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sammy-halpert · 4 months

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"I can help you"

Author note: Don't expect anything awesome, it's my first smut, and in general one-shot✋ ALSO I am not writing this about Josh Hutcherson, this is a fictional character and I will NOT accept requests based on actual people WARNINGS:Degrading, P in V, mentions of alcohol (Haymitch), breeding, slight choking, bit of overstimulation

There you are again. The night before the 75th hunger games. You and Haymitch have been reaped, but Peeta voulenteered so now he's there instead of Haymitch. You hated President Snow with every inch of your body, him putting you both into a arena to fight for your lifes for entertainment, and Peeta definitely didn't feel any different.

It's the night after the interview where Peeta claimed that you are pregnant, both of you in your room, Peeta on your bed and you resting by his side, head on his chest as you both are silent, lost in own thoughts. His thumb is strocking your arm as he was just rummaging in his memories, before he softly chuckles.

"What's so funny?" You ask, smiling, chuckling a bit aswell, looking at him to see him already looking at you.

"I should've asked you before saying you're pregnant." he let's out another, more apologetic laugh.

"We both know you're not that good of an actress, so it might be difficult for you to act a month or less pregnant. I have no idea on how women behave in their first pregnancy month"

You groan, chuckling, turning a bit away. "Well, I don't know either, because as far as I remember I have never been pregnant before."

Peeta laughs a little aswell, pulling you closer and looking forward at the wall, thinking a bit, before smirking and looking down at you.

"I can help you" he locked eye contact with you, the smug smirk on his face, the flirty tone and that glimmer in his eyes already tell you, that this might lead to not so 'just friend' ways. You decide to ignore it first and ignore your dirty mind.

"And how will you do that?" You huff, not fully aware of his hand traveling up your thigh as your mind races with dirty answers.

Suddenly, he pins you down and smirks down at you. "Don't play dumb. You know exactly where this is going, honey" This made you blush, turning your face away from him since you're a little flustered. His gently and strong hand grabs your chin and makes you look back at him. "Don't hide that pretty face of yours, darling" He almost sits down on you as he grabs your cheeks with his hands before his lips met yours.

His lips tasted sweet, like buttercream and fruit which was probably from tasting the buttercream at the bakery before continuing to work with it. The kiss was soft and passionate, the lust of Peeta making it a little aggressive. Soft grunts escape his lips as they moved against yours, hand trailing up to play with your hair before he pulled away, already panting.

"For someone as hot as you I'm surprised you're new to kissing" He chuckles. He had clearly noiticed the nervous little stops you did during the kiss, as you've never really had a first kiss before except for the ones on TV. (KEPT IT LOYAL FOR THE BAKER BOY 🤭🤭)

You roll your eyes. "Oh come on" You chuckle and start to take his top off. "Eager little slut." That threw you off a little. The cute and innocent Baker boy is calling you a slut? He chuckled and removed his top, the hint of abs outlined by the moonlight. Now that his shirt was gone, the tent in his sweatpants was as clear as day.

"Eyes up here" He said sternly, even though he wasn't actually mad at you, just feeling quite dominant. Your eyes met his and he smirked. "Good girl" he praised quietly before starting to kiss your neck and slowly undress you

This was all very surprising to you, how the cute little innocent Peeta gets so dominant in bed. You did kinda expect it, but also not. Your thoughts were quickly interrupted as you feel his hard press against your knee, as he looked at you.

"Can I?" He looked you into the eyes, his fingers softly tugging on your bra. You smile, glad he still asks for consent."Go on" you smile and he strips you completely nacked. He almost drooled at your exposed and wet pussy. "You're driving me crazy.. " he says under his breath before diving right in, his hands resting on the insides of your thighs as he licks down to up in long and slow strokes, licking of your juices.

Soft whimpers escape your mouth and both hands grip onto his hair, head falling onto the pillows. "Fuck- Peeta~" You moan out as he starts to mouth fuck you. You feel a finger enter your tight hole and slowly stretch you out.

"Holy fuck are you tight. Not a single drop is gonna leak" he says breathy, plunging a second finger in as the free hand starts to play with your nipple. You moan and grab the sheets, already feeling close to cumming. The third finger gets added and you feel your orgasm approaching.

"Peeta, I'm close-" Before you finish he pulls completely away from you, making you open your eyes to a beautiful sight between your legs. Peeta on his knees, sucking your juice off his fingers and untying his sweatpants. He was panting a little, standing up from the bed to properly take off his sweatpants and he saw how you stare at the bulge in his boxers.

He took them off aswell and his cock was around five and a half inches. It's average for a 5'7 guy like Peeta. It was veiny, fucking juicy, the drool already worming in your mouth.

A short whistle caught you out of your trance. "Can't really take your eyes of it, can you?" He smirks and goes back on the bed, pinning you down. "How do you want it? Hm?" He asks.

You were a little puzzled. "What..?" He put a gentle hand on your chin. "What position, darling." You blushed a little and since you aren't really experienced you mutter a "Choose one." he smirked and got you both into a missionary position. "Is this comfortable?" he asks and places a gentle kiss under your ear.

It sent a soft shudder down your spine and you nod. He strokes his cock a little to get himself a little hornier, grunting until precum starts to leak and he positions himself against your hole. Before he puts it in he looks at you, looking for a sign of discomfort. "What's your save word?" he asks innocently. "Uhh.. It'll be 'stop'" you say, putting your hands on his shoulders.

He nods "Good choice" he smirks. Slowly he starts to push in, his head falling back as you both moan loudly. The stretch was deliciously painful, you can feel each single of his veins as he slowly pushed in. He was cursing under his breath, and gave you time to adjust. Before he could ask if he is allowed to move, you already ask him to. "Move, please. Peeta"

Slowly he pulled halfway out before pushing back in, moaning, his hands resting on your hips as you hold onto his arms, moaning aswell. Your mind went down to where his cock was currently buried inside you, and you couldn't think of anything else. His lips crash with yours as he slowly starts to speed up, his fingers now playing with your nipples. He was softly grunting and sighing into the kiss, the pleasure making him less dominant before he was inside of you, the pleasure making cute and innocent Peeta more submissive.

A hand wraps around your neck but doesn't press down. His hips speed up and he pulls away from the kiss. “So tightt.. please oh fuck- taking me so good sweetheart …” he mumbles under his breath, eyes shut, hitting your g-spot.

It makes you yelp and moan out even louder, the pleasure so overwhelming your eyes almost roll into the back of your head.

"Oh fuck, please- right there" you moan out and he chuckles, grunting and moaning softly. "Such a slut.. I'm gonna breed you so hard- fuck, make you full of my babies"

".. s’fucking good.. you take me so well…” he can hardly breathe when he hits a spot in you that is the most pleasurable for him. Peeta feels his cock twitch inside you, and judging by how you moan loudly and clench around him, you're close.

"Gonna cum for me? Hm? My little slut- fuck." he says, breathy, and you nod, you both already sweating. His hand is still around you neck without any pressure.

"Cum for me darling, y'were such a good girl for me hah~" he moans out as he feels you clenching around him. Your moans are music to his ears as you cum around him, moaning out his name and eyes roll back into your head. Fucking gorgeous sight.

He keeps trusting but his thrusts get irregular. Then he whines. WHINES. INTO YOUR EAR. "Gonna breed you, make you mine- hah~"He keeps trusting but his thrusts get irregular. Then he whines. WHINES. INTO YOUR EAR. "Gonna breed you, make you mine- hah~

Your moans from overstimulation were soon over as he came into you, his warm and sticky seeds filling your womb.

<><Next morning><>

It was time to go to the training center one last time before the games start. You were already in the elevator, waiting for Peeta to join as he was suddenly stopped by Haymitch, drinking alcohol like usual. He whispers to Peeta without you hearing. "You should work on a child once you're out of here, not while you're here." Then he let's Peeta's back and let's him into the elevator with you.

"What did he say?"

"For you to keep quiet next time" He chuckled and kissed you, loving to tease you.

Taglist:

@ogelizasoot

#peeta mellark x reader #peeta mellark smut #peeta mellark #peeta x reader #peeta x you #peeta imagine #hunger games smut

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ponett · 10 days

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Do you have any advice for people making OCs/sonas? Yours are really well rounded and unique and I'd greatly appreciate the insight of someone who got a passion project off the ground!

So this is a very broad topic, and it varies a lot based on your own creative goals, what kind of characters you're creating, and where you want to use them. Creating an OC to be used in furry pinups is a little different than creating one for a dramatic story. But I'll try to give some general advice on how I do things for the types of characters and stories I tend to work with

Heads up: this will be kinda long lol

The germ of an idea

For me, I'll generally be inspired to create a character starting with a small number of core traits. These could be anything. A color scheme, a body type, a job, a hobby, a personality archetype, an outfit, a visual motif, a functional role in a story I'm working on, a noteworthy facial feature, a weapon, a relationship of some sort to an existing character, a single scene or joke I want to use them for. For furries and fantasy characters, species is usually one of the first things I'll have an idea for, which tends to get the ball rolling fairly easily since we have all sorts of cultural associations with different animals and fantasy creatures.

Any standout character trait like this that you find compelling can serve as that initial spark. The inspiration can come from anywhere, but it's often just a matter of knowing yourself and your own tastes. What do you like? What are the people in your life like? What really speaks to you in a character? What's an existing fictional character that you'd like to rewrite and take in a different direction? What's an aspect of yourself that you would like to see represented more often in fiction? It doesn't have to be something super deep or fleshed out right from the start, though. You can start with something as simple as "I want a black cat character" or "I want a character who dresses like an arcade carpet" or "I want a character who looks scary but is actually nice." Whatever it is, it's something that differentiates the new character from the ones I already have, because otherwise I'd just be using them.

Contrast

From there, you can start brainstorming other traits that might go with those core traits. Some of those may be traits that naturally complement each other. Continuing with the black cat example, maybe you wanna play into the common cultural perception of black cats and say that this character brings bad luck, or is associated with witchcraft. However, I often like to give characters contrasting or even seemingly contradictory traits, which can help elevate a character beyond a stock archetype. Real people tend to be a walking ball of contradictions, after all.

I've talked a lot about how I did this with the main cast of SLARPG. Melody is a fox, traditionally a crafty and untrustworthy predator, but she's extremely introverted and gentle. Allison is a bunny, but instead of being a meek and cuddly little prey animal she's an outgoing fighter who loves a challenge, and she has a muscular build. I think this kind of thing gives characters some fun flavor, and can be really effective for both comedy and drama. For an example from something I didn't write, take Senshi from Dungeon Meshi. He's a dwarf, and he embodies certain stereotypical aspects of dwarves - he's a short, buff man with a big bushy beard, he lives underground, he's stubborn and doesn't like elven magic - but he also goes against some of them. Instead of being an expert on mining and blacksmithing, Senshi is a culinary expert who has a deep appreciation for the natural ecosystem of the dungeon. He's a weirdo among dwarves for not caring about the wellbeing of his axe and for using his super awesome shield primarily as a giant wok. And that's what makes Senshi fun and interesting.

So going back to our example, instead of going with the stereotype, we could make a black cat character who has comically good luck, or who's superstitious and afraid of witchcraft, or who's an extremely rational person who always believes in science over superstition. Or maybe you roll with the bad luck angle, but instead make the black cat be the victim of their own bad luck in some interesting way. Maybe this black cat has terrible luck with love and can't hold down a relationship. Maybe this black cat is an aspiring speedrunner who consistently gets the absolute worst RNG possible in every video game due to their own bad luck. Maybe this black cat has accrued a horrendous gambling debt after a long losing streak and has loan sharks coming after them.

These are all just hypothetical examples, of course. I don't exclusively make characters with ironic contradictions like this. The idea is just to build on those core traits you started with in interesting ways, and that's one of my favorite ways to do so. But honestly, a lot of the time execution is more important than the sheer originality of an idea, and sometimes really putting your all into playing a trope you love straight is the right move.

Specificity

Regardless of what direction I take a character in past that initial seed of an idea, the key ingredient tends to be specificity. To give them specific details beyond the most stock possible version of that core idea you started with.

This is something I internalized from Tim Schafer, via a blog post in the behind-the-scenes backer material for Broken Age. Sadly I'm not sure if that stuff is still available, but I did save this particular post about creating characters since it really helped me, so I'll directly quote a chunk of that post here:

No two characters would approach a problem or react to events in the same way. At least, not if you’ve designed the characters well. If you’ve left them too vague or superficial, if they are merely functional elements in your story instead of individuals, then they might react in the same way. And that’s a problem. So to avoid that, I’m going to talk about one the most important parts of character development: specificity. Making sure your character is a specific individual, not a stereotype. A unique character, different from anyone else in the world. It doesn’t mean that they have to have wacky gimmicks, eyepatches and crazy accents. It just means they have to be specific. For example, let's create a new character. Let's say your story has a scene where your main character gets in trouble in school. So you’re probably going to need a school teacher. Imagine a school teacher for a bit. Do you see her in a little red schoolhouse? Maybe a bun in her hair? An apple on her desk? Thick black glasses? Let’s put a ruler in her hand for good measure. Done! We have our teacher character. She’s ready to be in the scene where our hero goes to school and the teacher sends her to the principal’s office for passing notes. Right? I mean, this character doesn’t have too many lines, so why develop her character any more? The problem is that this teacher is a very shallow stereotype of a teacher. She has no specific attributes that make her memorable. She’s the teacher you would get in a set of free clip art. She might not have many lines, but if all your supporting characters are this way, your story will be more bland than it should be. Even if this teacher is only onscreen for a minute, she should be unique and different from any other teacher in the world. Luckily, it's not actually that hard to make her so. You just have to ask some very basic, specific questions.

Tim goes on to explain how simple exercises like filling out character sheets with basic questions about your character (there are a million of these online) can help push a character beyond a stock archetype, even if it's a minor supporting character. Questions about where they're from, their likes and dislikes, their beliefs, their goals in life, that sort of thing. For minor characters especially, a lot of these details may never actually come up in a story, but just asking even a few of these questions and giving them specific answers helps you see them less like an archetype and more like a real person in your head. Maybe you never bring up your character's backstory or their favorite sport or what kind of music they listen to, but just having a specific answer for questions like that might help color the way you depict that character in subtle ways. It makes it feel like they aren't defined by just that one core trait you started with, and helps make the characters and world feel more alive, like there's stuff going on with them beyond the bounds of the story or the drawing.

It's a careful balancing act, though. It's easy for a character to feel like they're a collection of too many unrelated gimmicks and quirks. Again, like Tim said, these specifics don't have to make for the craziest, most original character ever, there just has to be something there.

Let's go back to SLARPG as an example, where I combined broad character archetypes I liked with more specific personal elements that I felt like I wasn't seeing enough in the fiction I liked. Melody is riffing on the common idea of the reserved healer character in the RPG or MMO party and the shy girl archetype, but she's the main hero instead of a supporting player in another person's story, and she's also a fat bisexual trans woman who draws a lot of little details from my own life. Her interests, her relationships, her opinions on things, her personal hangups and dreams, these all set Melody apart from other fantasy healer characters and define her as Melody Amaranth. Specificity!

But it doesn't always have to be super deep, especially if you just want some characters to draw for fun and aren't planning on writing a story with them. Take my fursona. I've always loved dogs, so I made my fursona a dog. I chose a Samoyed in particular because I think Samoyeds are the cutest, and I hadn't seen hardly any anthro Samoyed OCs at the time. I leaned into the breed's signature fluffiness to help my fursona stand out from other canine OCs. She has simple identifying traits like being fat like me, wearing glasses like mine, and having a hairstyle kinda like mine (when I tied my hair up in a bun, at least). And there you go. Fursona achieved. She's not a wildly high concept character, but she doesn't need to be

Anyway I realize that this is mostly about the writing aspect, so here's a few quick bullet points about designing a character's appearance:

Face and body type variety are good, but personally I would say lack of body type variety is worse than same face syndrome

Knowing some stuff about shape language is good, but you don't have to be completely beholden to the "circles are friendly, squares are sturdy, triangles are scary" shit. I'm generally more interested in using repeated shaping in different parts of a character's design as sort of a shape motif. Melody's body, hair, and tail are all made of round, swooping shapes, for example. (This is more applicable if you're designing cartoonier characters as opposed to realistic humans, obviously.)

Knowing some basics of color theory is also good. I like using complementary and contiguous color schemes on characters and generally try not to use too many distinct colors on one design. Black and white and grey and various browns are good as neutral colors to balance out the colors of the rainbow, and gold can be a nice accent color

A small handful of identifying accessories can be fun, but don't rely on those to make a design stand out. Ideally your character should still be identifiable even when not wearing their default outfit, or even in silhouette

Aaaaaand I'm gonna call it a wrap there! This is a huge topic, so hopefully this helps with at least some of the basics! At the end of the day, though, don't beat yourself up if you can't sit down and force yourself to come up with the most crazy awesome OC ever. Just have fun and be yourself!

#rakruined #ask #slarpg asks

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charmac · 1 month

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Any other cool little bits from your coversation with Charlie? It is so awesome you got to meet all the guys!!!

There was so much stuff and I’m not sure how much I have shared/a lot is jumbled now bc it was a long day, drinking, and a loud bar, lol, but a few things:

Charlie was bragging to the guys next to us at the bar that Sunny is the wordiest show on television :,)

A woman demanded Charlie make her a cocktail, she returned it and made him fix it, he did, and then he said, “they don’t even let me bartend on the fictional show!” Which killed me.

He reiterated to us that they wanted to go with ‘my idea’ (😭) of Mac and Dennis still having inflatable furniture

This convo is kinda fuzzy but I remember he said they write episodes with the intent of surprising the audience, and if they get into the writers room and they find they’re just repeating something or not saying anything new, they either won’t move forward or they’ll go look for a way to catch the audience off guard (S16 has A LOT of this, which is I think what he was talking about)

My friend told him we miss when they used to do legit promotional stuff and photos, and he said he doesn’t really see (not involved in) what they do with that and merch nowadays

Again, he took so much time to talk to us and really truly just talked to us like we were kind of on the same level. I can’t stop thinking about how little opportunity he probably gets to do that with Sunny outside of the creative team. And it seems like he and Glenn did talk a lot/their minds were really on Season 17 this past weekend :)

(Also, I overheard a guy ask Glenn about S17 ‘this year’ and he told him due to the Writers Strikes pushing their schedules back, they wouldn’t be getting out a new season until next year. We knew this based on other things being said, but wanted to reiterate!)

It’s very cool I’ve met them all now and what’s like... Idk more insane?.. is that I appreciate them all even more now. They’re all just very real people, that are creating something they love and care about, and are genuinely excited and happy to get to talk about it whenever they can. Idk, I feel like we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I hope they do more stuff in other states so more people can get to meet them and share their love for the show too! They love talking about their little show!!

#iasip #ask #charlie day #i’ve met.#so many actors #like over 100 #and charlie day is #without a doubt #by far #the greatest creative i have ever met #and have ever talked to #it’s nuts #oc

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mumms-the-word · 20 days

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The Shadow Curse Events

If you haven’t already, please enjoy my unnecessarily long totally not me avoiding writing an actual dissertation irl thorough deep dives into Ketheric Thorm and the Shadow Curse!

They are…well, very long, but I wanted to incorporate in-game texts and conversations to give an overall “lore-finding” feel to each post as I was working my way through theories and ideas about how these events unfolded in more or less chronological order.

Each post is written with an attempt to combine elements of in-game books, letters, and conversations with my reasonable(?) conjectures about how things might have happened and an occasional foray into stylistic nonfiction-style writing (which, you know, is interesting when you’re writing about things that didn't actually happen in real life). Basically this started as something I thought was cool and ended with me having, perhaps, a bit too much fun in the nerdiest possible way.

Maybe you’re into that and maybe not. But if you are, then welcome! Please enjoy these deep dives, all of which are linked below c:

Shadow Curse Events Part 1

Ketheric, Selûne, Shar, and Aylin

This first part covers Ketheric's descent from Selûnite devotee to Sharran general following the death of his daughter Isobel. Not only does it touch on him building and training a Sharran army, it also goes over the Selûnite resistance building against him, including one desperate mason named Morfred who makes a deal with a certain devil.

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Shadow Curse Events Part 2

Harpers, druids, and the battle against Ketheric

The second post is all about the Harper/Druid war waged against Ketheric and the days involved in the battle itself. I present this idea that the Harpers and druids sieged Reithwin for several days without attacking and then launched a three-day battle against Ketheric. But a lot of this is conjecture since I'm trying to piece together a bunch of differing accounts about the actual days devoted to fighting and surviving the brief war between the two armies.

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Shadow Curse Events Part 3

The first 40 days

The final post is a kind of walkthrough of the first 40 days of the shadow curse from the moment Ketheric dies to about 40 days later. I chose 40 only because it's vaguely symbolic in various cultures, but also because one diary I used to construct the timeline here ends on day 35, and that felt like a weird number to end on too, so...I added a few days. Anyway, this might be the most experimental of the posts, but it was fun(?) to try and place myself in these past events to imagine how the landscape changed into what we see 100+ years later walking into this area with our Tavs and companions.

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In the end, these posts were just for fun and are not meant to try and convince anybody that my theories are absolutely 100% the way things happened. What I find interesting about this little deep dive journey is that it mimics trying to piece together actual history too. Everyone will have a different account or perspective on historical events, so trying to stitch together a narrative 100+ years later becomes an exercise in drawing sensible conclusions and admitting you can't fill all the gaps.

I could very well be wrong in my theories, and someone else could come up with a way better logical conclusion than I did. That's awesome! Maybe these posts will help others come up with cool theories too.

But anyway. Enjoy my long-winded ramblings about fictional events in a video game that I have put way too many hours into :)

#bg3 #bg3 discourse #bg3 theory #bg3 critical #bg3 brainrot #bg3 headcanons #ketheric thorm #halsin #halsin silverbough #jaheira #I mean halsin and jaheira are mentioned in all of these because they were there obvi #also promoting this because i worked hard on these #and because i don't have anything else to promote for a minute #because now i can no longer ignore my dissertation

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avelera · 1 month

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Oh GOD you, too, are an online lectures geek pls consider this your invitation to talk about favs--ones that stuck with you, current obsessions--the more the better! In trade, I'll tell you the two things I'm currently adoring: Yale's Open Course podcast on The Civil War to Reconstruction done by David Blight (man forgot more than ten other civil war historians know even if he mumbles *constantly*) and A History of Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch (so! worth the Prime BBC free trial <3)

Hiya! Don't mind if I do!

So 99% of the lectures I've watched lately are on the Great Courses Plus which was recently and stupidly renamed "Wondrium", which I find profoundly stupid because instead of just saying, "Hey, check out the Great Courses, yeah you can kinda guess what the streaming service offers," I have to instead explain what this nonsense term "Wondrium" means, ANYWAY, they've got lectures about basically everything.

Essentially, it's Netflix but for college lectures. YouTube has become so unreliable as far as what's actual information and what's completely made up or even racist conspiracy theory BS that I find it completely untrustworthy. Also, most documentaries are trying to prove something new, or offer a new angle on something, OR they're SO rudimentary and 101 that even for topics I know less about in history I tend to already know everything they're going to say.

So I pivoted to college lectures because 1) it's a whole series so like, dozens of hours I can just throw on in the background while doing something mindless and 2) I know it's going to be trustworthy, reliable, and provide me a baseline on a topic instead of some "new controversial spin" on it. Like, goddammit, sometimes I just want to better understand the history of Ancient Egypt, not your stupid theory about how they were secretly all space aliens or that we've got the carbon dating all wrong or whatever made up nonsense.

So, here's a list of some of my favorites!

Hannibal: The Military Genius Who Almost Conquered Rome - I consider myself about as near an expert as a non-academic can get on Rome and this lecture actually taught me some things, which is rare, so I recommend it as a fantastic deep dive!

How the Crusades Changed History is a pretty good short version that I recommend to anyone who enjoyed The Old Guard's Nicky and Joe BUT, for the best Crusades lecture, I'd recommend this History of the Crusades podcast. Sharyn Eastaugh is not just insanely informative, but her dry wit made me laugh out loud at least once an episode at the sheer hapless ineptitude of the Crusaders.

In the Wake of the Plague is a fantastic new lecture by Wondrium, the lecturer is amazing and it provides a lot of objective insights into how humans react to plagues that is VERY relevant to current events, BUT their lecture on **The Black Death in general is the one that got me obsessed with their lecture series. I watched it in the first week of Covid lockdown and let me tell you, having this super in-depth, objective look into how people behaved during the Black Death was incredibly valuable (and chilling) going into those years because it all played out with astonishing similarity. Also, anything by that lecturer, Dorsey Armstrong, is awesome. She's a Medievalist of the highest order. I also recommend her lecture on King Arthur.

**The Birth of the Modern Mind: The Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries - this one wins the award for "Lecture I thought most likely to bore me to tears that ended up being the single most fascinating I've heard in YEARS." Seriously, the way it explores the evolution of how we think in the modern era, through the philosophers who first conceived of these ideas, was jaw-droppingly fascinating. I also recommend it to writers of historical fiction and fantasy for a crash course, by proxy, of how to write people who think differently than you.

The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World - I once had beef with a post here on Tumblr that claimed that academic Classicists don't care about slaves or normal people during the Roman Empire, which is just profoundly absurd. I pointed out this lecture to them if they actually wanted to learn more about the subject instead of complaining that an art history professor may not have been prepped for a lecture about the lives of enslaved people in Ancient Rome. If that is a subject of interest, this lecture is great.

The Real History of Pirates - a must-listen for OFMD fans who want to get an introduction to historical pirates and the history of pirates in literature, which "Our Flag Means Death" owes as much if not more to than the historical figures.

**Turning Points in Middle Eastern History - One of the first lectures I listened to and still one of my enduring favorites. It's the first one I picked up for writing my Old Guard fic, Lights Out, when I wanted to write Joe from a more informed angle and I learned so much.

Understanding Japan: A Cultural History - One of my favorite lectures based on format, the lecturer picks a literary work or cultural concept as the entry point to explore the timeline of Japanese history. It's a fantastic way to give a wider and more holistic look at each era, pairing it with a cultural touchstone.

Shout-out to "The Mysterious Etruscans" because I just think they're neat. The lecturer is also very good and I highly recommend his lecture on ancient cities as well which taught me a lot that I didn't know.

Also a shout out to, "Warriors, Queens, and Intellectuals: 36 Great Women before 1400" for its subject and the lecturer who is great and she also has a really fascinating talk about the history of Spain.

Ok, I THINK that's some of the top ones! ;D

#history #wondrium #lecture recommendations #long post

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ghastlytofu · 6 months

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i hear this is where we drop wyllstarion thoughts/fic ideas? so wyll finally gets some down time and decides to pen some new chapters for his journal/creative writing exercises chronicling the adventures of the Blade, and hits a snag in how he wants to present astarion. hes racking his brain for what classic adventure/romance character archetype he fits best, combing through every fairytale he heard growing up and every novel he read on the lonely road and holding astarion up against all those characters like paint swatches. after a series of extensive daydreams imagining them both as various characters in his fav stories, he realizes all of them are super Not Astarion and pens him down exactly as he is, hoping that everyone will like astarion as much as he does and maybe create a new type of Classic Romantic Hero Archetype. (he also makes sure to include how down bad astarion is for the Blade but the Blade is waiting for him to admit his feelings of True Love first, which will defo happen next chapter FOR SURE any second now)

Of course it's okay! Hope it's alright that I answered publically because at least on mobile I don't see an option to reply privately.

But I looove this idea and I think you'd find an eager audience for this fic if you were to write it. I know I'd eat it for breakfast, lunch AND dinner and frankly Wyllstarion nation is starving for fic (otoh every morsel is so SO good).

Especially considering Shadowheart and Wyll's banter where he's brainstorming ideas for his Blade of Frontiers epic (counting his chickens before they've hatched, she says, but it highlights Wyll's sunny optimism... he's gonna live, he's gonna write that action-adventure-romance, and it's gonna be AWESOME!). And that banter where he's trying to come with Suitably Cool™ superhero names for Gale? Wyll is a champion friend-fiction writer! At least in his head.

There's also banter between Shadowheart and Astarion where she's like "your best pickup lines sound like they're out of trashy paperbacks lmao" and he says, "trashy?! i'm the charming rake that everyone fawns over. DUH" so like..... you can imagine Wyll overhears that, measures it against his own perception of Astarion as a charming sort of cad, weighs that against his Classic Romantic Hero Archetype... narrows it down to something new, something different, simultaneously closer to the truth but with a bardic flair that still paints Astarion as larger than life.

And if you want some more fuel for your fire, there's Origin-Astarion's perception of how Wyll views him if you consider fessing up about your vampirism: "Wyll knows you for what you are: a charismatic scoundrel and an asset in battle. He'll probably take the news fairly well."

#this is so precious i hope you write iiiiitt #wyll being a cheeseball wrt THE BLADE and all of his ADVENTURES is so so charming #he's just so enthusiastic #but also doesn't take himself too seriously. as evidenced by his tolerance for all the blade = dick jokes #lmao he's just the best and i could see this 🙏🙏#lesbianralzarek #asks #baldur's gate 3 #wyll ravengard #astarion ancunin #wyllstarion #bloodpact

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miraculouslbcnreactions · 2 months

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What are your opinions on more „popular“ salt takes about Adrien and Mari, like the typical „Adrichat is an ass for for flirting with LB after she rejects him“ and „Maribug us a horrible stalker“?

Well, I'd be lying if I said that I have no idea where they're coming from. There are definitely times when I'll watch an episode and wonder what in the world the writers are trying to do, especially when it comes to Adrien's behavior as it's played a lot more straight than Marinette's. While I don't like her behavior at times, it's almost always treated as a joke, not a dramatic character beat whereas I cannot say the same for Adrien.

But these are characters in a TV show, not real people and we need to keep that in mind when judging them. It's why my go-to thought is "what is wrong with the writing staff" and not "Adrien is an incel." Because Adrien is very clearly not supposed to be an incel. Unless the writers are plotting something truly asinine, the Love Square is our end game couple. We are supposed to view Adrien as a charming and funny romantic lead. When he falls short of that role, it's not Adrien "showing his true colors." He's a fictional character. He has no true colors. If his actions and words are ever unbecoming for a romantic lead, it's because the writers are failing to write Adrien the way they want us to see him.

They consistently do this to all of the characters. Alya's supposed to be an awesome friend and a smart journalist (I think), but she can't see through Lila's BS. Marinette's parents are supposed to be loving and supportive, but they randomly believed that their daughter stole from their bakery to make a dress and didn't even try to let her explain herself. Nino is supposed to be the Chosen of Protection, but he didn't care to protect his best friend and just happily sent Gabriel on a rampage without a second thought.

Give me a character and I can point to a bunch of episodes that justify every salty take this fandom has because they're not pulling this stuff from thin air. They're picking and choosing the worst writing in the show and venting about it, which is frankly understandable. Like I get why there are so many Alya salt fics. Her writing in the Lila episodes is infuriating and I do find those fics a little cathartic at times. But it's really, really obvious that she's not supposed to be a terrible friend. She's a victim of the writers drawing the Lila plot line out for far too long and making Lila's lies far too obvious.

Similarly, a lot of the issues with Adrien and Marinette stem from the fact that you simply can't draw a romance plot out for five seasons without causing issues unless you make the romance a background plot. But they didn't do that. The love square is front and center for most episodes, but since it can't actually resolve, the writers keep adding drama that makes our leads feel horribly unhealthy.

On the Marinette side, her not being able to talk to Adrien was fine as an initial issue, but we are five seasons into this show. Over 100 episodes! You reach a point where it stops being cute and starts being concerning. It's also not helped by the fact that Marinette's crush is written like a celebrity crush and not a crush on someone she actually knows. Daily exposure to Adrien should mellow her out. Especially since he's supposed to be her friend! But if the writers let Marinette talk to Adrien, then they'd grow closer and might feel like they had to get together, so they couldn't let that. Thus Marinette being a disaster for four seasons and the terrible shoehorned plot to try and justify it in season five.

On the Adrien side, they let Chat Noir confess too soon. Prior to that, the Ladynoir relationship was a playful one where it was feasible that Ladybug just viewed her kitty as a massive flirt. This was especially true since he flirts with everyone. But once she knew that he was serious? The playfulness vanished and Chat Noir started coming across as entitled and pushy. It didn't help that they had him ignoring her preferences ("Don't call me Bugaboo") and getting them in trouble by not taking his job seriously (his flirting getting them hit in Oblivio).

In summary, the love square should have been resolved much sooner or been relegated to a b plot that got far less attention. I also would have reversed the square since it makes for a far more interesting story that you can organically draw out longer, but that's just me. I don't have any issue with people ignoring the canon problems and just writing Adrien and Marinette as the cute couple that they were obviously intended to be. I also enjoy fics that treat Adrien's pushiness as a character flaw that can be resolved because that's what canon should have done. His issues aren't the mark of a terrible person. They're the understandable flaws of a teenager who is in love for the first time and doesn't know how to express himself. If a show would actually address this kind of common tween/teen issue, then a lot of kids would get an incredibly valuable lesson that would help them when they grow up and fall in love. If you're ever watching Miraculous with a kid, I strongly encourage you to approach Adrien's character from that perspective. Talk about why his actions are understandable, but ultimately wrong and more likely to push someone away than win their heart just like we see with Ladybug.

#ml writing salt #ml writing critical #ml fandom salt #ml fandom critical #adrien deserves better #marinette deserves better #alya deserves better #This is what I mean when I say that I'm a character sugar blog and a writing salt blog #The issue is not the character concepts or the general story ideas #The issues all come from the execution #It's also why I am happy when shows only get a few seasons #I truly think we would have gotten a better story if Miraculous only had three seasons to work with

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ilwinsgarden · 3 months

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Few days ago I found this book in Czech (!) online eshop with second hand books -

And I thought wow, old, no, vintage Doctor Who book, that's awesome, I'll get that, even the price isn't the lowest (obviously). In the shop there are always few pics from inside and one has an illustration too, so I've thought - looks great, maybe there will be more.

The book came yesterday and first I was surprised how big it is, for some reason I've thought it's A5 size and thinner (even there are the pictures in the shop and also pictures with a hand, so you can get the idea of the size (or at least some people can, obviously I can't :D. Anyway). And then I opened it and browsed through the book and was amazed. There is more than just few illustrations like this -

Also some comic strip stories -

And also some Doctor Who themes related short chapters (also illustrated) like about universe and planets and so (but like really science. Well popularized, but still).

Well, some of the illustrations are...

Let's say not so stunning (though it still looks much more like Two than I'd ever manage) and it's still better than this -

I don't know how well it's to be seen in the picture, but in real, it looks like the face was cut from another picture and glued on here and it's kinda creepy (and funny). (looks like it could be a reaction picture too :D)

Nevertheless it still looks fantastic (despite the fact there's no Five even though he's on the cover. And it looks the most stories are with Four) and the illustrations (well, except for the copy-paste monster) are great, so I wanted to know who did them. Authors are nowhere to be find there, but instead, I found this -

Which is the main reason why I bother writing this post. Like - WHAT?! How could Doctor Who book be printed in 1981 in communistic Czechoslovakia??? (well I don't quite get having something printed in another country in general, though it would be probably the cost reasons? But Publishers from Great Britain sent materials (or how could this work) in communistic Czechoslovakia to print Doctor Who book (science-fiction including some comics bits(!)) for them? How did they come to think about our small country? In 80's? (well, yes, not so far to the end of communism regime in our country, but still). I tried to search for it according to the SBN number but I found only some shops where it was listed, one has more information, saying it's collection of previously published things (and named where it was published and when (and again, no authors or illustrators mentioned)) I just don't get it. Could anyone here know something more about this?

#doctor who #doctor who books #classic who #first doctor #third doctor #fourth doctor #second doctor #classic doctor who #long post

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thewriteadviceforwriters · 1 month

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Hey there! How are you? Hope you’re having an awesome 2024 until now and that you’re doing well. Your blog like always it’s amazing and helps a lot all of us, the “Morally Grey Character” post that you’ve posted recently came right on time since I’ve been working on a character like that for my book ❤️

I wanted to ask you though, since you’re incredible at explaining honestly and also super knowledgeable on everything we’ve sent to you up until now: How do I turn two Enemies into Enemies With Benefits?

Because I’ve been trying to do this for my story, but every idea that comes to my mind to make them go from simple Enemies to Enemies with Benefits I’m afraid might come out too “forced” whereas I want it to be more like… Natural and smooth because they both have a big attraction to one another. I’m aware that I’ve gotta build the sexual tension and tension in general between them, but I’m confused as to how, at what point and what makes the two characters make the step of becoming Enemies with Benefits.

I know my ask sounds a lot confusing, I apologize in advance… I’m not good at explaining things without dragging it 😭

And also I thank you in advance for the answer you’ll give to my question! Looking forward to it! Have a good day 🫶🏻❤️

I am truly grateful for your kindness and support. It brings me joy to see that my blog is helpful and informative to you all. I hope this post helps clarify any questions you may have about the enemies to enemies-with-benefits trope. Please don't hesitate to contact me in my Tumblr inbox with any questions or concerns about novel writing at any time. <3 - Rin T.

Crafting Compelling Enemies-to-Enemies with Benefits: A Guide for Fiction Writers

In the realm of fiction, relationships come in all shapes and sizes. One particularly intriguing dynamic that captivates audiences is the enemies-to-lovers trope. But what about its lesser-known counterpart, enemies-to-enemies with benefits? In this comprehensive guide, I'll help you delve into the intricacies of this complex relationship arc.

Understanding the Enemies-to-Enemies with Benefits Dynamic:

At first glance, the enemies-to-enemies with benefits trope may seem paradoxical. After all, how can two individuals entrenched in animosity find common ground, let alone engage in a mutually beneficial arrangement? Yet, beneath the surface, lies a rich tapestry of emotions, desires, and vulnerabilities waiting to be explored.

To begin, let's dissect the core elements of this trope:

Establishing Initial Conflict: Every compelling narrative thrives on conflict, and the enemies-to-enemies with benefits trope is no exception. You must first establish a strong foundation of animosity between your characters. This conflict can stem from a myriad of sources, such as clashing personalities, differing ideologies, or past grievances.

Transitioning to Cooperation: The beauty of this trope lies in its ability to subvert expectations. As your characters navigate their adversarial relationship, they may find themselves begrudgingly working together towards a common goal. This transition from outright hostility to reluctant cooperation forms the crux of their dynamic.

Exploring Unlikely Connections: As your characters spend more time together, they may begin to uncover unexpected similarities or shared experiences. These moments of vulnerability and camaraderie serve as catalysts for deeper emotional connections, blurring the lines between adversaries and potential allies.

Embracing Complexity: In crafting an enemies-to-enemies with benefits storyline, embrace the complexity of human relationships. Your characters are multifaceted individuals with their own motivations, flaws, and desires. Allow room for growth, redemption, and self-discovery as they navigate the tumultuous waters of their relationship.

Tips for Crafting Authentic Character Dynamics:

Now that we've outlined the foundational elements of the enemies-to-enemies with benefits trope, let's explore some practical tips for bringing this dynamic to life in your writing:

Develop Fully Fleshed-Out Characters: Your characters should be more than mere archetypes or caricatures. Invest time in fleshing out their backgrounds, motivations, and internal conflicts to create nuanced and relatable protagonists and antagonists.

Show, Don't Tell: Instead of relying on exposition to convey the evolution of your characters' relationship, show their progression through meaningful interactions, dialogue, and subtle gestures. Let their actions speak louder than words.

Create Tension Through Contrasting Moments: Contrast moments of intense conflict with unexpected moments of vulnerability or intimacy to create a compelling push-and-pull dynamic. This juxtaposition adds depth and dimension to your characters' interactions.

Allow Room for Growth and Redemption: Resist the temptation to pigeonhole your characters into rigid roles. Instead, allow them to evolve organically over the course of the narrative, undergoing personal growth and redemption arcs that defy expectations.

Balance Heart and Humor: Inject humor and wit into your dialogue and narrative to lighten the tension and add levity to your characters' interactions. A well-timed quip or playful banter can go a long way in humanizing your protagonists and engaging your readers.

FAQ:

Q: Can enemies-to-enemies with benefits relationships realistically lead to a happy ending? A: While the journey may be fraught with obstacles and challenges, the beauty of fiction lies in its ability to defy conventions and expectations. With careful planning and nuanced character development, even the most unlikely relationships can blossom into something beautiful.

Q: How do I avoid falling into clichés or tropes when writing this dynamic? A: The key to avoiding clichés is to approach your characters and their relationships with authenticity and depth. Focus on crafting unique personalities, motivations, and conflicts that defy traditional stereotypes. Additionally, be willing to subvert expectations and take risks in your storytelling.

Checklist for Crafting Enemies-to-Enemies with Benefits Storylines:

☑️ Establish a strong foundation of conflict between your characters. ☑️ Develop fully fleshed-out protagonists and antagonists with their own motivations and flaws. ☑️ Show the progression of their relationship through meaningful interactions and subtle gestures. ☑️ Allow room for growth, redemption, and personal development. ☑️ Balance tension with moments of vulnerability and humor.

Creating Sensual Tension in Enemies-to-Enemies-with-Benefits Relationships Checklist:

(More detailed checklist for you to use)

Establish a Strong Initial Conflict:

The initial conflict between the characters should be significant and believable, creating a solid foundation for their enmity.

Clearly define the reasons behind their animosity, ensuring they are compelling and emotionally charged.

Develop Multidimensional Characters:

Give each character unique and relatable personality traits, strengths, and vulnerabilities that contribute to the complexity of their relationship.

Avoid making one character solely good and the other purely evil; instead, explore shades of gray to add depth and nuance.

Gradually Reveal Vulnerabilities:

Slowly unveil the vulnerabilities and insecurities of both characters, allowing readers to empathize with their struggles.

Use these vulnerabilities to create moments of intimacy and emotional connection, which contribute to the sensual tension.

Establish Witty Banter and Verbal Sparring:

Craft sharp and intelligent dialogue, filled with verbal sparring and clever exchanges.

The characters' banter should showcase their wit, showcasing their intellectual attraction and keeping the readers engaged.

Utilize Body Language and Subtle Gestures:

Pay attention to non-verbal cues, such as body language, facial expressions, and gestures, to convey the characters' unspoken desires and attraction.

These subtle cues can create powerful moments of tension and anticipation, heightening the sensuality of the relationship.

Incorporate Intense Emotional Conflicts:

Introduce emotional conflicts and dilemmas that challenge the characters' motivations, beliefs, and desires.

These conflicts should push them closer together while simultaneously pulling them apart, intensifying the sensual tension.

Foster Unexpected Moments of Vulnerability:

Create moments of vulnerability, where the characters let their guards down and reveal their true selves.

These instances of emotional exposure deepen the connection between the characters and contribute to the evolving sensual tension.

Utilize Delayed Gratification:

Build anticipation by delaying gratification in physical encounters between the characters.

Instead of rushing into intimate scenes, use tension and desire to heighten the impact when they finally do become physically involved.

Explore Power Dynamics:

Investigate power dynamics between the characters, as power struggles can add complexity and tension to their relationship.

Allow power dynamics to shift and evolve over time, providing opportunities for character growth and deepening the sensual tension.

Show Growth and Transformation:

Illustrate how the characters evolve and undergo personal growth throughout the narrative.

As they confront their own flaws and overcome obstacles together, their sensual tension should evolve organically, reflecting their changing dynamic.

Hope this helps. Happy Writing! - Rin T.

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bthump · 7 months

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Ik what your stance is on liking Griffs character and I have nothing against it because Griffith's character is arguably one of the best written characters in Berserk, he's actually my guilty favorite.

But sometimes, I catch myself SILENTLY judging ppl who like characters that do morally incorrect things like Mori from Bungou Stray Dogs who's a straight up p*do or same with Hisoka or many other characters who tend to be p*dos and r*pists.

so i guess my question sorta fall in, when do you draw the line in liking a character?

I mean, Griffith did unfortunately rape casca (a horrible writing decision, really). anyways, I guess I sorta try to seek justification like "Oh but Miura wrote the rape scene in such a ridiculous way that I can't seem to really fully have the idea that Griff is a rapist in mind"

or sometimes i just yk, love the character design and how he was written (esp post eclipse god, he is awesome!!)

but sometimes...I see ppl who are justifably upset that I like a character that happens to SADLY have a stupidly written key point where he rapes a character.

And I don't blame ppl who hate Griff for raping her, bc theres been times where I also hate charcters for how they were pedos or also SA'd someone...so why is the line so blurry when it comes to liking Griffith and how can I ig put myself in a position where I don't feel bad for liking him?

tbh I don't have a line when it comes to fictional characters.

Or maybe more accurately, my line isn't which characters people like, but how they discuss them. I wouldn't judge someone (morally, I might judge their taste lol) for liking any character ever, no matter how awful, because I don't know what they like about them, what their lines are, what they feel comfortable ignoring or reasoning away or happily playing up because they like dark shit in fiction, etc. It's all fair game as far as I'm concerned. If they like a rapist I don't assume they love real rape, I assume they like dark fiction and consider them a really well-written villain, or they like other aspects of the character and the rape doesn't ruin it for them, or they like the character design and don't care that much about fictional crimes, or maybe they have a rape kink which is also perfectly fine, etc.

But yk, when people use harmful rhetoric to discuss a character they like, that's when I start judging. Eg I'm fine with people who love Guts. I'm not fine with people who say things like "Casca should forgive Guts for the assault because he stopped himself before going too far," eg. I'd be fine if they said "Casca should forgive Guts because it would make for a more satisfying story" though - I'd judge their taste in fiction and ability to analyze the story lol, but I don't think that opinion would make them a bad person. I'm fine with people who love Farnese, I'm fine with people who prefer her to Casca, but I'm not fine with anyone who might frame it like, Farnese is better than Casca because she's rich and white and from a respectable family. (I've never seen this take lol, but yk, as a hypothetical.)

Also in my personal experience I find that people who like characters due to their own offensive biases tend to have a hard time hiding it, so it's pretty easy to judge them by their own character, rather than their fictional preferences. And in my own experience the worst kinds of people tend to like heroic characters more than villains lol. If anything I find that liking characters who do "morally incorrect things" is often a sign that I'll get along with that person.

There's also something to be said here re: watsonian vs doylist perspectives. I think people who view media from a purely watsonian perspective, ie kind of buying into the fictional story as if it's real, attempting to understand the characters the way someone would understand a real person and relate to them on those terms, are going to have a harder time dealing with morally dark characters.

I tend to view media from a doylist perspective, which means I view the characters as constructions that help tell a story, and I generally judge them on what they bring to that story and how effectively they serve it. I wouldn't want to be friends with most of my faves, and I like a lot of characters who do terrible things, because those characters are fun to watch and read about. So disliking a character just because they did a bad thing doesn't really make sense to me on a personal level. I get why other people feel that way, but I don't care about fictional harm. I'll hate a character for being mildly annoying when they're on screen, but I generally won't hate a character for committing atrocities, unless they're depicted in a way that pisses me off lol. Like, I love Femto, I hate Isidro. Femto is cool even with the obnoxious rape scene, Isidro is annoying even though he's an innocent kid.

(Also I guess to be completely fair I'd judge someone for liking a character who exists solely as like, fascist political propaganda. But I do mean solely, like I'm talking shit like The Turner Diaries, not like the MCU or cop shows lol. Or like, if someone says they love the protag of Atlas Shrugged they'd better clarify that they disagree with the political messaging and they like him for xyz reasons, because it's such an infamously libertarian story that I'm gonna side-eye anyone who likes it by default, bc I feel like in this day and age very few people are reading Ayn Rand for the story lol. So I do technically have some lines in terms of judging fans of characters, but they're pretty uncommon lines.)

tl;dr I don't think you should feel bad for liking Griffith and idt you should even feel like you have to justify it by saying the rape scene was badly written. It was, and I think it's totally fair if that helps you like Griffith more, but even if the rape scene was super well-written and respectful to Casca and thematically significant etc etc Griffith would still be a fantastically written character imo.

And I don't know the other examples you gave personally, but as a general rule I think it's better to judge people for how they behave than for what kinds of fiction they enjoy. I do at least have friends who like Hisoka, presumably because he's a fun, entertaining character give or take the creepiness, and they're awesome people.

I don't think you should have to like those characters yourself ofc, rape/pedophilia/etc etc is a pretty understandable line to draw in terms of your own enjoyment of a fictional character, but other people have different lines and I think that's reasonable too.

#ask #anonymous #b #theme: fandom

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axel-ambassador · 4 months

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Its 4 am for me and I just wanna talk about why poly shipping is so good especially in Total drama.

TD is such a unique show that is able to get away with having an extreme abundance of characters, and by extension, ships, without it coming across as overbearing. Like name a show with over 100 characters that you know the name and personality of. It's an extremely impressive feat.

That said with so many characters there are so many different shipping opportunities. Sometimes the writers give two characters really good chemistry as friends or enemies and the fans take it to the next level. Sometimes the writers completely fumble the potential they have and the fans pick it up from there. Sometimes there are rare pairs that in context make no sense but fans make them work and that's so cool.

Anyway back to my point. I personally hate needless drama, in real life and in fiction. Fiction especially because typically said drama involves character derailment and general disappointment for the fans of said characters involved.

My point is that I hate the love triangle. I hate the drama it caused. I hate how predictable it was. I hate that it was an arc spread over multiple seasons starting in season 2 and ultimately lead to nothing by the end of season 5. I hate how such a lazy trope is what defined Gwen, Duncan, and Courtney's characters for a multitude of years only for it to mean nothing, and I'm not exaggerating, nothing, by the end of All Stars; their last canonical appearances.

Duncney was destined to break up after island, that's not what I have an issue with. Duncan didn't have to frickin cheat and drag Gwen in a long with him. I love Gwuncan in concept, I really do, but the terrible execution of it which directly contributed to the down fall of both characters sours the memory and idea of the honestly awesome relationship between two of the most popular characters in the entire series.

And then All Stars rolls around and watching it as a Gwen and Courtney fan is like getting a warm embrace, two incredible characters are finally on good terms, only for that embrace to become a suplex, Sundae Muddy Sundae. So now you're on the ground feeling hurt and quite betrayed. And then the realization that it all was for nothing, Gwen and Duncan breaking up despite them getting together being such a huge plot point, Gwen and Courtney being back to square one despite a whole seasons worth of investment in their relationship, character derailment up the goddamn wazoo on all 3 ends, is like the show consecutively spitting in your face.

You wanna know how all of this frustration, pain, and shitty writing could have been avoided? Poly shipping.

Duncan and Courtney have a serious talk about their relationship, how it's incredibly toxic and they need to smooth things out if they want to progress as a couple.

Gwen over here having a bi panic as, oh no, maybe she likes Duncan more than she thought, and she's also slowly falling for his girlfriend since they've had no one but each other to talk to for half a season.

Courtney coming to terms with huh maybe she's not as straight as she thought and how Gwen calms her in a way Duncan never could.

Meanwhile Duncan realizes he likes Gwen for the opposite reasons he likes Courtney. Courtney knows how to push his buttons and he loves how much it drives him crazy. Gwen is much more down to earth but is just as chaotic and a rebel as he is.

They don't kiss in the confessional in London. They talk. Jesus Christ if there's one thing the characters in this God forsaken show don't know how to do it's fuckin communicate. Especially in relationships.

They come to the conclusion that they like each other, and they both like Courtney. So they go and talk to Courtney, and Tyler can do whatever the hell it is he planned on originally.

So there you go. What was meant to be an informative post on poly shipping turned into a rant and ultimately sloppy fix of the love triangle.

Back to my original point I was trying to make but got side tracked. Polyshipping is a multi shippers heaven. As a multi shipper, it's so much easier to make everyone date instead of just picking which ship I like more.

There are characters with great chemistry that would never be considered canon, Gwourtney, Alenoah, Gweather, Heathney, Nowen, I could go on. There's obviously an overlap in some of those.

I love Gwourtney, but Gweather and Heathney are so cool too. I don't know which one to pick. The great thing is that you don't have to pick with Gweathney. Or Gwuncaney. Or Alenowen. Or Aleheathcan.

There is so much potential with so many characters in this show that it can be challenging to figure out which dynamics you love best and which to pick from.

Not only does polyshipping make that easier but also hella more painless and comical in terms of character interactions.

Thank you for your time and I'm sorry.

#total drama #td gwen #total drama gwen #td courtney #total drama courtney #td duncan #total drama duncan #total drama island #total drama world tour #total drama all stars #love triangle #rant #polyamory #poly ship #gwuncan #gwourtney #duncney #i'm sorry

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crstormzy · 1 year

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castiel headcannons | my candy love

ok so i have this really annoying habit of inviting fictional characters to live in my head rent free for god knows how long. specially when they are assholes. specially when they're the type of assholes i'm really fond of. specially when they're castiel veilmont.

i also have the even more annoying habit of making extremes out of these characters in my head, but oh well... it be like that sometimes.

anyways, it's 3am where i live and i cannot sleep so here's some of the extremes i've taken castiel to during the last few years i've been obsessed with him:

so, first things first, my man is a genius. i'm not talking the einstein kinda genius, but more of a mozart or michelangelo or something like that. he likes art and he understands it and he is so good at it. like, otherworldly good.

he has an awesome vocal range, but he can rock the higher register. and he can also rock the growls so that makes for an interesting combination.

i don't care what others say, i just know castiel can cook. and i'm not talking instant noodles or frozen pizza either, i'm telling you my man can cook. call it perks of living almost alone from a young age, but he is a really great chef (and a really great lover, so be ready for a lot of breakfast treats if you're dating him).

although he is a singer (and a pretty good one at that), castiel just loves bad karaoke nights. like, all out awful singing: out of rhythm, out of breath, out of tune. he's paid to be a good singer all other nights of the year, so he definitely seizes the opportunity to just be a shitty one for a while.

songwriter is coded into his dna. like, waking in the middle of the night, genius ideas, music out of everything type of songwriter. dude writes like he's running out of time.

his lyrics are so deep, always with beautiful metaphors and the kind of thing that just guts you every. fucking. time.

or they're just vulgar nonsense. there's literally no in between.

can sleep anywhere. tour bus? yeah, sleeping. library table? long gone. the most uncomfortable chair in existence? catch him going. his bed, though? forget it. after midnight his brain simply starts running a mile a minute.

not. a. morning. person.

no, seriously. he hates mornings with a passion, specially during hsl. probably because he's always going to sleep horribly late, but he hates having to wake early for anything at all. the only exception is if he's really really really excited about something.

he can hold his liquor, but he hardly ever drinks enough for it to be necessary because he doesn't like the idea of losing control of himself.

stopped smoking somewhere after high school. he was never really dependant on nicotine and after a while (specially after crowstorm) he just stopped altogether. the sensation was nice and all, but kinda of not worth it anymore.

was bullied into becoming crowstorm's vocalist.

also hates instagram with a passion. shows up once every three months, posts a single story (after his manager grilled him for weeks to make any appearance at all) and promptly vanishes again.

would get rid of his phone if he could but, since he can't, he just isn't much of a user.

castiel please stop telling paparazzi to fuck off please for the love of god the press team is begging you stop trying to rip their cameras out of their hands please please

can be very polite and well mannered when he wants to (but he never does)

my boy is a charmer. like, literally everyone falls for him. and then he opens his mouth and just manages to be the biggest asshole ever.

(he claims it's also part of his charm)

lots of people speculate about how many plastic surgeries he's had. partly because he's very pretty, but mainly because of the nose and the eyes. no one believes his nose wasn't bought, and lots of people think he wears contacts.

(in truth he is terrified of plastic surgery, but, ironically, if he wasn't his nose would probably be top of the list of things he would wanna change)

anyways i could spend literal days talking with how much time i've spent with him inside this silly little brain of mine. these are some of the headcannons i could think of on spot but god knows i have so many more...

#he's just such an asshole #i love him so much #please castiel stop terrorizing paparazzi #mcl castiel #castiel veilmont #mcl castiel headcanons #mcl headcanon #crowstorm #mcl crowstorm #my candy love

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prototypelq · 3 months

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if i may ask, what's your favorite fictional horsie? (ask inspired by the recent darksiders posting, which btw has some awesome-looking horses :D)

MUTUAL YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A LANDMINE. or more like a pressure plate that is wired to a nuclear landmine under Me.

oh no I am forced to confront my sins over unhinged animal obsessions now, okay

(MAGIC HORSEGIRL TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE)

sidenote: while writing this I realised that the ask implied any kind of fantasy horse, but I'm now shoulder-deep in gaming horses tangent soooooo lol sorry not sorry. as for fantasy outside of games I really like the idea of Sleipnir, or any other kind of multi-legged horse, Ghost Rider flaming spirit horse is also super cool. Any horse-like creature that is predatory is freakishly awesome. Additional points for adding horns, scales, or swapping hooves for split-fingered/artiodactyl-like legs.

To be honest, I wish this ask was harder to answer than it is, because truth be told, there are very few games with horses. Decent horse animation is even less common than actually good horses, which is another factor that makes me very sad and harder to enjoy these mounts. Additionally, most of the games use horses as... 'car stand-ins' basically, there's very rarely anything uniquely Horse TM about the mounts, and usually they feel like glorified speed booster with questionable animations.

(spoiler: no, rdr2 does not have good horse animation, I have looked with literal scientific lens at thas game, consulted with different horsegirl enthusiasts about it, saw literally every available to public lecture on everything-horse-developed for it, and have concluded that, horse animation is overly complicated with little to-no noticable results, as are most things with that game. more on this later)

I'll obviously be forced to come back to RDR2 topic, but shelf it for now. Here be some of my fav horsies in games, not in any particular order (except RDR2 which will be discussed below).

Darksiders is pretty much a DMC-cousin series but with horses and this makes it so cool. The designers of horses for the Riders of the Apocalypse have gone out of their way to make all the Riders and their mounts look absolutely stunning. Despair looks both awesome and riveting and is my personal fave, Rampage has Mane Magic TM same as his rider Fury, Mayhem looks really cool in that armor, but, of course, Ruin is the posterchild for the series, and rightfully so!

Ruin is built absolutely true to his name. This horse looks like it runs on V8 infernal engine and pisses nuclear monster energy. He has fangs. His hooves scorch the ground underneath. This horse has the muscle mass of a red giant sun about to go supernova. He looks absolutely insane, the only thing you could fear more than this horse in a room is the person who is controlling him. So yes, an extremely fitting mount for War. (Ruin also has awesome mane physics, much appreciated)

Sadly, out of four Darksiders games, there are horse levels only 2 of them - those being the first two games (3 and Genesis are good, Genesis especially, but they both distanced themselves from 'big maps with dungeons' style maps, so horses are not really needed. Genesis has levels you can ride in, but the horses are not really needed in it, still, they are a welcome addition, especially with fans getting the final fourth horse design). Darksiders I and II are very much horsegirlgamer games, as both have Mounted Bossfights, which are BADASS, the Guardian fight in DS2 especially. Both really make you feel like the mythic Rider of the Apocalypse, they are amazing.

Darksiders II also gets an important mention from me for having The Best Trot Animation In Gaming To This Date. The horse trot is fluid, looks very expressive and it's clear Despair slows a lot of this, so it's not his preferred gait for riding, but the main highlight is Death's animation.

Most of the games are lazy with trot, as one of the riding techniques for handling it is just...sitting in the saddle aggressively (I mean it literally, as horse movement on trot is designed to throw you off, so technique number one is basically pushing yourself back into the saddle to counteract this). So the games are usually lazy and just glue the rider to the saddle to show this. However, the second, easier really, way to ride on trot is posting, which is standing up and down in rhythm with the horse's leg movement. Problem with trot is that you need to relearn it for each individual horse, as they all have different builds, leg lengh, breed, etc. With one horse it's easier to stay sitting, with another it would be impossible, but posting will be easy to do, and with some horses you can't do either, so your only hope is holding on until you change speed and gait.

youtube

Death's movement in this trot animation is so fluid, so minimal and effortless - it's natural for him. He is in complete harmony with Despair, and the way he posts shows exactly that. 10/10 best trot animation ever, fight me.

Okay so, from a very much deserved highlight, to a not really deserved one - Dragon Age Inquisition. I'll say from the get-go, the mounts in this game suck, they don't even alter your speed of movement! They are completely useless. You could rip a minecraft horse in their place and it would feel better to control, be more useful and have better animation than DAI native mount system. That said, their designs are so cool, Dracolisks especially.

Fun fact, even the game's Horsemaster pretty much throws hands at seeing these things. You know how a normal horse when mean transformes into a 400 kilo beast with immense bite force and body mass that can crush you? Well, dracolisks don't look that heavy, but they also seem to be ready to hunt you for sport and giggles. 10/10 intense factor, they look awesome and as a supposed leader of a world-saving institution you look very impressive while riding them (and frighten 99% of the population). (it's also hilarious to imagine a Maximus-Flynn situation from Tangled between these temperamental beasts and your poor party members or love interest)

Thankfully, most of my mutuals have been acquired pretty recently, meaning, after my Big Horizons Phase xD I really love HZD, and one of the neat things about it is actually horses!

Horizon ZD is the game that has the best controlling horses out of all the games I've played (yes, even rdr2 loses to it for a big reason I will elaborate later on), and the formula of it's success is very fun to look into: it lies in three very important factors: horse brain, player controls and animation, all of which have been solved simply, yet with grace.

HZD has made sure that your chosen mount has it's own pathfinding system, which does not turn off when the player starts riding the creature, so you can, and I almost quote the devs here - you can ride into a patch of woods on high speed, leg go of your controller, and the horse will avoid collision on its own. Isn't it just great when your supposed animal has it's own pathfinding made to simulate brain activity and their feeling of self-preservation. Point two: controls. The most important aspect of HZD mount controls is that - you keep controlling Aloy, the moment she starts riding there is no magical control transition in favour of your mount. There is no 'go forward' button, even pushing the stick forward works only for walk. You keep controlling Aloy, who is now riding on top of a horse-like-machine, so to go faster you press the button for her to kick the horse into next gear. To stop or slow down, you don't use sticks and don't let go of 'go forward button', that will actually do nothing, instead you need to press the button to make Aloy hold the cords of the machine closer. Under the surface, every game's horses are just 'reskined cars', but details like this make the player feel different, make you feel like your controls don't magically transcend to the animal your controlled character is on top of. This detail is small, but it's impact is very big, I assure you. Point three: animation. HZD devs did an awesome animation trick for the running cycle of Aloy and the horses, as those two are the ones players see the most of, and they are the first ones to get repetitive and boring for the player. Basically, animators did three variations of run cycle with different weight distribution (model veers sideways and steers back into weight neutral position), then coded in a system to randomly blend bits of these run animations together. The result is a partially randomised run animation, made out of fleshed-out hand-made ones, so it always looks good, quite diverse, and is not as repetitive. (I wish I remembered the specific talk where devs explained this, but there are so many of them, all fascinating btw, and its been a few years so sorry no source for you)

Two honourable mentions for the games I have not played myself, but they really deserve it when we're talking about horsegirlgames: Zelda BOTW and Shadow of the Colossus. These games have horses right out of every horsegirl's dreams - they are big, their manes long and gorgeous, their run animation so cartoonishly expressive yet graceful, it's mesmerising. Certified horsegamergirl games.

Honestly, it's impossible to not fall in love with them (unless you don't have a platform to run either of these, ahaha, fuck console wars).

And now. Now for the black sheep of my horsegames list. RDR2.

Disclaimer: I have spent way too much time in this game. 'got Zoologist' kind of too much time. While I will be critical, the game is certainly an acquired taste, and there have been enough people singing praises to it and never having the issues I got after putting hundreds of hours into it. I had a great time, which turned very sour after these hundreds of hours. Some players keep loving this game forever, some despise it from the start. Play on your own to formulate a personal opinion and don't defer to any of these camps.

RDR2 is a western movie through and through, and by that I mean that the game is extremely pretty on the outside, but has nothing substantial on the insde. This illusion held for me for long enough, but I was much saddened by peeking behind the curtain, and seeing what I found there. Again, this is a personal issue, it doesn't mean the game is bad or good, but my dissapointement is tied pretty much directly to how the game handles horses, since, y'know, this is supposendly 'the ultimate horsegirl game'.

The sad truth is that RDR2 horses are exactly 'reskinned cars', which is the trap that renders most of gaming horses so so so boring, but the illusion the game creates holds strong for a long while, plus the personification of your horsie (saddle, mane customisation, etc.) actually strenghtens that illusion big time.

I have pointed out what HZD did right for horses to feel so good thoroughly for a reason, said reason is: RDR2 got every point on that list wrong.

Let me show you some examples of RDR2 horse pathfinding.

youtube

I chose these two specific clips for a reason - both are prime examples of exactly how lobotomised RDR2 horses are, but in different ways. First clip is user error (besides the fact that no horse could ever run on railways but I digress) - I have been enjoying the scenery too much, and the stick angle proved too much, so me and my beloved horse fell straight to our deaths off the side of that railway. I think it's pretty self-explanatory that irl horses are very self-preservation centered animals, and they don't just fall down random pits. If the RDR2 horses had kept their AI pathfinding running while the player controls them, this simple user error could have been negated - as the pathfinding system would quickly flash a 'don't fucking run into a pit', keep input from registering and the horse would just follow the side of the road without tumbling down. Which, in gamer's eyes would also roleplay as horse having it's own brains. The second example is even weirder - I've been using the 'cinematic mode', which means I put down the controller, and the horse is following the road to my chosen destination on his own, so, y'know, this should be a prime example of horse pathfinding. Wrong again! Granted, that weird woman is some sort of random event, she is not usually there, nor are there barrels, but if the object has a collison parameter it should have been freakin registered and the horse was supposed to jump over it.

So yeah, RDR2 horses are completely lobotomised to any sense of navigation, this has been likely done in favour of more direct player control and easier cinematic setups.

Point two: controls. This one is actually mixed, and I'll start with the good thing for a change. The good thing is RDR2 is literally the only game to allow for lateral movement for mount, in short, this allows you to turn around your horse clockwise while remaining in one place, basically spinning, on trot and gallop too no less! If you try the control inputs for this in any other game, you will end up circling around a set point, and not spinning in place. Which, very cool actually, and yeah the opportunity to do this feels good. Another great detail is Handling stat - which is, how responsive is your horse to your inputs (ex. more or less maneuverable, time to turn after input, how much you mash X to speed up to another gait), which all feel very distinct. Arabians are known for having exquisitely tight handling, you need only to lightly tap the button for them to listen to you, in contrast, work or draft horses will make live for your big thumb a living hell, as they need to be kicked a lot of times to do literally anything. This idea of changing character controls for each horse is very very good, and this I will gladly praise.

On the other hand RDR2 horse controls (dreadfuly). First off - your horse works based on a 'go forward' button mechanic, also the gait change is tied to it, and if you, for some reason, just 'let go' of your 'go forward button' you will after slowing down. I remember seeing a meme where the trigger and the X buttons were duck-taped to be constantly pressed on their own, and I can tell you it's not a joke. You just might need another controller after all the X mashing this game requires you to do. Just for horse controls - you mash X to go faster, you keep pushing X to remain at current speed, and the only time you let go of that button is to either mash it again, or if you want to slow down for a stop.

If you look at HZD controls explanation again, you might see just how damaging this control scheme is to the feel of your horse being an actual animal with their own head and brain, pair this controls madness with nonexistence of pathfinding, and well, RDR2 horses are justt lobotomised to a point of being a 'reskinned car'.

Last point, might be our saving grace here - animation. And, ehhhhhhhhhh, this one's positive but mixed. RDR2 devs did a great job at recognizing how different gait speeds for horses work, as well, gait is just the type of movement horse uses, it is not as strictly tied to speed as you might think. Just as you can hop down the street, or walk down the street at the same speed, trained horses can gallop at practicaly walking speed for shows (this does not work in reverse though - you cannot reach gallop speed while trotting). Game animators did their best to recognise and implement this, so the game is calculating leg movement and is blending animation when the gait-change is happening. However, what I ended up with in game, a lot of the time, is this:

I am not sure what this is caused by, I interpret this as the animation engine shrugging and going for a coffee break. This mistake is not uncommon at all, and there will be a lot of time when you see your horse 'hopping' like this with both front and back legs for a couple of seconds.

Let's just say, this is not how horses run. This is not even how they could run if they want to, or are trained to do this. Horses' entire anatomy revolves around their movement, which is built on a foundational truth that legs move in a set pattern, if that pattern is broken - horse will damage itself.

Again, this is likely just a technical issue, it appears often enough, but unless you know this is an error, you will likely sleep soundely at night. As you can see, I am not one of those people. I did not sleep soundly at night after looking into this. I have also consulted with all my horsegirl friends and a horsekeeping student over this and all of them confirmed this as an error. Still, it is very strange, that a game that bragged it has horse testicle physics down, has this blatant and frequent animation error in it.

Okay, I've thrashed RDR2 quite enough I think, the last bit I wanted to list here is another positive one. Muscle animation and animal sounds is this game are certified clinically insane. All the breathing muscle movement after cantering has been noted and animated to a golden standard, head muscle, snorting, leg muscle, all of these look insanely good. I mean literally insanely good, the animators that worked on this deserve awards.

Also, you could never say no to horse customisation. So, I wanted to wrap this monster of a post with a compilation of my RDR2 pretty horses photomoding.

#i hope this post is horsegirl enough #honestly i needed this thank you for the ask #we need more good horse games #like a lot more #(please im begging you)#give rdr2 horses the engine of hzd ones and that game could have been perfect #alas we have what we have plus lots of stupid fall compilations #horses #darksiders #darksiders 2 #shadow of the colossus #zelda botw #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #hzd #horizon zero dawn #rdr2 photomode

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chershare · 11 months

Text

AI BS because WTF guys

So like, I know I have a lot of WIP out there. A lot of fic I haven’t updated in a long time but have no plans of abandoning because I love all of my writing and I do have plans for all of my works. It’s just finding motivation that’s the issue, not the intent to finish them.

If I’d planned to never work on something again, I’d do what most people do these days and label it as Abandoned. Hell, if I hated it and decided to axe it completely, I’d just remove it.

There are plenty of fic I follow that haven’t been update in a long time - some over a decade, and that’s fine - and I love to reread and daydream about potential endings. A fun way to pass the time, because I can come up with the endings or continuations in my own way even if they never get finished.

I don’t, however, contemplate stealing them.

There are authors that I follow that have abandoned some of my fav of their works or left fandoms entirely, and that’s fine. I have never once thought while rereading a fic I know will never be continued “hey, what if I steal this and feed it into a capitalist machine for my own amusement?” because that’s not what decent people do. We don’t steal from people, even if they aren’t doing things in the fandoms or fic that we love, because why the fuck would we.

Who the fuck does that? No writer would thank you for it, and there is no doubt that you would know it’s wrong to take someone’s work like that.

Fandom isn’t perfect, but I want to think that the vast majority aren’t the kind of people who are so selfish and uncaring as this.

I haven’t removed Tsundoku from ffnet despite the many issues I have with the site, even though I haven’t updated it in an age, because someone who uses a text to voice app that works with ffnet better than Ao3 asked me not to. I could have done so despite the toxicity that I’ve known with the fandom on that site, but for someone else’s comfort I’ve left it up.

I haven’t stopped writing despite some truly unpleasant people trying to start shit in comments for their own petty, small minded amusement, even on Ao3. Where it is infinitely better than on ffnet, in my personal experience. I haven’t stopped updating and haven’t removed my works from the web even though trolls and shit stirrers exist.

But if I find out that someone has stolen my fics - no matter how long it’s been since I updated them - and fed them to a fucking AI of any kind, I will remove all my works and never post a goddamn thing again. I changed my settings on Ao3 to users only to potentially avoid the chance of being mined by some AI bullshit, and if I’m betrayed by even the fellow users of Ao3, I’ll just quit. I won’t like it, but I’ll fucking do it.

What else can I do? At that point? Where even real, live people in fandom just... steal from me to go expressly against my wishes? Who don’t respect my time, effort and creativity?

What would be the point of writing if someone doesn’t appreciate the time, effort and goddamn passion I’ve put into my works? Because feeding fic into an AI to get “an ending” - so fucking insulting - says that you don’t respect the authors writing and you don’t respect them as people. I’m sure there are some people - I can’t picture it, but I’m sure they might exist in some fictional universe - who don’t care.

I care. I really fucking care.

This isn’t about plagiarism or anything. I don’t make money from writing fanfic, I just have fun and like to play in sandboxes and share those ideas with my readers, hoping in good faith that they also enjoy and respect my efforts. There are plenty of fics and art that I’ve seen that are similar to my own works, and that’s fucking awesome. I’ve got some other authors who link me as inspired by, and so far I haven’t had any issues with people wholesale stealing my fics.

Who cares about a few similar lines or paragraphs in the grand scheme of things, because holy shit two cakes yaaaassss am I right? That’s just the way of things. If it’s like a whole chapter or more, then it’s like “hey bro, uh, nani the fuck” but I haven’t had the actual plagiarism issue. I’m flattered when someone has a style or idea that is similar to my own, because that means I’m at that point in my writing where someone is learning their own writing style based on mine.

That is nice. Flattering. Makes me feel like some kind of fandom parent or whatever, patting the little fandom babies on the back as they grow into themselves. You use that culture and world building I started - do it child! Expand! I’m so proud of those little shits.

This AI shit? That is not flattering.

That just makes me feel sick. Violated.

The thought that someone would just throw out that bridge - that trust - between writer and reader, just fucking burn it down, is so, so fucking horrifying. I don’t know how to express it, but my hands literally started to shake when I first learned that someone would steal work because it wasn’t finished and feed it to an AI without so much as a by-your-leave.

I have so many WIPs guys. So many beloved fic that I wanted to share even if they weren’t near done. I’d never thought I’d be afraid of posting something unfinished, but now I’m pretty fucking terrified.

And angry. So, so angry.

There are authors who stopped writing their fic for various reasons, who have disappeared from fandom, not because they don’t have inspiration or are experiencing burnout, but because they died. That’s right, you’re potentially whining about someone not finishing their WIP because their lives ended. I can’t even express how much writers not finishing their fics more than likely doesn’t have a thing to do with you.

Unless you harassed someone off a platform, then more often than not people don’t care about you when it comes to updating. Funnily enough, more often than not, it’s not about you.

If you’re upset about someone not finishing a fic - something that’s done for free and fun, shared without expectation - I would like you to think of that potential worst case scenario and take a goddamn chill pill. Sure, that’s not the result in some cases, thank all the gods, but it could be. It could be someone that didn’t just dip out of a fandom or abandoned a fic; it could be so much worse, and you’re stealing from them. They don’t even have a chance to consent - not that I think they would - and you stealing their hard work because “wah, I want to see the end boohoo” is just the epitome of being a giant, entitled piece of shit.

Why the fuck would you disrespect someone’s work by stealing it to give it to a machine that is literally built to be a capitalistic feeder? Why do you care so little about writers that you would do something like this?

If you don’t like that something isn’t finished, you can always ask to write a continuation. You can link as “inspired by” and write your own, if you’re that desperate. You don’t want to/think you can’t write? Live with it. Professional writers drop series or go on hiatus for decades all the time. And they get paid.

We don’t have to share our work with you. Honestly, I have plenty of people outside of wider fandom that I can share my work with privately and never worry about someone stealing my shit again. The fact that I’m contemplating that eventuality of someone going against my wishes, violating my contribution to fandom and the love I have of my work is just - awful.

It feels awful. Like, I have angry tears of frustration in my eyes as I’m writing this.

Writing for people who enjoy it is a joy! Interacting with people about my fics is one of the highlights of fandom! Getting comments - even the dreaded wall of emojis or “update soon” right after an update - is enough to brighten even the worst of days!

People who decide that their personal wants with an author’s work is more important than going on that journey with them? Deciding not to respect the author? That kills the joy.

The trust.

The drive.

I have less desire to write and post since learning about this, and I’m trying to fight back against that depressive wave of “what’s the point?” but it’s so fucking hard guys. If someone is going to decide to steal my shit anyway, what’s the fucking point in trying to continue or find inspiration?

I don’t want to have to leave fandom as a creator. I don’t want to take away my fic from the people who love it, who have been following my fics for years and respect that I can’t always wrap my soggy brain meat around a fic and leave it for a while - sometimes years - to work on other things. I don’t want to.

But I will.

To protect myself, my choices, my writing? To protect myself? I’ll leave.

It won’t be the first relationship that’s soured and gotten bad that I’ve needed to drop like hot coals, but it will be the longest lasting one. It’ll hurt, and maybe I’ll have regrets, but I’ll fucking do it because I won’t be disrespected and have my writing used like this.

Outside of fandom there’s already so much shit that I cannot stomach having to deal with this kind of fuckery here as well. Fandom isn’t necessarily a “safe space” but it has always been an escape and somewhere that I can have fun. That I can at least trust people to appreciate my writing when I manage to update someone after a while, even if it’s a small thing.

I don’t know what kind of asshole you have to be to decide to steal someone’s work, someone’s joy, and do something like this - at least outright plagiarism is almost flattering. I’m not the most popular writer out there, but I’ve been in fandom for a while, and it takes all kinds. All kinds does not include the AI that we’ve been suddenly having to defend ourselves against since they became a real problem.

This is just a slap in the face.

The fact that maybe there are people out there in fandom who are acting like the AI Trojan Horse, stealing our works - our time, effort, creative process and enjoyment - and doing things like this? It’s so fucking disheartening and hurtful and just downright cruel.

So yeah. Please don’t steal my shit. Don’t steal anyone’s work and do something like this. You’re doing more damage than you seem to think. Not that I’m sure you’re thinking at all.

Maybe you - the people who do this - don’t care. Maybe that’s why you did it in the first place. Maybe writers don’t count as real people to you, not when it comes to fanfic or anything. Maybe you are just that selfish that only your own wants matter.

Maybe you don’t care about how I, we, feel.

But I do.

#cher shares #fandom #ai bullshit #fanfic writing #My writing #fanfiction #stealing #be a decent human being

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