#they tend to do so unambiguously | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bestworstcase · 2 years

Note

I saw your post on the V7 intro and YEAH. IT BOTHERS ME TOO.

I’m an avid listener of the rwby soundtracks. And it was just so weird to have Trust Love, something so up beat and fun be the opening to the volume that tail spins into oblivion.

The lyrics are clear tho.

“Trust love and open up your eyes. The truth is there but sometimes in disguise.”

“When we trust in love an open up our eyes.”

“Instead your counting on that second sight”

ITS ABOUT THE EYES. ITS ALWAYS ABOUT THE EYES with Rwby. And while the opening is significant to some degree for V7. It actually feels more like it’s Foreshadowing v9.

Maybe it’s too much of a stretch. But if you really pay attention to the lyrics. Trust love is about believing and trusting yourself. Trusting your gut. In order to do the right thing. There’s a lot of self reflection involved. Which is supposed to be 9s core theme. And sure maybe it’s coincidently but. There’s something about that song that’s just a little too whimsical. And little too on the nose for kids who were dragged into a seemingly endless war and want to be whisked away or written into a fairy tail so all their problems could disappear. And v9 comes in and subverts that

hgjfjbd i promise u i PROMISE “trust love is foreshadowing for team rwby v9 arcs that hasn’t come due yet” is far less of a stretch than mine (and also tbh, i think probably the take i would buy most out of the thoughts that have been shared so far on the grounds of it providing a reason for the tonal dissonance that makes sense to me). song abt rejecting fantasy and embracing, trusting what’s real being the only way forward followed by a volume where the kids get chucked into a literal fairytale world and have to escape is also, very rwby and the v8 opening sequence also pretty overtly gestures at v9 fairytale stuff (happy ever after/happy? never again) so like. . . yeah.

the thing is like?? i didn’t blink twice at trust love at first, because a) it was building from a pretty strong trend of openers getting more and more hopeful and upbeat from v4 onwards, and b) it came right on the heels of v6 ending on this triumphant beat of ruby intentionally activating her eyes for the first time by thinking about her loved ones, past and present. plus, as @habitual-shrimp summarized nicely in her rb, there’s a lot of “trust in love or give in to fear” arcs happening in v7, making trust love and fear logical bookends for the volume despite the…weird… tone thing.

BUT THEN

i made the mistake of paying attention to the lyrics a while back and my horrible gremlin brain zeroed in on this verse like a fucking shark detecting blood in the water: “if you could only open up a door/spread your wings and fly away from here/write yourself into a fairytale/all your problems would just disappear” and went oh that’s very specific imagery that evokes a very specific pair of characters doesn’t it AND THEN i was like wait a minute this is a song exhorting its subject to open their eyes, stop hiding, stop pretending, stop retreating into fantasy to cope with utter despair because no matter how dark it seems and no matter how many lies might obscure it the plain truth is that what they truly want is right in front of them staring them in the face if only they could stop burying themselves in fairytales and SEE CLEARLY for once—(at this point i went Oh No because this was a whole train wreck of a thought and yet)—it is. in short. a song in which the speaker urges the subject to let go of a metaphorical blindness so they can save themself by seeing their love aaand that is how i accidentally slammed myself face first into “turn love is a salem song playing conceptually with the blinding of rapunzel’s prince and eventual restoration of his sight by her tears” and now i CAN’T UNHEAR IT

it’s got coherent lyrical parallels to both sacrifice and until the end literally just kill me

it’s the opener for the volume in which ozpin is absent for 95% of the runtime because he’s sunk into the absolute depths of utter despair only to drag himself back up at the very end for a pensive, introspective, emotionally honest monologue on the subject of fear with until the end played under it in the exact moment of salem’s arrival in atlas!!!

hfghfns and like objectively this is Not What The Song Is (right?? it can’t be?) and if trust love weren’t so tonally perpendicular to its volume i probably wouldn’t be like “…UNLESS??” but it is and i am because it’s already weird why not?? read it as a deliberately discordant commentary on ozpin’s critical failures wrt salem and how the consequences of those failures have metastasized into retreating so far into denial and lies, insulating himself so thoroughly in the comforting simplicity of fairytales, that even he can’t really tell what’s true and what isn’t anymore, about her or about himself?? it’s NOT like his terrified refusal to engage with salem as a person which he passed down to the current generation as an inability to even conceive of brokering peace with the unbeatable enemy as a possibility at all is their biggest obstacle or anything except OH WAIT IT IS!!

😵‍💫

anyway when i’m not preoccupied with being completely out of my mind about this song i figure it’s probably? maybe?? meant as a complement to for every life—the thematic and emotional fulcrum of the atlas arc is the realization of the ideological struggle between hope and fear, so trust love exemplifies pure hope just as for every life exemplifies pure, bleak despair? which in fairness, i guess, to my deranged brain, WOULD make sense of salem and oz having this presence in them akin to the presence they have in this will be the day and when it falls; in that v1/v3 they were the narrators and in v7/v8 they are the symbolic harbingers of hope (ozpin’s return in 7.13 marks an abrupt emotional about-face towards courage in the face of dire circumstances) and fear (salem’s arrival—well, you know). but hhhhhhhhhHHHHH

#SIDEBAR i think it’s important probably #to keep in mind that eyes have #symbolic importance to characters #who are not ruby #i don’t think a particular song #merely referencing eyes/sight is #sufficient grounds to conclude it’s about ruby #eg many of yang’s songs evoke #the imagery of her red eyes #cinder’s eyes are described in when it falls #sight and reflection are recurring symbols in weiss’s songs etc #PLUS. when songs reference ruby’s eyes #they tend to do so unambiguously #with the specific image #of ‘mirrored eyes’#for example #or echoing overtly #the associated lore #as in miracle with ‘desire to preserve life is powering the light’#i think the only vague lyrical ref is ‘there’s a light that shines’ in indomitable #which…plays over ruby actually using them so it’s still unambiguous in context #( i *might* buy the argument for #until the end ‘as light fills my eyes’#being ruby or summer IF the song were not #in every other respect including contextual #very clearly abt ozma #whose return immediately prior #is signaled by the golden flash #in his and oscar’s eyes. context!! )#THAT SAID i can see the argument for trust love eye imagery being ruby-specific. given the silver = mirrors = revealing truth link 🤔

8 notes · View notes

traceybrakes · 7 months

Text

Let's Talk About Un-ironicizing Art!

In light of a lot of the conversations i've seen surrounding Death Grips and recent events concerning them, I want to take the time to point out that this is a good time to start thinking about how we engage with art on the whole!

For a long time, the irony poisoned method of consumption went unchecked in all facets of internet culture. As an internet musician in current day, I have noticed a sharp disconnect between artists and enthusiasts/casual listeners when it comes to attitudes surrounding music specifically, though I've witnessed it permeate all forms of art in some way.

I see people who have grown scared to engage on deeper levels, intentionally severing any resonant connections or knowledge learned from a piece of media before it has the chance to take root. In short, dare to be vulnerable! Dare to enjoy something on the basis that you yourself resonate with it, and not for any other nebulous reasoning. When masses of people relegate art to a spectacle, not only do artists become more likely to be disenchanted with the passions that fuel their work, but the consumer base ultimately suffers as well. All art at that point becomes less an extension of ourselves, less a vehicle to explore our identities, and is rendered a meaningless hulking sludge, or worse, the opponent to an already shrinking and narrow worldview.

Be not afraid to be unabashedly in love with the work that inspires you. Be not afraid to have the things you love misunderstood by by some. When you engage with work new and old, make sure to do it for yourself. Making and consuming art is inherently selfish, but being selfish is not inherently misguided. Allow yourself to learn, grow, discover, and repeat that cycle until the day you die.

To speak more candidly about my own experience, throughout the course of my life, there has been art that I've held near and dear to my identity, and own journey of self discovery that I seldom find others who hold the same sentiments to. I've always found this exciting. Exciting to hold something close to my chest as something so personal, and even more exciting when I can ease up on that grip when I find someone who I can share that with. However, I've also been through the throws of how the internet tends to chew up and spit out art that generally isn't understood by the many. I've fallen victim myself to the hive mind mentality that circles some artists and the cult of non-identity around them. This off-color ouroboros of knowing all about an artist's work and simultaneously upholding this facade of vapid complacency. I've come to the conclusion that if being openly supportive and connected to an artist's work or a particular piece of work automatically renders a person uninteresting and unambiguous at the very least, then I will live happily as an uninteresting open book. At the worst times, we see this line of thinking contribute to Death Grips being mocked and belittled en masse by people who are unwilling to engage with their art before they even get that far. It's heartbreaking, to me at least to see people put so much effort, emotion, and passion into transforming culture for the better to be rewarded with a crowd that's plugging their ears.

I realize I run the risk of sounding pretentious, self indulgent, or even patronizing to an extent; I apologize because that isn't my intention, I'm hoping to see gears shift at least on a micro level surrounding attitudes towards art appreciation. Remember to dare to be in love holistically with the art you engage with! Speak of the things you love in a way that makes that clear to others, and consider your peers to do the same! You and the people around you can only be better off for it.

#long post #really long post #music #death grips #the internet is full of bright and beautiful art so why not help yourself

2K notes · View notes

self-loving-vampire · 1 year

Text

I feel like not only are a lot of people more tolerant of abuse than you might think, so long as said abuse is portrayed as either necessary or deserved, but also that "abuse" is more narrowly defined in the average person's mind than it probably should be.

For instance, 90% of the world's children live in countries where it remains fully legal to forcefully undress and spank them as "discipline". Acceptance for the practice remains extremely high in countries that allow it.

This is an action that is very unambiguously harmful according to research as well as unacceptable based on a consistent application of the same principles you would apply to humans in general. It also happens often that parents use it as an outlet for anger.

Legally, you can be arrested for sex crimes if you did the exact same thing to an adult that many parents do to their children without a second thought and full social acceptance. Many of them brag about it openly in their social circles because they think it is a sign of being a caring parent and believe not hitting children as correction is negligent and bad for society.

It is not seen as abusive or damaging, but as a tool to keep children from becoming "spoiled".

To people like this:

Emotional abuse is generally not treated as real. In fact, a lot of authoritarian parenting is often based on deliberately breaking a child's will as if this was a desirable and necessary thing. Just something normal that you do to ensure your child will grow up right.

Physical abuse refers only to extreme and unprovoked violence, like hospitalizing your children for no reason. If it is "mild" or if there is some kind of discipline-related justification then it's acceptable even if we know from research that it still leads to long-term harm.

Sexual abuse is generally real but things like forcefully undressing your child and spanking them in what is generally considered a sexual body part doesn't count even though it would if done to an adult.

Their model of what qualifies is often as misrepresentative as people's models for sexual violence in general. They tend to imagine unlikely "horny strangers hiding in the bushes" types of situations and don't even think of examining themselves and their own actions.

A lot of these same parents are also now redefining sexual abuse to mean stuff like "queer people existing where children might notice them" or "being supportive when your child is not cishet".

Cultural norms around parenting are rotten.

#familia delenda est #abuse #child abuse #100

910 notes · View notes

renthony · 1 year

Text

On Willow Park's Dads

One of the things I get most emotional about re: the Owl House specials, that I haven't really seen anyone else mention:

In the first two seasons of the show, Willow refers to her dads in conversation pretty exclusively as her "parents," leaving their genders ambiguous. We don't actually find out she has two dads for some time.

In the first season 3 special, though, produced after the show's official cancellation, she calls them her dads. Not "parents," but "dads." It is completely unambiguous that she has queer fathers, just as we got the completely unambiguous bisexual coming-out from Luz in this special. As others have pointed out, it's very "the show has already been cancelled, time to cram in as much full-blown canon queerness as possible."

In the second special, Willow interacts with one of her fathers, who has been cursed. We find out that Willow calls her dads "Dad" and "Papa." Not only is it completely unambiguous that she has queer fathers, we get another actual glimpse at their family dynamic. We know what she calls them now, just like we know that Gus calls his dad "Dad" and Luz calls her mom "Mamá" and Amity's family all call her "Mittens."

Willow's slowly-shifting terms for her dads across the series is a little form of censorship that I've noticed--whether it was self-censorship by the writers to avoid S&P issues, or whether it was Disney's doing, I can't say. But it's something I've been paying attention to.

Gay men don't tend to get to be parents in family media. There has been a long, long trend of MLM being viewed as inherently sexually predatory toward children, and needing to be totally sanitized and sexless to be allowed in family media (if they're allowed at all). So seeing Willow get to actually address her father as "Dad" and talk about "Papa" was a pretty significant thing, when you think about it.

It's not a first and it's not the biggest queer milestone in The Owl House, but I think it's worth noting that Willow's dads are important queer rep, too. I hope we get to see more gay dads in more shows in the future. And more gay moms, too, and nonbinary parents of all kinds.

(That isn't to imply that WLW parents are "more accepted" or anything, because they aren't, on a systemic level. But the Owl House gets treated as a "WLW show" sometimes, even though there are nonbinary & MLM characters, too. I just wanted to spotlight the cute gay dads for a sec.)

#toh spoilers #the owl house #willow park #original post

675 notes · View notes

moresinfulmockingbird · 10 months

Note

I know I've been here before, dear, and that you need your time and space to work. but damn...you do know how to get me going.

Corruption with Ei and Makoto, you say?

Makoto and Ei begin a relationship with you as completely innocent, sweet virgins. it makes everything a little harder, of course, however, when you finally get what you want, it's easy to shape them into your ideal toys partners; because none of them knows otherwise, and their skills are focused on you alone.

Makoto, an altruistic and hardworking lover who serves 24/7 without complaint just for a chance of being praised. this is probably why she kneels in front of you between bookshelves of a quiet library and pleases you with a skillful mouth just for a chance of hearing you call her a "good girl", your hand on top of her head.

breeding kink? breeding kink. Makoto loves kids, and loves the thought of you fucking her raw, trying to impregnate her, even more. call her a good mother, tell her she keeps you cum inside so well, and she might break.

a very delicate girl, definitely. you need time and patience to get what you want; anything related to sex initially came from your side, be it a teasing touch or dirty comment, and she seems to never understand what you mean. Makoto knows you love her, but you, the eldest, would never look at her like that. you are only being nice.

if her body reacts the way it does, it's her own problem.

until it isn't anymore, and now Makoto does not mind when you whisper that you will "fuck her" against the wall that separates her bedroom from Ei's. she giggles, bumps her shoulder against yours and asks if you want her to dress up for you tonight. she was scared at first, but now everything is fine as long as she is yours.

and then, we have Ei, who has wet dreams with your participation. the way she tosses and turns during her sleep, moaning her older sibling's name with a charming blush and an unambiguous groan is enough to drive one insane. it's almost unbelievable; she can rile you up without being awake, and now you just need to have her.

Ei gladly pretends to be asleep until you've fucked her full of your cum. she giggles once you're done, mumbling that it isn't fair at all - and now you have to fuck her again so she can, you know, take you properly.

it's a little hard to get closer to her at first, after all, she doesn't leave her room as often as Makoto does. indulging in her gaming session is the easiest way and, when she notices your hand tracing its path along her thigh, something inside Ei snaps. she is so different from her sister, so shamelessly aroused by every single thing you do, always trying to fill the empty space inside her with your merciful help.

Ei's eyes water easily during your time together. her body is sensitive, hot and wet, and any caress of yours hits her body twice as strong. after your first time, Ei is always happy to let you use her body as an anti-stress. she can take it rougher than Makoto could ever dream, so deep inside her that her stomach bulges, and loves when you grab her by her hair and take her from behind. add a slap on the ass and watch her cry out how desperately close to finishing she is.

this is such a happy family...and now I'm obsessed with it.

this was quite the long thing...sorry, sorry. I tend to talk a lot when I'm excited. I just needed to share my thoughts, comrade.

thank you for giving me some of your time. please, rest well and take good care of your health!

- Vicious

I have nothing to add to this... this is just perfect! Truly a marvel here Vicious, thank you for sharing your thoughts! I don't mind that it's long, because your thoughts are wonderful. I wouldn't mind if you shared more in the future about other things or even adding onto to this cute little family.

#*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟsins inbox #vicious #raiden ei #raiden makoto

169 notes · View notes

shwoo · 4 months

Text

Okay here's my headcanons of which Bugsnax characters actually know the Journalist's name. I'm also headcanoning that Lizbert mentioned their name when she told the others she wanted to invite them, and that they tend not to give their name unless prompted. They're a journalist, is that not enough?! (They may also have some personal identity issues)

REMEMBERED THEIR NAME

Lizbert: Knows their name and maybe also their address.

Beffica: Knew their name because she's read all their articles. Pretended not to know at first as part of her facade of detachment, which is why she said "You're that journalist!" when first meeting them.

Clumby: Presumably knows them as something more specific than "obsessed monster hunter who made me have to work late."

Chandlo: Remembered because he is definitely the kind of friendly and outgoing person who can remember anyone's name after hearing it once.

Wiggle: Makes a point of remembering journalist's names. Tends to unconsciously assume that any media person is there mostly for her, so she wants to make a good impression.

Snorpy: Remembered in order to look into them and figure out if they were the heroic truth-seeker kind of journalist or the villainous sensationalist kind. Liked what he found, but still suspected they were a Grumpinati impersonator when first meeting them.

Floofty: Remembers their name, but refuses to use it out of spite.

DID NOT REMEMBER THEIR NAME

Gramble: Forgot their name, and either asked them when they met, or asked Wiggle.

Triffany: Terrible with names, apologised and asked them for it when they met.

Cromdo: Told himself he'd remember their name in case they did show up and he had the chance to sell them something, then totally forgot. Asked them what it was when they met, and immediately did the "[diminutive], can I call you [diminutive]?" thing. The Journalist said "Sure," because they didn't really care.

Eggabell: Didn't pay much attention to what Lizbert said about them, since she didn't think they'd take the invitation. Despite having quite a bit of interaction with them and worrying about their health, didn't realise she didn't know what to call them until halfway through her "I just need Filbo and... Filbo's... buddy." line.

Shelda: Tried to remember their name so she could address them by it before they introduced themself, and impress them with her mystical knowledge, but got distracted by everything else that was happening and forgot. Got away with it for a while because of her tendency to refer to people with descriptions when overacting, but exposed herself when she said "Floofty, did you ask the journalist to throw acid at you?" The Journalist made fun of her for keeping up the charade for so long, so she reminded them that Floofty had asked them to throw acid at them, and they'd done it.

Wambus: Took a little while to realise that he couldn't get away with just calling them Stranger forever, and then was too stubborn to admit defeat and ask. The Journalist specifically suggested he use their name after his "I been calling you stranger, but you been around a while" chat, but he still refused to ask what it was, or admit that he didn't already know. Eventually heard Triffany refer to them by name, but she had to do it a few times before he decided that he knew it now.

Filbo: Forget immediately after being told, and also forgot to ask when they met. Didn't realise they probably had a name until after they'd interviewed him, and didn't want to ask out of awkwardness. Hoped they or one of the others would mention it, but coincidentally, nobody ever did, at least in an unambiguous way. Eventually asked them while they were heading back to the mainland, but continues to call them Buddy anyway.

Jamfoot: Clumby told him their name when she let him know that they were also going to Snaktooth Island, and he forgot their entire existence immediately. Was confused when Clumby mentioned them by name after they returned alive, even after she clarified that they were her ex-employee who went to Snaktooth Island.

82 notes · View notes

ourfag · 6 months

Text

i think part of the resistance i’ve seen in response to the view of ed as an abuse victim—not just the view of izzy as someone who abused ed, but of ed as someone who was abused by him, as opposed to interpretations that pursue an image of Nuance and Complexity (unnecessarily, because their dynamic has heaps of both, but there seems to be a popular impulse to conflate complexity with shared culpability) by characterizing their relationship as being toxic/unhealthy in equal reciprocity, or as “mutually abusive” (oxymoron)—i definitely see the influence of racism there, but i think the racism is also working to amplify an adjacent issue where we tend to receive very specific cultural messaging about What An Abuse Victim Looks Like, and ed is excluded from a lot of that criteria.

he’s outspoken. he’s boisterous. he’s Very Cool and he Wears Leather. he’s physically bigger and browner than the person mistreating him. he spends the first season with a big grey beard, he’s covered in tattoos, he projects the image of A Man’s Man, to say nothing of his being a man in the first place. we see him get aggressive and we see him get angry (and sometimes we even see both at the same time). we see moments where he’s surly, prickly, insensitive, arrogant. his survival techniques and trauma responses incur collateral damage to other people, and in the second season this extends into affecting people we actually sympathize with. he’s extremely private about expressing fear. without examination, his professional relationship to izzy seems to position him as the one with the power slanted in his favor.

most damningly, we see him react multiple times to izzy’s abuse with physical violence. this is behavior that gets referenced all the time in the construction of narratives condemning subjects of physical abuse, let alone emotional abuse. which is why writing that intends for its audience to interpret a character as being unambiguously A Victim Of Abuse will often, for simplicity’s sake, avoid showing the character regularly engaging in anything of the kind.

and again, all of these departures from the image of The Model Victim are compounded by his being a man of color.

without any of the shorthand designed to point a big flashing arrow at his mistreatment, all we have left to work with are the words and actions we see from ed and izzy onscreen. who instigates conflict, and how does the other respond? how are they able or allowed to respond? how do we see them speak about each other to outside parties? does one go out of their way to control or isolate the other? what consequences does either party stand to face in saying “no” to the other? in acting against the other’s wishes? in trying to leave the relationship? when either of them attempts these things, how do we see the other respond?

i realize and appreciate what people are driving at when they garnish their analysis with disclaimers that they’re not saying ed’s just a poor innocent abuse victim, they’re not saying he’s a perfect angel who’s never done anything wrong, and that’s true, but these are points already contained implicitly in statements like “this show’s protagonists act like human people” and “ed’s emotional struggles are portrayed in a realistic and believable way.” my assumption is that these disclaimers are anticipatory responses to worst-faith interpretations of any discussion that attributes any victim status to ed whatsoever, so i definitely sympathize with their inclusion, but a (very small) part of me still worries about them potentially reflecting or reinforcing a belief that there is any way for someone to behave towards their abuser that imparts a responsibility for them to make right whatever damage the abuser receives, or for that matter any degree of ambiguity over their status as an abuse victim in the first place.

part of what i find so gratifying about ed as a character is that i don’t feel like the show’s writing is pressuring me to consider that ambiguity at all. which was a really nice thing for me to discover!

and tbh—did using ed to deconstruct The Model Victim even factor into the writers’ agenda?? ive got no clue. im guessing no? ??maybe?? probably not?? but if you create a main character whose central premise is that he feels trapped in a performance of exaggerated masculinity that he’s desperate to escape, and then you set him up with a character premised on embodying a tangible obstacle against that escape, then i guess that’s the natural shape your story’s gonna be inclined to take

#man thats a lot of words when i couldve just said ‘im not an ed apologist bc he has nothing to apologize for’ and yalld get the message #had to get it off my chest though #abuse tw #sorry about the verbosity Im Aware. Its An Ongoing Issue #this is actually after i went through and edited to make it as concise as possible #the good news is ive finally managed to limit myself to a mere half dozen commas per sentence #the bad news is all these words are mush in my brain now and i can barely tell if theyre actually saying anything #are any of these paragraphs related to one another? i dont fuckin know #i do know i agreed with them when i wrote them though #am i procrastinating in the tags because im nervous about posting this? maybe. shut up #im gonna go do todays wordle

84 notes · View notes

fandomwritingbit · 11 months

Note

IM FLABBERGASTED.

THANK U SO MUCH FOR THE FIC‼️ it was amazing, and i didn't really think my request was getting answered!!! It made my day x10 times better.

You SHOULD make a part two (smut included)

But, seriously, thank you so much!!

Ayyy thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it! (pt.1 here)

Also thank you to others popping in my ask box to say nice things about this one, It's really appreciated :)

pt.2 william afton x stalker reader

smut below the cut

"Just answer me, sweetheart." he prompted, forgetting that just looking at him stood there in front of you rendered you speechless. How the hell had this happened?

When he sat down with you at the café, you'd thought your life was over, something about the toying gaze, the half smirk, you could tell he knew of your ‘interest’ in him. In that moment the ramifications flashed before you, a strobe effect of solicitors, restraining orders and ASBOs. But the consequences you were now facing hadn't even crossed your mind.

He'd laughed at your face and your back tracking, "Oh, you didn't mean it? Did you or did you not engineer a tool to break into my garden?... Relax, lovely. I'm not as upset as you'd imagine." You wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but something about his reaction frightened you as much as it thrilled you.

And now, you find yourself back at his home except this time with an invitation.

Pulling you from your thoughts, he sighed, "I said-"

"I heard you." You speak quietly and not necessarily by choice. "No... no, I've never been inside your house before." You try not to let your excitement be visible, like at this point you're not studying every fucking detail of this sitting room, wondering if he's ever sat right there in that chair and stroked his cock. A large part of you itches to ask.

"Not for want of trying though?" He chuckled, turning his back to you, whilst he set about pouring a drink. You're unsure if it was deliberately teasing you because the second he did, your eyes raked over him, eagerly taking in his broad shoulders and the cruelly unambiguous fit of his trousers.

"I-uh hadn't found the courage." you mutter, biting your lip in an effort not to fall to your knees.

"You still haven't. For someone as ballsy as you, I'd have thought you'd have more to say to me... I didn't expect you to be nervous." Your face turns very hot when he looks back towards you, you were nervous, not just of what he might do, but of what you could yourself.

You just blink at him, "I- what do you want me to say?"

He laughs, stepping towards you, his tone achingly playful, "Ah so now it's about what I want?" The hair on the back of your neck stands up, you can't even look at him so flick your gaze around the room, trying not to look at his chair and the dirty images it was conjuring.

You fail, taking an obvious glace, to which he does also, turning his head to follow your line of sight. "What are you looking at?... The chair?" He sniggers, brow furrowing, "Why?"

When you again fall into prolonged silence, he grabs your jaw making your whole body burn. Your breath staggers as you try to speak, "It-it's yours." Again he laughs, tilting your jaw upwards slightly.

"How curious is the stalker's mind? You mean it's the chair I tend to use?" You try to nod, but he doesn't let you, though he seems to understand. He hums, smirking, his gaze directly on your lips causing you to tremble. The fact that this was reality was repeatedly dawning on you.

He gives you a moment before dropping his touch, moving towards said chair and sitting down. You only stand and watch, but at seeing you unmoving he beckoned you towards him and you comply before the action even registers in your head.

There you stop and wait for further instruction, but he doesn't give you it, leaving you in a limbo of should I, shouldn't I. God, you wanted to touch him in any way he’d let you, his handprint on your face still burned and you wanted more, no longer fearful of addiction.

You drop down to your knees slowly, almost scared of frightening him if you move to fast, as if he was some flinching animal. He let you place your hand on his leg but stopped you as you reached higher.

You speak lowly, "Let me..."

"Why?" He brought his head down a bit.

"Because you like it."

He laughs, you aren't wrong, he does like it and his hard dick pressing against his trousers was the proof. "Convince me, sweetheart."

The prospect of touching him made you brave, "Let me suck your cock, William, please. I'll do it so good... I've thought about it enough to do it good..." You had more to say, but he lets go of your hand, freeing you to prove your words to him. And you do, your breath shaking as you take hold of him through his trousers, palming him. He's big... you knew that though.

You fumble with his belt, sliding it through the loops and then with his fly, he doesn't help you, his eyes pure scrutiny and then it hits you, he likes that he has this power over you. And to be honest, you did too.

You manage it and are greeted by his length, which you eagerly take in your hands, watching his posture change. Stroking him, you avoid his eyes, completely focused on the sight of him under your fingers, you still couldn't believe it. Not now. Not as you lower your head to him, taking his tip between your lips and running your tongue over it, the taste of him was making you feral, your own arousal prominent at your core. He placed a large hand in your hair, making you look up to him in reflex, you moan at his dark gaze, desperate to please him. Taking more of him in your mouth, jaw soon aching with the size of him, you didn't care though and focused on setting a pace for him, working your tongue against the underside of his shaft.

He grunted, pushing your head down a little more, his head hitting the back of your mouth in a delightfully foreign way. The sounds above you were enough to make you close and you grind yourself against your heel underneath you. He grins at the sight, "Fuck, you need it that bad, huh?"

He guides your movement, rising his hips into you and as he became closer to his end, he got rougher with you, using your mouth how he wanted. But fuck, it's the least you can do, you decide, happy to take whatever he gave you.

He holds you down on him as he cums, his release hot and filthy on your tongue. You go to open and show him but his hand on your throat stops you, tilting you head back so you couldn't swallow, forcing you to taste him for as long as he deemed fit. And you fucking loved it.

#fnaf #william afton #william afton x reader #william afton smut #fnaf william afton #fnaf smut #william afton x you #william afton x gn reader

151 notes · View notes

i-am-the-oyster · 4 months

Note

I never see this theory about India, cause in fairness it’s a very painful one. but what if the reason John was hurt so bad wasn’t due to just a simple rejection or dismissal of feelings, what if paul instead thought of Johns feelings and maybe physical advances as disgusting? And maybe let John know that he thought it was disgusting (due to homophobia, religious upbringing, ect). That could explain Johns very aggressive and almost resentful attitude towards Paul after India.

Hello anon! Thanks for the ask.

Gotta be honest with you, I'd be amazed if there was *any* rejection of John by Paul in India. I know it's a very common idea, but it just doesn't fit with what we know (for me).

"Johns very aggressive and almost resentful attitude towards Paul after India"

This is a pretty common idea, but here's a just a few things that happened after India:

John and Paul went to New York

The recording of the White Album (including Julia)

This:

I'm not saying there were no tensions, but India was not the sea change it's sometimes made out to be.

he thought it was disgusting (due to homophobia, religious upbringing, ect)

Now I'm not going to propose that Paul has or had perfectly enlightened attitudes on sex/gender/sexuality, but I just don't believe that this guy:

[cue: ass slapping noise]

was disgusted by any sexual advance towards him (even if he were totally straight, which I just do not believe, I'd expect Paul to be flattered and kind about it).

In fact if either of them displayed major internalised homophobia it was John, especially during his Janov phase. Yes, Paul has publicly denied being anything other than straight* but he tends towards an attitude of "each to their own".

* side note: some day I will make a study of this, but has he ever said it actually unambiguously? "I was comfortable with sexuality so I felt fine going to Paris with Robert Fraser" leads the listener to assume he's saying "I was totally straight, no queer here", but in fact leaves room for "I was comfortable in my bisexuality".

#thanks for the ask anon!#anon ask

53 notes · View notes

tomwambsmilk · 8 months

Text

tomshiv tailgate party fight is my roman empire in that I think about it multiple times a week AT LEAST. anyways new thought today is that I'm obsessed with the choice to have shiv use "you're servile" as an insult because it's one of those writing choices that manages to reveal multitudes in only two words. the idea that serving others is inherently a character flaw, it's a bad thing, it's something to be ashamed of is very telling. and look, I don't think you should be a doormat but I DO think there are times when putting yourself at the service of others is a good thing. seeing that someone in your family or your partner or your friend has a need and filling it without asking - even if it inconveniences you - tends to strengthen relationships. on the other hand, however, if only one person is doing this, if there's no mutual reciprocity, that can eat away at the relationship over time; likewise if no one is doing this, and everyone is only looking out for themselves, it's difficult to ever get to a place of mutual trust.

so for shiv to consider 'you're servile' an unambiguous insult doesn't just tell us about her own unwillingness to look out for the interests of others - it also strongly suggests that in her familial relationships, no one has ever been looking out for her interests. no one in her family has ever been willing to inconvenience themselves to meet her needs, because it would be a weakness to do so. it's another piece of the paradox where logan feels that any man who would be willing to put shiv's interests before her own 'isn't good enough' for her. and so she ends up with tom, who is certainly far from selfless, but still seems to have a natural inclination to 'follow the boss man', to 'walk a couple steps behind', to be 'a humble servant', because those inclinations mean he likely will be looking out for her interests to some extent. and yet at the same time she can't possibly respect him for that - and she also has a hard time believing that there is anything selfless in his actions, because in her experience people are not sefless, so she can't ever bring herself to believe that he ISN'T just 'fucking her for her DNA'. we as an audience can debate whether or not that's true, but on some level it doesn't matter, because there is nothing tom could ever do to prove to her that his love is not self-serving.

and so they end up trapped in an inescapable cycle where if he becomes less servile, she no longer trusts him and her suspicions are confirmed, but if he does put her interests before his, she will never accept that he's motivated by love. shiv can never experience what it's like to be loved selflessly because if someone did love her selflessly she would still suspect their motives. tom's only choices are to try to love shiv selflessly and forever remain the subject of her suspicion and scorn, or to betray her interests for his own and become the target of her pain and grief and anger. and so the poison drips through

111 notes · View notes

inbarfink · 5 months

Text

Alrighty, friends, it’s time for a lil project I’ve been working on for a while now. It’s time for…

MY VERY BIG ZIM VS. DIB SCOREBOARD

I am going to go through all of the (finished) episodes of Invader Zim that feature both Zim and Dib (at least two lines of dialogue from each, so that I won’t have to worry about weird edge-cases like “Bestest Friends” or “Abducted”) and count which of these two won at that specific confrontation/misadventure. Each episode is worth a point, a two-parter is worth two points (since they tend to be higher-stakes).

I will give them both a point if they both equally won and I won’t give any points at all if they both lost… but I am only going to use it in true tie/no win situations. Most ‘Zim vs Dib’ episodes have some elements of both of them losing on some level. If only because their main goals - conquer the planet and unmask Zim to the world - can never actually happen without breaking the status-quo of the show. So I am going to do my best to judge, like, their goals for that specific episode, and how humiliated and/or hurt they got, or at least which one of them lost the least at any given episode.

I will also be judging the win/lose situation while taking the conclusion of the episode at face value. Because Invader Zim loves its implausible snapbacks where a character dies or ends up at a seemingly-impossible cliffhanger situation at the end of an episode - and then the next one starts with everything back to normal again. After some deliberation, I decided to still take into account obviously-not-going-to-remain-in-continuity losses as losses. So if Dib fucking dies at the end of an episode, that would still be a Victory for Zim, even if obviously he would be back in the next episode.

Okay, so let’s start! With the start!

"The Nightmare Begins"

This one is pretty clear cut. Zim wasn’t even trying to take over the world yet, just to blend in. And he pretty much succeeded in that goal, while Dib failed to capture him and lost the ‘Alien Sleep Cuffs’ in the process.

I was maybe considering if Zim's little ‘MY SPINE!’ right as the episode ended could change the score. But I think this is just a minor-yet-painful injury, rather than an Implied-Reset-Comedy-Death. And I think for both of them this matters less than Zim successfully or unsuccessfully fulfilling his missions.

So the first two points (since this is a double-length) go to Zim!

"Nanozim"

So here we have our first classic Mutually Assured Failure situation with these two. They both failed in their overarching goals in that episode. Dib lost those pictures of Zim for good, and Zim failed to rid himself of Dib for good. Buuut, I think Zim got a lot more Physical Pain

And got a lot more thoroughly humiliated in his defeat

So I am counting this as a point for Dib!

"Parent Teacher Night"

Yet another episode where Zim is only concerned with maintaining his cover. Since this is preserving the status quo of the show, I think they’ll inevitably skew in his favor. While stuff got kinda hectic and embarrassing for Zim a couple of times, he did successfully convince everyone that the Robo-Parents are his parents.

And Dib got in trouble for throwing punch.

So this point goes to Zim!

"Dark Harvest"

Zim got away with every horrible disgusting thing he did in this episode, successfully maintained his cover and

Yeah, point to Zim.

"The Wettening"

At first I thought this was going to be a point for Zim since he pretty much unambiguously won that water balloon fight.

But that’s where my ‘take the endings of the episode at face value’ rule comes into play, because Zim drowned in his toilet and died at the end of the episode!

Zim: Help! My head is stuck! GIR! Help! I can't breathe, I…

So for literally being the Last Man Standing in the conflict, Dib technically wins this round!

"Career Day"

More Mutually Assured Defeat!

Dib thoroughly failed to demonstrate to Bill that Zim is an alien, but while Zim successfully maintained his cover - he still got fired from McMeaties, which torpedoed his then-current world-domination schemes.

Zim: 8 billion! That is more than the entire population! And they all serve McMeatie? If I rule McMeaties… I rule the world!

(I mean obviously that wouldn’t have actually worked but.... to be honest, I suspect that even if Dib did get Bill to personally witness Zim’s molt it wouldn’t have helped him either. They were both kinda running fool’s errands in that episode, I think. Dib’s self-delusion was just more subtle.)

I mulled over it for a while, and I decided this is probably our first true ‘No Points Either Way’ Episode! Congratulations, boys, you both lost!

"Planet Jackers"

Zim fully achieved the goal he was working towards in this episode - rescuing the Earth from the Planet Jackers. While this is technically something Dib would’ve also wanted if only he had believed Zim, I am not going to give Dib any points - because Dib basically missed out on the ego-boost he gets every time he successfully defends the Earth.

Plus, the Moon crashing into the Earth at the end there is probably not something Zim would be worried about - who cares if a few million humans die as long as the planet’s still here for him to conquer! But it might bother Dib a little bit. You know if he was aware of it.

"Rise of the Zitboy"

Zim successfully got the information he needed to improve his security system, while Dib was left without the blindspot he planned on using and he needed to clean up all of the disgusting alien pus all on his own. The point goes to Zim.

"Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy"

Look, yeah, Dib did get beat up by the Lawn Gnomes by the end of that episode. And I’m sure that hurts. But you know what I bet probably hurt more?

Having your brain teleported out of your body!

PAK or no, I think that warrants counting Dib as having lost the Least in that episode, and so the point goes to him!

"A Room With a Moose"

While it was a tad humiliating, Dib did still manage to successfully save the lives of himself and his classmates. I mean, even Zim knows that he lost. Which is not that common for him.

Zim: No! The moose has failed me!

So that’s another point to Dib!

"Hamstergeddon"

While Zim’s evil scheme did not go as he planned, it did still cause a lot of death and destruction for the human race - which he is always in favor of. He managed to get rid of Ultra-Peepi before he actually caused damage to his base and got away with everything scot-free. And while Dib also wanted Ultra-Peepi gone, he did also get humiliated and ignored and placed in the Crazy Bucket. Point goes to Zim.

"Bloaty's Pizza Hog"

Gaz: There, see, you won. Eat your pizza.

Can’t argue with that logic! Point to Dib!

"Door to Door"

So while Zim technically won the fundraiser, it is important to remember what Dib’s actual goals were for competing with Zim in the fundraiser to begin with.

Dib: The only reason I'm selling this dirt in a wrapper is to watch you fail at something else, Zim!

The only reason that he wanted to win, is because he wanted to see Zim get humiliated. And he surely got his wish by the way the episode ended.

Plus he got that handy box of [Adhesive Medical Strips]! Point to Dib!

"Bolognius Maximus"

Both lost, zero points each.

"Battle of the Planets"

Okay, so we have a classic example of the ‘Dib foils Zim’s attempts to take over the world, Zim foils Dib’s attempt to expose him’ runaround, but I think in this context - with Zim sustaining a lot more physical injuries -

And Dib actually getting to meet an ally in this episode -

That this is a victory for Dib! A two-point victory for a two-parter!

"Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom"

While the two were basically working towards the same overall goal in that episode despite their constant double-crosses (get back home safely, foil the Halloweenies’ invasion plan) and those two goals were achieved by the end…

Zim still ended that adventure with a broken skeleton (according to himself)

Zim: As soon as my skeleton stops being broken, I'm going to destroy you, Dib.

While Dib ended up seemingly totally unharmed and with a lollipop for his troubles! Two more points to Dib!

"Mysterious Mysteries"

Zim successfully maintained his cover, got Dib publicly humiliated on national television and made even LESS likely that Dib will ever be invited on MM ever again. Point goes to Zim!

"Future Dib"

Well, Dib did at least successfully foil Zim’s plan to basically destroy all life on Earth. Buuut… he ends that episode still captured, with Gaz not really giving a shit about saving him, and implicitly tormented by a monkey for Zim’s amusement for the rest of his natural life.

Obviously that gets reset by the next episode but like I said, I’m not taking those into account. The point goes to Zim!

"Walk For Your Lives"

Well, Zim’s plan succeeded… but that just means that he failed. His actual goal was to impress the Tallests for Probing Day and obviously he did not manage to do that at all.

And Dib also failed since he was trying to warn others and stop Zim. And… I think the implication at the end of the episode is that he probably died, with "you jerk!" as his last words. While Zim is burned, but alive and well. So… Zim does still win this one by default! Truly Zim’s most incredible talent is being able to pull a technical victory out of the most thoroughly embarrassing situations.

"Megadoomer"

Yet another Mutually Assured Failure. Zim failed to kill Dib again, Dib failed to expose Zim again. They both lost the devices they were planning to use to achieve this goal (the Megadoomer exploded and Dib lost his camera to a random bird) and yet they still both claimed victory.

But thinking about the little details… While Dib ‘liked that camera’ it is probably a bit more replaceable than the Megadoomer was. And Dib was at least physically unharmed through that whole encounter, while Zim got crushed by a giant hunk of metal. So the point goes to Dib!

"Lice"

Well, Dib was pretty embarrassed to discover that the Lice Queen was real and he was forced to admit he was wrong and apologize…. But Zim got gruesomely skinned alive

AND as an added bonus, his pain is only going to lead to humanity being better equipped to deal with the lice menace. Which obviously he’d hate. Point to Dib for Suffering Less in that episode!

"Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom"

At first, I kinda debated what to do about this episode. Because while it’s true that Zim accomplished the goal he was trying to achieve in that episode and Dib seems to feel pretty humiliated at the end of the whole ordeal…

There’s no doubt that this whole scheme was an extremely flagrant misuse of resources and - since we know that at the very least the Meekrob’s planet exist and that the fact about the Massive’s side pods is accurate

Dib: The Massive; the armada capital ship. The side pods are filled with snacks. It's their weak spot.

Lard Nar: Ahem, well… If we can just knock a hole in one of the side storage pods, we can steal the snacks that fall out to feed the growing resistance.

Zim actually revealed to Dib some actual dangerous tactical information about the Irken Empire’s weaknesses.

However, I mulled that over and I decided that

If I were to penalize Zim every time his scheme is a stupid/humiliating misuse of resources then this actually applies to almost every Zim vs. Dib episode actually. The question is whatever or not Zim accomplished his goals, rather than if there was a more practical way to accomplish them because the answer to that second question is pretty much always ‘yes’

The fact Dib has technically gotten some useful tactical information from that little simulation has literally never come up again in the actual Invader ZIm canon. As far as we know, he just literally forgot to write it down and now he has no idea.

So yeah, that point still goes to Zim. Even if by a very small margin.

"Tak: The Hideous New Girl"

I was considering making this our first ‘both of them get a point!’ (or well, two points, since this is a double-length episode) since they were both working towards the same goal of protecting the Earth from Tak and they both succeeded!

But… I think I am actually going to give these points to Dib, because Zim only managed to preserve his Status Quo. Dib actually made progress. Between finally getting a good look at Zim’s base, and getting some more info on the Empire

Dib: Your leaders are just taller than everyone else?

And, of course, getting one fun little gift at the end.

"Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars"

The entire gimmick of this episode is Zim having just so many things to worry about at once. He’s got this new Brain Parasite scheme, and he’s trying to bring the Tallests to Earth to check it out, and he’s trying to wrangle up the Robo-Parents and maintain his cover. And by the end of the episode, he only really succeeded in ‘maintaining his cover’ and even that just by the technicality that most Humans in this world are just so stupid and apathetic that he just shouldn’t have bothered probably. By the end of the episode the Robo-Parents are still running wild, his Brain Parasite plan has gone to hell and his plans for the Massive have gone wrong in every possible way.

Now, Dib has also suffered some losses in this episode - the spy-bug in Zim’s base got disabled and the activation of Tak’s Personality in her ship is obviously a huge drawback to that whole plan of repairing it and making it his own. Buuut… at least he didn’t get his brain eaten. So I think he at least won this round. Two more points to Dib!

"Mortos Der Soul Stealer"

While Zim got himself Touched by a Smelly Human and lost a few of his genetically-engineered rodents - the implication seems to be that he has more and this is at best a minor setback to his plan. Meanwhile, Dib didn’t just lose the chance to use basically a magical superweapon against Zim - he also lost a lot of money and then got arrested.

So yeah, the point goes to Zim.

"Zim Eats Waffles"

Nothing about Dib’s plan to expose Zim in that episode worked in his favor and ended with his entire computer being smashed up by Cyborg Zombie Soldiers Created by a Giant Flesh-Eating Demon Squid. Meanwhile, while Zim forgot his Evil Plan for the day - the fact that he sent these aforementioned Cyborg Zombie Soldiers after humanity has got to count for something. Plus he ate some waffles! Point to Zim!

"The Girl Who Cried Gnome"

While both Zim’s attempt to utilize the Moofy Media Storm for his own humanity-destruction plans and Dib’s attempt to do the same in order to expose Zim have thoroughly failed - Zim literally ends this episode whistling ‘If You Happy And You Know It’ as he torments Dib while he is stuck in his yard indefinitely.

Yeah, Zim won that round as well.

"Dibship Rising"

Okay so that episode ends with the Dibship throwing Zim to the horizon. And then he saves Dib’s life.... only to leave Dib stuck in the cesspool for hours as he recounts every embarrassing thing that happened to him before the ship can properly delete his own personality.

But while this seems to be a pretty humiliating and kinda uncomfortable (“the smell’s getting to me”) situation for Dib. I… think that being thrown to that distance would still probably hurt more. Plus, Dib did still make progress with the Ship since he successfully deleted Tak’s personality (I mean that didn’t stick with the Comic and Florpus Canons but we’re not even looking at those today, so…)

Point to Dib!

"Vindicated!"

Zim: Sad little Dib! No more ally and no more proof!

Yeah, Point to Zim.

"The Voting of the Doomed"

This one’s actually kinda hard. So… Dib’s plan succeeded and Zim’s failed - but that just means Zim was spared from becoming a brainwashed pawn of the school board. But is it more humiliating that you worked so hard for a plan that only ended up saving your enemy? Or that you worked so hard for a plan that would’ve doomed you if not for the intervention of your enemy?

Both Zim and Dib seem to assume it’s the former, so, yeah, point to Zim!

"Gaz, Taster of Pork"

While not inflicted by Zim, Dib sure had his fair share of Suffering in that episode. Meanwhile, as far as we can tell, Zim’s Exploding Monkeys Plan went off without a hitch. I mean, Dib or not Dib, I’m sure Zim can find a way to mess it up all on his own - but that was still probably less humiliating than

Yeah, so Zim kinda wins the two points by default.

"The Frycook What Came From All That Space"

So despite going through a lot of painful and grueling and humiliating things in this episode - Zim still won at the end, he still achieved everything he wanted to do: escape Foodcourtia, return to Earth and resume his mission.

Meanwhile, Dib once again failed to convince anyone Zim is an alien

And his attempt to use Zim’s absence to gather information from the Tallests seems to have been thoroughly derailed.

So I think this point goes to Zim!

"The Most Horrible X-mas Ever"

So… Zim's plan has failed and derailed into a threat to himself more than anything - only to be saved by Dib (who earned some sort of Bonding Moment with his dad in the meantime) and together, they (but mostly Dib) throw Santa into space. And then Dib gives a heartfelt speech.

.....And then Zim convincely impersonates the Easter Platypus and incites an angry mob against Dib.

This is probably the episode I mulled over the most, and not just because it’s the last one. I was really unsure if I should prioritize everything Dib has accomplished in the episode - or Zim for getting the last laugh… literally!

But I think, after some deliberation, that yeah, those last two points go to Zim. It was kind of a close-call, but by the end of the episode banishing Santa was a victory for both of them and inciting a mob against the other is something they would both find a meaningful victory - so I think it’s got to count for something???

Final Score:

Zim: 22

Dib: 17

And now I can quite honestly say

VICTORY! VICTORY FOR ZIM!

(But also, like, I think Dib got a pretty good score too. Especially considering his reputation as a universal butt monkey, that gap could’ve been a lot larger. I mean if we counted ‘Enter the Florpus’ as.. by my logic like seven points we’d have a total turnabout)

And of course, this is just my own methodology of counting victories, like you've seen, I have a lot of Weird Edge Cases that you could make arguments on either way. If you have, like, your own interpretations and your own ways of counting victories for these two Ultimate Losers, I’d love to hear it!

#invader zim #zim #zim iz #iz zim #iz #dib membrane #iz dib #zade #dib #iz zade #zim invader zim #zim irken #dib iz #dib invader zim

56 notes · View notes

olderthannetfic · 7 days

Note

I havent found the answers to this online, likely due to my own fault of not being able to word it in a SEO friendly way, so I'll just ask here. When it comes to relationship tags, if the relationship is a group with a canon name, is it okay to just tag the name as a relationship, rather than combining all names of all individual members? For example - Marauders 4way fic, can I just tag it as "Marauders"? Fic about all of the avengers together, can I just tag it as "The Avengers"? etc

You can tag with anything you want! AO3 is designed to let you make up any tags that make sense to you. You should never feel bad about creating new tags on AO3.

I assume what you're actually asking, however, is if tagging that way will result in the tag being wrangled in a way that's helpful to you. And the answer is... maybe?

If you tag something like "Marauders 4-way", I suspect it will get made a synonym of the filterable tag with all the names written out. Unambiguous nicknames for fandoms, like LotRiPS, get synned to the appropriate fandom tag all the time.

But I'd expect a tag that's just 'Marauders' to get used a lot of different ways. Somebody might mean it as platonic, somebody else not. Somebody might accidentally put that there when they meant to put it in the fandom field or something. If other people are already using the tag ambiguously or if the tag wranglers think it's likely to be ambiguous, they might not wrangle it at all. That would make your work not show up when people filter for the filterable ship tag.

'The Avengers' is even worse because they're not going to know which ship tag to syn that too. Lots of characters have been Avengers! And there are even other fandoms with this name (though I doubt people would tag a ship that way).

I don't think wranglers typically make ship tags of this type canonicals/common (i.e. filterable). Fandom-specific jargon tends to get made a canonical when it's a freeform/additional tag (and only if it's used by 3 different users). The rules for main ship tags are to spell out the names so that it's less ambiguous for fans who maybe aren't in the same part of fandom socially.

Anyway, you're allowed to do whatever you want. Personally, I would just make sure the tag is unambiguous.

Unless you don't care about showing up in filters, in which case, really do whatever you want!

20 notes · View notes

tainbocuailnge · 3 months

Note

Hello, I hope it's ok I'm sending this ask but you've written some amazing posts and explanations about Cú Alter and Medb and I was wondering if you also did their valentine's scenes? Have a great day and Happy Valentine's Day 💕

i don't think i've ever talked about their valentines gift scenes specifically. they're pretty straightforward displays of their particular styles of responsibility and diligence.

medb takes love very seriously both as a tool of control and as her genuine true heart's desire so her gifts as both rider and saber are extremely high quality to the point where it seems storebought (handmade chocolate is seen as more genuine than storebought) and she calls every chocolate she hands out her true love chocolate (as opposed to obligation chocolate, the gift you only hand out because there's a societal expectation for women to give valentines gifts to all their classmates and colleagues), because she has complexes and both intentionally and unintentionally smudges the lines on how genuine her displays of affection are so that she can maintain plausible deniability on whether she showed vulnerability or not. but while most people would aim for this plausible deniability by making medium effort obligation choco that could mean nothing she instead makes everything a display of true love because love is deeply important to her.

she wants the excitement of confessing her true love, and she wants the control you have over someone who is in love with you, and she wants the safety of people not knowing her true feelings and thus not having that control over her in turn. she's assertive and a bit fussy and when she decides to do something she always makes sure to do it well, and the result is beautiful professional quality handmade chocolate, but in her saber scene when she decides she wants to be the one who is pursued for a change she kinda fumbles it because even though she's assertive and prides herself on "taking whatever she wants" she has a hard time asking for what she really wants (close relationship as equals with someone she loves), because of the complexes.

cu alter meanwhile is clearly uncomfortable with displays of affection both because of medb's specific style of affection-as-control and because he just thinks of himself as a weapon rather than a person and gets really annoyed when guda doesn't share that view. he brusquely dismisses any attempt to treat him like a person but also has a way too strong sense of duty, so even though he doesn't want guda's gift and says he's just gonna throw it out later he still has to arrange a return gift, it's the obvious thing to do. there's a disconnect between what he says and what he does for basically everything he does because he's torturing himself by thinking he doesn't get the luxury of being the same he's always been even though he's still just the same he's always been. he's obviously not actually gonna throw out that chocolate.

mini cu-chan debuted in the prillya event that ran before male valentines scenes got added and i think they made that the gift just because they couldn't really think of something he would give lol. there's various possible explanations for why the description says medb doesn't recognise it, maybe it's the usual event amnesia handwave, maybe she's lying because she thinks she posted cringe in the prillya singularity. i don't think cu alter is lying about it just showing up in his room one day because he tends to lie about his opinions (to himself most of all) but not about facts. i do like that even though he says you can throw it out for all he cares he obviously did not do that himself, because his sense of duty is way too strong and he takes care of his own as the obvious thing to do even if it pisses him off.

its a fun little contrast between the two of them, medb is very verbally affectionate but struggles to actually unambiguously display affection for a myriad complicated reasons while cu alter grumbles and complains but through his actions is always clearly on your side. but they're both very reliable and diligent, if you need medb for something she will absolutely pull through for you and this very sincere diligence of hers is exactly what she's trying to obfuscate with her elaborate ambiguous affection so that it can't be taken advantage of while cu doesn't really care if he's being taken advantage of because he's gonna do it anyway and that's what frustrates her so fucking much about him that she had to make a version of him that will at least loudly complain about it.

#wearingmidnight #king of asks #metapost #hound of the irish #all dressed up and nakey #ugh my medb tag probably hasnt seen anything new in over a year WHERE is the medb fanart on my dash

40 notes · View notes

greatwyrmgold · 1 year

Text

After Worm ended, Wildbow shared some Parahumans drafts. There are a lot of interesting details that changed, interesting details that stayed the same, and a few things that were just weird. One weird thing that's stuck in my head for nearly a decade is the Rhizome Epidemic.

Out of the snippets provided, the Rhizome Epidemic is only mentioned in the 2004 one, TELUTT (The Events Leading Up to That Thursday). The Epidemic is a bunch of fungus growing somewhere far north enough that it has glaciers. It is noted for sometimes being hostile and producing materials that make great superhero costumes. No seams, bulletproof, cut-resistant, fireproof, "reduces the force of ambient psychic effects," and sometimes transparent.

I could speculate on the origin of the Rhizome Epidemic, whether it's a half-baked Entity "superweapon" or a biotinker creation or some other power effect, but that's impossible to know and not all that interesting. Instead, I'm going to speculate about why Wildbow included it in 2004 and discarded it by 2011.

So, one of the things Wildbow was trying to do with Earth Bet was construct a world where all the standard superhero tropes made sense. Hence (for instance) the 3-4 obscenely powerful precogs, their disparate goals and indirect conflicts pushing the setting towards a superhero norm.

Obviously, Rhizome fabric is intended to help with this. It's the super-suit—nearly invulnerable to damage, good at protecting its wearer from harm, and none of the unpleasant visual clutter caused by real clothesmaking techniques. It even comes with a built-in justification for cleavage windows and the like. It's not a bulletproof suit with a hole cut out right over her heart, it's a bulletproof suit with transparent fabric over her heart!

So why was the Rhizome cut?

Normally, I would argue that the line between "deconstruction" and "reconstruction" isn't fuzzy so much as nonexistent. Both of them take a closer look at a genre's tropes, depicting what the author thinks is a more reasonable version of them. Deconstructions tend to say "This wouldn't work"; reconstructions tend to say "Here's how this could work," but the two are hardly incompatible...especially since genres tend to have multiple tropes to xeconstruct. There are plenty of stories which people could argue as being either de- or reconstructing something; they might outnumber examples which are unambiguously one or the other.

However, the distinction is the most straightforward way to explain the difference between canon Worm and the Rhizome. Worm leans towards deconstructive; it is focused on the ways its setting differs from the Platonic superhero setting more than the reasons why it has superheroes. By contrast, the Rhizome Epidemic is purely reconstructive. From what we saw in the TELUTT draft, it exists to explain why the best/richest capes have costumes that would fit in a Silver Age comic.

Again, reconstructive elements could exist within Worm without ruining its tone; this is obvious, because they exist. (Coil's plans, particularly his early jobs for the Undersiders, are an obvious example.) But the Rhizome Epidemic would still stand out, because it only justifies a trope—and a pretty inconsequential, aesthetic trope at that.

I can imagine a Worm where Rhizome fabrics were incorporated into the narrative weave. Perhaps the flashy four-color costumes are used as a contrast to the grim and gritty reality of the world, with the Epidemic being a disaster that those in power are letting happen because it's convenient for them.

But at the same time, a world where most notable capes have bulletproof costumes, where superheroines regularly flash their cleavage to the world, and where these things exist because of a super-material that only serves to facilitate fanciful costumes and plot armor, is a softer world than Earth Bet needs to be. Worm isn't grimdark (as I'd define the term), but the darkness is needed for the story we saw to come togehter.

#fungi #parahumans #lore #wildbow

205 notes · View notes