Tumgik
#thanks anon for giving me this opportunity
Note
Hi so I’m 15 and in a relationship for the first time so I don’t have experience with any of this stuff. My partner and I have been doing sexual stuff for a few months now I just have some questions.
First, I was wondering how we can do sexual things in a way that doesn’t bother other people in the house. Like maybe that’s a dumb question and the answer is just be quiet but idk it’s hard bc my partner is very vocal. Also there’s very few opportunities to do stuff without anyone else home so that’s not rly an option.
Also my parents have been very weird about my relationship with my partner. Making lots of odd comments such as “i wonder if they’re having sex up there” (to my brother who is a *child*) and giving me lots of looks that just kind of make me feel really bad about my relationship. I know that sex is natural but they make me feel really bad about it and I could use some advice on what to do about that
Next, my partner and I are both interested in getting in to kink but I don’t really know how to go about it. I’ve never heard of people getting into that stuff as minors and we don’t want to do anything too crazy especially since we don’t really have access to any supplies.
You’ve definitely talked about this before but could you tell me what kind of protection is best and easiest to use and obtain for f/f sex. School didn’t teach me how to use anything other than a male condom.
Thank you so much. Sorry for asking so many questions
hi anon,
your first question is going to be pretty circumstantial; I don't know what the layout of your house is like or how realistic it is to wait for privacy. the ideal if of course to wait until everyone else is either asleep or out of the house, but I recognize that the former may be difficult if not impossible for someone your age and you've already said the latter is hard to come by. using other noises, like music or TV or white noise, can be helpful, although it's unlikely to prevent your parents from speculating.
to address your second problem most directly, I'm afraid there's no much that I personally can do to rectify that. it is unfortunately very normal for parents to have an anxious, awkward, and difficult time adjusting to their children becoming sexually curious. I think the most crucial thing to remember here is that this has nothing to do with what you're doing being gross or wrong, and most everything to do with how your parents were raised to think about sex. unless they have specific concerns they want to raise with you about sexual safety, their reactions are most likely coming from a place of discomfort that they don't know how to channel appropriately. that's not a shortcoming on your part, but on the people who failed to help them develop a better way of understanding their own feelings about sex - and, yes, on them for how they're handling those feelings now.
I'm unsure exactly what you're interested in exploring, since kink covers a very broad array of activities and "supplies" could mean almost anything, but I would definitely recommend an abundance of caution in your explorations. kink is great, but that doesn't mean it's easy for for everyone. there's a reason that you seldom hear of people your age getting into kink, which is that it generally requires a great deal of practice with navigating partnered intimacy and communication - something that few teenagers have had time to develop the skills for. kink is also something that many people find works best as a communal activity, by finding others to help introduce them around and sharing experience to help safely explore their fantasies; for obvious safety reasons, few kink spaces are looking to admit 15 year olds. by all means, do your research - Evie Lupine's youtube channel is a great place to start, with a backlog of hundreds of videos covering all kinds of kink-related topics - but be careful with how you act on it, and recognize that kink comes with more potential complications and risks than "vanilla" sex that cannot be taken lightly.
if both parties have vulvas and vaginas then you can use dental dams for protection during oral sex, latex or nitrile gloves or finger cots to cover hands/fingers, and external ("male," although there's nothing inherently gendered about them) condoms for any penetrative toys (or cut them down one side to flatten them out and make the aforementioned dental dams).
please don't apologize for asking questions! questions are how you learn and stay safe :)
35 notes · View notes
no-m4gic · 1 year
Note
Love the layout of your blog- anyway, could I request a character of your choice with an S/O whos scared of the dark and or has nightmares frequently?
thank yyyoouuu anon both for the compliment and this request, it's a really cute prompt AND I CAN FINALLY WRITE FOR MY FAVORITE BOY KOREKIYO :)) honestly i was never scared of the dark is that normal lol
was deciding to do one character per game but like i'm lazy... so you guys enjoy korekiyo for now! (i love him)
this is a GN s/o btw!
~ mod sitaya
KOREKIYO W/ A S/O WHO'S SCARED OF THE DARK
Tumblr media
no because like he's literally the worse person to be around if you're scared of ghosts and the dark.
yeah he'll try to not talk about spirits and japanese legends around you at night.
he'll even flip his creepy ass paintings around or move them to a different room aww.
if you nightmares and you guys don't sleep in the same bed, you can go look for him in his room and he'll give you huggies and cuddles.
extra points for the above if it's raining heavily.
if you still can't fall asleep he'll get up just to make you hot cocoa... with marshmallows mm, lucky you i'm jealous.
he'll also make sure his hair doesn't like smack or poke you. he's more considerate than other long haired folk like izuru.
oh you need white noise? fear not, he'll just bring like a white noise machine or a fan in, whichever you prefer.
well since he doesn't want to disturb you while you're sleeping your full 8 hours, he'll turn his alarm off.
still can't sleep since you're a very light sleeper as light as a cloud? or you just wanna sleep in the day time? yeah no problem, kiyo's just gonna bring you on a late night drive in the rain.
maybe even stop by a open-24-hours convenient store to get like cup noodles or something.
kiyo likes his cup noodles alright.
once you finally start feeling sleepy, he'll tuck you in and turn the temperature colder or warmer, whichever you like, before leaving to do his own business.
so he'll stay up the entire night till early morning so you can have a good night's or i guess morning's, rest.
i found this picture while searching up danganronpa memes so enjoy kiyo, rantaro and shuichi exploring the vast lands of pocoyo's world.
Tumblr media
i found this off pinterest... if you're the artist lmk so i can credit <3
130 notes · View notes
whaliiwatching · 8 months
Note
Hey hello. Consider. Hobie reading over and suggesting edits to drafts of Peter's writing and then going home visually with clippings and quotes from said writing as a part of him. Alternately, Peter takes inspiration from quotes visible on Hobie
Tumblr media Tumblr media
heart on your sleeve…..
504 notes · View notes
buwheal · 22 days
Note
...Unfortunately, no. I don't doubt that you hear something, but we can't hear anything on our end. What does it sound like?
Tumblr media
(If you’re going to help out, it’d great to also add something to distract him :-) )
157 notes · View notes
cor-lapis · 4 months
Note
Ok so i absolutely love all your comics, they’re so funny and I love the art, but I want to specifically shout out how you draw Neuvillette. He’s so squishable. Just a guy. He always looks faintly disturbed in some way and I want to bundle him up in a blanket. 10/10.
Tumblr media
anon I genuinely didn't realise that was always the vibes I drew him with but I went back through all of the fontaine art I've done and. yeah. you nailed it. thank you so much this is such a compliment
258 notes · View notes
cloudysfluffs · 7 months
Note
I love the way you drew Sam and Max in your art style! I hope you do more tk art of them (no pressure though draw what you want)
there is nothing id rather draw for you anon!!!! i LOVE making art of these two <3333333333
Tumblr media
(dont worry, sam's got a sneaky way of escaping)
Tumblr media
(ns//fw and/or fetish blogs please dni🙏🙏)
270 notes · View notes
Note
could u do something about thalia never showing up for jason? in the end of tlh he was hoping she’d show up for the counselors meeting and she didn’t so maybe a series of him making plans with her/trying to get in touch with her and just being disappointed every time… not thalia hate i love u thalia she just is too busy for him (while doing it during the months between tlh and son could be cool i think in between boo and toa would be more angsty bc u know he’s going through a breakup!!! he’s all alone in this random private school he isn’t familiar with the mortal world and he just wants his sister but she isn’t there!!!)
Two times Jason Grace wrote Thalia a letter, and the one time he didn't send it.
author's note: Ah this is so angsty and perfecttt :( The Grace siblings deserved more…they're my faves fr.. anyway, I hope I did justice to your request anon! Thank you for requesting, it made my day! I thoroughly enjoyed writing this. I just finished my exams and I'm back to having more time for writing :) you guys can send me more angsty jason prompts like this one if you want to, I'll write them with the best of my capabilities, I'm quite new to heavy angst like this so I was surprised when I was able to finish this within an hour. Jason Grace does this to me.
TW: severe angst. I mean it, very severe, character death, mentions of sacrifice, no happy ending. I went all out, I'm sorry. I was just way too into this.
Jason traced his finger over the glossy photo frame in his hands, which encrusted a picture of his older sister, Thalia. He had requested Leo to help him with the framing, the edges were made with a mahogany coating. He smiled at the lovely picture of his sister, her hair being held together by her silver huntress circlet, wearing her punk rock clothes. 
Over the course of the summer, He had finally gotten the chance to take a good picture of Thalia for a family keepsake, he had held on to the tattered, torn picture of Thalia that annabeth had given to him before his first quest, and he still treasured it greatly. But he insisted that Thalia and him take at least one good picture before she disappeared with her maidens into the world, for months. 
“And then Leo said-” Jason was cut off by thalia’s fellow maiden Phoebe, rushing towards them, yelling for thalia. 
“Lady Thalia, lady Artemis is heavily in need of your assistance immediately!” Phoebe said panting. Thalia frowned and her eyes apologetically turned back to Jason. “I'll be there” she told her fellow huntress, before giving Jason a strangling hug. “I'm so sorry Jason, we'll talk later yeah?” Jason swallowed his disappointment after he saw how truly apologetic Thalia looked. “Of course, stay safe for me?” Thalia smiled sweetly and nodded at that before trudging up the path.
That was the last time he had seen of Thalia in months, and there was only one way to settle this. Jason decided to send in letters to his sister, that way, she could read it and keep them with her, and he could tell her everything without getting interrupted by anyone. He soon learnt to cherish this hobby alot. He loved his sister, and writing to her gave him a warm sense of comfort. He needed that, especially after Leo's death.
“Dear Thalia,
How have you been sis? I hope your mission with Phoebe to help Artemis went well! It's been pretty tough lately. My nightmares are plagued with pictures of mom. I know you of all people would understand how horrific that feels. I miss Leo, and piper's been acting a little strange around me lately.. but Leo's disappearance is taking a toll on her. So I get it. Nico is finally staying in camp half blood, isn't that great?? That boy deserved a break for once. Anyways, write back if you can, but if you can't, that's fine, I know you're busy.
–love, your annoying little brother.
Weeks, and months flew by, but still no response from Thalia. But he knew better than to take it seriously. Jason knew that she had gotten the letter, and that was enough for him. Well, that was enough, until things went downhill for him very quickly. Piper had approached him in the school corridor and thought it was a great day to end their year long relationship, shattering Jason's soul to pieces, this, coupled with the immense amount of pressure he had to build the minor god shrines, Jason felt numb, and he did what he usually did. He poured his heart out to Thalia in another letter, seeking comfort in his ink and paper. Longing for thalia’s presence once more.
“Dear Thalia,
it's me again, I hope you're doing good, atleast better than I am. I've been feeling terrible lately, Piper ended things with me, i guess we finally know why she was acting the way she did around me, huh? She said our relationship was only hera’s illusion and didn't feel that way about me anymore, which sucks, since I'm still very much in love with her. The pressure has increased tenfolds on me these days, the minor gods are heavily anticipating the promise I told them I'd keep. I'm planning on moving schools so i don't have to deal with the heartbreak of seeing Piper in school anymore. Anyways, I just wanted to write to you since it makes me feel better. Sending you lots of love from California.
— love, Your annoying little brother 
Minutes. Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. 
Jason knew. The moment the sibyl told him about looking for the third emperor. Jason knew, that his doomsday was going to knock on his doorstep very soon. He was going to sacrifice himself for Piper. And nobody was changing his mind. Jason stared out his dormitory window, the outside mortal world looked a little too cheery for the melancholic thoughts that were chasing his mind. He averted his gaze to the person in the picture frame hanging at his wall. Thalia had always been too busy for him. They had never had a proper full conversation together, one on one conversations getting disrupted, iris messages wearing out within a few minutes, even his letters never got a reply, or even a single acknowledgement. 
Yet jason knew, that Thalia Grace was the only one who loved him more than anything in the world. She didn't have to spend time with him for him to know that. He knew by the way she had only left their childhood home after Jason was deemed “dead”, he knew by the way she had picked a two year old jason up  after he injured his mouth with that stapler,he knew by the way she played hide and seek when they were little, he knew by the way she had told no one about him, not even annabeth, since he was a memory that she held close to her heart. So subconsciously, his hands wrapped around the pen he always used to write with. With shaky hands, and teary eyes slowly dripping in the paper, he began to write.
Thalia was resting on the rocks, thinking of how Jason was doing, she had recieved all his letters and read them through atleast 2 times. She wanted to respond, but it kept slipping her mind. Something had always come up, but now, she was finally free. Just as she was about to pick up her pen, she heard her name being called.
“Thalia!”
It was Reyna. She was holding an envelope, Thalia’s spirits skyrocketed at the thought of her brother sending her another letter. But.. why was it being sent through Reyna..? It was usually always sent by Jason's wind manipulation. Those letters would float towards her. That's how she always knew it was from her brother.
She was expecting Reyna to tease about Jason's cheesy letters to his sister, but what she wasn't expecting, was for Reyna to start sobbing on the spot, breaking out the news that her younger brother was dead. 
Jason. Her little stapler eating brother. Was dead.
“This was found by Meg in Jason's desk.” Reyna shakily handed Thalia the envelope. It was a blue envelope, the usual colour that Jason always sent to her. And on top of it, was his smudy handwriting that Thalia could recognise from a mile away. The letter was signed “To Thalia Grace”.
Thalia opened it carefully but tears were leaking out of her eyes.
“Dear Thalia,
there's something that I've been keeping for a while now, but I know it's finally the time to tell you this. I met the sibyl in the labryinth who had told me that my life would be cut short. if went looking for the third emperor, Caligula, either me or Piper would be killed. There's no point denying the inevitable is going to happen. Prophecy's can never be thwarted, after all. I've made my choice, I'm not letting Piper die. I've decided that I am going to use myself as a sacrifice. I'm writing you this, to let you know, that, I love you. I love you so much sis, I hope you know that. I know we've never got to see eachother much, but I don't want you blaming yourself in any way for this. I hope you know that, writing to you, even without a response from your side all these months, has helped my life feel a lot more meaningful. the mere thought of you taking the time to read my letters makes me feel so loved. So happy. Now that I know that I might be meeting my end, I'm letting you know, that I've cherished every single thing you've ever said to me. Including the fact that you hate tomatoes on your sandwiches. Take care of yourself, sis, I'm always with you.
  — love, for the last time, your annoying little brother :)
Thalia clutched the letter with her heart, screaming in agony. Thunder boomed angrily overhead, almost as if her father could feel her rage. Her heart strings were tearing apart. She sobbed, as she looked up at the blue sky, the same blue as Jason's darling eyes.
“I love you too. My annoying little brother, always”
48 notes · View notes
fallenangelkitten · 3 months
Note
Please bless us with a boobs pic 😁
Tumblr media
this was one of my Halloween costumes last year. It was at a fetish party. Boobs are present. I was little red riding hood hehe
57 notes · View notes
Note
For the Kohga requests ... Your Kohga is so handsome in a cartoon villain way, I think he'd look very tasteful smoking one of those long antique Japanese pipes
Tumblr media
Anon, I am kissing you a million times on the mouth right now
Don't LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT don't look at me don't look at me you fucking KNEW this was going to happen ok?!??! you KNEW it
194 notes · View notes
steviescreen · 4 months
Note
UHHJDJF feel free to ignore this but I am very insane about Bumblebee so if you wanna could you maybe draw TFA Bee tummy…or just any Bee you want I fucking LOVE ur content hhsjdjd 👉👈 🫶
Tumblr media
Hey anon? Can u lend him a hand? Please? He dropped his snack and his belly keeps getting in the way
62 notes · View notes
sensitiveheartless · 1 year
Note
he looks wonderful, even in his quarter-life-crisis outift💕💕💕
Yup and it’s giving Dazai a crisis
Tumblr media Tumblr media
What is love, if not finding your partner attractive even while they’re dressed like a disaster?
410 notes · View notes
stuckinapril · 2 months
Note
i saw ur post on how there isnt rlly a big arab figure, and wow like. i think that if i had been younger and saw just one or two arab people on tv in a positive way, it would have helped me a LOT. like yeah. There ISNT a big singer or character or actor or model that’s arab. And now im sitting here wondering how many kids are going to be sitting and watching tv and just blocking out their arab heritage and culture because then they wouldnt be like their favorite singer or wtver.
Exactly. Exactly exactly exactly. I’ve full chest said this before, but I wasn’t always as attached to my Arab heritage as I am now. I actually grew up pretty distant from it all around, and it’s only in recent years that I started making a concerted effort to delve into it. And I can’t even blame it on my mom tbh, like I grew up in a lax household that allowed for ample self-expression. It was always the outside world that would make a little Arab girl like me question the worth of her ethnic roots—especially when Arabs are painted as terrorists at worst and as monocultural heathens at best where I’m from (hint: the USA). There is so much to unpack w being raised American but being ethnically Iraqi!! Because that means I literally hail from two countries!! A country that’s thirsty and a country that’s on fire!! But that’s a whole other loaded topic I could write a separate dissertation on.
I’d always have toxic thought loops like “I don’t look Arab enough” “I’m not religious but all the Arab girls I know are Muslim” on and on and on. And like I said in that ask, there was never an Arab American A lister for me to kind of have a frame of reference w. This is specifically an Arab issue too I feel like, bc a lot of brown people do have that star-studded figure to look up to growing up. We do not.
It’s kind of why I decided to be that for myself. I don’t need a cool Arab girl celebrity who’s into fashion or music. I’ll be that. I don’t need an Arab academia girl character. I’ll be that too. There’s no such thing as not looking Arab enough bc Arabs are so diverse. It’s okay that I’m not religious bc Arab culture is not solely defined by religion, and even if it were Arabs are not a hive mind and everyone engages w their culture in vastly different ways (which is okay!! It doesn’t make me any less Arab). I’ll literally just discard other people’s preconceived notions and trailblaze my own path!! I’ll be my own Arab girl representation. I refuse to fit myself into any preexisting mold. I like what I like and the rest just falls into place.
I think that’s why I’ve been so vocal about my Iraqi heritage lately… I’m literally healing my relationship w my roots in real time. Even advocating for Palestine is feeding into that in major ways. It’s legit all coming together for the first time in my life. Now I’m so proud to be Arab—to be Iraqi—that the idea that anyone could shame me for it is as incredulous as it is hilarious. Iraq is literally called the Cradle of Civilization & you want to make me feel BAD for being Arab… for being Iraqi… it’s just impossible bc I can’t imagine myself being anything else. I’m so content to have my multicultural background and to be who I am. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
It’s also cool that I have people following me, that they could also be exposed to diverse facets of Arab culture bc of that, but tbh a lot of this is also purely for me. I want the Iraq tag to be flooded w beautiful Iraqi poetry and beautiful Iraqi art and beautiful Iraqi cinema as I familiarize myself w Iraqi culture more and more, bc there’s so much more to it than the Iraqi War stats that pop up when you look it up on here.
I’m a 21 year old girl AND I’m Arab. That’s literally double the self-discovery to work through. Fortunately I think I’m finally cultivating a strong sense of self, so I really don’t think anything anyone has to say could deter me from my path (whether it be in terms of reconnecting w the beauty of my Arab heritage or legit just growing into my own). It’s not always perfect by any means, but I’ve made so much headway. And absolutely nothing could take away from that.
30 notes · View notes
qcomicsy · 1 year
Note
About the nicetimeline!au I'm excited to hear about Dick in the future!
me too lol
okay. okay. I'm joking
I've been planning a lot around the Nicefuture!au. Given how I stopped posting as much as in the beginig.
It started as this cute joke I thought in the beginig, this very fun concept of "What if Damian and Tim was just ended up very fond of each other over the years in the future and present Tim had to confront that?" and "What if the future was just so fucking nice that if they ever had time traveling shenanigans everyone would just start losing their minds about it?".
But I've grew very fondly of it as I was writing it and I've also grew very fondly of Damian as I was writing it (who would even though?), so I've been putting much more though on it then I previously planned lmao. I'm still working on how the future presents itself and trying to make it justice for the characters in a way that makes me satisfied.
I'm going to be very honest with y'all. I'm a casual reader, I initiate and put on hold comic runs and generally just read what seems interesting to me at the moment. Nicefuture!Au it's a mix of what I've read from the cannon and what are the best outcomes I could imagine from each character in a way that just brings me the most amount of joy. I'm still working around the edges, and what would that it mean for each character, what does a nice future holds for them?
And the best part? I don't know any of it! It's a great and entertaining work in progress.
So yeah! I'm also very excited about what future!Dick is up to. What person he became? What does he do with his life? What shenanigans he got himself in? It's all very blur yet in my mind but I'm getting there.
Also I'm going to take this ask as an opportunity to give y'all little updates. As I said I've been planning around and making little projects in this mean time that might or might not see the light of the day, so it could get a little radio silence from there but not promises!, I've got a little ideas for Tim, Terry and Jason but the others might be given me a little of work (god there's so many people in this fucking family lololol it's stressing but in the best way possible).
But as soon as I get to conclusions that makes me satisfied I will be updating in my blog and bringing more shenanigans to y'all.
153 notes · View notes
giggly-squiggily · 2 months
Note
For the Candy Hearts, how about 💚 Cutie for Kunigiri? 🥰
{Candy Heart Prompts: OFFICIALLY CLOSED!}
*running leap of joy* LETS GOOOO! It's my ship! :D I love these two so much holy- *happy sobbing*- I've gotcha covered, anon!
Cutie- "You can't hide from me, I can hear you laughing!"
“Princess…I know you’re in here.” Kunigami called as he entered the recording room. “Come on, you know I’ll find you.”
No response, but he swore he could hear the faintest of giggles.
“You can’t hide from me, I can hear you laughing!” He called, chest warming. He didn’t know what got into him, but the redhead was in a silly mood- jabbing him in the ribs before running for the hills. “This room isn’t that big- I’ll find you in no time-”
The second he stepped into the room, he was tackled. Only- instead of hitting the ground like Chigiri hoped, he stood tall. Turning a growing grin down at his wide eyed boyfriend, he gave him a little wave. “Found you, Princess.”
“...Well damn.” Chigiri tried to run, but Kunigami had him in his arms within seconds, pressing into his highest ribs. “Ahehahaha! Whahhait, wahhahait I whahahs suhuhuhupohohoosed to tiihihckle yohoohohu!”
“Aww, really? That’s what’s supposed to happen?” The ginger snickered, safely bringing them down and to the ground as he carried on drilling into Chigiri’s sides, leaving him a mess of giggles and squeaks. “A good effort before you forgot I’m sturdier than you, hehe.”
“Whohohoho are yohohohou cahhahaalling nohooht stuhuhurdy-ehehehehhehe hehehehro!” Chigiri squeaked and shoved his arms back when his armpits were poked along. “Stahhahahahap, yohoohohu jeehehherk!”
“First a hero, then a jerk- how the mighty have fallen.” The ginger moaned pathetically as he moved to his boyfriend’s hips, making him squeal and kick. “If I’m a jerk, I must be a villain! Time to enter my new era- come here!”
“Gehahahhaha, stahhahap whahahait-EHEHEHE NOHOHOHO!” Chigiri all but cackled as his good knee was grabbed, covering his face with his hands as he sank further back into Kunigami’s chest. I TAHHAKE IT BAAHHACK YOHOOHUR A HEHEHEHRO!”
“That’s right!” Kunigami stopped, laughing as his boyfriend groaned against him. “And don’t you forget it!”
“Uuhuhgh..” Was the only response he gave, smiling as Kunigami kissed his crown. “Jeheherk. I lohove you thoohugh.”
‘I love you too, princess."
22 notes · View notes
sonic-adventure-3 · 11 months
Note
wait, there are different types of skates??? what are the different types?
yeah there’s a ton of different kinds!
the first major distinction when talking about skates is of course ice skates vs wheeled skates. i presume you’re asking about wheeled skates, so i’ll jump right into the second major distinction, quad skates vs inline skates.
Tumblr media
quad skates are more commonly known as roller skates. inline skates are also technically a kind of roller skate, but culturally they’re rather different, and quad skates are what you think of when you hear the term. quad skates have four wheels on each skate, paired in two sets of two creating a rectangular arrangement, like a car, or most things that have four wheels lol.
Tumblr media
inline skates are also known as rollerblades, but rollerblade is actually just the most well-known company that produces inline skates. inline skates can have anywhere from 2-4 wheels per skate (even as many as 5, or in rare cases, 6, though the most common you’ll see have 4), arranged in a straight line underneath the boot.
i’m an inline skate geek so those are what i like talking about, and what i know significantly more about, so i’ll continue talking about all the various types of inline skates under the cut!
Tumblr media
first off: recreational skates. they’re also called beginner skates or hobby skates or sometimes fitness skates, but along with “recreational skates” those are more so terms used by people who use other kinds of more specialized skates. often just called inline skates in most storefronts, the only thing that really defines rec skates is that they aren’t any kind of other skate. as such, they vary widely in design but generally have softer wheels that provide a smoother ride but wear down faster, and a brake that attaches to the heel of your dominant foot skate. they’re your ordinary, basic, more beginner friendly skate meant for general, non-intensive use.
one common distinction among them is soft boot vs hard boot. soft boots are where the boot part of the skate is soft and flexible, making them significantly more comfortable, however they don’t offer as much support and can wear down quickly with any intensive use. hard boots are where the boot part of the skate is a hard shell, which are less comfortable and take time to break in, but are more supportive and last a longer time. the two images above of inline skates are soft boot and hard boot respectively.
Tumblr media
what’s probably the next most common kind of skate: city skates. also known as urban skates or freeskates, but that last one can be confusing. these skates are designed to be ridden at fast speeds through varied city environments, and as such are more durable, faster, more manoeuverable, and provide more support than recreational skates. they’re built to survive some jumps and stair-bashes and nasty falls. the skates above have a three wheel setup, but both four and three wheels are very common. four wheels are more manoeuvrable, but three wheels are faster and can traverse rougher surfaces, generally.
Tumblr media
slalom skates are confusing. they’re also called freestyle skates, as well as freeskates or city skates, because slalom skates are sometimes just city skates with different wheels, or are sometimes fully a different thing.
slalom skates that are specifically designed for freestyle slaloming, the sport of manoeuvring between closely set small cones with figure skating-esque spins and jumps, are less durable than city skates and are more flexible, giving less support but more agility. they have smaller softer wheels arranged with a rockered frame that raises the very front and back wheels, which give more traction and agility in the usually indoor or very even outdoor pavement skating areas.
they’re quite niche, have few companies dedicated to making them, and are generally quite expensive though, so regular city skates or city skates outfitted with similar wheel setups are also common, often more common than specialty slalom skates. hence why the distinction between freeskates and freestyle skates can be very confusing.
Tumblr media
aggressive skates blissfully don’t have any other names, they’re (almost.) always known as aggressive skates. they’re designed for various tricks, jumps, and crucially, grinds. they’re significantly heavier and bulkier than other skates in order to protect the wearer, and the bottom of the skates are flat and outfitted with a soul plate that allows for creative grinds. the frames also have a groove in the center to allow for even more kinds of grinds.
aggressive skates always have either 2 or 4 wheels. the one above has four wheels, but there are also setups that replace the inner two wheels with anti-rocker wheels, small plastic wheels that don’t touch the ground, and freestyle frames that have nothing between the front and back wheel at all in various styles, most commonly a sort of triangular groove. both are designed to reduce or completely remove wheel bite found in flat (four wheel) setups, which is when wheels get in the way of grinding and kill your momentum or stop you from sliding. as such, anti-rocker and freestyle setups are significantly easier to grind with, but struggle a lot in doing anything else, notably general handling, wheel durability, and speed. whereas flat setups have a significantly more difficult time grinding, but perform completely fine in almost all other areas. anti-rocker setups are by far the most popular of them all.
i’d say that recreational skates, city skates, and aggressive skates are the most common kinds of inline skate, but there are other even nicher kinds as well.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
there are speed skates, designed for going as fast as possible. they have no ankle support whatsoever to allow for maximum agility, and huge wheels and wheel bases for going fast. there are marathon skates, very similar to speed skates except with far more ankle support so you don’t hurt yourself as readily traversing long distances fast.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
there are inline figure skates and hockey skates. which fully and genuinely are just their respective kind of ice skate with wheels. they’re mainly used by ice skaters in the off-season, though they do have some support as separate sports, particularly inline hockey.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
and finally, there are off-road skates. these bad boys look absolutely stupid with their huge TIRES. not even normal wheels but TIRES. they come in various styles including some that are powered and attach to your normal shoes. they’re absolutely wild all around and i love them.
that’s just about all the kinds of inline skates that i know of, but there may be kinds that i missed or further subcategories or distinctions i’m unaware of. also requisite disclaimer: i am not an expert, i don’t have too much experience actually skating, i just like skates a lot and read about them sometimes. thus, please take my words with a grain of salt.
thanks for reading!
112 notes · View notes
presiding · 7 months
Note
What is your favourite thing about Billie Lurk?
(Answers are obvious possibly but i love when people talk about her👍)
thanks for the ask!! YEAH ME TOO I love when people talk about Billie! I can't say I have a favourite thing specifically, but I can explain why she's my fav. apologies for not taking this qn literally, but -
short answer: she’s really cool
& you can stop reading there, or, for the maybe 2 mutuals who might have time to read this my thoughts on her as a character, her meta, and her character as raw potential...
long answer:
i considered making this entire thing a gush so you could read a gush about Billie. but, part of what draws me to her is that she’s not always well written, and in fandom she’s underrated for a literal protagonist.
since you ask...
billie is a cool character
when I played Dh2 (hadn't played Dh1), I was excited to see a black woman with disabilities who was captaining a massive ship by herself. wow.
then I discovered Billie’s backstory with Deirdre, the way she responded to that, then having to survive while living on the run, and her bisexuality. as well as her history with daud & delilah. fascinating!
she’s an outsider who has so much to lose, and knows what it's like to lose everything - having lost everything not once but three times - but nevertheless speaks truth to power. she's so brave! she went and helped Emily & Corvo and she must have known they might kill her! plus, she’s smart, she’s funny, she gets shit done, she’s gorgeous.
but... the meta
mild critique of fandom & arkane incoming.
skip this bit if you want - you've been warned twice now - jump to tired Hayao Miyazaki and read from there if you'd like my thoughts on writing her.
i thought Death of the Outsider was going to be amazing and then... well. *sad trombone* i've written about that before so i won't keep banging on. i figured others must be disappointed too, so I joined a few fandom spaces in hopes of finding camaraderie.
most people with complaints about DotO didn’t like how the Outsider and Daud were handled. which is valid & I agree. but it seemed like most paid no attention to Billie; when people talk about her it’s with respect to Daud, as opposed to in her own right. you could argue for fandom misogyny because people don’t talk about adult Emily Kaldwin that much either, but in Billie's case, it’s misogynoir (compare & contrast with the popularity of thomas, particularly the popularity of thomas portrayed as a white man for no particular reason that i've been able to discern - i keep asking around, is it in the books???).
i think this is a LOT better now than it used to be, which is fantastic. or perhaps i have found the correct echo-chamber? ha.
ultimately, The Fandom is a fraction of the entire picture, and not even the important bit since The Fandom is not who these games are made for. you can't make money relying on only your hardcore fans even if all of them spent a fortune on merch, this is true for any AAA game.
while it's true that Billie is underrated from a fandom perspective - but Billie as an underwritten protagonist is squarely Arkane’s fault.
it was reasonable when she was a side character - the lack of info in Dh2 makes perfect sense (if anything there was more lore in Dh2 which is kind of wild)-
- but as a protagonist in Death of the Outsider?
.... there’s lousy writing, and there’s whatever is going on with Billie Lurk, a black woman who mostly exists as a foil or saviour for light-skinned characters. In her own game there’s barely any of her own lore except where it's relevant to saving two dudes.
lore hints at, but barely touches on what race means in the Dh universe (xenophobia is stronger in Dh1; separate essay i guess), but Arkane has patted themselves on the back for portraying non-white characters, which feels like the same thing as the aesthetic of diversity we're seeing in advertising currently because it’s in marketing trend guides. it's self-congratulatory and it's a missed opportunity for deeper storytelling.
you can see an example of diversity at its most shallow in the way that Billie’s written: there’s little engagement with her as an entire person with history & wants & preferences, and the world she walks through in that game feels like it has nothing to do with her. you could make a case for alienation as a theme, but then, how do you handle the titular premise of 'Dishonored' without ever letting Billie make changes in an environment without a chaos system? it's disappointing from that angle too.
in my opinion, whatever it's worth, it was an accident Arkane created such an awesome character - they needed someone to betray daud. congrats billie.
Tumblr media
all this said, it makes her an underdog as far as characters to enjoy & create art & stories for. it's nice to find so many like-minded, switched on people! <3
billie's character potential
she’s got a wealth of unexplored lore, being deeply intertwined with both Karnaca & Dunwall’s fates & criminal underbellies, as well as her connections to the witches & whalers, and three Empresses.
she’s lived a few distinct lifetimes and in the games we get to meet her at two peaks (KoD & DotO) & a low (Dh2 as Meagan).
her voice is very distinct, her dry & often dark humour is entertaining & fun to write. her perspective is really interesting - she’s had the widest variety of void-powers of anyone canonically, and she’s also lived through the highest highs and lowest lows.
she's got everything going for her :) i couldn't really pick a fav thing!
#i assume my followers are cool enough to let me give a brief measured critique on fandom trends and DotO#thanks for the anon question!! what fun!#i love billie lurk <333#jumped on the opportunity to rant n rave#what part of billie isn't my fav! (im a guy who likes the bad stuff too. mmm interesting meta)#trying to be not unfair or mean- i'm not targeting anyone but rather trends. and it's ok to be disappointed with something you love#fuck it. make it part of the appeal! her writing sucks! plenty of room for me & other creators!#its easier for me to indulge my billie brainworms when it sorta feels like she's not getting as much love as she deserves#you know? i want stories where her history is explored and her agency is important so i guess i'll roll up my sleeves#tumblr is a terrible place for this sort of critique IMO- lots of nuanceless empathy-free guilt-trip-ish rhetoric#so i hope i avoided that. but not so much that i seem forgiving.#that said i'm not tagging this one with fandom tags! no thank you.#i am blaming arkane yes. but that is also not without games industry context#i could complain about amateurish writing but that also never happens in a vacuum. industry problem(s) for sure.#people love to blame writers for things#and yeah a couple really fucking good writers can push a boulder uphill#but its usually a company problem#hire lots of diverse people in your company. give them authority and respect and reasonable workloads. and no crunch.#ah fuck this is a separate essay in tags. again#THIS WAS A SIMPLE QUESTION#*clutches head in hands*#uh if you're still reading at this point im SO sorry and thank you and i love you
31 notes · View notes