “I’ve been known to reverse fortunes,” she murmured. “From toppling those on thrones to lifting up those in the gutter. You don’t strike me as a man in a gutter.” He shrugged and turned his head to blow the smoke away from her. The street lamp glinted off of his hat and his bangs, creating a golden halo. “One man’s heaven.” He let the rest of phrase disappear behind a rueful smile.

The added inhale on the cigarette, harkening back to an earlier moment Marinette had where she holds onto the heat of it to try to forget her heartbreak, implies that Adrien is hurting just as much. It tells the reader he's still pining for Ladybug, too.

Moving the shrug from the end to the beginning stretches out that longing and it gives the dialogue more room to breathe. It's a tiny change from "'heaven,' he shrugged" to "'heaven.' He let the rest" but it does make a difference in the tone. It's not a blow-off response. It's pointed. It emphasizes his hurt more neatly, and even if Marinette can't recognize it, the reader hopefully can, even if unconsciously.

Also I forgot when I wrote the halo description that Adrien would of course be wearing a hat; it's 1920-ish.

So there you have it! A couple of changes made for creativity and efficiency, hopefully making the scene just a little more effective!

#chitchat #oops i didn't mean for that to spiral so much i hope its helpful or insightful #rosekasa #rosekasa-replies #ask game

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for saving my grandchild's life?

After the brutal murder of my mother several years ago, I ([redacted]F) have been trying my best to lead this continent in the best way I can think of to avoid such a tragedy happening again. Given the horrific nature of her death as part of a genocide led against our people, all I have left is some... relics related to her, one of which is a very precious... stone. I'm not going to go into details here, but over the course of the years since her death, I believed I had found a way to revive her using this stone. I created a series of homonculi in the hopes that, given a vessel, the remnants of my mother housed within this stone could come back to life. This turned out not to be true; instead of becoming a living recreation of my mother, the homonculi developed their own personalities. This was disappointing, but I accepted that perhaps some things just weren't meant to be, and allowed them to live as normal humans. The last of my attempts, my now-beloved daughter S (20F), had a weak heart, and so I realised that removing the stone from her body would be life-threatening. It seems the strange properties of my mother's stone have the side effect of stimulating a proper heart rhythm. I, of course, have made her aware of this, as I feel like it would be wrong to hide such crucial medical information from her. Recently, S has fallen in love with and married the captain of my personal army, J ([redacted]M), a young man of great character, who has saved my own life before. When I heard they were expecting a child, I was overjoyed. Unfortunately, S's weak constitution made the pregnancy incredibly difficult for her. It was clear she would not survive the birth and, when her child was born without a heartbeat, she begged me to take the stone from her heart and use it to save her baby. Although distraught, I complied with my daughter's final wishes and managed to save the child (B, 0X). It seems, however, that using the stone on a natural-born human may have had some interesting effects. Not once has anyone heard the child cry, or even so much as whimper. Frankly, I can understand why this might be unsettling, especially in a new-born, but considering the child is otherwise perfectly healthy, I don't believe this is anything to worry about. J, though, refuses to understand this. I suspect his response is likely due to the grief of losing his wife (he does not seem to recognise that I have also lost my daughter) combined with the stress of becoming a first-time single father. I have been doing my best to assist with the child (my grandchild!), but he is accusing me of having done "something terrible" to the baby and insinuating that I chose to kill my beloved S. I know this situation is hard on him, but it's hard on me, too, and I don't know how to explain to him that all I did was follow his wife's dying wishes to save the child's life. Since he seems to be determined that I am somehow at fault for this, I have to ask: AITA?

Edit: A fire broke out in the monastery last night. Although it was brought under control, both J and B have disappeared without a trace. I fear the worst.

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

[lee-hakhyun]

lee hakhyun thinks about his parents.

when he was young, he was asked to draw a picture with the theme of 'family'. at at the time, he had trouble drawing faces. when he tried to think of someone's face, only a blurred face came to mind.

instead of his parents, he drew himself standing under a deep dark sky. when he was asked why,

adding mtl here because my brain MELTED when i saw this scene. oh my godd. moving on

thinking back, it was due to his parents that he first wrote a novel. he asked, what's a novel? his mother told him that it's a story for the sake of world peace. if everyone just reads the story and talks about it, there would be no war or struggles. why? because the story is just fiction. for the world to be peaceful, everyone has to read novels. at first, lee hakhyun didn't understand. but as he grew up, he started to understand. being bullied for not avoiding his less liked friends, and when people talked about his parents,

「"I heard that Hakhyun-ie's parents are weird."」 「"Tsk, parents and child alike."」

people like stories. they exaggerate, distort, and create stories that don't even exist. enjoying watching someone's downfall in front of them. and then they forget about it. maybe that's when he started writing novels. instead of hating others, he'll write a story. he'll write a really interesting story and have the whole world talk about that, instead. that's how he wrote his story. rewriting it over and over again. and at 23, he made his debut.

he remembers the expression they made when they heard of his debut, and wrote his novel. the memory was hazy, but the emotion was vivid.

they looked sad.

lee hakhyun didn't understand. did he write something wrong? did something in the novel make them sad? he was confused, but his parents still hugged him. it's funny, thinking about it now. maybe they were worried about how he would make a living as a pure literature author. due to this, he met ji eunyu and became a web novel author, so maybe his parents' concerns were right.

ji eunyu was a patient and persistent editor. she corrected everything, and immediately pointed out anything strange with the characters. hundreds of manuscripts, and dozens of works overturned. he wrote, and she edited. their works piled up like that.

and one day, a story came to them. at their first success, even the level-headed ji eunyu couldn't hide her excitement. when they began to get paid, they sat side by side and read comments from readers. not all of them were good, of course, but they were in high spirits. maybe he felt the same way as kim dokja when he first became a constellation.

「“Editor-nim. By the way.”」 But why am I thinking about that day's story now. As Ji Eunyu advised, this kind of story can't go on for too long. 「“People keep asking me if I'm Kim Dokja. What do they mean?”」

-

waking up in darkness, lee hakhyun thinks that he had a dream about his parents and ji eunyu. he notices sys asleep next to him, and tries to remember what happened. he entered the dungeon, met shin yoosung, and helped her deal with the ancient nagak. using sentence enhancement to tame the nagak, being 'shin yoosung'... but he can't remember anything past that. a side effect of [incite], maybe? waking up sys, he suddenly feels a chill when he looks at her smiling face. he's confused, but the feeling goes away.

collecting the rewards, he gets the exclusive skill [nagak breathing], which allows him to survive on one breath for up to 30 minutes, and as a bonus for hunting the ancient nagak, he gets a horn that draws in enemies to one place. it's of no use to him, so he plans to give it to sein. his hair care personal scenario is also completed, and he'll get a special reward from swk if he offer the meat to him. swk requests the meat be cooked, and lhh says it'll take a few days.

while he was thinking about how to offer the meat, sys gets up. she thanks him, and he asks if she's going back to the original group. at her hesitant yes, he pushes and asks if that's what she really wants. she flounders a bit, until lhh clearly asks if she wants to join him. she looks down, and says that he doesn't know what kind of person she is. even without [omniscient reader's viewpoint], he could read what was going on her head. he says that he does know what sys is like. the shin yoosung of <kim dokja's company>. he's written, and read, many sentences about her. but.. that wouldn't be fair to her. the one in front of him isn't the 3rd sys, but the 41st. the disaster of floods. who became kim dokja's daughter, reborn as a dokkaebi.

it's all a story that hasn't happened yet. so this shin yoosung in front of him right now, is someone that he doesn't know. so now, he can only promise that he trusts her despite not knowing who she is. and in turn, she trusts him.

"...I think I can trust ahjussi too." [The character 'Shin Yoosung' shows a strong trust toward you.]

she asks about his group, to which he replies that he's a king. and retreats a couple steps, shaking. lhh can tell what the 'king' of the last group was like. he reassures her, which would probably be more persuasive if he didn't have cheon inho's appearance. she joins anyway, and they decide to enter the hidden dungeon. he hadn't seen any kings in the museum nor the nagak dungeon, so they must be in the dungeon.

by the way, this is the 41st turn that wasn't recoded in wos. the 'disaster of floods' who destroyed chronos won't appear, so who will?

entering the 'big dipper' hidden chapter, he thinks of the scene that will show up. the spacious waiting room, and the seven doors at the end of the room, where the star jewels are.

but as he appears in the waiting room, something's different. there's only one door. the scenario has changed.

#WOO i have been writing this all day. this chapter. my god. sorry for the word vomit #sparks literally burst in my head when i saw that night sky. there are soo many connections with lhh and darkness/emptiness #also see how lee hakhyun considers orv both his and eunyu's story too!! they worked together on it!! #side story lb #orv side story #orv spoilers #651

[meowmeowmage]

Let's write an mHanders fic! Part 6 (poll under readmore)

Masterpost featuring links to all parts: HERE

"And then I said I wasn't like- like the other nobles!" Hawke exclaimed, letting his forehead hit the sticky table at the Hanged Man, while Isabela shrieked with laughter.

He hadn't meant to retell his embarrassment to anyone, but after several drink that were meant to make him forget about it, he was instead rambling about it, much to Isabela's entertainment (and a bit of pity).

"Oh, sweet thing, I know I basically told you to think less, but I didn't mean quite that little," she said and then laughed again, slamming her palm against the table.

Hawke lifted his head just enough to take another big gulp of the nasty but effective Hanged Man alcohol.

"So what happened next?" Isabela prompted, once her laughter subsided a bit.

Hawke told her the whole thing. Or as much as his drunkenness allowed him. But it wasn't hard to get the point of his embarrassment and cringe behaviour across.

"Let me recap," Isabela said, "You interrupted a private conversation, made an ass out fo yourself, then lied multiple times in order to make yourself look better, but were so bad at it that you got caught."

Hawke didn't follow all that very well but it sounded accurate enough so he nodded.

"I'll be honest with you, Hawke," she said seriously and barely kept her facade for the next part, "you're so cringefail you're giving me secondhand embarrassment," she then started laughing yet again, eyes almost watering from it.

"Aren't you supposed to make me feel better?" Hawke asked irritated.

"That's the alcohol's job, sweet thing. Mine is to laugh at you. But look on the bright side - despite having your foot in your mouth you still somehow managed to patch things up, so just don't think about it anymore and try not to be quite so terrible next time."

It was a good advice. One Hawke might be able to follow. At least as long as Bayron was not around. Fucking Bayron...

"What does Anders even see in him?!" he blurted out, completely ignoring how Isabela wasn't up to date with what was happening inside his head.

"In Bayron?" She asked, a bit confused.

"Yes, that fucking prick!"

Isabela snorted and then a wide grin spread on her face. One that Hawke didn't like one bit.

"Well, he is quite a looker. I'd firmly put his ass on my Top 5 Best Asses In Kirkwall list. So there's at least one reason."

Hawke got up so fast that the world spun and his thighs hit the table hard. He swayed but caught himself with both hands on the table.

"My ass is better!"

"You're certainly being a bigger ass, that's for sure," she noted with amusement, "Hawke, if you get any more jealous you'll start spewing poison while you talk."

Hawke imagine if that was possible. To spit poison in Bayron's face. That would be quite something. But Anders would be very pissed off. Just his disappointed face was enough to cool Hawke a bit, and he sat back down like a scolded brat.

"I've been helping Anders as well," Hawke mumbled dejectedly, looking as miserable as some of the other drunken patrons, "but it looks like I haven't, and now I can't tell him because I'd look like I'm only doing it to get brownie points with him."

Isabela looked at him with sympathy in her eyes. She got up and combed the hair out of Hawke's drunk red face with her fingers, and then tugged him upwards to stand up.

"Let's get you home, loverboy. Some sleep will do you good. It's not amusing to poke fun at you when you're being such a miserable mess."

° ° °

[iwonderwh0]

Watching John Wick for the first time and commenting in real time because I'm watching alone.

Spoiler: I HATED it. Below I just bitch about how much it sucks.

Oh, Green Goblin!

What a cute dog, I hope nothing bad will happen to her (unfortunately I know it will)

Is it even safe for dogs to eat cereal with milk?

(speaking Russian) <- man those people speak with such a horrendous accent I wouldn't even recognise this language if it wasn't for subtitles.

Stop speaking "russian" it's so bad! It's not even just accent, it's grammatically so terrible it doesn't make any sense 😭

It always buggs me when some multi-million budget movie inserts some characters that speak languages other than english and do such a shit job at making it actually be the language they're trying to use. Like come on, is it so hard to find one person who speaks the language you want to use to ensure that it actually sounds accurate? I wonder if it is as bad with movies where side characters speak Chinese/Japanese or is it just European/Slavic languages that get this treatment.

Man, this is painfully bad. I mean, if a character speaking foreign language has this amount of active presence on screen why would you as a producer/director allow it to be this bad, it sounds like simlish. It's goofy.

I can't watch it seriously hearing them speaking.

I too get an urge to kill while cleaning up the floor.

Those subtitles are wrong, it's not what he said. He made some incomprehensible nonsense of noises.

I feel like I'm having a stroke hearing them.

I love multilingual movies, but this is not it. If it's so hard to find someone speaking Russian, make them speak some other language that you can actually show accurately.

Of course they drink vodka what else.

Fuck off, this is lazy.

"Baba Yaga" my ass, do you even know what it means? It's a folklore creature of what essentially is an old woman. Not just a boogie man. It's kind of a weird nickname to have as a man.

Fuck, even when they speak actual words they make inaccurate subtitles. THAT'S NOT WHAT HE SAID. This song isn't even about "Baba Yaga" you fools

This is what happens when people go for vibes of foreign countries instead of actually doing any kind of research.

I can't watch any kind of media in peace, dbh brain rot will find me anywhere.

Maybe it's because I'm now holding a prejudice, but even outside of this absolutely terrible job at making character portray Russian, this looks like a parody of a blockbuster rather than a blockbuster in itself

They're singing a fucking lullaby in a pool party 😭😭😭 just normal russian-villain behaviour

I'm sorry I just didn't expect it to suck this bad

Okay, that action sequence isn't that bad.

Maybe this movie would be better if they would just fight without ever attempting to talk out loud. Just grunting and moaning.

I'm not a medic but I suspect it's just as infuriating for them to watch this movie as it is for someone who understands Russian or at the really least knows what it sounds like.

You're telling me, a sniper with a fixed target missed? I'm starting to suspect that maybe it's not that John Wick is invincible but just the people who are after him are all incompetent morons.

"You were always a pussy" <- that was so unnecessary and goofy.

How the hell is this movie rated as high as it is, it's "The Room" of action movies, I swear. So bad to the point of almost going a full circle and becoming good.

Even as an action movie it's not that good either.

Other than Keanu Reeves there are literally no interesting nor likeable characters on screen. Everyone else are unremarkable and bland. Except for Marcus.

Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I should be looking at it like a comedy, a parody. Because it really isn't good in itself.

THIS REALLY IS A COMEDY, isn't it?

I mean a dude literally got a headshot with a "wasted" gta sound effect.

Well, it was bad. It's a meme, but it's not really a good movie. Or I just don't think it is.

Surprisingly, "comedy" isn't listed among genres.

A BLADE RUNNER REFERENCE WHAT