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#that were basically entirely metaphors
i’m really struggling to articulate this so bear with me, but why do YA writers write sex scenes hidden beneath a mountain of convoluted and confusing metaphors??? Like, if you feel the need to hide your sex scene from your demographic because it’s not appropriate for them, then you should not be writing for that demographic; or if you want to be writing sex scenes but have been told to censor it to protect your readers, then you are //still// writing for the wrong demographic
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One of the many, many reasons I love Blade Runner is that it doesn't have this Big Epic Final Fight you've come to expect from literally any action film ever.
There's just Deckart and Roy - all others are dead, or not here - and it's just them and one was supposed to kill the other and has become the hunted.
Our main hero protagonist is at the end, he's beaten down, he's at the brink of death, he can barely still walk and is just fleeing as far as he can, as long as he can, and he won't be able to go on much longer and there's really only so far he can run before he's inevitably caught. There's no last minute saviour, no sudden burst of strength, no last attempt to fight. He's terrified. He's running, limping, for just a few seconds more.
And the antagonist - the one who was supposed to be killed, the one who was supposed to be sub-human and is living his life as a slave, in fear - he's going mad. He barely ever had anything, and he lost the few others he had - the only ones who understood when the world was against them. He has only minutes to live, minutes that not even his creator - his god, almost - could drag out, a human god who died by his bare hands. There's nothing left to lose and nothing left to do, but there's the person who hunted him down like a machine or an animal that's one rogue, the one supposed to kill him, entirely at his mercy.
And then they're on that roof, and I don't know what Roy might think, but I know Deckart was done with his life. I know he was convinced he'd die right here - that both of them would die on this roof in the rain.
And when Roy pulls him up? There has to be an explanation. Surely he'll kill him now. What else could he possibly want?
But Roy isn't out for revenge anymore. For as little as he's lived, he's seen so incredibly much. And he knows there isn't anything to be done. He'll die, he'll be forgotten, just another rogue replicant - like moments in time, like tears in rain.
"Time to die." No sadness, no anger, nothing. There's nothing more to it, not anymore. It's a fact.
It's when he's free for the first time.
He's no longer living in fear. He died on his own terms. He's as free as he could ever be, in the only way that was ever even a possibility. And as he dies, as he no longer lives as a slave, that white dove flies away through the rain - a symbol of freedom, finally let go.
And Deckart is left alone on that roof, bleeding, his hand broken, exhausted, still not quite away from the brink of death he's been limping along for the last, what, minutes? (How long was it? Can't have been long. But it sure felt endless.)
There's no winner. No one has been defeated, either. There's just one who died, as he was always meant to, and one who lived, but his world might be in shambles.
What is life worth when you're just waiting for death? Is it freedom when you can never settle down? Could there ever be a different ending?
Also I'm going absolutely insane over the white dove which is a symbol for freedom btw like DAMN!!!!!!! IMPLICATIONS!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
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marklikely · 1 year
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the framing of the critic character in the menu really pissed me off bc no offense but if i was paying 12k for a meal and you served me a broken emulsification id comment on it too
#man. she was engaging in good faith with the art of the meal the entire time and the movie is just like. lol isn't she sooo pretentious#isnt it so pretentious to engage with high art and try to read into the artistry of it. just eat a cheeseburger#god that movie thematically was so stupid.#avpost#i have watched enough food network to know that not breaking a sauce is like#its not easy but its a basic skill that a professional chef is expected to have. and youre charging thousands for this#within your own metaphor its like you can't get pissy when a critic notices your very rookie mistakes#that frankly you shouldn't be making at a high level of prestigious art.#also for me any art thats like 'look this critic character is so mean they just hurt the poor artists' will literally never play#if one honest negative review shuttered your small business restaurant then maybe you were bad at food. sorry#AND LIKE. ok i know plenty of art has been unfairly panned by critics who didnt really get it#but in my eyes when i see a piece of art complain abt critics it doesnt come across that way#its more like 'im a scam artist and i dont like that critics can call me out for making garbage and passing it off as art'#thats just always how it plays to my eyes and ears yknow#like it feels overly defensive and thin skinned like you just cant handle people not liking your creation.#so yeah. im always gonna like default to 'idk man maybe the critics had a point about you'#im also just in general like. i dont often agree with professional critics but im glad they exist. im pro critique.#which makes me biased lol
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okcoolthanks · 20 days
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How to stop feeling like an awful person after accidentally crossing someone’s boundary even though you talked to them about it and apologized and know you won’t do it again and they understood it was an accident and it’s fine and you two are still on good terms
#god I just#Ughhghhg#I can’t stop THINKING about it it wasn’t even that bad they said i was doing a bit and it was getting annoying#and I said i was sorry like multiple times and I said I won’t do that but again and they were like ‘no you can! it just got a little annoyi#ng it’s fine!’ and I still feel like a terrible person#I think I’m tired that’s gotta be it#or I’m mentally going through what I went through with my old friends and how I got mad at them and lashed out when I shouldn’t have and#refused to apologize and got into a big argument and then had one conversation about it and got mad again and then lashed out AGAIN and then#texted that I didn’t want to be friends any more and then I cried for weeks and every time I’d see one of them I’d want to throw up and I wa#s constantly miserable I didn’t want to go to school and I did everything that I could ok the comic because it was a fun distraction but it#also made me sad because I wanted to finish it and show it to them but they weren’t ever actually interested in it and I never got to show#them and I even made two characters in it based on two of my best friends in that group at the time and now I don’t know if I should delete#them entirely or keep it or change the characters???????? I don’t know#fuck#oh yeah one of those best friends basically took the plot of HBD and changed it a little and is gonna make a fucking short film with it#it’s a stupid fucking plot too it’s one of those like coming of age stories where the main character wears a ghost sheet and it’s actually a#metaphore for being socially anxious because he has a bad home life but then! then he’s walking to class and someone steps on the sheet and#it comes off! and they become best friends and they work through their problems!#Jesus fucking Christ I can’t believe her#I told her it was similar and that she should change it but we were gonna discuss that the week I texted I wasn’t coming back so#If she makes it I’m gonna sue her I don’t fucking care I told her I fucking told her and later that fucking day she ‘came up with it on her#own’ fucking Christ man get a life#I need to stop typing and go to sleep idk why I did that#sorry for the rant!
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on-leatheredwings · 2 months
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False Pretenses (18+)
Yandere ! Damian Wayne x (Fem) Reader
romantic, 18+ > summary: Damian needs an heir someday, and he knows your body can provide that. > tw/cw: stealthing/baby trapping. there is consensual sex under false pretenses, so this could (and should) make this fall under dub- or non-con! there is also a brief mention of somnophilia. Plus, some breeding kink, praise kink. Also some weird thoughts about (cis) women who are fertile being ‘ideal’ and a preference for biological children. Just a warning. > word count: 5088. jesus christ. > [a/n: (smokes a blunt). ] > again 18+ only, damian wayne is 21
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So, Damian has a breeding kink.  
You sit in bed (his bed), knees to your chest, trying not to smile.
The covers are wrapped around your bare body as you recall the night prior’s events. 
Last night was the farthest you two have gone physically. You’ve made out, of course. That was in short order after officially becoming a couple, the both of you starved for the other. You’ve groped each other, both over and under your clothes… You’ve given him a handjob… (To his utter dismay that you’ve brought him to orgasm first rather than the reverse.) And last week, you took him in your mouth for the first time. But yesterday night was the first time you had been on the receiving end. 
Now, you are no virgin, but the memory does make you clutch your metaphorical pearls. You didn’t know simple fingering could be so… perverse.
Damian’s two middle fingers are thrusting back and forth into your trembling cunt. Your ears are steaming at the resulting noises filling the air. They’re lewd, and entirely involuntary on your part. Sweat on your temple drips, your torso heaves with shaken breath. Your damp back lies flush against his hard chest, two perfect puzzle pieces. Damien’s chin rests on your shoulder, allowing him to have a beautiful view of the mess you’re making on his slender digits. Viridian eyes have their entire focus on you, utterly fascinated. 
The look in them is enough to make you blush, even if two of his fingers weren’t in you right now.
Sinful, reverent whispers into the shell of your ear marvel about how well you’re doing, how prepared you’ll be to take him afterwards. Damian’s free hand rests on your abdomen, pointedly over your womb.
He’ll fill you. Breed you. After all, you can handle that. You were basically made for it. He knows you’d be perfect at it.
Chin resting on the palm of your hand, you come back to the present. 
Yeah, that was really turning him on, you mull, with almost academic interest. Your lips curl into a catlike grin. How curious!
Hey, you aren’t judging! You can see the appeal. After all, you hadn’t exactly been complaining last night… just caught off guard. 
You sit with your thoughts as Damian washes up in his restroom. 
It is in his bedroom you currently lounge, absentmindedly fiddling with satin sheets. His bed is large enough to drown in. His room is a wash of dark emerald greens and deep blues, with golden accents. On a table sits a sheathed sword, its grip a beautiful gold.
Both of you are college students finishing up your last semester. During the school season, Damian stays in his penthouse. Yes, his penthouse. Why he couldn’t just stay at his billionaire father’s mansion, you don’t know. Bird has to leave the nest sometime, you suppose. 
Slowly lowering your knees and letting your back hit cool sheets, you lie down. You get lost in the ceiling – a beautiful Arabesque pattern is subtly molded across its expanse. Damian’s culture is so cool. Such was a sentiment you had communicated in such words, and he simply kissed your knuckles with a proud curve of his lips, and thanked you for the compliment. You blush.
Ugh. Damian is so cool. 
You start pulling up every uncool thing about him in your mental reservoir. You can’t have him getting a big head, after all. Or rather, can’t have his head getting any bigger.
Hmm… breeding kinkster, breeding kinkster, thy name is Damian Wayne.
You blink dumbly.
Breeding... breeding…
Pregnancy.
Your body stiffens. 
Wait. Does this… does that mean something? Is that like. A thing? What people call foreshadowing? You sit up, disturbed.
At that exact moment, Damian saunters out of the washroom. His eyes catch yours immediately, as if drawn by magnetism. He is still shirtless, navy blue sweatpants looking entirely artful on his tall, bronze body. His usual shrewd expression relaxes at the sight of you.
At the sight of him, your heart skips a beat, and not out of admiration for his looks. It was like you had been caught red-handed, speculating things. Sometimes you swear he knows what you’re thinking.
He stalks toward you, eyes loving. He places a kiss on your lips, punctuating it with “Good morning, my love.” 
“G-good morning,” you return, painfully aware of your nakedness under his sheets. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. He places kisses on your bare shoulder, trailing down until he’s kissing your hand. While normally you’d be melting, you remain stiff.
Damian pecks one last kiss when you blurt, “Do you want kids?”
You inwardly smack your forehead. Well, you weren’t one to shy away from a tough conversation. For better or worse.
Damian stirs, blinking at you.
You continue, trying not to wilt, “Do… Do you want kids? I-is that something you want? Like, someday?”
How the hell did this not come up sooner, you don’t know.
… Well. 
Perhaps it hadn’t come up because your relationship was fairly new. You’ve known Damian for five years now. And for the last two, your relationship had been under a taxing, soul-sucking ‘will-they-won’t-they-it’s-complicated’ vague denomination for quite a while. Both of you knew each of you had feelings for the other. But Damian confessing his vigilante secret and his assassin past was quite the double whammy. 
Damian was resolute in keeping you and himself safe and alive, but you had to think critically about a future with him. Eventually you said fuck it, throwing caution to the wind because you loved him, and you wanted him. And he, you.
Officially, it’s only been three months of dating – and you both are young. You both are in your last year of college. Talking about kids felt … fast.
Damian remains silent, face tentative. Having been leaning over you, he now sits on his bed, looking thoughtful. 
“... Is that something you want?”
You sigh. Of course he’d turn it on you.
“I…” Your throat feels tight. God, why can’t we just enjoy a damn honeymoon phase… “I mean…? I’m… open to it. But yeah, it seems kinda… Like. I don’t know. That’s a lot right now.” Your voice is uncharacteristically small and meek. 
You should stop there. Keep it vague. Keep things light. But you know which side of the fence you’re leaning on, and so should he.
“A-and you know– like, you know I didn’t have a good relationship with my mother– I just. Don’t know. If ever. I guess?” 
You sit in awkward silence with him. You pray God just decides to smite you where you sit, because Christ. That was horrible.
Things like this could break a relationship, you know. And your chest clenches painfully at the thought of separating from Damian.
Damian takes in your words, nodding. He’s usually so easy to read – you’re well-versed in Wayne-nese by now, having spent a lot of time with him and the rest of his family. But he seems to be withholding his inner thoughts intentionally from you. Your heart sinks. 
You nudge him with your feet.
“Damiii. Do you?”
Damian’s eyes glimmer with characteristic haughtiness, instantly making you warm. He crawls forward, hands sinking into the bed by your hips. He nips at your nose before locking lips. It’s a sweet, sweet kiss that’s like candy, until you feel the stroke of his hot tongue. You moan freely, not caring that he’ll likely tease you later for being so easy.
He retreats, licks his lips. 
“You fiend,” you blurt. The insult rolls off him.
“What I want is to be with you.” You swallow dryly, heart thumping like a chorus line. You wouldn’t be surprised if Damian could see literal hearts in your eyes. 
He puts a hand on your knee, stroking softly. You feel mollified at the action. Damian only did that when everything was alright. 
“We’ve got class. If you get dressed fast enough, I’ll buy you that confectionary you’re always wanting.”
You stick out your tongue. “It’s a frappe,” you say, adding before he could say otherwise, “and yes, it is real coffee.”
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Back from class, you decided to read on his living room recliner while he drew in his study. Damian indeed sketched, as he did everyday. Unsurprisingly, you were the subject, along with your favorite flowers. But Damian chose his study, rather than drawing you from life, because he also wanted to check if today was the day he thought it was. He opens the drawer of his wooden desk, papers neatly filed. He picks up a sleek black folder that spends most of its time laid in hiding underneath.
… 
So, for the record, Damian did not lie. 
He merely obfuscated an answer with a truth. 
He does want to be with you above anything, and if children were out of the question due to natural causes… sure, he would learn to get over it. His brothers are all adopted and are as legitimate heirs to his father as he. But as it stands, Damian needs an heir someday and he knows your body can provide that. 
… A not-insignificant part of him quietly admits that he simply wants his children to be blood-related. He’d never express this to anyone. His brothers are adopted, so how could he? But instilled from infancy into Damian was that he was the result of two genetically perfect individuals. 
So why shouldn’t his child be the genetic amalgamation of you and him, both of whom are also two perfect beings? The thought of impregnating you sounds… good. Ideal. Natural, even. Call him a romantic.
When opened, inside the folder is a calendar for the year, with no notes or writing. Some days are blank. Some are highlighted in either red or green.
His eyes skirt down to the current day of the calendar, and Damian's pleased to see it is indeed among a week that's painted in green. You've ovulated, and the six days afterward are an ideal window. 
You've said in passing that your cycle is pleasantly regular and Damian's past investigations have proved this to be true. Not that he asks anymore. He snorts, remembering how last time you looked at him incredulously and asked if he was a Republican, since he was “all up in your womb.” 
However, you do keep menstrual products in your bag when he’s predicted it. You also spend quite some time at his place, so he does note when there’s pad wrappers in his bathroom trash bin.
Last year, the day he knew you were the one – his One – he brewed you a tea before bed. Its sedative contents ensured you wouldn't wake, and you were out like a light within minutes. So, Damian pulled off your pants, and collected a specimen from you as you slept. Of course, he did so with sterile, sexless precision –  Damian wasn’t a pervert or deviant. He sniffs. He’s better than that. Even if his hands did linger.
Test results proved you were healthy and fertile. He recalls this with pride. As expected, you were perfect in all things. Damian closes the folder and ruminates in his seat. 
Damian had assumed so, but now you’ve confirmed with him that you’re unsure about raising children based on your history with your own family. He hears you. As if he doesn’t have his own slew of mommy problems. If you bring it up again, he’ll wave you off. You’ll be an amazing mother. You just need a push, and you’ll be confident soon enough.
His fingers steeple. Hm… There’s the issue of having children before marriage… He doesn’t know how you feel about children outside of wedlock, but it’s not as though you’re very traditional. You don’t seem to have a problem with the fact that’s how he was conceived. It’s not a big concern regardless, because Damian is going to marry you anyway. If it’s an issue, you both could marry in as soon as a month. 
It all works out. 
It’s perfect, he thinks.
Damian puts up his sketchbook and folder alike, heading to his bedroom to change. It was about time he put his plans into action, and he knows just how to usher it into fruition.
“That doesn’t look like a very satisfying read,” Damian says, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. 
You don’t look up from your book, your cringing face only deepening. 
“Well, that’s because it isn’t. I was lied to! By my favorite Youtuber! By BookTok! And fuck it, by the government–”
"My love."
“You ask for one slow burn rivals-to-lovers and instead you get him fawning over her within three chapters–”
“My love,” he repeats, though amused.
“And let’s not even start about how this prose is abysmal–”
“My love.”
Since it was said oh-so-sweetly, you look up from your book. 
Damian is... oh. He's in that outfit he knows you like. The League of Assassins one that's sleeveless, dark, and form fitting with gorgeous gold trim. It turns his body into a marvelous painting of black and gold on the tanned backdrop that is his skin. And you’ve told him so… Except his eyes. His beautiful, intense green eyes. He straightens from how he leans against the wall, stepping closer.
You toss your book, not even watching its trajectory. It takes out a vase on the way down and you still don’t spare it a glance.
"Damian Wayyyyyne," you sing, hopping up to stalk toward your prey. Your hands land on his chest. Hello, tig ol' biddies, you cheer internally. It takes considerable restraint to keep from saying it aloud – you know Damian gets all flustered with his delicate sensibilities. “Why, are you trying to seduce me?”
An elegant, thick brow rises in amusement. Well, that was exceedingly easier than expected.
“That depends entirely on whether it’s working.”
“Oh, it’s working,” you say, running your hands down to his abdomen. His hands rise to capture yours. 
“Tt.” 
Damian takes steps backward, leading you by the hands into his bedroom. Your leer grows even bigger. Oh, yes. You two lock eyes the whole while until you reach the foot of his bed, merriment and attraction dancing in both pairs.
You push him onto the bed, on all fours above him. You dive down for a deep kiss, tongue eager for a dance. Eventually it’s you who separates to breathe, panting lightly. The sight below you is one for sore eyes, Damian Wayne lying with eyes glazed with lust. He’s acting awfully agreeable, and you can’t say you don’t like it.
“Habibti, I want you.” Damian slides his hand to cup your crotch. You shiver, at his touch and his words.
“And you have me,” you say, voice warm. “Habibti.”
He smirks, probably thinking your accent could use some work. 
“It’s Habibi, coming from you.” 
You nod shyly, but you can have a lesson later. You’re about to slip off your pants when he brings your hand in between your bodies, placing it on his crotch. You sharply inhale. He’s hard, and straining against sinful, elastic tights. 
“... And I mean, I want all of you.”
Your brows rise. So, he wanted to go all the way today? You feel your cheeks and crotch flood with heat. You find it easier to nod your head rapidly, lest you start barking. At your agreement, Damian’s face washes over with anticipation. You’re glad it’s not just you over the moon at the prospect.
You both rip your clothes off manically, laughing and elbows butting into each other’s sides. Damian expertly flips positions, boxing you in with his knees. You exclaim in surprise, a sound that drifts into shaky breaths and mewls of pleasure as he runs his fingers over your breasts, your stomach… He wets his fingers with his mouth before his digits start circling your clitoris.
You inhale sharply, mesmerized by the cyclical motion. Never until Damian has sex felt so flustering. Just watching his administrations was overwhelming, let alone the feeling– Your head reels back from an electric shock of pleasure. You gasp into the air.
"W-wait... wait, you have a condom, right…?" you whisper, though you have half a mind to just go without. You need him.
Damian tensed. 
"I... I don't like how it feels." You raise a brow. You've heard condoms can feel like a second skin, especially nowadays. Then again, men were always complaining about them. It's not like you had the necessary equipment to confirm, so hell if you knew how it felt.
You place your hands on his cheeks, and his hands ghost over your wrists. You bite your lip.
"Well… Just this once? And if... it's that important to you, maybe I'll get on birth control–" 
His head jerks as if struck, his brows furrowed.
“No.”
You stare, agape. There’s a small pause, both of you staring at the other. Damian’s face looks as though he’s betrayed himself. Your boyfriend didn’t strike you as so… traditionalist, to say the least. Lord knows you wouldn’t be with him if he was… so you will hear him out before nurturing any suspicion. 
Sitting up on your forearms, you ask, “... What do you mean ‘no’?” 
"I mean… I…” Damian sighs, looking utterly frustrated with himself. “I mean, you don’t need to.” 
You blink and raise a brow, unimpressed. 
“... Because?”
Damian’s jaw hardens. He grits out, “Because, I'm… sterile." 
You flinch, purely from surprise. Damian merely stares, eyes narrowed in what you presume is annoyance at himself. 
Uh. Okay, hello brand new information? Why hadn't this come up before? Well, it is pretty sensitive information. And since you hadn’t had penetrative sex yet, why would he have brought it up? And today was the first day you had even thought about kids. It… makes sense. 
"Y-you are...?" You settle down, much like a cat whose hair is lowering from standing on end. "Okay… okay...” Damian remains stony, but he cringes at your clear relief. 
Mistaking it as embarrassment, you quickly stroke his cheek. “No, baby, I'm sorry about that." You could assume it's quite emasculating. Men and their complexes about performing and wow, suddenly the breeding kink makes sense.
“So, you can’t…” you trail off. Knock me up? remains gracefully unsaid.
Damian nods stiffly. He really does hate lying to you like this. "I've been told it's very... unlikely." In reality, Damian knows his sperm count, and he's verified there should be no issues with reproduction. You both are in peak condition.
Despite the heat raging in your pants and your body begging can we just fuck already, you furrow your brows. All of this sounded fine, but it was still just… you needed specifics. To be safe. After all, there’s no rush, is there? Even if your pulsating cunt would beg to differ, painfully aware that two naked people were in a bed not doing naked-people-things.
"When did you get tested? And w-why? I mean, you're only twenty-one." 
He waves his hand, snorting with his typical condescension. "I'm an heir to a dynasty – as soon as I was of age, it behooved us to know." 
Us. That’s not a you-and-me “us”. You cringe, thinking about Talia and Ra's Al Ghul making it their business to know Damian's fertility. What an invasion of privacy for him… And no wonder he thought nothing of being in your body’s business as well.
"Well, unlikely is still possible, right?” You fear any surprises. Lord knows it would be just your luck to get fertilized by the un-fertilizable. You point at him. “And we should be using condoms anyway! It's not just pregnancy we should be afraid of."
Damian wants to assure you how insanely low the chances are of an infertile male getting anybody pregnant, and is about to do so, when his eyes narrow. 
"Is there a reason we would need to protect against venereal diseases? There are none between the two of us." You flinch at his tone, colored with the acidity of jealousy. Suspicion.
The implication (accusation?) causes you to glare at him. 
“...Yeahhh, okay,” you reply coldly. “Moment's ruined.” 
You push him off you, but in a panic, he hisses your name. You flinch. At your wary expression, the color drains from his face.
“I… I’m sorry,” he says, brows furrowed and looking utterly ashamed. “I… I’m sorry.” You don’t meet his eyes, simply nodding. He places kisses on your wrist, shoulder, nose. Damian sometimes had his moods, although he was truly confusing you today.
“It’s fine, really,” you reassure. And it’s true, it was mainly the heat of the moment. You were sure Damian could never really scare you.
Your words don’t persuade the shame and fear out of his eyes or lighten the heaviness of his brow. You smile, huffing. Taking his face into your heads, you kiss him chastely on the forehead, nose tip, both cheeks. Until you punctuate the action with a kiss to his lips.
“Damian, really.”
Damian nods stiffly. He’ll never truly forgive himself, but he’s probably okay enough for now.
You shift on the bed, and there’s the telltale sensitivity between your thighs. Damn it. You still want him. You two stare at each other, still very naked and aroused. You turn the idea in your head … He’s sterile, right? And pregnancy is your only reservation. 
As if hearing your thoughts, Damian’s face fills with determination. 
“... I-it’s–” okay, let’s have sex anyway, you are going to finish. 
“I’ll do it,” he interrupts. You blink. He leans toward you, close enough that you can see the flecks of gold in his eyes. You’re sure he’s about to kiss you, when he suddenly withdraws. 
Your eyes catch the glimmer of some metallic object. He holds a silver square wrapper in between his fingers, likely plucked from beneath his pillow.
You look at him, and he says frankly, “I’ll do anything for you.” 
You melt… before grinning, catlike. “My, my. So it seems Mr. I-Don’t-Like-Condoms still prepares a contingency plan. Very Son of Batman of you–”
“Shut it,” he groans, dotting kisses along your neck to make you do just that.
You feel relief flood your bloodstream. Then it is quickly replaced with raging desire. Oh, finally. 
“Lay back,” he says, too soft to be an order. You do so without fanfare, a little curious as to why he’s not following you. Then you see him scoot back, feel him hike up your lower half, and you feel a thrill of excitement. 
You squeak, feeling your ass leaving the bed entirely. A pillow is quickly placed underneath, and you are feeling quite pampered.
There’s curious licks along your labia, to which you twitch.
Damian finds his way to your clitoris, suckling and stroking heavily with his tongue.
“Hhnngh,” you speak. Keep going. Right there. 
“Truly, a poet,” Damian’s voice says, muffled. You bite your lip, unable to retort because it feels too good. Damian is curious, experimenting. You know he’s gamifying this, responding and changing his strategies entirely on what draws the most unintelligible noise out of you. He slips his tongue in, and you grasp at his hair. He responds by pumping it back and forth.
Eventually, you do fear he’ll bring you to orgasm with this alone, when you both have more plans for the evening. 
You wipe a layer of sweat from your temple, panting. “I’m ready. I’m ready,” you say, tugging meekly at short black locks.
Damian hums, and the vibration hits you straight in the clit. He sits up on his forearms, lips delightfully messy. His cheeks are ruddy and his brows are pinched with effort, chest heaving for breath. He looks very good like this. 
“I’m ready,” you say again. Damian doesn’t need to be told twice. Your head hits the back of the pillow, and you close your eyes as you catch your breath. You hear the rustling and discarding of a condom wrapper. Damian positions himself accordingly, hands sunk into the bed on either side of your waist.
“Ready?” he asks. His eyes hold… shyness, if you can believe it. You stroke his cheek, grinning. 
“Always ready for you,” you respond. You make sure to sit up. You want to see.
You watch, fascinated, as the head of Damian’s cock slowly disappears into your body. The consonance between seeing it and feeling it only stokes the fire of your arousal. 
You moan openly, the sound making your ears heat. Damian dares to chuckle, and you claw his back in retaliation. 
“Oh, shut up, and go deeper,” you breathe, eyes fluttering with pleasure. You didn’t realize how much you missed this. The feeling of being filled, of being full. You didn’t realize you could miss something you never had as well – Damian felt like he belonged in you. You feel every inch of you work to accommodate his sudden presence.
“And how can I deny such a request?” he gasps aloud, voice strained. 
You feel more than a little pride that you were among the few who could make Damian bend to your whims with this (or any) level of subservience. The proud, proud Damian Wayne. The same Damian that sinks into you further, into your tight, hot wetness. He finally bottoms out and you exhale.
“You’re… a perfect… fit,” you say, dazed and in between pants.
Little do you know the resulting pang that shoots into his groin at that statement. He grasps you harder, maybe even enough to bruise. He needs you badly. He needs to fill you badly.
Damian leans even more forward, and you squeal. You’re just along for the ride at this point. He does all the necessary machinations to fold you in half, thighs bending back.
"W-wait," you stutter, but it falls on deaf ears. 
He’s really stretching the limits of your flexibility here. Before you know it, you’re in a mating press. 
“Damian,” you moan, because you’re too overstimulated to say much else.
“You’re perfect,” he says into the shell of your ear. “You can take this. You were made for this.” You nod, slack-jawed. He rocks into you, skin slapping against skin as your pelvises meet. Your eyes flutter and roll back.
“I could spend forever filling you up. I could spend forever watching it spill out of you.” 
You close your eyes, cheeks aflame, much too embarrassed by his perverse whispers. You feel … almost ashamed at how much it arouses you. Almost. Majorly, it’s fulfilling a dark fantasy you didn’t know you liked.
“... Come inside me,” you breathe, unable to say anything more. You were embarrassed enough. He was using a condom, it was assumed he would be. But hopefully he’d see you were participating in his little fantasy, that you liked it too…
His thrusts are unyielding, and they only get harder, faster, more desperate as the time passes. Damian finishes with a groan, his abs clenching and flexing with effort.
You welcome it, taking it all because he’s right, you were made for this. In this moment, it’s like you were entirely made for this.
To your surprise, there’s sudden stroking on your throbbing clit, and that brings you to the finish line as well.
Your head jerks back violently, body snapping to attention as you ride the wave of an orgasm. A gasp by your ear. You’re clenching around Damian’s length, wringing him dry.
He collapses, narrowly keeping himself from squashing you flat. The two of you are a tangle of sweaty limbs, chests heaving.
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“You’ve got to get out of me sometime,” you tease.
You’ve both been lying like this, too taxed to move for maybe ten minutes now. 
“Is that so? Honestly, I could die here without complaint,” Damian says, and you get the feeling he’s dead serious. Nevertheless, he rolls away. He does not let you go far, wrapping his arms around you. You shiver at the feeling of him unsheathing himself, suddenly feeling empty.
… And wet. Wetter than expected.
You keep from flushing. Damn, you were really enamored with him, it seems.
You rub your thighs together, relishing in the feeling. Until you pause.
… No, like, you’re really wet. 
You slowly sit up, investigating. To your surprise, you’re leaking… cum. And clearly not just your own. It’s smattered down your thighs, sticky. When you pause and can literally feel the cum drip out of you, you exclaim.
“Fuck… fuck.” You put a hand to your dripping cunt, and are surprised when it indeed comes back wet and pearlescent white. It’s for real. 
“What’s wrong?” you hear, but you hardly register it.
You pull at a scrap of wrinkled plastic, pulling it out. The condom is shredded. It broke. 
“Damian. It broke.”
You stare at it dumbly. It broke. You feel the onset of fear creep by… it’s held at bay, when you feel Damian hushing you, stroking your shoulders.
Damian holds you, asks why are you worrying…? He told you there’s no way. He can’t, he’s sterile. 
You dumbly nod, combating fear by reasoning with yourself. Well… you were about to have sex without it anyway, after all. What does it matter if the condom broke? 
You suppose it’s just the shock of a failsafe… well, failing to save you. So why do you feel so disconcerted? What’s this niggling feeling, you wonder. You stare at your inner thighs. His cum paints you like a mark.
“It’s nigh impossible,” Damian states. He’s doing what he does best – nullifying your emotions with facts. He pulls you back into his arms, your back against his chest. “The condom was really for your peace of mind. It’s not like it did anything.”
You don’t speak, simply staring at the condom in your hand. You nod. 
“Really, there’s no point in wearing condoms from now on anyway. They break.” 
Damian’s fingers trace circles on the bone of your shoulders. “I mean, they’re practically pointless. And either way–”
With his long reach, he grabs his phone off the nightstand. He pulls up an article, illustrating the likelihood of him successfully inseminating you. 
“See?” he says. “It’s not a factor.”
Unwilling to let whatever strange funk you’ve entered ruin the afterglow of your orgasm, you nod again. You turn your head halfway, smiling. Of course, without missing a beat, Damian kisses you sweetly. 
To hell with the condom. And to hell with getting stuck in your head. Lord knows you overthink everything. It’s as Damian says. 
His fingers dance on your abdomen, and it tickles. 
It’s impossible.
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thebibliosphere · 2 months
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I’ve talked about this with some friends, but the whole Spotify/audiobook drama legitimately makes me want to cry.
If you are unaware, earlier in the month, Spotify, who now owns FindawayVoices -- an audiobook distributor and one of the only major rivals to Audible on the creator end -- announced that their ToS would be updating.
The ToS updates were horrendous and basically allowed Spotify to make royalty-free translations of our works, as well as create derivatives, and basically just fuck us all over and feed all of our hard work into AI.
The backlash was so swift that less than 12 hours later, Spotify sent out a panicked “Sorry our wording wasn’t clear!” email with a promised update. Less than 24 hours later they issued a statement walking back the changes to the ToS, and have since been pulling a “we never said that, you misread our unclear verbiage” when in reality the verbiage was very clear (Not Spotify trying to pull a “gaslight gatekeep girl boss ✌️”), they just didn't expect to get dragged out into the metaphorical court of social media and get publicly annihilated with authors withdrawing their work from the platform and customers canceling their subscriptions left right and center.
Anyway, the walk back was acceptable enough for me to not feel the need to remove my work entirely from FindAway -- which is good because I would have lost access to the global audiobook market if I had, not to mention global library access. Which, again, is good. A significant chunk of my audiobook earnings comes from Libby, and I’d honestly be lost without that $20 every month. (we get paid quarterly but it breaks out to about $20 a month.)
What the walk back was not good enough for, was for me to trust them to keep streaming Hunger Pangs on their Spotify streaming service. Because quite frankly, I don't trust them not to pull some more ToS bullshit, and this is the part making me want to cry.
Why? Because I’m going through my royalty reports, and for the single month of December 2023 alone, Hunger Pangs was streamed so often it earned $400.
In one month.
That's more than I earn from Audible in a year.
That's more than I earn from kobo, b&n, libby, libro.fm and several author distributors combined in a year.
I’m going to scream.
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boxbug · 7 months
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A Canary’s Final Flight
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My piece for @trafficzine 4th edition! Get it for free here! 200 pages of excellent art and fics, incredible work from all participants and from the mods especially!! huge shoutout to the mods for real
Process notes under the cut! (I struggled a lot so it's a bit of a novel)
So the entire process was a Ride. I knew when I picked this prompt that I was going to have a hard time, because Jimmy’s final death had been illustrated a billion times over by extremely talented artists. But I had a Vision of the snapshot of the second before the impact, when everything is still but you know what’s about happen. It was very much inspired by the clip of Fog by Jabberwocky, bu the thing is, they have the advantage of all the build up of the fall, and that’s when the trouble started.
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This was my first version, and obviously it wasn't working. And I was trying so hard, with so many iterations! Small wings, big wings, no wings, different poses, less backgrounds elements. I'd done compositions were everything seemed peaceful but something is Wrong, but it wasn't working this time.
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So instead I focused on what rendering I'd like to do - I tried a painterly approach, for that visceral feeling, but it wasn't working either (but hey, I did keep the red sky, so, progress)
At this point I'd been doing back and forths for weeks and I was just as lost as at the start. Now that's my tip for people who make art of any kind, in situations like that, stop thinking about how you can make the best piece possible, and think about you can have fun with it (because when you aren't it's visible). And for that was, 1 - going back to using ink and pen nibs and doing way too detailed inking, and 2- looking at Dave McKean's covers for Sandman (which, funnily enough, was also a reference for my previous trafficzine piece)
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And from there I was actually going somewhere! Between the jagged rocks, the red sky, and the increased verticality with the borders, I had hit the vibes I wanted.
I did some experimentation with the border, and even though I really liked the bad boys I drew they were taking too much away from the lonely desolation, so I actually used Red (Unecessary Redstone)'s idea of all of Jimmy's worldy's possessions scattered on the ground post impact, with the idea to make it looks like the central image is his grave being dug.
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(and yes for a short amount of time the were supposed to be clock markings on the sun, but there was already enough going with the wings so I scrapped that) (also fun fact the reason why the wings aren't fully material but more ghostly is because my toddler cousin was watching me draw the very first draft and asked why he didn't just use his wings and i went :( so the wings are a metaphor now)
So from there I found a bunch of picture and took some myself, cut and assembled everything together, added shadows in all the appropriate places, and repainted some elements so that everything would look better intergrated (some of the wheats are basically 100% handpainted, the cardboard as well). This took a suprisingly long amount of time, but I was done!
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Well I wasn't expecting to have that much to say, but I hope if you're still reading, it was at least interesting!
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inkskinned · 9 months
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it just sucks because nothing is ever fucking made for you, and if it is made for you like 75% of the time it gets chopped into little pieces by every person alive because this is the one thing you have, so it has to prove itself to you.
like, a thing can't just be for women. men need to assign it to women. women have to experience "must" or "should" before their hobbies and passions - women are allowed to do silly, passive things like tuck our ankles and titter behind a fan, or something. women are allowed to, they are welcomed to. like the world is a house and we are supposed to be in the kitchen and now we are being given the divine right to enter the living room if we bring chips
because when it becomes for you, or about you, that is when the thing is vile. you should/must wear makeup so you can appear beautiful to men. once you wear makeup for yourself, or because you yourself enjoy putting it on, then you are no longer doing the right thing. there is a reason men hate certain fashion trends. there is a reason men hate things like the pumpkin spice latte - because it's not about them. you are buying it because it is good for you. they degrade your passions and interests. there is a reason women-led fields are largely seen as being "not a real" profession. when you are a good cook, that is because you can provide for him. close your eyes. you're not going to be a chef, be honest. that is a man making food for himself.
bras are made so breasts will be appealing to men. they are rarely about comfort or support. you have given up entirely on the idea of pockets. young girls have to worry about a shorter inseam on their shorts. a girl on instagram gets her septum pierced, and men in the comments are rabid about it - i just want to rip it out of her face. she'd be beautiful without it.
and fucking everything is for them. even the media that is "for you" is for them, eventually. remember "my little pony"? remember how hard it is to convince any executive to believe that little girls are worth selling to? in the media that is for you, you see little ways that you still need to make it accessible for them - the man is always powerful, smart, masculine. he is a man's man. the media usually forgives him. it usually says okay, some men are awful, but hey! gotta love 'em. because if you don't hold their hands and say "this is literally just a story about my lived reality", they shit their pants about it. they demand you put them into the media that's for you.
these are people who are so used to glutting themselves on the world. they are used to having every corner and every dollar and every place of leadership. so you say can i please have one slice of cake, just for myself, please, holy shit. and they fucking weep about it. they say you're being unfair, because some of their one-thousand-slices aren't beautiful, and your singular cake slice doesn't have their name on it. and aren't you being rude by not offering to share?
and honestly. fucking - yeah, man. you were kind of surprised, because the cake is a little basic (you bake at home, you're way past this stuff). but holy shit, it was nice just to be offered cake in the first place. you're used to having to starve. you're used to getting nothing, but going to the party anyway, because you're expected (professionally) to show up. you liked that it is a simple cake, and that it is warm, and mostly: you like that there is, for once, a cake-for-you.
in the real world, outside of metaphor, it feels like fucking being slapped. barbie didn't even say anything particularly unusual; it literally just made factually evident points. there are less women in leadership than men. we can look at that fact objectively. that is a real thing that is happening. and the movie is aware that it has to defend itself! that it has to spend like half an hour just turning to the camera and saying: i know this is hard for you to understand, but this is a real thing that women experience.
it's just - this is that one kid on the playground who thinks its allowed to hog all the toys. he builds this hoard that nobody else is allowed to even look at, or he'll get aggressive. everyone's a little scared of him, so they let it slide, because his daddy gave him the golden touch. he hates when people cry and thinks bullying is cool. he writes boys only! on a big sign and makes all his friends take "alpha male" classes.
and then girls pick up barbies, because there was nothing left for them. and in the void they've been given, with their scraps: they make long, spiraling narratives about how barbie is actually descended from snakes and has given her righteous followers magical (if concerning) powers and can speak 32 languages (2 of which are animal related) and has big plans for infrastructure (beginning with the local interstate). and the boy comes over, and he has a huge fit about how the girls aren't "including" him. he wants to know why the girls aren't making the story about ken.
"we didn't like your story." the girls blink at him. they point to his war stories and the gi joes and the millions of male-led narratives and how still in the modern day men get two-thirds of the speaking roles in movies and they point to men making mediocre shows that don't get lambasted and they point to men encouraging toxic masculinity and they point to men everywhere, men and men and men. and they say: "how is this our fault? you had ken."
"no!" he is already back to screaming and stomping his feet and tearing at his hair and intentionally reminding them that men are holding back thinly concealed violence and he says: "if it's not for me, it's actually sexism."
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omegalomania · 1 year
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people bitching and moaning about fob "turning mainstream" as if that was never the entire point of fall out boy. that's In the goddamn dna of the band, it's baked into the ethos of why the band started in the first damn place. to be accessible to kids and especially to girls, who were often ridiculed and shunted out of the hardcore community. to be a gateway to bands that aren't as mainstream. to comment on the society they live in, as they live in it. people act like fall out boy "turning mainstream" was some kind of "betrayal" when from the start they were seizing on the trends of the time, putting their unique, unhinged fall out boy spin on them, and shooting them back out as a funhouse mirror. take this to your grave capitalized on the pop-punk zeitgeist that was big in the late 90s and early aughts and put their own spin on it: enmeshed catchy choruses with high-dexterity lyrical & linguistic skewerwork. infinity on high was basically a massive critique of the scene they were in - this ain't a scene it's a goddamn arm's race is a fucking thesis statement on what it is to be catapulted into fame in an industry that wants nothing more than a thousand cookie-cutter copycat acts of a successful formula, and fall out boy WAS the formula everyone desperately wanted to emulate. american beauty / american psycho blended sampling and modern hip-hop stylings with polished pop-rock and pointed those songs back at the snapshot of the 2010s we all lived in: commenting on racial injustice and the freeze-frame nature of relevancy. but even then they weren't doing it quite right - because fall out boy never does things quite right, they're never quite conventional, whether it's wentz's darkly confessional lyrics double-bagged in metaphor or stump's distinctive clear tenor or trohman's inescapable rock 'n roll edge or hurley's thunderous hardcore-punk-rock soul.
this band has always been too clever for its own critics, is the thing. but then, they always knew that. they knew they had a thriving fanbase of largely female fans so they were going to be mocked and belittled and ridiculed. they weren't quite right. they weren't quite so easy to market. pete wentz had to have all his hard edges filed off and cut down to size, skin lightened, literally whitewashed ("i feel like a photo that's been overexposed") to hell and back, even as he was marketed as the pretty boy of the band. and the other three members never even bothered with the spotlight: the soft-spoken vegan straightedge anarchist drummer and the wry, wisecracking, whip-clever guitarist who was more concerned with being the connective tissue than anything and the reticent vocalist who sang the words and wrote an awful lot of music but wasn't really the guy fronting the band. wentz's charisma carried the band, because the rest of them were really just some guys and never aspired to be anything else.
fall out boy is too pop. fall out boy is too mainstream. fall out boy isn't the real poster child of the emo movement. other bands are better. even within fall out boy's own narrative, they are repeatedly ignored, sidelined, and belittled, as though they weren't one of the only acts from the big 00s emo-pop movement to successfully not just survive the transition from the aughts to the '10s, and then later from the '10s to the '20s, but to thrive in it without banking on nostalgia. this band was supposed to be a flash in the pan. they weren't supposed to last and they weren't supposed to get big. they started off in joe's parents' attic because joe and pete were sick of how exclusionary and homophobic the hardcore scene was.
i think it's high time that people acknowledge how fall out boy has repeatedly succeeded where most of their other peers failed. cunning, clever, capable, and hyper-aware of the space they occupy in the culture surrounding them. that they are just as powerful, important, and artistic as any of the other bands in the scene that others might deify at their expense. that they deserve a hell of a lot more respect than they get from critics or hardcore punks who think they sold out. i hope one day they get that recognition. because they've earned it, time and time again, and the more i see people pushing back against that, the more certain i become of its inevitability.
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g3l3mb · 1 year
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how to generate creative ideas:
(i need to get this out of my brain)
Make moodboards, playlists, keep a list of people who inspire you. Before starting a project think about the general vibe you want it to embody. Ask questions like “What would this concept sound like if it was a song?” ,“What would this concept be like if it was a person?”. Create a shirt that looks like a building you like, literally anything can be combined.
Take unrelated things or concepts and mix them together. Let’s take Addams Family as an example. “What if it was a story about a typical suburban family…but GOTH!”. It basically flips everything upside down. Or “What outfit would someone wear, who’s personality is the mix of the vibes of these two songs?” Random word generators are amazing for this if you don’t know where to start from.
Try making something truly BAD and then add a twist to it. It’s a great way for your brain to let go of expectations and then think outside of the box. But you can also use this to find out what you do not wanna do under any circumstances.
Think without worrying about the limits of what you can do and when it’s time for excecution, find a way around what’s impossible. It births more creativity and adds uniqueness.
Consider what your idea is NOT before considering what it is. Limits are the best way to avoid getting overwhelmed and giving up. Don’t ALWAYS do this though (unless you wanna…), it’s just something to try out when you feel like you’re seeing too many possibilities to the point that they’re contradicting each other. Unless your goal is to make something full of contradictions, you’re a Free Man, do whatever you want.
Keep a list of random ideas you have throughout the day in your notes app or something and then at some point actually review them. Keep what you think is worth exploring and then act on it.
Find out how something works very throughoutly so you know which aspect can be changed to create something new.
Take a concept and break it down into smaller concepts, ideas, questions, key elements and then also break those ideas down etc. This will naturally lead to associations, unique ideas you wouldn’t think of without doing this. I found that this is a great way of coming up with metaphors.
This one is similar to the last two: take a piece of art you really love and try to find out the thought process behind. What’s the story, where did the artist get inspiration from, how did they incorporate those ideas in their work. How did an artist combine their personal interests and knowledge into one big thing. For example: Tolkien was an erudite linguist, so much so that he created entire functional languages in his work, such as Elvish in Lord of the Rings. Hirohiko Araki loves 80’s music so much he named characters in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure after music references. This is why no knowledge is useless knowledge.
Think about the times you’ve been the most creative before. What were the specific circumstances? For me my best ideas always come when I have a strict deadline for something unrelated, like school (which I’m way too willing to sacrifice), or when I’m doing something mindless like walking and listening to music, or playing a game that requires no thinking. Most of the time after 10p.m. This doesn’t mean I can’t “force” myself to be creative (tips above), it just means these are the times ideas come most naturally. For some people this might be being out in nature or experiencing high emotions, maybe having their life on the line idk, to each their own.
You can’t just create. You also need to consume. The more information you absorb, the more possibilities you have with your ideas. So if you’re not feeling that creative, that’s fine, it’s the perfect opportunity to learn something new.
If you don’t already do these things and you’re looking to get more creative my advice is to ACTUALLY TRY THESE OUT. You’ll best understand them in action.
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Yeah okay but Murderbot literally stores ART's comm in its heart. Like. ART's comm is stored under its ribs. And ART's last actions before it got basically fucking killed were to, to hide itself in such a way that only Murderbot could find it. It knew Murderbot would save it. Murderbot, who "does not care" and doesn't like emotions, had an emotional breakdown and went on a rampage when it thought ART was dead. It trusted ART to clear it of the alien malware. ART kept it company in the decontamination/isolation box. ART threated to bomb an entire planet to save Murderbot. ART would have done it, it was ART's first plan. This massive AI bot pilot. Hyperintelligent. Everything at its metaphorical fingerprints. Its friend was held hostage and it made itself missiles and threatened to bomb a planet to get it back. Murderbot keeps a lifeline to ART in its heart.
Your honour, they are ride-or-dies. They are best friends. They are soulmates. Murderbot keeps ART in its heart. I'm screaming.
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matan4il · 5 days
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Just came across this. I'm more appalled when people dismiss others for expressing any sympathies to Israel. In fact, I recall a fanartist who, in reaction of a voice actor Rob Paulsen expressing sympathy for Israel and the hostages, denounced him as a Zionist and drew Donnie supporting Palestine.
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When Jews or Israelis express their pain, if the reaction is to start making number-based comparisons, as if that resolves the entire question of "who do we get to feel for" (like we can't feel for innocents on both sides), it's just self-exposing people as lacking any real human empathy, or care about all human life.
It's as if you told someone you're hurting because your mom died, and their reaction would be, "Who cares? You should are more about your neighbor's pain, who just lost FIVE cousins. Not just one realtive, but FIVE! So that's the only thing we should all care about, yourself included!"
That is NOT a normal reaction, it IS devoid of empathy and basic human decency, and it IS mind boggling that this even has to be explained to people.
...Not to mention that if we really wanted to try and make the metaphor work in terms of context as well, then it would be like if you were being told that you should care more about your neighbor's pain over losing five cousins than about your own mom's death, when two of the cousins are known to be responsible for having murdered your mom, and it's very likely someone in that family is exaggerating about how many cousins have died, and that same relative also keeps promising that soon enough, they'd murder you, too.
I hope you're okay and taking care of yourself, lovely! xoxox
(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)
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stickandthorn · 1 year
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I was rewatching some of the Aeor episodes of C2 recently, and I forgot just how much Caleb and Essek were Like That in their average conversations. Every time they spoke was like “I’m using magic and the war between our respective countries we both have complex feelings about as a metaphor for our relationship but it’s veiled in 6 layers of obscure side speak and discussing atonement and redemption as deeply personal and multilayered quasi-flirting.” The sexual tension requires a literature degree to fully parse and even then it’s iffy if you can get the entire meaning. They were both deeply fucked up magic prodigies and I guess that’s their favorite wavelength to communicate on, that and staring deeply into each other’s eyes. More meaning and certainly more layers of subtext is conveyed through their average casual greeting than is conveyed through a full semester of any given undergrad class. They basically do sexy philosophy dissertations about their sins at each other. Also everyone else at the table constantly watches like 👀👀👀 while happens. It’s beautiful.
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big-tiddy-bi · 1 year
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Without ao3 I became inspired. Ok so being tired of the justice league not helping/believing brakes into the tower while a meeting is taking place to show one of the heroes what is happening I.E. you failed and don’t come here we don’t want you, we don’t need you. You come here and you will be treated as a super villain and dealt with as such.
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Danny was sick, tired and powerful. A dangerous combination for most peoples. Myths and legends written throughout every religion every people every and every world based on gods feeling those exact things, and that is the thing Danny closest too, not ghost, not human, but a god. Even if he does not himself as such.
Today was the justice league’s last chance, Walker had decided to change up his tactics. Instead of going after Danny directly he was going to play dirty. Imprisoning 300 living for ”harboring a fugitive”. The justice league was called, one last chance before thing got out of hand. 300 people held captive in another dimension should be a priority for a group called the justice league.
Their response “the justice league contact system should only be used for emergencies, pranks will not be tolerated”. a simple response. directed and to the point. A metaphorical death sentence for the justice league and the people of amity’s faith in them.
No one died, thank the ancients, but blood was spilled. Red and green fell to the floor like water from the large cuts on Danny’s arms and the side of his torso, he was mostly fine, a couple stitches, about a gallon of filtered ectoplasm and a trip to the nasty burger had fixed him up. Meaning that every time he tried to move his arms he felt like he was being stabbed and he could not breathe without pain, which in all fairness was kind of normal for him, it sucked but it was normal.
The real problem was the 300 people I’m the hospital, ecto contamination, not to the extent of being fatal but extremely painful. That could have been avoided if Danny had more help than just his team of 4 other teenage vigilantes and his adult sister.
So after that fiasco Danny did something, else, something more political, he mad deals. With permission from the most important people in town the ones who keeps everything running, IE Mr lancer and Jazz. He also got permission from the mayor, bribed with Danny going to a Green Bay packers game with him.
Johnny 13 and kitty could joy ride before 12 am and after 9am as long as property damage stays at a minimum, a couple smashed mailboxes, broken windows and spray painted cars/buildings paid for by the mayors office was better than bad luck to the entire town and people disappearing.
Skulked got to hunt Danny in a building made for that purpose, Spector-cameras installed in it so people could stream it live to “witness the greatest hunter of the ghost zone”.
Ember got to play her music and travel on tour as she pleased as long as she didn’t mind control people.
Some wouldn’t take the deals but most of the heavy hitters did, it calmed down a lot, but as they say it the calm before the storm.
With the viewers of the “ghost battles” (it was basically a game of extreme tag) and embers fans talking, the ghost situation became a known thing
And again the justice league responded. “we will be there in a month”
No apologies for not believing them no apologies for not helping, just a we are on our way 8 months after the incident and they were going to be there 9 months after. All the people where health again, Walker was punished, locked in his haunt for the next 100 years. The justice league has nothing to do. They have no point in coming to amity. Where they just going to show up, say “sorry for not helping you, welp peace” and then just leave.
Maybe that was the point, that though crossed Danny’s mind as he read the message out loud to his team. They didn’t have any to do, a vanity project, help the small community that they abandoned so that the people don’t go blabbing to the papers, a pr move.
Sam and Valerie had voiced the same opinions on what the justice league was doing. The rest of the team agreed after a short conversation.
This led to Tucker hacking the league computer system to find the next meeting date and we’re it would be held. “Unhackabal my ass” and a plan was made.
So here he is, invisible, intangible and floating above the justice league. Batman walked up to the podium and began to present.
“8 and a half months ago the league got a report of 300 people being kidnapped and sent to the ghost dimension, this was believed to be a prank and filled as such, we were wrong” he said while clicking through slides, some of medical reports of the victims, some of the photos taken of him helping people out of the portal next to the hospital he mad to help the victims faster. Then he said “ this is the city’s resident hero team” the next slide showing the picture of Danny, Sam , Wes, Valerie, tucker and jazz receiving the key to the city. 
“We one know of this misstep because of videos posted online of phantom pictured here” he pointed an Danny receiving the key, another picture of him helping a man to the hospital appeared “and here”
“Do we know who trained them they don’t look older than sixteen” Wonder Woman asked. Before batman could answer Danny revealed himself, though he made his skin slightly translucent to show his bones, it was all part of the plan.
He floated down to the floor and looked directly at her “we trained ourselves”
He turned to face the whole room. “ I am not here to fight you” he said as a couple of hero quickly moved from their seats. “ I came to warn you”
He took in a breath “ I came to warn you, stay out of amity and stay in your lane.” He put a small amount of his ghostly wale into his voice, just enough to shake up their hearts. “ we don’t need you. We don’t WANT you” he cold the room slowly a couple degrees a word. “ do not ask around for us ghosts, do not look for us, if you find one of us. RUN.” He dropped his voice louder as emphasis. “ if you find one of us causing trouble, send us a message, but otherwise don’t acknowledge us or amity, the dead have nothing to give to you” his eyes became fussy staring at nothing green tears fell out of his eyes,and his Lichtenberg scars began to glow Ice blue, but his voice did not waver,.“ you may not have killed us yourself but you signed our death warrant long ago, you have ignored us far to long” is voice soften at the last word.
Then his eyes turns red, as fast as he could he pulled Superman out of his chair and pushed him to the wall. Danny’s hand went intangible as he pushed in into Superman’s chest. His hand wrapped around Superman’s heart, Danny soften the intangibility so Superman could fell the hand but not get hurt. “I can rip your heart out without a single fight” his skin became entirely invisible to show his skeleton. “To all of amity” Superman’s breathing quickened “to me” he move close to Superman’s ear “you are villains, and will be treated as such” he dropped Superman to the floor.
“Stay in your domain and I’ll stay in mine” ice began to form at his feet, looking mor like crystals than ice. “Come to us with please of forgiveness is as pointless as asking of it from your god” ectoplasm dripped from his mouth onto the floor. “Do not come to amity” and with that he went invisible again and watched the room in amusement. He was kinda freaking out at how awesome he sounded.
A couple minutes of silence followed. As John Constantine entered the room, “what did I miss?”
———————-
Hope y’all like it <3 Sorry for spelling mistakes. I don’t think this need trigger warnings but if you think so please comment so I can add them. I started writing this and I couldn’t stop. If only I had that energy for the original story’s I want to write lol Have a nice day/night and drink some liquids that aren’t caffeinated and/or poisonous <3
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dekusleftsock · 7 months
Text
Dekus no good, very bad, faceplant into masculinity and internalized homophobia
I made this a thought post from chapter 402 originally, but I can’t let these thoughts fester any longer. Gotta be correct about it 🫶🫶🫶
Alright so when I originally talked about this on a couple of platforms (not just tumblr, tiktok too and a bit on Twitter that has no connection to this account lmao) I feel like people told me that I was “stretching” with my assumptions.
But then Toga’s backstory being told to Ochako was… directly referenced to a queer allegory. And in 394, she directly says that she likes girls. It’s the thing said last, implying it’s something she’s still ashamed of feeling.
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This chapter basically confirmed in my mind that Himiko’s blood quirk was the equivalent to the homophobia that was probably in her own household. And in my mind, that means that blood quirk = metaphor on her queer experience.
And then suddenly, the pieces clicked into place.
In 348, Izuku disagrees with Himiko and Ochako’s ideals—not only at the idea of girly romance, but also at unconventional romance.
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Ochako has distanced herself due to Izuku’s inability to confront his own feelings. Shown both physically and metaphorically.
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Ochako took all the steps to walk away because from Izuku. Because Izuku held her back.
Or more rather, she realized that Izuku was no allmight, but rather just an average boy in need of saving as anyone else. He is someone who’s flaws cannot align with Ochako’s own ideals for a relationship.
Because ochako is weird.
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Izuku holds her back. She can’t be everything she needs to be while around him.
And that’s something Izuku’s not going to understand, not like how she needs him to understand.
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And Himiko knows who Ochako is on a more fundamental level than Izuku ever will, and that’s okay.
I feel like whenever I talk about these character flaws having to do with Izuku, it almost sounds like I’m bashing him? I swear, I’m not, it makes complete sense as to why he is this way. And there are people (Katsuki) in the world who can have this in a relationship under the right communication, and some people can’t. And that’s just how we exist. That’s okay. We don’t all have to be compatible with everyone.
Back to the main point, the pieces and the people putting those pieces together were starting to see their parallels.
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Even the manga placement parallels them, especially with how clever I feel horikoshi can be with his paneling.
Looking down, looking up. Both three quarter angles. Small mouth expression, big mouth expression. And that blush.
Fake smile when unhappy. Falling for someone who is dying, who you’d do anything for, even toe the line of death defending them, fixing them—just because you can’t help but love someone you wish had walked into your life sooner (or in Izuku’s case, accepted into your life sooner).
Someone you’d sacrifice for. Someone you’re violent for. Someone you’d kill for.
Someone you’d rather let an entire population of people die for than live without.
Someone you’re undeniably, unequivocally, selfish for.
And yet Izuku doesn’t recognize his same symptoms of love through Himiko Toga as Ochako does.
Himiko must be dehumanized to Izuku, because if she’s a person, then she is him.
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(What’s even more interesting about this panel, is that if the characters were reversed and it was about Izuku’s violent feelings over protecting Katsuki, danger sense would be going off constantly. So toga is the perfect counter, but Izuku is the ultimate weakness.)
So, okay, how exactly do these things matter? How does this have to do with Izuku’s own personal struggle over his masculinity?
I think what’s important to clarify here is that when I say “internalized homophobia”, I don’t mean that he necessarily is beating himself up over the fact that he likes a boy instead of a girl.
I think it’s connected to his fear of rejection, and his own personal issues having to do with remaining a “strong man” instead of a “weak man”.
Izuku may not believe that liking men is anyone’s business but his own, but does Katsuki think that?
Izuku has called his feelings of admiration gross. Not that he himself is an awful person for feeling them, but that Katsuki will be the one to think they’re gross. And he’s worked so hard to get to this point in their relationship, he doesn’t wanna let it go over some stupid feelings.
And this is where toga comes into the picture, his parallels between her, because just how is Toga supposed to know that Ochako isn’t judging her for her feelings? Technically, all of the things she’s said before the final fight between them have only proved the inevitable. That Toga is gross, a freak, a predator, a danger, because she loves a woman.
How is Izuku supposed to interpret being called a stalker by Katsuki? How is he supposed to interpret when people call him creepy for his muttering and analyzation? How is he supposed to interpret being called a crybaby by his idol, Katsuki, and everyone else when he cannot control that?
How can he handle feelings that are out of his control, and still believe that they’re okay?
And at the very least, even if homophobia doesn’t exist in mha, heteronormativity does. Especially shown through Ashido, a straight girl.
None of that is necessarily Allmight, Katsuki, or even Ochako’s fault, because of course they’re just teasing him—but it doesn’t change the fact that it affects how he perceives himself.
So when I say that Izuku has problems with internalized homophobia, I mean that he is afraid of how the people around him will perceive him, than a constant feeling of self hatred due to not liking women.
And when I say that his internalized homophobia is an extension of his masculinity, I mean that because he has no confidence in himself and his more vulnerable emotions, he is unable to accept what or who he is. This ofc affects the people around him, like saying that Ochako CANT be weird because she’s just “so amazingly normal” without realizing that he’s just downplaying who she is and what she thinks, or dehumanizing the most openly queer character in the series because it benefits the perception he has of himself, or even silently rejecting Katsuki’s feelings simply out of a need to “control his heart and control his quirk”.
In Izuku’s mind, the only way to keep Katsuki is to not be the weird kid he was in his childhood. In a way, Izuku is still performing for Katsuki.
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harlowcomehome · 3 months
Text
Love somebody like you:
Gif by @harlowgifs
⚠️: Intoxication.
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Jack hadn’t responded to your texts in a few days, which was abnormal considering the two of you had been inseparable the last few months.
You had only worked with Chris and Neelam for a few months when Jack's entire world imploded, and he needed an unbiased point of view.
He gravitated towards you immediately, the two of you spending massive amounts of time together.
It was purely platonic, at least on Jack's end. He had been going through an emotional and rocky divorce and you had been his shoulder to cry on both metaphorically and physically.
You knew it was wrong to be attached to him, especially at a time when he was so vulnerable but you’d take whatever attention he was willing to give you.
You were starting to worry, especially when you showed up to the office and realized that nobody had heard from him all weekend.
He always checked in especially when it came to work-related commitments, which was something he rarely if ever put on the back burner.
“Maggie said he isn’t even answering her calls” Neelam sighed, looking to Chris for suggestions.
“We know he’s alive because he’s been using his credit cards” You chimed in, it was your job to organize and control his finances.
“I think you should stop by his place” Chris turned to you, Neelam nodding in agreement. The two of them thought you were good for Jack, knowing he didn’t confide in a lot of people and realizing how quickly he seemed to trust you.
“Me? Why me?”
“You’re basically his best friend” Neelam shrugged as she shuffled through some legal documents for the umpteenth time.
You hated that strings of words “best friend” when it came to Jack. What did that even mean? You might be HIS best friend but he was more than that to you.
You left the office immediately trying his phone for the third time today, and getting his voicemail box, making the pit of your stomach ache.
“Come on, Jack” you sucked your teeth before ordering an Uber to his place, the drive wasn’t far from the office.
You had wondered what was going on with him, the last time you saw one another he had been seemingly doing better.
When you got to his apartment building, you could hear music blaring from inside his place.
His neighbor Janet was just arriving home, dressed in her white doctor coat. She eyed you up and down before recognizing you, and giving you a soft smile.
“He’s been like that for a few days now.”
You thanked her for the information before pushing your way inside, unlocking his door with the emergency key he had given you a few weeks back.
His house was in shambles, cereal bowls and pizza boxes everywhere. You could tell he had company and likely a lot of it, he was snoring on the couch, in a tank top that was stained, likely with pizza sauce and mucus from all his tears.
Your heart broke, knowing this wasn’t like him at all. You cleaned up as best as you could without making much noise, finally shutting off his music that was far too loud in the first place before you walked over to him.
You gently shook him, startling him awake as he instinctively wiped the drool from his face.
“Y/N? What’re you doing here?” He sat up quickly on the couch, covering his mouth with his hand.
“What’re you doing?” You laughed at his wide eyes and startled facial expression, his mind barely realizing how you could’ve got inside.
“I can’t remember the last time I brushed my teeth.” He was embarrassed to admit it, realizing now that his entire place was in shambles. His curls were matted and greasy and he had a stench of body odor and booze radiating off of him.
“Go take a shower and then we’ll talk?” You had this calming aura about you that he found magnetic, meaning he was happy to agree.
He got up and went to his primary bedroom to take a shower while you filled trash bags up with empty food containers.
When he finally emerged from the bedroom he was in clean clothes and had enough cologne on to wilt a small garden. He was embarrassed at the state you found him in, hoping you’d forget it soon enough.
“You didn’t have to help me. I would’ve done it” he scratched the back of his neck as he realized the three giant trash bags full of trash.
“Respectfully? Shut up” you giggled, making him loosen up too as he matched your energy with a chuckle.
He nervously tied the trash bags shut, knowing what your follow-up question would be. The two of you had agreed on a phrase, letting you know if he had interacted with his ex-wife recently.
“Did you relapse?” You avoided his eye contact knowing his emotional icy eyes would affect you.
“No, I mean- sort of” he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Truthfully he knew how you felt about him, he knew that you were falling for him but he also knew he wasn’t in the position to be in a committed relationship and he selfishly didn’t want to lose your companionship.
Your breathing changed, you knew you'd have to bite back tears as he explained the last few days in detail. You turned to face him, faking a smile.
“Lay it on me.” You poured yourself a glass of wine, following him to the couch that desperately needed to be febreezed.
“Can you pour me one too?” Jack asked noticing you had only pulled one glass out of the cabinet.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea” you mumbled and he silently agreed before taking a seat on the couch.
Jack went into detail about how his ex-wife showed up Friday evening and spoke about how she and him spent that night christening every room in his new apartment.
You winced knowing just how awful she had been to him the last few months. He had cried on your lap too many times, and you were frustrated that he entertained her yet again.
You tried not to outright show your disapproval, but he felt it anyway.
“I know, I know” he sighed, sitting back on the couch. “But that’s completely done now” he reassured you, reaching for your knee and giving it a light squeeze.
“Didn’t you move here so she didn’t have your address?” You downed the rest of the wine in your glass, knowing you were likely leaving sooner than expected.
“What are you? My mother?” He laughed, partly joking but with a slight tone of annoyance.
“No but speaking of she’s been worried sick about you.”
He rolled his eyes, scoffing at how this conversation had taken a turn. His family was always a touchy subject.
“Tell her I’m alive, I really don’t want to talk to anyone right now.” He yawned, something about his demeanor changed and you could tell he was irritated with you.
“Is that why you’ve been ignoring everyone’s calls?” You’d admit that it came out a little more hot-tempered than you initially wanted it to.
“Well I mean- on Saturday we just went right back to hating one another so I threw a party here and I’ve been tired. What does it even matter?” he was defensive.
“A party?”
“I had to get over her somehow” he shrugged, pushing your buttons purposefully now.
You felt the feelings of intense jealousy creeping up on you. You channeled it into disapproval, standing up and handing him his dead cell phone that was on his messy glass coffee table.
“You might want to charge that” you bitterly replied, looking for your purse that you had set aside as you walked in.
“Are you mad that it was her? Or mad that it isn’t you?” Jack staggered to his feet, swaying a bit.
You were frozen, wondering if you had heard him correctly. You swiftly turned to him, tracing his facial expressions with your eyes.
“Did you think I didn’t know?” He chuckled, and you realized he had to still be pumped with liquid courage from the night before, this wasn’t like him.
“Shut up. You’re being an asshole” your voice trembled, tears fighting to escape you.
“It’s not my fault you’re in love with me” he shrugged, a smirk spread across his face.
“I’m not in love with you. Why would I be in love with someone like you?” You finally found your purse and stood by the door getting ready to leave.
He was taken aback by that comment, his ego bruised from his fresh divorce.
“I- I mean. Are you not?”
“I’d never love someone like you” you lied. You lied with everything you had, knowing you had to be convincing as you slammed the door shut to his apartment and burst into tears in his hallway.
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