this ship will be the death of me

posting on twitter feels like throwing something you worked on for hours, days, weeks into a river, hoping it'll get swept out to sea for many people to experience, only for it to immediately crash into some rocks and explode. its gone now. if no one sees it in the 0.00003 seconds it exists on their timelines, no one ever will

posting on tumblr is like carefully placing your work in the middle of a dark abandoned factory, and slowly a bunch of weird little goblins manifest from the shadows and touch your work all over with their little raccoon hands and share it with each other. sometimes they find your thing again many years later and excitedly share it again

the weird goblins are much more enjoyable

I could not agree more

i don’t wanna love myself like “buy this feel good”. i wanna love myself like i made a sandwich for later because i knew i’d be too busy. i wanna love myself like hang on take a breath do you actually like this. i wanna love myself like okay we’re gonna set a reminder to get up and brush our teeth. i wanna love myself like - it’s okay to say no, it’s okay to take that nap, it’s okay to go home.

i don’t wanna feel sexy like tv. i don’t wanna feel sexy like little black dress. i wanna feel sexy like high note during karaoke. like just got done writing 14 pages of poetry. like let me show you this scarf i’ve been knitting. i wanna feel sexy like hand on the back of the headrest while you parallel park. like did i tell you about that time i saved a baby bird. like don’t tell her but i’ve been sneaking money into her purse.

i don’t wanna feel pretty like expensive. like high fashion. like paid to be here. i wanna feel pretty like a bird in a puddle. i wanna feel pretty like streak of dyed hair. i wanna feel pretty like calligraphy, like new leaves, like a skinned knee bleed, like a dog running at full speed. i wanna feel pretty like lying next to you. i wanna feel pretty like the new album just dropped, i wanna feel pretty like a shower, i wanna feel pretty like a stone wall all covered in moss.

i keep saying body neutrality. that feels negative - no bad things, no good things, just body. but i mean - my body is neutral like a flower is neutral like an oil slick is neutral like a day is neutral, too. my body is neutral so a kiss can feel like lightning so a dance can feel like a hula hoop so a walk to get coffee can feel like - god, i’m so happy to just be around you.

my body is a site. not the source of the joy, just where i can find it. i don’t wanna love like - finally got my body tight/forced myself through a diet/whatever trend is the current hype. i wanna love myself like - i go to this river and i find gold every time i shift around inside it. i wanna love myself like - i feel sexy because it’s sexy to be alive, and laughing. i wanna love myself like - bitch, i could have died, and i didn’t, and if that isn’t the prettiest almost in the whole world, than i don’t know what is.

wow i wanna love myself like extremely pleasing typefacing i wanna love myself like enjoyed this post i made a little art about it i wanna love myself like the little flags on the letter t love to curl themselves against their base i want to love myself like hold on mom, it’s a good reason i’m crying

god i hope whatever bullshit happens next is funny

Writer: There Was Only One Bed…

Smut fans: *gasp!!!!!*

Writer: So They Spooned All Night And The Brooding One Allowed Themselves To Feel Vulnerable For The First Time In Years And The Chirpy One Got Some Quality Snuggles

Fluff fans: *GASP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Alternatively:

There was only one bed and so they lay there together, only inches apart physically but it may as well have been miles for neither could muster the courage to tell the other the true depth of their feelings and so they lay there sleepless in their mutual pining

Angst fans:

There was only one bed. A carried B to it and gently eased them down. They were both badly injured but B’s conditions were much worse and A wouldn’t rest until they knew B was going to be alright. So A sat down next to B and brushed their hair back, holding their hand as B shivered through the night, their only comfort A’s presence by their side.

Hurt/Comfort fans:

Dear god you’re right, you’re so right

I feel like this needs to be a writing challenge… How many different ways can you write this one trope.

There was only one bed, but instead of making a big fuss, the tired pair went the fuck to sleep and got a full 8 hours.

My sleep deprived ass:

OH YEAH THAT’S THE GOOD STUFF

There was only one bed. This is normal. They’ve been married for a decade and have a small child. The child has climbed in bed to snuggle with them because thunder is scary. They have their baby curled between them and they share soft, warm smiles over his sleepy head as he snores little kid snores.

Me, who just wants domestic curtains found family fic:

I AM ALL OF THIS I WILL LITERALLY READ ANYTHING

There was only one bed, the two characters argued and bickered begging for them not to have to share it, but they somehow are here still. They agree that there both going to pick a side and stay on it. This was going fine until in the middle of the night A woke up screaming and crying, B gets them to calm down and they end up falling asleep next to each other feeling safe

Enemies to lovers fans

There was only one bed. A noticed B’s exhaustion and lifted them easily. “You don’t have to carry me like a child,” B noted, despite being clearly pleased by how matters were progressing. “I think we both know that’s not true,” A replied with a grin. The bed was warm, inviting, and yet something was missing. “Is this a private party, or can just anyone join,” C called from the doorway, clad only in their underwear and a smile. “Only if it’s you!” A and B replied in unison as they drew the covers back.

My OT3-loving ass:

There was only one bed.

It turned out to be a defective Murphy bed and it trapped them in the wall.

Crack fic fans:

This entire thread is delightful

That last addition is so important to an underrepresented group 🥲

(Also I laughed my butt off)

The best trait you can give a tall and imposing character is "easily flustered." I don't care how many people they've bested in combat, someone cute flirting with them should be enough to make them go

This is Sam Winchester

No it is NOT

this is sephiroth actually

Yeah it can be that guy

You all love to toy with me

A favorite character dynamic / story arc

please hate my favorite fictional character accurately at least

I KNEW IT.

the best time to grieve is when it spites the people who tell you not to

[ID: a 4-panel comic in medieval manuscript style of a person in blue sitting on a basket. /In 1 a person off-panel says: "What are you doing over there?" /2: That person comes on panel wearing yellow and helps Blue hold down the basket. Blue: "Trying to push down my grief about my illness" Yellow: "Have you tried platitudes?" /3: Blue yells at the basket: "'It could be worse!'" /4: A dragon pushes up the lid of the basket to yell: "It could be better" /end ID]

has this been done yet?

talk about this. this is the kind of shit indigenous people and others concerned with the environmental impacts of extractive energy are concerned about.

reblog if its friday and you made it

I think another problem with the mindset of kudos/comments on AO3 is part of the “stalking” culture on instagram. If you like a picture that is months old on instagram, its “insta-stalking” because you had to scroll through that person’s profile in order to find those months-old pictures. That is NOT how AO3 works. It’s not cringe or embarrassing to find a fic that was posted in 2012 and like it. It is there to read. 

Sure, maybe some of us have some old works that aren’t up to our current standards of writing. But I, personally, am never going to look at a kudos email and think “ew omg I can’t believe someone found this fic from 2016 why are they liking it”. In fact, I am entirely going to go “nice! people are still reading some of my older works too, I’m glad they enjoyed it”. It’s an archive, it is meant to be a collection of transformative works, old and new, and you are meant to find them. 

In fact, if you find a work that is from five years ago and you really liked it? I bet the author would love a comment even then.

Stories are written to be read. 

Show some appreciation.

I love waking up in the morning and seeing that comments have been left on fics I wrote 5, 10, 20(!!!) years ago. 

2002 me wrote a fic that made someone in 2020 happy? Fucking brilliant.

Thiiiiiiiiiiis! I love comments on my fics, no matter how old they are! Comments are fuel for more writing! Whether its a big paragraph pointing out specifics you like or a short one that’s just a jumble of capitol letters. I love them all! <3

Leaving even the simplest comment like “LMAOOOO [CHARACTER] IS SUCH A TRASH BAG AND I LOVE HIM!”, which contains no specific, useful feedback, is still like finding a $5 bill on the ground.

Y'all, there are actual published books that haven been out for centuries that I’m sure you would rave to the author about if you met them.

So a story that is a few years old online that you love is no different. NO DIFFERENT.

i log onto tumblr. i scroll. i see two posts in a row about misha collins getting fucked by bill clinton. i continue scrolling ... with caution

I am really struggling to write academically about this trend of developers making up bad excuses for not including women because what I really want to say is that it sucks and it’s adding insult to injury and could you please just be honest and say you don’t wanna.

Oh yeah, I’m sick of it too.  And it feels like it just keeps happening and it’s insulting to our intelligence.  Like

Ubisoft: We can’t have a female protagonist because they’re too hard to animate!

Logical Retort: What about all those female characters you already animated?

What they should have admitted: We didn’t want to make a woman protagonist.  

~~~~~

Konami: Quiet can’t wear clothes because she’s infected by a parasite that makes her breathe through her skin and she’d suffocate!

Logical Retort: Well then how come that other guy with the same parasite was covered head to toe?

What they should have admitted: We wanted her to be eye candy.

~~~~~

Bungie: Cortana is rendered without any clothes because it gives her a psychological advantage over her opponents!

Logical Retort: Then how come the “male” AIs are rendered with clothing?

What they should have admitted: We wanted her to be eye candy.

~~~~~

Nintendo: Link can’t be a woman because no one would relate to them!

Logical Retort: 48% of gamers would probably love to see a character like them.  And much of the other 52% may appreciate the novelty.

What they should have admitted: We really like making the exact same concept over and over.

Stop.  Your BS excuses are honestly almost more insulting than the truth.

@bikiniarmorbattledamage

First let us begin with a summary of many of the reblogs by individuals who have very predictable responses.

The basic arguments being spewed up are the usual suspects:

Basically all variants on the “I am threatened by examination of my hobby and would prefer we maintain a world where I am unfairly celebrated than move toward one where I am expected to recognize other people as human.”

Really there’s only two reasons we keep getting this trash:

Obviously, neither of these is really a good explanation so instead of the honest truth we get the a worrying state on ongoing denial of both the problem and the consequences.

- wincenworks

More on rhetoric on BABD | BABD’s Rhetoric Bingo

I figured this would be an appropriate throwback, in the light of Ubisoft, one of developers mentioned, being exposed last month for their massive sexual misconduct claims, and then, on top of that, evidence of absolutely shamelessly toxic, cishet white male-centric development philosophy at their studios, despite  bragging about having diverse teams working on games. 

When not insisting that “sex sells”, Creepy Markerting Guy and his Creepy Executive buddies, are literally on record saying that “women (as protagonists) do not sell”. And pushing back against their development teams fighting for even slightest bit of inclusivity in their games. 

We’ve been saying for years, one way or another, that there’s a direct connection between toxic white masculinity and the refusal in entertainment industry, including games, to acknowledge women as more than eye candy and that people other than white straight cis men deserve to have their stories told.  We’re not surprised by the disturbing revelations - there were similar ones before. Moreover, the product itself reflects the toxic environment it was made in, if you know where to look. 

~Ozzie