#also I consider some things ‘harder’ than most ppl do

[vhvrs]

needed a more accurate ref sheet for these two so u r looking at that!!!! simplified some details to be less overly complex n tightened up the palettes in the process

additionally comments including previous info i dont wanna link to and way too much world info:

as b4, rick is a normal human. morticia is a half-witch - jerry is the witch bloodline in question (agony to rick bc he was hoping this was a verse beth DIDNT marry jerry when he found out). witches live in a kindve attached dimension to earth. magic shit. he likes collecting witch literature bc theyre so fucking weird n usually infused w weird magic.

rick is v nice by rick standards n also a major creep lol. the medical shit does weird most ricks out n also they think hes a pussy for caring so much abt kerping morticia safe n sane (except for x-143 on both 😘)

ricks science tends to focus on biology n hes REALLY excited by medical procedures n discovering how different soecies function. he does regular rick shit on occasion but hes kindve too lazy n comfortable to do shit morticia isnt up for too. hashtag most normal rick. used to be more dickish but he got humbled fast by the world lol. they do bicker like regular rick n mortys though. still very much has the capacity to be a normal rick if provoked.

these two are in an oc verse i have too much lore for so i could really go on all day abt the specifics but to be vague witches are a subrace of things called shadows. considered humans while humans are considered mortals. lifespans are expanded. harder to kill. witches even half witches typically have grey skin too but i needed morticia to be visibly herself. witches are the only shadows who can do magic from birth, while other shadows (its pretty much just witches, fae folk, and deathwalkers/normie supernaturals) have to learn it n usually HAVE to use channeling devices like wands while witches use their hands. magic users typically have an element they naturally are good at n can learn others - these other elements are usually what wands are for.

public displays of magical scars is considered like. uncouth. even the hand ones, thus gloves are a societal default and otherwise ur supposed to cover up or charm evidence away. rick obviously does not give a shit n it makes him stand out a LOT more than he should. bc of this, morticia is a lot more comfy around him n more confident as a result. ricks also the only person whos seen her hands ungloved bc of needing to patch her up after backfired adventures. highly personal thing in witch culture etc.

as the last scarring is also considered improper to show off bc 'only non-witches fuck up magic enough to get scarred' witches are v high-society pretentious types, usually high in the government etc. other shadows dont give a shit lol.

scars in question are all from morticias electricity magic kindve exploding on them during a really high stress situation. yewouch!

uh oh morticia goes to a mage academy. public educations kinda meh among shadows but witches have fancy magic schools. full-time magic users are called mages (pc term bc witches used to just claim it b4 other ppl started doing magic too) bc everythings complicated w shadows.

#rick sanchez #morty smith #morticia smith #dork art #looong ass comments on cut sorry #hold on i need to draw him n x-143 tgat was the whole point of x-143 #nightmare ram

[imsobadatnicknames2]

top 5 ttrpgs for beginners

Sorry that this one took me a bit longer to answer than all the other Top 5 asks :p i wanted to explain a bit of my reasoning behind it and this gave me q chance to ramble a bit about something that bothers me lol

So, first of all I want to talk about what TO ME makes something a good beginner RPG.

Ramble:

I've talked a bit in the past about how I have sort of a bone to pick with the way so many people, when asked for recs for beginner TTRPGs, immediately decide to recommend extremely rules-light/minimalist/one-page RPGs (Hacks of Lasers&Feelings in particular seem to be somewhat popular on this front), when IMO these types of RPGs are at their best when played by an experienced group (or at the very least with least one very experienced player/GM who can provide some guidance to the others). I think a lot of ppl seem to have the impression that simpler mechanics inherently make a game more beginner-friendly, and that thus the most beginner-friendly games are inherently gonna be the ones with the simplest mechanics. And while this is true to an extent (a 700-page RPG with tons of complicated mechanics to remember is obviously gonna be inaccessible to beginners), when you consider that mechanics exist to DELEGATE decisions about the fiction away from the players and the GM so that they don't have to manually arbitrate them every time, there is point where less mechanics are gonna make harder for new players because it means there's more thing they're gonna have to find a way to arbitrate on and decide by themselves, and that's a skill that takes time to develop. An experienced group can probably get a ton of mileage out of a system that essentially ammounts to "the GM describes the world. The players describe what their characters do, and the GM describes how the world reacrs. When the outcome of a player action is uncertain, then [simple resolution mechanic]" but a beginner group is gonna be a little lost. Especially if the game, like many of these types of games, includes practically nothing in terms of GM tools. So I think recommending beginner RPGs solely on the base of how simple they are is well-intentioned but misguided.

(Ramble over)

So, some of what, to me, makes something a good beginner RPG is

Rules provide enough support that the group won't have to constantly be figuring out how to adjudicate stuff on the fly, but they're simple and flexible enough that they're easy to remember and learning them doesn't feel like a daunting task like it does with a certain game (*cough cough* D&D)

Relatively short and uni timidating. Maybe between like 20 and 100 pages. Players should be able to read through the rules and mechanics in one sitting.

Plenty of examples of play, often a good example of play is what makes a game's rules really *click* for a new player.

Relatively quick and painless to start running for the first time. Character creation should be quick and snappy, and if possible a short pre-written adventure (hopefully with some room to be expanded into something larger) should be included within the same book and ready to run out of the box. Even if your group doesn't like using prewritten adventures, having a *good* prewritten adventure can be a huge help in understanding how to write/design them.

Solid set of GM tools and resources (if it's a game with a GM, of course)

Optionally, plenty of compatible material to either use or take inspo from.

So, I think my recs would for beginner games would be...

Mausritter

If any of you have EVER heard me talk about RPGs you knew Mausritter was gonna be here TBH. I've repeatedly talked about it being one of my favorite RPGs and also that I consider it pretty much an ideal introduction to the hobby. I think the woodland critter theme is extremely charming and attractive for people of any age, while the slightly darker elements that rear their head from time to time keep it from feeling too childish.

The mechanics are simple and flexible but still provide enough structure that even a new GM will rarely if ever be at a loss about how to resolve a particular action. They're familiar to anyone who's played a dungeon game while still being extremely streamlined. 3 stats with the main action resolution being roll-under tests, no classes, characters are defined mostly by their inventory, all attacks auto hit and initiative is extremely streamlined, which keeps combat quick and dynamic, etc. And the mechanics are pretty short and esy to digest too, the players' section of the rulebook only takes 18 pages, including stuff like inventory tables and examples of play, and the website features a handy one.page rules summary (which also comes with the box set)

It's super easy to get running: character creation takes a couple minutes at most, and it features both a simple adventure and hexcrawl that can be used right out of the box with plenty of interesting directions to expand for further adventures.

Now, Mausritter takes most of its mechanics from Into The Odd, so a lot of its virtues come to it, but I think the few changes it made DO make mausritter most beginner-friendly, such as its inventory system which makes inventory management into a genuine challenge without having it devolve into a slog of tedious book-keeping, and the incorporation of a streamlined version of GloG's magic system, which manages to still be simple and easy without being as loose and freeform as the magic system from a lot of OSR games of similar complexity (which can be initially daunting to new players)

But what REALLY makes mausritter shine IMO is the extremely solid set of GM tools. In just a few pages mausritter manages to provide simple rules, procedures, generators and advice for running faction play, making an engaging hexcrawl, making adventure sites, and generating stuff like treasure hoards, NPCs, an adventure seeds and overal just a ton of useful stuff that takes a huge load off of the shoulders of any beginner GM.

Cairn

Lets say you're into Mausritter mechanically but your players aren't into the whole woodland creature theme and want to play something more traditional. Cairn is also built on Into The Odd's system, and takes inspiration from some of the same sources, so it's very similar mechanically. It does feature some significant differences regarding magic, character advancement, and how injury and healing work, but overall it's still mostly the same system under the hood, so a lot of what I said makes Mausritter a great introduction to the hobby mechanically still applies here (quick and flavorful character creation, dynamic and streamlined but dangerous combat, etc). It's also a classless system that features msotly inventory-defined characters, but aside from the option to randomly roll your gear, the game also offers the option of picking a gear package in case you wanna emulate a particular fantasy archetype.

Now, Cairn is a much more barebones document, and doesn't even feature examples of play or an explicit GM section with resources for running the game, which breaks with the things I said I look for in a beginner RPG. However, in this case I'm willing to forgive this because, first, Cairn's website features a plethora of first party and third party stuff that isn't featured in the book itself, including examples of play, GM procedures and tools, modular rules, and a wealh of conversions of creature stat blocks and adventures from D&D and other fantasy adventure ttrpgs.

And Second, something different that specifically distinguishes Cairn as a good example of a beginner RPG is how it explicitly outlines its philosophical and design principles, and the principles of play for both the GM and the players before it even shows you any rules, which is something that I think more games and ESPECIALLY begginer games should do. IMO the whole book is worth it just for that little section.

Troika!

Troika is a game built on the Fighting Fantasy system (which originally was less of a TTRPG system and more of an engine for a series of choose-your-own-adventure books) with a really interesting pseudo-victorian space opera weird gonzo setting which is a load of fun. It has very simple 2d6 mechanics, with characters having three stats (Stamina, Skill, and Luck), and being mostly defined by their inventory and the special skills from their background. Character creation is quick and snappy. The game gives you 36 weird and extremely creative character backgrounds, but creating a custom background is as easy as coming up with a concept and the names of a couple special skills that support that concept. It also has a very unique initiative system which might be a little divisive but which I DO find fun an interesting.

While it lacks many of the GM tools I praised Mausritter for, it makes up a little bit for it with an initial adventure that does a wonderful job at naturally introducing the weirdness of the setting, and which at the end presents a ton of opportunities to segway into a variety of urban adventures.

Now, a lot of beginners come into RPGs specifically looking for a D&D-type fantasy game (which is a problem because D&D is a pretty bad option for a beginner RPG) so for those types of players I would recommend

The Black Hack

The Black Hack is probably my favorite game for doing D&D-style fantasy roleplaying. It's a game that at its core uses the original 1974 white box edition of D&D for inspiration, but modernizes, reimagines, and streamlines every aspect of it to be one of the most simple yet elegant D&D-like experiences out there. For example, TBH uses the six stat array that all D&D players know and love, and with the same 3-18 point range, but does away with the attribute score / attribute modifier dichotomy, instead building its entire system around the attribute scores, with all rolls in the game being roll-under tests for a relevant attribute (including initiative, attack/defense rolls, and saving throws). It also innovated some extremely elegant mechanics that went on to be very influential for other games, such as its Usage Die mechanic as a way to streamline keeping track of consumable resources. Basically, it's like if D&D actually played the way it looks in cartoons and stuff: character creation doesn't take 3 hours, every combat encounter doesn't take five hours, and you can place some emphasis on resource management without the game making you want to tear your hair out with boring bookkeeping.

And one of the coolest things about it is the way it handles compatibility. Despite taking loose at best mechanical inspiration from D&D and playing very differently from it, TBH is intentionally designed to be compatible with a wealth of old-school D&D material. While it very clearly stands as its own distinct game, it's designed in such a way that you can prety much grab any creature stat block or adventure module written for any pre-3e version of D&D and use it in The Black Hack with little to no effort in conversion required.

The first edition of the game is a pretty barebones 20-page booklet that just describes the basic game mechanics, since it was assumed you'd probably be using D&D creature stat blocks and adventures with it anyway, but the second edition was significantly expanded with a bestiary, expanded GM procedures and advice, and tool for creating anything you could want: Hexcrawls, towns, dungeons, quests, treasure hoards, NPCs, dungeon rooms, traps, secrets doors, etc. plus a short premade adventure and even a few premade unkeyed dungeon maps that you can take and key yourself if you're in a pinch for a map, which as you all know, I think GM tools are an important part of a beginner game.

The game only includes the 4 basic classes from old-school D&D (fighter, thief, cleric, magic user) but the community has made several supplements adding back more modern classes.

Now, if you're that type of player that wants a D&D-like experience and you want an alternative that's still beginner-friendly but doesn't deviate as much from D&D's design, I would suggest:

either Basic Fantasy, or Old-School Essentials (or any good retroclone of Basic D&D tbh)

BF and OSE differ a bit from each other but at their core they're both attempts to repackage a relatively faithful but slightly modernized version of the 1981 Basic/Expert D&D set, retaining mostly the same mechanics while ditching a few of the aspects that might seem counterintuitive to a modern audience (such as descending AC, which I personally don't mind but I udnerstand why a lot of people find it confusing). I'm recommending these bc I think if you're gonna play any actual D&D product, the B/X set represents D&D at its most beginner-friendly (character creation is at its quickest and simplest, combat flows faster and remain itneresting due to doing side initiative rather than individual initative, the mechanics forsurprise, stealth, and dungeon exploration actions such as looking for traps are streamlined to simple D6 rolls) while still being recognizably D&D and these retroclones put in a bit of an extra effort to make them even more accessible to modern audiences.

Now, just like The Black Hack, these retroclones are limited in their race/class choice to the classic old-school D&D human/halfling/elf/dwarf and fighter/cleric/thief/magic user, but in the case of Basic Fantasy, the community has made several race and class supplements, some of which are showcased on the official website, and in the case of OSE, the OSE: Advanced addon reintroduces many of the modern classes and races that were originally introduced in the Advanced D&D line.

Have in mind that this list is pretty limited by my own tastes and experiences. I'm very aware that the very specific type of game I tend to play and like and experiences inroducing some of my friends to the hobby completely color the scope of what I can recommend as a good beginner RPG, and that that scope is significantly limited. I also like more narrative storygame type stuff, and I don't doubt that some of them would also make a fantastic introduction to the hobby (some PbTA stuff like Ironsworn, Dungeon World and Monster of the Week comes to mind) but my experience with them is not significant enough for me to feel confident in telling which of them are good beginner RPGs.

Also note that there are several games that I consider to be more MECHANICALLY beginner-friendly than the ones I listed here, but that I avoided mentioning specifically because they offer extremely little to no support in terms of GM tools, which I think is an important and often overlooked aspect of beginner-friendliness for any game that includes a GM! But they still might be worth checking out. These include games like DURF, FLEE, OZR, A Dungeon Game, Bastards, Dungeon Reavers, Knave 1e, and Tunnel Goons.

#ttrpg

[thestobingirlie]

what's funny to me about the thing w steve's music taste is when ppl act like he could never like or even deal w (bc of noise/volume/its inherent overwhelming superiority ig) eddie's music even tho hammer to fall is considered to literally be a metal or at least hard rock song. like if you listen to hammer to fall and dio back to back there's not a huge gap there. i haven't listened to a lot of black sabbath but this also goes for the most well-known black sabbath songs at least. that would only make sense to me in a modern au bc metal has gotten a lot harder and more intense in some subgenres (and also more niche than in the 80s considering that's when hair metal peaked [and the only metal band that truly thrived and broke into mainstream success post-the arrival of nirvana is metallica]) but a lot of what eddie listens to (esp black sabbath) is more akin to dad rock than anything else now. like i was walking on my college campus the other day and the baseball team was blasting for whom the bell tolls.

yeah, i think it again just comes down to people a. not rewatching the show and not knowing what steve listens to, b. not understanding music genres, and c. not knowing anything about 80s music.

honestly, i really wouldn’t care if it was just the occasional fic, because i really don’t think you need to do all this research just to write fanfiction, it’s just annoying because it’s so pervasive.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #asks #anon

[socialbunny]

15 questions for 15 mutuals :3

i was tagged by @annieshowell, @obsoletepixels, @goatskickin, @shitysimp, @sicksadsim and @jsasimmer <3333333333 thanks guys ily >:3

are you named after anyone? no, my mom had two names she wanted to pick for me and she and my dad settled on the one i have. but she was alsoo watching this movie in the hospital and one of the characters has my exact birth name so i think that cemented the name lol. and my name dirk, i named myself after dirk dreamer bc he's so me fr

when was the last time you cried? can't remember exactly

do you have kids? No I don't need that that in my life rn

do you use sarcasm a lot? I dooo, never in a mean way tho bc i feel like using sarcasm to mask how u feel abt some1 is pussy fr. i love joking around and poking fun and just being silly and weird and chillin like? irl personality is hit or miss with people. ive been told i talk back too much or always have something to say like? 😭

what sports do you play/have you played? when i was in elementary school i was in a dance group (terrible at it i have no rhythm at all it's honestly embarrassing) and when i was in high school i was in a tennis class (which was a PE alternative where we honestly never did shit tbh, towards the end of the school year we'd just be in the computer lab most of the time) and i considered joining the actual team but i also sucked at it 😭 and i really don't like doing team shit esp sports bc people start acting weird and i start getting real agitated.

what's the first thing you notice about other people? like physical i guess their outfit and hair and other shit i wear my glasses forr but shittttt, like just talking to someone i can catch their vibe really quick. just the way someone talks can tell you a lot abt them

eye color? Brown

scary movies or happy endings? it really depends on what the movie is

any special talents? nothing in particular i can think of. i think anything i do i'm really good at but not especially good at you know. i used to be told i'm really good at drawing but i was told this by the type of ppl who say they cant draw a stick figure so. take that as u will

where were you born? Texas 🤠

what are your hobbies? I love drawing and writing and reading and all the shit in that sphere of hobbies in theory 😭 been in a slump lately and doing shit seems harder than it needs to be. I love watching animation analysis and critiques, and listening to those 3hr vids of ppl talking abt shit i will never watch or care about while i do other bullshit. i really like making renders right now it gives me something to do without getting distracted too much. i also love playing really old shitty video games that have pages of cut content on tcrf

do you have any pets? No :( never had any pets when i was a kid either bc my mom had a whole bunch of dogs as a child and she didnt fw the idea of having any more animals in her house

how tall are you? 5'4 :)

fave subject in school? I love English (predictably I guess 😭)

dream job? i'd love to work in the animation industry in any way possible <3 or work in tv in general. probably have my own cartoon some day but thats such a stretchhhhhhhh i cant even work on my sims fanfiction or any oc shit LMAO. if not then i'd accept nothing less than a job where i don't have to talk to a lot of people and get payed billions of dollars to do bullshit

i dont have 15 ppl to tag since i do ask games so slowlyyyyy but i'll tag @despairoftheendless, @junkskoer, @faghotline and @hyperthinks !!! <3

#chat

[nopeferatu]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤



OOF...well, since most of my favorite pieces of writing are eternal wips, I guess I'll just post the snippets here, haha. Please bear in mind that nearly all of them are over a year old, and none of them are very good—I do draw more than I write, after all. But I do dabble here and there and so yeah! This is some of that!

5. Untitled WIP

This is suuuper old, one of the first things I wrote after watching the movie again in early 2022 and falling deep down the rabbit hole. It's actually not that great and is pretty sad in it's entirety, so I tried to grab the better chunk, haha. Try, if you can, to mind the first person pov—I know better now.

It's been years and I still really miss you, Jack. All I known in life is the feeling a missing you. You think I'd get used to the feeling, what with all them months and miles between us in the before times, but this missing you runs so much deeper than these tired bones have ever known before.

Yanno how you said your Mama believed in the Pentecost? She ever tell you 'bout that Bible story, how God made Adam and Eve? It goes like this—the Lord took a big pile a sand and breathed into it to make Adam, then he took Adam's rib and from it, went on to make Eve.

Was thinking on it the other day and figured, what if that's how God made the two a us? What if he breathed life into a pile a horse shit, then when I came up, took my rib, put it in a rodeo fuck up and sent the two a us out to the world, pair a deuces trying to fnd their way? I always thought maybe this hurt was emptiness, where my heart went missing after you were gone 'cause you'd taken it like you took my shirt. Now I'm thinking, what if the pain's from that ol' rib coming back after you died to settle in where it don't belong no more? Tryna rearrange all my insides that gone without for so long, and my body's rejecting it like a horse rejecting rider 'cause it knows it don't belong to me no more, never did, neither.

Then again, maybe it's just busted up in there. Maybe it has been since the summer a '63, and I just ain't taken notice 'til you went on and met your maker.

Maybe this ol' heart's just broken.

Know I shouldn't be asking shit from you considering all the ways I took and didn't give you nothing but hurts in return, but I’m asking as a man who never asked for nothing from you, neither—you wait for me, Jack Twist, just a little longer. Used to say that I couldn't wait to see you again, but you helped give me a second shot, try and fix up what I didn’t think I could hardly stand no more. Now I know I can bid my time here a while longer, being a daddy and granddaddy, living out some a the life that you didn't get to have.

So you wait for me… even if it's just so I can tell you how God damn sorry I am for it all.

I love ya, little darlin'. Reckon I always have, reckon I always will. You enjoy them whiskey rivers, but make sure to save the last round for me.

4. Want

This snippet is also super old, and once again, forgive me for the first person pov. Ik a lot of ppl don't typically like it in fiction and I've also kind of grown unfond of it. I was young! I was dumb! I've learned I've learned I've learned!!!

As I'm crying and coughing up the blood from my lungs into my mouth, the second thought comes to mind: just how bad I want for Ennis to come find me, come and save me from what I know's coming next. But he weren't there. Never was, never would be. The tears came down harder 'cause a that one.

The very last impossible thing I wanted was something I dreamed of for a long time. Even though most everything I craved was outta reach, I always thought I could get it, somehow, some way if I tried hard enough. But from the very start I'd known this want was impossible, and yet sometimes I wanted it more than I wanted life itself.

Dying alone on the side a that hot Texas highway, all I wanted was to be nineteen again, close enough to touch the Heavens on Brokeback Mountain.

I thought I could hear Ennis hollering for me back at camp, and I smiled. I'm comin', cowboy.

Then I closed my eyes, and would never want for nothing again.

3. Untitled WIP

I really hope to finish this one, someday. I really like playing around with the other potential bad end of BBM, where Jack ditches Ennis for Randall after May 1983 because his hope and patience has run dry.

"Name's Randall. Educated type of fella, went to college, got him a job as foreman of the ranch down a ways from my place." Jack takes a deep breath, sighs it out. "Tells me he loves me more times 'n even Lureen's said it," he stays quiet a moment, kicks at the loose pebbles on the ground. "Tell you what—feels good to hear it, too. Man's gotta know he's loved ever now 'n' again, Ennis."

Ennis thinks of cold mountain nights filled with the bleating of sheep and illegal elk, of dozens of jobs taken and abandoned, of divorce; thinks of four years of missing and bruising kisses, of sixteen years of hands worshiping at the temple of a bull rider's broken body, and of every cold night in between filled with dreams about bright blue eyes and the warmth of a perfect smile. He thinks of the last twenty years he spent dropping everything at the siren call of a postcard, and for the first time in his life Ennis thinks about love; wonders what it might be, if not that.

But Ennis doesn't say so, just clenches his trembling fist even tighter into itself.

2. Five Boys that Jack Twist Had Liked (and One More Whom He Had Loved)

This one is another old one that I reaally hope to finish one day. I have a about 3 1/2 of the 6 part written, I just...need to find the gumption to get through the rest.

4. Andrew Peterson

Andrew had been one of his daddy's ranch hands, a boy who would've been two grades above him if Jack hadn't dropped out of high school his sophomore year. He had just graduated, was one of the lucky few whose parents didn't value his contribution to the family finances over his education, and was hired on for the summer in the hopes of making a little cash before heading out of their dead-end town and into the real world. It was a plan that Jack, at sixteen, had already been well acquainted with.

It wasn't often that the Twist Ranch hired hands around his age to help out around the place, and Jack, always the friendly type and more than just a little lonely, had been eager to make a new acquaintance. Andrew hadn't seemed to mind when Jack started taking his chores alongside him, appearing glad for the company, himself. They shared easy smiles and private jokes, becoming such good friends in such a short time that his Mama would tease about one of them losing their very shadow if the other wasn't around.

Just like with Stephen before him, Jack had been drawn to Andrew like a moth to a flame. He never understood what there was in a boy that drew his eye to them in a way that none of the fillies who flirted around with him ever did, until Andrew, after a tiring day mending the old fence posts that corralled the bulls in and about two months worth of dropping frustrated gestures and signals, had said, "Fuck it," pulled Jack out to his Daddy's feed barn and into a scalding kiss that left Jack weak in the knees.

Andrew hadn't been his first kiss—that honor had gone to lil' Miss Sharon King back in the first grade. Seeing as how Jack was well regarded amongst the ladies as a 'pretty boy', there'd been plenty of kisses after that, too. Andrew had, however, been the first kiss that finally had him understanding what all the fuss was about.

As if to slide it on home, later that summer he even made sure to be Jack's first fuck, rounding out on all the bases that left Jack with a whirlwind of questions about himself and even more feelings bursting inside than his young heart ever thought it could handle.

"Been savin' to go to school in Denver," Andrew started, breaking the silence one night out in the feed barn. They sat passing a cigarette and some of his daddy's stolen whiskey between them, riding out the residual high of a midnight roll in the literal hay. It had been dark out, and with only the full moon and the hot red cherry at the end of the cigarette bathing them in their glow, the two were effectively shielded from the scathing eyes of the light. "'m leavin' in a few months, splittin' before fall comes." His gaze was fixed somewhere on the black horizon, watching something that went unseen to Jack.

Jack felt his stomach sink like the stones he used to skip in the creek way out past his house.

"Denver? Ain't that a might bit far for some schoolin'?" He tried to laugh, but it came out sounding choked and strange. Instead, he looked down into the whiskey bottle in his hand and took a swig from it, willing its sweet burn to help him maintain an air of indifference. "What they got down there, anyway?"

Truth be told he didn't blame Andrew for wanting to go—he had been itching to leave Lightning Flat in the rearview, himself. Still, he was unsure that he wanted the conversation to continue. He didn't want to think about his new companion leaving so soon after this something between them had begun. Nevertheless, curiosity—slightly embittered—took hold and ultimately won out.

Andrew took a long drag out of the cigarette. Its hot cherry burned a bright, fiery red before dulling once more to an ashy gleam. "A chance for fellas like us," he finally breathed. The smoky tendrils made their escape past his lips, taking his words with them.

"Oh," Jack muttered after a beat of silence. He wasn't quite sure he understood, nor wanted to understand, what Andrew was getting at, but tried hard not to let his disappointment seep out into his tone regardless.

It hadn't worked. In a moment, Andrew smashed the lit butt out against the wall, leaving them cloaked in darkness once more before leaning over to kiss him sweetly. It had knocked the breath out of Jack, just like their kisses were wont to do.

"Maybe someday you can come pay me a visit. I dunno, it might just be a sweet life down there, yanno?" Andrew's smile, only barely visible under the glow of the full moon above, was easy and inviting.

For once all motormouth Jack could do was smile back before eager hands, warm like the end of the cigarette and the whiskey settled deep in his belly, were on him again, ready to reignite the fire that set Jack aglow.

That summer, Andrew had pressed red-hot marks into his flesh that would soon fade on the outside but sear into Jack's soul for a lifetime, forever branding him as the different sort of boy he had been both warned about and accused of being in the entirety of his short life.

Looking back, he realized he'd known what Andrew had meant all along. At sixteen years old Jack knew what queer was, and finally understood, with no room for doubt in his mind, that it was him. He reckoned that weren't nobody's business but his own, though.

After that summer, Jack never did see Andrew again.

Twenty-four years later, tucked cozy warm into his Colorado bed, Andrew would awake from a dream about blue eyes and wonder, not for the first time, what had ever happened to the kid who'd been his that one short summer before making the move that forever changed his life. Looking beside himself, into the handsome face that had laid dreaming beside him every night the past fifteen years, Andrew would smile and hope that, wherever Jack Twist was in the world, he had gotten out of Wyoming and been lucky enough to make his own bit of bliss out of the hard hand he'd been dealt.

1. Clipped

Summary: Tomorrow may tell another story, but for tonight, this man—with his baby blue eyes, sleepy, self-conscious grumbles, and beautiful clipped dick—was his, all his, and that was enough. It had to be enough.

Aaand here's a fic I've actually posted! Lol! Fun fact: this was actually the very first fic I wrote following watching bbm again in January 2022, and it remains like. The only thing I'm actually super duper proud of. It isn't even that good, but I'm just proud that I actually finished something for once lol.

Thanks for the ask, @alifeasvivid! :D

#brokeback mountain #ennis del mar #jack twist #still brokeback posting #my writing

[kissingrhi]

pls send me traits and things about u and i’ll give a succession character i think would be the most into u and why (and maybe some cutesie headcanons) i’m bored

-

Im bored too so😭:

- I’m 24

- Latina

- Law student

- Love Taylor swift and Shakira

- I practice pole dancing (don’t know if it’s relevant but hey)

- Aquarius sun, scorpio rising

- Ppl perceive me as rly quiet and mysterious at the beginning but goofy once they get to know me

i think your best match would be....

kenny baby!!!!!!!!!!

we all know that kendall is much more artistically inclined than the rest of the sibs (L to the OG, his 40th birthday party, the play, etc etc)

which is why i think he'd be absolutely enamored with the sight of someone pole dancing

i think he'd hold a much deeper appreciation for the art of it than someone like roman

i also feel like he's drawn to people he can unravel/peel layers back from, like you, and i'd say he's got a hard exterior as well.

it's just much harder to get to his soft core

you guys definitely would meet at a party, most likely with you dancing your sweet tail off and him falling head over heels instantly

like, stuttering mess as soon as you guys meet sort of attraction

i think he's much more drawn to someone he considers a challenge. he loves being kept on his toes

so, a pole dancing law student? that's mysterious? right up his alley.

he'd try so hard to be smooth

"i- uhh, noticed your dancing." in that monotone ass voice

and from that point forward he's entranced by you, trying to keep up (often times failing)

the more he gets to know you, the more he falls in love with you

kendall overtly craves comfort. it's seen in vague ways throughout the show, but i think the best peek into how he'd be in a healthy (!!!) relationship is in the last episode (meal fit for a king)

all the goofy giggling and crinkle-eyed smiling. yeah.

especially because you're funny. i think he's soft for that.

so i think that when kendall is with someone who isn't so uptight, but can be when it's necessary, he fits in perfectly

he can keep you grounded, but you can also encourage him to loosen up

shamelessly bothering him when he's overworking himself with paperwork

"hey can you stop working for like five seconds?" "i don't know, can you fuck off?" "shut up, you love me." "......yeah."

also, the fact that you're a law student??

you're insanely hardworking, just like him, which both balances you out and fucks you two over.

being delirious with each other in bed while up late doing work, eyes bloodshot and running off of energy drinks type of fucked over

but it's okay because you have each other. even if you definitely have to coddle each other from time to time (mostly you coddling him oops)

1000% will ask you to pole dance for him privately

mans a freak! sorry!

you also give him the creative freedom to delve into his interests, which he is a slut for

kendall will go wild for some validation! don't play!

overall, i think it would just take a while to break down his shell, but once you do.... oh he's absolutely hypnotized by you and does not want to let you go

#succession x reader #kendall roy x reader #kendall roy #character matchup #tehhehehe #bored #this is kinda shit #idc!

[stanleyl]

I'll be honest, I'm sick of these takes on Tom's career. The career anxiety some anons gave over his career, I hope you guys apply that level on intensity in your own lives. Tom has worked ever since he was a child to a young adult nonstop. He has made choices with his career because it was the old module for actors at the time to make, sign on to films that haven't been made.

I think the problem with anon is y ou are seeing the career rises of other white make actors and are feeling threatened on his behalf which is crazy becaue Tom is so successful he went a year on working.

To stay TDATT is his last best performance. It is an opinion that you are well working your right to have, I'm sorry, but I disagree. TCR is a great performance, you dint get nominated for a CC if it's bad. I'm sorry. Maybe you dislike Marvel, or you agree with Film Twitter about superhero films, but Tom wanted to play spiderman. Don't get angry at his team that went with his choice.

Hollywood is about great films , but also about relationships, Sydney Sweeney literally spoke in an interview that Madame Web was a good career option because it allowed her to form a business relationship with Sony. The ppl with power gatekeep and the fact Tom has a good relationship with Amy Pascal, whether you like her or not, is beneficial to getting what he wants made. Also Zs to, cause getting 10 million for a leading role in film as a mixed woman, isn't easy.

Anon also forgets how Tom was offered a role in Oppenheimer but had to decline because he was filming TCR. Tom was not the only person who made that show, but he's the only top actor on that show who took a break afterwards. Are Amanda, Sasha Lanes, or Christopher Abbots careers in jeopardy because of TCR reviews? No, they are unto the next job.

Have you guys considered that maybe he wants to prioritise his personal life and development as a man who has nothing to do with his current acting career?? There's a reason a Tom mention was used in Timothee's puff piece for variety. He gets paid a lot for the little he does.

Tom also did a Prada campaign once and hasn't since because he just doesn't want to do it. I'm not gonna feel bad for a white millionaire who is in a better position than most poc actors who work have to work harder but barely get the recognition.

Anon, if you feel insecure as a fan because Timmy or Jacob E are having the careers acclaimed by journalists on that x app who don't even make enough to their rent, perhaps you need to stan someone else.

He is aware of the power of his brand, and even more aware actors and their team keep an eye on his every move. You can't praise a white actor with mentioning him lol.

I'm excited for the things that haven't Neen announced. Most male actors get their best roles in their late 20s to early 30s. He's fine...

I feel like you misinterpreted a lot of the things the anon said, including the TDATT part.

[wurmeatworld]

Something Ive begun to realize about Pride is how it truly Needs to be inclusive. Yes, I mean aces and aros (they belong regardless, but some ppl don't see that) , and kinksters, and polyamory, and etc. Ill get flack for saying this, but even cishet people who dont conform to societal values of what cishet should look like should be included in Pride.

First and formost, Pride needs to be a rejection of societal institutions, prejudices, and norms that restrict and exclude ways of loving and of being, rather than solely about being part of an oppressed group.

Fighting for LGBT rights is nescesary, but its not enough. In order to dismantle the systems that perpetuate homophobia and transphobia, we need to look at the broader social norms surrounding relationships, love, and identity. Its not as simple as changing a few parts of the machine here and there. The institutions we are fighting are intricate and massive. We cannot begin to fathom how to properly move forward without considering all the different ways a person or relationship would be seen as outside the patriarchal, monogamous, cishetero norm.

Our community formed not only out of solidarity, but as a political movement that embraced diversity. Welcoming more into our ranks cannot hurt us, it bolsters our numbers and makes us a more formiddable force.

Q. "But including _____ will take away focus from the most vulnerable groups!"

A. We do not forsake our siblings by welcoming a broader range of experiences. It is fully possible to include other groups in our solidarity while still supporting our most vulnerable members just as much. Rather, including more people in our acticism will give us more opportunities to help those in the most need.

Q. "But including _____ makes us look bad!"

A. No matter what we do or say, we will look bad to cishet society. It makes no difference what we do, they will find a way to put us down. And turning against others like us only makes that easier for them.

Q. "But _____ arent oppressed the same way!"

A. Allying with them will only strengthen our cause. Squabbling over who is or isnt queer is a pointless endeavor when you consider all the good we could do as a united front.

Q. "But I just cant accept _____!"

A. Then perhaps you should think harder about what were fighting for, why we are fighting for it, and how much personal scruples matter in the grand scheme of things.

We can squabble After we have won the rights to love who and how we want, and to freely express who we are. Right now, we need to secure our future.

Note: Sorry if anyones put off by the separation of the aspec community from lgbt. Im greyro myself, but I wanted to make a point about aspec exclusion because Ive seen so much of it around. Ty for understanding!

Edit: I noticed a typo where I said "valuable" instead of "vulnerable" (no! no!) so I fixed it. I also noted at the start that aspecs should be included. Sorry for taking this long to fix the post!

#queer solidarity #lgbt solidarity #queer #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #lgbt+ #trans #transgender #bisexual #asexual #aromantic #kink at pride #polyamory #gnc #aspec #pride #gay

[m0tel6mxzzy]

i love audrey BUT i do not understand the blair comparisons (+monet)

i post way too much abt monet. am i gonna stop NOOOO she doesn’t get the hype she deserves girl “but she’s too mean” girl so was blair, u saw how she “exiled” jenny and even then she really had no excuse for that the same way monet herself often has motives but there’s never a reasonable excuse for their behaviors in most cases.

like why is it always ok for blair to be mean (as well as audrey to zoya) but the moment monet does anything mean “no she can’t do that” girl did u even watch the og show they were all awful ppl 💀💀💀 like y’all would still find issue w her if she was agreeable and not at at all flawed yet audrey does not get this type of criticism for how she only seemed to stop putting zoya down when zoya had emotional support to offer her when no one else was around and still there seems to be this dynamic of looking down on her she’s not completely honest w and zoya is just supposed to put up with that.

and the fact that the way she treats zoya as subtly below her unless she needs something from her is never acknowledged also kinda like…solidifies that idea audrey has never once been unfair and mean to zoya to the point of zoya deserving an apology.

like i think ppl think audrey is perfect when she literally isn’t and i think she’s a great character but much of where she could be improved involves the way she treats and acknowledges zoya. the thing is that’s the only hang up i have with her character, whereas julien seems to be a loop of trying to be constantly agreeable no matter how awful her actions are, and it’s often from a place of self centeredness. now that she and julien aren’t speaking it’s very hard for me to think audrey will acknowledge zoya if it’s not out of last resort convenience.

and it feels as if audrey only tolerated zoya at arms length because she’s friends with julien and that’s the only reason she isn’t as snarky to her as she was in s1 when julien was dealing w unresolved resentment for her. like, none of her s1 mean behavior toward zoya is acknowledged, nor is she really called out on it nor is it considered how this affects zoya (whereas it is whenever monet is concerned) but monet’s constantly is bc it’s much less covert and therefore it’s harder for me to dislike monet for her behavior toward zoya because she’s at least honest with herself, and accepts the consequences that it changes how people view her as a person. it’s easier to confront than audrey’s, and if audrey’s is never confronted, the way she treats zoya and any sort of self awareness about it will never come about.

if what i’m saying is like, still hard to grasp as i know i’m on a bit of a ramble—take mean girls. cady is equally as mean as regina and janice in some cases, but she’s often trying to be sneaky in that meanness and evade consequence of of her behavior despite wanting to do it. and…that doesn’t excuse janice or regina’s behavior at all, it just makes them easier to like for other parts of them and cady less because they are actually honest with themselves that they are mean people. i’d say julien is a full on cady but audrey in most cases is one unprovoked dig at zoya from becoming like cady herself but seems to balance that out with her other qualities like trying to be a good person through her actions, especially with how well she makes an effort to treat aki and max in their relationship, as she loves them. what i live most about audrey is her love for max and aki.

and somehow monet is not getting as much of the emotional depth she deserves (audrey gets much more screentime) so it’s really not fair to put audrey over her as the “better blair” when blair was equal parts scheming and mean and her plans, just like monet’s, often blew up in her face when the motive was of ill intent.

i think blair was actually honest with herself when she was ever at all mean, but that audrey is not in her meanness although they have very similar backgrounds and that’s kind of why i do not get why she’s compared moreso to blair than monet is. the way she treats zoya is exactly why i don’t feel she’s like blair, and the way monet treats her is why i feel she’s all the more like blair.

#monet de haan #audrey hope #blair waldorf #ggrb #gghbo #gossip girl reboot #gossip girl hbo

[zaeedsflipflops]

would love to hear about qilyrr's opinions on all her companions... just caught up on her and astarion ;--; <3 how do they initially get together?

sorry for the late response!! thank you for asking <33333

lae'zel: qilyrr enjoys lae'zel's zeal and bloodthirstiness and appreciates that she isn't judgmental of her less moral actions. they get along pretty well but the two are very very different and lae'zel is ultimately not someone qilyrr is that interested in becoming close to.

shadowheart: they get along well. from the start qilyrr doesn't care about shadowheart worshipping shar and doesn't probe about her mission, as long as neither would impact qilyrr. qilyrr thinks shadowheart's seriousness is funny and out of everyone, her morality and qilyrr's morality seems to line up the most. i think qilyrr considers her a friend.

gale: qilyrr finds gale to be charming and likes his intelligence and ambition re: magic. but she also thinks he's "too nice" and easy to manipulate. ironically he is one of the companions she's least manipulative towards, mainly bc gale is usually up for fucking around and finding out, which qilyrr loves to do.

wyll: qilyrr thinks wyll's idealism (aka wanting to go out of his way to help and empower people) is kind of quaint, although she does connect with him over their shared willingness to literally make deals with the devil. even if she and wyll's goals and motivations in making those deals differ a bit.

karlach: i don't think qilyrr fully knows what to make of karlach, as it's difficult for her to dismiss karlach's idealism as naive when karlach's had the life she's had. and while they get along great in some ways, karlach's belief in prioritizing helping others and qilyrr's belief in prioritizing helping herself is kind of a sticking point between them.

halsin: qilyrr very much stumbled into helping halsin out. she declined helping the grove until she had her own reasons to get rid of minthara and co. and she similarly had her own reasons for lifting the shadow curse. but halsin is a great asset so qilyrr has decided to keep in his good books. she likes him fine, but certainly less than he likes her.

jaheira: qilyrr likes jaheira and respects her experience and talent. her work with the harpers and sharp personality make her harder for qilyrr to manipulate but it also makes her more enjoyable company. so qilyrr is a bit intimidated, honestly.

astarion: qilyrr's favorite person in the group without a doubt. they have very similar outlooks and ways of dealing with people, although qilyrr is usually less mean spirited than astarion (she doesn't have a problem with that behavior in him tho). she finds him entertaining and in the confusion/fear of the brain tadpoles, i think he was comfortingly familiar (being similar to herself and the ppl she's usually acquainted with). they are constantly bullshitting and sweet-little-lies-ing each other but by act 3 they know this and it's their love language 💀

after she caught him trying to bite her, qilyrr was intrigued and thats how their whole thing started. she knew he was purposely seducing her but she liked that aspect - she is more comfortable with lies and manipulations than true sincerity because lies and manipulations are her life. so the real surprise came when 1) she developed feelings and 2) found out he did too. them both being kind of new in the ways of genuine connection, rather than just seduction and obfuscation, further connects them. because they can understand each other uniquely in that regard (if not identically, of course).

#bg3 #bg3 spoilers #qilyrr telabar #oc stuff

[spring-lxcked]

finshed ru.in so. thoughts. putting it under a readmore!! (apologies if it shows up without one at first, tumblr is doing the thing where it deletes readmores again :/)

ending was uh. abrupt and unsatisfying. also answered exactly zero of the questions i had because, like, it was abundantly obvious it wasn't gre.gory the whole time and was probably the game introducing it's version of the mim.ic

not actually shocked by grego.ry's betrayal (if it even was really him because why would he have control of the elevator?) based on the main game, but i know some ppl must be v unhappy rn

fn.af making me cry like??????????????? sorry but i genuinely cried abt ro.xy don't look at me

on one hand disappointed that the mim.ic was All It Was, on the other glad i don't have to fucking hear people claim glitch/burn is the mim.ic anymore (i hope) LMAO

game did get glitchier with time (two crashes, namely) but still better than main game

okay positive positive positive because the ending and the music me.n part were the only bad parts imo

the creepy objective descs were SO good. "That mask suits you." "Don't you care about your friend? Why aren't you trying harder?" "Don't think about it, just do it."

animatronic jumpscares were SO GOOD like. i think because most of the scares were primarily not the death jumpscares, it gave them leeway to give us the best death jumpscares of the entire franchise

so like. the rabbit when you're using the mask was obviously glamr.ock bon.nie trying to stop cas.sie from freeing the mim.ic, right? i strongly disagree with the sentiment that it was glitch, that makes little to no sense to me

so we agree that illusion disks are canon to security bre.ach (i personally don't think they are in the other games but it's debatable) right? we agree that we don't know that ANY of what cas.sie was seeing without the mask or with it was real right? we agree the mask wasn't literally making her teleport through solid objects right? we agree that we actually have no idea that anything we saw or heard was accurate to reality right?

the candy cad.et story GODS are we ready for 3000 theories abt exactly what that meant because i do NOT think it was abt them mim.ic—

cas.sie lore has me half-considering adding her to the multi

van.ni mask ambience was creepy but also jesus christ the theorists are gonna have a field day with some of that whispering and screaming

me going from "don't understand why rox.y is so popular" to "i would die for rox.y immediately" (tbf i really didn't feel hype for anyone in the main game, which i think says a lot. ru.in handled characters a LOT better and i actually cared about them)

am i crazy or cas.sie and michael parallels?? i just kept getting that Vibe idk

we need to talk abt the claim that va.nni masks were used by all class v technicians. do i believe this? not sure but it's a concept i have GOT to hear more abt

btw i do know there's other endings but i think the normal ending is probably canon

this dlc had no effect on my canon, i already assumed glitch was no longer in the pizzeria/etc (i don't think the rabbit was glitch + the animatronics clearly were acting of their own volition)

i know i absolutely didn't find all the secrets but like. unless there's something major i missed (very very very possible), i'm still sad we didn't get more info on the greg.ory being a robot theory. outside of when i'm interacting with definitely human!gre.gorys on here, my william making the blueprint for gre.gory is an important part of his canon to me

anyway, despite any complaints i may have abt the ending, ru.in proved that ste.el wool is more than capable of listening to criticism and doing better and that makes me so, so happy

hey hi i want to make a million security br.each / ru.in verses now. how can i force my actual william into this, guys—? yes i know i said i want him canonly dead, AU verses doN'T COUNT

WHO IS BEHIND THE PIZZAPL.EX I AM STILL INSANE ABOUT THIS WHO IS BEHIND IT

#—— ✧ ooc » #ruin spoilers

[punkranger]

For the favourite things thing... Herald of course ♥

favorite thing about them: how can i pick one… I'll say one of them is how genuine he is, it's not a trait I generally like in fiction because I like a bit of spice to my characters. However, because of the setting being what it is: a city so full of corrupt, awful people, where even most of the heroes can only be considered good ppl by comparison, Herald sticks out.

least favorite thing about them: he overlooks way too much, but I do think he always tries the best he can at any given time.

favorite line: I really like the whole museum convo with the puppet and him saying "the sun is terrifying" that gives me So many thoughts and feelings and vibes (that unfortunately I cannot express)

brOTP: I mean I wish he and Argent could be friends but as things are that's not really gonna work, but I think they'd complement each other well if they could learn to meet each other on the same level.

(Also sidenote! Herald and sentinel! Flyboy duo!)

OTP: flystep ofc, but I'm interested to see what flychargestep will be

nOTP: hmm no one in particular, most of the non canon ones wouldn't work for me I guess. Tho unlike kit I think he and Argent could have worked if not for the whole pretend-for-the-media situation.

random headcanon: I think he still does "minor crime fighting" on the side, like staking out a place known for cut-purses and keeping a lookout from above (and rescuing kittens from trees)

unpopular opinion: idk how unpopular this is but I have seen people say Herald is very naive and I don't agree with that. I think he's someone who's willing to give everyone a chance and tries to see the best in people, and while some might take advantage of that I think it might be harder than it seems, because Herald is a person with very strong convictions and I think it would be difficult to make him do anything he doesn't believe in.

song i associate with them: Burn bright by mcr

favorite picture of them: impossible to choose, all of them are my favourite

#fallen hero #herald #asks #ty for asking!

[fuhscia]

i am LIVING for your fisherman au. the cast you have so far is so good?? pls indulge me a little haha. do ace and luffy have any extra hands on fishing trips or is it jus them? are there any commercial fishing crews they don't get along with? (or any them do?) also hhhhh ace's tattoo 👀 what's the reason for it

i am so sorry im just now seeing this omg, i have answers now:

beyond the later addition of sabo, its rlly just them. the kind of boat theyre working w/ is very small, so it’s good for 2-3 ppl, plus the additional couple marine biologists

also omg i didnt even THINK abt rival crews. ok. lets rlly work this one out:

trying to decide who’s in the fishing business and who’s not is one thing, but trying to decide who fishes for locals and who exports for anchovies is even harder.

DECIDEDLY here r some loose rivals, literally everyone feel free to chip in w ideas:

kidd and crew operate on a much larger boat than asl, but also sell other fish NOT anchovies and sell at a stall @ the fish market Very close to asl’s stall, so i would consider them rivals - i would also make the claim that it’s more one-sided, as luffys all in it for the adventure, and kidd actually cares abt sales competition lol. regardless kidd’s stall is a bit more successful than asl’s stall, with the exception of when luffy works the stall, to which then asl’s stall is MORE successful.

whitebeard runs a very large anchovy fishing boat, which generates the most money in the town. whitebeard still works on this boat, hence y his position as mayor is loose. whitebeard has been trying to recruit asl on his crew for years, but ace is vehemently against selling anywhere but local. it’s not rlly that they mutually dont get along, it’s more a very angry ace and whitebeard being… whitebeard..

doflamingo is a poacher of endangered fish , whales, and sometimes illegally fishes worldwide. he is also the mayor of a mainland city.

luffy gets along w everyone

SABOS SCAR -

i’ve decided that he got it in a boating accident with the rest of the brothers, resulting in them losing him while at sea. following the incident, sabo is said to be missing in the news, which leads sabo’s parents to find him and take him back. because of this ace and luffy assume he’s dead for a couple of years (also the reason for ace’s tattoo)

#op fishing village

[nerves-nebula]

OOOOOOOOOOH MAN the rabbit hole of adoptive child syndrome. You're pretty right with it being about "this adopted child isn't appreciating me enough" but it's like..

When you're adopted the whole nerrative is that you ""owe your adoptive parents"". Whether that be owing them for their kindness, or quite literally owing them your life. (not that many people will admit it, but it is heavily pushed onto you growing up with how adults treat you differently)

It gets messier depending on the style of adoption. Is it a "open and close" case of "birther gave up the child when the child was born" or was it a "birth parents suddenly died" situation? Those ones still experience it, especially if their disabled and/or neurodivergent, annnnnd if they aren't white (mostly applies to white people adopting non-white kids.)

For kids who, like me, were up for adoption because it was too dangerous to live with birth parents (example: made a ward of the state AKA legal orphan so birth parents are completely removed from the situation) or generally in the fostercare system the whole "adoptive child syndrome" is pushed a lot harder.

I could go on about how fucked up it is, especially with how a lot of kids end up in the foster care system and/or up for adoption, but I'll spare ya the rant xD

I think it stems mostly from just how much focus people put into blood-relations being important. Like, there's a large part about how a lot of what the average person thinks of the system is outdated or plain wrong etc etc etc. But also like.

If being related to someone means so so incredibly much that even if the person wasn't great or made mistakes they're still considered family and you still owe them, to some level, forgiveness and loyalty, then what does it mean if you don't have family?

It's a subconscious sort of "you're defective if they got rid of you" sort of thing, at least that's one of my best guesses? Plus like, there's a really really weird idea that adoptive/foster parents are being extremely generous and kind and oh-so-wonderful to be taking in a kid, doesn't the kid see how amazing that person is?

It all boils down to you being treated as having to be better than your peers constantly. If you cry in class or say something off or try to defend yourself, you either get treated as some sort of stray cat they're trying to tame (stupid, inherently wrong), or something dangerous that people need to be protected from.

And of course there's the other element of you knowing from whatever age that family isn't permanent. You can't depend on people to be there and you can't trust that the next place would be better. It's not uncommon for people to make jokes about kids being "returned", and some people actually do get "returned" by their adoptive parents because they "weren't good enough" <- I forget the names but there's a well-known family-blog channel that "rehomed" their adopted kid because he ended up being autistic (also the family was white and he was asian so there was a whole other level of stuff there too)

something something kids don't get to be kids and are viewed as malfunctioning products because the system is set up in a way that heavily commodities adoptive kids as products to shop for and buy rather than people who are hurt and need help

Also rehoming exists -_-' TW for dehumanization and similar stuff if you go down that rabbit hole

yeah it sounds fucking awful. It sounds like Hysteria but specifically for adopted children.

like kids are supposed to be sooo grateful and if they aren't then there's something Diagnosably Wrong With Them.

I remember that situation you're talkinga bout, it broke my fucking heart. parents never "re-home" their biological children. even if they abuse their kids and kick them out, having a parent just DECIDE you aren't their kid anymore is so taboo if they're your bio parents, that most ppl don't even consider it and it frustrates me to no end that especially vulnerable children get treated like that. That was your FAMILY. You picked them! You decided to take care of them! You can't just decide they aren't family anymore you souless monster!!

UGH.

sorry for taking so long to respond to this btw. finals coming up & all that.

you're right about the weird commodification of adoptees though, i've heard a lotta weird stuff like people basically "Shopping" for the perfect kid which is. uh, interesting, i guess. tbh I'm not really sure how I'd pick a kid either.

anyway that's all kinda why I'm planning on doing more research when (god fucking willing) I adopt to figure out the best way to go about it, cause I've heard some adoptees advocating for getting rid of "adoption" as it's set up in the USA right now and instead opting for just having a legal-guardianship model. which is similar to adoption in that you're now the kids guardian, but you don't get to like, change the kids name and hide their history from them or something?? But also the bio parents can terminate your guardianship at any point?? I THINK?? Which is weird and tbh I don't trust parents in general (hypocritical I know) soooo

idk i'll have to look into it more. I think the best option as of right now is like, an open adoption. That seems to be the best case for most kids (who aren't in situations like yours I mean. obviously it all depends)

not that I'm adopting anyone any time soon...

#nnstuff #ask #abuse #child abuse

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Heyyyyy just listening to the RaPaP Q&A and wrt to destiel being best friends they literally are but most because neither of them has other friends lol like occasionally theyll have one off references to other relationships but spn gets so insular as it goes on cas doesnt even get to meet garth :(((( i am always biased towards spn because i love cas more than anything and i do think destiel are very entwined but also idk if that is a good thing for them as ppl haha

hello ty for writing in! perhaps i (crystal) should let grey answer this one since he agrees with you but instead i shall answer as a #hater. i think, first, my stance stems from my belief that not having other friends doesn't make your only friend your best friend because i strongly consider "best friend" a role distinct from "friend that is best," and one that involves a lifetime commitment to supporting and loving each other, combined with enjoying each other's company, and without any predefined obligations to each other besides the ones you establish and enact out of care for each other. it's a combo of intent and action. some(?) may argue that dean and cas have that. i, a bitter casgirl, hiss angrily and disbelievingly at this argument. hey but if cas met garth perhaps they could become best friends fr i see it in my minds' eye it IS so sad cas didn't get to meet better ppl

i also think that spending time together matters for building a best friendship. it is important to get to know each other and build shared memories that aren't just The Plot. i think the fact that cas and dean's hectic lives created circumstances where it's hard for them to hang out with anyone, including each other, is unfortunate bc it made it harder for them to become best friends. some people (such as... idk, to give a totally random example, aziraphale and crowley from the tv series good omens, who form the greatest love story of all time and have been friends for 6000+ years and best friends for 1000+ years) could still become best friends under those circumstances, but cas and dean missed the mark

on the dean end of things, I'll just copy-paste this message i sent to grey last week, which reads: i mean if i was to actually get into the best friends debate seriously i think that 1. dean isn't nice to cas, which you said doesn't preclude them from being best friends but i think it's a reason that the supporting friend in a romcom would tell the main "he says you're his best friend, but is he really? i don't think he really has any true friends" 2. dean seems more prone to fit cas into the "family" relationship category which i'd say is different from friends for dean and we've already discussed how young sam has friends and dean has romantic relationships instead like i rlly don't think dean is a Friends guy

to expand on #1, though, obviously, love doesn't have to be Pretty and Good and there are relationships people call toxic best friendships where ppl aren't nice to each other, but also, the things i would call "besties!" or "toxic boybestfriends" feel distinct from best friends to me, plus i don't think either of those labels fit dean and cas bc i think their brand of toxicity is about emotional pushing away/pulling away rather than obsession

that being said, i haven't even watched properly past 4.18 and relationships should usually be defined by the people inside them, so on some debate stages my words would better service the prompt "Dean and Castiel are a good example of best friends. Discuss." but it's easier to say "they're not even best friends" bc i think it means the same thing in a debating-over-fictional-characters context

- Crystal :)

#asks #i think cas and garth are on a swingset in heaven rn chatting #also sorry for being deranged i think everyone applying their own ideas of bestfriendship on these two is fine and good

[sixthwater]

Random thought but i feel like ppl project on libra placements a lot (source: me. I am not very good at astrology though so idk)

Hi! This might make less sense than usual cause I just got back in from a bit of a long day

Lovely Libra

This would be considered an observation to me because you're not too far off, but there's a lot of layers to it. I don't think people notice when they're projecting onto libras or those with libra placements. It's the same as when people throw out random reasons to hate water signs (reflective) and like geminis (same energy as scorpio where they can see through your bullshit but will much more of a bastard about it if you're not playing nice, so 'two-faced').

The thing with Libra influence is that they don't like 'mess'. They are not afraid of it, but they'd rather avoid it or not be involved. So you have to pay very close attention to how they respond to conflict; if they're actively giving their opinion or if they're being vague. Are they ignoring what's happening or are they paying attention. If a Libra isn't vocal about how they feel, 9/10 you don't really know how they feel about the situation, they're just being civil or supportive lmao. I think this is where it comes from, because they will put their foot down when people Do try to speak for them or overstep their boundaries, and this causes that whiplash and bitter feeling because just a few moments ago the person believed that Libra was on their side completely which leads to that whole 'if we're talking about (insert negative quality) then ____ needs to be mentioned' and that's not the case at all lmao.

I think it can be a bit of a bad quality, but we as outsiders are also at fault to just assume and project at times as well. I think I made into the big leagues and know every placement now, at least one per placement, and it usually plays out as I stated above. The influenced will appear to be:

very neutral

supportive at most, but vague about their own feelings

just trying to get information

damn near absent

yet somehow their stance will still be dubbed by someone else without them stating it themselves. I think it's harder on rising natives because despite any other placements being more blunt and open, they will still face this projection. The rest needs some sort of interaction. however it doesn't have to all be bad. libra is one of those signs where people will look at them as like...they can provide something unattainable thanks to venus (seriously, pay attention to the comments those with venusian placements get). my friend recently showed me an artist who turned out to be a late libra, and one of the main comments people make about them is regarding gender envy (i believe they're a cis male but i never dig deep into celebs and i don't want to trust Wikipedia so.) and how they're 'doing whatever they want with their music and we need more of that', so while that's not Direct projection, it's close.

in general; a good reminder that libras are in between virgo and scorpio for a reason. they are hilarious and super fucking sarcastic when you pay attention and it's so funny to catch them slipping. i hate stereotypes but they actually really do care about the fairness of a situation, and their other placements will change how intense they express that or how they go about it. rule of thumb is to always remember the bare bones of a sign when judging them. libras are cardinal air signs, they should be given a lot more credit. also this is definitely the dialogue going through their head when they're confronted with some shit they don't want to hear:

#help my family made me pay close attention to people bc they were all first responders and im using it for astrology #seriously though.....libras are so funny fjkdsla;jfiaj #like yes they are annoying but that's because im squared to them so im allowed to say that #if you're squared to a sign you're allowed One fight to the death #or an awkward conversation that has many lulls in it #anyway i guess if you want me to compliment your sign i am always open because im sick!!!!!! of the negativity you're all sexy