GUITAR HERE!!

So, I'm writing an essay on the whole STATE of misogyny in WC for one of my university classes, and I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of things! No pressure of course, please feel free to say no!

A) Could I reference your good takes with appropriate harvard referencing and links back to your blog?

B) Are there any specific moments from the books that you think should be covered the most?

C) The end result will be a visual essay, so it's like those fun infographics people on Tumblr make on like ADHD and stuff, so when it's done, would you like to be tagged to read it?

(Sorry for anon, I'm nervous lmao, but if you'd be more comfortable I'll resend this off anon)

AAY good topic! You've got a lot to work with. Absolutely feel free to reference anything I've written, and tag me when you're done.

While you're here and about to write something so legitimate, I'm also going to recommend you check out Sunnyfall's video on gender in Warrior Cats. She breaks down the arcs into numbers, directly comparing the amount of lines mollies have to toms, and examining the archetypes women are usually allowed to be.

I think it's a must-have citation in a paper about WC misogyny.

...and, I think it's insightful to look at the WCRP Forum thread about the video. Note how the respondents immediately come into the thread to complain about how the video is too long so they didn't watch it, dismissing Sunnyfall as not being entertaining enough to hold their attention, even whining that she starts with statistics to prove her point, which I'm convinced she did exactly because they would have cried that she "had no evidence" if she didn't.

I am not a scholar, so I don't know how to document or prove that the books have an impact on the audience outside of anecdotes. But I think if you do write a section about fandom, it would be worth mentioning the in-universe and metatextual apologia for Ashfur and its reflection in the real world discourse, the authorial killing of Ferncloud because of fan complains, and the utter defensiveness against the discussion of misogyny you see outside of Tumblr.

You may also want to check out Cheek by Jowl, a collection of 8 essays about sexism in xenofiction by Ursula K. Le Guin. There's a very unique manifestation of authorial bias in animal fiction, having a lot to do with how the author views "the natural world," and it's worth understanding even though Warrior Cats are so heavily anthropomorphized.

So... Warrior Cats Misogyny

I think discussing individual instances can be helpful, but I'd implore you to keep in mind what's REALLY bad about WC's misogyny is framing and the bigger picture.

Bumble's death is shocking and insulting, but it's not just that she died. It's that the POV Gray Wing sees her as a fat, useless bitch who took his mate so she deserves to be dragged back to a domestic abuser, and he's right because the writers love him so much. It's that Bumble's torture and killing only factors into how it's going to hurt a man's reputation.

It's how Clear Sky hitting, emotionally manipulating, or killing the following women,

Bright Stream (pressured into leaving her home and family)

Storm (controlled her movements and yelled at her in public)

Misty (killed for land, children stolen)

Bumble (beaten unconscious, blamed nonsensically on a fox)

Alder (child abuse, hit when she refused to attack her brother)

Falling Feather (scratched on the face, subjected to public abuse and humiliation)

Tall Shadow (thrown into murderous crowd, attacked on-sight in heaven)

Rainswept Flower ("blacked out" in anger and murdered in cold blood)

Moth Flight (scratched on the face for saying denying medical treatment is mean, taken hostage in retaliation against mother for the death of his own child, which he caused)

Willow Tail (eyes gouged out for "stirring up trouble")

Is seen as totally understandable, forgivable, or not even questioned at all, when killing Gray Wing in an act of rage would have been "one step too far" with the ridiculous Star Line.

"Kill me and live with the memory, and then let the stars know it would only matter if a single one of your murder victims was a man."

It's the way that fathers who physically abuse their kids out of their ego (Clear Sky, Sandgorse, Crowfeather) aren't treated anywhere near the same level of narrative disgust and revulsion the series has for "bad moms", even if they're displaying symptoms of a post-partum mood disorder (depression, anxiety, and rage), an umbrella of mental illnesses 20% of all new mothers experience but are heavily stigmatized with (Sparkpelt, Palebird, Lizardstripe).

It's Crookedstar's Promise giving him two evil maternal figures in a single book, while bending over backwards to make every man in a position of power still look likeable in spite of the fact they're enabling Rainflower's abuse. Leader Hailstar is soso sorry that he has to change Stormkit's name for some reason, in spite of leaders being unaccountable dictators the other 99% of the time, and Deputy Shellheart functionally does nothing to stop his own son from being abused or even do much parenting before or after the fact.

It's the way men's parental struggles are seen sympathetically, and they don't have to "pay for it" like their female counterparts (Crookedstar's PPD vs Sparkpelt's PPD, how Daisy and Cinders are held responsible for Smoky and Whisper being deadbeats, Yellowfang's endless guilt for killing her son vs Onestar's purpose in life to kill his own), even to the point where a father doesn't have to have raised their kids at all to have a magical innate emotional connection to them (Tree's father Root, Tom the Wifebeater, Tigerstar and Hawkfrost).

It's less speaking lines and agency for female characters, being reduced to accessories in the lives of their mates and babies, women getting less diversity in their personalities, with even major ex-POV characters eventually becoming "sweet mom" tropes.

You could zoom in on any one of these examples and have an amoeba try to argue with you that "Oh THIS makes sense because X" or "Ah well my headcanon perfectly explains this thing" or "MY mother/girlfriend was abusive/toxic/neglectful and I've decided that you are personally attacking ME by having issues with how a character was written or utilized," but the beleaguered point,

That I keep trying to hammer in, over and over, across books worth of posts,

Is that these are trends. More than just a couple one-off examples. It's the fabric that has been woven over years, showing a lack of interest in, or even active prejudice of, women on behalf of the writers.

LONG STANDING trends, which have only gotten worse as the series progressed. From Yellowfang being harshly punished with a born evil son who ruins her life in TPB and the mistreatment of Squirrelpaw that begins in TNP, all the way up to the 7 Fridgenings of DOTC and Sparkpelt's PPD being a major character motivator for her son Nightheart.

So, I would stress that in your paper, and structure it less as "the Sparkpelt slide" and "the Yellowfang slide," and more as "The paternal vs maternal abuse" slide, and "the violence against women" slide. They're really big issues, there's tons of examples for each individual thing.

Anyway to leave off on a funny, look at this scene in Darkest Hour that I find unreasonably hilarious,

"Everyone who matters to me; my truest friend, my sensible and loyal warrior, the wisest deputy I've ever known, and 2 women." -Firestar, glorious idiot

He can't even think of a single trait for either of them what the hell does "formidable pair" mean lmaooo, when I finished a reread about a year ago this line killed me on impact.

ok i've seen some posts about the tumblr alternative cohost but none that were actually helpful so!

(disclaimer: i am very new to this website. users who have been there longer can and should chime in with additions and/or corrections)

Cohost Introduction Post

What is cohost?

Cohost is a fledgling website that is essentially a tumblr clone, but with its own culture and site-specific features. It is also very much a work in progress. You are encouraged to talk in the cohost forum to suggest changes for devs, report bugs, and upvote other people's suggestions. This website WILL grow and change over time. And as such, I do not know if/when the information I share here will be outdated. Edit: To answer an ask I received, anyone can join cohost without an invite. It used to be invite-only. It is not this way anymore.

Is "adult content" allowed there?

Yes. Cohost is not on the app store, meaning that it is not subject to Apple's specifications. You can post illustrations, writing, and photographs (cohost does not support any video formats at this time, just gifs). Cohost has an elaborate filtering and trigger warning system (moreso than tumblr), and you can disable adult content for your entire account or for individual tags. I actually don't engage with the adult content at all on there. Visual CSEM (both real and fictional) is specifically forbidden (although frankly I think the guidelines could be stricter wrt written content. Still, does seem to handle this better than AO3 does, going as far to say that written content about real minors is forbidden.)

How are minors protected?

The minimum age to join cohost is 16, and requires proof of parental permission to join. Users who are under 18 are automatically age-gated and cannot view adult content.

If cohost isn't on the app store, how is it used?

You can, of course, use cohost on a computer, but it is designed with mobile in mind. Opening the website on any IOS browser, clicking "share", and then "add to home screen" will install an app for you to use. The same can be done on an android. There is a guide here.

How does cohost work?

First, you create an account. Then you wait for approximately two days (read: weekdays) for the account to be activated. This is done to prevent spam bots. In the meantime, edit your profile. List some interests, your pronouns, your other social media links. Give yourself an icon. Note: icon and banner file sizes are small. You may need to shrink and compress images.

After the two days are up, make your first post! Write a basic introduction (with what you feel comfortable you feel sharing) and list some interests you like, maybe some hobbies, media, etc. And then tag this post with "#welcome to cohost". This will let existing members know that someone new has joined, and they may initiate conversation and/or follow you.

Next, go to the search and type in "The Cohost Global Feed" and click on the tag. Bookmark this tag. This is essentially one giant community space where you can find random users. (There is currently some discourse on the website as to whether this tag existing is a "bad thing" or not because "cohost isn't supposed to have a global tag". Just ignore that lol). Next, go back to search and type in things you like. TV shows, maybe. Video games. Music. Anything. See if people have posted in the tags. Follow them. Comment on their stuff. Click "like" to bookmark the post if you want to.

Most crucially, make sure that you bookmark the actual tag so you can look in that tag again later without having to manually type it each and every time. Also, you get a feed called "bookmarked tags" which allows you to scroll through all of them at once, which replaces the "for you" feature other websites have.

You can "share" a post (called "rebug" in user slang) which serves the same purpose as a reblog on tumblr. In a rebug, you can add your own tags or comment in the body of the post. Cohost users do not talk in tags as much as tumblr users - they tend to prefer to speak in the body of a rebug, or in the comment section (replies). At this time, you cannot view all reblogs. But you can view all comments in the comment section. Any post that is rebugged will preserve the tags of the OP, with any additional tags added being attributed to you. Rebugs are named after the website mascot Eggbug, a purple bee-like insect.

Posts are called "chosts" - and shitposting is called "shitchosting." Two examples of global shitposting tags are "#css crimes" - which is when a person does goofy things with the HTML/CSS editor to make colorful text, fake chat windows, and such - and "#shitchosting" which is a general shitposting tag. I've also seen people use tags like "#random".

If a post makes you laugh, check out the OP's profile. See if they post frequently, and if you have any common interests. If you realize you want to block or mute someone instead, you can.

You can send asks just like on tumblr, but your inbox must be manually opened first. So remember to do that.

How do I look at my own blog?

This is one of my gripes about the UI. You would think, intuitively, you would click here (at the top of the screen). But you would be wrong!

It is ACTUALLY under the sidebar menu, called "Profile." And I'm not the only one to to complain about this. (To get back to your dashboard, by the way, you click on the cohost logo.)

Are there sideblogs?

Yes! Each sidepage (sideblog) has its OWN set of likes AND followed pages (blogs). This allows you to easily switch between multiple sets of dashboards. A lot of users use this to have a SFW dashboard and an adult content dashboard. But it works like tumblr, too. You can have a side page/dashboard for whatever you'd like. Maybe one of your pages is for programming. Maybe another is for photography. You switch between your pages by clicking the arrow next to your icon/username at the top of the screen. ("Ohhhhh.... THAT'S what that's for.")

What's the userbase on there like?

Mostly programmers. Trans people. Furry artists. Plural systems. Furry trans plural programmers. Certainly a lot of shitposters. The website is trans-run and, as such, has zero tolerance for TERFs. Everyone seems pretty friendly from what I can tell. And there's very much a culture of "follow someone randomly based on their vibes" that doesn't happen as much on tumblr. Tumblr is more like "I really like this TV show, I'm going to follow 40 blogs about just this interest." Because the cohost community is so much smaller, there is a lot less content overall, especially fandom content. You can't follow 40 fandom pages because your fandom tag has a total of 3 posts, all made by one person approximately a year ago (well. for me anyway).

Cohost, then, actually has much more in common with real-life socialization. You seek out people with interests that may be very different from your own, and to find a common interest is very exciting! Unlike tumblr, you are encouraged to tag as much as possible. This allows your posts to be seen, to find common interests. And, of course, don't forget to look in "#Welcome To Cohost" too! You may find some new friends there.

What file formats can I post in?

Currently, I am aware of basic image formats working (like jpeg, png) animated gifs, and mp3s. You currently cannot upload videos to cohost. I believe the reason is not related to server costs, but rather as a way to curb the uploading of copyrighted content.

How does cohost make money?

There are no ads, and yet, as far as I am aware, cohost is operating comfortably. There is, however, an entirely optional "cohost plus" that is $5 USD a month. Currently, there are a few perks, but not enough to convince me.

What if I think something about cohost should change?

Cohost has a forum where users can submit ideas for features and other users can discuss/upvote those ideas.

Here is a list of posts made for newcomers to read:

Could you recommend sources about sanguinarian vampirism? I tried to look for it but most recommend books seem to be published by sketchy/charlatan authors and it makes doubtful if they are genuine or not (besides some of them have very prejudiced views towards sang).

Videos, podcasts, articles, sites or books are all welcome recommendations and I would be very grateful if you had them.

Thank you very much!

(Sorry for how long it took for me to get back to you, the past few weeks have been hectic to say the least, but I've been thinkin about this ask since you sent it) My main issue with the vast majority of content on sanguinarian vampirism out there is that it is made by people who are just interested in vampires, and have no actual experience living through the things we live through. They often times come off as halloween-spooky, and inauthentic, with an emphasis on shock factor for an audience that doesn't understand that we really do actually exist.

Books are definitely not the place to look from my experience if you're interested in learning about sanguinarian vampirism. They are one of the best places if you're wanting to learn about psychic vampirism or vampiric witchcraft, but they're not for the blood drinkers.

Videos can be good learning material, but I haven't seen any on sanguinarianism that aren't just people talking about their experiences in the community, and it can get fairly full of unnecessary drama and zero useful info quick. I used to watch videos from the creator below, though I personally didn't get much out of them, but that may not be the case for you. Most of the videos are on psychic vampirism, but there are a few on sanguinarianism if I'm remembering correctly.

With Podcasts, I'm sure there are a number of one offs on paranormal podcasts if you look hard enough, but the time is most likely not worth it. The link below is one of the best I have seen, a series of great interviews with real vampires (I was lucky enough to be one of them, though that's not why I suggest this series), and the second is a youtube channel called Coffin Lounge (I would link, but youtube is being weird), which could be good, but I don't now yet. I have only listened to a little bit of the first episode, and it is more goth community centered than vamp, but there may be good stuff since since each episode is with a new guest.

Sites are the best bet so far, with forums being one of the best places to look imo.

Sanguinarius.org and their connected forum, VCMB.org were where I first realized I wasn't alone, and wasn't crazy. The biggest benefit of forums like this one, is that you are, without a doubt, listening to real people's experience, and seeing real vamps figure it out for themselves. There is so much information in the VCMB, even though it isn't very active anymore, the experiences are still there.

theredcellar.com has also been a personal favourite for ages. It is full of plenty of articles that focus on the medsang perspective, and it is home to some really down to earth vamps who are all wonderful. They also have a forum, as well as a discord that is linked on their site.

The absolute best teachers, however, are just regular old vampires. You will learn more in a few hours than you could hope to learn in months from articles and the sporadic info online by sending someone a message and asking if they have the capacity to answer your questions. Whether you are an awakening vamp looking for advice, or just interested in the real, visceral experience that vampires live through, most are kind and willing to share. Everyone's experience is different, and speaking to multiple people will help you realize just how colourful and varied the world of vampirism is.

And if you are a vampire, I know that this is cliché, but experience is a great teacher. So much of vampirism, from what I've seen and experienced myself, is about trying to run away from the vampiric experience, and be as human as possible. It has stopped being about that for me. Manage your health of course, and don't go without feeding for too long if you can help it. Take the substitutes you need to take to control the beast when you need to take them, but feeling those cravings instead of fleeing from them is a great way to become more familiar with vampirism. No one will be able to tell you more about your vampirism than yourself. Learn to meditate in those moments of hunger. You are a vampire, it's ok to allow yourself to be just that from time to time.

I hope this was helpful! Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions, I'm more than happy to help if you feel that I can :)

Heyo, I've come to request a Helen Otis fic! With blood kink, bondage, abduction, forced sex, dacryphilia, and stalking.

Now onto the dazzling idea for this!

MC is someone who is chronically online and a skeptic, so when he comes across the Bloody painter murders he's putting down Helen's work. This continues for a few months before MC notices that some stuff from his house going missing or someone stalking him online. No matter how much he's reported the user they always create a new account. After weeks of torment he finally decides to go off the grid and deactivate his accounts. Which ends up being the worse thing he can do since no one will be able to get into contact with him once he's abducted. It wasn't a sudden abduction since he was forewarned about it from his online stalker. Though who would believe anything from someone online?

MC wakes up in an abandoned building chained to a bed, gagged and legs spread with a pipe. Looking further, he's all cut up and bleeding, the wounds kind of freshThe rattling of his chains alert his captor who just so graciously happens to be the Bloody Painter. There's evident regret on his face but he doesn't get the chance to clear things up. He's squirming and balling his eyes out and scared for his life. All the while the painter is just causally stroking his meat.

I'm not sure about what else to write down but those are the important things. Feel free to change things you see fit! (*´꒳`*)

Best way i could think to do this was giving reader a god complex(?kinda) and being a smug asshole so i hope you enjoy also readers watch girls cousin (i cannot remember that bs name)

Also warning for gore talk, pet play( rlly minor so) skin biting/picking mention jic

(Name) let out a sigh, linking his knuckles behind his neck as he stretched out his tired limbs. The white glow of his pcs light hit him, darkness surrounded his room as he browsed his favourite dark web forum. He let out a snort when a picture turned up with two dead bodies propped up on a bed a and a bloody smile behind then.

(Names) face was grinning as he hit the comment section. “This is unbelievably fake, talk about edgelord.” (Name) rolled his eyes, not having another thought before he let out a bored sigh and shut his pc down. He quickly made his way to his bed, he gracefully launched himself onto it and let out a loud sigh before finally passing out.

————

He woke up late, the sun streaming in through the gaps in his curtains. He sluggishly dragged himself out of his bed, hair everywhere. He rubbed his face as he made his way to his pc, he flopped onto his chair and quickly booted it up.

He closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair as the soft sound of his pc filled his room. (Name) quickly manoeuvred to his favourite dark forum, eyebrows jumping up when he noticed a notification. He clicked it and to his surprise someone had replied to his comment.

BloodySmiler: you should be careful what you comment on.

(Name) let out a loud laugh, hand running through his hair. A smug smirk filled his cheeks, this could be fun.

Triggered? This is the worst shit i ever seen, even if its real how much of a pussy do you have to be to kill sleeping bitches?

Again (Name) hit send and refreshed the page a couple times before letting out a sigh and continuing on with his day.

He had completely forgotten the interaction until later on in the day, he wasn’t expecting a reply and there wasnt any. He smirked victoriously to himself, he’d won.

It wasnt until an hour later when he had received a direct message, confusion filled him as he opened it. It took a few seconds for him to register what it was, a woman probably his age with her throat slit open and eyes wide in terror.

His brows furrowed when he reverse searched and nothing came up, he convinced himself it was because it had already been taken down. He shook off the uncomfortable feeling that stabbed through his stomach.

Freak

Was all he replied before again logging off, he shook his head as he stood up and made his way to his bed.

————

(Name) felt sick, paranoia filled him up and he severely regretted every nanosecond he spent on that forum. It had been two weeks since he’d replied. Two weeks of hell. New images every day, videos sometimes with audio sometimes without. He’d blocked over fifty three accounts, all from the same guy he assumed.

No matter what he always came back, (Name) had lost it the previous night and completely deleted every account he had on the dark web. He’d finally felt somewhat peace but as he stared at the message his facebook had just received he felt sick.

Ice flowed through his veins as his eye began twitching, he couldn’t breath. He’d felt like he’d just been punched in the chest with a battering ram. It took him a moment to breath as he clicked the video he’d been sent from someone named ‘John Doe.’

He wasnt stupid, he knew the name was fake. But the video they sent sure wasnt. He gawked as he looked at himself from a couple years ago, a video that had never been posted anywhere.

It wasnt anything bad, just him and his cousin and her friend in a group chat talking about their problems. He had forgotten about it completely. How he got access to a chat room that had two dead people in it was horrifying.

What filled him with more terror was his dead cousin messaging him.

“I miss you.”

“Why weren’t you there? You were suppose to visit but you didn’t.”

“I will find you. :)”

(Name) barley had another thought as he quickly made his way to his account settings and nuked his account, he stressfully ran his hands through his hair. His mind was blank, he didn’t know what to do in this situation.

————

A few days had passed since then, (Name) couldnt even look at his computer or phone. He’d switched both off and never turned them back on, his nails were nothing more then nubs surrounded by jagged bitten skin. He knew he shouldn’t do it but he couldn’t stop himself.

He stared into his cupboard, he’d already ransacked the whole house of food. He’d have to go shopping and that struck terror deep into his heart. He shook his head, trying to convince himself it was just some weirdo online and that they had no clue where he lived.

His hand rested over his stomach as it let out a roar of hunger, part of him tried convincing himself that he could just order take out or do a food shop online but the other part of him berated himself for thinking some looser online would really hunt him down for being a bit of a cheeky dick.

He let out an exhausted sigh and grabbed up his keys before dashing out the door. There was a corner shop not too far from him, he could be there and back in less then 30 minutes. He’d be fine he convinced himself.

The air bit at him as he made his way down the quiet street, his head kept snapping around looking for something, anything.

Once he was in the shop he felt a lot safer, a breath pouring out of his lips as he took his time gathering what he needed. Luckily the line wasn’t too long and he was exiting the shop before he knew it.

Just as he was making his way past an alley something grabbed him, before he’d even had time to react his head had been slammed into the wall and everything went dark.

————

(Name) jolted up, unfortunately not getting far. His widened eyes shot down between his legs, a bar separated his naked thighs and he felt himself begin to shake.

“I was wondering if you were dead or not.” A smooth voice came and to (Names) horror he was met with the sight of a man in a mask with a bloody smile on it, (Name) took a few seconds to even notice the man had his cock out and was lazily stroking it.

(Name) let out a scream and started struggling against his restraints, Helen laughed as he watched the smaller man struggle so hard. Under usual circumstances Helen would’ve just killed him, but after seeing those pretty (e/c) eyes in his profile picture he couldn’t resist himself.

He stood up and made his way over to (Name) causing him to panic more. “Whats the point in struggling? I already have you.” Helen took off his mask, blue eyes dancing with glee. Helen ran his hands up (Names) thighs, rubbing them as he got closer to his cock.

(Name) shook his head, begging Helen silently with teary eyes. The feeling of Helens leather clad fingers running up his legs had tears ran down his cheeks when Helen moved one of his hands to his ass. His finger lightly rubbing against his hole, (Name) shook and screamed through his gag while trying to contort his body to get out of his binds.

All he succeeded in was turning his wrists red raw. “So pretty, you’re gonna look so cute full of my cock.” (Name) sobbed, fear flowing through his body. He flinched when Helen pulled a bottle of lube out of his pocket, opening the bottle and spreading it over his digits.

Helen slide his middle finger into (Names) hole causing him to jump and scream. He begged through his gap as helen began slowly pushing his finger in and out of him, he bit his lip as he watched his digit get swallowed.

“You’re so greedy, sucking my finger in like that.” (Name) stopped his fighting when Helen quickly sped up and slid another finger into him, Helen could see his cheeks turning red and the small moans he tried to hide kept Helens cock standing at attention.

Helen gripped the bar separating his legs with his free hand, he pushed it up causing (Names) legs to raise off the bed. Helen giggled as the boy finally stopped fighting, his hand moving from the bar to his thigh.

Helen took his fingers out and wiped them on the bed, hands gripping his thighs as he bent his victim in half. (Name) let out his loudest scream when Helen produced a knife, he froze in place as Helen held the knife to his neck. (Name) whimpered as Helen stationed his legs on his shoulders, tears rapidly dripped from his eyes.

“You looks so fucking pretty when you cry. Maybe this will teach you a lesson. Not like i plan on letting you go after this buut.” Helen ended his sentence in a singing voice, relishing in the way his new friends eyes doubled to the size of dinner plates.

Helen used his knife free hand to position his cock against (Names) hole, the panicked noises that tried to pour from the gag made Helens cock almost unbearably hard. He began pushing his cock in, smirking when (Name) stopped fighting. Helen had been pretty blessed, he also knew he hadn’t stretched him enough.

Helen didn’t care for (Names) pain as he quickly buried his cock into him. (Name) had dropped his head back on the bed, sobbing through his gagged mouth. Helen was kind enough to give the other a moment to get use to being stuffed, his hips were pressed flush against (Names) ass.

Helen smirked down at him as he dragged his knife from his neck to his chest and down his stomach, leaving a bloody line behind the sharpened blade. (Name) stopped fighting, instead choosing to lie back and cry as he took what he was given.

A sudden thrust from Helen had (Names) back arching as a moan slipped through his gag. Helen leaned down and licked up the line, blood coating his tongue. Helen licked his lips causing (Names) blood to disperse over them.

“This is your new life puppy, enjoy it.” Was all Helen said before dropping the knife on the bed, he gripped (Names) thighs hard as he almost snapped the man in half. Helen was quick to begin thrusting into his new toy, groaning at the way the boys hole had a tight grip on his cock.

“God. Acting like you dont want this but sucking me back in? Whore.” (Name) shook his head, he didn’t want this. Helen didn’t care though, directly aiming for the other’s prostate. (Name) couldn’t help but moan as his prostate was repeatedly rammed into. Helen moved one of his hands from (Names) thigh to his neck, cutting off the others oxygen as he sped up his movements. Helen leaned down licking some tears off his crying toys cheek.

All (Name) could do was roll his eyes back as pleasure shot through his stomach and up his spine, he hated it but it felt so so good. He felt stuffed beyond belief, the sight of Helens cock sliding into him and creating a bulge in his stomach had his cock rock hard. Despite how much he tried to take his mind off it he couldn’t help but devolve into a moaning whore as Helen gripped his cock and began jacking him off, helen had a vicious grin as he watched (Names) eyes jump to the back of his head and his back arch.

(Name) came all over his stomach, before flopping onto the bed boneless as he sobbed. Helen kept thrusting into the other, loving the way he watched the fight slowly leave the other. Helen slowed down his thrusts and picked his knife back up, (Name) didn’t sob but tears rolled down his cheeks as Helen began carving a smile onto his stomach.

Once he was done (Name) was horrified to see a bloody smile looking back at him, he just sobbed to himself as Helen sped his movements back up. Helen didn’t last much longer, the sight of the other giving up sent him over the edge and he filled (Name) with cum. “Pretty little puppy all full of my cum. So fucking pretty. God I’m never letting you go.” All (Name) could do was lie back and sob as Helens cum dripped out of his hole.

hi hi! first of all I want to state how much I adore your IF so far, I haven't found many IF that are purely slice of life and I am loving it ❤️ 😍 💖 second! do you have any recommendations for IFs? I've just started moving away from the CoG forums and the content here on tumblr is just 🤌 but I'm not too sure where to start? tysm 😊

I mean, I have so many recommendations tbqh. It's a hell of a list and hopefully, I haven't forgotten anyone by the end. I would say that if you've been around for a hot minute you probably know most of these but I'm old and rarely see new stuff atm because I'm a busy bean so...

Recs under the cut;

@northern-passage is such an easy recommendation for me. I'm not super into your more 'classic' fantasy as a genre but Kit has really built up their characters to be something special. The concept of the hunter is a great one and the branching Kit does is insane. I'm so interested to see where it goes and also ready for it to destroy me emotionally.

I haven't played @speakergame in a little while but the cosy vibes I try to get into YLAF are also here. It's not slice of life but it's similar to that with a heap of supernatural stirred in. I'm also excited for @partiallystarsif, which promises to be a game that I've been wishing someone would write.

Project Hadea by @nyehilismwriting is one of the most top tier sci-fi I've read in a while. It has a great MC, a badass partner in Nash and also BUGS. Again, I'm super looking forward to seeing what happens in the next chapter after that cliffhanger. Shit is about to hit the fan and I am here for it.

@if-eventhorizon is written by actual love of my life Brigid. Event Horizon is your pretty typical crew in space doing stuff they shouldn't be kind of sci-fi and I adore it! Can't wait to find out what everyone has done in their past to be there and unravel the situation. Love it! Brigid is also an incredibly talented artist, also writes @if-closedloop and...

@if-lostbirds is again written by Brigid, and although they profess post-apocalyptic Western sci-fi to be niche, I whole heartedly disagree. I adore the writing in this one, they really did something there and I think everyone will get something out of this one. If you're looking for something a little different with fewer (but super meaningful) choices then this is for you! Also I did convince them to put the big worm back into it so... worm.

For someone who would say she doesn't like a western, @larkin-if is also a bit of me. It's got vampires and cool character dynamics between the Preacher (MC) and their father figure Wyatt. Not to mention the ROs are all really cool. I'm excited to meet Ace in the future but it's the whole plot of attempting to hide your true identity that really hooked me in.

@bodycountgame is currently on a little bit of a hiatus because Nell is super busy with real life 😷 but it's still a stand out fave for me, undoubtedly worth the wait. If you want something that's campy, written in proper British dialect and is basically love island with a hell of a twist then this is for you! I can't recommend body count enough, it's what got me moved way from CoG games and into this little community we have!

@thistooshallpass-if is an IF with some of my favourite characters (not hurt by the fact that thyme is also one of my fave people!) I can't wait to see where it goes as I've been promised angst and knowing them I have no doubt! I'm also mega excited for @writingnights because different takes on supernatural creatures is always fun to me.

When Twilight Strikes by @evertidings is popular for a reason. I'm a few chapters behind but just writing about it has made me want to sit down and catch up! Kristi's characters are fun and feel like people to me with their real quirks, which is always something I enjoy. I can't wait to solve the mystery with this one.

@attollogame is a pretty hard one to describe to me so I'd say just play it? The writing and lore surrounding it is so so solid. It's all pretty much just a vibe, and a good one at that. I am not up to date at all but everyone should be better than me and read it!

Golden by @milaswriting is amazing! It's a supernatural romance game and you can just tell that Mila cares so much about the characters she writes, it really comes through in her writing. She's also over at @milaswrittenworld and I'd encourage a follow all around because she is just a really lovely gem of a person.

I haven't read @ofna in a little while but I absolutely adored what I did read (god knows how many updates ago it was). The writing is amazing and, again, I can't wait to get to solve the mystery 👀

I've undoubtedly forgotten so many but these are ones that come to my covid addled mind 😅 I hope this is a good starting place for you, anon 💛

As a new army I'm fascinated to hear about people being fans from the start. And you've been here pre debut! I would love to hear your story. How did you find out about them? Was there as much info about trainee groups then as there is now? What drew you into them? Were you into k-pop before? What was your reaction to tae's face reveal? Thoughts on the debut album and performance? Were there translations easily available? Are you friends with any army from those days? Which was the first show you went to?I would love to know everything! It's incredible you've seen their whole journey in real time. (So many questions i apologise lol)

I dont know if this still happens so often but at the time they debuted it was quite common for us to know information about new groups even before they debuted. so in december 2012 i was on my laptop on a kpop forum and they were talking about bighit and their new group. I remember at that time they said that bangtan was going to have a lot more members. and there were already people sharing photos of the members, video of namjoon rapping and also their youtube channel. and thats when I got curious. at that time i was missing something totally different in kpop and i saw it in them and especially in namjoon (i didnt know about jeongguk when i found out about them). at that time bap had debuted with something very different from what they used to have in kpop but i didnt feel connected to them or curious about them, but with bangtan i got curious as soon as i heard about them.

i've been listening to kpop since i was a little kid. i have an aunt whos been a fan of tvxq since they debuted so she was the one who made me go deep into kpop. at that time the only group i really liked all the music was shinee. i even cut my hair like taemin in lucifer but i looked like a dog lmao. replay and lucifer is one of the few songs from that era that I still remember the full choreography 😆 but i think what made me like shinee besides their music was taemin and jonghyun. I thought he was so amazing and I still think he is one of the most amazing and talented artists we have.

ever since i found out about bangtan every video and stuff they posted had me so mesmerized and hypnotized. anything they posted I said, "they are amazing!!!" 😆 I think their debut album was amazing and managed to show very well what they came to do and show at that time. I think their first album was perfect! but since I always liked groups from big companies, it was very hard to see how different the treatment is for those who are debuting from a small company and those who are debuting from a big company. and also how hate came to bangtan since they debuted. it was something that was very hard to see. you've probably seen them talking about it and how it went for them right. at that time I had a need to read and wanted to defend bangtan from everything. now I'm not like that anymore but I still feel super protective of some things. even though I dont think I had to waste time on these things, sometimes its really hard to stop myself.

we didnt have so many translations at that time :/ here on tumblr we had bangtan tumblr from the beginning. they had another blog until they made bangtan tumblr. and soon a already had bts-trans. I'm not 100% sure but I think bts-trans was the first source of bangtan translations we had. and for good quality video content we only had one source which was _helloflora on twitter. and yes i made a lot of army friends since the beginning but most were all namjoon and yoongi biased. I think because they are older than me. my first concert was in 2014 in zepp tokyo which was their first showcase in japan.

dont worry!! I loved your questions and I loved sharing some more of my bangtan story with you ♡

Do you find Twitter or Tumblr better for general discussions?

kinda depends who you follow on both tbh?

personally I've pretty much stopped using twitter these days, but I never used it much to begin with. I am... evidently someone who struggles a bit with brevity ^^' twitter threads must be split into pithy chunks and that just didn't suit me at all.

that said, if you wanna talk sakuga or something like that, there's way more people engaged in that sphere on Twitter. only a few of us carrying that torch over here for whatever reason.

honestly, I don't think either site is great for it. both of them create a kind of branching tree structure that's awkward to navigate. to be kinda reductive, the three models you have are the forum model where all messages in a topic are presented linearly; the post + threaded comments model of LJ-derivatives, blogs and Reddit; and the tumblr/twitter reblog model where you copy a thread to your own timeline with additions.

All of these have tradeoffs. The forum thread model encourages longform back and forth, but it gets hard to navigate a long thread and it can quickly devolve into people stubbornly cutting up their interlocutor's message into bite sized chunks to rebut each one.

The threaded comments model creates a hierarchy; the original post has special status. Having branches allows multiple conversations to happen in parallel more easily, but each individual thread looks kind of like the forum. Navigation can still be an issue, since it usually hides comments below a certain depth unless you click, and there's either a sprawling mess if you load the whole tree in one page or a lot of backtracking. Still it's probably the best option in general.

The Tumblr/Twitter model is similar to the branching model but every time you reply you're also effectively inviting your followers to join in, encouraging 'containment break'.

Tumblr's version enables new kinds of expression - a particularly memorable exchange can be isolated without being burdened by all the other replies. But it also puts a limit on longform discussion because you have to post the entire history to your timeline and at some point that will annoy people. that is... arguably a feature? Finding other branches of the conversation in Tumblr is a real pain though - you can open the reblog list and get all the replies chronologically and the only way to figure out what anyone's responding to is to click on it. also, since it's hard to see other branches you get a lot of repetition on popular posts.

Twitter/Mastodon/etc. gives you the reply and the quote tweet. These actions both share a limited excerpt of the original thread to your timeline. You're limited in character count of course, though not as much anymore.

Mostly I just really don't like the prose style that Twitter encourages with a thread lol. Each statement having to stand alone. It's kinda grating when you just wanna say stuff to have to think about the tweet boundaries. And I mean, you see how I post on here, I'm not good at a brief passing thought lmao. So I've never really been able to get used to Twitter/Mastodon/Bluesky/etc. It also feels... somehow more panopticon-like on there. Hard to say why because it's not like people don't jump down your throat on here lmao. But ig it's a matter of demographics and scale.

In any case, on either site having interesting conversations is ofc a matter of finding people you find fun to talk to, and you can find that kinda connection on p much any website.

Thank you for the kind words about my own retrospective journey as a BBRae Shipper. I'm not sure if you were on BBRae Shrine Forum that I mentioned at the same time, but if you were, we're still active. XD Anyway, apologies for not reblogging your reblog but this feels like a cleaner way of responding to your comments. I've also added some extra content to the post since you look at it, spelling and grammar corrections, expanding a few sections to better represent my points. Just general improvements overall.

TTG! like I said was never really my cup of tea, but I've come to accept its place on the airwaves. Like I said, I can't be mad at a show that is so very clearly at peace with what it is. And obviously, it has found an audience beyond me. Like Beast Boy in the finale, one must inevitably accept change. It is what it is. But I can't deny, making BBRae canon with the original cast, even on a silly show such as that... does feel good.

Well, all the same, in less than a week Beast Boy and Raven will be back in my life in a new series where they're apparently taking center stage. So really, I can't complain in any case, we've all gotten what we wanted. We won, friend... we all won. Thank you for sharing a bit in my look back at my own journey and I hope to see you around the Tumblrs... I mean we're kinda stuck here considering the state of Twitter. But I digress.

You're very welcome. I thank you for making me feel a little less alone. I don't think I remember being in that forum through. Two years ago I was in a very active TT group which was real fun and had I people to talk about this stuff with, but admin shut down the group out of the blue.

I'm a little out of touch with the comics so I finally got what the whole hype for Titans Academy is for.

Right now, I'm just getting over the Titans finale. I know they weren't romantically linked in this media (although the recent "Heroes in Love" featurette video might suggest something), they were absolutely adorable and soulmates in every way.

It certainly has been gratifying seeing this ship in every version of themselves. We win some, we lose some. And sometimes even "losing" feels like winning in this ship.

So, here's to hoping I'm still reading BBRae fics on my deathbed.

would you have any advice for someone looking to get into media archival?

Yeah, I got two things:

Get a comfortable desk chair (my spine is in agony)

Don't skimp out on your scanner

I'm only half-joking with those haha But for real I think the best advice I can give is please, please, have redundant storage systems. There is absolutely nothing more soul-crushing than saving something just for a hard drive to fail or a website to go offline and lose it forever. My archives are backed up on two different external drives, Archive.org/Neocities, and the cloud.

Hang post-it notes on your walls or set a weekly alarm to remind yourself to back things up if you have to. Whatever it takes. It's heartbreaking going through defunct forums or archived Geocities sites and seeing people talk about things that no longer exist (the first fan-translated Lightning the Argent...) because there was only ever one storage site for that piece of archived media.

Some other small stuff that's not really vital but would've improved the quality of my scans at the start are some black construction paper and inspection gloves. The paper prevents page bleedthrough from the scanner light while scanning (stick it between pages) and the gloves keep oils/grease off glossy pages. I bought a pack of those for scanning the Dengeki PlayStation issue and they saved a ton of work in post. I've got a document cleaning pad by Lineco too but it hasn't been as useful as those other two things. It removes grease, oils, dirt, etc. from paper.

One last thing: Don't take it personally if people aren't interested in whatever you decide to archive. Someone, somewhere, will dig it up eventually and be extremely grateful for it. That woman who recorded 30 years of TV on 70,000 VHS tapes and every person that hand-copied manuscripts over thousands of years are my heroes. It might've seemed pointless and time consuming then, but it's incredible now. All data are useful data. The excited psychic waves of future scholars are smiling backwards through time at every person that melted book spines and bought obscure format conversion hardware cuz they wanted to save it or post it online.

Good luck!!

A Writeblr Introduction Attempt

[En Español]

Hello everyone, I’m Lady Azulina 💙 Just Azu around these parts. I have been thinking about doing an introduction since I started diving into the Writeblr community who knows how long ago—certainly not me. But I wasn’t able to decide where to start. I still don’t know, but I believe that even the smallest attempt can be a great step, so here we go—I mean, I. Here I go. I really want to make this space something safe for me. For me to vent. For me to share. For me to be me even when I don’t know how to be me. I tried Instagram. I tried Twitter. Now I’m consciously trying Tumblr. Let’s see how this goes.

2-1: My pronouns are she / her. I’m also cis. And as far as I know, I’m hetero, but I haven’t had the opportunity to test my sexuality, so I can’t be totally sure. Why I’m telling all of it? I don’t even know! Don’t mind me.

2: The sun has gone around twenty-four times since I was born. I’m from winter. Like, an-early-Christmas-gift type. By five days only. I was supposed to be born in February, but I think I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday with the rest of the family. So it was Christmas. Sadly.

2+1: I'm legally a Sagittarius, but heartily I don't know where I fit. Sagittarius sun, Capricorn moon, and Aquarius rising.

2x2: I LOVE personality tests. For the majority of my life, I was INFP-T, but the last result says I am ISFP-T. My Enneagram type is a solid 4, a light 9. My color personal test is serulian (#9bb7d4).

2x2+1: I started writing when I was eleven.

2x2+2: I think I have a record of every writing in all these years (goddess, it will be twelve years soon).

2x2+2+1: I’m a love fanatic, even when I don’t wanna be. I’m a hopeless romantic, people. I write romance even without knowing that I’m writing romance. How the heck? I do not understand either.

2x2x2: In the same way, everything with the correct amount of romance can amuse me. And it doesn’t even have to be romantic.

2x2x2+1: I’m also a creature of fiction. Each word that comes out of my fingers is fiction. Be wary, I’m talking here about my writing, I can turn my life into a work of fiction, but it is not! Sadly.

2x2x2+2: On the topic of fiction, excepting a few self-insert (usually coming out in form of micro-stories), all I write and have ever written is absolutely and totally… fiction. Gezh, believe me, I was also looking for another completely unsuspecting word to get you all there, but I went b l a n k. You all know about it, don’t you?

12-1: I'm a fantasy-setup type of girl. I think I decided that with my very first novel, full of fantasy creatures. Though I haven't been writing there for a while, it's still one of my primary genres. I also like paranormal stuff, not in a very big matter, but its participation is still appreciated.

12: I love mysteries, and I think I’m trying to write one, but I do not try to solve them. My head wouldn’t forgive me if I try to push it so hard. On the same topic, I enjoy detective series.

12+1: I found my hidden love for (writing) action scenes thanks to a specific character. I'm still trying my ways because I don't get to write with her as much as I would like.

12+2: Other than the ones I've already mentioned, I'm pretty bad at identifying genres or tropes, so I won't be doing that. If you recognize any in my writings, please point them out to me! That way I can add them to the tags and so on.

12+2+1: For a while, I was roleplaying in forums, so I think I can say I have fics from Digimon, Pokemon, Sword Art Online, and My Hero Academia. Needless to say, I'm trying to turn all their stories into original ones; I can talk about them whenever.

12+2+2: I always create characters in pairs because I don’t want them to feel lonely like I do, though it doesn’t mean they’re romantic pairs.

12+2+2+1: I’m pretty in love with the blue color, hence my name, its lighter tones especially.

12+2+2+2: My real-real name is also a blue color! I think I’m unbiased from birth.

20-1: I’m a Caribbean Latin lady, my first language is Spanish. I would love the second one to be Sign Language, but I think it really is English.

20: I started studying (in college) Maths, but it didn’t work. I shifted to English, but it’s not working either.

20+1: My alter ego is an editor, proofreader, and writing coach, I can serve as the mediator, and as a way of trying her services as a beta reader.

22: I think it’s already obvious, but my favorite number is 2. The 02, 20, and 22 also work. 12 just because it’s my birthday month, but it also has a 2!

Project Masterlist.

I found your post recommending Faust the other day when I was looking for recent posts about the Gadget games, then went ahead and watched a playthrough, and I’m glad I did even if I don’t fully understand the story. That GameBoomers forum thread did help to clear some things up, at least. I don’t know where the hell the Wikipedia plot summary describing Marcellus as the Devil got that idea from, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all, somebody should change that.

Man, that final part with Giselle hit pretty hard, though it’s undercut a bit by that sitcomy ending. This game has a tone problem, that’s for sure. Do you think it’s an exaggeration on my part to call Geoffrey Bateman (I think that’s him?)’s performance as Mef one of the best vocal performances for a video game character? The character displays a wide range of emotions and he nails it, when he laughs it sounds like he’s laughing for real. I’m so glad that the voice of Loge/Loki from RLOTN got to be in the spotlight for something somewhat better.

I think Drowned God and - to a lesser extent - Gadget have already filled up too much real estate in my brain for me to want to dive super deep into the lore and stuff, but I’ll be looking forward for your fan website to see the concept art and all that! As one of the very few people on this Earth who has bothered to document Drowned God’s completely absurd story and try to explain it, plus Gadget’s too a little, I get how kinda lonely it feels to want to reach out and tell others about such a weird thing that has interesting ideas despite its faults.

I’ll be busy for the next several days, but maybe in the near future I’ll make a TV Tropes page for Faust, and if I have any questions about characters and story elements. I feel like that site can do quite a bit to spread the word about these types of media and help clarify stuff.

Hey! Just wanted to say thanks for sending me this ask!! I'm very glad that post helped you find that game, and really happy to see another Gadget fan too. I can understand being confused about the story- I was very confused on my first couple of playthroughs too, if you have any questions I'd be glad to answer them about this game. Wasn't even aware of the stuff with the Wikipedia article- I'll try and look and see what I can do about that, because… whew, that's VERY wrong! Also completely agree with you on the part with Giselle. Really hits me hard and like, 9/10 makes me cry whenever I play thru that part- its message really helped me. Though yeah, I agree on the ending too. I feel like this game has such an issue of like, going way faster than it needs to be. I feel like a lot of the messages don't have enough time to really sit and get their point across, like, you just immediately get thrust into the end stuff after that, and doesn't even let the horror element of what happened sit? It stinks, and even if I hold this game in a really high regard, it's VERY flawed and all over the place.

Also, I definitely think Geoffery Bateman did FANTASTIC as Mef. I've listened to his roles in other Arxel games and this definitely feels like one where he got to shine- I feel like his other roles he's stuck in ones where he just sounds monotone and disinterested, where his performance of Mef sounds like, super believable and not forced at all :)

Also, can understand not wanting to dive super deep into the lore, I mean, it's been like that for me with Gadget, Faust took up too much of the braincells for this year and even if I own most of the supporting material for Gadget I just don't think I have the brain energy to dive super deep into it right now, so I totally get ya. Also cool you're a Drowned God fan- I meant to play that sorta soon, it's a game that's been on my list for years, if you took the time to play Faust, I got to at least give you the time with Drowned God too. More of these small games like these really need to be remembered- they have something to say! About the site, I hopefully should have SOMETHING up eventually. I've been kinda conflicted on the stuff in regards to Faust though, as I've debated having it moved to a wiki framework- and that might just be too much effort for one game, and I wouldn't want to be the one to make a wiki on Arxel Tribe games, as I haven't played most of them. I was planning to host the website on Neocities but my website building skills are VERY poor and that's just been stopping me from doing the pages themselves, I have the info, just not the skills :(

Either way, thank you for your ask (and your time!), you've been very kind. If you want to talk about the game at all I'm here on tumblr or on Discord (same username) :) Peace!

This level is so close to being something exactly like what i like, and that makes the ways it falls down sting all the more. Like, it's got a lot of what i really look for in levels; a strong presentation that's just a bit off kilter, lots of little character work, decent gameplay that (should) keeps you moving. But the end result winds up being more frustrating than fun. Blocking off layers wiv invisible material is a good idea in concept, but it makes the pathing read all wrong visually. i constantly found myself aiming for places that i should have, by all rights, been able to reach, only to find i was arbitrarily blocked off except in the one place Nikki wanted me to go through. Even a cardboard outline of a door would have helped immensely. Still, as an experience, i do recommend giving it a shot. If you can bring yourself to play through the warts, the good bits can be a fair amount of fun; and it's just a good experience looking at too. ------------------------------------------------------- Motivation is so low-ebb right now, and i just hate it to pieces. i realized the other day, if reddit goes belly-up, or just generally becomes unusable, that'll be the last open-to-all-all-in-one-spot LBP place i visit (or is even active? The only thing going on at Sackinima is the message board/forum, and that's... ick) gone. i know there are Discords, and folx here post LBP stuff, but i find Discords to be a little more attention-intensive than i really have the spoons to engage wiv. And most of what i see here is fanart (which is great! Like, i love the fanart!). Places where people are just posting levels, or bits of levels they're working on, all together under one header, there really isn't anything like that anymore that i can think of. i've found some real good creators on r/littlebigplanet, and some of them have become good friends. It'll be a shame if that goes away. i mean, r/littlebigplanet won't go away, but, like, if i stop feeling comfortable wiv reddit. Maaaaaan... that sucks.

Hey not hating or anything at all, what is this otherkin stuff? Like how do you call yourself a dog or an angel/what does that mean to you guys?

Hi Anon! Thanks for sending an ask. I know it can be hard asking about things you don't know when everyone else seems so clued in. This is especially anxiety-inducing when you need to ask a community with a belief that has been ridiculed so much that many are weary to answer questions in case we're being trolled. I chose to believe you are honestly just new and perhaps discovered me via my reblogging from a non-otherkind source, thus discovering that this is even a thing. Sidenote: Otherkin/therianthropy have been around for decades now. A basic definition for otherkin/d is that the individual identifies fully or partially as; a ) something not human including from fictional sources and/or b ) a fictional human

I could not possibly list all the various reasons in depths, nor do I want to slap you in the eyeballs with a miles long post with a million new terms in it. Although this will still be long, I apologise. I also recommend looking through otherkin tags with an open mind for more information. As a community, many of us enjoy writing about our beliefs. There are also wiki's and forums out there on the subject. Ok so 'how' we identify like this! How can we possibly be an angel or a dog or something? There's four main paths of origin of identity belief: spiritual, metaphysical, psychological, pathological. Spiritual - based on particular spiritual beliefs such as past lives, souls, reincarnation through a specific religions route, shards of divine beings, divine connections, etc. The 'soul' explanation is most common. e.g. I have the soul of a dog in the body of a human, so I'm actually a dog, my body is just wrong. I used to be a cat but then I was reincarnated as a human, but part of my spirit is still a cat, so I'm a human and a cat. Metaphysical - this is any explanation that may have a scientific basis, but at unproved/unprovable one. Metaphysics literally meaning 'beyond physics'. This could be belief in the multiverse and links between it, parallel universes, having connections to your past and future selves in the present through wormholes or something else time bending, some forms of reincarnation etc e.g. I'm Sans Undertale because there was a universe where my world was real, not a game, now I'm in this universe in a human body. I have a connection to a future life where I am a mermaid thus I live these lives in tandem. Psychological - any origin which believes the mind is solely or hugely responsible for the identity (can also be in a pathological way but labelled psychological, I've just separated them for my and your ease). This could be because of being ND, connections forged in childhood, imprinting onto something etc e.g. I'm Autistic and this has manifested my alien identity. I forged an involuntary strong connection with cats at an early age so now I am one. Pathological - identities that come from a diagnosed/diagnosable disorder. This includes but is not limited to clinical lycanthropy and delusional disorder. You may see the individual use the term 'endel' to describe having a delusional disorder and being nonhuman because of it. Sidenote: Some may seek to voluntarily create a nonhuman or fictional identity - this is called 'otherlink'. Sometimes it may be for coping reasons 'copinglink'. I don't know if that explains enough to you, but there are better explainers out there I promise. Just keep in mind that you don't have to believe we're really what we say we are, but we do ask for a certain courtesy to be extended. In other words, for you to at least treat our identities as the serious and not at all harmful facet of us that they are. Put it this way! Do I think all of my family actually see me as a man? No. But they don't misgender me (at least to my face) and they use male language for me and buy me things made for men now so it doesn't matter if they don't actually believe in me (though of course belief would be nice).

Hi hi! I always admired your writing, my favorite thing about it is how natural you can make people interact with each other.

But my question to you is, where do you draw inspiration from? Or if you have any references?

I have a fantasy story where the MC through some shenanigans, becomes a defacto student teacher, so most of the other characters she interacts with is high school aged students or other faculty staff. So we're looking at a about a decade difference older and younger. And im not sure how to write them without it feeling awkward or stilted.

Aw, thank you very much! I'd say I take inspiration from a whole lot of different places, both from my own life and from the media I consume. Both my parents are teachers who had summers off, so we would be able to travel a lot as I was growing up, and I got to see a lot of places, and I grew up in a big family, so there were lots of gatherings that put me in contact with lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, so you kind of grow up with a wide variety of interactions... I also roleplayed a lot in forum text RP's on gaiaonline when I was in high school and even in my first two years of college, which were themselves collaborative storytelling but also put me in contact with a lot of other amateur writers' voices and a lot of very distinct characters--sure a lot of them were anime knockoffs, but behind those anime knockoffs were very earnest and passionate voices. And I do have a degree in creative writing and was writing both academically and as a hobby in college (hoo!). But I've also always been hardcore into fantasy and science fiction from a young age, and also like... and like, that's kind of a whole melting pot in my brain. And I grew up reading a lot because I'd often be stuck after school with my parents working late grading papers. There's a lot of voices in my head and when I write I just.. tend to hear them. So lots of reading, lots of writing. Lots of getting out into the world. No small amount of Video Games.

As for your writing question, I think part of making dialogue feel natural is being willing to embrace the awkward. In the case of a student teacher, I can tell you that I actually work with a lot of people 10+ years my senior, and age differences with your coworkers really aren't as awkward as you think once you're past your mid-20's. There's some hierarchical stuff, because there's clear differences in levels of experience, but most of the time you're just... doing your job. I think basically the two questions you want to ask yourself when you're writing dialogue is:

A. What is this dialogue meant to accomplish? (Plot-wise, characterization-wise, exposition-wise... there's a lot of functions for dialogue! If you're just having characters talk for the sake of having them talk, you might find yourself stuck!)

B. How will the characters's own voices/characterizations, and their perception of the other character, affect this goal?

Let's say.. your MC is talking with a kind of stodgy, tenured-type teacher--real old school kind of guy. This is a guy who's very used to his routines, not really in the space to have a young person with approximately 20 minutes of experience disrupt what ain't been broke for 20 years for him. And oh lord, she looks like she has ideas. But they're still coworkers, so he's blandly polite but pretty terse.

"Oh no," you're saying, "Where's the banter? Where's the flow?"

Well that's just it: This ain't a marvel movie. Dialogue does not need to jingle keys in your face and be constant back-and-forth to be engaging. This is the part where all the "show don't tell" that all those writing classes have been talking about actually comes in. What's it like in the room? What are both of their body languages like? Does talking to this guy inexplicably make her sweater feel itchier, or is she just refusing to itch because she doesn't want this guy to think she's fidgety? Is she looking around the room for something, anything to talk about (environments are people too!!). Would they have misunderstandings? Uncomfortable pauses? Who wants to get out of the conversation first? The dialogue itself is only a part of a whole scene--so don't be afraid to zoom out to the scene.

As for the decade younger crowd, you can apply questions A and B as needed but keep in mind results may vary in terms of these whippersnappers' relationships to authority. No teacher is everyone's favorite teacher, and some kids are just straight-up assholes.

Anyway, Hope this helps.

hey, so, I had an art related question... if all of this is too much, feel free to ignore it.

the backstory is that I've had the same laptop since early high school but recently I had a birthday (I'm 28 now). my parents got me an HP laptop, and my friend got me a tablet, which she bought off of an online friend for $30. the problem is that I haven't had new technology like... ever? none that was actually mine anyway, and certainly nothing that could handle me using it for art.

and this is especially a problem when it comes to the tablet. my friend helped me get firealpaca onto the laptop, and get the tablet set up with the right drivers, aaaaand... I cannot make one line that looks good using it. I've been using pen and paper for so long and I have a really light touch, and it feels like I have to jam the pen down to get it to register, at which point I might as well have not set the pen sensitivity to anything at all because the thickest line is the only kind I can make?? any lighter and it won't show up on the screen at all. like I can ctrl+z and it doesn't even go back a step, the line didn't get drawn. there's like a 20% chance that any line I try to put down won't actually register. and tbh this isn't really what I had wanted... it's a huion tablet, which is the brand I wanted, but I was gonna buy myself one where you can see what you're drawing on the screen of the tablet itself. not just due to coordination issues, I think I could get used to that part, but because I feel like I wouldn't be having this specific problem with getting things to register. every single line I make looks like crap with this tablet, it makes me feel like I might as well be drawing with my feet, and I've been fidgeting with settings, and it doesn't seem like anything helps. I also still don't have a mouse for the laptop yet, so I can't click and drag anything very well because it has a trackpad, so messing with sliders is already aggravating.

I feel so lost and overwhelmed, and like if I buy anything else, I'm just going to end up with more unusable stuff because *I'm* probably the problem. I just don't know anything, and trying is mentally fatiguing me so quickly... my brain knows what I want my art to look like, and my hands can do it with a real pen. I just have absolutely no clue how to make this machine produce anything.

so I guess my questions are stuff like, what equipment do you use? are there tablets that will register a light touch or am I really going to have to be this heavy handed in order to work with one? what resolution/canvas size do you usually work on? any recommendations for what program to use?

overall, I'd really like to get myself something that feels more intuitive than the tablet... honestly, I was finding some success drawing with just my finger on the touch screen of my phone at one point. there were still a lot of problems with that, but the nail in the coffin was that my phone's memory space filled up and I had to get rid of the drawing app to make it functional again (it's an iphone, which is why). maybe I should just get an ipad or something...? though, one more thing on the mountain of potential options is the last thing my crumbling ADHD brain needs. I've been taking a break from art in general because I've still maintained my 40-hours-a-week work schedule through the whole pandemic... I do 10 hour shifts and work overnight, so I technically have free time since I only work 4 days a week, but the type of work I do leaves me with no energy at all. so I've been in an art slump and I've been wanting to get out of it, but this is just making art feel impossible, even though the whole reason why I've always wished I could draw digitally is so that I can color digitally. I had been drawing things in pen and scanning them to color in photoshop, but cleanup takes so long that I literally can't produce finished work anymore. I'm out of options that aren't prohibitively labor intensive and frustrating.

this was probably way too much information, but if you have any advice I'd be really grateful.

Huh, well first off HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUDE!! Congrats on the sweet new tech (even if it's been a bit frustrating) and well-deserved celebration!

From the sounds of it I think the main issue is probably your tablet (this is pure speculation on my end though, so you know, grain of salt and all). You're right in that you shouldn't have to fight against your equipment. I have a really light touch too and I've never had the same issue. I personally don't have any experience with huion tablets, but if you're having trouble getting your lines to register then it might have been worn down by the previous user. It's not so much about buying a monitor (the screen one) vs. tablet so much as getting working equipment.

An iPad is a great alternative!! I've played around with the apple pencil and procreate and it's a super intuitive program with (obviously) super easy set up! You get the drawing on the screen AND really nice pen pressure. I'm really happy seeing it opening up new doors for more people to get into digital art!

In terms of your current laptop/tablet situation:

My set up rn is pretty pricey ngl; I have a PC desktop computer with a 16 inch Wacom Cintiq. Getting started in digital art doesn't mean you have to drop a bag on a ton of equipment right from the get go though! If you're looking for a safe small investment, I'd recommend getting a Wacom Bamboo pen tablet!

This lil' baby right here is what I started with!! I think cost-wise it floats around 70ish bucks, but that's exponentially more affordable than buying a huge monitor. One of my friends who's also a pro artist uses a similar small tablet because it works great! That's an alternative that might be worth looking into.

You can also get free trials on other drawing programs (clip studio paint is a great one!) To test and see if it's a software issue with firealpaca.

You could also try checking online forums to see if anyone else is running into similar issues, or watch some YouTube videos of people reviewing different tablets. I know this might be even more overwhelming, so I'd try and narrow the scope to focus on one thing at a time.

My best advice right now would actually be to get a mouse, or any other accessories you need. I've also been in your shoes where I was completely overwhelmed, and I can say that checking off all the small easy things makes a HUGE difference! It makes you feel more in control of the situation, and even if you're still having trouble with digital art you can at least get more comfortable using your laptop in the mean time.

You got this dude!! I believe in you!!

EDIT:

Thanks @wooliebirds!