you know it's bad when i read svsss and tgcf, stories about just two guys falling in love and getting together, and think, "god i wish i were in between them."
gay little domestic cottage core life with binghe and qingqiu? please and thank you. being sandwiched by hua cheng and xie lian, two pretty men who are hundreds of years old? i am blushing, kicking my feet and giggling
and again, it's not even that i would want only one of them. like in both of the relationships, the two love each other too much to the point it'd feel wrong if they were separated! it wouldn't feel complete, so you gotta be with both of them!
but that's the thing; i just?? i feel so incredibly guilty whenever i think about being loved by these mxtx couples??? like it's so stupid but i feel like i'm intruding in on something and it's like, everyone else seems to just want them together only, not wanna be with them. like it's fuckin taboo or whatever
i feel like with any other character from any other media it'd be fine to simp for and write/read x readers of them, but when it comes to these books, it's off limits! no way, what are you, crazy? yes, yes i'm unhinged and desperately want their love and affection simultaneously. i want to be in a happy little poly relationship with these overpowered beautiful men with long hair.
i can't be the only guy or whoever to feel this way?? to wanna be kissed by these characters? sandwiched?? i have two hands for christ sake and they all look so happy together and im just like "lord i wanna be with them so much". someone tell me i'm not alone cmon <\3
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One fascinating character detail I see in TGCF is the juxtaposition of Jun Wu, who is obsessed with power and control, and Xie Lian, who endeavors to accept things as they come and go. Because while this is a classic foil between the protagonist and the antagonist, it's not to be ignored that Jun Wu's deepset desire for control is also shared by Hua Cheng. Having the romantic lead share such a pivotal, central trait as the antagonist, without it ever causing serious tension or issue in Hua Cheng's relationship with Xie Lian, really highlights how the problem with Jun Wu was never who he was, it was what he was doing. Jun Wu never had to change who he was as a person, he just needed to stop manipulating and hurting other people for his own peace of mind.
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The tumblr q&a is over, but I was curious! I love all the different phrases the characters in isat/sasasa:p use--If it's something you can say, where did inspiration for "gems alive" and other phrases come from?
THANK YOU FOR ASKING BECAUSE I GET TO TALK ABOUT WORLDBUILDING AND SWEAR WORDS AND BRANDON SANDERSON
long post ahead
ok so when I was figuring out the world, I found this lecture on worldbuilding by Brandon Sanderson (go watch it, and also go read his books), and (im gonna paraphrase heavily here) one thing he mentioned is that, to make a memorable world, one thing you can do is pick a couple areas of culture, and go real deep with it. So like, pick fashion, and architecture, and interior design, and develop those a bunch, and bam! you convinced people you have a whole dang world, even though you only developed 3 areas of this world. hollow iceberg everyone thinks is a real iceberg.
he also mentioned the idea of like... getting weird with it? and develop based on a weird detail? for example, in his book The Stormlight Archives, one detail is that women have to hide their left hand at all times. ok, so what does that mean, whats taboo about a left hand? is the left hand shameful, or lewd somehow, the same way ankles were for us? what about fashion, what does women's fashion look like? and how do you live your every day life, knowing you can't show this hand, can you carry things the same way? etc
SO, for me, one of the Big Worldbuilding pillars i picked was, uh, swear words lol. or language and common expressions, more generally. i went on a whole journey where i was like... ok swear words in a LOT of languages (including french and english, both languages i speak fluently) are either sexual, or about gross bodily discharges. you know what words i mean!!!!!
and, well, i also didnt want the game to be full of those words, mostly because i think its a tightrope to use those words without seeming cringe, and also because i have a Core Memory of showing a comic to a colleague and she said "well i wouldve liked to show it to my kids, but you said fuck 12 times in there" and i didnt show my face to her for a week. family friendly family friendly family friendly
so what swear words should my characters use, that arent the same ones we use? and could those swear words actually tell us something about the world they live in? could i actually use those swear words... to show the characters come from different cultures???
and what COULD swear words be like, if theyre not about sex or body stuff? well irl they're usually about religions or belief. "oh god", "goddamnit", etc. as a sidenote, stuff like "oh my god" or "geez" arent used, because jesus christ is not canon to the ISAT universe. alright
i decided very early on i wouldnt have those in the game either, but i COULD have them be about the religions specific to this world. and for insults, i could have them be about stuff those beliefs would see as lesser.
anyway instead of talking about "gems alive" lets talk about "crab"
isabeau+mirabelle+bonnie use "crab" as a swear word because they follow a religion all around change, bettering yourself, evolving, and, the crab meme,
for those who dont get the joke, its about carcinisation, and about how a bunch of non-crab-like forms somehow evolved to a crab-like form. which would be horrible, for a religion all based around change!!! you mean we change and evolve, but theres a chance we might all become crabs??? CRAB!!!!!!!
anyway having "crab" kinda reads as 1. swear word 2. thats funny and weird (sets the tone) 3. tells you they know what crabs are (world not that different from ours, AND means they live close-ish to the coast, aka not land locked) and 4. crabs are somehow hated/feared, even if as the player you dont get why, it shows this country has its own culture (even if you dont get the crabs joke, which uuuh apparently doesnt work as well in countries that dont have this specific meme. WHATEVER!!!!)
(a few people came to me saying "heh, i get it, because crab and crap are very similar words" and um actually i did not think about that. crab is just a funny word on its own, and also i am a comedy genius without even trying)
anyway tldr: swear words as a worldbuilding tool. soon in theaters
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Long-PSA-short of sorts that's more a vent: I was always aware my behavior and way of expressing myself online can surprise many people, especially if they are not used to someone who uses the writing medium as a playful form to tell emotions in a very descriptive way as I do. I'm quite affectionate with words, yes.
And I always beg people I hang with personally to let me know if some of that bothers them, curtly of course. So far there have been few instances of individuals confusing those signals with ulterior means, things I assure you there's nothing more than me being friendly and supportive.
Imagine idk an excited dog seeing its owner haha
Until the past week, I found myself being tackled by something that made me almost knock everything aside because it made me realize that probably I'm a walking trigger/squick inducer with even the way I wield words like "love" and "friendship".
Almost...
I'm pretty tolerant of whatever way people conduct themselves in this life, the only moment I flinch is when an individual assumes from my default behavior and presentation that I want to impose my way of life... And nopes.
This is simply how and who I am. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't search for conflict but for understanding.
My language for expressing marvel and reflections is like this, never to make the other feel awkward or attacked.
So, it upset me knowing that by wielding this forever welcoming and lovable disposition, I can be something to fear and even despite... to some people.
But, you know? That means that my "love" and "friendship" lifestyle are not made for you, no reason to come back to me and point at it. Just keep walking if you have only rage and rejection to give as a reply to my point of view.
Because by wielding rage and rejection, what you only do is burn bridges. To create conflict and assume imaginary antagonistic scenarios where there's nothing of that at all.
You can't create the world you wish to live in by burning bridges.
It took me a lot too to forge who I am right now. I even keep learning and chiseling through traumas and mistakes—kindness and patience taught me more than rage and rejection. And "love" and "friendship" are the bricks I chose to build those bridges. I know everyone else uses different concepts but in the end, we all build bridges.
By creating bridges and inviting others to do the same, I expand not only my world, but the other's too!
Isn't that better than demanding to be this or that through a black/white flag of rage and rejection? I think so. And I understand perfectly we sometimes need to be blunt when marking our boundaries. Still, never justifies treating the other bad.
And if some of you find "fake" or distasteful the way I wear this flag of "love" and "friendship" I'm sorry: this place will never be safe for you then. The exit door is always open. Go ahead.
I hope you find your place and flags out there too, but don't forget that to do that you need to build bridges.
If you don't want to call it "friendship" call it "glue" or whatever makes you comfortable, but don't kick people like me who fought with claws and teeth to reclaim those words and feelings.
Fight your fight by being a good example, not a bad experience that makes someone never want to deal with something like this again in their life.
"Any color you like, (in the end) they're all blue."
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(WIZARD VOICE) I CAST WIP WEDNESDAY!
By the power of being in the east has granted me, therefore, tis day is Wednesday and I'm tagging YOU (insert evil ascian laugh here)
@lavampira @hythlodaes @scionshtola @coldshrugs @lilas @myreia @galadae @hylfystt @impossible-rat-babies @space-diablo @fourteenthz @sirotras @verraising @avallachs i Swear there are more ppl im forgetting to tag rn bc it's very late but!!! I love you friends!!!
----
Ok so I'm on my bs yet again so i apologize for that :o))) This is literally the same fic I was working on, post-Rak'tika cave convo with your resident ratman and Tuana.
“All this time I was wondering what was the catalyst of your madness. I suppose I’m starting to understand.”
He laughs, a little manically, his anguish creeping, proving her right.
“Oh my… One vision and you fancy yourself an expert of my misery? You cannot, Hero. You cannot possibly understand.”
Not even if you remember, he thinks, bitterly. You’ve left us, after all. You died. You’ve forgotten and moved on.
If only the deep sorrow in her very soul hadn’t made a liar out of him. If only he could unsee it. If only it changed something.
“No,” she accepts. “I cannot. I saw my fair share of terror but not once has the Star itself started to rot and deteriorate like that.” His Hero grimaces and does the most unexpected thing, hands the bottle to him. “But I can try to understand.”
He sighs in defeat, sitting on the log beside her, gracefully accepting her offer. It seems eons matter not, he is still incapable of denying her. But he’s so lonely and she’s–
“Believe it or not, Warrior, that was not the final catalyst. I’ve lost–” Hythlodaeus. Half of my heart, “ –so much. Yet, once Zodiark restored our Star, We thought the worst was over, at least. Oh how wrong we were.”
“The Sundering.”
“Yes, your dear Mother’s handiwork.”
His very being burns with abhorrence, his hatred, depthless. It wasn’t enough that damned woman tore her own pupil asunder. Her daughter all but name. She had stained her remains with her mark, wielded her as a weapon against his brethren–
Why? Why hadn’t she spared Azem?
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So by your logic if the wolfstar and Sirius x James kiss wasn’t cheating on Fabian and regulus can I just go kissing random people even if I’m in a relationship? I’m sorry but it seems like u really struggle to read likeable characters
i truly don't care what you do in your relationships
none of my business
i'm not involved
no relationship is the same, no situation is the same, no group of people are the same. those situations were specific. they happened between specific people. in specific ways.
if you are unable, or unwilling, to look at the complexity of individual situations, and wish to understand life only through universalizing moral rules that do not take nuance into account but operate simply to place everything into the categories of "good" and "bad", that is fully your prerogative to do so
i am not out here sending you messages about how i think you are wrong
i am simply existing with a different set of beliefs and values than you
so i am not sure why you are so upset at me
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