#and I really do think you could get a lot of mileage out of his character

[116t98]

I think Emily should’ve been in “Max Out” instead of Ken

I think Ken, Gwen’s older brother, is a character the show could’ve done a lot of interesting things with (like exploring how he’s the only grandchild of Max and Verdona who’s left out of the alien/magic loop), but it’s hard to accept that he’s supposed to be important when he’s never seen or mentioned ever again in any capacity (he’s not even in the family photo on Gwen’s desk in “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”)

As much as I like the concept of Ken, he’s entirely needless; in fact, his episode could’ve played out perfectly fine, maybe even better, without him

How?

By replacing him with Emily, Gwen’s apparent best friend since childhood

Emily is also a cool one-time character who’s, unfortunately, never mentioned again after her debut episode, but her existence and supposed importance to Gwen is easier for me to accept bc she’s not a Tennyson, so her not being brought up in casual conversation is kinda understandable (unlike Ken, who you think would’ve at least been mentioned in passing at least once prior to “Max Out”, and then occasionally throughout the franchise)

I know that Ken only exists bc the show needed a good excuse to justify Max coming out of hiding, and what’s a better excuse than to rescue your grandchild? However, I honestly think he would’ve went looking for Emily too; not only is she a civilian in need (you can’t tell me Max the heroic ex-Plumber wouldn’t have tried to save an innocent person if he could), but she’s his granddaughter’s best friend, and it’d make sense for him to want to save someone Gwen’s familiar with

So, imagine this:

Max finds out that Emily was abducted and decides to go after her himself. Meanwhile, Ben (who’s just learned the same thing) asks Kevin to help find her on Gwen’s behalf since she’s on the phone in the background (learning more about the situation from Emily’s parents)

Kevin asks if Emily’s a Tennyson too; when Ben says “no”, he questions why he should care if she’s not their family, which is when Gwen tells him she’s her best friend. And since he’s whipped for her, Kevin agrees to help them

On the drive over to her last known whereabouts, Gwen talks about her relationship with Emily, mentioning that they’re super close, but they haven’t been talking lately bc of a fight they recently had (the reason for said fight will be revealed later on). Maybe this could be when Kevin notices Ben isn’t super jazzed to be talking about Gwen’s missing friend, which is when Gwen mentions that Ben and Emily aren’t talking either bc of a date that “went poorly” (which happened before “Pier Pressure”, so he didn’t cheat on Julie or anything like that)

The interrogation scene could play out similarly to how it is in the show, except when Emily tries to claim that she doesn’t know anything, the DNAlien doesn’t believe her since “they have reason to suspect that she knows more than she’s letting on”

Fast forward to the scene where the trio saves her from the xenosite, Gwen rushes to make sure her friend’s okay, and after confirming that she’s fine, Emily swears to Gwen that she didn’t tell the DNAlien anything about them, revealing to the audience that she already knows about Ben and Gwen’s powers

Gwen then takes the opportunity to apologize to Emily, who we now learn was upset and hurt that Gwen didn’t tell her about their powers herself, as Emily had to demand answers from Gwen afterward her disastrous date with Ben (we still don’t learn what actually happened in their date in this episode, but we eventually realize she only found out bc Ben transformed in front of her and left her on top of a building). Emily, now fully comprehending just how dangerous it is for her to know their secret, forgives Gwen for the secrecy, and the two finally make up

Then they all team up to find Max, and you know damn well Gwen taught her best friend some martial arts moves for self defense, so Emily would actually hold her own in the fight against the DNAliens (think of Oracle from DC comics)

Maybe this gets Kevin to like her, mirroring how he eventually sees why everyone thinks Ken’s so cool; perhaps he wasn’t impressed by how Gwen described her in the car (thinking she was just another preppy snob), but seeing this side of her makes Kevin reevaluate his assumptions of her. And likewise, maybe seeing Kevin be a hero and caring for Gwen makes Emily change her mind about him, having previously assumed he wasn’t anything other than the town’s resident good-for-nothing bad boy

Skipping to the end of the episode, the four teens are left alone after Max’s sacrifice

It still baffles me how Gwen reacts like this after Magister Labrid died

But she (along with Ben) reacts like this after her grandpa sacrificed himself

So, I’d have Gwen fall to her knees in despair, crying over Max, while Emily pulls her into a hug and comforts her, showcasing how supportive she is of Gwen

Ben would be silently crying too, and Kevin would put his hand on Ben’s shoulder, trying to comfort him in his own way

But they’re still in the middle of a mission and he needs to act like the team leader Max wants him to be, so Ben wipes his eyes, looks out to the horizon and rallies his team in the wake of Max’s “death”, even more resolved to end what his grandpa started

#Ken is cool and all #and I really do think you could get a lot of mileage out of his character #but given what we got in the series proper #it’d probably be better if Emily was introduced in this episode instead of Ken #ben 10 #ken tennyson #gwen tennyson #ben tennyson #max tennyson #kevin levin #alien force #ultimate alien #uaf #mine

[bonefall]

I hope you find a way to keep starclan involvement minimal because making them able to zoom call frostpaw so directly at any time raises the obvious question of why she (or anyone else in riverclan who wasn’t in on the conspiracy frankly) aren’t told who did it earlier

I’m curious if Splashtail was rejected for lives or if he refused to take them on principle

The solution is very simple. Most angels can't communicate directly! What's the point of speaking in omens and signs and prophecies if you can just say what you want

Between the realms of life and death is a sort of veil, like a strange, dusty membrane. A spirit can cross through it and try to influence the mortal plane, but it's got that disconnected feeling of working in heavy gloves.

Still, it's reliable to zip down and drag a couple of items to the nearest Cleric. They're trained in divination, learning basic systems for properly interpreting signs and omens.

The bright feather of a jay = StarClan is pleased with you

The dull feather of a jay = StarClan is disappointed in you

Hairstreak butterfly = Follow this

Snail shell, swirl-up = Yes

Snail shell, swirl-down = No

Trying to chat casually is AWFUL. Have you ever been asleep, and someone started trying to tell you something or command something of you? Sometimes you'll remember it, other times it just ends up warping whatever dream you were in, but most of the time you'll catch absolutely NOTHING. That's what it's like when gramma talks to you.

It's easier to connect to spirits you knew in life, or have a kinship with. Strong emotions make this more powerful. Rituals, like invocation (calling StarClan to connect the ancestor to you), channeling (directly contacting the spirit, usually via a sacrifical object), or prayer (catching the attention of a spirit) can strengthen the connection, but there will always be that veil.

Think of spirituality kind of like a stat. In life, having a huge number means you're really good at receiving messages and understanding intuitively if you're near something supernatural. In death, you're better at sending them and what exactly will get through.

Other assorted tidbits in closing;

More powerful spirits have a higher "stat" in spirituality, but they're also usually more disconnected from the mortal they once were.

Skystar, Patron of War, could pretty directly tell you what the confusing omen means...

But. He's very likely to angrily blast you with a lightning bolt for asking him to do something he sees as beneath him.

Thankfully this is why Invocation is helpful. If you tried to invoke someone who would get angry you're bugging them, the "call" won't go through.

Thanks to Clan cat ego and shifting popularity, good patrons often go uncontacted because they're less "cool" or unpopular. Pinestar actually got a lot of mileage out of his invocations of Bumble.

SPIRITS ARE INDIVIDUALS. Even when they've hit godly status and are distant from mortality, StarClan is not as united of an entity as it presents.

StarClan is not a fair or rational entity. It's the most powerful ancient spirits remembered over many decades, and a bunch of recent dead relatives a few generations behind the living.

Lizardstripe understands it best; the lower angels make a jury and a crowd and the patrons are the court staff.

The younger spirits are more connected to the living, but the older spirits have more functional power to pass on accurate signs

Ancient patrons, especially the founders, tend to not give a lot of "personal" attention to prayers, and when they do answer they tend to be cryptic. They are very disconnected from their mortal selves, more legend than life now.

Riverstar in particular is notorious for this. As the Patron of Water, he's essentially an abstract concept, on top of being a mysterious and wise person when he was alive.

Angels of all levels are perfectly capable of acting alone and messing things up, though. Birchface actually sent the sign that wound up getting Mapleshade’s kittens drowned, and he's just kept quiet about it out of fear this whole time.

Spottedleaf was UNRIVALED in her connection, both in life and in death.

Firestar doesn't know how she made it look so EASY... and he's also got a good connection, himself. He wishes he had more time to learn from her.

Shadowsight got his incredible connection by being tormented by Ashfur. He blasted him with lightning and turned him into a living radio tower.

If Ashfur and his accomplices hadn't blocked off StarClan, Shadowsight would have been more haunted and hounded than Goosefeather. They were the only "signals" he was picking up

(And then Ashfur ate all his accomplices anyway.)

SO those sorts of stunts are not pulled often. You need to be extremely powerful to alter the living like Ashfur did to Shadowsight

(In case you're about to ask; Goosefeather was likely either a mistake or an accident, unless I end up tweaking his story later)

The only time where you're guaranteed to be able to directly, perfectly talk to any cat is during a leadership ceremony. It's considered too sacred and personal to burden with commands, because the leader will only ever experience this once.

Going through the Moonplace is actually not a guarantee! They send very strong dreams to those who visit, more like TPB than later arcs.

As for why ghosts don't just reveal their murderer-- in addition to how hard it actually is to speak directly, most murderers simply take precautions.

It's known StarClan can be watching, but there are also demons to channel. There are rituals to ward watchful eyes.

Can't reveal your murderer if you don't know who killed you.

If you're Redtail in particular and your incredible sister breaks the law to summon you directly for answers, you actually waste the entirety of the time you got to yell at her about using the wrong method <3

But in a nutshell; no more zoom calls. You will STRUGGLE for your divine revelations and only end up receiving them when you've royally pissed them off the way God INTENDED

(also i think in the wind excerpt it said that splashtail rejected them outright, but I haven't read the whole book yet)

#Spirituality overhauls #Better bones au #BB!StarClan #Asc Spoilers

[eldstunga]

Hi! I really love your art! The lines are so bold but the colours so natural that it feels distinct but grounded?? I'm obsessed with the shapes in your work

I was wondering if you had any advice for drawing bodies? Whenever I try it either my proportions are off or an arm ends up looking like a calf or something.

First of all, thank you <3 That's so nice and I think "lines bold, colours natural" is some truly aspirational words to say about my art, I'll strive to be what you say I am <3 I do not, unfortunately, have any great tips on drawing bodies - it's a very wide topic and fundamentally just really bloody hard. I fail horribly 9 times out of 10. How to approach it I think varies a lot with like...HOW you are struggling, and who you are as a person. For proportions and anatomy there are definitely books to look at, and some rules of thumb that can help you - anything from "the shoulders are about 2.5-3 heads wide" through "feet are the same length as the forearm", "elbows are in line with the navel and the navel is two sternums down" etc etc. For me, realising just how big the ribcage actually is and learning how to use that as a unit of measure was a big event (the torso is about two ribcages long). Look at references, Draw over low opacity references and try to look for patterns that help YOU. Like... "Hm, do the shoulders line up with something useful?"

Having a good ref model to double check things helps too. The pen is pointing to about the bottom of the ribcage. But there's also stuff like maybe you're getting too hung up on construction and then it might help more to try to draw from references by ONLY blocking in a silhouette first. This helps me sometimes still:

Or you could be like me, struggle with all of the above and then some - like how to make poses look natural and/or dynamic? Weight distribution is a whole other topic.. gah, it never ends, but it's fun to learn.

Lastly, this took me way too long to realise and I think it should be said: Do not fret too much about STUDYING. The unfair thing is that the better you are at something, the better you will be at actually learning from doing studies and exercises or reading books. We accept this with many other disciplines and sports but rarely art. Mileage is king, and mileage is best gained from having fun and enjoying what you do. If you find studies suffering and frustrating you're probably better off just drawing what you enjoy and fuck it if it isn't "pushing your boundaries" or whatever. Eventually you'll get to the point where studies start to give more than they take, and then you're home free. I'm not gonna recommend a billion resources you likely won't enjoy but here are some things I genuinely found helpful lately: * a physical anatomy model, they're pricy and not necessary but being able to just look at it every now and then, turn it over etc helps. * The "Morpho" series of books, they do not teach anatomy, but they are very useful quick reference books and much more easily digested than most anatomy material. Just try to find a real anatomy book to read once your appetite is up as well.

The zig-zag/Lightning bolt method for arms and legs, fuckin' thing revolutionised how I sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCkmB030GpQ

Gottfried Bammes "The Complete guide to Anatomy for Artists and Illustrators" This thing is insane, it's from the 50's and like 600 pages long. You could absolutely kill someone with it, but a lot of the pages are more philosophical or art history you can skip and despite its age and fear factor this dude writes in a witty, clever and just wonderful way that I've seen nowhere else. Fantastic photos. By far, FAR the best anatomy book I've ever seen. It's not a book I'd recommend for someone starting out, I would not have been able to digest it like four years ago, but once you get to a certain point it's amazing.

That's a lot, uhhh, feel free to ask me for more specific tips this was a bit of a rant. Hope some of it was useful!

#art tips #.txt #asks #sorry its such a wide topic I dunno where to start

[fate-motif]

here's the character traits i think predisposes characters in the jigsaw franchise to get brainwashed by jigsaw and become a jigsaw killer themselves:

they have to believe that they did something wrong, and that they atoned for it when jigsaw tested them

they have to be already somewhat comfortable making life or death decisions for other people

we all know pee-paw's self-help seminar from hell isn't just an alleged self-help seminar, but doubles as retributive justice in case the person fails (in his eyes). so whoever is offered to join up with jigsaw has to be comfortable with both sides of the ideological operation in play. it's not enough that they were severely traumatized and have a hole in their lives that they could fill by being part of this cult, though those things really predisposes them for the brainwashing. multiple characters were targeted to join the jigsaw movement and did not feel the vibe, so i think i have it isolated to these two traits.

further thoughts under the cut

how we see this in the apprentices

this puts all three main character mainline franchise jigsaw apprentices in a very clear light, really. amanda thinks john helped her overcome her addiction and redeemed her for the things she did as an addict. lawrence acknowledges how he neglected his family and took them for granted so hard that he cut off his foot for them even though there was no guarantee they would be alive when he got out. hoffman is perhaps the one that feels he owes john the least (since he at least partially came in on the scheme purely through blackmail) but considering his intense passion for brutally punishing the guilty i think it's safe to say john testing him jolted him out of the apathetic, drunken stupor he had been living in since his sister was killed, and that he thinks that's a good thing.

(your mileage may vary as to whether logan nelson blamed himself for john's cancer going undetected, but as a coroner he seems to take his job extremely seriously. if john sparing his life caused him to take action in appreciating his life in any way, i think it's fair to say that it got him to give his everything when at work.)

and as for the life or death decision making for others, it's crystal clear at least to me why the people that joined up did. two are doctors and one is a cop. these are professions where making life or death decisions for others is required, even if you're doing everything you can to save someone's life. amanda isn't either a cop or a doctor but having been an ex-con i think it's safe to say the high risk environment may have predisposed her to feel more comfortable taking decisions that may lead to someone's death.

and it's not really a coincidence that it's cops and doctors, either. both policing and healthcare are embedded in the themes of the saw franchise. john kramer thinks jigsaw is a doctor that doubles as a cop; healing a sickness if the patient is worthy, killing them if they aren't. that's why i think a lot of traps that people like to claim 'don't work' because the players aren't being tested for a flaw or misdeed still suit the jigsaw ethos perfectly. because pee-paw may act high and mighty but what matters most to him is the retributive justice aspect of the traps. and this is the same for all his apprentices as well.

except for brad and ryan, really, but they're more than anything victims of saw 3d's rushed writing. they're only there to help lawrence stop hoffman, since a disabled oncologist might struggle to take down the armed and dangerous cop turned serial killer. even then i can sort of squint and see those two as thanking jigsaw for intervening on letting this one woman ruin their friendship and make them commit crimes when she didn't value them. the atoning aspect, weak as it is, may be complimented by the fact that jigsaw just netted himself a couple of honest-to-god psychopaths because they didn't look even a little remorseful to have to kill their girlfriend when they reached their truce. oh, well.

but what i like about my conclusions is that they really explain why the victims who were set up to be brainwashed failed

not every jigsaw game victim would make a good apprentice

yes, up front: john kramer has lost his mind when he thinks anyone would ever want to join his sick little crusade. most people do not want to kill and can't find killing in most capacities to be vile. also most people's reactions after being tortured would be to immediately try and attack their torturer. and yet the madman actually netted three people to help him out. it's such an insanely lucky number, really, proven by the fact that hoffman tries to recruit two cops and fails.

two cops. one of them had engaged in police brutality, let a colleague cover for him, and respected and defended colleagues that engaged in it. the other one may have been a little too classy to punch suspects in the face, but the way he treats jill tuck speaks to the opposite of any respect for people's dignity. both of them are fine murdering jigsaw game victims who were only attacking under the extreme circumstanced they were in! and yet they didn't even hesitate when hoffman tried to sell them on the life of being jigsaw, the ultimate policeman!

because neither of them thought they had anything to atone for.

while rigg has an entire library of things to atone for, what hoffman wants him to regret and feel bad for is letting his desire to save people affect the people around him. maybe if hoffman had any kind of emotional intelligence he could have pitched his traps to make him consider his actions on others, but instead all his arguments came down to 'look at these weak, pathetic people. they're sick, deep down, so it doesn't matter if they die when we torture them'. which rigg was never going to believe. he saw his desire to save people as innately good and unchangeable, which is correct, of course. it's just that the actions he takes are absolutely hopeless to actually save anyone in hoffman's eyes, because that desire makes him careless but in mine because policing saves no one. so of course he could never have become a jigsaw killer, because his traps did not make him think he had something to atone for.

as for strahm, hoffman didn't even bother brainwashing him, and that's why obviously he was never going to get in that coffin. the water cube trap was a straightforward execution. strahm had already seen a jigsaw trap mutilate perez for no reason other than to get them off his trail. by the time he reaches the coffin there was nothing in the world that could have convinced strahm to join hoffman.

it really speaks to how far gone and twisted hoffman is that in either of these cases, especially strahm's, hoffman thought there would be a chance either of them would even think about joining forces with him.

could any other jigsaw victims have made good apprentices?

i have a couple of ideas.

before we get to the candidates i'm going to address the apprentice adam angle, because it's a common au and everyone loves adam and wants him to be alive. also because it's a fun angle for chainshipping. this is your opening to send me chainshipping fanworks where larry tries to brainwash adam into joining him! but as it stands in canon i don't think adam would have found it in him to join the serial killers because he's not the kind of guy with a developed killer instinct. yes, he's depressed and suicidal in the original script. yes, the bathroom game makes him say out loud he wants to stop taking his family for granted. but he killed zepp in the very urgent scenario of trying to stop zepp from shooting lawrence, and i don't think he has it in him to deliberately put people in torture games where it's very likely they'll die. especially since, before jigsaw, adam had never met anyone he would actually find it in him to kill on purpose. though neither had lawrence, so i will give the adam apprentice girlies a point there.

the writers of the first movie say that zepp was having a blast when he kidnapped gordon’s family so he’s clearly he’s got the killer instinct needed for the job. the problem is that even john would be able to tell by a glance that zepp wouldn’t be able to stop himself from indiscriminately harming people as opposed to using violence for their ideological leanings. there’s a reason he was poisoned instead of merely asked to join. so while a rare find in that he might have already been primed to be a serial killer already, we all know john loves his delusion of doing violence for a higher purpose and zepp would ruin that illusion very quickly.

the only candidates i think would have been perfect otherwise would be brit and mallick from the fatal five. i've mentioned this before but they feel like they've atoned for their crimes through their game and were delusionally euphoric by the end of it. and so long as the victims chosen were on the scummier end of things, i could see both of them prompted into villainy.

you know who else got prompted into villainy? brett abbott. which is kind of insane to say considering he's a kid and i feel for him even though he did literally murder a man. it's just very hard for me to hate a kid suffering under institutional injustices even though he let that suffering out through murder. but all i'm saying is that under the right trap brett and the fatal five survivors were the more ideal candidates for apprenticeship... if only john was there.

yeah. hoffman doesn't have it in him to coax anyone into anything. he's a homemade nail bomb, not a leader. he would probably even dismiss brit and mallick right off the bat over their now missing hands, and you can't tell me he would have the patience to groom a teenager like brett. amanda and lawrence are also not exactly winning in the charm department. so really once the cult's charismatic leader kicked the bucket their way of life was doomed to eat itself from the inside out.

which is exactly what happened.

... don't ask me to think very hard about anyone in jigsaw because i've forgotten 95% of that movie

#saw franchise #saw x #jigsaw killer #john kramer #amanda young #mark hoffman #lawrence gordon #logan nelson #jill tuck #adam faulkner stanheight #adam faulkner #adam stanheight #brit stevenson #mallick scott #daniel rigg #peter strahm #brett abbott #tara abbott

[vickyvicarious]

Would you like to see all of Jonathan's speaking lines from the moment he joins the rest of the crew (September 30) till he witnesses the aftermath of Dracula's attack on Mina (October 3)? Well, here they are:

"I answer for Mina and myself," he said.

+

"May I come?" said Harker.

Both on his first day there, after spending most of his time working on documents with Mina. The former, when agreeing to the let's-hunt-Dracula pact, and the latter when asking to go along to visit Renfield. Your mileage may vary on whether he even did that, since Seward and Renfield and Stoker both forgot him entirely during said visit.

That's it. Oh, of course he talks more than that, but it's all described dialogue typically involved a larger group and even then is pretty brief. He suggests the importance of Renfield before the meeting. He leads the way through Carfax on Van Helsing's request, freezes up and has a minor panic attack when he thinks he sees Dracula, but is pretty silent throughout. The next day he has a brief chat with Van Helsing and hunts boxes. The next day, says hi and bye to Seward, then heads out to spend the whole day chasing leads again. When he gets back, the boys all have a music night and Jonathan reads his journal to them to keep them up on his efforts.

I'm not suggesting that Jonathan is totally silent or anything. But there's perhaps a reason Seward initially describes him as a "quiet, business-like gentleman." He's reserved for the most part and focused on the task at hand. Determined but not overzealous in any way that stands out; spends a lot of time off on his own or hanging back quietly.

All this to say... It must have been quite a shock to see quiet, paper-trail hunting Jonathan Harker abruptly start spitting out lines like:

"It cannot have gone too far yet. Guard her while I look for him!"

"May God judge me by my deserts, and punish me with more bitter suffering than even this hour, if by any act or will of mine anything ever come between us!"

"Then let us come at once, we are wasting the precious, precious time!" + "We shall break in if need be."

"I care for nothing now, except to wipe out this brute from the face of creation. I would sell my soul to do it!"

"May God give him into my hand just for long enough to destroy that earthly life of him which we are aiming at. If beyond it I could send his soul for ever and ever to burning hell I would do it!"

All of a sudden Jonathan is a big damn romantic hero. He is making huge declarations left and right, he is ready to hunt Dracula down and kill him in his pajamas, he is rushing and raging and swearing to God and cursing Dracula's soul to hell and offering to trade away his own. All this not to even mention attacking him with a knife and climbing out a window rather than waste any time with stairs.

Jonathan, who has always been pretty mild-mannered around this group to the point they almost find it hard to believe he could have been the same one to write about his experiences in the castle, is now in full on Addams family mode, public displays of affection and murder attempts included. And it's not like this situation isn't understandably dire as hell, an easy recipe for pushing someone past the limits of their composure. They all know that too.

But I just find it really fun to imagine the recalibration going on in their heads. Knowing intellectually the kind of stuff he did to stay alive all that time ago is a little different from watching him rampage around like he did today, and Seward definitely seemed to be experiencing a shift in his perception of Jonathan's manly fervor to say the least.

#dracula daily #truly the 'oh! he'a a bit fucked up actually' experience in real time #jonathan goes from following advice to not confide in his wife to practically giving her the kiss up the arm 'cara mia' treatment. #he very abruptly gives no shit about decorum or manners or the opinion of anyone else on earth but mina #it's Something to witness i imagine #dracula meta #my meta #jonathan harker

[wormlette]

We are not a pet play expert but we ARE someone who spends entirely too much time working with kink psychology. The good pet play on AO3 is sadly very thin on the ground and we tend to make it harder for ourself by going exclusively for fandoms who have like five authors maximum so we can't offer recommendations but to be quite honest Laios feels like the kind of guy who'd really enjoy a day collar or something similar in that it would give him, like, a physical reminder of being, in some way, wanted, and a tactile sense of connection. Any sort of distinct accessory that serves as a subtle "mark of ownership" during day-to-day works here, but "day collar" is easier to say.

He would probably want to have something that can be tugged on and used as a handle or similar, honestly. He might find use in anything that Chilchuck can use to more easily catch his attention or, like, offer a physical "guide" to move him around by - Chilchuck may not be physically strong enough to actually move him on his own, but a bit of extra leverage can probably get a setup where it's a Noticeable Physical Sensation and Laios can follow through on his own. It would be INSANELY impractical in the dungeon, though, which would definitely put a stopper to it - the handle that you have put in so that your halfling pick-lock can have a shot at moving you around at will can also be utilized by enemies who were capable of moving you around previously and probably don't need the extra handle.

We feel like Chilchuck might not 100% Get the full "belonging" aspect of a day collar, at least initially but he could definitely get some mileage out of adding a built-in handle to get Laios's attention. The issue would, of course, be in getting them to this point - we feel like it wouldn't come up super easily? Most likely, we think it'd be the sort of thing where Chilchuck makes an offhand comment without it meant to be taken Seriously and Laios jumps on it as "hey we could actually do that".

Chilchuck feels like the sort of guy where it simply wouldn't have passed his mind that a day collar could be a Thing and the idea of someone Wanting that would be a bit out of his sphere of... interest? Knowledge? He wouldn't think of it until the idea of it'd be brought up, and he honestly might take a bit of convincing to come around to it. Laios feels like the kind of guy where he thinks about "what if I wore a harness like an actual beast of burden" and then he thinks about that continually for the next five years.

We can probably give advice on tracking down resources on IRL pet play, but we can't help very much with fiction? Our #1 thing that we feel we Need to have in any fic regardless of content is good characterization, and this tends to significantly narrow the margin of Things We Can Recommend because something can be a stunningly beautiful depiction of how to write pet play but we still won't like it if it's OOC and we are unfortunately prone to having the disease where we exclusively get into stuff that has maybe three other people in the same area.

Hopefully this coheres for you we're sort of rambling with hopes that this'll vaguely get at what we're aiming for - we are heavily impacted by our own personal desires to add MORE spec. bio to everything we're into, ever, so we're unclear if our halfling agriculture & domestication thoughts would fully apply?

We definitely agree that dogs would be uncommon or rare - a poorly-trained dog can probably be a very real danger to even an adult halfling, and the larger breeds of dog can get to be bigger than them, which'll be a HUGE risk especially for an environment when they can't be 100% sure of the breed content of any given dog. You can easily run into Issues training dogs as a normal-sized human - it's going to be a whole lot harder and more risky to get something that's BIGGER than you and can seriously injure or kill you to LISTEN, especially when your stakes are "either you do this right or you are at significant risk of injury from a dog that hasn't quite been trained to be considerate around halflings".

If the dog doesn't know precisely how gentle to go with its pack, then even with good intentions, it can hurt someone very badly - you've definitely got to know EXACTLY what you're doing, or otherwise have a very good trainer. Of course, that might be able to add to fun metaphors later, so... depends on how you handle it. Or handle them, as it may be.

We think that the most familiar form of animal agriculture to them would probably involve raising things like silkworms, mealworms, crickets, and other bugs, both for general materials and because they're small enough that "raising bugs for meat" almost definitely gives more bang for their buck than it would for larger races. We feel like larger domestic animals would be significantly rarer, just because trying to tame just about anything long enough to domesticate when you're only 100cm tall is going to be DIFFICULT. Easier to just make domestic lineages of things like "animal where you can put it somewhere dark and damp with some corn meal and potato slices and get ten times the yield after leaving it for a few weeks". Of course, they'd probably have other domestic animals beyond bugs, but we can't really think of what exactly - ferrets, maybe? Humans domesticated them for hunting, but halflings might be able to make more use of them.

Hopefully some of this at least sparks a bit of inspiration for you - we're simply having fun typing Words. Good luck with your writing!

Ok this is so fucking good I need to stop hoarding it. Everytime I go to publish I start rereading and get distracted 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 Laios seems like the kind of guy where he thinks about “what if I wear a harness like an actual beast of burden” and then is thinking about it for the next 5 years… HELP… YEAG…..

I FEEL YOU I’m becoming a pet play enjoyer but so far nothing scratches the itch like it does with these two. I must do more research and yet…… I just keep coming back to Them. Laios spontaneously inventing the most avant-garde kinks in the dunmesh world… Chilchuck being like what the fuck. Well. What the fuck. I can’t not get him that. And it has to be made out of good materials. He’d fuck it up if he tried doing this himself. TWIST MY ARM. Sigh.

And god yeah the actual animals that half-foots would have … Chil’s upbringing vs Laios’ (with all his animals) would be so different. Brewing many scenes from this.

DREAMY SIGH. THANK U.

#Mantis always brings it… cherished member of the Chilaios Council

[nevesmose]

For all that I joke about primarchshipping and get a lot of angsty mileage out of it on ao3, hand on heart I don't actually think they're physically or emotionally capable of anything approaching a conventional romantic relationship regardless of whether it's with each other or with Enoby Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way who got magically transported to the Vengeful Spirit to fix that fucking slaphead Horus.

To be clear I'm not arguing that they were ignorant of the concepts of romantic or platonic love as ideas, and I think they could and did form very intense bonds with one another that can definitely be read as romantic if you're in the mood to do so.

I appreciate the sibling aspect turns off a lot of people and that's totally understandable. I guess my view is, are they really siblings in any meaningful way? They're barely even people in any meaningful way. It's like if two robots from the same factory want to clang their faceplates together.

More like Ken dolls actually. Fundamentally broken artificially created magical space Ken dolls intended, in my view at least, to be expended as necessary during the Great Crusade with the survivors being quietly disposed of just like the Thunder Warriors.

There's a short story from around the Early Stone Age of the Star Wars EU (rip) about Dengar, the bounty hunter with the bandaged head in Empire Strikes Back, in which we get to see his backstory as a swoop bike racer who crashed because of Han Solo and was then experimented on by Imperial biotechnologists who literally burned away certain areas of his brain to make him into the most effective warrior.

Metal 🤘

And in later stories he gets engaged. It was here I first learned the word "betrothed" and by god you'll come out of the series with it seared into your retinas because it's repeated so bloody much.

But it does, in its clunky 90s Star Wars "jizz wailer is a canonical occupation" way, touch on the difficulty if not the impossibility of trying to have a romantic relationship with someone in whose psyche the capability simply is not there.

To my knowledge WH canon is fairly quiet about this except for the bit in Fulgrim's primarch book where he talks about being married multiple times on Chemos.

Lol, said the primarch fans, lmao. He liked the ceremonies, he made sure he was the centre of attention at all times, the usual Fulgrim shenanigans.

But the relevant aspect in my view is what Fulgrim says about whether he actually loved any of them:

Royalty fans may recall the infamous interview with Diana Spencer and the then Prince Charles in 1981:

It was cringe in Kensington Palace and it was cringe on Chemos too.

Anyhow, this is interesting to me because Flugelhorn is the kind of person who, when he can do something, will give you three chapters and a short story about exactly how great it was. But when he fails at something I think he's more likely to destroy, hide or avoid it, for example his roomful of smashed soullessly-perfect statues in Fulgrim or flailing around like Beaker the Muppet when someone asks him if he loved any of his spouses.

I guess my point is, the primarchs aren't really human and never were. Sometimes I think of them a bit like Peter Watts vampires, which are an artificially-resurrected extinct predatory hominid species that look human-ish, and you can be in the same room as one and even talk to one, but they're heavily implied to be philosophical zombies who aren't sentient, or perhaps even conscious, in anything like the same way humans are.

This is becoming far more deep and intellectual than I intended so let's just pretend I spent this post talking about Fulgrim's favourite colour of body glitter or comparing him to Maximillion Pegasus or something.

#time to reread Blindsight and Echopraxia i guess #peter watts hates sentience and consciousness #primarch shipping discourse #wh40k #warhammer 40000 #horus heresy #warhammer 40k #primarchs #tldr fulgrim is kenough

[journey-to-the-attic]

Hi Kin. I wanted to ask, how did you manage things like writer's block or creative burnout while writing JTTA? I'm midway through a longfic now and it's kind of exhausting. I feel like I'm whining but I barely get any comments or asks or anything.

hi anon! honestly i'm not sure if i was the right person to ask this, because i... kind of didn't? as in, i didn't really have these problems - boring answer, i know!

i got lucky because i hit a sweet spot where the base story and characters were strong, but with just enough gaps in plot, worldbuilding, development, etc. such that the momentum of filling everything in carried me through the whole process. but there were definitely a lot of occasions where i sat there thinking "okay i have no idea what to do now"

in those cases, often i had to just step back and ruminate on it for a little while - i've pretty much constantly got little ideas bouncing around my head, and sometimes they hit each other like snowballs and form into more fully-fledged plot points, scenes, dialogue, so on. i try to keep track of these in notes apps, personal discord channels, etc, and dip into them if i'm stuck on something!

not sure if your fic is for obey me, but this could still apply even if not - with all the pop quizzes and devilgrams that put the characters in a bunch of new contexts, it's helpful seeing how that character's static vs dynamic traits persist/change depending on them, and often that'll give you inspiration as well. depending on what you've got available, you could browse through source material, or brainstorm aus, whichever you enjoy most

i'm really not sure HOW i've stuck with obey me for so long, but somehow it's just stuck with me. i don't remember being so invested in it before jtta, so that's probably why, but i just really love these guys, and i suppose that's why i never burnt out of it? i think it was also because i knew what story i wanted to tell, and i really wanted to make sure ik got her happy ending, and that carried me through as well

seriously, though - do take breaks. every writer's mileage varies, so take a step back whenever you need to. writing fics should be fun! sometimes it does feel like a chore, and it becomes more like 'the only thing i hate more than writing is not writing', but it happens to all of us. sometimes you've just got to rest until your second wind comes along

in terms of comments and such... yeah, it's a tough one! the unfortunate thing is that a vast majority of readers - even if they really enjoyed your writing! - won't leave a comment. don't take this as a direct reflection on your writing! often the reader can't think of what to say, is too shy, or quite simply forgot

again though... i'm not sure if i'm the best person to ask for advice here! i started publishing jtta without much expectation for an audience, given the genre of game it's written for, so any attention was more a nice surprise than anything. i suppose that, later on, when the fic was more well-established, i did start holding some expectation of response - and it really is tough when you don't get as much of one as you were hoping for

i've seen people talking about how the ask culture on tumblr has died down a lot in recent times, so i'm sure you're not the only one feeling like this! all i can suggest is trying to find more friends (mutuals?) and... networking, i guess? i've seen advice saying to share your fic within communities of writers, too

i can't honestly say if these things'll work, because i'm very bad about interacting with a wider fandom in anything - i usually keep to myself, so often i don't have much of an expectation for how and when people come chat. as in real life, i'm only a chatterbox when approached first haha

i'm not sure how helpful this has been, but i'm rooting for you! if you'd like to share your fic here, please do - though i understand if that's something you'd rather keep to yourself as well.

creating things is a joy - it might take some searching to find a circle, but the beauty of the internet is that you will, somewhere out there! wishing you the best ^^

#answering asks #anon asks

[butchhamlet]

what are your favourite things about king lear? also do you know any really good productions that i can watch online for free? asking because i didn’t really like king lear when i read it (except for edmund. i love edmund) and knowing why other people like it might let me look at it from a different angle. because i know it’s objectively a good play, and there’s a 50% chance of me having to study it next year so i want to like it

so i started writing a response to this ask and then paused to plot out my points (as if writing a goddamn essay) and then i looked at my points and i had written

fucked-up families

apocalypse vibes

women are hot

which. yeah, that's it, isn't it

anyway, to elaborate on that: i will admit that some of this is just personal preference, because i love stories about complicated nuclear-waste-toxic family dynamics, and lear is, like, one of the original Nuclear Waste Family Dynamic plays. (so is the oreisteia, incidentally.) what gets me specifically is that this is a play about power, yeah, but also about love: everybody in lear wants love, and nobody is getting enough of it. and the dynamics of the two families here get immediately more interesting if this isn't JUST a who-inherits-the-throne thing. edmund wants political sway, yeah, but maybe he also wants to be seen as more than a bastard. goneril kills her sister out of jealousy, yeah, but also, has she ever had a person care about her like edmund? (does he care about her? how much of the love triangle is about love vs lust vs calculation? these are questions that could be answered a thousand ways.)

i also read this play counter to old white guy traditional scholarship because i think lear (the guy) sucks. sorry. i think he sucks. i think he's terrifying and tyrannical and his daughters can do whatever they want (imo, his main problem is trying to apply his political power to his personal relationships, and that's not something caused by his senility. goneril and regan state at the end of 1.1 that, while he's going off the deep end a little more these days, "the best and soundest of his time hath been but rash." this guy has always sucked). speaking of goneril and regan, they're not evil hags--they're women trying to live with an unpredictable father, as well as trying to retain the little power they have in a male-dominated world. (notably, regan's husband is on her team, while goneril's isn't, and lear seems to have a lot of hatred for goneril specifically. which colors how both of them interact with power, edmund, and each other.)

i could actually talk about lear family dynamics forever (do cordelia's sisters love her, resent her, or both? how does edgar feel about edmund? how does edmund feel about edgar, for that matter? does he feel guilty at all for doing what he does? does edgar feel guilty about killing him? is the relationship between lear and gloucester entirely professional, or are they friends? can lear even have friends when he sees everything as some sort of zero-sum power love game? is kent gay for lear? <- yes) but i won't. because i have another point to make!

which is that it's somewhat comforting to me, in an era of [gestures at the news and broad state of the world], to read a play where people are like "holy fuck the world's going to shit and all the rules of society are inverted!" i read lear for the first time during pandemic quarantine, so. it felt fitting. your mileage may vary here (maybe you prefer escapism), but i think one could draw a lot of parallels between lear and [gestures out the window again]. this play is bleak in a way that few other shakespeare plays are bleak. (maybe timon of athens.) it's set in pre-christian britain, and the gods are invoked, but they're not really present. no one who appeals to higher powers ever seems to get any help or even comfort. and the original story of king leir didn't end Like That. shakespeare decided his play was going to end with the emotional equivalent of getting bricked in the face. cordelia's death doesn't mean anything at all! it didn't have to happen! edmund tried to stop it! she doesn't die in the original myth! and yet we're left with this horrifying apocalyptic last scene, where all the struggles for love and power come to almost nothing. maybe, if one is concerned about current events, this would make one feel worse. but i fucking love tragic catharsis and i feel bleak about the modern world so this horrible upsetting play is quite close to my heart <3

finally: i've already touched on Hot Women, but . i am a simple butch. i think goneril and regan are soooooo sexy. i love when women are mean and ruthless. i love when women kill with swords. i think conflating the two of them/treating them like two halves of the same Evil Daughter Character is a cardinal sin of shakespeare studies; you have to be reading with your eyes shut not to note stuff like regan's desire to outdo goneril, goneril's comparative lack of fulfilling relationships (re: lear fucking hates her and her husband sucks), or the differences in their dynamic with edmund (regan is still mourning cornwall at this point--does she love edmund at all, or is she just playing the political long game?). and cordelia, too, is more than just the Angelic Good Daughter; she's on stage much less frequently, but she shows a stubborn virtue that honestly borders on naivete and maybe an inclination toward martyrdom. how does she feel about her father? does she really forgive him? how does she feel about her sisters, for that matter? i'm not saying this play is, like, the most feminist shakespeare play ever written; i just really love the lear sisters.

other misc stuff: the themes are tasty! look at the authoritarianism! (is it right for one man to have this much power? see that line about the king being a wheel rolling down a hill destroying everything in his path as he destroys himself, or whatever). look at the gender dynamics! (goneril's dominance over albany and edmund in turn; the question of her womb; the mutual violence of regan and cornwall; cordelia leading an army.) look at the debate about fate and predestination! (#redditatheist edmund i love you). ++ the fact that it's set in some kind of nebulous unclear time period and the fool sings about merlin who wasn't even alive yet. i just think it's neat <3

as far as productions, i have a friend who swears by the bob jones university prod, though i haven't seen it in full (hi @lizardrosen :D). i also hav NTLive and RSC lears somewhere, i think, but shhhhh don't tell

i'd apologize for this ask being this long, but when my parents asked me to explain the plot of lear to them in 2020 i talked for 25 minutes so i guess we're all getting off lucky here

#max.txt #asks #dm me if you want those. i think i have them. #to be clear you do not have to like king lear. you can thikn whatever you want about king lear #but i like it a lot so here are some of the reasons why <3 #lear

[paunchsalazar]

are there any manga artists you particularly admire or are inspired by? what about their work do you like?

yes, absolutely! I could go on and on!

There are so many manga artists I admire, though some feel further off from anything I can or would want to make, and some are more direct influences, they’re all fun to read.

Here are a few favorites just on my bookshelf, ones I think about a lot…

Naoki Urasawa

I really admire his sense of timing and ability to build tension, I think he’s really good at keeping a simple back and forth conversation visually interesting (something I struggle with and seek to improve upon!)

Rumiko Takahashi

I’ve read a good amount of her work and find myself appreciating Maison Ikkoku the most. I like how she makes use of the environment, lots of gags play around with the old apartment building falling apart around them, the street that freezes over in the winter, the train that passes by and drowns out the tail end of a sentence. It makes the world feel so lived in!!

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

He has been an animation director and it shows! I really admire his sense of clarity and momentum from panel to panel, page to page! I wish I could add more pages.. but he’s so good at guiding the eye and keeping the viewer/reader oriented in action scenes, and his draftsmanship is just insanely solid. He has a sense of timing that I think is informed by animation or vice versa, I feel like it slows the pace down to something closer to real time.

Bisco Hatori

I would include whole volumes if there was space… but I love her ability to make a “moment”… to slow your heartbeat down and make it pick up again. I also think she’s good at getting creative with camera angles and using simple set ups while keeping it visually interesting. I think Ouran starts out a little chaotic but gets a lot smoother as it goes on.

I love how she lets a bubble build and then pop! before it can get too serious… she created a story with a lot of flexibility in terms of tone!

I also admire how much fun she has with lettering and speech bubbles, it reminded me that, while comics are a visual medium, sound is something useful and highly effective. I feel like I can hear her characters when reading and find it really inspiring.

Hiromu Arakawa

She’s so good at dynamism and motion. I can’t say I’ve applied it, but I wish I could. I also really like how she handles cross cutting between different scenes, the A and B plot, on paper. I often find myself in awe of her scene transitions!

Fumiko Takano

Beautiful beautiful beautiful lines… this is just one quick moment of many but I love how you can feel time swell.. the camera pulls out, the day is at an end. She achieves so much with just pen and ink and the occasional screen tone and I admire her pen(cil) mileage a lot.

#that’s all I can fit but I’d keep going… #not pictured - Kyoko Okazaki for the simplicity of her lines and use of the same setting.. feels like time is passing #so good at establishing a mood without any dialogue… atmospheric!!

[amethysttribble]

There’s so much packed into the Unchaining of Melkor, like

Manwe and the Valar said that Melkor would be imprisoned for three ages, and when that time was up, they let him out with parole (can’t leave Valmar). When he served his parole without issue, they let him out totally. Whether this was a reasonable move, I can’t say, but Tolkien does pretty much say it wasn’t a well informed move (“for Manwe was free from evil and could not comprehend it”). Your mileage may vary on how much you get out of this explanation.

But for my money, letting a prisoner serve their sentence and not suddenly extending it as it’s about to end is a good thing to do. Not seeing the evil in Melkor’s heart there after? Eeehhhh, Ulmo and Tulkas both have their concerns and doubts so this obviously wasn’t the perfect deception.

And we can quibble about whether that was an appropriate amount of sentence time in the first place, but I don’t find that to be an interesting question

What I do think is an interesting question:

Did Manwe unilaterally “[give] [Melkor] leave to go freely about the land”

and

Did the Valar ask the Elves what they thought about releasing Melkor into wider Valinor?

Within my knowledge, I don’t think the text offers us a good answer to either of these questions. Could really go 50/50 on the Valar question, with either Manwe making that call (as the Valar sans Melkor seem very cool with him having ultimate authority) or it going to a vote and Ulmo and Tulkas losing.

For what it’s worth, the text in Morgoth’s Ring says “Manwe gave him leave to go freely about the land”, but that isn’t definitive for my purposes, as that could just be legalese around how decreeing works. Tips the scales a little bit, but doesn’t %100 need to imply anything about the decision making process.

The Elven question, though. That’s more interesting and complicated still.

My first instinct would be to say, no. The Valar don’t seem to ask the Elves for counsel in the base text. But here, Morgoth’s Ring has something else to say as well, because concerning the Statute of Miriel and Finwe, “Manwe considered the words of Finwe; and after a time he summoned all the counsellors of the Eldar” (note that this is in the EARLIEST version of this story).

Once we get to the version of this story in LACE, the elven counselors have disappeared and the Valar debate among themselves.

By the time we get to Later Versions, the text becomes, “Then Manwe was moved with pity for Finwe, and he considered his plea. But because this seemed to him a great matter and not lightly to be judged, he summoned the Valar in Council. Of the long debate that they held the Elves wrote a record, for their chieftains were permitted to be present.” Complete with footnote (I), which leads us to:

“This debate of the Valar not wholly feigned [meaning: dramatized by record]. For the Eldar we’re permitted to attend all conclaves, and many did so (especially those that so deeply concerned them, their fate, and their place in Arda, as did this matter) …. Later, my father commented against the beginning of this note that the Eldar would not be present at this debate (‘certainly not Finwe!’) and that the Yalar would have informed the loremasters of the Eldar concerning it.”

Which is a whole lot of mess! The answer keeps changing.

There’s a whole lot of room for debate between “summoned all the counsellors of the Eldar” and “chieftains were permitted to be present” and the subsection of ‘permitted to be present’ being “permitted to attend”.

“Would not be present at this debate,” is also in there, but to me that seems to be a very specific instance, which isn’t applicable elsewhere except insofar as ‘this hearing was closed to protect privacy and not give offense’.

So, I now wonder, how closely are we using ‘present’ and ‘attend’. Are the Elves permitted to watch the contribute to the debate? Personally, by the time we get to later texts, it doesn’t feel like it. The Elves are allowed to sit in the gallery, but not contribute.

But I can’t say that interpretation is airtight and the text can’t be interpreted differently!

So, it feel like, under most circumstances, at the VERY LEAST, the Elves were allowed to watch Melkor’s parole hearing. Their ability to debate the matter is up to debate, the people and/or their kings might have had a say! Or the chance to present their stance before the Valar, if not a vote.

I have to bring up the line, “both the Valar and the Eldar had profit from [Melkor’s] aid and counsel,” as part of why he was realeased from parole. Were some of the profiting Elves speaking on his behalf? Either in or out of council?

Personally the odds seem slim on the Elves having a formal voice. Informal, I believe they probably did, but I’m not giving anyone democracy points for that. But going off the supposition that the informal voice was, I think the norm, does it still apply to the question of Melkor?

Because this is Melkor, Manwe’s brother-

It makes me ask the question: for family privacy, was his trial closed, too?

Maybe!

I have no answers, just a lot of thoughts and possible interpretations and at the end of this I didn’t even ask the question I wanted to examine, which is: the Vanyar rejected Melkor. Did they do so at trial or after, and how did Manwe feel about that?

#and if Manwe’s closest Elven friend Ingwe either a) opposed Melkor getting parole #OR #b) refused to consort with a legally released felon who was his kings brother #like how did that work and go down? #anyway #manwe #melkor #tolkien #the silmarillion #Tribble post #PLEASE IM JUST THINKING OUTLOUD #I like comments and thoughts not bitchy ‘got-ya’s’ #so if you’re trying to ‘win’: maybe just don’t

[dizzydennis]

I need to get this off my chest.

I’ve been vocal about the IDW/Ian Flynn haters in the past. In fact, they’re the entire reason why I mostly left this platform. But it never ends. Whether it’s on tumblr or twitter or even in twitch chats, it never ends!

Don’t you get tired? Just go somewhere else? Just ignore the comics. The argument always comes up of “We can’t ignore it, they’ll ruining Sonic.” You can. You absolutely can!

I very much hate the Animal Crossing series now despite having liked it in the past. You don’t see me constantly writing essays about how bad it is. You don’t see me hating on every bit of news that comes out with it.

Comic books are a monthly narrative. They’re a medium very different from video games. I understand that people want Sonic to be a particular way. I do too, if I’m being honest. But I’m also aware that it’s a different interpretation as has been Archie Sonic, Movie Sonic, Fleetway Sonic, X Sonic, Underground Sonic, and so on. Sonic always changes based on the medium and interpretation. Heck, he changes between games. Sonic being “chatty” in the comics is a different interpretation and part of the entire medium of comic books. It’s how reading works.

I’m not going to claim that IDW or Ian Flynn are perfect. Is Sonic too morally righteous in the comics? Yes. Is Shadow written as an edgelord and against his growth from the game canon? Yes. Does Eggman lacking any back-up plans seem idiotic? Yes. Have the stories gotten a bit too repetitive with them constantly going to the Eggperial City? Yes. Is this something worth exploding over every month? NO!

All media is going to have things that aren’t perfect. You’re allowed to dislike it, but where is the line drawn in how much you need to vent about it?

The reason I want to write this post is how the “opinions” against the comics and Flynn have gotten to this unavoidable, venomous point. I’ve seen haters say how they’re excited to see the IDW sales fall so the comics eventually get canceled. How they want to take this particular faction of the Sonic fandom and dissolve it. I ask this genuinely: What is wrong with you!? Just because you dislike a particular part of a series means you want it destroyed even for those who enjoy it? Grow up. It’s selfish, mean, and just not what fandom is supposed to be about. The insults, the name-calling, the mob mentality, and everything coming out of this negative side of the fandom is really, really gross.

I’ve seen many haters always say that there are IDW-lovers who have also bullied, name-called, and even sent death threats. Now, I have never seen these myself besides retaliating against the haters who go too far. But I have never ever seen death threats over this (it could have been to previous writers and I may be mistaken). Now, I am stating it right here that just because I didn’t see these posts doesn’t mean they don’t exist. If they do, I obviously do not condone that behavior. It is awful! But I also see the haters bringing up these examples to justify any action they take. I’ve lost track of how many times it’s been brought up. First off, you know (if the posts do exist) that it’s a couple of bad apples amongst plenty of normal fans. But it’s brought up so often that I wonder... is it still a legitimate justification for how you’re acting? Even if it was one bad post, how much mileage can you get out of that? Does it still legitimize how you’ve been currently talking about others? Does it make your bullying fair? Your words do hurt and they do get to the ears of those you’re talking about.

And about Ian Flynn. You all need to stop. No, Ian Flynn is not perfect. No, I don’t think his Bumblekast things help a lot; in fact, it muddies a lot of the waters. But it’s a stupid podcast on the side... just ignore it. You do that with what’s actually written in the comic already. However you feel about him, Ian Flynn has contributed a lot to Sonic through Archie, IDW, and the games.

But there’s such a hatred for anything Ian Flynn puts his name on. I have a former friend who hated Sonic Frontiers before it came out simply because Ian Flynn was attached to it. The moment they heard he was the head writer, they wrote the game off. I am 100% sure that no matter how Frontiers or the story within it turned out, they would have disliked it. Just because Ian Flynn was in the end credits. The insults thrown at Ian Flynn, the artists, and writers of the IDW comics are inexcusable. If he has two characters even share a panel, you call it shipbaiting. If two female characters have a fight, you claim it’s written by a sexist man. If a villain is killed off-screen or turns out to be alive, you complain. This last point is exactly how a monthly, serialized story works. I don’t know if you’re unfamiliar with comic books outside of Sonic, but this is how the medium just is. Said villain gets killed and you shout foul about how the one “queer” character was killed. How the writers are homophobic for “leading readers on” and then killing him. There have been racists posts about the fandom praising Flynn over Japanese writers. You make posts ranting and raving how Nite and Don being a gay couple is bad because they’re “nothing characters” and then you post about how Don abandoned Nite... despite the fact that literally ONE PAGE LATER, he comes back to essentially die with his boyfriend.

It makes me wonder if the haters actually READ the comics or if they scan, decide they don’t like something, and then get angry. Sonic is a comic series under mandates and rules, especially after everything that went down with Archie. No, I’m not saying these mandates are excuses for poor characterization or writing, but it does somewhat explain why certain characters are handled in certain ways. The IDW comic writers are people with the freedom to take the characters in certain directions. That’s all. They’re creators working hard.

The defenses you all set up to lean back on Pontac and Graff is also bewildering. Now, if you love the “Meta Era” of games then that’s totally fine. I honestly don’t care which games you like. But retroactively praising the writing of games like Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces is odd. Yes, Pontac and Graff are human beings and don’t deserve the massive hate and mistreatment they’ve been dealt. But their work is rightfully criticized. We went through over a decade of poor writing and canon being completely screwed up. But some of you will defend them because Eggman said he’d strangle a zeti or that the way he said the sun would crush the heroes justified so much in Forces. Why are you willing to die on this hill? For four games? For four games that have objectively more lighthearted and cookie cutter plots?

I’m not perfect in this. For a while, when Sonic Forces came out. I would make post after post about it. After a couple of months, I realized that I simply hated the game and I was harming the experience of people who liked it. I made an apology and I stopped. I still hate Sonic Forces. It’s still my most hated Sonic game, but you don’t see me reacting to the Infinite mini figure getting announced by making weeks of posts saying how badly he was written.

Just get over it. Move on. Stop hating on the aspects of a thing you’re supposed to be a fan of. Aren’t you miserable? Sonic the Hedgehog has been such a positive influence on my life. Sonic has inspired me, gotten me through bad times, and has introduced me to some of the best people I have ever met.

Why stick around and constantly surround yourself with such negativity? Again, I don’t hang around Animal Crossing things anymore and I’m personally better off for it. You’re in a fandom, but are you even fans anymore? You’ll hate everything that comes out simply because a particular writer is attached or because you’ve decided the comics have betrayed your headcanons. It’s gotten to the point where the IDW Haters really have become a joke. People see what you’re saying and it’s affecting the perception of the fandom. Moreover, you’re actively ruining the experience for fans around you and are voicing that you hope it fails.

That’s not what being part of a fandom is about. I am so, so, so tired of seeing negativity about the comics and Ian Flynn. Again, honest opinions are fine and I want people to feel how they feel. Their feelings should be valid. But having your opinions and becoming toxic to the point that you’re notorious for it... is just too much.

I love Sonic as I am sure many other fans do. Hell, there’s definitely love for Sonic with the IDW-haters as well; you wouldn’t feel so passionately about the blue blur if you didn’t care. But just take some perspective and realize what this is doing.

I had a good friend once who I thought would be somebody I could always relate to for good and bad. This friend would get angry if I didn’t agree to certain comments about Dr. Eggman and would be upset if I didn’t reply in a certain way to certain posts. It was like walking on egg shells. It came to a point where I needed to separate myself from that person. They became constantly toxic about all things modern Sonic. It made me feel depressed and guilty just to enjoy the series that I love. Toxicity is something that just corrodes you to the pit of your soul if it goes too deep. I miss this friend, but I don’t think I can ever truly be friends with them that way again. It affects me so often to this day.

Please, feel how you feel about Sonic comics, movies, games, whatever. Just realize how much your distaste for something is affecting you, your friendships, and others. I can’t stand this kind of drama anymore. I just want to love Sonic and want people to love Sonic as well. That’s what fandom is supposed to be about.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic comics #IDW Sonic #Ian Flynn #fans don't look

[sunshine-in-a-bottle]

Punz for the ask game?

HELLO

First Impression

Dream friend??? Friend of Dream??? Holding him forever

Current Impression

MURDER HOBO, AUTISTIC BASTARD MAN WHO LIKES TO READ AND LIKES TO GAME AND HAS SPECIAL INTERESTS. He has latched on to Dream and will never let go. Touch his friend and Die.

Favorite Moment

He just fucking dropped TNT on those maids and he looked really hot doing it. There's nothing quite as delightful as him logging out right after like it was a Statement. I can imagine him doing a little two fingered salute as he leaves. All the finale stuff was awesome but nothing lives in my mind quite as rent free as the image of some ordinary hoodie gamer boy gently kicking tnt off his little perch to smite the catmaids harassing a giant demigod.

Idea for a story

listen. listen. I have like 300000 stories about him. But if I wanted to write something that wasn't those it'd probably be him running errands around the dsmp. the entire story would start out really average and slice of life but it would slowly get more ominous as his errands stop including blocks and baked goods and saying hi to Niki at the bakery, and start becoming Spying On XYZ, grabbing supplies for the drunz experiment bunker, preparing the traps to catch their latest test subject. Fun stuff like that!

Unpopular Opinion

this implies I know what other peoples opinions are fjghdfk

uhhhhhh I don't think if Dream decided he wanted to forgo The Plan that Punz would get upset and leave him. I think Punz would be really disappointed, but ultimately "being Dream's friend" and "being a bloodthirsty murder hobo who longs for godhood" are not mutually exclusive things. I've seen a couple of fics handle it really well, and I adore the conflict of Punz caring about Dream but also disagreeing with Dream's desire to make nice and do peace when it comes up, because Punz just. Doesn't have faith in humanity. Punz has the people he cares about, and everyone else can go to hell.

Favorite relationship

I'm the usual sucker for Drunz. If that's too obvious, then Punz and Foolish also makes me really happy, along with Punz and Sapnap and maybe Punz and Techno? You can get a lot of mileage out of Punz's surface nature of being really easy going while hiding a lot of anger and bitterness, even misanthropy if you want to lean really deeply into it.

Actually, wait, a friendship I really like to think about but don't often get to talk about is Punz and Niki. Niki goes through a disillusionment in her character arc that I think Punz could really understand. Punz would be cheering on her villain arc, but the thing that Punz doesn't get that Niki does is an opportunity through the Syndicate to find faith again, faith in her friends, in hope and humanity.

Niki and Punz could have a lot of interesting conversations, she could even give him an offer to join the Syndicate. I can see her reaching out to him the way she was reached out to, if only to try. I can't say whether or not Punz would take that offer, its entirely dependent on what story you're writing, but as easily as I think they could see each other in the darkness, I think they could see each other in the light, too.

Favorite headcanon

Punz is autistic. Listen to me. He fixates of his Special Interests and he loves to have Opinions About Things and he is a stickler for things being On Time and Done The Right Way. I'm projecting my mental illness on to him. I just want him to complain endlessly about books and have a favorite genre and have an eye for the quality of metalwork because my mom was a goldsmith and Punz wears jewelry. Let me have my insane man.

#suds asks #my writing #LISTEN #LISTNE TO ME

[intheticklecloset]

Big Windup Coffee Shots #21-30

A collection of the Big Windup Coffee Shots I've done, compiled for the sake of ease. These are all stand-alone stories. Many are from various seasonal events.

~~~

21) Lee Mihashi, Ler Abe

“Would it be easier if I counted down?” Abe asked Mihashi with a smirk, briefly checking his watch. “I could count down by the half hour until we get home. Or I can count the mileage signs we pass.”

Mihashi fidgeted in his seat, nearly bouncing for how nervous and excited he was at the same time. He shook his head. “N-No, I don’t think that would h-help…”

“No? You want me to just surprise you when we get there, then?”

The wide eyes and not at all contained smile Mihashi gave him in response was all the answer the catcher needed. He chuckled.

“All right, then. Go ahead and pass out. I’ll make sure to wake you when we get home.”

Abe watched in his peripheral vision as Mihashi fidgeted a little more before slouching down in his seat and leaning against the window, closing his eyes in an effort to fall asleep. The poor kid had been restless due to the long string of games they’d had lately, and now that they had a three hour trip home, he’d been trying to stay awake and was failing miserably.

The catcher had initially suggested just passing out in the first place, but Mihashi seemed to want to stay up for some reason, hence their conversation. It didn’t even need to be said anymore that Abe’s method of waking him up would be a surprise tickle attack. They did it so often nowadays it couldn’t really be called a “surprise” at all.

Still, it seemed to be good motivation for the pitcher, because once he knew he had that to look forward to if he did in fact fall asleep, he was out like a light in a matter of ten minutes.

Abe couldn’t help but smile at him for it.

When they finally pulled into the parking lot of Nishiura High late that night and after everyone else had shuffled off the bus, Abe gently shook Mihashi by the shoulder. “Hey. Wake up.”

“Hnnuh?” Mihashi mumbled.

As soon as he was even slightly awake, Abe shoved his hands up under his arms and scribbled mercilessly. “Wake up, I said.”

“EEEEEE!!” Instantly the pitcher was very alert, laughing before he even realized what was happening, squirming in his seat while pressed up against the window, totally unaware of the crowd that had gathered outside to watch his awakening and laugh along with him. “AHAHAHAHAHABE!!”

Abe kept it up, enjoying the funny sounds his friend always made when tickled consistently like this. It was always difficult for him to stop once he got going. “We’re home, Mihashi.”

*

22) Lee Tajima, Ler Hanai

Hanai smacked Tajima’s hand away from the bowl. “Hey! Wait until we’re actually starting, genius.”

Tajima rubbed his hand, looking offended. “Dude, the bowl’s full of candy. It’s not like we’ll run out.”

“We have to wait for everyone to get here. At least wait for Coach.”

“You’re just saying that because she’ll get after me even worse than you do!”

“Yeah, well, sometimes you need it, Tajima.”

Hanai sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Sometimes the overenergetic cleanup hitter was just too much. They were at their combined end-of-season/Halloween party, each in costume and waiting for the last few teammates to arrive. About half of them were already here, but it wasn’t saying much when there were ten boys on the team, plus one equipment manager and their two coaches.

Tajima tried to reach for the bowl a second time.

Hanai smacked him away from it again. “I’m serious! Not until Coach gets here at least!”

“You’re no fun,” Tajima grumbled, sticking his tongue out at him. “It’s just one candy bar. And they’re not even full sized. Jeez.”

“Are you bored? Is that the problem?”

“Well, yeah! Everyone is taking their sweet time showing up and I’m supposed to just stand in front of this candy bowl and not eat anything?”

“Yes!” The team captain was growing more irritated by the moment, but thank goodness the team had ingrained a stress-relief strategy into their daily lives, because within seconds Hanai remembered and had grabbed Tajima by the ribs. “Here, maybe this will cure your boredom!”

“Hehehehey! Wahahahahait!” Tajima squeaked, giggling as his taller friend wrapped him in a bear hug, fingers dancing along his ribcage. “Ehehehahahahaha! Nahahahahaha! No fahahahahahair!”

“I warned you, and you didn’t listen.” Hanai smirked, holding him even tighter. “You’re the one who wanted a trick or treat so bad. Well, here’s your treat!”

“Mohohohore like a trihihihihihihick!” Tajima retorted, still giggling crazily. “Fihihihihine, fine, I’ll wahahahahahait! Just stohohohohohop!”

Hanai smirked, feeling a tiny rush of superiority for enough of a second to want to keep going. It was so rare that he was able to outdo Tajima in anything; now that the season was over, he had to come out on top somehow. “Nah, I still think we should wait until Coach shows up.”

*

23) Lee Abe, Lers Tajima and Mihashi

“Why are you dressed like that?” Mihashi asked, surprising Abe with the boldness and straightforwardness of the question.

The catcher looked at him sideways. “Because it’s a costume party? And this is a costume?”

“I-I know that, but I mean…” Mihashi gestured at him nervously. “Like…that.”

Abe had decided to go simple, dressing in a toga with a gold circlet on his head that his mom had made him. He’d almost left it out, but it really did complete the look, so he decided to go with it. Mihashi was – predictably – dressed as a professional baseball player.

“It’s a toga. You know, from ancient Rome? Haven’t you paid attention in history class?” Abe asked, growing a little irritated. He glanced around the room at their other teammates, quickly taking in their outfits. Sure, he stood out a little, but only because he was the only one who didn’t go all-out.

“It’s…k-kind of…brave to wear that here, isn’t it?” Mihashi stammered.

“Why?” Abe snapped, berating himself when his friend flinched at his tone. “Sorry. I’m just confused. Why is it weird?”

“N-Not weird…” Mihashi clenched and unclenched his fists. “Brave.”

All at once, Abe understood what he meant. He looked first at his costume, at the way it left half of his chest bare. Then he looked at the pitcher, then their friends around the room. “Well, now that you mention it…but I doubt we’ll be doing much of that tonight. That was just to boost our performance during the season, and the season is over now.”

Mihashi shifted on his feet, nodding a little.

Before Abe could open his mouth to say anything more, he felt cold hands squeeze his ribs from behind, making him yell before he could stop himself.

“Abe! Why are you showing off like that? You’re just begging for someone to come tickle you!” Tajima laughed, wiggling his fingers teasingly.

Abe instinctively wrapped his arms around his chest, blushing furiously at the embarrassing noise he’d just let out. “I’m not showing off! I just didn’t want to do anything crazy for this party, that’s all.”

Tajima glanced at Mihashi and winked. “You’re thinking it too, right, Mihashi?”

Abe saw the way his pitcher’s eyes lit up and stared incredulously. “What? You traitor!”

“Get him!” the cleanup hitter yelled, and instantly both he and Mihashi were on Abe, digging into his sides and waist, drawing out surprised giggles and curses from their friend.

“Stahahahahahap! The seheheheason is over! You guhuhuhuhuys!”

“So? Doesn’t mean we have to stop having tickle fights,” Tajima laughed.

Mihashi drilled his thumb into Abe’s waistline just above his hips almost on instinct, and the usually grumpy catcher threw his head back and laughed so hard the gold circlet flew from his hair onto the floor.

“GAHAHAHAHAHA!! STAHAHAHAHAP IT!! YOU BOHOHOHOHOTH SUHUHUCK!!” Abe shrieked, flailing uselessly. “PLEHEHEHEHEASE!!”

Tajima laughed again, putting his efforts into holding Abe captive so Mihashi could keep tickling his worst spot. “Sorry, Abe, but you know, this is a Halloween party. Trick or treat, my friend!”

By the time the night was over, Mihashi felt he’d gotten enough treats to last him until next spring when baseball season would begin once again.

*

24) Lee Mihashi, Ler Abe

The off-season was…different for Mihashi and Abe’s friendship, to say the least.

Having met in April before their first season together and bonding entirely over baseball, finishing up the year and entering into the colder months brought out a side to each of them the other had never seen.

For instance, while Abe was still on to him about keeping his weight consistent and his pitching arm loose, he wasn’t nearly as militaristic about it, especially as the holidays came around. Mihashi, on the other hand, was far more quiet and tense in a different kind of way. It didn’t take much for Abe to put it together that it was because he didn’t know how to be friends with him outside of the game, so – constantly making an effort to meet his friend halfway – Abe had invited him over for a movie night just for the two of them.

Now, as the catcher stole a glance at Mihashi from the corner of his eye and saw how rigid he still was even half an hour and a bowl of popcorn later, he sighed. “Is this how it’s going to be all winter?”

“H-Huh?” Mihashi stammered, looking at him nervously.

“Are you going to be all weird and quiet around me now that we’re not playing baseball? I can’t be that scary, can I?”

“N-No! You’re not!”

It sounded more to Abe like he very much was. With another sigh, he cracked his knuckles. “Guess I gotta do it then, huh?”

“What do you m-mean…? Ah! AIEE!! A-Ahahahahahabe!” the pitcher squealed with giggles when the brunette’s fingers found his upper ribs, trying to get to his underarms that Mihashi was stubbornly protecting, shaking his head. “Nahahahahaha! I w-wohohohon’t be weheheheheird!”

“Don’t lie. That’s too tall of an order for you, Mihashi,” Abe teased, grinning despite himself. “Just promise you won’t give me the silent treatment all winter, okay? I still want to be friends with you even if we’re not playing baseball for a few months.”

“I prohohohohohomise! Plehehehehehease!”

Mihashi looked a lot happier and more relaxed now, so Abe let up as requested. There was a beat of silence between them, and then the catcher let out an even bigger sigh and flopped over, laying his head on the pitcher’s lap as he turned his attention back to the film.

“A-Abe?” The catcher murmured something, and Mihashi hesitated a moment before asking, “W-What did you say?”

“I said you’re comfy,” Abe replied a little louder, though his voice betrayed that he was clearly embarrassed by the admission. “Stay still.”

And, well…how was Mihashi supposed to not smile at that?

*

25) Lee Mihashi, Ler Abe

Mihashi fidgeted nervously, shifting from foot to foot, glancing back over his shoulder at Abe, who huffed at him.

“Well, go on,” he said, nodding toward Tajima, who looked confused but amused.

The cleanup hitter asked, “Why do I feel like you’re about to apologize for returning a library book one day late?”

Mihashi gulped. “I-I was just…just wondering if…m-maybe, if you w-wanted to, um…”

Abe tried to be patient. He really did. He gave Mihashi a few seconds, waited for him to get over whatever hurdle he’d run into.

Then he ran out of patience.

He grabbed his friend’s sides and squeezed, and Mihashi yelped and immediately burst into giggles, shooting his catcher a surprised look over his shoulder.

“Just helping you loosen up,” Abe said evenly, squeezing and digging his fingers in harder where he knew it tickled more, smirking at Tajima. “He wants to ask you something, but he’s chickening out.”

“Ahahahahabe!” Mihashi squealed, though he wasn’t really trying to get away, as per usual. He squirmed and wiggled in place, hopping from one foot to the other like he was dancing.

“Ask him, Mihashi.”

“B-Buhuhuhuhut…! But you’re tihihihihickling mehehehe!”

“And?” Abe grinned, suddenly feeling playful. He wrapped his arms around the pitcher from behind, hugging him to his chest while his fingers continued to tickle up and down his sides. “You can talk just fine while laughing. Ask him.”

Tajima had to laugh at this point as well. “Yeah, Mihashi, ask me! It can’t be that bad, coming from you. What’s up?”

Mihashi had to admit he felt a lot lighter and more confident now, so he sputtered, “C-Cahahahan you teheheheach me how to behehehehe a better hihihihihitter?”

Abe kept tickling him while Tajima pretended to contemplate his answer.

“Sure,” the cleanup hitter replied, giving him a thumbs-up. “I got your back, my dude.”

Mihashi would have smiled had he not already been giggling. “Thahahahank you! A-Ahahabe, you cahahahan stop now!”

“On the contrary, Abe,” Tajima replied, grabbing Mihashi’s wrists and holding them above his head. “I think you missed a spot.”

Abe beamed and used the opportunity to dig into the pitcher’s underarms, and he and Tajima shared knowing looks with each other as their ace shrieked with happy, ticklish laughter.

*

26) Lee Abe, Ler Tajima

When Tajima playfully wiggled a feather along the back of Abe’s neck, he expected the catcher to turn around and glare at him, perhaps bat him away or even scrunch up his shoulders defensively. What he didn’t expect was for Abe to immediately let out a squeal, slapping a hand to the back of his neck so fast it actually trapped the feather in its place.

Then he turned around, looking confused and embarrassed.

“Jeez, Tajima,” he mumbled, releasing his grip and shivering as if trying to get rid of the residual feeling of the feather along his skin.

Tajima blinked, then broke into a huge grin. “Jeez, yourself.” He dragged the tickly strands down his neck a second time, getting the same reaction. “You’re crazy ticklish here, huh?”

Abe crushed the feather in his fist and yanked it from the cleanup hitter, throwing it to the ground. “Shut up.”

There was a brief pause. Just as Abe was turning around again – perhaps to apologize or to explain himself, Tajima didn’t know – the third baseman darted forward and started raking his fingernails gently up and down the catcher’s neck.

Abe shrieked this time, going to bolt out of his seat but stopped by an arm around his chest as Tajima kept him right where he wanted him.

To Tajima’s surprise, prolonged tickling here drew out a myriad of noises he’d never heard from Abe before – a collection of squeaks, wheezes, and whines that only made the exploration of this new tickle spot more fun for him.

“Aww, you’re super ticklish here! Almost as bad as your hips, huh, Abe?” he teased.

Abe squirmed in his seat, trying to pry his captor’s arm away from his chest while also clawing at the fingers scribbling against his neck, giggling hysterically all the while. “Stohohohohohohop! Plehehehehehease! It’s so bahahahahahad!”

“I can see that,” Tajima returned easily, finding a spot just below his earlobe that really got Abe cackling. He smirked. “Does Mihashi know about this?”

In response, Abe let out a startled cry that quickly dissolved into laughter when the cleanup hitter scratched consistently at that new spot. He squirmed and pleaded, “Dohohohohohohon’t tehehehehell him! Plehehehehease, Tajima!”

At that moment Tajima glanced up and saw said pitcher jogging toward the dugout where they were playing around, and he chuckled. “I have a feeling I’m not going to have to say a word, Abe.”

*

27) Lee Mihashi, Ler Abe

“How do you feel about ghosts?”

Mihashi turned and looked back at Abe, who was holding up a box of cute string-light ghosts. “O-Oh! Those are…kind of cute,” he murmured.

Abe nodded, considered the box, and plopped it in their basket, going right back to browsing without another word.

The two of them had been sent out to get decorations for their upcoming Halloween party, so here they were, walking up and down the aisles of a party store, looking at everything from pumpkins to bats to ghosts to creepy clowns. Abe personally thought they’d have been better suited to get supplies such as plates, napkins, snacks, and the like, but Coach had been insistent.

“W-What’s your favorite Halloween thing, Abe?” Mihashi asked, amazingly stammering only once in that whole sentence. The catcher hoped it meant he was getting used to him.

“I don’t know,” he replied, glancing up and down the aisle, thinking for a moment. “Maybe vampires? Nah, that’s too cliché. Skeletons, I guess.”

Mihashi blinked at him. “Y-You can…like something that’s c-cliché…right?”

Abe rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I like both.”

“So…will you dress up for Halloween?”

“Uh…I don’t know.” Abe frowned, then eyed Mihashi curiously. “Are you going to?”

The pitcher nodded, averting his eyes, letting them roam over the costumes in the aisle. “I want to.”

“What will you go as?”

“M-Maybe…a v-vampire?”

It took every ounce of self-control he had for Abe not to burst out laughing. “You? A vampire? Wait…” He blinked. “Is that why you asked what my favorite Halloween thing is?”

Mihashi looked like he wanted to die. “I-I mean…I-I just…it’s j-just…”

Abe strode toward him and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “Chill, man. I’m not making fun of you. It’s just kind of…unexpected. But I really don’t think you could pull off the vampire look, Mihashi.”

The pitcher was nodding halfway through his sentence. “Y-You’re right, I can’t. I don’t know why I thought…”

“But I do think you could pull off being a skeleton. You’re always having trouble keeping your weight up.” Abe smirked and poked his ribs, earning a squeak from his friend. “Make sure to have a lot of Halloween candy at the party, all right? But not so much you get sick.”

“I-I will,” Mihashi stammered, fighting back a smile.

Abe glanced around. They happened to be alone in the aisle at the moment, so he set his basket down and grabbed Mihashi around the midsection, vibrating his fingers playfully into his sides and belly.

Mihashi squealed, instantly covering up his mouth to keep his voice down as he giggled and squirmed. “Ahahahahabe!”

“I can even feel your ribs! You can definitely pull off a skeleton, dude.”

“Ehehehehehehe! Okahahahahay, I’ll behehehehe a skeheheheheheleton! Ahahahahabe!”

Abe grinned despite himself. “What’s your favorite Halloween thing, Mihashi?”

The pitcher shimmied and squirmed in Abe’s grasp, halfheartedly trying to get away as he giggled out, “Blahahahahack cahahahahats!”

“Wow, no hesitation.” Abe chuckled and finally let him go, ruffling his hair before reaching for their discarded basket full of Halloween decorations. “I guess it wouldn’t be hard to dress as a black cat. Just find some cat ears somewhere and then wear all black, right?”

Mihashi glanced at him in surprise, still smiling from the surprise attack. “Y-You…want to dress up as a b-black cat?”

Abe shrugged, scanning the shelves nonchalantly. “I mean, if we’re going as each other’s favorite thing…”

Mihashi beamed. He couldn’t wait for their Halloween party.

*

28) Lee Mihashi, Ler Abe

“H-Hey, Abe?”

“Yeah?”

Mihashi fidgeted nervously as he always did, his pink cheeks nearly hidden by his scarf. Abe kept his hands in his pockets – he’d forgotten gloves, which he was now lamenting – and gave it five seconds before huffing out a sigh and saying in a firmer tone, “Use your words, Mihashi. What is it?”

The two of them were sitting outside waiting for a ride from Mihashi’s mom. School had let out for the winter holidays and they had agreed to hang out for a while before having to part ways for a couple of weeks. Now it was dark out and they were both more than ready to go home and warm up and eat, but the weather had delayed Mrs. Mihashi’s arrival somewhat.

“D-Do you want…um, I mean, we can…m-maybe…uh…”

Despite having known each other for eight months now, Mihashi still didn’t quite know how to talk to Abe, or ask him for anything directly. Abe, for his part, had gotten better about being patient with him, but when all else failed…

Bracing himself for the cold, Abe removed one of his hands from his pockets and started squeezing Mihashi’s knee on the bench next to him. “Use your words, I said. Come on, spit it out.”

Mihashi’s bright giggles always made the space between them less tense, and Abe couldn’t help but smirk after a few seconds of hearing them. He’d have gone for a worse spot like his armpits, but underneath that bulky coat, he was certain it wouldn’t have done much good. Besides, lighter tickles were just as fun and effective sometimes.

“D-Dohohohoho you wahahahahahant to build a s-s-snohohohowman whihihile we wahahahait?” Mihashi finally stammer-giggled after several long moments.

Abe kept up his light squeezing for a moment, then stopped and replied, “I mean…I guess I wouldn’t mind, but I kind of don’t have gloves. My hands will freeze before we even get started.”

“Oh! R-Right…I forgot. Sorry, Abe,” Mihashi apologized quickly, his cheeks turning even pinker, if that were possible.

Abe hesitated, then smiled. “Buuuut…I think I know something else we could do to pass the time.”

Mihashi glanced at him with a mix of trepidation and excitement in his eyes. “Y-Yeah?”

This time, Abe went for both knees at once, laughing along with Mihashi as he squealed and squirmed in place and clenched his fists in his gloves over and over again, his laughter literally visible as puffs of frozen air around them.

Abe stopped as soon as he saw the sweep of headlights – he’d be caught dead before being caught tickling Mihashi by his mom of all people – but it certainly was a fun way to pass the next few minutes of waiting. And – bonus – they were both feeling warmer by the time they got into the car.

*

29) Lee Abe, Ler Mihashi

Abe felt a light tickling on the back of his neck and he shot upright with a gasp, slapping his hand over the offending spot and whirling around to look at his friend.

Mihashi was wide-eyed and frozen to the spot, looking like he was just as startled as Abe was.

“Um…a-are you okay? Abe?” the pitcher asked him.

Blinking, Abe decided it must have been a bug, because he was fairly certain Mihashi hadn’t been messing with him. He looked too nervous for that. Plus, he was pretty sure his friend didn’t know how sensitive his neck was, anyway.

“Yeah,” he replied at last, shivering a little, inspecting his hand when he drew it away and finding nothing. “Sorry. Just thought I felt something crawling on me.”

“Oh. I…didn’t see anything,” Mihashi offered.

Abe dared to mess with him. “Were you staring at my neck to know?”

“No! I-I…I just…!”

“Relax, Mihashi, I’m kidding,” Abe chuckled, tossing him the extra pillow he’d brought out here for their mini camping excursion.

It wasn’t really a camping excursion; the two of them had borrowed a tent from Abe’s parents and set it up in his front yard. It was a good way to ease Mihashi into more than just sleeping over without the pressure of actually being away from any adults if he felt like he needed them nearby. They’d still managed to make s’mores (by heating them up in the microwave and then hurrying outside before they cooled down) and they were going to sleep in the tent tonight, but that was pretty much it.

It would do for a first time, Abe figured.

After a couple of moments of silence of the two of them getting their sleeping bags arranged for when they eventually decided to pass out, Abe felt that strange sensation on the back of his neck again, and he gritted his teeth to keep from gasping a second time, scrunching his shoulders as he reached back with more purpose to try and remove whatever was crawling on him.

To his surprise – and slight horror – what he felt instead was not a bug, but a finger.

This time when he whirled around, Mihashi looked guilty.

“You didn’t see anything, huh?” Abe muttered.

The pitcher stammered, “I-It wasn’t me…the first time. But the way you r-reacted, I wondered…I thought, maybe…I wanted to know…”

Abe sighed heavily. “Well, did you get your answer?”

Mihashi nodded, then seemed to hesitate. “Is…is your neck really that ticklish, Abe?”

The catcher blushed before he could even try to fight it off, and he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not!” Mihashi replied adamantly. “I t-think it’s…um…ah…”

After a moment’s contemplation, Abe shifted so he was facing his friend, clenching his fists in his lap. “Go on. You obviously want to try it.”

A tiny spark of eagerness flickered in his friend’s eyes, and Mihashi tentatively reached forward to drag a single fingertip down Abe’s neck. The catcher sucked in a breath and willed himself to stay still, but as soon as the pitcher added the other fingers and scribbled, he lost his willpower and broke into a string of giggles, wrenching away from him.

“That’s…kind of f-fun, Abe,” Mihashi told him quietly, nervously.

Abe blushed again, but smirked. “Fun, huh? Is your neck ticklish, Mihashi?”

The two of them ended up giggling a lot together that night before sleep finally overtook them.

*

30) Lee Mihashi, Ler Abe

The way Mihashi screeched when the water balloon burst, one would have thought it had exploded open on the back of his head.

Alas, he’d had no such luck. In his efforts to actually join in and throw a balloon instead of just being pelted by them, the pitcher had used his arm a bit too well and hit Abe squarely on the back of his skull. Now the catcher stood frozen in place with his hair sopping wet, slowly turning to search for his assailant.

Mihashi was far less worried about what would happen to him in retaliation than he was about his catcher, however, and he was already waving his arms and panicking aloud, “A-Abe! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was aiming for your back – are you okay?! Did I hurt you?! Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to—!”

“Mihashi,” Abe said in a very calm voice, making his friend stammer to a halt. “I’m proud of you.”

“I – you…you’re…what?” Mihashi blinked at him. Around them their teammates had all frozen in place, too, waiting to see how this would play out. Hanai hovered nearby, waiting to see if he’d need to step in and rescue their pitcher.

Abe straightened and smirked. “I’m proud of you. You actually got involved with the water balloon fight. Even if we did say headshots were off-limits.”

“I know, I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to—”

“I’m a little surprised, actually. Your throwing control is the best I’ve ever seen. Guess the balloon was a little too slick, huh?”

Mihashi gulped and nodded, still unsure how to process that his normally grumpy catcher wasn’t yelling at him.

Abe grinned, snatched a balloon out of Tajima’s indignant hands, and bolted for the pitcher. “Come here!”

Poor Mihashi barely had a chance to register that he was being chased before Abe tossed the balloon at him and it burst open on his shoulder as he turned to run. Then he was tackled to the ground and fingers were in his sides and the pitcher squealed with giggles, catching a flash of Abe’s smiling face as he squirmed.

“Ahahahaha?! Ahahahahabe, wahahahahahait! I’m sohohohohohorry!”

“I know you are,” Abe replied, tweaking his ribs, the water from his hair dripping down onto the both of them as they wrestled each other. “But since I can’t throw a balloon at your head, this is what I’ll have to settle on for revenge.”

Around them, the rest of the team breathed a sigh of relief and got back into the fray, paying no mind to their catcher tickling their pitcher into shrieking fits of giggles.

“Ehehehehehehehehe! Ahahahahahahabe!” Mihashi cried, letting out a yelp when his friend finally managed to wiggle into an armpit. “AHAHAHAHAHAHA WAHAHAHAHAHAHAIT!!”

“Tch, wait for what?”

“I DOHOHOHOHOHON’T KNOHOHOHOHOW!! JUST – AIEEHEHEHEHEHEHE IT TIHIHIHIHICKLES!!”

Chuckling under his breath, Abe allowed himself a full, wide smile as he replied, “Then I guess I’m doing something right.”

#fanfiction #tickle drabbles #coffee shots #quick prompts #sentence starters #compilation #big windup #oofuri #mihashi ren #abe takaya #tajima yuuichirou #hanai azusa #tickling #ticklish #tickle

[ukulelekatie]

Hey! Sorry if this is weird or anything, but my partner and I are going to Boston for the first time in April. Do you have any recommendations for touristy type things we could do? Or any queer friendly places you would recommend?

We're pretty nervous because we've never been to the east coast before so any tips or tricks would help a lot!

Hi, love this question!! Here are some lists of touristy things I made for past anons:

And here's another list by @marzipanandminutiae

So the weird thing about Boston's queer spaces is that we don't really have a centralized location with a lot of queer history/culture, like Greenwich Village in New York, Toronto's Gay Village, etc. There are a few gay bars scattered here and there, but mostly you'll find that Boston as a whole is overall very queer friendly. However! If you're cool with boats, you can catch a ferry from Boston to Provincetown, MA, a town on the very tippity tip of Cape Cod that is known for being a prominent LGBTQ+ tourist spot.

And here are some general tips:

The weather here in April tends to be quite unpredictable! It could be sunny and warm or cold and rainy on any given day (sometimes both in the same day), and there's even a non-zero chance that it might snow a bit. I recommend packing outfits with lots of layers, and ideally something waterproof.

If you're planning on taking the T (public transit), keep in mind that we're dealing with a lot of construction and issues these days. The system is quite robust but also very old, and we're now in the "find out" era after fucking around with not maintaining/upgrading things that should have been done decades ago. There may be delays and/or detours depending on where you're trying to go, so it's a good idea to factor in some extra travel time. Depending on how long you'll be here, you might want to look into getting a weekly pass (unlimited travel for $22.50).

...And of course there's always Uber/Lyft if the T lets you down lol. Definitely check both apps before booking a ride, the prices vary wildly here. I find that Uber is cheaper during the day and Lyft is cheaper at night, but your mileage may vary.

Boston's night life scene is pretty abysmal compared to other major cities (which I think also contributes to the lack of dedicated queer spaces). We're very much a "do things during the day" kind of place, so you'll want to plan what you're going to do pretty early in the day.

That's all I can think of for now, I hope you have a great trip and I'd be happy to answer other questions if you have 'em!

#boston #massachusetts

[fandomshatefatpeople]

hi! so, ik this blog is mostly about fandom stuff, but i was wondering if i could ask for some advice? basically, i'm a skinny person. bony and knobby and tall and always have been. but, my little sister who i adore and love with all my heart is fat, and considered unhealthily "overweight" for her age.

i firmly believe that "fat = unhealthy" is ABSLOUTE BULLSHIT, but i still find myself falling into some weird habits with her--such as resolutely avoiding mentioning that she might be in any way bigger than anyone else (as if it's a bad thing that should be avoided, even though i know it's not!) etc. i do my best to curb those tendencies, but i worry that it's not enough.

in addition, my dad (unlike me) DOES believe that she's unhealthy, and tries to restrict her eating (especially sugar). she's not getting a lack of calories or anything, so i'm not worried about it affecting her physical health too much, but i don't want her to develop a complex because when she was a kid she couldn't have more than one sugary snack a day.

there's roughly a sub-zero chance of convincing my stubbornest-man-on-earth aspie dad that she's not actually going to die of heart disease, so unfortunately i'm helpless on this front. still, if there's anything in particular i can do to support her through it, or if you have any particular advice, i'd love to hear it. it's really important to me to be able to be the best big sister to her i can be, and i worry about her a lot ever since i learned how hard it can be to be a fat person in our world.

thank you so much, and sorry for the long-winded message! any advice is appreciated <3

I want to start with an apology to all of the unanswered asks in my inbox. I started graduate school and am trying not to drown. With that being said, reading this ask tugged at my heart and I had to answer.

To be honest, I don't know how much this will help. I'm not an expert, I'm just a fat woman who thought she was a fat kid who's had to work through decades of fatphobia (internalized and external), but here's what I think might be useful. I would be so grateful for anyone to add helpful, non-fatphobic advice in the comments! Also, your mileage may vary depending on the age of your sister.

One thing that helped me was learning how absolute bullocks things like BMI measurements are. So for that matter is fat = heart disease. If you think you dad would be open to reading it, you could share this with him: Separate and combined associations of body-mass index and abdominal adiposity with cardiovascular disease: collaborative analysis of 58 prospective studies - PubMed (nih.gov) The most important part of this study, for our purposes is this bit, "Interpretation: BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio, whether assessed singly or in combination, do not importantly improve cardiovascular disease risk prediction in people in developed countries when additional information is available for systolic blood pressure, history of diabetes, and lipids."

Other things I think can help is not treating her any differently than anyone else. This sounds obvious, but if you are going out of your way to avoid comparing her size to anyone else's in a conversation where that is relevant then the message she hears could be one of "your body is wrong and I'm embarrassed to talk about it".

It may help to share with her your thoughts on fatphobia as a general topic, letting her know you recognize the value in diverse body types and sizes and how none is better than another. Just knowing that someone she loves and looks up to sees value in bodies like hers can mean a lot. Similarly, if you feel you have the ability to call out fatphobic comments do so, whether she's around or not. Just pushing back with something as simple as, "I don't believe in judging the value of others based on the size of their bodies" or "I don't think that joke was very funny" or even just an unamused stare, can send a huge message.

Another important thing is to be on the lookout for signs of dieting. Dieting is one of the worst things you can do to your health as years of yo-yo dieting are actually worse for your health than "being fat" ever can be.

Forgive me for referring back to my own previous work, but under the cut are some links that might be helpful to combat much of the negative messaging that comes when you are fat.

I am so glad you reached out and I wish you all the best as you support your sister and hopefully help her to thrive!

#mod amelia #fat acceptance #diets do not work #ask