#reblogging old posts because they're still true | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fangirltothefullest · 7 months

Note

hey! i’ve seen you reblog a few posts from proshippers/posts tagged as proship and i just wanted to let you know in case its not on purpose!

I need some of you youngsters to please listen carefully to what I'm about to say because it might open your eyes to a very important concept- when I say ship and let ship I mean I don't give two fucks about what people read in fanfiction because it's all fake. Made up characters in a made up scenario with made up things happening.

Your christian-based concept that thought is equal to action isn't true. You can THINK whatever the hell you want do long as your actions don't cause a problem. A creepy old man can look at a young lady and THINK all the nasty things he wants. So long as he does not take those thoughts and turn them to actions, he's fine. He might want to go see a therapist but at the end of the day thoughts are just thoughts. Standing on the edge of a cliff and thinking "wow if someone pushed someone off this they'd die" doesn't mean you want to push someone off a cliff.

PLEASE separate the concept that thought and action are the same thing.

Even if the topic is a taboo topic, even if it's something you would never in a million years agree with, it's still fake at the end of the day.

I don't personally want to read about canibalism, but its not my job or my right to force other people to never write about that stuff. Policing other people's writing and policing the "goodness" or "badness" of the content they write is not my job and it's not anyone else's. Your morality is yours and yours alone. What you find taboo and never want to think about might just be a weird enjoyable read to someone else. Just like kinks or even random topics, you cannot cater to everyone and trying to force a moral purity in written fiction is just ailly. They're made up. No matter how much you want Azirphale and Crowly to be real no matter how much you are desperate for Percy Jackson to have real feelings, they aren't and he can't. They're not real and they never will be so nothing that happens to them, no matter how fucked up, really matters.

And that's all it is and all they will ever be. A bunch of taboo topics and events done to made up people.

I don't want to read about incest but I'm not going to stop people from writing fanfics about the supernatural brothers doing the nasty. I'm also not going to go out of my way to look for it or tell people to stop because it's all fake. Its not supporting it. It's made up pretend space.

I sit here throwing made up characters into Bad Situations that would be horrible if they were real people. But they're not. They're fake people with fake things happening to them and it's fun to write and fun to read. I torment my characters all the time. I made Virgil go through so much emotional trauma in APP and no one bats an eye because it's fake. Please apply the same critical thinking to the rest of written everything.

Proshipper literally means that a person should have the freedom to write what they want and read what they want because morality has nothing to do with fiction. It does not make you morally a bad person to enjoy a taboo subject in written form. This goes for ALL taboo subjects. People reading greusome murder mysteries don't go out and murder people. The same thing applies to the other taboo subjects. People writing about weird incest ships aren't going to go out and do the incest thing.

If they are it has nothing to do with the fiction and everything to do with that specific person.

Thought and action are not the same thing.

Allowing everyone to write what they want without gatekeeping based on morality is a good thing. We would not have lgbtqia+ stories if the morality policing of Christian values dictated what we are allowed and not allowed to write.

Please understand that I saying all this as a teaching tool. You might be super icked out by certain topics and that's natural and normal and ok. I am too! Everyone is! But what we have to do is be tolerant of the ideas that writing taboo subjects and being a proshipper isnt a bad thing. Also enjoying taboo subjects in written form doesn't make you somehow evil, ok?

131 notes · View notes

choicesficwriterscreations · 3 months

Text

February Creator of the Month: Noesapphic

Each month, CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers or artists, and this month’s creator of the month is the lovely @noesapphic! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page. Past COTM's can be found here.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog Masterlist

How do you want to be known on Tumblr?

Noe is fine, really!

More below...

1- When did you start playing Choices? What was the first book you played?

I started in 2018. I was bored in a friend's house and fighting good old insomnia when I saw the app and tried it for funsies. The first book was 'High School Story'.

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I joined around late 2018 early 2019 and I had just left my community in Amino because the admin had gone full puritanical dictator and I was curious about Tumblr.

3- How did you pick your blog name?

It was simple: my nickname is Noe and I am a sapphic (aka lesbian). It's a no-brainer, really.

4- Pull up the first post in your archive, and tell us about it!

It was a reblogged quote. I related to what it said and I reblogged it

5- Do you write fanfiction, create fan art, or are you one of those really gifted people who do both?

I write fanfiction. God did not grant me art skills I'm afraid. My fingers are too fat and my pulse is terrible.

6- How long have you been creating for Choices and for any other fandoms?

I've been creating for fandoms as long as I can remember. I've had a really troubled life, so creating stuff helped me. As for Choices, I've been creating stuff since 2019

7- What is your favorite Choices book, and what is your favorite Choices book to create for?

Without a doubt, Desire and Decorum. The first book is simply a masterlist and its characters are so well-written, and everything about it just draws me to it. They definitely botched the other books, but it will always be in my heart. I also enjoy creating for other historical books and books that have similar themes

8- Share your first Choices fanfic or fan art that you posted with us. Do you still like it, or would you change it if you were creating it today?

It was a set of headcanons of Mr. Sinclaire and my MC, Celestine, finding out that they're going to be parents. While my spelling is terrible, I wouldn't change a thing. The engagement I received was such, it drove me to write for more. I haven't stopped creating since.

9- What your favorite piece of fiction or art that you created?

It's no secret for anyone who pays attention to my blog: my au, The Cursed Heiress, is probably my best creation. It's complex and a juggernaut of lore and history, and has all I've ever wanted in a fic and book in it. Although a close second is my Tudor AU, For Love and Duty. I simply love the 'arranged marriage' trope

10- Do you have a fic/art that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to do well but found it could use a little more love?

The second part of a one shot, A True Man, was probably one of the most difficult to write, and with a very traumatising and important theme. I was 100% hoping anon hate telling me to delete it, but found instead that the people ate it up! It has now 30 notes (which is A LOT for a small fandom like the D&D one) and now that I reread it, I'm proud of what I created and the message I wanted to send, which resonates with happenings of my past and experiences.

11 - If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Definitely angst. There's something so cathartic and relieving as letting out those emotions you can't express out loud without being locked up for being unhinged, and it has helped me understand myself many times. Also, smut is def something that I can't physically write 😅

12 - Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

There are small parts of me in every MC. A fragment of my past. Something of their lore that I went through. Something I aspire to be. Something I wanted to be once. I like to think that every writer leaves a part of their heart and soul with each character they create.

13 - What element of writing/art do you struggle with most?

Ooof, where to begin. I think the hardest part is to just write. I can go on for weeks looking at my turned-off laptop and goof off on Tumblr. But when I do write, the 'boring' parts or writing a character that I am not familiar with or that there isn't much info about can be challenging.

14 - Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

Oof, where to begin, lol. My modern AUs, The Viscountess and Plan B. There's also Your Most Ardent Admirer and For Love and Duty. There's the fix-it fic series of the Blades LIs. Profiles of my MCs from several series. And also fic ideas that I want to create, but don't know where or how to start it. Woe is me indeed 😭

15 - If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to see your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you show them first?

Depends on the person. I would be very, very picky. I did show some parts of The Cursed Heiress to two trusted friends. But I wouldn't be against showing my mom a few chapters of The Viscountess… Unfortunately, she does not speak a word of English and I am terrible at translations, so it's wishful thinking, lol.

16 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing or art? Are there any artists that influence you?

For the published ones, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare have probably been my biggest help. Leigh Bardugo is also a newer inspo, and Spanish author Laura Gallego got me into fantasy, and anonymous author Bebi Fernández's raw and brutal prose have helped me find my voice. I have now bought George R.R Martin's Game of Thrones, looking for new sources to grasp.

As for fandom-wise, the very first writer to inspire me unfortunately hasn't been active since the pandemic, and despite our differences, @hellospunkiebrewster 's writing and essays got me into Regency and its history. My thriving years were by her side, and I'm grateful of having had a great fandom friend and hyper. The most recent ones are @missameliep my amazing fandom mom (te quiero mami 🥰) and some pieces by @princess-geek 's writing have inspired me to expand my horizon.

17- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series?

The Cursed Heiress, definitely. I think that my messages would resonate with many people. There's also The Viscountess: many people should see the messages Nicole, Anne and others have, and for what I have planned (and have been stalling out of laziness 🫣) would put things into perspective for many minorities and certain groups that are neglected by society and governments alike. 19- Do you write original fiction or create non-fandom art?

I am now at the outlining stages of making The Cursed Heiress an original novel. I tried many times to make my own novel, but always dropped it. But now that I've been for years with it, I feel like this might be the one project I dreamed of publishing one day. It's tough and scary, but I'm loving the ride so far.

Also, I have tried my hand with poetry, but it didn't have engagement and felt like talking to a wall, so I now feel discouraged. But if someone out there is interested, lmk 👀

20- What other hobbies do you have?

Apart from literature, I love make-up, skincare, cooking and making gifs and videoedits. I also love travelling and discovering new adventures and learning as many languages as I am capable. I also love listening to music. Basically anything that has to do with the humanities and art, I'll take it. Also, I am very invested in modern royal gossip. I know, not very republican of me… 🫣😅

21 - What’s your favorite emoji?

Apparently, the one I use the most is 🫡🫶🏻👀. Heh, sounds like me, lol

22: BONUS - tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

____

Two reminders to both creators and onlookers alike:

Creators: making content is NOT a race or a chore. It's something you make just because, and share it with the world. If you don't enjoy it, it's not worth the effort.

Onlookers: I know how much you may love X thing, but remember that behind that art, fic, etc, there's a person with real feelings, real life and that is taking off free time to make something. Enjoy it, reblog it (please, reblog the stuff you love) and if you don't like it, filter the tag, block and move on. It's really that simple.

Also, happy Valentine's Day AND Black History Month to the black creators of Choices! You're awesome and we love you ❤ sending you love 🥰

#choices fic writers creations #playchoices #choices stories you play #cfwc creator of the month #noesapphic #choices fanfic #playchoices fanfic #february creator of the month #desire and decorum

82 notes · View notes

dadbastiandisaster · 24 days

Text

Sorry, I know this isn't what I normally post but I've been thinking about Sebastian's aversion to nudity. Also sex is mentioned briefly in this, and obviously nudity is mentioned a lot, so maybe don't read this at the family dinner table (or do I'm not your boss)

Do you ever think about the fact that all of Sebastian, both his body and his clothes, are constructed? Like Sebastian's skin and teeth and eyes are no more a "real" part of him than his jacket or his gloves, he (the Demon) made all of that up.

People sometimes talk about their clothes or uniform or even accessories being a 'second skin', meaning they rarely take them off, that they're incredibly natural to them, maybe even that they're a part of them. Sebastian's uniform arguably fits that criteria, he's barely ever without it unless he's assuming another identity.

And like, think about how inextricable that uniform is from Sebastian the person/identity/persona. It's implied that 'Sebastian', our unflappable old man butler is just a role the Demon known as Sebastian is playing, both for convenience (so he has a reason to stay close to Ciel without arousing suspicion) and because if humans know the extent of what he truly is they'll probably go mad.

To take it one step further, do you think the Demon Sebastian thinks of his uniform (and by extension the persona of Sebastian) like actual skin? Like a barrier between the humans around him and something unspeakably grisly. Perhaps when the uniform, the indicator of his persona's trade, is removed, some of Sebastian goes with it. Perhaps when the uniform is removed it reveals something a little too close to home? Too personal? Or simply too distasteful?

Like I know Sebastian's disdain for his true form is something largely added by the anime, but perhaps he feels it's rude or a failure in his 'acting' if he feels the mask slips without his consent. Sebastian (whether the person, the Demon, or both because the separating the two is missing the point, is unclear) takes great pride in his work as a butler, both in his mastery of human skills but also in his performance. Do you think having that performance ruined by disrobing is akin to a costume mishap in a play? A break in character?

It would also explain why sometimes breaks his 'butler aesthetics' (like when he had sex with Beast for information) without much concern. Like he's still 'in character', it's just that Sebastian (the character) is expanding a bit. Like okay, maybe Sebastian the unflappable butler is willing to go to some unpleasant lengths to complete a case, but he is a butler of the Phantomhive estate, so of course he's not squeaky clean (he also does a lot of murder, which, you know, also probably a bit agains the butler aesthetic).

Idk if this is anything, feel free to leave your opinions on my ramble in the notes somewhere, comments tags, reblogs or otherwise.

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #sebastian michaelis #this isnt really long enough to be an essay so i guess its just a ramble #original post

23 notes · View notes

assassins-and-hidden-blades · 2 months

Text

Apocalypse!AU -- Reunion

Synopsis: Separated from his family after a coup destroyed their old settlement, Jacob spends three long months trying to find them again and bring them home, if they're still alive.

06/03/2024: I feel so bad for writing this years ago and then not posting. However, I'm glad I did, because I could read through it and see how sparse it actually was. I like this piece a lot and want to share it with you guys (proof I'm writing again! Spread the word!! Reblog!). This can be read as a standalone but there is other Apocalypse!AU content HERE, HERE, and HERE if you liked this one. It could be better, but I need sleep and a croissant (hello, priorities), and I just wanted to get something out there. Tell me what you think/if you want more/less/or you like the surprises. I surprise even myself, currently. Feedback is cool, too! Very big fan of feedback. Anyway, here you go!

Warnings: Violence, blood mention

[This is an F!Reader fic]

Word count: 3.2k (not bad, not bad)

The Complete Masterlist

----

Rubbing his eyes, Jacob crossed off another town on his map, leaning over the wooden table in his room. They were kind enough to give him a three bedroom house to reside in, despite having two and a half beds neatly made but untouched. On two of them sat a few different stuffed animals; some new, some familiar. Lily would always share her stuffed animals with Emmett, despite the older brother acting as if he didn’t need the comfort.

He stood up straight and took a sip of his now cold coffee. The mug was sat down amongst a handful of others, showing the true extent of his exhaustion. His return from an overnight supply run with Edward and Arno barely reaped any useful resources, save for some vehicle parts. No sign of anyone camping around. No sign of his family.

A knock at his front door pulled him out of his thoughts. “It’s open!” he called, sniffing to compose himself.

“Jacob?” Evie’s voice rang throughout the hallway, a thread of worry lacing her tone.

“Upstairs!” He chose to quickly knock back the rest of his coffee.

“Jacob, when was the last time you cleaned? Your living room looks like a minefield.”

“I haven’t had the time.”

Evie leaned against the doorway, concern on her features. “You’re exhausted. You need to rest.”

“I’ll rest after we… after…” He sighed. “Later. I’ll rest later.”

The older Frye twin glanced at the table -- at the map decorated with countless crosses, the coffee mugs with their corresponding ring stains. She began to gather them.

“You don’t have to--” Jacob began.

“I was talking to Altair and Kassandra. You’re going on another supply run?” She was quite to cut him off, leaving him momentarily stunned.

“Yeah, this afternoon. And you’re going on an overnight patrol.” Evie raised a brow at that. “I checked the rota.”

“You’re not going on the run.”

Jacob scoffed. “Says who?”

“Says everyone. You’re wearing yourself out -- killing yourself. And for what?”

“For them, Evie!” He was surprised at how quickly his temper flared. “Sorry.” His voice calmed immediately, returning to its original, tired state. “It was my fault in the first place.” Carding his fingers through his hair, he sighed. “I should have protected them.”

Evie’s heart stung at her brother’s demeanour. She glanced at the wedding band on Jacob’s finger, a sole reminder of their shared family. “Altair and Kassandra won’t go with you. They can handle being a man down while said man rests.” She put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly. “There’s no point lamenting the past; It wasn’t your fault, Jacob. We’ll get them back. Go to bed.”

“But--”

Evie gave him a look, shutting him up instantly. “Bed. Now.” She followed his gaze towards the front door. “I’ll lock it when I leave.”

Jacob watched her leave his room, leaving his door slightly ajar. Standing up, he almost tripped over his chair. He moved to his bed, where a T shirt and pyjama bottoms sat. He has been working nonstop for days, and only now realised that he barely had time to look after himself. He never changed out of his overnight patrol gear, mud-encrusted and uncomfortable. A shower would be a smart option, and one he forced himself to take.

Evie was still downstairs as Jacob emerged from the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. His movements were less than lackluster, seeming to constantly be on the verge of giving up.

Perhaps a few hours of rest would do him some good.

He climbed into his bed for the first time in half a week, and listened to the ambient kitchen noises Evie made. Closing his eyes, Jacob tried to imagine someone else making that noise, but the movements were never quite the same. He pulled his pillow tight against him, closing his eyes. A tear still managed to escape, but Jacob had passed out before it had time to hit the pillow.

Altair and Kassandra dove for cover behind a car. “How are there so many hunters?!” She yelled.

“I don’t know! Just keep shooting!”

“Kill all three of them!” The leader of the group — standing at least ten hunters strong — commanded from across the street.

Altair and Kassandra exchanged glances, confused at the instructions. “Who else is here…?” Altair questioned, and was swiftly answered when gunshots rang out in front of them. Altair flinched against the car, trying to stay protected as he worked out what was going on. He spotted the third person the hunter was talking about fleeing towards an abandoned house, a hand pressed against her stomach. She dove inside and slammed the door shut.

“I suppose we found our answer,” Kassandra said.

“We should kill them all. We cannot let them get to that house.”

“Do you know her?” Kassandra asked, concern beginning to grow for this person.

Altair stood up and fired five shots before ducking again. “No, but she looks extremely familiar.”

That seemed to be enough for Kassandra, and she began to quickly eliminate the remaining five targets with a striking accuracy, likely fuelled by adrenaline and protectiveness. A few moments later, and they were all down.

“We should check if she’s alright. She looked injured,” Altair said, holstering his gun before jogging up to the door and knocking firmly. “Hello?! Are you alright? We want to help you! Are you hurt?”

No response.

He knocked again. “My name is Altair! This is Kassandra! We live in a settlement not too far from here. We have first aid and supplies! We can help you!”

Again, nothing.

“I’m kicking down the door! Please don’t shoot me…” and with that, Altair broke the lock on the door by booting it open. It was clear to see immediately that she had hidden upstairs, shown by the worrying trail of blood she left in her wake.

“Hello?” Altair became nervous; no response after an injury usually didn’t bode well for the injured. They followed the trail, Altair climbing each step purposely but with caution, eyes observing everything from the cracked yellow paint along the wall to the bloodstained bannister.

At the top of the stairs, the trail led into a closed door. He tested the handle; locked. He knocked politely. “Miss? We just want to help you. I’m coming in, alright?”

There were murmurings on the other side of the door, and Altair did the most efficient thing he could think of.

He kicked down the door.

Splinters flew, startled screams sounded out, and his hands automatically came up in surrender as he stood at gunpoint. The woman in question was lying prone on the floor, one hand around her crimson-stained stomach, and the other holding a shaking gun. “Don’t move.”

“We can get you help.” He persuaded calmly. “I can help you; I’m a medic.”

“What faction are you with?”

Kassandra mirrored Altair’s movements. “We didn’t know there were any factions.”

“You don’t dress like cultists… who are you?”

“We’re just survivors. Same as you.” Altair looked around, surprised to see two small figures crouching beside each other in the corner. “You’re protecting your children, we understand, but let us take you to our settlement. We have better medical equipment than here, and it’s safe there.”

“Survivors…” you let your arm with the firearm drop, hitting the wood with a thud. “Why are you here?”

“We’re searching for supplies.” Altair furrowed his brows in thought. That wasn’t the only reason they were out here. He glanced at the two children; one boy and one girl. “Where’s the father?”

“We got separated about three months back. I don’t know if…” she paused. “If he’s still alive.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jacob.”

“Jacob Frye?”

Your eyes lit up through the prevalent exhaustion. “Yes! That’s him. He’s alive? What about Evie?”

Altair rushed to your side, snapped out of his frozen state. “He’s been looking for you since you were separated. It must’ve been fated that the one time we told him to rest was the time where we found you.” He cradled the back of your head. “Lie back. Evie’s fine as well; she’s on an overnight patrol.”

You relaxed slightly, distracted by Kassandra introducing herself to your children. “You both look so much like your parents; I’m your pater’s friend. What are your names?”

“I’m Emmett!” Despite the situation, word about his father’s whereabouts must have excited him. “This is my little sister, Lily.” He grabbed her shoulders and stood behind her, wrapping her in a comforting hug. Lily held onto Emmett’s hands, looking away from Kassandra. “Is it true?! You know our father?”

Altair took some gauze and medical tape out of his backpack, beginning to pack and dress the wound. You bit your cheek to hide the pain from Emmett and Lily. “I can’t do much here without a needle and thread, but we have what we need at the settlement.” He wiped his hands on his shirt. “We need to go, now.” He wrapped your arm over his shoulders and heaved you to your feet. “Kassandra, get to the horses.” She nodded, and took the children by the hands, leaving the room first. You and Altair followed soon after.

Your knees kept buckling every few steps on the way to the front door, causing Altair to adjust accordingly. “Jacob will not be happy with us when we return with you in this state.”

You chuckled, a weariness to your tone. “I can imagine. That man has a tendency to overreact.”

“We’ll just have to beg for forgiveness this time around.”

As you and Altair limped out of the front door, Kassandra had rushed to bring the horses closer, the children both mounted on one of them already. “Okay, ready?” Altair asked, before hoisting you as best he could onto his horse, mounting behind you. Kassandra held both children in front of her, holding them tightly.

“Will Mama be okay?”

“She’ll be fine, little ones,” Kassandra comforted, though an uneasy smile rested on her face as she assessed the blood staining her friend’s hands.

“Stay as still as you can,” you told them, slumping heavily against Altair’s chest.

He urged his horse to turn back the way they came, kicking her into a gallop — sprinting as fast as she could go. Kassandra wasn’t far behind.

——

Upon arriving at the settlement, your pulse had slowed down tremendously. Your bandage (and Altair’s shirt) was almost drenched in blood, and you were slipping in and out of consciousness. Altair skidded his horse to a stop and slid off, taking you with him. He adjusted you up in his arms and carried you hurriedly into the infirmary. “Help! I need help!” A few doctors came out, and upon seeing the amount of blood, dove into action, taking you out of his arms. He looked down at himself, at the crimson soaking the cotton of his shirt, at the dried blood on his skin. A wave of nausea threatened to overcome him.

Gathering himself, he turned to move into the porch of the infirmary building, where Kassandra and the children were waiting, confused and distressed. “I’m getting Jacob,” he told her, sprinting towards the bar. It was the only place the group usually frequented; no doubt the familiarity would be a subconscious coping mechanism. The sun had dipped low under the horizon, chilling the air. Altair didn’t feel cold.

He slammed the door open with his shoulder, slamming it against the wall. The entire room fell into silence, eyes shooting to the scene. Jacob sat on a barstool, a glass of whiskey in front of him. He also snapped his gaze to Altair while pocketing his wallet.

The look on his friend’s face told him everything.

They’re here. We found them.

The blood all over him told him something else, and his blood turned to ice. “Oh, Christ.” Jacob flew off of his stool, running faster than he thought possible behind Altair.

Who was hurt? How bad is it? Are they…?

They sprinted across the street in what can only be described as the longest ten seconds of his life. Reaching the front door of the infirmary, Altair let Jacob overtake him as he threw open the porch door.

He fell to his knees when he saw his children again. “Oh…”

They ran into his arms, and he embraced them tightly. “Are you both alright? Are you hurt?” He pulled away, voice cracking with worry, even as he tried to hide it.

“No.” Emmett said, tears in his eyes. He flung his arms around his father’s neck.

Lily’s had already started falling. “I was so scared,” she whispered, clinging to his shoulder.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now. You’re alright. My gorgeous girl.” He wiped her tears and kissed her forehead, bringing her back into him. “My beautiful boy.” Emmett held him tighter. He never thought he would savour this moment again, holding his children in his arms. Waiting for a moment, he steeled himself. If neither of his children were hurt, that left one possible heartbreak.

He pulled away after a few moments. “I need to check on Mum. You two need to stay here, alright? Stay with my friends, while I go inside. I’ll be back in a minute.” He could tell that they didn’t want him to disappear so quickly, but they nodded anyway. Kassandra took them to a small play area in the corner.

Jacob moved to knock harshly on the door. “Hey! Open up! I need to see my wife!”

The door unlocked rather quickly, the doctor perhaps intimidated by the possibilities of Jacob’s tone. He barged in, freezing at the sight before him; you lying in a hospital bed, your skin tone sickened, your eyes closed. a couple of doctors busied around your wound and were checking your vitals. Two trolleys sat beside them; one of clean bandages and medical equipment, and the other held bloodstained fabric.

Jacob’s stomach dropped, filling with lead. “No…”

Rushing to the bedside, he caressed your head with one hand, and grasped your own with the other. “Y/n, God…” He didn’t need to compose himself anymore, tears spilling down his cheeks in both worry and relief. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, sosorry.”

Semi-lucid, you feebly squeezed his hand. “I found you.”

He laughed, tears brimming in his eyes. “You did.” The light mood was quickly dissipated by the way you were blinking. Slow, fatigued eyes staring slightly out of focus. “Who did this to you?” Anger bled through his gritted teeth.

“They’re dead, Jacob. Don’t chase headless chickens.”

He sighed and couldn’t help but smile at your familiar phrases. A whirlpool of emotions overwhelmed him, constantly switching between anger, devastation, and relief.

He looked up to one of the doctors. “Is she going to be okay?” His thumb caressed your cheekbone.

The doctor kept looking between you and Jacob. “We’ll take care of her.” He walked away quickly, as if fetching something.

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?!” He began to sit up, worried, but you pulled on his hand.

“Don’t, Jacob. Let him go.” Frowning, he instead pulled up a chair to sit beside your bed.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you sooner.” His elbows rested on the mattress, his hands enveloping yours, pressed against his forehead. “I never should have stopped.”

You brushed the tousled hair out of his eyes, smiling at his loving gaze. Concerned and guilty, but loving.

“From what I heard, you were working yourself to death. I’m glad you weren’t there; you would have panicked.”

“But… I could have prevented this.” His lips pressed against your knuckles; a constant kiss.

“You don’t know that. I’ll be fine here, but our children need somewhere to sleep and bathe.” You studied his features, keeping to yourself concerns about his own health. His eyes looked sunken, and if it wasn’t for Evie’s presence you would have been certain that he wouldn’t be eating either.

“I can’t just leave you here.” He breathed a tone of fatigued defiance.

You scoffed playfully. “I’m in the safest place in the world. Literally.”

“But what if—“

“Shhh.” You rubbed your thumb over his knuckles soothingly. “Nothing will happen. It won’t happen.”

He geared himself to leave, but paused at the last moment. Turning to you again, he opened his mouth to say something, but a tearful scoff came out instead. “I thought… I thought I’d never see my family again.” He grasped your hand tighter. “Now that you’re here, I don’t want to let you go again.”

You wiped a tear from his cheek. “We’re not going anywhere. I promise.” A wall of fatigue overcame you, and you found your eyes fluttering closed.

“Y/n?” You hummed, feeling your husband’s hand on your cheek.

“I’m resting, Jacob. I’m okay.”

He sighed, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. “Sleep well, my love.”

——

“Hey, have any of you seen Jacob?”

Evie found her way into the bar in the morning, having just returned from her overnight patrol. The entire squad had bagged the biggest booth that morning, conversing in relieved and content murmurs. She eyed them suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

Altair regarded her with the most emotion she’d ever seen him wear. “Go find out. He’s in the infirmary.”

“What?!” She turned on her heel and ran. What trap did he fall into this time?

She opened the infirmary door, expecting Jacob to be bandaged up and drugged on morphine (which happened more often than she would like). “Oh my God.”

Jacob was sat in a chair at your bedside, chuckling quietly at one of Emmett’s stories, his actions and facial expressions entrancing Jacob fully as he sat cross legged on the bed. Lily was playing with his hair in his lap. He held her tightly in one hand and held your hand with the other. The children snapped up at the sound of her voice.

“Aunt Evie!”

She dropped to her knees as they bolted towards her. Laughing, she kissed their heads multiple times as they collided into her arms. “Oh my God; you’re here! I missed you both so much!” She couldn’t help tears of joy breaking through. “Don’t cry, Aunt Evie,” Emmett said sadly, wiping her tears.

“They’re tears of joy, darling. I’m so happy you’re safe.”

“They’re tears of pain, really; you naughty rascals are going to drive her up the wall.”

They groaned at their father’s jokes. “No, we drive her down the wall; you’re the one who drives her up it.” Jacob was impressively stunned at Lily’s comeback, while you and Evie laughed. Suddenly, you winced, shifting uncomfortably on the bed.

Jacob’s attention was on you in an instant. “What happened?”

“Nothing, I’m okay. I laughed too hard.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Jacob raised a suspicious brow.

“I promise I’m okay.”

Seemingly satisfied, Jacob smiled softly before leaning down to kiss you ever so gently, as if you were made of porcelain. You couldn’t help but smile back; he radiated so much joy and love in this moment, it was impossible to ignore.

Emmett groaned at your and Jacob’s act. “Aunt Evie, get us out of here!”

#assassin's creed #apocalypse!au #jacob frye #jacob frye x reader #jacob frye x f!reader #assassin's creed x reader #assassin's creed x f!reader #emmett frye #lily frye #help me tag guys

36 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 2 months

Note

Have you seen the posts going around saying shit like "If a mutual likes Hazbin Hotel I will block them"?? It's genuinely upsetting me tbh, not just the idea that people don't like the show, but that they despise it so much they can't even stand the thought of someone they know liking the show. It reminds me of the Steven Universe hate train only worse. They also say shit like "the show is just someone saying swear words and expecting you to laugh", and if for a second we put aside the fact that that is blatantly not true, what's wrong with that? I'm allowed to like something that's a bit trash, right? I've already seen two different people I follow reblog posts to that effect (and worse, someone saying all a character boils down to is "i love being sexually abused <3" and i don't know how they ever came to that conclusion) and it's driving me mad. And somehow I just know that they don't actually give a shit about any "controversies" surrounding vivziepop, that's just a convenient excuse for most of them. I don't even care if Vivzie is a bad person, that's none of my business. just live and let live, you know?

Sorry for ranting, you're literally the only blog i follow who posts Hazbin fan content

Rant away, friend! Luckily for me I haven't come across any of those posts yet. Plenty of discourse surrounding whether fans are allowed to make romantic and/or sexual content for Alastor, the expected shipping wars, and - as you say - vague references to Vivzie controversies (which I'm too new a fan to even be aware of yet)... but nothing that's a complete rejection of the show itself. That's probably because I've only engaged with blogs posting a lot of Hazbin content though.

I'm a big fan of old school Internet rules which includes an emphasis on cultivating your own online space. You know, the thing tumblr is explicitly designed for. So in theory I applaud anyone blocking users/tags for a show they're not a fan of. Performatively posting about it more as a way to guilt others for liking Hazbin at all... not so much. If you want to block something just block it. If you're mutuals with someone you both presumably like each others' content. Not all of it necessarily, but enough to have followed in the first place, and often being mutuals for long enough leads to friendship because you're both getting interacting with one another a lot. All of which isn't to say that people don't unfollow mutuals, or that you can't drop a mutual because they've started posting something you dislike. Obviously both situations do happen, but it feels like an extreme enough response that these posters probably aren't actually doing this very often. Most people will wait the mutual out until their interest gets hooked on something new, or block the Hazbin tag and keep the friend, or just block without making a big announcement about it. So posts like that feel more like a way to show off how much you dislike the show and guilt others for their enjoyment which yeah, can be upsetting to see. Especially when, as you say, it costs nothing to just let people like things.

Which might sound hypocritical on my part given my RWBY interests, but I think there's a big difference between critically examining a show while supporting others who genuinely love it, and simplistically blasting it. I COMPLETELY get why Hazbin wouldn't be to everyone's tastes and, like with the SU example, anything that gets popular enough is going to develop its haters (especially cartoons trying to tackle non-childish subjects. That's always going to be a fandom landmine). But if you're going to make claims about a show, at least watch it to ensure you can back up your stance? And if your takeaway is still, "This is the worst fucking thing I've ever watched"... cool. Go forth and write about that on your own, personal blog. But no one should be surprised when they're also blocked for bragging about how many Hazbin fans they've blocked.

#Hazbin Hotel

23 notes · View notes

meatcatt · 3 months

Note

Hello!! I found some of your art on Pinterest so I went searching and I found your twitter which led me here! I reallllyyyy love your art!! It's so cute. Especially how you draw Shamura- They're just a little bean!!

I also adore your Redo AU! Especially how Narinder is getting babied by his siblings haha. Makes me wonder their reaction would be to Lambert (Who I feel so bad for. They did not deserve this, the poor bby)

First off I want to say thank you for liking my art work, it means the world to me that though I have left the cult of the lamb fandom behind (mostly) that my blog and the art I’ve made can still be enjoyed by fans new and old. Redo au is my baby, and I’m glad so many people enjoy it despite its lack luster writing haha…

I have struggled to answer this ask because I want to make it clear you aren’t the problem. But I also desperately need people to know.

The reason I left the cult of the lamb fandom, and for awhile tumblr as a whole, was because my art work was constantly being stolen and re uploaded despite my wishes. Even with credit. And the main culprit was Pinterest (though YouTube and Reddit didn’t help).

I want to say again that this person, or anyone who found me through Pinterest, is absolutely not the issue. I also understand that part of having popular art in fandom is that it’s inevitably going to get stolen. I understand that. But it’s just. It hurts. Every time.

I cannot describe to you the mood killer it is to scroll looking for fandom stuff and see your own art work flashed at you. No credit and sometimes your watermark purposely removed. And the fact that it’s plastered on every page I have “please don’t repost my artwork even with credit” it feels like even more a punch to the gut. Because of those I considered even credited work stolen, because it deliberately goes against my wishes.

I know some people say “it doesn’t matter because you’re getting free exposure”. And they are right. This asker is exact proof of that. But! I post art work online for likes, comments, and reblogs. I know that might seem shallow but it’s true. I want to see people like my art, I want to see what people think about it. If I don’t I just keep it to myself or just show my friends which happens to be the majority of my work. Most of my stuff has never been posted publicly anywhere! And those likes and comments drive me, they make me want to create because people like my stuff! It makes me happy. And I can’t get that if someone steals it and takes it off site.

I left tumblr for a bit after discovering my entire tumblr had essentially been re-uploaded to Pinterest by a single user (most of the time it’s only a few of my most popular posts taken). Credit removed. I doom scrolled it for hours. I had to stop when I saw someone commented on my artwork saying “I love this art but who’s the artist, I can’t seem to find them anywhere?” I don’t know. It hurt.

I joined in stars and time fandom hesitantly, and after scrolling on YouTube got recommended a video that had my art work stolen in it. Not credit. And I’m heart broken. Maybe this shouldn’t hurt me so much. But it does.

#meat talks #vent #again asker thank you for your kind words #you seem wonderful #i hope me using your ask as a jumping off point doesn’t startle you #i just needed to get this off my chest

14 notes · View notes

avidbeader · 24 days

Text

So, I've been doing the Great Sheith Reblog for a while now, gradually reblogging almost everything I shared before that was tagged as Sheith. Lots of art, gifsets, fics and recs, old merch posts, and meta to go around with the occasional dash of salt because lord, dumbness about shipping brings out the salt sometimes. But most of the time it's a lovely nostalgia hit and a reminder of why I still love this ship with all my fandom heart. It's bittersweet sometimes, seeing the usernames that left with Tumblr's worst decision ever, the fellow fans who have moved on to other things, and yes, the hopes and dreams we had before Season 8.

Long blathering under the cut: musings about the persistence of anti-shippers and what queerbaiting actually means.

But occasionally what both amuses and frustrates me is how things line up because it's 2024 and we still have klantis/antis over on the former Twitter spreading the same lies about Shiro and Keith - about their ages, about how they met, about what their relationship is. Right now over there, arguing is happening again because someone put up a clout-chasing poll about which mlm ship was the most influential and included KL but not Sheith (KL beat Johnlock and then lost to Hualian, so I'm happy twice over). Side note - I think if we take "influence" as a completely neutral term, then yeah, KL has been a huge negative influence on fandoms as it was one of the places that allowed puriteen attitudes and anti behavior to grow unchecked for so long. That helped turn some ship fandoms into cults, in which you had to believe with utter certainty that your ship would be canon or you weren't a "true" fan of the ship. That put more emphasis on opposing a rival ship through wank and harassment instead of focusing on the joy and fun of creating for the ship you supposedly love.

And that poll prodded someone to create a Google Form for soliciting answers as to what the biggest examples of queerbaiting are in media. And of course people are saying KL and Adam/Shiro, among other things that are not at all queerbait. These are examples of people guessing wrong and getting mad about it. Queerbait requires that the producers/writers/etc. say outright that a ship is going to happen and then it doesn't, without any influences from the powers above them making changes. Not received fan "wisdom". Not marketing doing things without consulting the producers.

And I just reblogged someone's ask in which they said they felt queerbaited by Sheith solely because of the "brother" line in "The Black Paladins". The answer is excellent and worth a ready if you haven't seen it on my blog already.

Breaking it down:

KL is not queerbait. KL was never planned as a potential ship and LM/JDS said so multiple times. They said it never occurred to them as a possibility and by the time KL's popularity took off they were too far along in the writing to try and go back and make changes, because animators need time to draw. LM flat-out said she was surprised that it became a thing. If the producers are telling you over and over in no uncertain terms that a ship had never been on the table and couldn't be added to the table now, that's not a case of queerbait. And they spoke of Lance's love interests as female every single time. JDS/LM never said anything that would lead fans into thinking KL was a possibility without the deliberate and willful misinterpreting of their words.

Adam/Shiro is not queerbait. Adam is a minor character in a series with a large cast. He has two functions: to be evidence of Shiro's status as a queer man and to be a "face" for all the pilots that died in the first wave of Sendak's invasion. Some people try to claim that LM and JDS queerbaited with their answers at SDCC 2018, but they're wrong. The only thing LM said was that we would see more of Adam in S7. And we did. She did not promise we'd see more of him with Shiro. That was people inserting what they wanted to hear, just like them trying to elevate Adam's status to a fiancé when again, LM clearly stated that they were serious and considering getting engaged. Not engaged. Not married. Just a couple that was serious about each other but broke up.

I don't consider Sheith to be true queerbait. It might fall under the cryptoqueer situation explained at the end of the post linked above, but JDS and LM were mostly very careful to talk of Sheith in terms of deep friendship and devotion to one another, after the initial wave of support for fan content during S1, prior to the klanti movement taking off. The only thing that skirts the line for me is a quote, I think from JDS, saying that if Shiro had a new love interest it would be someone he has known a long time. Or maybe that was about the romances in general being developed over seasons and not Shiro-specific - I would need to research. (Yet more proof that the endcard "wedding" was not planned since we didn't see the unnamed groom until S7 and they never interacted.) And that was said before studio execs started meddling and caused the trainwreck of S8.

I do think we were supposed to have an open ending for Sheith. Klantis like to point out a storyboard artist claiming that "no one wins" this ship war as evidence that KL was supposed to happen and got changed, but that statement applies if Sheith is left open-ended and Allurance happens, even without the endcards.

When I have a chance, I'll try and dig up the links for the various quotes I mention above. Thank you for reading if you made it this far!

#voltron #sheith #why K/L and A/S are not actually queerbait despite anti claims

12 notes · View notes

eccentric-nucleus · 4 months

Text

so when my intro post (this one, about hpmor and power fantasies and weird porn) was going around somebody reblogged it w/ commentary about mother of learning & how it did actually have a story framework that depended on like, character growth, themes, etc, and didn't necessarily deserve to be thrown into the progression fantasy bin & i've been thinking about why i disagree with that

part of it is just... the pacing is still pure progression fantasy? like the character wakes up one day in a puzzle box and the entire world is structured so that he has no choice but to investigate & that necessarily involves getting better at things. the world is a perfect training chamber for Leveling Up. it's the same framework as living in the sexy porn universe where the natural resolution to anything happening is to have sex. sure sure there's an in-world justification for everything that happens, but the true why for why things are happening is that the author wanted some sex scenes. oh no the narrative is bending around the gravitational pull of leveling up

(i have read, uh, 'to the stars' which is another one of those extremely long serial fanfics that i guess could be placed somewhere adjacent to the progression fantasy genre (the main character does get 'more powerful' and iirc also has a 'cheat ability' in some sense, for some very broad genre trope identifications) but it never really felt like that while reading it b/c there's never really any point in the entire story where there's a problem that the obvious solution that's immediately presented is "oh just get stronger". so "character gets more competent at using their skills" can fit in more naturally with the other narrative beats instead of being the primary narrative beat repeated over and over and over again)

or for more reputable fiction comparisons, like, a wizard of earthsea has ged getting more powerful, but that's... like the entire book is about the responsibility of having power, & the big antagonist is not defeated by ged outcasting him. it's about, like, accepting the duality of the self. the book is deeply interested in talking about power and what it means.

meanwhile, basically every one of zorian's problems is resolved by him personally deducing a solution. like, sure, this is kinda commented on in a meta sense a few times -- the whole memory packet thing where he spends months/years trying to learn the abilities needed to unpack it and totally fails & the only reason why he gets anything out of it is that the arache queen thought of him and put a failsafe message in specifically for that case -- but... it's still a huge training montage! it's still chapter after chapter of him getting tutors and training his skills and the old progression fantasy chestnut of "[x thing] had been so difficult and a huge blocker (several chapters ago) and now it's a trivial obstruction that's effortless to bypass" repeating itself over and over again. like, sure, there are absolutely some character beats (him realizing that the reason why uhhh whatshername, his friend who he had a crush on, shows up once in the loop and then never again was because she ends up dying via monster attack & he never actually bothered to follow up on that is what springs to mind for me) but... they're deeply subservient to whatever the latest power advancement beat is in the overall story structure. i think in the entire story he has like, two conversations with people about how actually the part where he's like 24 now and has maybe grown distant and alienated from his former friends while they live out, unchanging, in their month-long cycle over and over is going to have some long-term repercussions for him. there's that, and then there's a million scenes about training his mana bolt.

like sometimes i have story ideas for "this could be a progression fantasy" and sometimes i have story ideas for "this is a story idea i have" and there's absolutely this kind of wrenching distortion when i try to line up story beats from the latter with the former. plenty of stories don't spend like half their wordcount on training montages and showing the characters overcoming struggles through cunning or power. and when they do have those, they're in service to a larger story beat! the hobbit is not about bilbo getting more powerful even though an important part of the character's arc is that he comes home changed.

idk i'd say the defining characteristic that makes something a progression fantasy is that they're about the simple joy of hearing a character becoming more and more and more powerful over and over, to the point where the entire arc of the story bends to accommodate that. 'mother of learning' isn't structured like a mystery, even though it absolutely could be, and i don't really think it's structured like a coming-of-age story either, even if it absolutely has some parts of that there. the bulk of it is just a series of problems, revealed to the reader, that you then get to see zorian overcome. there are other bits there, for sure. but the biggest and clearest through line is about problem-solving via gaining power.

more generally, i think that person's definition of rational fic mostly overlaps with what i'd call a progression fantasy? the arc of the story is about presenting problems that get resolved through a character's ingenuity, at least in part so the readers can vicariously enjoy the problem-solving. it's kind of similar to a detective novel; i wouldn't say the sherlock holmes stories are progression fantasies but maybe if holmes was less condescending and more emphasis was put on how ~awesome~ he was they would be. numbers going up just makes it closer to a litrpg, which is a distinct other thing. so long as the primary arc of the work is about reveling in hearing about a character get more powerful, that's a progression fantasy.

10 notes · View notes

late-night-vocaloid · 10 months

Text

tips for artists from twitter!

welcome! this is an extensive guide for new tumblr users, mostly geared towards artists, going over a few things I've learned here over the years.

(tldr at the bottom, short version of this post)

general tag usage

one of tumblr's best features is its tags. taking advantage of them will generally improve your experience (and ability to find posts later, something I think is a major advantage tumblr has over twitter)

tags on tumblr are used to help others find your post in site-wide tags and searches, to make your post findable on your own blog, and for commentary. they can use spaces.

your post will show up in the first 20 tags you use on it

if you use your main to reblog posts and post art, use one tag for all of your art. this will make it easy for people, yourself included, to scroll through all of your art at once without needing to dig through the reblogs. something as simple as "art" (if you don't use that tag for art reblogs too) or "my art" (if you do) will do, but it's also not uncommon to give the tag a more unique name with your name in it, like "[name] draws," etc.

speaking of which, some people also have a tag for talking, usually named similarly to "[name] draws," but again, it can be anything

don't censor your tags. there's no need to use "k*ll" or "unalive" here, and censoring trigger warning tags will cause your post to bypass people's blocked tags/words/phrases

sideblogs

sideblogs are additional blogs tied to your account. they work the same way your main does, except only your main can follow/block people, send asks, and like/reply to posts

there's no need to log into them, you choose which blog posts go to when reblogging/making them. going to a sideblog in the sidebar will auto-select that blog when you make a new post

people make sideblogs for different fandoms, blog types, etc., and because they're easy to manage and post to, many people make them for art! whether you use your main to post art or make an art blog is up to you, people do both

post longevity

posts on tumblr tend to be timeless. there are no automatically, immediately visible timestamps on posts, and people don't tend to think about when posts were made when reblogging them. you'll find your old posts will still get notes ages after you've made them

once a post is reblogged, there's no permanently deleting it. you can delete the original and it'll be gone from your blog, but the post as you made it will still exist on anyone's blog who rb'd it. this isn't to say it wouldn't get buried if only a few people reblogged it, just something to be aware of. same is true if you delete your blog

not about longevity, but the same is true of edits. if you need to edit a post, do it before people start reblogging it to prevent two versions of the post (the unedited original post, and the edited version) from circulating. of course, you can always tell people in the replies/reblogs of your posts to reblog/check the edited version on your blog (it's the same post, there aren't two individual posts) if it's important, but not everyone will open the notes and see that. people also sometimes use this for tricks

reblogging

considered the best thing to do if you really like a post, reblogging is for sharing posts with others, and saving them on your blog (+ being able to categorize them with tags if you'd like)

if you comment:

in the reblog: your comment is added as a part of the post itself, people are able to reblog the version of the post with your comment on it

in the replies: your comment is added under the post in the replies, people are able to reply back and forth to each other without needing to rb the whole post over and over, but can only reply with their main blog

in the tags: your comment will show up on your reblog of the post specifically without adding it to the actual post, it'll be visible on your blog and the tag viewing section of the post along with others' tags, keep in mind that the poster may read your tags on their post

people generally use tags to add little comments that they don't intend on getting a reply to when they reblog (for this reason, artists usually love going through the tags on their posts), but comments in reblogs and the replies are also perfectly fine

if you're on desktop, get the extension xkit rewritten and enable quick reblog. I cannot stress this enough. it makes reblogging infinitely faster by letting you hover over the reblog button for a little window with a blog selection dropdown, field for typing in tags, and reblog/queue/draft buttons, as opposed to pulling up the whole reblog screen (which is mostly good for if you want to comment with your reblog or type long tags and make sure they won't get cut off (tags have a 140 character limit each)

it's also totally normal to reblog your own art! at night if you posed it in the day, multiple days in a row, old art from forever ago, it's basically like quote retweeting it for people who missed it the first time. some people use tags like "reblogging for the later crowd" or "rb for the morning crowd" when they do this, but it isn't required

image descriptions

image descriptions (or IDs) make your posts accessible for those who are blind/visually impaired and use screen readers, which are software programs that read text aloud/make it readable through a braille display

to write them, give simple explanations of what the images you post are. for your art, include details like the medium (digital art, pencil drawing, etc), people/characters, outfits, hairstyles, expressions, poses, props, visual effects, backgrounds, and so on.

others may add image descriptions to your posts, but writing them yourself is the best way to ensure everything in your art is interpreted correctly, and the most notable parts are communicated

image descriptions can be put directly into the body/description of a post, right under or above the image (and not separated from the image under a read more)

there's also alt text, which is text embedded into the code of the image itself that screen readers will read like any other text when the image is hovered over/clicked. many websites have a way to add alt text when uploading images, tumblr included

examples of image descriptions are below the cut.

troubleshooting your posts not showing up in tags

new blogs may not be able to post to tags immediately (a bot prevention method). to make sure your posts show up in tags,

add an icon/description to your blog (you may have heard this is important to show others you aren't a bot so they don't block you when you follow them, but this is also a way tumblr itself determines if you're a bot)

reblog a post/posts (they can be deleted later)

wait a while before posting (maybe a day or two, it's been a while since I last checked the amount of time with a new blog)

certain things, like adding more than two links (not video links, just regular ones), can also cause your post not to show up in tags

an easy way to check if you're able to post to tags is to make a quick text post and tag it something specific, like "testingggg," and then check that tag to see if your post is in it. it can take a few seconds for your post to show up. this is a good way to test anything you think may be causing your post not to show up in tags, and you can delete it immediately after you check

sometimes, tags are just finicky. if your post isn't there, it may show up later, it may not. if it's really important that your post shows up in the tags, delete it and try again later

tldr/summary

the first 20 tags on your post will have it show up in those tags

if you reblog and post art, use a tag for your art

don't censor trigger warnings

if you want to, make an art only sideblog within your account

posts on tumblr are timeless and may still get notes long after they're posted

if a post is deleted, any reblogs of the post on other blogs will remain

editing posts does not edit already-reblogged versions

reblogging is for sharing and saving, and is very much appreciated

reblogging with a comment adds it as a part of the post

replying allows for short-ish discussion directly related to the post

tags are often used for making one-sided comments for the poster/your followers/people browsing the tags on the post to read

on desktop, get xkit rewritten for its streamlined reblogging feature

if you want to, reblog your art for those that missed it earlier

add simple descriptions of what your images are to your posts for those who use screen readers (see image descriptions section)

you may need to add an icon/description to your blog, reblog a post, and wait a bit before tumblr will let you post to tags with a new blog (bot prevention)

you can use text posts with any tag to test if you posts will show up in tags before posting the real thing

of course, none of the advice here is obligatory, and you should use your account/run your blog how you want to, but hopefully you find something in here helpful. there's a lot I didn't cover, mainly general tumblr things people have already covered as opposed to artist-oriented tips, and it doesn't get into all the features like custom blog themes (which I recommend desktop users look into), but these are a few things that aren't immediately apparent/are different elsewhere. that's all, thanks for reading and have fun!

image description examples are below the cut.

[ID: a chibi figure of Vocaloid Kaito sitting sadly on the floor, his scarf wrapped around his torso and lower face, and his arms to his sides. He has a single tear and is blushing slightly, and there's a bandage on his head. Beside him are a melty, spilled, blue popsicle and a wet floor sign with the text "caution" and an image of the popsicle. End ID.]

[ID: the cover of the Vocaloid Gakupo album “Celebration,” which features cursive text that reads “Celebration” above regular text that reads “Gackpoid V3 Song Collection,” along with digital art of Gakupo. His hair is half down, half up in a spiky bun with golden sticks crossed through it. He’s wearing an unbuttoned, white dress shirt, a black jacket, a black tie, and an earpiece with a mic. He looks to the camera with a neutral expression, his mouth slightly open, loosening his tie. There are glowing petals around him, and golden flowers that turn into feather-like shapes behind him. The background is a grey-to-black gradient with purplish-pink bars with patterns on them. End ID.]

these are a couple examples of how you might describe your art. if there's something distinct about your art, like very-saturated or pastel colors, you might specify that too. if you post comics, you might start out with text like "a four-panel digital comic," before describing what's happening in each panel. if you were posting a meme, you might specify which meme it is and give only relevant information, not describing things like shirt color, etc. like you might do with art. a good rule of thumb is to describe the images in your posts like you would to a friend who's in the room but can't see your screen.

#here's another tip: some people use the tag #long post #for really long posts #twitter refugees #twitter #reddit refugees #this is for you too #I know what's going on on twitter/reddit is rough but I really believe tumblr may be functionally the best site for artists flaws aside #and I'm very excited artists are trying it out/returning. best of luck to all of you #(also you can't use commas in tags)#if anyone who sees this has any questions (and read the whole thing) you can shoot me an ask #thoughts #(← this is my tag for posts I make. came from my old url (username))

25 notes · View notes

potterandpromises · 4 months

Text

An Apartment of Our Own

My contribution to the genre of fics exploring the in-universe OMITB fandom, Theobel style. Any similarities to any actual Tumblr blogs or fanfics is purely coincidental, and of course, this is all in good fun. (In order to recreate Mabel's style of speaking and signing at the same time, as in the show, the signed parts of her dialogue are underlined. Because Tumblr doesn't allow for underlining, this fic will continue on AO3 here or below in the place I found it silliest and most fun.)

They never hid their friendship.

Sure, Mabel gave it a good six weeks before she casually let it slip to the guys that her and Theo hang out. Just so she could come up with a few solid rebuttals if they gave her pushback. (‘Charles, you dated a serial killer.’ ‘Theo’s actually pretty fun to be around.’ 'According to greater society, we shouldn't be friends either.' 'I don't let old men tell me what to do.')

(Okay, they were about as solid as Oliver’s dips.)

(When the conversation came, Oliver was weirdly supportive about it. Charles looked exactly how he did when she first mentioned dating Alice.)

And yeah, she gave it an additional few months before she mentioned it to her mom. The distance gave her time and she wanted extra confidence the good feeling she and Theo had around each other wasn't a haze that would soon lift. She wanted the shitty phone call to be worth it. And it was. He was worth it.

But they never hid it. Not really. Not in public. If, last autumn, a fan of the pod posted a blurry five second video of two people who might possibly, maybe, be them using ASL in the winding path of the basement of an antique shop in midtown, well, she didn’t let it concern her.

Superfans aside, as the months dragged on without her involvement in another stabbing incident and/or murder, not many people cared about Bloody Mabel. Equally, she cared less and less about strangers' opinions.

Then Ben Glenroy died twice.

It wasn't like with Bunny; Mabel wasn't so unbearably close to the story. Still, the internet talks, and Theo got a writing credit for that season 3 teaser trailer he wrote. Questions were raised they still hasn't answered.

“Have you seen this?” Theo holds up his phone, shakes it slightly. His lips twitch, amused... or nervous?

Mabel sets her knitting aside, leans forward on the couch, and recognizes the website.

And the blog.

She furrows her brow, and takes his phone.

The Tumblr is onlyarconicsinthebulldogging, and they've reblogged from frogfuckergirl555. She has no idea who frogfuckergirl555 is, or if they're a frequent poster. For the briefest second, she feels almost proud of herself for that.

The post is a simple sentence, followed by a link.

Idk what this is but they’re kinda cute together??? especially if the rumors are true???

There's an emoji sequence in the tags that only grows Mabel's wariness: 😭😭😭👌🏻👌🏻🔥🔥🔥

She gives Theo another long, long look.

He doesn’t blush, exactly. He squirms in his chair like he regrets bringing knowledge of this— what she swiftly imagines with a level of visual accuracy only possible through prolonged proximity— onto himself.

“Open— read it!” he signs quick and jerky, like Mabel wouldn’t understand at all without context. "Please," he adds, and crosses his legs.

The suspense might be killing him. She, however, could live very happily not knowing the details of what people imagine they get up to, what precisely those aforementioned rumors are. If she doesn’t do her research though, if she chooses to live in blissful ignorance, the universe will surely send Marv her way to clear it all up for her.

She clicks the link, opens up Archive of Our Own.

#theobel #only murders in the building #omitb #mabel mora #theo dimas #fanfiction #my fanfic tag #fic: an apartment of our own

13 notes · View notes

wanderrnest · 6 months

Text

@mercurialcreatur3 Answering here because it was too long for replays on the previous post i reblogged. sorry for my English.

What you said is the most painful to me. People walk among us after they went through these unspeakable horrors, and people still find ways to deny or underestimad it. This is equivalent to Holocaust denial for us. Except now, unlike Nazi Germany, even Hamas terrorists themselves filmed things and uploaded them, sometimes even to victims' social media. There are photos and videos that I wish wouldn't be true, but they are. When there's a terrorist investigation where he said they were told to murder, behead, and rape. There are videos of sexual assault. They found sexual assault evidence on dead bodies. I'm choosing not to go more graphic, but there is so much more graphic. Many people can't tell you what happened because they're dead, like entire families; we won't hear their stories (again painfully similar to the Holocaust, where in some cases there was not one left to tell); they only left butchered bodies behind them, but even that is not enough. read on shani louk, it's one exapmle out of many. look on Hadas Kalderon that her mother and niece were murderd and her two children are kidnapped in gaza without her. they uploded one thing to her daugther's tik tok - "goodbye". it's diffrenet when you know the faces and you hear the first hand stories.

Hamas is a terror organization; it thrives on propaganda. You are fed with propaganda about Israel that comes straight from their scripted messages and false information and the dehumanizing of israelis and jews. The amount of misinformation in the pro-Palestinian circles and the Muslim world is truly off the charts. Israel did not use photos of Palestinian children. Hamas burned babies and beheaded and raped Jewish people and paraded with their bodies. It's a fact; it's documented; people saw it. i can't even think about making this up because it's too terrible to even be imagined; it's hard for me to even say it. It's people's families! I can't believe I have to try to convince a fellow Jewish person that it's not a lie, that innocent Jews actually were brutally murdered. It may seem hard to believe, and you refuse to believe the photos, but is it really that hard to believe when it's literally their declared written goal? Slaughter Jews? c'mon What else do you need? why would you choose to believe the messages of a terror organization?

Yes, she said they treated her nicely; she's like 85. I'm so glad she is physically unharmed, and I believe she wisely managed to interact with them (which to me, shows more about her humanity than theirs, since kindapping a 85 years old or breaking into a house of an old lady and holding a grenade up her head (different story of rachel adri) pretty much cancels ones humanity. not to mention shooting elders in the head. I guess some of them were interactable (also, please don't forget that her HUSBAND is still there, which might be a reason for her words). but it doesn't make their crimes against humanity any less terrible, it doesn't bring back 1,400 people who are brutally murdered. they didn't treat nicely the other elders they shot, the women they raped and murdered, the babies they burned or beheaded, and the children that are still held in Gaza. their morals are entiraly diffrenet then ours in ways we cannot comprehend. they justfiy and call to do all those things to jewish people, in all ages, including rape.

Those people also understood really quickly that bragging about all their horrifying acts wouldn't give them the West support that they love, they are not stupid, so they try to minimize damage, and it's working.

As much as I'm not a fan of the Israeli government (before it all happened, I protested against it every week; again, a leftist), and I'm the last one to defend it, but this is still not some version of Russia with fake news and censorship. We are a small country with a mandatory army, where everyone knows someone who knows someone who's been affected, who was there in some way or another, during or after. Our media is still free and diverse. Please believe me; I know what happened an hour's drive from where I live. If the TV news leaves out details, and it does, it's in order to keep us sane because the ideas are too much to handle and are feared to cause massive hysteria, but everyone knows anyway. Sometimes it's even scarier to watch the news reporter knows something but stops themselves from giving the details because it's too terrible to air on TV.

Honestly, there is so much evidence and testimonies and there will be so much more. i hope that even if not now, one day you'll understand the horrors; I don't know what else will make you believe after all that. I understand you are for the weak now, but if we were weak now, we wouldn't be alive. We were weak on October 7th, and we aren't going to be weak again. Gaza could've been free without the terror organization that rules it. That was the intention from the beginning when Israel withdrew completely from Gaza, giving Palestinians autonomy. Once it got controlled by a terror organization, it naturally got complicated and violent. But we can't protect them from their own now; I'm sorry. We'll have to protect our people from being murdered. we have no way of "freeing" anyone without sentencing our own death (casual reminder of the sea of muslim countries around us, that wouln't miss a chance to join our destraction). And it feels like it's comfortable to you as a Jew that doesn't live in Israel to underestimate this need and join your friend by judging from afar, but you aren't in this danger. anyway i hope you won't be beacuse antisemitism is getting worse and worse everyday.

But if you'd be here, and these horrors were at your doorstep, believe me you'd understand the need to defend yourself. that's why i'm so anxiously try to make you understand. Israel is not comitting genocide, i'll say it again and again. it fights a terror organization thet hides behind their civillians, and it would not have done that if this terror organization stopped murdering israelis. we have no interst in killing palestinians just because they are palestinians. none.

this is the propaganda.

and if anyone from our dozens of neighbor muslim countries truly cared about palestinians and not just interested in destroying us and the western values, they would actually help them and not encourage hamas.

This comes from a leftist who, until very recently, believed wholeheartedly in a two-state solution. i don't know what i think now.

#israel #trigger alert: everything

13 notes · View notes

emperorsfoot · 2 days

Text

I'm so tired. Almost my entire blog all week has been posts about antisemitism. Tumblr used to be my fandom website. It used to be where I would go to escape the real world and relax.

So, to break up all the overwhelming IRL concerns,

New Followers of Jumblr, tell me about your fandoms!

Let's all share our interests with each other!

I'll start.

The fandom that brought me to Tumblr was Star Wars. I have been a fan of Star Wars since the 90s. I'm old enough to have felt the pre-queled ruined the franchise before the sequels could (after what Disney's done that opinion has changed). Around 2011-2012ish when the Disney buyout was still new, my friends and I started a podcast to educate new fans about the old Expanded Universe (Legends) that existed before Disney bought the franchise. I started this blog to advertise that podcast.

My username Emperor's Foot is inspired by my favorite character, Mara Jade. She used to be an Imperial agent before the death of Emperor Palpatine at Endor. She is Force sensitive and could hear the Emperor's voice from anywhere in the Galaxy, when the died she felt is and he sent her his last instruction, "KILL LUKE SKYWALKER!" But when she finally crosses paths with Luke organically, she needs him to help her survive, so she can't kill him. Then she needs him to save her new boss, so she still can't kill him. Then she's a prisoner of New Republic and needs to help Luke defeat an evil Dark Jedi in exchange for a pardon, so she still can't kill him! Then she kills his clone and the voices go away. Mara realizes that she and Luke actually work well together and is willing to work together in the future. Luke gives her his father's lightsaber (they pulled it off the clone's dead body, that was how they cloned Luke, they went looking for the hand on Bespin and there just happened to be a lightsaber attached to it.

More stuff happens, but you'll have to read the Expanded Universe (Legends) books to find out.

I'm not competent enough to be the Emperor's Hand, but I could be the Emperor's Foot.

After Star Wars, my new big fandom on Tumblr was Ben 10. I was a very active fan and it was also my first sideblog. But the Ben 10 fandom back in 2014-2017 was really toxic and I ended up leaving. It's had a reboot, the fandom might be different now. I donno. Overall it wasn't a positive experience and I don't wanna go back.

I flit in and out of Sky High every now and again. But I have not contributed anyone of note to the fandom. We're also a very small fandom so there's also not very much to reblog.

My last major fandom fixation was Masters of the Universe, which I got into through She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), and MotU became my second sideblog.

MotU has a long history. Its similar to DC comics in the sense that there've been so many reboots and reimaginings, and changed form so many times that there's no "one true canon". It really leaves a lot of room for the fans to be creative. An executive at Mattel even says that because they're action figures meant to be played with, that all interpretations and imaginings are canon, even the stories kids make up while playing. So there's a lot of freedom for fans to make their own fan fiction and fan art.

My favorite character is Prince Keldor, the guy who eventually becomes Skeletor. He's gone through a lot of reimaginings over the years. The core detail that remains the same is that Keldor is Randor's brother and Adam's (He-Man's) uncle. When he was first introduced in 1987, we never see him, so we don't know what Keldor looked like before he became Skeletor. Randor explains that Keldor was a sorcerer but had some kind of magical accident and was lost in dimensions.

When the franchise was Rebooted in 2002, Keldor's backstory was changed and his appearance designed. Keldor is Randor's half-brother, they are both the children of Miro (in the 80s he was the previous king, in 2002 he was a "Captain" of a religious army team of Defenders that serve the immortal Council of Elders). Keldor is half-human half/Gar (blue space elf) the homeland of the Gar was destroyed for reasons that are only vaguely explained in the Show Bible and Keldor's mother raises him to blame and hate the Captain Miro (and by extension the Council of Elders) and he grows up studying and training to take "revenge". By the time Keldor's ready to stoke, Miro is gone and Randor is Captain. Keldor attacks the Council of Elders and during the battle his face is melted with acid. Evil-Lyn, his 2nd in command, takes him to the Temple of Hordak to save his life and the price for his life is that he becomes Skeletor.

DC Comics was also given permission to do a run of comics, they crossover with the main DC universe. He-Man fights Superman. The run is not great. The best segment is the end arc, Eternity War when they're back on Eternia after that wild ride on Earth. 2/10, do not recommend. In the DC run, Keldor is still Gar and still Randor's half-brother. Miro's back to being a king in this canon and both Randor and Keldor grew up as princes. Keldor is the older brother, but he's a bastard and so is denied the crown in favor of the legitimate son, Randor. Keldor becomes the scheming royal advisor trope and plans a coup, during which his face is melted and he refuses to die (no, literally, he bashes Death's skull against a rock and walks away, this bitch beat up Death!), and becomes Skeletor.

Around the same time as the DC run was another run of comics published by Dark Horde and came packaged with the toys, the Classics-Line. The Classics-Line is my favorite canon. Keldor is once again the first born son and after Miro is banished to another dimension, Keldor was going to be crowned king, he even had Randor's support! But there were also a lot of bad things that happened all at once. The people of Eternia are apparently super racist and hate the Gar, there's a public outcry over having a Gar king. While Randor is trying to reason with a crowd of screaming citizens protesting a blue king, Randor's mother goes to get Keldor so he can address the people. But she dies suddenly and abruptly from very suspicious circumstances and Keldor is implicated in her death. While her body is still bleeding on the floor, no investigation, so trial, Keldor is sentenced to be banished. Keldor resents this treatment and travels Eternia meeting other people who were outcast and resentful (most of which were other non-humans, while most of the Masters are human; just sayin'), and Keldor builds a rebellion. During their attack on the capital, Keldor's face is splashed with acid and he becomes Skeletor.

In 2021 we got 2 new reboots. One aimed at adults who grew up with MotU in the 80s, and one for children just discovering the franchise now. I like both, and Keldor appears in both. The one aimed at adults has the better Keldor of the two, but the one for children has better story telling. I recommend both. In the one aimed at children, Keldor is completely human and is just a jealous asshole, they really stripped his character of any depth or complicated nuance and gave him a morning character design on top of it. But what it lacks in Keldor, it makes up for in story telling and the Kronis/Evelyn ship.

My current fandom is Tim/Kon. I'd like to say DC Superheroes, but that would be a lie. I only care about making these two men kiss. Tim Drake (Robin, Red Robin, Drake, Gun-Batman), and Kon-El | Conner Kent (Superboy). I have written so much fan fiction about them! I enjoy almost any interpretation of them. DC characters are kind of like "modern mythologies" for me. Like Hercules or Snow White is constantly reigned and transformed, so can you do with DC characters. No depiction of them is "incorrect" I love them all-! ...so long as Tim Drake and Kon-El fall in love.

My current Tim/Kon projects are 2 long A/B/O fic series. One I started in October of of last year, but I kinda lost the thread in what needs to happen in the story. I was kinda just writing out of emotion without any plan, the whole thing's a mess. I've also returned to working on a fic series I started in 2017. Tim and Kon are grown up, married, and raising their children when Tim discovers Terry McGinnis (of Batman Beyond) and assigns his eldest son to follow Terry. The fic mostly focusses on the son, my fan-kid OC. I also just started writing a completely escapist fic taking place in the same universe as the Batman Beyond one, but much farther along the timeline when their youngest child is an adult. Its a self-insert oc/ oc fic which both OCs are my self insert. I might not post that one, I'm still debating. I'm afraid of getting negative comments.

#jumblr

3 notes · View notes

stormblessed95 · 1 year

Note

Hey Stormie. Me again.

So I saw you reblogged an old post of yours that had me wondering; I see this logic of not spreading things that have no proof or can't be confirmed. And I agree. But doesn't creating Jikook spaces automatically "out" them then? With this logic? Like when we point out the secret BV footsies or holding hands behind Suga? Or the secret flying kisses, or what JM stands for. Or all the other hundred suspicious things Jikook do that they clearly thought cameras didn't catch and that Army wouldn't zoom in on and analyse. U know what I'm saying? Whats the difference between normal Jikook blogs that talk about these things that insinuate Jikook is real or someone who claims to have inside information? Both parties don't really know dick when u think about it. And it's up to the reader to choose whether to buy what they're selling or not. I love you, you know I do, but you believe Jikook is real and share posts that allude to this. Don't you think its a bit.... idk... but is it really fair to call out these persons in the name of "lets not out Jikook"? Because isn't that what we are all doing at the end of the day by sharing these moments that prove Jikook is real? Or could be real? Help me understand the difference from your perspective. Coz IMHO, there don't see to be 🤔

Well I would encourage you to go back and reread that reblog again. Because it sort of addresses the difference there. And this might be a good post for you to read too. It touches on some of the same topics you do as well in a simular if slightly different way, but still dealing with what's appropriate in boundaries as fans

Otherwise, the main difference is that creating a blog or space to support jikook is not actually outing them. It's a safe space to support them. Because that's what all you can really do for two queer people who aren't out. You can recongize what they say to you. But it's not confirmation. It's sharing the journey with them that they share with us THEMSELVES.

At the end of the day, my opinions shared here are based on tangible facts. Not gossip. We talk about things that we can ALL see or things that were shared directly with us from the source. From Jimin and Jungkook themselves. Spreading rumors and insider knowledge can actually fall under the sasaeng territory and is violating their privacy. If they don't always notice the cameras, they are still making the choice to be sneaky on camera. They know the cameras are around. They know there is a chance they will be filmed. Rather than speaking about rumors or truth from a third party perspective that has no substance and if it's true, would violate their privacy as they did not consent to that specific information being shared or witnessed. If they are hanging out with their friends, there is implied trust there that what happens while with their friends or within a safe space or within their own homes or out somewhere they feel safe in, would be things where what happened there, stays there. And wouldn't then be shared anywhere else, even with no evidence. We talk about things here that we actually see or we hear from the members themselves or from reliable sources with otherwise substantial but non invasive proof. We hear what Jimin and JK say to us themselves. We do not base these things on imaginary belief. Or what then makes us different from taekookers who are making up sightings of taekook dates or kisses and getting made fun of for doing it.

Supporting their relationship, whatever it may be and talking about hickeys exchanged or footsies being playing, isn't outing them. They put those things out into the world and still people insist they are straight. Outting them is claiming to have substantial evidence to prove they are queer and/or together and talking about it. Joking about it. Making light of it. In a situation that would cause them harm if the rumors are true. This goes for all shippers, who put wanting to prove their ship real above the actual safety, mental and physical, of the members involved in said ship.

So yeah. Read both posts again. And hopefully this helps clear that up a bit more too. At least, how I feel about it all personally. And this isn't even about anything in particular honestly, my reblog earlier. It's about how every few months I've been seeing unsubstantiated rumors pop up and if it's a person's chosen ship, they eat it up. And if it's not, it's ripped apart and made fun of (think taekook beach date rumors for example). A little critical thinking about any of these baseless rumors though too, would make it easy to see, in my opinion, how unlikely they are to be true also. But that's just me.

#boundaries as shippers #boundaries as fans and shippers #jikook #kookmin #jikook deserve privacy too

46 notes · View notes

nepentheisms · 8 months

Text

SPOILERS AHEAD for the end of Trimax. I know bookclub still has a few weeks left to get there, but @pepplemint put down some thoughts I really liked (linked below, their post includes the spoilers that I'm reflecting on). I was originally going to just reblog with comments I wanted to add, but then this post wound up way longer than I expected.

Anyways, for op, I think this essay may be of interest to you with its discussion of the final few chapters; especially this bit where the writer quotes the late Thich Nhat Hanh:

Though the Bible values understanding, it prioritizes love above all. Jesus encourages his followers to love thy neighbor, no matter what, whether or not there is understanding. Alternately, in Living Buddha, Living Christ, Thich Nhat Hanh writes that “In Buddhism, understanding (prajña) is essential to love (maitri). Without understanding there cannot be true love, and without love there cannot be true understanding.” Perhaps the finale of Trigun Maximum is a blending of these two philosophies.

For me personally, the use of the Genesis allusions in the resolution of the story and the way that plants and humans switch around in acting as the god figure in relation to one another have stirred up thoughts about how there's more of a push and pull in God's relationship with humanity in the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible (which has the same books as the Protestant Old Testament but they're arranged differently).

My knowledge of Judaism is pretty basic, so I'd love to hear from someone who can provide more perspective, but from what I do know, the Jewish approach to God differs from the Christian approach in that adherents are encouraged to question God (even the very existence of God is up for questioning). In Christianity, God is characterized as an all-powerful perfect being humans have to obey, but this characterization really involves a lot of retconning of the Jewish source material, because in those stories, God is not necessarily omnipotent or omnibenevolent.

In Genesis 3:22-23, God seems to express concern over the possibility of humans rivaling him. From the NRSV translation:

(22) And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” (23) So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

But even with the banishment from the Garden of Eden and the whole Tower of Babel episode in which God voices his qualms about humanity becoming too powerful, God also has moments in which he welcomes it when people challenge him. Genesis 32:24-32 is the story of Jacob wrestling with God and insisting "I will not let you go unless you bless me," and he gets his blessing. And it's in these verses that we get an explanation for the meaning of the name Israel - "The one who strives with God" (from the notes of The New Oxford Annotated Bible).

And what is Trigun but a story of striving between creator and creation? There's plenty of contentious striving, full of pain and conflict, but there's also the striving for understanding - a struggle to truly KNOW the other so that together, they may have a chance at building a more mutually beneficial future.

TLDR: I think the relationship of mutual contention between God and mankind as seen in the Hebrew Bible is a better analogy for the humans vs plants conflict than the Christian view of original sin cutting people off from a perfect supreme authority.

#trigun #trigun maximum #trigun maximum spoilers #trigun meta #christianity mention #religion mention #Guns&God meta

10 notes · View notes

basicallyjaywalker · 9 months

Text

The timeline and history of Ninjago is weird and fluid: an essay

So recently I reblogged a post asking what people thought the length of the time skip between S2 and S3 was and it got me thinking about the weird chronology of this show.

Disclaimer: i have only seen up to S8 because I'm a hack and a fraud but I do still follow fandom and have seen enough clips I think to gain an understanding of how the ninja are portrayed and characterized in later seasons. I welcome and deeply appreciate those of you who are more caught up on the seasons adding to my points and pointing out where I'm wrong on this post! Who knows maybe in 15 years when I do catch up I'll make a follow up

Basically, the conclusion I have after years of thinking about this timeline way too much is this:

The time twins completely screwed up the timeline

Only slightly joking, but it does feel like the divide between S7 and S8 (coincidentally also when the design change took place) is when the writers had to retcon a lot of old ideas because the show was moving in a new direction spurred by an increase of popularity from the movie and by desires from the people supervising the shows creation.

My main points for this are as follows

The ninjas age

How old the country of Ninjago is

The depiction of the passing of time itself

So let's examine these one by one and let me tell you exactly what I think caused the chronological fluidity of this show

Wait... How old are the ninja?

The answer to this question depends on who you ask. Some people say they're in their late teens, that they're early adults, or that they've got to be hitting the mid 20s by now. Personally, I'm of the latter camp, but depending on which season someone is viewing, any of these can be true.

In the post I talked about at the start, I mentioned that S1-S4 felt like the ninja clearly grew older and matured as time went on. They went from blowing off training to play video games in S1 to dealing with the ramifications of trauma in various, independent, adult ways in S4. Yes, they can still be super immature and goofy, but let's be real adults are like that irl too. Now they seem to stall out on dramatic progression in S5-7, but they generally maintain the same level of maturity as before.

Now again, I have not watched the following seasons, but the general vibe I have gathered is the ninja seem to almost... Regress? They seem to go back to S1 levels of maturity. Teenagers! I mean Lloyd specifically seems to be more of a typical teenage boy archetype whereas beforenhe was portrayed as almost more mature than the ninja. Additionally, there's an interview wherein someone on the team confirms they're supposed to be teens (if anyone can find it I'll be forever in your debt).

This weird regression happens in the later seasons, and while I can't pinpoint where, to me it feels like a result of how they were portrayed in (you guessed it) the movie!

Small aside: I also haven't seen the movie but ik it's non canon and very typical Lego movie silly fun fluff. I like what I've seen and think the whole narrative is super cute. Plus movie aus are adorable. Moving on

Now I have no way of backing this up but I would be unsurprised if the movie brought more people to the Ninjago franchise as a whole and acted as a soft reboot after s8. We get the new redesigns, new garmadon brought back specifically to be able to mirror movie garm, and teenage ninjas including our favorite magical boy with daddy issues--Lloyd.

Basically, the ninjas almost have a parabola of maturation, starting off very young and dumb in s1, maturing into very adult people by S4, but slowly regressing after the rebrand to match the new style.

And funnily enough, none of this goes against an official canon. The ninjas ages are never stated, really, only implied. Really, they could still be in their mid twenties or early teens at any point. Even if you argued that they wouldn't be teachers or able to own stocks in a company or etc etc etc, you can also argue that the laws in Ninjago may not be the same, it may be through Wu or another adult, it could just be that they're the ninja and really no one is gonna question them on that. The canon itself is kinda wobbly which brings me to my next point:

HOW OLD IS NINJAGO?!?!

HOW IS NINJAGO THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD HOW ARE THERE MULTIPLE GENERATIONS OF EMS HOW PLD ARE GARM AND WU HOW OLD ARE THE NINJA HOW OLD ARE THEIR PARENTS HOW OLD IS ANYONE WHAT THE HECK--

--Are all thoughts I've had when trying to piece together the timeline of this world because let's face it: it simultaneously seems to be very new and very old. "Long before time had a name...' HOW LONG WU. HOW LONG.

When I was watching S7 I specifically took note of when it was said that the Serpentine war was 40 years ago. It felt weirdly recent, as before when the serpentine were discussed and depicted they seemed to be an ancient race. So ancient, in fact, that it's mentioned in s1 that they're just "an old wives tale, meant to keep kids from poking their noses where they don't belong'

Now don't get me wrong, temporal perception is weird. Things that were 40 years ago can feel super old, I'm approaching 20 years old and things from when I was born feel like ages ago. Still, 40 years does not feel like enough for something as intense as an entire war to be forgotten. Ray and Maya fought in that war, so presumably Ed, Edna, and Lou all lived through it. Wu was literally present for the banishing of the Anacondrai generals, so how tf did it fade into obscurity?

Then there's the EMs themselves. In S4 Garmadon explains that they were the FSM "guardians" and that their powers are passed down through generations. This does give an answer to the origins of the ninjas powers except. No, wait, I have more questions now. Firstly, how many generations? We know Garmadon is the son of the FSM, so presumably if the first generation of EMs are contemporaries of the FSM, then we're on the third. Okay, that's less confusing. With three generations, we can explain how the EMs separated, the master of earth who was most definitely not Lily in a flashback in S4, and even the odd comment Nya makes in S5 about powers "skipping a generation" with people from the second generation not getting powers from their relatives while others do. We could possibly point to Zane as an example of this, as it could be possible that the master of ice seen inna flashback is his grandfather and Juliens father, with Julien having no shown elemental powers.

So with all of this in mind it makes complete sense that Ninjago is less than a century and a half old, allowing about 50 years for each generation.

So, I ask with great exhaustion, how the FUCK has all of it's RECENT HISTORY become LEGEND????

I would like to reiterate my point about the serpentine, but also see pirates (who had to have also been contemporaries to the FSM which begs the question WHY piracy in a barely established nation), the devourer and ouroborus (devourer specifically was around 60 so years ago to bite Garmadon, also how did the serpentine tribes just FORGET a whole city in 40 years or less between the war and being freed), the ideas of EMs as a whole???? (Specifically how did Kai, Nya, and Cole not know or at least have an idea Abt their powers bc it feels like they each had enough of a connection to an elemental parent for a MENTION to be made), etc etc etc

Now I will go on record and admit this point could just be explained by the fact that for a country that is say, 150-200 years old, things that happened 100 or even 50 years ago FEEL ancient, relatively speaking. Really most of my issues are just gripes of why and how and decisions made and could be picked apart easily. However, that idea, that things just FEEL ancient, despite being recent, brings me to what is going to be my favorite point

Tick Tock.

Throughout this incoherent ramble disguised as a coherent essay, I keep coming back to one excuse for each of my issues: nothing chronological is stated for certain (save for the Serpentine war date), merely implied. The ninjas ages are never stated, just implied over time. The actual age of Ninjago is never stated, just implied. Hell, NO ONE's ages are ever stated, just implied. Wu and Garmadon are simultaneously dad aged and ancient. Garmadon specifically is both an ancient demon lord and also the ex husband to a very private and very human museum curator and also the absent father to a boy who is simultaneously like 16 and 20 something.

Except, I get hung up on one thing the longer I think about it, which is that the show seemed to be a chronological passing of time at first.

I mentioned it again earlier when talking about the ninjas ages (can you tell that a lot of my confusion and frustration comes from that) but they do seem to age and mature over time. They have arcs and maturation that sticks. Lloyd does too. Id argue Nya does as well despite the fact that she's woefully overlooked by the writing a lot (I'll get to it in the love triangle essay) going from the "little sister" doing whatever she can to prove herself to a woman still fighting that omnipresent idea that she's lesser or different from her male teammates because of her gender. Hell, in s7 they specifically talk about how Wu is aging and will die someday soon--hed been time punched, but still.

The time skips add to this. Between s2 and s3 there seems to be a large leap-- new Ninjago city wasn't built in a day. So do S3 and s4 with the ninja splitting up and Jay having enough time to establish a hit tv show like... that had to take a few months at least???Same with s4 and s5 and steep wisdoms founding.

There's a strong sense of the passing of time that feels... Different when looking at the new seasons. I won't say the passage isn't there, just that it feels... Frozen? In the same way that a show like Pokemon is. The protagonists are the same age, despite the fact that their surroundings and lives change. They are constant even if their world is not. And that feels like the product of something completely different.

Ninjago will never end.

In the beginning, I think it was clear there were two seasons planned. Rise of the Serpentine and Legacy of the Green Ninja. S2 had a nice happy ending and a photo finish even!! Then we had S3, but it still felt like it was final. The loss of a friend, but the characters finding a sense of closure still. But then we had S4... Which left with a cliffhanger for S5. Which paved the way for S6. And after that... Well, Crystalized was what, S15? And now we have DR so who Knows when this franchise will truly end? Not to mention the seasons slowly getting longer and longer --

I think the crazy chronology we ended up with was the result of Many Cooks. As the franchise's fan base grew and the demand for more and more content grew with it, more writers came in and left. There was no more telling how long this series would go. We needed new villains to fight, new stories to tell, so came the retconning and, over time, the tighter chronology seen during those initial seasons faded because if we keep aging the ninja, how old would they be? Too old. We need to keep them at a place where the target demographic can look up to and relate to them.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Ninjago, I love how big this fan base is (I remember being on Quotev and Wattpad and Pinterest and YouTube in the S3 era SCOURING for any new fanfics or art or fan content, now I just scroll the Tumblr tags and find new stuff all the time) and I love that the series has lasted this long and continues to feed my autism fun colors and silly jokes and insane storylines to latch onto. These criticisms aren't meant to damn the show, hell they're pretty flimsy considering I'm not even halfway through the series relatively speaking and thus can't really use that as evidence for or against me. They're just a culmination of many thoughts I've had while watching the show and trying to build my own AU with OCs using as much of the canon as possible. I would LOVE to wake up someday and find someone has reblogged this rebutting all of my points.

As it stands though, ninjagos chronology is fucked. Why? Because what was initially a short, fun Lego show grew so massively popular that today we have a new Netflix spinoff? Continuation? Still being made today and so the writers had to change gears and make it so that could happen without the ninja becoming grandparents.

It is one thirty am and I have to wake up in 5 hours. Stay tuned for an even less coherent essay on why I hate the love triangle. Spoiler alert: none of it is nyas fault and my trait of evisceratinf the things I love w criticism is about to be set upon Jay my kin

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago headcanons #this took so many hours to write #apologies that none of it os coherent i havent proofread jt either #i didnt even check the wiki except to verify any canon info i wasn't sure about #bc i am a rebel #or a hack and a fraud #either works #if you made jt this far thank you #it means a lot :)#stay tuned for that love triangle essay fr and more oc content bc i feel a Luna dump incoming #lloyd when his family dynamics become more complicated (long lost sister)

19 notes · View notes