RP APPRECIATION

[Oberon]

Thanks! Actually thought of joining the recent competition, but time was already up. Really enjoyed reading all of the submissions, though. Each addition felt like an urban expedition. (I'd read an RBC travel guide or blog, etc.)

RBC tourism guide when

I really enjoyed that :3

[Khope]

But now; as her phone buzzed beside her, Dez read the most recent information on those that had chosen to continue to take on the vows and she felt that familiar heat wash through her body; anger, no, rage began to burn in the pit of her stomach until she felt it spreading through her like wildfire; whipping her into a fiery slur of swear words loosed to the silence of the flowers around her. They didn’t answer her, they didn’t judge her. They simply existed.

[Ohana]

She was no strategist. But like the hunters they ran. And like a bird, she hunted.

this will live in my head rent free. i loved it.

[Fera]

She was no strategist. But like the hunters they ran. And like a bird, she hunted.

this will live in my head rent free. i loved it.

omg ty :3

[ophelia]

I just want to say that the piece below I have quoted is perhaps one of THE most relatable, aching, kick in the chest thing I've read in recent years. So so beautifully written. Thank you.

Do you know what it's like to have a tiger in your house?

I do.

I remember admiring its strength and sleek beauty. Its ferocity. I was a timid, anxious thing, terrified to take up even enough space to stand on my own, and there was this beast of muscle and claw and teeth. I remember the first time it laid its eyes on me, how my heart stopped in my chest. I saw it in need, hungry and alone. And, foolishly, I fed it. [There is a reason they say not to feed wild animals, but hindsight is 20/20.]

It wasn't long before that tiger came home to live with me. With us.

And in many ways, a tiger is a house cat, isn't it? Just bigger, I told myself. Sure, there were modifications, concessions that had to be made, but that was love in the form of accommodation to make it a comfortable, happy space for the both of us. There are things to learn to live with -- or without -- just like you would with anyone or anything you love.

But the thing about tigers is: they're hungry. Always hungry. More hungry than you have food to give.

Because their appetites isn't just for food, but for everything. Attention. Praise. Lust. They want what they want with no room for negotiation, because their hunger is always more dire. They will take what you will give willingly; they will take what you're uncertain to part with; they will still demand more. They will take bites out of you, if that's what is required, and after a while, you will tell yourself you allow this because it is what they need. You convinced yourself it is okay, because your love for the tiger and the tiger's needs and the tiger's wellbeing is greater even that your own self-preservation. Who needs a pinky finger? A middle toe? It was worth it, you tell yourself, because then the tiger is yours. The tiger will love you just as ferociously, as fiercely, and will sleep beside you at night.

And while the tiger loves you, makes you feel like the center of their world.. they are excellent at hiding the destruction they do to those around you. Those they do not have to play nice with. Those they are not trying to fool. I was one of those people, and my family often watched me suffer and bleed in silence to keep the peace with the tiger in our home. Sometimes I tried to fight, but I realized quickly there was little use. There are concessions one makes when living with tigers, and the safety of those important to you is one of them. This was a hard lesson for us to learn and live through. But the tiger loves. Deeply. Fiercely. There's reasons you keep the tiger around.

One of us, torn and bleeding, asks the other: "Why are you letting this tiger do this to me?"

The other, no flesh left to defend themself already, can only shrug and look away.

This cycle repeats.

...Until the tiger get hungry again.

And at a certain point, there is nothing left for you to give -- not love, not affection, not even pounds of flesh.

When they get hungry again, you watch them starve themselves, and you watch them chase after others. You watch them wind up at other houses, other doors, playing house cat once more so they can satiate themselves for a little while longer. The tiger tells you this is because they love you, because they can't ask for more from you, even though you're bleeding out in your kitchen holding your own butcher knife in the wrong hand to try to be enough on your own.

You will never be, because a tiger's hunger doesn't end, but what you have to give -- what you can carve off and still function and breathe afterwards -- has a limit.

Do you know what it's like to live with a lion?

I do.

Lions and tigers are cut from the same cloth. It makes sense, in a lot of ways, that they would be perfect for each other. Love each other. They could see in each other the reflection of that same, unyielding hunger, and they could fuel each other, hunt together. It's perfect, isn't it?

Lions are trickier, though. Tigers are solitary. They hunt alone, travel alone, seek out what they need alone. But lions? Lions are animals that thrive on community, which is to say thrive on power, which is to say thrive on the attention and deference of others almost as much as meat. To have a tiger in your home is to make concession; to have a lion in your home is to always put yourself, your needs, second. They eat first. Their ego comes first. They roar, you jump. Cause, effect.

You don't want them to eat you, after all, do you? Or force them to starve and look elsewhere? Fighting any beast in your home is dangerous, especially for others around who aren't used to what it can mean. People get hurt. Even beasts do bleed, and when they cry -- crocodile or otherwise -- it hurts you just as much, because you invited them into your home in the first place out of love. Watching them starve, watching them get hurt -- that isn't what you wanted for them. Selfless love demands you to step up, to be what they need, and they are happy to capitalize on it. It is one of the most dire forms of toxic enablement. Especially because tigers and lions do not eat each other, only hunt together.

Eventually, the only way out is to stop feeding them: flesh, attention, love. For yourself. For your house and the people who live there.

They will cry. They will roar and break and rip things apart.

Eventually, they will either succumb to themselves, or they will find another door that will let them in, separately or together.

We are devastated, Liander, that we did not see you -- and Ezra -- for what you were sooner. Do we regret letting you into our home? No. Never. It was an active act of love, a choice, to do so, and as wounding and scarring as it might have been, as insincere as it might have been at times, it is our choice to believe that at least some of that love was genuine. Real. And we genuinely did believe you. Not just the first time, either, but the second, and the third -- after rounds of apologies and chunks missing. Even past the point of reason for many.

Even now, still, I choose to believe your offer to sire me once upon a time was, perhaps, equal parts sincerity, a hunger for power and respect, and a hunger to see Vex suffer, to see me choose you over him. I don't pretend to know the breakdown, but even if it's small, I choose to believe there was good there, more than just the urge to satiate those appetites.

We want to believe your apology is genuine now, but we also understand it is also the words a lion would need to say to try to get the door to open again. We trust Vex to make his own decisions here, as we all have had many conversations about the tiger that lived in our house, but we also have learned the signs. It took us far too long to learn, but we did. We have.

After all, if these beasts were nothing but monsters, you would never let them inside in the first place, let alone voluntarily mutilate yourself to try to convince them to stay. So you get better at looking out for the differences. You get better at distinguishing cat from lion from monster. And it's not that we'd ever want you to be less, to be small, to be anything but a version of yourself that finds a way to fill that yawning void that does not demand or take from others. Because we remember how 'perfect' the love the two of you had was, and it looked a lot like you both trying -- and failing -- to eat each other, because there was nothing and no one left.

We both tried to help you do that, and when we both decided to stop feeding the two of you when we could no longer do so and survive, we watched you both killed yourselves.

To the Wolfe family: we don't claim to know you, and we will never judge you for opening your door. Just try not to let yourselves be quietly devoured and call it devotion like we did.

Co-written and Signed: Anders and Willa de Draak

[Lyrene]

I absolutely, wholeheartedly second that. More than I can find the words for. Gorgeous <3

[Liander]

Yeah, thirded. That post rocked me to my core. Stunning work, both of you.

[Oberon]

I echo everything said above for that post. Beautifully written. Also these:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3666 - Keo, I'm so happy you're engaging with grid-anchored writing. Look at you go. Look at that birb go!
Loved it.

viewtopic.php?f=15&p=61397#p61397

Damn, Nikki.

[Anders]

late but THANK YOU it was really fun to write!!
i've been loving all the activity lately ; v ;

[Malkin Grim]

Guys, gals, even nonbinary pals.
You have to STOP writing so many bangers. We are reaching critical mass of bangers per minute here!

I'll give more detailed reviews in a while, just know that it is being a shitty week at work, my brain is fried, but all the amazing stuff you are posting is helping to ease all the awfulness. Thank you very much.