#not tagging them individually bc that's too much effort

[beanghostprincess]

if i hear the vinsmoke name again i swear to fucking god i'll start world war iii against them

#I CAN'T STAND THEM #okay yonji is kind of funny and his voice does things to me but like #and they're power rangers which makes it really funny #and ichiji is like kind of cool?? cool hair #reiju is my goddess but when i talk about the vinsmokes i'm mostly referring to the men #i don't care about niji #honestly yeah just kill niji and judge i don't mind the others #still extremely angry at yonji and ichiji tho i hope they get hit by a fucking truck #and i don't say what kind of atrocities i want judge to go through bc then they report me or smth #black leg sanji #one piece #whole cake island #not tagging them individually bc that's too much effort

[nyxicnymph]

I posted 2,865 times in 2022

665 posts created (23%)

2,200 posts reblogged (77%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@castle-of-my-dreams

@furblrwurblr

@foopdeloop

@bloustorm

@eenochian (I'll be upping this ranking so much by next YiR)

I tagged 2,579 of my posts in 2022

Only 10% of my posts had no tags

#the lady's reblogs - 1,923 posts

#nyx talks about stuff - 500 posts

#the castle's lady speaks - 493 posts

#genshin impact - 167 posts

#nyx writes stuff - 151 posts

#the castle's messages - 75 posts

#xiao - 63 posts

#xiaother - 61 posts

#nyx's art stuff - 52 posts

#nyx's genshin adventures - 44 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i am sorry. your story is not a power fantasy at all. you are the other. you are a stranger in a strange land. there is something fundament

(i need to know what post this tag was on)

My Top Posts in 2022:

(shortening the post here bc it's all my writing posts that went "big" and they're all long individually but even longer together)

#5

Xiao paced Aether's usual room in Wangshu. He knew that if Aether was traveling in Liyue, he'd come here eventually. And thanks to various sources, he knew Aether had recently returned to the nation. Now, all he needed for Aether to return to the inn.

To return home, to him.

Well. To the two of them.

Xiao stopped his pacing and made his way to his balcony. He stood in front of the pot he'd set out next to the mountain sculpture, and gently reached for the tiny bud in the center.

He still couldn't believe that they'd succeeded in the ritual. He hadn't said anything to his beloved, but there'd been a part of him that had been terrified that he'd remembered it wrong.

But when the first green had burst through, he'd had to completely control himself to keep himself from teleporting to wherever Aether was, grabbing his husband, and immediately showing him the fruit of their efforts, their future. Their child.

He glimpsed movement on the road below him, and narrowed his eyes to focus on the figure. His heart jumped as he glimpsed the familiar golden hair, and he jumped up on the railing. He teleported himself down, not too close to Aether, but close enough that he would be noticed.

He nodded at Paimon when she waved, and clasped his arms around his husband as Aether ran forward. He pressed his lips to Aether's forehead.

Aether giggled. "Miss me?"

"Foolish traveler," Xiao replied. "You doubt my affection for you? Of course I missed you."

They walked up the stairs together, Paimon eventually leaving them. Aether reached for his husband's hand, and intertwined their fingers together.

"So...." Aether began, and Xiao felt the twinge of anticipation and nervousness in his stomach. "Did... Did the.... did our ritual work?"

Xiao grabbed Aether's hand tighter, and teleported them both to the balcony. He gently guided Ae to the pot. "Look."

Aether gasped softly and gently caressed the pot. "It sprouted!" He elbowed Xiao. "I bet you thought you messed up, didn't you?"

Xiao jolted. "N-no."

"Beloved, I could see it in your eyes for the few days after."

Xiao felt his face heat up, and he looked away, embarrassed that Aether had read him so well. Yet, why was he so surprised? They'd been together for a few years. And Aether was very good at reading people.

Aether giggled and wrapped his arms around Xiao's waist. "But we did it! And you didn't mess it up, did you? Of course not. And now look!" Aether gestured to the pot. "Now we're gonna be dads!"

Xiao couldn't help but be infected by Aether's glee. He smiled and pressed his forehead to Aether's. "You're right. It was foolish of me to doubt our love and abilities."

Aether pressed a kiss to Xiao's lips, then pulled away. "Have you thought about any names?"

Xiao hummed slightly but shook his head. "I must admit I was more concerned about the sprout than naming the child."

Aether petted Xiao's hair, smoothing it. "That's okay. We have a while, right? We'll figure it out."

They stayed in each other's embrace until the moon was high in the sky.

136 notes - Posted June 10, 2022

#4

Here, Kittykitty!

Genshin Impact characters as cats and how you ended up adopting them. Featuring: Aether, Venti, Xiao, Kazuha, Heizou + Scaramouche Special thanks to @eenochian for sparking this. Warnings: Implications of violence hidden in Xiao and Kazuha's sections. Beyond that, nothing? Kitties and kitty related fluff. Summary: You've adopted quite a few cats! How did you get all these cutie pies? Notes: OH FUCK XIAO'S GOT LONG.

Please reblog if you enjoyed!

Aether:

Aether was the first cat you adopted. You had been lonely lately, so you went to your local shelter, and found this beautiful golden baby with a white starburst on his chest.

The staff told you that he'd been separated from his littermate a while ago, and seemed quite sad.

You couldn't resist him after that, declaring that he was now your baby. You named him, signed the papers, and that was that.

You brought him home, made him comfortable, then settled in for some relaxation, hoping to give him some time to adjust.

After exploring your home some, he hopped up next to you, and gently put his paws on your lap.

"What is it, Ae baby?"

He licked your nose, then curled up next to you.

Aether is exceptionally good when you have company, the politest baby, always asking before cuddling someone. He also gives everyone thorough sniffs.

Eventually, though, your vacation ended, and you had to return to your job.

Aether always seemed so sad when you left, and so happy to see you when you returned.

But you could tell he was lonely. So you decided to adopt another cat to keep him company.

Venti:

The next cat you adopted was a shiny black kitty with turquoise eyes and a green sheen to his fur.

He had been biting his kennel when you came around the corner to see him, but as soon as he made eye contact, he rolled onto his belly and chirped at you.

You were captivated. Once again wasted no time in naming, signing papers for, and taking home this beautiful baby.

He took to Aether very well, though Aether looked a little bit steamrolled.

literally.

The first thing Venti did upon being released into your home was roll on top of a sleeping Aether.

Aether woke up very confused, and immediately dragged himself out from under Venti.

You could swear that Venti pouted.

Venti is a chatty kitty. Even if he's not with you, you can hear him meowing away in the other parts of the house.

The only times he's not talking are when he's sleeping, eating, or hiding.

The first time Venti disappeared, you freaked out.

You realized you hadn't seen him since that morning, and it was approaching dinnertime.

After calling his name several times, Aether caught your attention with a demure meow. When you looked at him, he trotted to the fireplace and meowed up the chimney.

See the full post

179 notes - Posted July 20, 2022

#3

Stupid drabble I wrote yesterday 'cause I was in pain.

"Xiao...."

His name drifted through the air, and he noted the twinge of pain in your voice. He summoned his spear and appeared at your side in an instant.

He was greeted by the sight of you limply curled up on your bed, face twisted slightly, but noticeably brightening when you saw him. You reached your arms out to him, making gentle grabby motions with your hands.

"There's no danger, love, please come here and hold me," you asked.

Xiao had already released his spear and was coming to join you, but paused at your strange request.

"You want... me... to hold... you?" He repeated.

You nodded. "Everything hurts," you say, a whine creeping in on the last breath.

Xiao nodded slowly, moving around so he could try and hold you in his arms. This wasn't exactly new, but it was rare. Usually you wanted to hold him instead, which he allowed because tou had a calming aura. You usually only wanted him to hold you whenever you were....

"Oh," he said as he came upon his realization. "Your cycle. It's come back."

You nodded into his shoulder. "And, well, I think the weather is about to change, too. All my joints hurt. And my head."

Xiao pulled you closer. "I'll ask Verr for medicine. Later. Are you comfortable right now?"

You nodded again. "If I fall asleep, or if you're called, you can go, I know you're busy."

Xiao hesitated, then pressed a kiss to your forehead. "I'll come back quickly if that happens."

And so the afternoon passed.

249 notes - Posted July 4, 2022

#2

A Yaksha's Birthday

Dear Xiao,

I hope you had a happy birthday! I received your letter and the Starconches, but unfortunately found myself doing too many commissions up until now.

I listened to the Starconches, over and over again. Each time, I thought of you. I might have imagined it, but I swear I could hear your voice through them.

You're special to me, Xiao, so I hope that this letter reaches you when it's supposed to. If it does, then all you have to do is turn around.

Surprise and happy birthday.

~Traveler

368 notes - Posted April 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Yes, the queen is dead.

But also my sincerest condolences to y'all in the uk because I'm sure shit is about to hit the fan.

1,304 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #false #nyx talks about stuff #the castle's lady speaks

[jiannguo]

I don't understand why bjyx accounts even exist anymore. Like how can anyone think that there's anything between them at this point? Some stuff I've seen is ridiculous. Like "oh, Xiao Zhan posted a picture that has bread in it, it means that he misses wyb" or "both of them posted spring festival pictures that have chicken feet, it must mean that they're together celebrating." I even saw one that said that the red envelope that Xiao Xhan got last spring festival must be from wyb bc it's so pretty his parents probably wouldn't have made the effort. Like why wouldn't they have, and to my understanding as a non-Chinese person is that that's not how that works. Like wtf?

I personally don't think there's anything between them except maybe friendship or just an acquaintance, but to shippers it doesn't matter. There's ships for XZ with Reba, LiQin, YangZi, even Liu ShiShi (The other day I stumbled on a XZ and YangYang ship 🤣).

I saw someone yesterday compare a black and white photo of XZ and WYB imdividually saying its a CP pose 🤣 In reality, it's just an emo pose in b&w taken by hundreds of other actors as well. Not to mention these two photos in question were taken more than a year apart.

And not every brand that puts red and green together are promoting their CP (like wtf abt Christmas lmao).

Every single international CP fans have a similar tag line, exact same like was used many times before "their Chinese shipper fans know everything but they're protecting their relationship *cough every CP out there*"

Also it's hard for them to realise that majority of actors, whatever they wear in public events or ads are "given" to them by the sponsors, which would also require permission from the brand. (There have been Chinese actresses who got in trouble with brands who wore their outfits without permission, and brands forced them to delete every photo). So no... brand outfits aren't CP outfits. Almost every brand item gets worn by someone else after work is complete.

I feel the reason why their presence feel too much on international social media is because XZ's biggest international hit is CQL and the international fanbase have stemmed from there. But in reality in CN, they're not a big fanbase compared to both the actor's individual fanbase (just compare their numbers). They're just loud, and when they scream SZD everywhere, it's just them screaming that they're shippers or fujoshis, which makes it so weird in itself...

I ignore them for the most part, frankly speaking most are pretty much stuck at CQL, they hardly talk about or promote their latest dramas. They pretty much survive on these oddball stories that make its way from weibo, embellish and spread them. They would never look at Gu Yiye for instance 😆😆 It soooo breaks their fantasy!

I am an ex shipper from Addicted/Guardian fandom, so getting out of this whole business, have provided a lot of clarity on how CP fandom actually thrives. And there is a huge backend financial interest behind it (they make a ton on CP merch, infact any outsider vendor who just even hints at promoting the two gets sell out too). Here's another example, there are douyin/wechat accounts which is a pay as you go, you have to pay to enter and get candy.

I can keep going on and on, but honestly my only request is if you like Xiao Zhan, watch and promote his works. That is the kind of fan we should be.

His personal life, none of our business.

#send asks

[cartoonsaint]

i got a very sweet ask the other day with an anon's thoughts on my fics (presumably in response to my tags on this post) and i wanted to say thank you, that's really kind TToTT i'm no good at responding intelligently to people being sweet about my stuff but i appreciate it a lot, that kind of thing is a big boost for me. thanks for letting me know you've enjoyed <3

i am sorry if i made it seem like my issue was just w not getting comments or something; i understand when people have difficulty with that kind of thing, i also struggle with it. i actually just did a run of comments that i only just realized i've been putting off for, oh, six whole months, and i've got [REDACTED BUT EMBARRASSING NUMBER INDICATING MY INABILITY TO RESPOND TO THINGS IN A TIMELY MANNER] messages in my ao3 inbox i ought to get to so like: i get it. i tend to assume other people are also doing their best, focus on the comments people do leave, and try not to worry about ~the comments people don't leave~ too much.

but i do have a bit of an issue when people talk about fics with other people but don't leave comments on the fic itself, and that post shows that other fic writers experience the same thing. like the first time i rly grokked that people actually liked what i was writing wasn't from comments, it was from an artist i follow here on tumblr who brought up and complimented my fic on their blog... but hadn't left a comment on the fic itself. if i hadn't been on tumblr and following them, i'd have never known that someone had those particular thoughts about my writing, nor that they were coming from someone whose own art i respect.

idk. i don't wanna call it "life-changing," but it definitely was life-shifting to realize that people were reading my stuff and thinking about it, they just weren't using ao3's avenues to share those thoughts. i responded to that by 1) trying to get more involved with ~fandom spaces~, namely discord (i'm pretty bad at it, esp w individual messages, but i like to leave reactions on things in servers sometimes!) bc that seems to feel lower pressure to some folks if they want to let writers know their thoughts, and 2) putting in more effort to make sure i leave comments on ao3, too, bc if someone's writing affected me or made me think then i'd like to let them know.

i wasn't involved with livejournal (and only barely with ff.net) so i can't really speak to how things have changed, but i have come across the above behavior a number of times w my own work, and in discord groups i sometimes see people talking excitedly about others' fics but when i go to leave a (late) comment on ao3 i find few or none of them have commented. as someone who came to fan spaces pretty late, i find it odd-- it seems to me like one of the major boons of fanfiction is that the reader and author are peers who have the same level of ownership of the characters (i.e., essentially none) so can chat about it as equals.

like, we're all in the same mud pit playing with the same dolls. come on over, let me know how you feel about how i cut my barbie's hair, i'll tell you what i like about how you gave yours cat ears. oh, you used a hot glue gun on em to make em stick? that's awesome, i never would have thought to do that, how'd you avoid melting her hair? LOVE that you dressed her in the outfit from this other barbie, it looks so good! oh, you don't have a barbie yourself but you've been watching me act out a dramatic love confession between my two dolls and you're kinda invested? i wasn't planning on doing more w that storyline, but if you like it i can probably take another look; come on into the mud pit, come hang out.

i dunno. it's just something i've been thinking about lately. i've got no control over what other people do, but i do try to correct this kind of stuff personally when i see it, and i hope you all take the opportunity to do the same when you can. leave a comment on someone's work. let em know how their work made you feel, what meshes well with canon or your interpretation of it, what surprised you or made you laugh. it takes a few minutes but can mean the world to the weirdos spending hours of their time writing a story to share with you :)

#i'm NOT saying give ME a comment-- best case scenario someone reads this and gives a comment to someone ELSE #this applies to fanart and other fancontent too; if there's something specific u like about a piece and you've got the time let em know #i stick stuff in my drafts/q and go through periodically to add to the tags things that stick out to me #esp in a ~fandom i'm active in #like i love to see content for this. love to not have to be the one to make it. would love to encourage that #saint talks #long post #eh maybe #misc

[rainbowglitterandpixiedust]

I posted 303 times in 2022

19 posts created (6%)

284 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@reputayswift

@the-sun-the-green

@venus-academia

@mauve-h

@oh-we-are-the-infinity

I tagged 178 of my posts in 2022

Only 41% of my posts had no tags

#spotify - 10 posts

#green - 6 posts

#🍓 - 6 posts

#🧚🏼‍♀️ - 5 posts

#audio - 5 posts

#cottagecore - 4 posts

#🌼 - 4 posts

#lilac - 4 posts

#☁️ - 4 posts

#academia - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 74 characters

#i feel like i shouldn't reblog this bc it seems too personal but here i am

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

embrace your genuine wonderment for all the mundane things in life ☁️🍵📖

3 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

#4

I worked my whole life just to get right, just to realize everything I need is on the ground

3 notes - Posted January 4, 2022

#3

but i'm a peach...

In Love class one night when a girl said, “I know why I’m so despairing all the time. It’s because I want to be loved by everybody, and that’s a human impossibility. I could be the most delectable, the most delicious, the most wondrous peach in the world, and I could offer it to everybody. But there are people who are allergic to peaches. Then they may want me to be a banana.” And so often we become a banana for other people who want peaches. What a messy fruit salad. Isn’t it all right to say to them, “I am so sorry I cannot be a banana. I would love to be a banana if I could for you, but I’m a peach.” And you know what? If you wait long enough, you’ll find a peach lover. And then you can live your life as a peach, and you don’t have to live your life as a banana. All the lost energy it takes to be a banana, when you’re a peach!

“To love is to risk not being loved in return.” And that’s all right too. You love to love, not to get something back, or it isn’t love.”

“To hope is to risk pain.” And, “To try is to risk failure.” But risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, and is nothing. That person may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he or she simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, live, or love. Chained by certitudes or addictions, that person is a slave. He or she has forfeited our greatest trait, and that is our individual freedom. Only the person who risks is free.

To keep you hidden, to lose you because of self-defeating ideas is to die. Don’t let that happen. Your greatest responsibility is to become everything that you are, not only for your benefit, but for mine.

Living, Loving, and Learning Leo F. Buscaglia

4 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

#2

I hope you know you're not alone Being confused ain't right or wrong You'll find that you're your own best friend And no, that ain't a fuckin' metaphor

I been putting work in healing myself Still got room to grow 🌱☀️🎇

4 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

how i grew in 2020 & 2021

✨ taking the time to do what i love and to recharge

🌱 doing things that benefit me but are uncomfortable

❄️ learning to let go of things i have no control over

🧚🏼‍♀️ taking time to meet the real me - not the expectations of who others want me to be

🌈 growing in solitude and independence from people

⭐ overcoming the fomo

⛲ realizing that quality over quantity also applies to relationships and learning to invest in the right friendships around me

🌷 resetting my standards and building healthier relationships

🍁 setting boundaries

☂️ letting people in without only presenting the good parts

🐢 learning to be more patient with myself and not expecting too much of me - or others

🎐 expressing and recognizing my emotions

🌻 acknowledging the amount of energy i actually put into my efforts

🍄 learning to hold space for my feelings

⛅ learning to balance feeling things and not wallowing

🌸 learning how to validate my feelings without staying stuck in them

5 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Spotify

[luphorics]

how does Cadence feel about the other agents?? :0

oooo hi anon!! there's a couple of character interactions that Cadence has but haven't fully fleshed out, so i'll mention the ones i know for sure!! (these might change-- just keep that in mind ;A;)

neon - both are childhood friends who got slightly separated bc of distance (literally, since cadence immigrated to the US when they were younger and had to leave neon behind). their families were close neighbors in the philippines!! cadence is also 3 years older than neon, so the latter saw the other as a big sister figure (still does hehe) ;3; cadence was known to be the very protective big sibling and there was almost never a day where these two would visit eachother/stay over when they were wee little kids BAHAHA. when cade moved away, the families would keep in touch through video chats, texts, and whatnot, so the two would still talk to each other in some way. cade and their fam would also fly back to the ph to visit home again whenever the opportunity was there. unfortunately, as the whole family got a little busier with their own endeavors years later, this meant the neon and cade would become a bit more distant, but they still tried to make efforts to talk to eachother. eventually, the two finally would reunite under the Protocol and it was rly emotional for them both, needless to say ehueuhhue CRIES.... also lil fun fact: neon's dad was responsible for also creating the technology that would help cade after they gained their radiance

phoenix - both are also like the bestest of friends rn tbh LMAO. brimstone or viper has to probably keep these two in check bc they're super chaotic when put together. they're just enabling eachother really BAHAHAH. you'll always hear the two hype each other up on the battlefield. phoenix is also one of the people who will always tag along in the team outings that cadence occasionally hosts. but before they met under VP, phoenix was actually a fan of cadence's music, believe it or not |'DD before becoming an agent, Cadence would have concert tours and phoenix went to one of them--even managing to get a picture with them. you can only imagine his reaction when he found out that the radiant individual who his team rescued was none other than Cade... JSDJKSJKSDJK

sage - sage is Cadence's radiant mentor and one of the ppl in the team who rescued them from the Omega pursuers :0 so obviously Cade's extremely grateful and super friendly to her. she helped them to train and hone their abilities for combative use (since cadence mostly used their powers in a more recreational sense). Sage also considered bringing up Cade as an agent consideration to Brim after the rescue, but Cade beat her to it. |'D

yoru - ... |'D cade likes to bother him a lot, and intentionally too, because they know he's the lone wolf-type. they find it super weird and ironic that yoru joined the team only to prefer working alone most of the time and dismissing everyone else. of course, their antics led to a mutual dislike (although cade was having way too much of a blast getting on his nerves) and the pair would usually bicker before missions and even off-duty. eventually it grew more into a friendly rivalry, but they still go around insulting each other LMFAOOO. (yoru also claims to hate their music, but raze exposed him to cade behind his back one day bc literally half of the ppl in the team has listened to at least one of their songs. yoru is not exempt from that, as evidenced in his playlist.... which raze definitely didn't peek at)

#valorant oc #valorant cadence #askluo #luphorics oc: cadence / eden serrano

[nevermindirah]

Do you have any thoughts on the use of AAVE for Nile (or lack thereof) in TOG fanfiction? I've been reading some Book of Nile fic and some writers seem to write her as a Millennial™ (using words like "fave" and "woke") but never acknowledge her Blackness in her patterns of speech. I know we don't see her use as much AAVE in the films, but I would argue she's in situations where code-switching would be valued (first in a "professional" environment in the army, then around a group of non-Black strangers).

Hi anon! I have many thoughts on this and I'm honored you asked me! But I should start by saying I'm white and any thoughts Black fans and especially Black American fans have on this that they want to share would be beyond lovely. (I'm not gonna tag anybody bc that feels rude but please add onto this post if any of y'all see this and want to!)

The main reason I personally avoid AAVE for Nile in my own fics is because I'm not Black. But Nile-centric fics by Black writers tend to avoid using much of it too, at least from what I've noticed/understood, and my guess is it's largely for the reason you mention, that she's in situations that encourage code-switching.

In movie canon Nile is highly competent at tailoring her language to each situation she finds herself in. This fantastic linguistics analysis meta shows how skillfully Nile chooses her vocabulary and grammar to meet her goals with different conversation partners in different contexts. In comics canon Nile had a bunch of different civilian jobs before joining the Marines, so she would've had experience code-switching in the ways that made sense for all those different contexts as well as the Marines and her family and high school and wherever else she spent her time before we met her. And now she's spending her time with a handful of immortals none of whom are native English speakers and a fellow Black American but one with a Queen's English UK accent whose professional experience is in the CIA where high-status code-switching is often an absolute must for success or even survival.

Fics featuring Nile are charged with extrapolating from that to how it might show up in her use of language that she's coping with a traumatic separation from her family and her career and pretty much everything she's ever known and now she needs to be able to make herself understood to people who seem to care about her and each other but are super duper in crisis, three (soon to be four) of whom predate Modern English entirely and the only one who's anywhere near her contemporary she's not supposed to talk to for a century. All of these people are telling her that pretty much any contact with any mortals poses an existential threat to her and the rest of the group. How the FUCK is she supposed to cope with that, like, generally? And would it be a more effective way for her to cope if she talked to Andy Joe and Nicky using the speech patterns that she used to use with her mom and brother, to at least retain that part of her identity even if it means having to do a lot of explaining, or would it meet her needs better to prioritize Andy Joe and Nicky understanding what she means with her words over using the particular words and grammar forms she used with her family?

I've seen several fics, both Nile-centric / BoN and otherwise, explore this a little bit in how/whether Nile uses Millennial™ speak. It's often a theme in Nile texting Booker despite the exile because of the popular headcanon that he as The Tech Guy is the only other immortal who understands memes. But Nile's much-younger-than-Booker mom probably uses Boomer and/or Gen X memes and Andy has been adapting to new communication styles for forever as evidenced by her canon high level of fluency with standard-American-accented English.

Which brings us back to people avoiding AAVE because they're not Black and they don't want to make mistakes (or they're not Black and they don't want to get yelled at for making mistakes, though I think many people overestimate how much they'll get yelled at while underestimating how much these mistakes can hurt). I can imagine some Black fans hold back from using much AAVE in fic because they don't want to share in-group stuff with white people who are likely to then adopt and ruin it, as white people so often do with Black cultural stuff. Some links about this including a great Khadija Mbowe video. I'm saying this gently, anon, because you might not know: woke, an example you cited as Millennial™ speak, is AAVE, and that's gotten erased by so many white people appropriating it and using it incorrectly online.

And also there's the part where fandom is a hobby and you never know when you're reading a fic that's the very first thing someone's ever written outside of a school assignment. This cultural considerations of language shit takes a level of effort and skill that not everybody puts into every fic, or even could if they wanted to because they haven't had time to build their skills yet. It's definitely easier for non-Black fans to project our millennial feels onto Nile than to do the layers of research and self-reflection it requires to depict what Blackness might mean to Nile, and it's not surprising that often people sharing their hobby creations on the internet have gone the easier route. There's not even necessarily shame in doing what's easier. It's just frustrating and often hurtful when structural white supremacy means that 3-dimensional Black characters are rare in media and thoughtful explorations of them in fandom are seen by the majority of fans as not-easy to make and therefore Nile Freeman, the main character in The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood, has the least fic and meta and art made about her of our 5 main immortals.

I've been active in different fandoms off and on for twenty years and I barely managed to write 5,000 words about Sam Wilson across multiple different fics in the 7 years since I fell in love with him. There's an alchemy to which characters we connect with, and on top of that which characters we connect with in a way that causes us to create stuff about them. Something about Nile Freeman finally tipped me over the edge from a voracious reader to a voracious writer. It's not for me to judge which characters speak to other individuals to the level of creating content about them, but I do think it's important for us to notice, and then work to fight, the pattern where across this fandom as a whole Nile gets way less content, and way less depth in so much of the content that's in theory about her, than any of these other characters.

Anyway, back to language. My two long fics feature Nile with several Black friends — Copley and OCs and cameos from other media — but all of those characters except Alec Hardison from Leverage aren't American. It's very possible I'm guilty of stereotyping Black British speech patterns in I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore. I watched hours and hours of Black haircare YouTube videos in the research for that fic and I modeled my OCs' speech patterns on what I heard from some of those YouTubers as well as what I've heard people like John Boyega and Idris Elba saying in interviews, but the thing about doing your best is you still might fuck up.

I'm slowly making progress on my WIP where Nile and Sam Wilson are cousins, and what ways of talking with a family member might be authentic for Nile is a major question I need to figure out. For that, I'm largely modeling my writing choices on how I hear my Black friends and colleagues talking to each other. I haven't overheard colleagues talking in an office in a long-ass time, but back when that was a thing, I remember seeing a ton of nuance in the different ways many of my Black colleagues would talk to each other. Different people have different personalities! And backgrounds! And priorities! A few jobs ago my department was about 1/3 Black and we worked closely with Obama administration staff many of whom were Black and there was SO MUCH VARIETY in how Black people talked to each other, about work and workplace-appropriate personal stuff, where I and other white coworkers could hear. There are a few work friends in particular who I have in my head when I'm trying to imagine how Sam and Nile might talk to each other. From the outside looking in, God DAMN is shit complicated, intellectually and interpersonally and spiritually, for Black people who are devoting their professional lives to public service in the United States.

One more aspect of this that I have big thoughts on but I need to take extra care in talking about is the idea of acknowledging Nile's Blackness in her patterns of speech. There's no one right way to be Black, and Nile's a fictional character created by a white dude but there are plenty of real-life Black Americans who don't use much or even any AAVE, for reasons that are complicated because of white supremacy. (Highly highly recommend this video by Shanspeare on the harms of the Oreo stereotype.)

Something that's not the same but has enough similarity that I think it's worth talking about is my personal experience with authenticity and American Jewish speech patterns. My Jewish family members don't talk like they're in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I've known lots of people who do talk that way (or the millennial version of it), some of whom have questioned my Jewishness because I don't talk that way. That hurts me. Sometimes when another Jew tells me some shit like "I've never heard a Jew say y'all'd've," I can respond with "well now you have asshole, bless your Yankee-ass heart," because the myth of Dixie is a racist lie but I will totally call white Northerners Yankees when they're being shitty to me for being Southern, and this particular Jew fucking revels in using "bless your heart" with maximum polite aggression, especially with said Yankees. But sometimes I don't have it in me to say anything and it just quietly hurts having an important part of me disbelieved by someone who shares that important part of me. The sting isn't quite the same when non-Jews disbelieve or discount my Jewishness, but that hurts too.

Who counts as authentically Jewish is a messy in-group conversation and it doesn't really make sense to explain it all here. Who counts as authentically Jewish is a matter of legal status for immigration, citizenship, and civil rights in Israel, and it's my number 2 reason after horrific treatment of Palestinians that I'm antizionist. But outside that extremely high-stakes legal situation, it can just feel really shitty to not be recognized as One Of Us, especially by your own people.

It can also feel really shitty to be The Only One of Your Kind in a group, even if that group is an immortal chosen family who all loves each other dearly. Sometimes especially in a situation like that where you know those people love you but there are certain things they don't get about you and will never quite be able to. I'm definitely projecting at least a little bit of my "lonely Jew who will be alone again for yet another Jewish holiday" stuff onto Nile when at the end of I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore she's thinking about being the only Black immortal and moving away from the community she'd built with a mostly-Black group of mortals in that fic. Maybe that tracks, or maybe that's fucked up of me.

Basically, this got very long but it's complicated, writing about experiences that aren't your own takes skill which in turn takes time and practice to build, writing about experiences not your own that our society maligns can cause a lot of harm if done badly, it can also cause a lot of harm when a large enough portion of a fandom just decides to nope out of something that's difficult and risky because then there's just not much content about a character who deserves just a shit ton of loving and nuanced content, people are individuals and two people who come from the exact same cultural context might show that influence in all kinds of different ways, identity is complicated, language is complicated, writing is hard, and empathy and humility and doing our best aren't a guarantee of avoiding harm but they do go a long way in helping people create thoughtful content about a character as awesome and powerful and kind and messy and scared and curious and WORTHY as Nile Freeman.

#nile freeman #linguistics #TOG POC Love Fest #nileweek2021 #tog meta #tog #long post #mine #antiblackness #jewish things #hi i'm an antizionist jew no i don't really want to talk about it

[debtdeath]

look man you’d have to be wilfully stupid to label yourself as a “proshipper” in 2022 lol. the way the “discourse” about this stuff has seemingly devolved since the inception of the term and the idea that “darker themes can be explored” became co-opted by absolute ghouls who just want to be the Edgiest Person On The Internet, you’d have to be either ignorant or an absolute idiot to want to stick with the term. the well is poisoned and theres nothing you can do about it.

putting this under read more bc i wrote a lot more than i thought i would:

i personally think the real danger about like, “proship” people isnt so much the content that they indulge into, which i think can be responsibly, carefully, tactfully and usually privately thought about, and if shared at least within an appropriate context and forewarning that would then technically qualify as “harmless”.

this is where moderation and tagging is important. there is a difference between talking about/writing about upsetting or “taboo” content as part of a piece that is meant to be serious, and including upsetting content for shits and giggles or purely for jerk off material lol. unfortunately it’s pretty much impossible to stop people from doing the latter, but you can create spaces where you dont have to be confronted to that stuff when you dont want to see it. hence moderation on bespoke online spaces (discord servers, forums), and tagging and the ability to block the tags on online spaces where Everyone Is On The Same Website (twitter, tumblr, ao3, whatever). it’s not perfect, but it’s something.

anyway, i reckon the real danger is the normalisation and fetishisation (not necessarily sexual fetishism, but closer to its use in the marxist term commodity fetishism) of upsetting content, and the subsequent alienation of people who are interested in exploring these themes but have no place to really do that other than “proship” spaces that are usually unsafe, unmoderated and usually always end up being all about the cult of Just How Disturbing You Can Be. there is a ramping up here, a slippery slope that actually fucks people up long term. that’s the real harm. thats the real danger.

i am not using the term “cult” liberally here, recruitment tactics are similar in other cults like TERF groups, fascist groups, cryptocurrency schemes and conspiracy theorists. i’ve been on the internet long enough to understand how these things work, and to tie this back to the idea of moderation and tagging, truth is you’re better off knowing how and where to keep an eye on these weirdos, so when they inevitably try to infiltrate your space you recognise them and tell them to fuck off, and so when they show up on your tumblr dashboard you recognise that some Bullshit is going on and you just ignore and block them, and flag them to your peers if you want. yes, it’s a lot of effort, yes i wish it was easier, but it is what it is.

basically, an individual person shipping a problematic pairing isnt dangerous, but when there are enough people that exacerbate each other’s persecution complex and go more and more into extremes, that’s when it crosses the boundaries of “just exploring dark themes” into irresponsibly putting yourself and others in harm’s way.

i dont really talk about this stuff publicly because it’s discourse that is too far gone to bring any semblance of nuance back into it, so im like just throw it all into the trash lol. but the point is, if you label yourself as a proshipper in the year of the lord 2022 then you should really think about what it means, what it signals to others, what kind of people it attracts.

#cc.txt #so sorry i have so many thoughts about this shit

[carlpalmer]

i was tagged by @dalliscar thank you so much trice! 💖

who was your first favourite artist? either linkin park, avril lavigne or blink 182

who are your current favourite? rush, the offspring, genesis, supertramp, olp, the monkees, elton john etc etc

are you into musicals? which ones/why not? i love rocketman with my whole soul. i need to get into more of them. the other ones i've seen were tommy, lisztomania, chicago, mamma mia and high school musical. does the wall count as a musical btw

are there songs you consider so special you only listen to them very rarely? the garden by rush. i can't even touch that song without getting emotional and listening to it while i'm not paying attention feels wrong

what’s your preferred way of listening to music?  (time of day, medium, situation) all day, esp when i am on the bus/car. it has to be spotify bc all the other means are broken/do not exist anymore in this house :(

what would you say is the most niche music you listen to? our lady peace (first 4 albums era). i still haven't found a band that sounds weird in a way i love like them

what’s your favourite music related movie/tv show that’s not a musical? THE MONKEES ive been rewatching that shit and been obsessed again

albums or playlists? i cant choose playlists over albums bc thats immoral but im also addicted to making playlists abt anything and everything as well so... we have a Dilemma - nelly.mp3 (ooooh)

favourite albums? don't ask such thing. there are too many. i could stay here forever

is there an artist you’re trying to get into? probably roxy music and hall & oates. we'll see if my monkees obsession 2.0 will rly let me look further into their stuff or not

whose music do you find overhyped? l*d z*ppelin. no offense if they're your thing, they're just not for me

what’s an underrated song? nimrodel/the procession/the white rider by camel is the first one that comes to mind

what’s a thing a bunch of songs do that you love every time? same trice!! synth solos and heavy synths. there can never be enough synths. plus flute and saxophone in music are my absolute fave things

what song is better acoustic? im not into acoustic stuff, need me some background music in there. resist by rush sounds very good acoustic BUT i still like the album version better

what’s the worst song of all time? SO MANY (i have a playlist for that). here's one of them: have you ever really loved a woman? - bry*n ad*ms

do you put individual songs on repeat? if so, for how long and how often? sometimes. i have to be obsessed w the song for that tho

do you make your own playlists? if so, what’s your most entertaining playlist title? im addicted to making playlists. i have issues. some are in portuguese. i will do my best effort to translate them

me 3.0 - tokyo drift

the ghost of cringemas past

uncle car radio songs

songs to annoy giulia (i have such playlist for each member of the family, which i use as a weapon regularly)

all i want for christmas is YOUUU soulja boy tell 'em

headphones or earbuds? earbuds

do you always sing the lead vocal or do you harmonize sometimes? if you harmonize, do you ever invent your own harmony? i do both, it depends on which part of the song i find most interesting. i only do my own as mockery

a musical confession: i find myself liking more and more dad synth pop/rock music as i get older, songs i hated when i was a kid. why is this a social phenomenon? are we all doomed to become phil collins dads?

tagging (sorry to bother, i haven't tagged anyone in a really long time and thought i should be fair this time): @mikerutherford @shirleywatts @musicacuantica @eddie-rifff @bonytanks @thenineofus @camilabarbara @blankiyah @werewolves @the-supernatural-atheist @club-america @hadescavedish @progrockhuntress @pianonoita

[fitzefitcher]

faction conflict soapbox, pt. 1

okay so it seems like for the most part, there are a couple consistent schools of thought here:

school 1: I'm tired of the Horde being the Bad Guy 24/7

school 2: I'm tired of faction conflict, in general

school 3: Really Deeply wish that the Alliance's crimes would actually be Addressed, At All

school 4: Nuanced Wild Card:tm: opinions that I'll have to tackle individually lmao

so let's get started, obviously this is going to be a long-ass post, so I'm going to preemptively break up my answers to these into separate posts, for readability and also for my own sanity lmao. this will be under my essay tag but also the tag faction conflict soapbox, for blacklisting reasons.

school 1: I'm Tired of the Horde being the Bad Guy 24/7

@lokaror: i dont tend to have much of it these days. But i hate the "Horde is always the bad guy" stuff. When faction war happens its rarely with too much nuance on either side. The group that is primarily outcasts banding together seemingly always having the bad apples chafes too. But i also see from alliance side that it can be just as raw the other way.

The alliance sprang up out of need to for mutual defense, and the horde is the horde because they also need mutual aid and defence. We can't really put too much real world ideals to either, but at its core its always a tinder that can be lit. No way around that.

@chryseis: Long time blood elf player! I still love the horde (even though most of my favourite lore characters are alliance lol) because it feels like more of a community than the alliance with their high king. However I'm getting super sick of the horde always being the bad guy, and the fact that blizz has used the same evil warchief plot twice! Having said that, some of my worst/funniest online interactions have been with men on twitter who play alliance and genuinely (1/2)

Believe that anyone who plays horde is a terrible war criminal and not someone playing a computer game lmao (2/2)

@arkhamarchitecture​:  Feels a lot like Blizzard can't resist making the Horde the villains and even when the Alliance does wrong, it gets written off and excused, like they're not allowed to be the bad guys. Which in turn makes a lot of Alliance players treat the Horde like Blizzard is biased in our favor just because the story is always about us? Even though the story is about our side apparently being full of godawful people? It's really infuriating.

I think a core issue w this is the way that the game often presents the Horde and its various characters without the same empathy that it gives to its Alliance characters (note I said "empathy" and not "nuance" or "character development," we'll get back to that later), so it's not that horde people are incapable of inspiring empathy or aren't empathetic themselves, clearly they are and have evoked that reaction enough from players to arrive at this conclusion, it's that the same sort of steps taken with portraying alliance characters aren't taken with horde characters. like, I've already covered this a bit in my sylvanas essay, but like, we're not really given any opportunity to understand what's going on inside her head, so the actions she takes feel nonsensical, unecessary, or even needlessly cruel, and seemingly as players interacting with this game we have to make a lot of extra effort in order to even attempt to understand it. like, example, the "before the storm" novel portrays her as this horrible, conniving, manipulative Evil Dictator, for not wanting to share vital information about azerite with a faction whose leader has effectively done nothing to curb the warmongering tendencies of its other leaders, when in fact, it's very understandable why she wouldn't wanna do this. But again, the author (Christie Golden, bc of course it is) very explicitly portrays her as Bad Bad Evil Zombie Lady for Daring to think that they can't trust the same faction that seems to take issue with the mere concept of the horde having the Audacity of thinking they Deserve to Live lmao. Like, clearly this is Happening, but's never talked about or formally addressed.

likewise, with Garrosh, our other Bad Bad Evil Dictator Warchief, despite all the weird, wretched, horrible shit he was doing, it unfortunately makes a really terrible kind of sense if examined further.

why did he turn away from the horde leaders? because they had all uniformly rejected him from the getgo. cairne said he'd never accept him, vol'jin said he'd kill him, sylvanas made it clear she would never respect his authority. all before he'd done a single solitary thing as warchief.

why did he turn to war so quickly and so strongly? because nothing else was working. thrall's horde had tried diplomacy for years, and it amounted to nothing, because no matter what he did, no matter how far the horde ran from the eastern kingdoms, the alliances wouldn't stop chasing them and trying to kill them. the alliance would never see them as actual people, they'd only ever see them as twisted monsters and bloodthirsty, mindless beasts.

why did he turn to such violent, inhumane methods? bc the entirety of his first real brush with warfare was in northrend, against the scourge, an enemy that will keep getting up again and again and again until they're utterly annihilated. and before that, all his experiences with conflict were with demons, who were similarly impossible to kill.

like, obviously none of these reasons make it okay for him to do what he had done. just because something is understandable, doesn't mean it's acceptable. but it's never portrayed as understandable. it's never addressed, at all. there is no nuance attached to any of his actions- it is only ever portrayed as Evil, as Manipulative and Conniving and Violent and Warmongering, even though there is a whole slew of reasons for how and why we got here. there is no emotionality, there is only cruelty.

edit: whoops, forgot a relevant ask. added now.

#warcraft #faction conflict soapbox #essay tag

[sapphosclown]

hsmtmts 208 spoilers !!

y’all wanted to hear my unpopular opinions ab this episode so here’s all of my opinions ab it

ej and red absolutely bodied gaston

i don’t like the way nini dismisses ricky when he’s trying to talk to her, i’m not even a ricky stan it’s just kinda rude and feels like she doesn’t want to be in this relationship

ricky deleting the thing from her phone feels like the writers just don’t know how to write plots for the ships

on that note i realized it does kinda show how ej and ricky both tampered with nini’s phone but the fact that ricky told her about it and apologized and accepted she has the right to be upset with him shows how different those dynamics are

i love ej’s duke storyline

miss jen’s plots always bore me a little bit but i love mr. mazzara so it’s fine

also pissed we never saw the mini seblos tension get it’s closure

there’s a very specific plot point i don’t like but i’m gonna wait to address it until the end

red being happy working in the service industry makes me so happy for some reason

he seems so at peace w it and also the pizza shop is a family business and it’s kinda fun seeing the character actually want to take over the family business

kourtneys mom <3

“you know who i am” “i know who *I* am” i love that

RICKY AND NINIS FIGHT AT THE PIZZA SHOP IS SO FUNNY

“my career aptitude test showed i have no profitable skills” that shouldn’t have hit so hard

nini looks so done w him

the fact that ricky thought nini came back just for him shows how bad they are at talking

THE GIRLS ARE FIGGHHTTTINNNG

i appreciate ashlyns effort but i appreciate red being honest w her and just being like i like where i’m headed

“i spent 6 minutes as an actual coffee bean” queen

gina knitting is so cute i adore her and also her hair is so pretty she’s so pretty

ej and gina stop scooting closer to each other challenge

sofia wylie is so cute

ej really doesn’t like himself :/

weird for them to bring in a new set but it’s cute in theory

i think it’s weirder how ricky and nini are acting like there’s nothing wrong

them growing up together but not knowing each other anymore is kinda heartbreaking ngl

this is the best rini scene in the whole show idc

“i don’t like who i’m becoming, chasing you down all the time” “i don’t like running away” damn

“it’s ok. you know i got you” shut up why was that so soft i don’t even care ab them like that

rip dog tag

respectfully why is nini sobbing and ricky is just like 😐

howie has a nice voice but i kinda zoned out his voice

ricky crying in reds arms is something that can actually be so personal

i absolutely love ricky crying while red hugs him idk why but that’s just so sweet like besties

EJ TELLING HIS DAD HES NO GOING TO DUKE YES

ejs dad is scary as fuck

✨ unpopular opinion time ✨

i don’t like that all the subplots are about relationships. i don’t like that all the characters are in relationships it feels like they’re trying to pair everyone up but like they don’t need to

i know this is gonna contradict that but it’s frustrating that we spent all of season 1 watching rini get together just to watch them fall apart all of season 2 and break up again

although i understand why like i’m happy they’re both gonna learn how to be individual people but like that means no relationships for anyone

ok the big one. i really don’t like romantic caswell. i really don’t like it it’s so uncomfy

i personally find it weird that it’s a senior and sophomore but more than that i’m so afraid they’re gonna have them kiss and sofia wylie is 17, matt cornett is 22. that’s bad. it was bad when they had nini and ej kiss and i don’t wanna see it again

but also i just don’t see their relationship as romantic i would have much rather seen them just be besties bc i think their scenes are really sweet but i don’t like it romantically idk

i feel like there’s too much of the plot revolving around romantic relationships and i feel like that’s just kinda boring and lazy writing but idk there’s a lot of things ab the show i wish we different

but in general i did enjoy this episode

i’m excited for the next one purely bc we get to see asher and sofia acting together again 🥳🥳🥳🥳

#this is just my rewatch reactions lol #i don’t like p*rtwell #they are simply buds #hsmtmts #hsmtmts s2 spoilers

[duketectivecomics]

What's your opinion on fans writing Duke with his cousin Jay as his guardian instead of Bruce? I've seen some people talk about not wanting to separate him from his family and preferring to have him raised by his cousin, but it also feels like some people might use that as an excuse to leave him out of the batfam

this got slightly long & esp ranty at the end for my tastes so tl;dr - ive talked guardianship before & stand by that fans can Do What they Want. but fans who exclude Duke from the main batfam can die by my sword </3

so yeah, I’ve talked abt Duke’s guardianship before and I’ll reiterate: while Cousin Jay most recently has custody of Duke, that doesn’t negate the fact that Duke WAS under Bruce’s care for a time. So whether fans choose to follow what’s most recently given by canon or opt to leave him in Wayne Manor, I will not begrudge either of those decisions. DC themselves hasn’t elaborated recently on what the case is (although I wouldn’t be surprised if they soft-retconned Cousin Jay’s role out, by virtue of [whatever current writer] simply forgetting what’s been established), so fandom Can and Will Do What They Want in that regard.

Duke is shown at the end of Batman & the Signal to be regularly visiting his parents. I love the idea of Duke keeping up with his former family members & with the batfam in equal parts & of fics exploring how he balances time btwn all of them. Family has always been a BIG thing for duke!!! And having that family expanded just makes it all the more important now! That’s what I’d LOVE to see from fic authors!

However, if Duke being in Jay’s custody IS being used as a (piss-poor) excuse to leave him out of the batfam-proper or relegate him to an auxiliary role, especially when modern comics place him as ANYWHERE but that. That’s where I’m gonna start throwing hands, lmao

Duke is a Main batfam member at this point. Don’t erase the fact that he HAS been directly taken under Bruce’s (proverbial) wing!!! Don’t erase the fact that the other batkids consider him a sibling!!! If a fan is leaving Duke out of their batfam content at this point, but including every OTHER batkid, its a BAD look and tbh I want nothing to do with them!!!

Tim’s dad was alive for most of his Robin run! Was he ever excluded from the narrative because of that? Babs’ dad is Much more famously alive, and, OH YEAH, she ends up getting included with damn near as much frequency as the Usual Four Boys. Steph wasn’t ever even directly adopted by Bruce, and yet we all agree that she’s DEFINITELY a main batkid now. So there’s no way anyone will ever convince me that Duke isn’t a Main Batkid unless they’re willing to start excluding all of these guys too. (but then again, some ppl just Do Exactly That Anyways bc they only care abt The Four BatBoys™ so...)

Whether its fic or art or WHAT have you, at this point there just... doesn’t feel like there’s much excuse. Duke’s been a legal part of this family since 2016. The greater part of the fandom is at least Casually Aware of him. Theres more and more blogs like mine trying to raise awareness for him and to give yall resources about him where we can. Use them!!! ask questions!!! explore these blogs and these tags!!! and for gods sake INCLUDE DUKE IN YOUR BATFAM CONTENT.

and if you’re afraid of fucking him up like, licherally just read about him fjdlkas; he’s one of the QUICKEST batkids to read for!!!!! and i should know!!!! I’m also actively trying to read for everyone else too!!! (not to toot my own horn but i’m about to start my 90s batfam reading actually so *TOOT TOOT MOTHERFUCKERS*)

like god, i don’t think its asking MUCH asking COMICS fans to READ COMICS lmao. like rco is a resource! overdrive is a resource! trades exist bc buying individual issues CAN get expensive! hell ive been reading mostly using the DCU app bc it HAS been more cost effective than trying to outright buy trades & its easier to navigate than rco! (& i dont have to worry abt pop-ups too!!! which is really nice!)

there’s LOTS of ways to get to know a character and the excuses at this point are either due to laziness &/or racism and either way its a Bad Look. Make An Effort @ batfamdom. he’s one extra boy to read for and he’s one of the FASTER & EASIER ones that you can get into! BECAUSE he’s so new! god just give him a SHOT least holy shit!!!!!!

#duke thomas #asked and answered #anonymous asks #randywrites #today on: Randy Got Big Mad lmao #rco is short hand for read comics online BTW #hashtag use rco like the rest of us #anyways yeah. i started getting HEATED abt this. just!!!!! oof it is NOT that hard to read up on a character SO NEW and with SO FEW comics #(comparatively speaking ofc) #and its not that hard!!! ive been reading for only a few years now and FOR REAL. duke was one of the EASIER characters for me to read for!!! #like the only reason im not making MORE content for him is BC im trying to curate it and bc i write mostly wlw stories so fjdklas;f;adk #im gonna remedy that soon. i should edit that duke n cass snippet ive been working on #i should work on that oracle corps idea that me n someone came up with ahh #just!!!!! respect duke thomas or perish!!!!!!!

[knicks-knacks]

wait a min who 👀 is Wistoria 👀👀 (i am wondering :)

HGFDSJGJ I love that writing that tag I was like "Krch is gonna ask about them" fdjgkhdfjk that's perfect im going to hug you

So!!! Wist!!! She's my Forsaken OC bc I just really love the deaders and think zombies are cool and think that there is a lot to be done with like... lore bits of the forsaken and you know how much I love my lore bits.

The most concise way I can describe her is she's a Forsaken fashion designer and skin stitcher/bone-engraver who specializes in designing fancy clothes that shows off the exposed or rotting bits of the Forsaken, in an effort to kind of help the people who feel dysphoric about their not-quite-dead bodies and to show people that they can embrace those things they deem "ugly" and make them beautiful, rather than hide them away in shame. However, she wasn't always so willing to embrace it herself.

More on that in the less concise story under the cut lol it got long on accident

(heads up: this characters pronouns are she/they and I use them super interchangeably throughout this. also sorry this took so long to type i got distracted and also wanted to try and cover it the best I could!)

tw for: the typical mentions of bones and missing body parts/rotting flesh typical for forsaken in WoW though nothing too graphic. and also death but her being a zombie that's a given

So, Wistoria herself, before she passed, she was a well-known seamstress in Lordaeron! Born into a noble family (though not high, her parents were only lord/lady), and growing up seeing all the pretty clothes, they pretty quickly learned they wanted to focus themself on that, and their parents supported them in that. After training under a mentor since youth she ended up getting REAL damn good at making clothes - both simple and elaborate. Eventually became the favored tailor to a lot of the nobility. It kind of helped her family climb the political ladder, making dresses and suits for the baroness and the marquis etc. She also loved dressing up herself!

She's a very kind and patient individual, always excited to hear about a client's day or what's going on in their life, though she's quite reserved about herself. They're kind of... quietly charming if that makes sense. Not charming in a way that Flynn Fairwind is, but more in an Anduin-type way? Not the type you'd take for a night out at the bar, more the type you'd have a long personal conversation with over warm tea in a dimly lit coffee shop. Comforting. Fitting sessions are almost like low-key therapy sessions because she feels rather cozy and easy to talk to about troubles - though they're not a therapist lol.

Also a tidbit that I just think is cute - she's taken some training in being a mage! It helps her with her sewing and they are a mage in game so I thought it fit perfect lol

anyways she gets murdered by the scourge and raised again and gets saved by Sylvanas etc etc etc

Due to the way that their corpse rotted, they lost the flesh of their lower jaw, and their chest, leaving her jaw and ribcage exposed.

At first, she was rather horrified by her appearance - as most forsaken are. It scared them to not look like... themself. And even surrounded by other forsaken whose bodies were just as bad off as hers if not worse, she still felt rather uncomfortable with those exposed bones. They typically wore a veil or a poncho to cover themself up as best as they could.

She continued making clothes. Threw themself into the cause to help the newly formed Forsaken. Salvaged cloths from graves to try and make wearable stuff. Helped sew up other forsaken at times, if it was urgent. But mostly helped in making clothes (and sometimes armor) for the people when they needed it.

Then, after the scourge was defeated and they made their new home in Undercity, and things started to shift into a New Normal, they gradually started going back to their roots a bit. Fancier, more dressy clothes. She also frequently ended up making adjustments to clothes she made in the past that old clients managed to salvage - what once fit perfect now didn't, due to lost limbs and lost muscle/fat. And of course, she was happy to restore those old clothes for the client, whatever she could do to help, but those were sometimes a rough job. It kind of brought a bunch of negative thoughts to the forefront when they did them. Their old life was gone and nothing would be the same, their body is no longer the same. Perhaps these clients come to her for alterations on old living clothes because they can't let go of the fact that they're no longer living. That sort of thing. Makes her deeply sad both for the whole of the Forsaken and for herself.

That changes though, as I said.

Soon after they had been saved by Sylvanas, they met Leila - a blood elf. They grew close, then closer, and you could Tell there was a fuck ton of romantic tension there from the start. Over time, Leila kind of helped Wistoria get their confidence back - because if she could love them, they could love themself too. She was still reserved about the way she looked, and still hid it all the time, but then there was a moment that kind of opened her eyes.

So uh, Leila and Wistoria had been out picking flowers that they planned to preserve and use in a dress. While out, Wist managed to slip and fall into a mud puddle and so had to change, but something about That Day she was particularly uncomfortable with her body. They turned away from Leila, and Leila pointed out to them that they didn't have to do that around her - she'd seen it all before anyway. And Wistoria commented how they didn't want to disgust her or anything. Leila frowned at her for a moment and then asks Wistoria to turn to her because she wants to do something. Wist hesitates a moment but from Leila's tone of voice, she knew that it was okay to let her see. Then Leila took some thread, and the flowers they'd just picked together, and - with permission - began tying and weaving them into and through Wistorias ribs. She filled their whole chest cavity meticulously with leaves and flowers and thread. She carefully tied a snapdragon upside down on their sternum. Then, she rummaged for a while through Wistorias fancy clothes, found a jacket, found a skirt, helped Wist get dressed.

Then, when she was finished, she turned Wistoria around and had them look in a mirror. No veil, no cover, just their body and how beautiful it was. Wistoria, of course, ends up crying, because it had just been so LONG since she dressed herself up. She hadn't been able to look at herself naked for longer than a second since she was raised, but now she couldn't stop taking it in, and how pretty it was, and how inspiring.

Leila and her have a long talk, after that, about loving herself and seeing that she didn't need to look like her living self to be beautiful. That her body wasn't this disgusting or uncomfortable thing that she needed to hide or be ashamed of, even with the missing parts.

After this, they still take time to regain their confidence, of course. But with support from Leila (and a lot of my other ocs lol) they get to the point that they love themselves again. They get their bones engraved, and they end up loving it so much that they take it up themself. She dabbles into decorative stitching on skin, something she had shied away from at first. Her clothes start reflecting her comfort, she stops wearing the veil and the cover, wears jackets with no shirt. Until eventually they're designing dresses that are cut specifically to showcase her missing parts. Like a boob window but with no boob, just skeleton!

Eventually, she becomes known for being the best person to come to when trying to get dress clothes that cater to specific missing bits. She makes capes with slits down the middle to expose the spine sticking out. They make one leg on a pantsuit sheer to see the bone. She makes gloves that hook onto the radius and ulna.

She's also a good person to go to if you want some flowers engraved on your bones. :)

Overall she's just. They struggled a lot with being raised but ended up being so proud of the Forsaken and what they've been through, and they end up just being. A real positive force to them bc I've always seen clothes and appearance really important to someone's self-image, at least to me. She wants others to feel as good in their skin, what little they have of it, like she finally does. And it took them a while to get there but they got there and I'm so proud of her 😭🥺🙌

#warcraft #wow ocs #cheezis #uhhhh there was more i wanted to write but I'm taking too long w this lol #also its almost midnight #anyways moral of the story is please give me soft forsaken i need them #sorry if this is? incoherent or confusing #or ends abruptly dfjkghjk IDK MAN!!! #thank u for askin abt my many ocs buddy ily and i appreciate it #🥺💖👌✨🥰🥰😭 #also i just realized other than what parts are missing i did NOT describe what they look like at all lmfao #she was tall and skinny even before dying #her hair is a deep dark purple (most of the time) and her skins a light grey-blue color #and she's got light yellow eyes! #i also wanna note that wistoria is 100% the character im recycling into my original world dcddvg #though with a wildly different personality #she's just... so pretty.... #its cut into any asymmetrical bob

[phoebehalliwell]

hi! first off i love your next gen fic and i'm OBSESSED with it! i was wondering if you could talk more about wyatt, chris, and melinda as characters and their relationships with each other? thanks!!

aaaa tysm! & i’d love to talk about wyatt chris & melinda bc i feel like that’s one of the most hmm what am i trying to say here it’s like we know chris and then we mostly know wyatt and we can infer how they interact together but then we know nothing about melinda in canon and how this third puzzle piece fits in to the rest of the equation and just sorta what they’re all like i also really like writing wyatt chris and melinda just bc they’re sorta like the most spread out i think they’re sorta the most “normal” pair of siblings like they’re scattered across northern california doing their own thing and they only interact with each other mostly a normal sibling amount as opposed to the cupitches who all live together and attend high school together and do basically everything together and the mitchell clan which has a psychic link between the twins and also henry and tam still live at home so like i feel like with wyatt chris melinda there’s sort of the most room for like. a subtler sibling relationship. like you don’t need to know all the details and the ins and outs the way you would with like phoebe’s kids because while phoebe’s kids are very much like a power of three wyatt chris and melinda are more of just three of their own people like if they discover some villain odds are they’ll do it themselves or with their own little team as opposed to about any other member of the family who, if they find evil, will almost immediately drag their siblings in. i also think wyatt chris and melinda is the sibling dynamic most rooted in like my own personal experiences bc like. idk it just is.

but let’s talk! so i’ve talked before about w/c/m and magic and wyatt & melinda’s relationships with piper and i think that’s just sorta a good jumping off point on how i view these characters bc like i know we know chris the most but it’s also p obvious that he’s the black sheep of the family so his personality doesn’t really work as a baseline for a child of piper and leo so instead i used my little noggin to think like hmm what do we know about piper and leo and what can we infer about how they raised their kids and we know that like they’re domestic like they’re such softies they’re such saps so like family dinners? big thing. i think that they would always make a conscious effort to like eat dinner together as a family every night, but then during that era when piper was just opening her restaurant (which by the way: let’s talk. formal? casual? california cuisine? italian? white glove? three dollar signs on google? do u need a reservation? What Is The Vibe. also the name halliwells. thots? i think that’s only a good restaurant name if it’s a hella kicked back place i think if it’s trying to be formal the name should be different feel free 2 share ur opinions.) like she’s working through y’know dinner bc that’s how restaurants work so she couldn’t really be home for family dinners so family breakfasts sorta became the new thing and since piper was always like bone tired the next morning it would be leo trying to make breakfast and then wyatt and chris would try to take up the mantle and then finally melinda when she was old enough and she was like the only one who was actually really good at it. i also think holidays are really big for the halliwells namely thanksgiving i have a personal headcanon that piper hosts this really big thanksgiving feast at magic school bc y'know it's like her family's p ingrained into magic school as a whole already it's implied in canon that leo teaches there i personally headcanon one of paige's jobs as finding witches and registering them at magic school, and helping with accommodations like there are dorms at magic school and all that especially bc uh the rate of orphan students is really much higher there than the average so like they really wanna make everyone there feel like family so like piper preps all this food at her restaurant and melinda helps with the cooking and wyatt gets really in to like decorating the main hall and all that chris not so much and he'll like grumble but he still tags along and helps out bc it's just like. fun to spend time with his family and all that thanksgiving is like arguably bigger than christmas in the halliwell household so basically what im getting at is there's this string communal bond there's this solid feeling of love and family that just definitely permeates thier lives like wyatt chris and melinda definitely have that sibling bind that gives them a strong power of three

but now that i've given two thicc paragraphs of preamble now ig it's time to actually talk about the sibling dynamic chris is the middle child which usually implies the role of the peacekeeper but we all know chris and we all know that's not happening he's definitely the most surly if anyone's playing the role of peacekeeper it's gonna be the empath i.e. melinda but like even then she's not so much about uhh keeping the peace as she is resolving the issue y'know i think outside of the home she seems like a really passive person someone who doesn't like making waves or creating unnecessary conflict but inside the home like she's grown up with these two assholes her entire life if someone's being a dick she's gonna tell it to their face she knows her brothers and as an empath she knows when it's time to you know just treat someone kindly and support them and she knows when it's time to go howsabout u pull ur head out of ur own ass and understand that there are bigger things at play here than just u moping around. i think that without melinda chris and wyatt would have just a lot more strained of a relationship due to well y'know everything but melinda doesn't let that shit slide and will set wyatt straight just as much as she does chris bc again she's an empath and she's very whitelighter-y she gets what needs to be said and without her i think something p unhealthy would grow in the space between wyatt and chris bc they’re just so different. like wyatt has immense power and like doesn’t care about he doesn’t really like Want it whereas chris would fuckin love not to be second place he’d love not to be viewed as the weak one and without a middleman like melinda i think the two would just have like. a really fucked up relationship. that and like melinda’s like an empath so you really don’t get to say whatever it doesn’t matter and leave an argument bc melinda’s already got a reading on you she can tell just how much you do care and she will try to resolve this on ur behalf w/o u there so if u want to prevent the misconstruing of words or the revealing of something too personal u gotta stay and u gotta work things out til there’s no bad blood.

i don’t think either one pair is closer than the others i think each sibling goes to another for very specific things like how you wouldn’t go to chris for advice on how to ask out ur crush just like you wouldn’t go to melinda for advice on how to sneak into the underworld w/o dad knowing i think the three of them all really have a symbiotic relationship where there’s not just one who falls behind or slips through the cracks. that being said, unlike with any other pairs of siblings (t/k/h and p/p/p) i don’t think any of their social circles overlap. like melinda’s friends and wyatt’s friends and chris’s friends are all three circles that do not touch. and i think that it honestly sorta helps their sibling dynamic bc it’s very much siblings in small doses; i think if they had constant exposure to one another their dynamic would not be what it is. oh also i think when they all hang out together their idiot quotient goes up like 250% like individually they’re all like small and detail oriented and what not and for some reason when they all hang out together they’re just fuckin stoopid

#charmed #charmed next generation #wyatt halliwell #chris halliwell #melinda halliwell #next gen #💌

[twit-moonstar]

Up for a long time - Brian May x Reader

A/N: This was for a hosted Valentine’s day secret santa but I couldn’t finished it in time bc life. I am really sorry I’m posting this so late

Please consider reblogging and commenting what do you think about the fic

Warnings: none (just a note: this is situated on 1977/1978)

Words: 2K+

Summary: Y/N was invited by Brian May to accompany him during the Sheer Heart Attack tour and as its ending gets closer, she expresses her sadness over having to say him goodbye soon, unless… maybe she doesn’t have to.

 A blissful sigh left Brian’s lips as you cuddle against his side, his long fingers petting your hair lazily. 

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could stay here forever, just the two of us? I’m gonna miss this,” you say with melancholy, as if you parting ways was a matter of fact—because, well, it was. What were the chances that he would want to keep seeing you? He was a guitarist in a rising band that was getting more and more famous. You were beginning to feel sad at the thought of missing him even if you were still by his side. It was strange to you how at ease he makes you feel even though you meet barely two months ago. It’s not an everyday occurrence that a cute musician invites you to come along on tour with his band to America but you weren’t stupid enough to miss on this chance. Besides, he had a certain charm that you couldn’t quite put your finger on, like he wasn’t even trying. Just like that, he could smile, and you would do anything he asked. A few minutes passed, in which he didn’t replied, and you started to think about what you had said. Did you cross a line there? Was that inappropriate? But being with him felt so right… and you were sure he felt the same way about you. Well, you were until now. Finally, he spoke. “What if you didn’t have to?” You smiled, feeling relief that he wasn’t weirded out by your comment. “What? What do you mean?” “What if - if we got married?” His words were shaky, his voice soft and quiet in the dim room. You look up at him. “Are you joking? Because, let me you tell you, it’s not funny,” you state. He shakes his head no. “I’m not.“ You get away from him, sitting up on the bed to look at him. It’s hard to describe the look on his eyes, it’s very serious but also a little dreamy, like he has his head on the clouds. And you might be the very reason why. “Really?” You say softly as if you were expecting him to laugh and declare it was indeed a joke but you know him well; he would never be so cruel. Your mother once told you that you must see a man getting happy, tired, sad and, above all, angry and stressed before you got married. She believed that if you saw him in such states, you would know if you were ready to handle sharing your life with him. Despite knowing him for so little time, you had already seen how he acted when he wasn’t feeling well and it never seemed like something that you couldn’t soothe. “Yeah,” he nodded. “Well, then,” you smiled, “ask me properly.” “Y/N Y/L/N, would to make me the honour of being my wife?” “Yes!” you exclaimed, throwing yourself to him and embracing him on a tight hug. He took your face between his hands and kissed you, smiling when you broke apart. “Well, then, we’re engaged now.”

“When– when do you want to do it, though?” You asked. You wouldn’t lie, you weren’t able to contain your excitement. You were going to get married! It felt like a dream, like you would wake up in any moment in an empty bed on the hotel. “Tomorrow maybe?” Brian suggested. “It’s my day off before we get going to the next city.” “Okay,” you accepted. “While you’re at rehearsal, I’ll make sure we have what we need to do it.” He kissed you again. “Alright but first, let’s get breakfast.”

Standing in front of a little mirror on the reception, you check your lipstick, even though Brian said he wouldn’t pay for any photographs here—both of you were afraid they would be leaked and all over the magazines. Despite all the paparazzi constantly following the band, Brian had done his best effort to protect your privacy as much as he could and you weren’t quite ready to give up your anonymity just yet. Besides, you were aware that a secret wedding with a woman Brian met just three months ago wouldn’t do wonders for his reputation. A pair of hands sneaked up on your waist, hugging you softly. “Are you ready?” He whispered on your ear. You turned around, your arms surrounding his neck. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” you assure him and his lips curve up into a smile. A blonde woman came up to you—her name was Marie, according to the tag on her blazer— and cleared her throat. “Excuse me, the venue is ready. Follow me, please,” she said and started walking you guide you. She opened the door and a wedding march started to sound as you entered the room and walked towards the altar, Brian holding your hand the entire time. The Victorian Venue was beautiful, so beautiful you almost regretted eloping—though both Roger and Freddie weren’t at the hotel and Deacy and Veronica were with their kids—. It was a large room, simply decorated with cascading silk drapes and a pair of pillars with candelabras as the wedding altar. It was all very white, and you were glad you had chosen to wear a light blue dress that contrasted with the room. The officiant, a middle aged men, looked as you stand in front of each other. Brian had a smile plastered across his face, reaching his hazel eyes and illuminating his beautiful features. “Brian May and Y/N Y/L/N, today you enter as individuals, but you will leave here as husband and wife, blending your lives, expanding your family ties, and embarking upon the grandest adventure of human interaction,” the officiant said. “Brian and Y/N, remember to treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Take responsibility for making the other feel safe and give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. Please, repeat after me–” “Actually, I’d like to have the word,” you interrupt him, shyly, and Brian looks at you with surprise. You hadn’t discussed having your own vows and he clearly didn’t expected it but you had been thinking about them since last night. “Of course.” “I - I know that for anyone outside us this will look rushed after only a few weeks but in that time you have made me the happiest I’ve ever been. I’ve seen you in the most intimate situations and I know I’m ready to spend my life with you. It might not be easy– but nothing every really is and I’m ready to whatever is coming at us.” Brian’s smile and eyes were warm, full of fondness. His hands squeezed yours briefly, a silent ‘I love you.’ “Y/N, meeting you wasn’t on my plans. I’d have never guessed that I’d fall so hard, so fast for you but your sweet ways, your genuine excitement for life and new experiences, your energy and the passion you put on everything you do made me feel like a fifteen years old boy falling in love for the first time. I am enchanted by you, and I’m so happy I get the chance to try to make you as happy as you make me.” You feel your smile getting bigger, so wide it almost hurted but you didn’t cared. It was a nice kind of pain, it meant you couldn’t contain the happiness you were feeling inside you and for a moment you thought about how you wanted to proclaim to the entire world that you were married to the lofe of your life. You squeezed his hands for a second. You both let go of your hands to get the rings. His was one he already had but rarely used and yours was one you had bought on a market on one of your solo adventures exploring the city while he was working. They weren’t permanent rings; “I promise I’ll get you a proper ring once we’re on London again,” he had said, and you assured him you were okay with these as of now. Despite the band’s success, you knew he wasn’t really getting much money and didn’t care he didn’t buy an expensive ring. “Brian May, please repeat after me as you place the ring on Y/N Y/L’s ring. With this ring, I thee wed and pledge you my love, now and forever.” “With this ring, I thee wed and pledge you my love, now and forever,” he recited softly as he put the ring on you finger. After you repeat it, you both sign the marriage certificate and the officiant finally says the words that linked your lives for the rest of it. “By the authority vested in my by the State of San Francisco, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!” Brian did as told, reaching down to kiss you softly, taking his time to show you how much he loved you on his gentle movements. “I love you, Mrs. May,,” he said once you broke apart. You giggle. “I love you too, Mr May.”

“Honey, I’m home!” Brian exclaimed, and you hear the closing door. You smile as he enters the room and leaves the box with Chinese food on the little table in front of the couch. You sit properly and take a look at what he brought. “My hero! I was starving,” you say and he smiles. After a week of living on Brian’s apartment using his clothes, you had finally gotten around to your old apartment and got your stuff. It was mostly books, clothes and some decorative ornaments; you didn’t have any furniture except for your bookshelf—and a mattress that you had already sold. Brian was helping you to put everything in place, but you were hungry and send him to get food—your treat. “They didn’t have fried rice, but I brought you Chow Mei,” he says, opening the box for you to see. The smell is delicious, and your stomach seems to rush you to eat when it growls. “That’s fine,” you say and take your noodles. “Do you need help?” Brian chuckles as you struggle with the chopsticks. You pout and nod. He takes his own stick. “The trick is to just move the top stick, the other has to stay still,” Brian shows you as he takes a piece of tofu with ease. You imitate him ans after a few tries, you finally succeed. “It’s way more difficult when you’re eating noodles,” you say before Brian’s amused gaze. “Do you want to try?” He asks, holding a piece of his tofu to you. You lean, doubtful, and take a bite. It tastes spicy and hot, so you swallow it and drink a little soda. “What does it have?” “Lots of pepper,” he replies. “It’s good, but I wouldn’t eat too much,” you say honestly and he smiles as he eats. “It’s an acquired taste, I guess.” “I want to go back to college,” you comment after a while and he smiles at you, interested. “To study Law again?” “No, that’s… that’s what my parents pushed me to do. I’ll like to study something related to Theatre, maybe. I don’t know, but I need to do something. I don’t like just being lying around,” you say softly. The week living with Brian, having no responsibilities was nice but you needed to do something. Besides, you wouldn’t let Brian pay for all the bills. You were a team now, and you needed (and wanted) to do your part. “I was also thinking maybe I could give some piano or bass lessons, to get some money,” “That’s a great idea,” he nods with a smile and you can’t help but smile too. “I can help you with some posters to promote your classes.” “That would be very nice,” you reply, leaning towards him and giving him a quick peck on the lips. “Hey, I have a surprise for you!” Brian suddenly says and gets up quickly, walking into the room and coming back after finding whatever he was looking for. He sits next to you and takes your hand, looking briefly at the ring you used to get married before looking at you. “Remember when we stayed at my parents’ house for the weekend?” You smile. “Of course I do. I was nervous as hell the whole drive. And during dinner. Basically all three days.” “Well, you had nothing to worry about because my mother loved you and actually gave me this for you.” He shows you a ring. It was made from gold and had one single tiny round diamond. Your mouth hangs open as Brian takes off your old ring and puts the golden on your finger. “Do you like it?” He sounds anxious as you simply stare at the ring and the way it shines beautifully with the natural light coming from the windows. “It’s beautiful,” you say, moving your hand so the light reflects off the ring. You finally look at him. “Did you say your mother gave you this?” He nods. “I can’t accept this,” you say, starting to take it off but he takes your hands to stop you. “Why not?” “Because it’s real, Bri! This diamond is real and probably worth good money, who knows how much your parents spent on it?” “It was my grandmother’s and she isn’t… she’s dead.” “Oh.” You look at the ring. “Still, why would your mother give me this? She barely knows me.” “Because she liked you and sees why I married you,” he said, cupping your cheek with his hand and caressing your skin with his thumb. “Besides, she saw you didn’t have a ring and said it was unacceptable. This is actually an engagement one but let’s ignore that.” You smile. “Alright, I’m going to keep it as long as you love me.” “Well, get used to it because you’re up for a long time,” Brian says and brings you to his lap to give you a soft kiss.

#brian may x reader #brian may x you #brian may x y/n #brian may x female reader #brian may fanfic #brian may fanfiction

[lvllns]

20 otp questions!

i was tagged ages ago by @goblin-deity​, @lavellane​, and @rosebarsoap​ and i’m finally getting around to it lmao. i’m p sure everyone has been tagged but if you haven’t and you wanna do this, you’re tagged now.

1) who can out drink the other?: sparrow doesn’t drink so mason for sure. i feel like even if sparrow did drink, mason has the whole “vampire biology” thing going on which would still let him out drink them.

2) who says “i love you” more?: verbally, sparrow. mason definitely shows his love in other ways. (he sneaks steals books from the warehouse library for sparrow constantly.)

3) who has trouble sleeping alone?: absolutely sparrow. after everything with murphy and then the trappers and they’ve just always been prone to nightmares. they don’t sleep well ever really. and then mason stays the night for the first time and they actually get good sleep. after that, sparrow has an incredibly difficult time sleeping by themselves.

4) who swears more?: oh they are evenly matched here. sparrow is like......nobody expects them to swear like they do but holy shit, the mouth. you’d think they grew up with pirates. also, sparrow knows like a dozen languages. it’s fun to swear in welsh when nobody else knows what you’re saying. (it’s because rebecca was never home and sparrow’s tiny act of rebellion was to swear fucking constantly.)

5) who does more of the housework?: another even split. sparrow is the only one that does the dishes though, they insist on that bc there’s no reason? for mason? to wash the dishes? that’s sensory hell for most people anyway, and they’re not gonna let him deal with All That with his hypersenses.

6) who forgets their anniversary?: it’s either neither of them or both of them tbh. they either remember every single year or they’re both so fucking busy with work that it blows right by them without either of them realizing until mason looks at the calendar on his phone and goes “oh shit” and then sparrow is laughing too hard to say anything. (next year they take the day off and then that becomes a Thing.)

7) who steals the duvet in their sleep?: oh mason. poor boy is cold like all the time. sparrow just keeps buying comforters and quilts until there’s like 6 on the bed and they actually get to keep one. helps that sparrow tends to run a little warm.

8) who keeps the other awake at night with their snoring?: i don’t think either of them would snore. sparrow maaaaybe when they’re absolutely fucking exhausted, so when that happens they might keep mason up i suppose.

9) who finds stray animals and begs the other to let them keep them?: sparrow, sparrow, sparrow. they told mason, they told him that they will stop and pick up injured or missing animals, and i’m sure he thought that was adorable until sparrow walked through the door of their apartment with a fucking injured crow. sparrow hasn’t kept anything they’ve brought home though........Yet.

10) who usually makes dinner?: definitely sparrow, since they’re the only one of the pair that actually eats food. mason usually sits on the counter and they talk while sparrow cooks.

11) who plays their music out loud?: sparrow used to, but they’ve switched to headphones. they will sing out loud, usually softly under their breath while they do things, and mason finds that absolutely endearing.

12) who hogs the bathroom?: neither of them. sparrow is very much “throws hair into a braid and GOES” and mason is “fixes his hair and dips” so. like they clean up nicely, but they don’t put a whole bunch of extra effort into it.

13) who gives the most compliments?: MASON. sparrow is very easily flustered and he knows that and he’s a BASTARD who likes making them blush. sparrow compliments him too, but mason just. runs with it.

14) who usually starts/causes arguments between them?: it’s a pretty even split tbh, more sparrow. but it’s mostly from misunderstandings or sparrow saying the Wrong Thing when they meant something else. they don’t really have like, big arguments. whatever happens is easily talked through and worked out.

15) who isn’t afraid to embarrass the other in public?: fucking mason. he’ll just shoot sparrow The Look and they light up bright red immediately. he’s very careful not to overdo it though, there’s a line between just enough and too much where sparrow is genuinely upset.

16) who gives the other cringe worthy pet names?: they both give each other nicknames but sparrow is definitely the champ at throwing really just awful ones at mason. mason comes up with cute ones, like songbird.

17) who fusses over the other when they get sick?: mason, mostly bc i don’t think the vampires in wayhaven can get sick? he definitely gets protective and a little overbearing and there’s probably a small part of him that is like “hey humans are fragile and not immortal” that makes him panic More until sparrow very gently kisses his forehead and calmly explains that it’s a cold, they will be fine in 2 days.

18) who finds it impossible to stay angry at the other for long?: they don’t really get angry with each other. frustrated and annoyed, sure, but truly angry? nah. what they might think is anger is probably more likely fear, especially in their line of work when they’re running into danger headlong and sparrow impulsively Goes and does something.

19) who clings to the other for comfort when they’re sad or scared?: eventually i think sparrow. at first, they’re very used to relying on themselves and only having themselves for comfort, but at some point, that shifts. and when they get upset, they seek out mason and just lean on him.

20) who is more ‘physically passionate’? (hugs, kisses, or maybe more…): even split again! sparrow is a VERY tactile individual. they are constantly taking mason’s hand, kissing his cheek, wrapping their arms around him in a hug. and mason is.........mason. touchy and flirty.

#caiti.txt #long post #c: sparrow kingston #mason x sparrow #me eventually doing things i've been tagged in? #amazing what a concept #anyway here's some Facts about these two fucking NERDS