#but if you are working on star trek and your first instinct is to give the weird alien girl fucking false eyelashes

[baejax-the-great]

You actually never have to make female aliens fuckable by human standards

#sci fi #I already question the whole thing of female vs male aliens #what that would even mean for a species #but if you are working on star trek and your first instinct is to give the weird alien girl fucking false eyelashes #when she doesn't EVEN HAVE HAIR #MAYBE GO HOME AND TAKE A NAP AND COME UP WITH A BETTER IDEA LATER #star trek #mass effect

[fate-motif]

How do I get into Star Trek? I hear so many things about it that sound interesting, but there is just an intimidating amount of content. Do I have to start at the beginning?

i feel kind of bad about leaving this ask hanging, anon, but believe me that i’ve been considering it. i’ve been thinking deeply about a good answer to give you because i love star trek. if you follow me, you know i love star trek and if you don’t i have no idea why you asked me of all people but i need you to know that when someone asks me, hey, how can i get into star trek? i take that question very seriously. and i’m sorry if you wanted a simple order for which to watch properties but star trek’s kind of a hard franchise to get into compared to most. and you’ll find roadblocks that you probably won’t run into for other franchise. so i’m going to describe to you first, a brief overlay of the star trek franchise’s installments, in order of release, and then two (and a half) possible methods to watch them in. i hope this helps and that the length of this post doesn’t intimidate you.

a preface

i will add three initial clauses come with this guide to help you to orient yourself when unsure about what to do in the face of uncertainty.

1. it’s okay if you don’t want to watch something, whether that be an episode or even an entire show. i know there are people who have very strong completionist instincts but i’m going to have to stress here that star trek is a franchise spanning over fifty years. all kinds of production teams have come and gone and released episodes that really run the gamut of quality like you wouldn’t believe. you won’t just find bad episodes, sometimes you will find unbelievably racist or sexist episodes. you will find aesthetic or narrative decisions you heavily disagree with for other reasons, and sometimes if you don’t mesh with something you’re watching, it’s okay to leave it behind. normally you won’t need to be heavily well-versed in the franchise to keep going to the next installment (provided you’ve already somewhat immersed yourself in how the technology and protocol of starfleet) but for a long period of the franchise, the shows were heavily episodic. you’ll recognize the more serialized episodes and shows when you see them but if a specific episode feels outdated and too weird and clearly this one very specific spat about whether riker wants to take up ballet won’t matter later on, you can move on, and in fact you might feel better if you do it instead of punishing yourself by slogging through filler that really isn’t working for you. however, and i have said this before, for a long period of the franchise, the shows were heavily episodic. one of the joys of star trek comes a lot in how a character gets deepened through every silly episode. so while you should feel free to skip an episode if you’re not vibing with it, one way you can try and parse out whether a flimsy and bizarre episode might be worth sticking with is by identifying the characters you like the most and trying to see if this episode develops them in particular. you might be in for a treat!

2. don’t be ashamed to compliment your watch with wikis. that’s how i stopped being a little less intimidated of the breadth of the star trek franchise. i knew what episodes were coming and i could liberally skip those that focused on characters i didn’t really care about or even cut out shows i knew wouldn’t offer a lot to me. granted, my experience has been a little unorthodox but if you don’t understand something, don’t be afraid to google it! wikipedia has a very strong set of plot summaries for the shows of star trek up to 2004, the end of the berman era, but for a more fan-focused perspective you might want to rely on memory alpha, a fandom dot com fan wiki focused on the worldbuilding of the star trek universe where you can figure yourself out if you have any questions about what this specific species they just mentioned might mean or if it’s just a passing namedrop to make stuff sound more alien. (memory beta also exists but it’s dedicated to archiving stuff related to secondary canons ie not the shows or movies like videogames, tie-in novels, the now defunct sequel novelverse that was supposed to continue after voyager, etc.)

3. no star trek has been good from the start. it is a common truism among star trek fans (although i have to dispute it in some cases) that the first season of every star trek show is garbage. while it may seen ridiculous to us, who are familiar with streaming services canning shows at the drop of a hat, a lot of these star trek shows got away with entire early seasons of being meh or even terrible without getting cancelled. you might even want to have the plot summaries of the episode from the first two? seasons of a show handy just in case there’s a particularly bad stinker incoming that you might want to avoid at all cost. if you want to, i’ll answer an ask for particularly offensive episodes across the franchise that you might want to avoid, but this ask is going to be long enough with just basic info as to how to get into the franchise, so i’m not going to jump the gun just yet.

PART I: THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE

so let’s start with the order of the films and shows of the star trek universe as they were released. the release order is important because every show is heavily touched by the historical context in which the properties were made in, in both good and bad ways, and the context informs decisions that were taken in them very obviously. (i will also add a small three-letter abbreviation of the title of each show because it’s a common way for fans to get across what specific incarnation they’re talking about without typing the whole thing out.)

star trek (1966-1969) [tos]. this was the original star trek show, now more commonly referred to as “the original series”, hence tos. created by gene rodenberry, it pictures a future in which earth has joined an alliance of planets named the united federation of planets that seems to expand their scientific horizons through their discovery service. it made great strides in its time for advocating for a more sexually liberated society and a more inclusive society for black people and women, even portraying one of the first interracial kisses broadcast in america. however, do note that it’s still a show of its time and it will be apparent in both casual asides from the dialogue and the plot of some of its episodes. but you still might enjoy it due to its extremely 60s campy tone and hey, it didn’t start one of the longest-lived slash pairings in history for nothing (and in fact, invented the term “slash”). just be aware of the underpinnings that a show released in the 1960s might have.

star trek: the animated show (1973-1974) [tas]. after the original star trek show was cancelled, there was an effort to continue the adventures of the main cast introduced in tos in the animated form. tas doesn’t do much that tos doesn’t already do, except that it’s animated during the dark age of animation, and so…you get a really, really goofy sequel series to a show that was already super goofy with mediocre animation and just as mediocre writing. however, a lot of people will swear by it and it has its own silly charms that you can hold on to. most people won’t judge you for skipping it because it’s more than anything, an addendum to tos.

then after around a decade after the cancellation of tas, a series of films were released after much effort to get something off the ground to revive star trek. these are also centered on the characters we met in the original series: star trek: the motion picture (1979), star trek ii: the wrath of khan (1982), star trek iii: the search for spock (1984), star trek iv: the voyager home (1986), star trek v: the final frontier (1989), and star trek vi: the undiscovered country (1991). these take place about a decade or so after the original series and we meet the original crew in higher, more cinematic stakes than in tos. just as well, these movies are not produced in the 60s on a TV budget so you could argue that the original cast really get a chance to shine in these and if you liked the cast but not the production of tos, you might really treasure them. ii to iv are continuing the same plot so you probably can’t skip anything in between if you’re touching that string of movies, but otherwise they are mostly self-contained movies. (god knows no one would fault you for skipping the final frontier).

thankfully, the success of these movies was enough to get a new era of star trek on TV off the ground. the following shows (and accompanying movies) are what we now call the “berman era” of trek, named after the main shared showrunner of the shows that more or less had the baton passed to him after gene rodenberry developed alzheimer’s and then eventually died. (do note even through progress was made between the 60s and the 80s in terms of writing women and people of color, there were still some gaping flaws that a mostly white and male writing and production team couldn’t fully cover from, and as a result if you were hoping for shows far ahead of their time in terms of representation, you might be a little disappointed with the result.)

star trek: the next generation (1987-1994) [tng]. this series takes place almost a century after the adventures of tos, and introduces an entirely new cast on a new flagship continuing the discovery work of the federation. thanks to the time skip between this show and its previous installments you don’t need to have seen much from the tos era to understand what’s going on, but if you’re here from those shows then you’ll have full knowledge of how the federation operates already, with some new technology thrown in that didn’t exist in the tos era. it also establishes a lot of long-running elements of the universe that will be crucial to the understanding of the shows after it, so if you’re not enjoying this one you might want to at least pass over some important episodes or at least read their wikipedia pages or memory alpha plot summaries.

star trek: deep space nine (1993-1999) [ds9]. this series takes place around a year before the end of tng, so you can see that if you want to start this one you might want to at least know what happened on tng. this one takes place on a space station as opposed to a ship, and is much more concerned with morally gray topics about politics and interspecies relations than its predecessors. that’s not to say it doesn’t indulge in occasional lighthearted and out-there scifi episodes but it takes it on itself to ask questions about the seemingly utopian federation and its interactions with other alien societies that don’t share its views. it’s probably both the most interesting and the most watchable for a modern audience because of its observations, but it certainly doesn’t work as well for the audiences that are looking towards star trek for more zany scifi comfort food.

star trek: voyager (1995-2002) [voy]. this one starts midway through ds9, and is probably as condensed as you get in the lore as you get in berman era trek. you kind of need to know a lot about what happens in both tng and ds9 to understand the setup for voy, which is hilarious considering its setup is that the eponymous ship gets yeeted by an extremely powerful alien entity halfway across the galaxy into depths of the mostly uncharted by the federation delta quadrant, so you won’t get that many returning plot elements across its run. it can be heavily divisive based on the quality of its episodes and its intent but it definitely sets itself up in counterpoint to the most cerebral and grave ds9 by returning to the days of purely exploration for the main cast (even if there’s a greater element of danger than in the tos days due to being so far from home). this is the last show in the tng-ds9-voy series, and the century these three shows take place in is commonly referred to as the “tng era”.

throughout the release of ds9 and voy, star trek also released a series of movies that continued the adventures of the cast of tng. these are star trek: generations (1994), star trek: first contact (1996), star trek: insurrection (1998) and star trek: nemesis (2002). these are all standalone movies and if you’ve become a fan of the crew of tng, have at it! i will warn you ahead of time that by the point of first contact there had started to be franchise fatigue. the quality of all these movies except first contact is constantly argued and for good reason, and some jokingly say that star trek: nemesis singlehandedly killed the star trek franchise. but there’s still one more show left from the berman era of trek.

star trek: enterprise (2001-2004) [ent]. this is a prequel series set before the tos days before the birth of the united federation of planets. it’s a complicated show to appreciate due to the serious franchise fatigue that was setting in by the beginning of the 21st century, its aspirations to return to its more utopian days in the franchise and then its efforts to backtrack on that completely when shows like 24 began to make a killing in the market which led to its production team to tackle, incorrectly i might add, the sensitive topics going around by the days of the war on terror. but if you’re already immersed in the universe and if you fall in love with the cast, you might appreciate the worldbuilding it offers in spite of it having all the worst excesses of the berman era section of the franchise. suffice to say that the finale of this series was the most reviled of the franchise and probably to this day.

the franchise then didn’t see any more installments until the reboot movies that brought back star trek to the mainstream. star trek (2009), star trek into darkness (2013) and star trek beyond (2016) center around an alternate universe and an alternate version of the cast of tos. these are way more in line with the modern traditional hollywood blockbuster than any of the previous installments and were famously produced by j.j. abrams, who vocally admitted that he took on the responsibility because this might be the closest he might ever get to making a star wars movie. … anyway, while these movies might rub the wrong way to fans of the old movies (if you came to these movies having seen the franchise that came before you probably won’t enjoy them as much), they’re not technically bad movies though, and star trek beyond is by far the best of them. we’ll come back to them when i talk later about possible ways to get into the franchise.

once again, the success of these new movies revived attention in the star trek universe, and we have now entered the latest chapter of the star trek franchise that is still ongoing to this day. commonly referred to as new trek, the franchise has taken on a somewhat grittier, more action-based tone than what came before and the steps it took to solidify itself have been very hotly contested. that being said, as someone who’s been through the wringer of [gestures upwards vaguely] all of that, i’m going to use my trekkie street cred and still endorse new trek. there have been both reasonable and completely unreasonable criticism to the entries of new trek, but star trek has always been flawed in some way or other but even in new trek i can see the shine that all of us star trek fans see when squinting our eyes through a questionable 60s or 90s episode of a better world. i will say, though, with one exception, i think new trek is probably the worst way to get into star trek just because of how heavy it is with the previously set up worldbuilding. i’ll go into further detail when i describe the possible roads you could get into the franchise but all of these shows are piggybacking off of at least one other show or era and aren’t really made for people who are completely unfamiliar with the universe. but if you’ve made it this far, here’s the rundown for new trek.

star trek discovery (2017-ongoing) [dsc or dis, but more often than not ends up just being abbreviated to disco]. this was the starter of this new era of star trek. it starts a few years before tos and its main characters are heavily ingrained in the stories of the cast of tos, even if they are not original tos cast members themselves. the first two seasons are extremely rocky but ultimately the show makes great efforts to get the shine out of its potential in its latest two seasons. if you feel that it starts off way too tryhard and edgy in an attempt to capture a more mature audience in a franchise that’s never needed to do that, you are not alone, but they eventually recognize this tendency and begin to course correct for mature stories that aren’t trying to shock to get all its worth out of its mature rating.

star trek picard (2019-ongoing) [pic]. this show is set a few decades after the end of voy and is also target of a lot of discourse because it’s also trying to be dark and mature whether or not it’s appropriate for the franchise or for the development of these characters. decisions are made with the characters of this era that a lot of people don’t approve of (myself included). however, if you’re really invested in getting closure out of the cast of tng and you’ve been warned ahead as to the more controversial developments that they take, you might find this show worth a shot. not to show my own colors but i personally steered clear of this one

star trek lower decks (2020-ongoing) [lds or lwd]. this is the first purely comedic star trek show and the first animated entry since tas. it centers on a cast of lowly ranked characters on a ship from a low rung class of ships dedicated to the unstylish duty of second contact. this is the first entry of new trek that warmed up pretty quickly to the fans, and i have to say that this one is probably the most inhospitable to newcomers because it’s all built on the understanding that you know the star trek universe top to bottom. the animation style is contentious, due to it resembling a lot of low-quality adult animated shows, but if you get past it you will be very well entertained, because this show is comfort food for the trekkie, and it has a lot of heart as well, even if the battles aren’t exactly monumental.

star trek prodigy (2021-ongoing) [pro]. this is the first star trek show made to include children new to star trek in the audience, though it’s still highly enjoyable as an adult trekkie as well. the protagonists are refugees from the delta quadrant seeking to find solace in the federation, so you get an outsider’s perspective to the federation while they’re doing so. i’ll talk about this show later on in my potential entries to the franchise but off the bat i’m going to show my colors and say that this is the show with the best original content of the franchise since the start of new trek and a lot of people aren’t giving it its due because of its intended age range, so that’s a massive shame and i hope you don’t pass it over, anon.

star trek: strange new worlds (2022-ongoing) [snw]. thanks to the success of disco, an entire show was greenlit for the continuation of the story of one specific character, captain christopher pike. he’s actually a character introduced in tos, and so this show follows the events under his command previous to tos. it has multiple members from the tos cast like spock, uhura, nurse chapel and m’benga, but it also has new characters and new ideas to complement its tos roots. it has some questionable decisions in its writing that make me averse to it but from what i can tell it’s pretty popular due to the fact that it’s not afraid to get a little weird with it, like a lot of previous star trek shows, and i hope that they continue that tradition for as long as they’re on the air.

PART II: HOW TO GET INTO THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE

now, with all that information on the table, surely that’s the most logical way to get into the franchise? following the order of the release of the shows and movies that make part of the franchise? well, yes, and i’ll elaborate a little later on about that path, but that’s not the only way you can get through it. i have loved ones who couldn’t get into star trek through tos because the 60s production style bounced right off them. i have friends who couldn’t get into properties that don’t have the tos cast because in tng is when the lore starts to compress and become heavier and more important and they just wanted something more casual. so taking into account different sensibilities for eras of TV, the quality of the works involved, and the importance of the lore from its components, i devised two and a half ways to get into star trek that i recommend, and one experiment if you’re brave enough to undertake it. let’s get to it.

the basic tos era block: starting with the original series, then the tos movies, and then following the franchise by order of production. this would be a pretty logical way to go around it, as previously said. the world gets elaborated in the way it was written. i can’t imagine what a shock it would be to try and handle the franchise chronologically in-universe because a show produced in 2017 is a prequel to a show produced in the 1960s and the clashing aesthetics and writing would be very intense. this way, instead, you see the production value increase and the sensibilities change more towards what we have in the present day without being pulled between eras of TV. it also helps that even if you kind of don’t love the original series itself, if you like the cast of characters but not the fact that their stories have to be told in the 1960s, the sequel movies do the characters a lot of justice (up to a point, i mean final frontier exists) so you won’t be frustrated the same way other fans have to be that the limitations of the time the show was produced in completely defined the stories told with the characters. you can even just stay in your tos bubble if you like, you’re still a star trek fan if you just feel attached to the one crew, and it’s fine. but if you started here you are in an optimal position to continue with the rest of the franchise, preferably in the order of production of the shows.

reboot movies as a gateway to the tos era: starting with the reboot movies (star trek, star trek into darkness, and star trek beyond), then watching the original series, the tos movies, then following the franchise by order of production. at the risk of alienating my star trek mutuals, i’m going to say that i think not everyone will just acclimate to the production values of the 1960s so easily. i certainly couldn’t, and if i had been introduced to star trek through tos i don’t think i would have continued through the franchise. i came to the franchise through the reboot movies because it was 2013 and i thought anton yelchin was super cute. be warned if you take this path as a way to familiarize yourself with the tos cast before jumping ship to tos: these movies really are more in line with the sensibilities of a marvel movie than your regular star trek show. i only suggest this shortcut so that you fall in love with the characters and wonder what kinds of other stories they can be in aside from j.j. abrams’ questionable mystery box approach. if you do fall in love with the characters, you could make it to tos and brave through tos or even just part of tos (there’s nothing wrong with skipping episodes if you’re not feeling them!) as it is, the tos cast really get their time to shine in the sequel movies. you will benefit from having seen at least some of the tos episodes before jumping to the movies though. and as i said before, if this is where you want to end your star trek journey, no judgment! i have friends who stopped here and i’m happy for them. but again, if you’ve made it this far maybe you’re wondering where the universe can go from here, even without the tos cast. if you really can’t attach yourself to any of the new characters, however, you might be ready to tackle something like disco or snw which heavily feature or even are led by members of the tos crew, especially since you came here having started through the abrams movies and a little action and questionable modern day blockbuster quality clearly didn’t throw you off.

the basic tng era block: starting with the new generation, then continuing with deep space nine, voyager, and the tng movies, before watching new trek. another perfectly logical starting point is tng because it was meant as a starting point for newcomers of the franchise and doesn’t continue the stories of anyone featured in the franchise before. furthermore, if you want to do the same thing previously mentioned where you just want to focus on the adventures of the tng cast, that might be for you! just note that the tng cast movies have a more mixed reception, to say nothing of picard. if you want a continuation to the stories of the cast of ds9, voy, or even ent you’re fresh outta luck; none of the other shows really focus on the developments in the lives of the cast of these shows. but i will say that the world is far better fleshed out in this part of the franchise than in the rest of it, and new trek is a continuation of what was established here mostly, even if the show is set in the days of tos or thereabout.

however, i need to interrupt this suggestion with one very dire warning: tng s1 is some of the worst star trek ever to be made, and probably some of the worst TV overall. holy shit i cannot stress this enough. it is so bad that even i haven’t seen it, and you will have to ask someone who’s actually seen it ahead of time to tell you what episodes might be worth watching because the hell that is tng s1, hell even some of s2, is no joke and i can’t imagine seeing this as your first star trek ever. abuse the plot summaries heavily in early tng. you will need it to not give up hope on the franchise.

finally i’m going to suggest an experiment to you, but i don’t know whether it will work or not. start with star trek prodigy, then watch tng, ds9 and voy. this is kind of an insane route to take because none of these shows are prequel shows to prodigy (except arguably voyager) but i swear to god that prodigy is modern star trek at its very best and maybe, if prodigy gets to you, you’ll give a shot to the other shows set around its time that established the lore the same way that the reboot movies are a good gateway to the tos era of the franchise (except prodigy is actually good as opposed to the reboot movies).

once you complete either one of these blocks—either basic tos era trek or basic tng era trek—i feel like you’re ready to watch whatever show in whatever order as long as you understand the rough timeline of ent era ➝ tos era ➝ tng era. i honestly made it sound way more complicated than what it’s actually like but i hope this was in any way helpful to you. happy holidays and live long and prosper 🖖

#star trek #fandom #i'll tag all the abbreviations later. good god this took all day

[slivensays]

Trick or Treat!

A small comic or fic drabble maybe? :3

Oh, fun! Thanks for the ask!

I wrote a little something, sure hope you'll like it! It's not my usual fandom, but I tried to get it right. 😊

My mind to your mind Star Trek Voyager Tuvok and Lon Suder General audiences

Lon Suder really wishes to experience the Mind Meld once more.

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

Tuvok visits him sometimes. The officer doesn’t see it fit to delegate such a task to anyone else, and so, Suder tries his best to behave in a way that the Vulcan will find agreeable.

Has he been meditating? Of course, it is the one tool he has access to that will help with overcoming his violent impulses, which, when supressed for too long, threaten to take over.

It was the ultimate result of one such impulse that landed him in here; lacking a proper outlet for his compulsive aggression, he beat a man to death for looking at him the wrong way. Not the way to behave in a social context, he always knew this. Which is why he tried to hide the body and deny his involvement, when it was discovered.

It would have been different, had he still been in the Maquis, where skirmishes were a regular occurrence and could always be used as an excuse to get the aggression out of his system. He didn’t always find it necessary to kill, in those days, but would readily volunteer for missions whenever possible, in order to release the tension that would inevitably have built up inside him. He didn’t always need to kill. But when he got the chance, he would; the feeling of relief an instant reward. He had made a good soldier. But a good crew member on a peaceful Starfleet ship? No, something was bound to give way.  

To the best of his knowledge, Suder will be confined to his quarters until the Voyager reaches the destination called ‘home’ in the Alpha Quadrant. Suder isn’t sure, however, that he still regards it his home. Stranded in a strange part of space, well, but he’s been adrift for most of his life. It was always hard, being the odd one out, unable to learn or understand the proper responses that everybody else knew instinctively. Betazoids are known for their ability to read and connect with the minds of others. Not so Suder; he fails to connect with anyone at all.

That is, until the Meld.

Abandoning all sense of self to the Vulcan, thinking (no, hoping) he would surely perish in the process, is the closest Suder has ever felt to another. Understood another. Surrendered to another.

The first time he has ever felt relieved without first resorting to violence.

Remembering the Meld is… well. It’s something. No. It’s everything. It’s… connecting for the first time with another person. Truly connecting. With someone who sees you, who reads you, and who allows you to see them in turn. Someone who even leaves a little bit of themselves behind for you to marvel at once they are gone.

In this case, an ability to compose himself. To store away his impulses just like putting them neatly into a box, then close the lid. And let it sit. And sit, and sit for days at a time, with Suder feeling next to no need to lift the lid or let any of those urges out. And then, when finally he did, there was the meditation to aid him.   

But the meditation is of course a poor substitute for the instant alleviation offered by the Meld. Which is why he’ll ask for it again, even though he understands that it takes a toll on Tuvok. The Vulcan doesn’t get to walk away from such an encounter feeling well at ease, since he’s at risk of receiving some unpleasant tendencies of Suder’s in turn. Still, such tendencies should be much better contained now that Suder has worked hard on his focus and his composure. Enfolding his little box in layers and layers of neat wrapping, as it were, he’d happily tie a bow on it and gift it to Tuvok so he could be rid of it forever, were it possible. Hiding it away in a dark room, then throw away the key seems to be the alternative.

He wonders sometimes what dark urge Tuvok got in exchange for sharing his interest in orchids. Or if it even works that way, but Suder assumes that it does. You share one aspect of yourself, you get another in return. It seems rational.

The orchids, when first they entered his mind, seemed random and out of place. Difficult things to grow, even given the right conditions. When given the wrong; well. It is a demanding hobby, and it takes skill and dedication to succeed. Suder feels the need to concentrate, measuring out the right amounts of water and gently pollinating the flowers in his attempts to create a hybrid. But, as he shifts his focus from the ongoings in the darker parts of his mind to the care of the orchids, Suder finds it almost as rewarding as the meditation; he feels calm.

It will not be enough, Tuvok has warned; the techniques that Suder has learned will not keep him indefinitely from repressing his inherent violence. He must keep practicing them daily, cultivate himself by adding to them in order to retain his composure. And Suder does. He closes his eyes, controls his breathing, he directs his thoughts to the orchids and how proud he’ll make Tuvok when he finally manages to produce a hybrid flower of his own.

Still, all of that will not be enough. Which is why he keeps asking for the Meld, to feel again that sweet connection with a mind that seems to understand him. And for the chance that Tuvok might leave another little piece of himself for Suder to immerse in.

This, as it turns out, is a great argument for getting Tuvok to agree, finally, to try the Mind Meld once more. By offering Suder some additional aspects of himself, Tuvok can provide him with new tools which Suder can use to improve, thus making him less of a hazard. Though Suder is hardly threatening these days, the Vulcan is in charge of security and will always keep safety one of his main priorities.

And so it is, at long last, that Suder gets to feel Tuvok’s hands on his face again. Gentler, this time; when last it happened, it was an intrusion. And although Suder did welcome it at the time, this is so much better.  

Finding the right position for his fingers, Tuvok looks into Suder’s dark eyes; searching his face for any clue that he might be in the wrong state of mind for the Meld. But no, Suder emits only anticipation, and as the Vulcan seems satisfied with his examination, he closes his eyes in concentration; “My mind to your mind.”

It is soft, this time, hardly more than a whisper, and Suder lets out a long sigh of relief as he feels Tuvok’s mind tenderly enclosing his own.  

The end

Hope you enjoyed! If you want to, I could post it as a gift for you over at Ao3?

#trick or treat #ask game #fun and games #fanfiction #my stuff #creative writing #star trek #star trek voyager #lon suder #tuvok #mind meld #meld #not my usual fandom #or pairing #not really pairing here #anyway #I tried #and I had fun #romantic undertones optional

[tinywitchgoblin]

Hi I would like a ship request for tbb please :) I'm a 22 year old girl I have shoulder length dark brown hair with red highlights. How I dress is either kind of a basic androgynous look like T-shirt/sweatshirt and jeans or kinda sexually charged feminine look, when I'm in the mood to put in an effort with my outfit I typically like to feel sexy. Lots of really tight tank tops and crop tops. Most of my wardrobe is black, I'm a tiny goth at heart but I wouldn't say it reflects so much on my outer appearance as it once did.

I love watching movies + TV shows, it's probably my favorite pastime I rewatch stuff a lot (like I got paid for rewatching Grey's Anatomy or any marvel movie with Bucky Barnes and I could've probably bought a house by now). Hugely into all the nerdy franchises, super heroes, Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who. I love to bake and paint in my free time. I like to read but don't get to as often as I would like because I need utter silence to concentrate or my ears like to hyper focus on literally anything else that is around me 🙃. I'm very soft spoken in group settings, I find it difficult to get in my piece, I get cutoff most times so I tend to just listen to conversations. I do like to be a person that others think they come too if they need to rant about anything but I also get wildly uncomfortable when people cry around me, unless we are like super super close. I do have a bit of maternal instinct and like babies and younger children but do not mistake that for me wanting my own kids. Not gonna happen. Animals only please lol. I like to be helpful were I can but please also be hyper specific with your needs because I will stress about if what I am doing is right or even at all helpful. I love to give gifts. Giving someone something special or thoughtful and seeing them light up brings me the most joy in life. Even if it's as small as like a cupcake if they get any kind of joy out of it I feel that joy too and it makes my heart happy. I can be very snippy and sarcastic especially if you are acting the same way with me. I'll end that here, thank you for your time. ❤️

Of course ❤️

I ship you with...

Tech!

As I'm sure we've all figured out by now, Tech is a Nerd(tm), so being able to learn about your interests fascinates him. He never got to watch movies or TV shows on Kamino; if he wanted to hear a story, he either had to hear someone else tell it or he had to make it up himself. However, now that he's with you, there are so many things for him to watch!! And to make it better, watching new things allows him to spend time with you? Win-win! Just be aware, he will multitask while watching; he just needs to do something with his hands at all times.

Baking with Tech is something you both enjoy as well. Tech much prefers baking over cooking because it's much more exact, and the directions tend to be a lot more specific- something he does well with. He researches new recipes that he wants to make with you, looking up multiple versions to see what techniques work the best, which ingredients to use, etc. so that the final product is the best it can be. Sometimes Tech takes baking a little too seriously, so you might have to reign him in a little bit and remind him that this is a relaxing activity.

When in social situations, you and he tend to stay close together. Depending on the topic, Tech most likely won't have a ton to offer up, so you and he end up sitting and listening to others talk, sitting there and enjoying the company. Sometimes Crosshair will join you, but other times, he needs space to be grumpy. However, whenever you eant to say something and can't seem to get a word in, Tech will make the others stop so that you can talk. It was a little embarrassing at first, but it soon became a habit, because if anything, Tech wants to make sure his loved one is able to express themself fully.

-

Thanks for reading! If you want a ship request like this one, drop it in my ask box, and don't forget to reblog 💚

#the bad bois #the bad batch #tech bad batch #technically #technology #tech #tbb tech #tech x y/n #tech x you #tech x reader #the bad batch tech #star wars x reader

[queerticulate]

Don’t Worry Darling Spoilers

ShSo after lapping up all of the recent drama about Don’t Worry Darling, I went to see the actual movie.

Because everything about the promotion of the film and everything that has been surfacing about how it was made was so unprofessional, I expected a terrible movie. When I checked out the trailer I was actually intrigued - it was giving me a mix between Black Swan and Strange Angel. Still went to see it with the expectation of laughing at a train wreck... but I actually enjoyed it!

Here’s some of my thoughts (i’m trying to keep it spoiler light):

It’s promoted wrong: it’s a mindfuck movie. In fact, it could have been released under the name of Christopher Nolan and it might have gotten a lot of praise (if there hadn’t been so much bad press). Central to it the plot is gendered abuse. Why on earth the director - Olivia Wilde - is promoting it as a feminist movie and making ‘female pleasure’ such a strong talking point baffles me. See: gendered abuse. By the end of the story, I would qualify the sex that takes place as rape. If Olivia really believes what she says, that’s creepy as fuck.

There is some really disturbing imagery in the movie. Main themes are losing your mind, abuse, self-harm and gaslighting. Some of the scenes are graphic. Don’t go in unprepared just because you want to see a cute movie with Harry Styles (which it won’t be anyway).

Casting & Harry Styles: I think recasting Shia LaBeouf was a good choice, considering his real life and what’s been in the press about that. I think that would have left a viewer who knows that very uncomfortable at the end of the movie. Considering what the reviews have been saying about Harry’s acting, I expected him to be completely cringe all the time. He was actually okay in my opinion.

Chris Pine: This was the first time I’ve seen Chris Pine play a bad guy. It was an experience. I’ve followed this guy since Star Trek and I have a soft spot for him. Seeing him, successfully, play the sort of person that freaks me out was an experience.

Themes & Similar media: My original instinct that it would have somewhat similar vibes as Black Swan and Strange Angel were right. It also seems to take some elements from Hannibal, Upload, and The Truman Show. The way that the neighborhood is set up, in part stylistically, reminded me of the start of Fall Out III (the videogame) and say Tim Burton’s movies such as Edward Scissorhands. I liked these aspects. It might also have found some inspiration in the Handmaid’s Tale, but it can’t even hold a candle to that in a million years (which sometimes is also good, bc the Handmaid’s Tale is traumatizing AF in how hardcore it showcases certain premises).

Directorial criticisms: I tried to look really critically and there is some negative stuff to be said about Olivia Wilde as a director, but I don’t think it goes beyond flaws that can be pointed out in most movies. Several times the music felt a bit off for the scene. I didn’t like the camera angles often. Some scenes felt like there was a specific point to them, but the execution wasn’t quite it yet and sometimes thus came across a bit awkward. When I mentioned Hannibal, I specifically think they tried to recreate the flashing scary dream-like cutscenes and haunting music as part of the journey of a character losing their mind, but it was a poor copy (which is sad). 

Plot & directorial criticisms: The final plot is, in my opinion, really really cool. And it had a plottwist I didn’t see coming. I was intrigued enough with how it unfolded to really want to follow the movie closely. But the above-point does show up here too in the sense that the ideas where there, but sometimes I needed to make some stuff up in my head to make it work. Some of the stuff that bugged me sort of seemed to be explained in the end, sort of. The weak spot for me was that Alice’s reactions seemed overstated for what we as the viewer saw as the cause of them. The things that were odd that she found out about, did not support the questions she consequently raised and the distress she had about it. The speed and intensity with which she lost her mind also didn‘t feel justified. Maybe the point was that she knew more than she thought the whole time and we as the viewers knew, and maybe we were supposed to notice this as odd as a clue. Maybe some of what happened can be chalked up to a sort of glitches in the matrix. It didn’t ruin the movie either way, and I don’t hate extending upon what we see onscreen in my head, but I do think the movie might have been stronger with a bit more exposition/build-up on some things on screen.

I am very mad that they got Dita von Teese to star in this, doing her signature performance, and we barely got to see it because it was intercut with so much of Alice’s trauma memories/nightmarescape scenes. Full offense!

Ending: I am sad the movie ended right at the moment where Alice fully grasped what was going on. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of her dealing with the aftermath. I think that would have made a stronger emotional journey for the viewer.

World-building: I must admit I am really fascinated with the premise/world-building of the movie, and there are so many aspects of it that I would have enjoyed knowing more about. I’m sort of sad it wasn’t told in a TV format so there would have been room. I’m very curious about the creation of the Victory Project and Frank’s character motivations. I am also very curious about Shelley’s position in all of it. I am curious about the struggles that would come with maintaining the situation around Alice (which also raises the question about how time works for the Victory Project). I also would have loved to know more about the stories of the other residents - it could have some very powerful tales about gendered violence (e.g. think of the implications of the character who was referred to as ‘always pregnant’). I am also interested in beyond the domestic aspect, how much of the world-building is set up in such a way as to fulfill specific power fantasies for the men. Does Jack get a big promotion and the opportunity to dance in front of everyone, because that is what he desires? Also, to how much beyond the domestic trad!wife fantasy is the Victory Project intended to cater? What would happen if a guy applied who doesn’t want to bring a wife, maybe someone who just thinks the aesthetic is really neat? What happens if a gay man applied who wants to bring a husband?

Overall, I liked the movie. The premise / plot was great, the execution okay. I do think that if it hadn’t been tanked so hard by a bad rep created by all the negative things that have surfaced about its production and the horrible promotion of it, it might have done well. I think most of the flaws it displays tie to lack of experience or talent from the director. But I also do think that there is a chance it wouldn’t have been judged as harshly if it had been directed by a man.

#don't worry darling #spoilers #olivia wilde #harry styles #florence pugh #chris pine

[obsoleteozymandias]

Hi!! I love your match-ups. May I request one for Resident Evil, please? Maybe Stardew if that's okay too.

I'm short, chubby, heavily tattooed, rampantly bisexual, and nonbinary. Leftist. Medical lab biologist, but about to start my masters in forensic science. I love puzzles/puzzle games, reading, video games, making nature journals, and collecting postcards. I LOVE birding! I'm great in the kitchen, but not good at much else. Low self esteem and not very pretty. Severe chronic pain so some days I have a lot of trouble getting around at all. OCD + bipolar + ptsd so some days are... very difficult. I'm working through it, though. Autistic + ADHD. Big hyperfixations are bugs, sharks, bats, trains, lighthouses, astronomy, geology, paleontology, wildflowers, and lots of shows/movies/etc. Into vulture culture. Love horror movies. Jaws is my comfort film. The Shape of Water is my favorite, though (also a major monsterf*cker, oops). Star Trek: DS9 is my comfort show. Talk too much, but easily become nonverbal. Lots of bad puns and useless trivia. Will infodump about culinary history and foreign horror films. Parent to a young kid and love being a mom. Love cats. Keep tarantulas as a hobby. Don't like crowds, sunny days, hot weather, making small talk, or drinking. I wish I could travel all the time. But like. In a ghost way where i can drift around without being perceived. Also, as much as I like nature, I'm definitely NOT a fan of camping/roughing it. Tbh my idea of a good date is a rainy autumn night talking on the back porch with a blunt and Korean takeout.

Forensic science gang rise up!!!!

== Resident Evil ==>

I match you up with…

Jake Muller

This man….is so good. He’s got a rough exterior, but he’s got insides that are so soft he squishes when you hug him. 

Jake finds your choice of study very interesting. He finds the two of you like pieces of a puzzle that complete eachother: he makes the crime scenes and you investigate them. He also finds the way you can draw conclusions all from one drop of blood very cool and kinda sexy. 

He’s good with kids, even if he scares them away at first. He has a strong parental instinct over your kid, wanting to protect them and indulge them in everything he can. 

He also knows his job is dangerous, though. He’ll be hesitant to initiate anything with you until he can guarantee that you and your kid will be safe. 

Jake’s seen his fair amount of trauma. That isn’t to say he’ll completely understand yours, but he’s always a shoulder to lean on. He’ll give you gentle kisses on top of your head. He might not know what to say, but he’ll do his damndest to remind you that someone loves you. 

He’s enamored with you, to put it simply. He finds that the two of you are sides of the same coin, even if your lives are drastically different. He finds comfort in you in a way no one else can provide. 

== Stardew Valley ==>

I match you up with…

Leah 

Leah loves your passion for nature. She’s (obviously) a big fan of the world around her. She especially adores your nature books. She’ll bring you flowers to press after a day of foraging, and will watch your process with a gentle, adoring smile. 

Unrelated, I get the vibe that Leah would also adore The Shape of Water. She seems like she’d appreciate the artistry of it, but also find the monster hot. The two of you talk about this frequently. 

Leah’s more than willing to help parent if you’d let her. She’s not crazy about kids, but she’s got a particular tenderness for yours. In fact, she loves most anything that reminds you of her. 

Leah’s not as big of a horror fan as you (she’s actually quite scared of horror movies), but she’ll watch with you just to cuddle up against your arm when she gets scared.

In turn, she makes you watch a LOT of True Crime documentaries, of which she is a fan. 

Leah likes how genuine you are with your interests. If everyone in the world was as passionate and knowledgeable as you, she’d probably love the world a lot more. But in the mean time, she’s completely satisfied with loving you.

#oz’s requests #matchups #resident evil x reader #resident evil matchup #jake muller x reader #stardew x reader #Stardew matchup #leah stardew valley

[vintageandroid]

I posted 4,197 times in 2022

That's 1,786 more posts than 2021!

86 posts created (2%)

4,111 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ratsintherosebush

@olliesaurus-rex

@tinsnip

@thatoneweird

@natalieironside

I tagged 4,187 of my posts in 2022

#laugh rule - 442 posts

#dracula daily - 210 posts

#star trek - 202 posts

#art - 183 posts

#queer stuff - 129 posts

#food - 117 posts

#tumblr - 105 posts

#alfred molina - 96 posts

#ds9 - 95 posts

#solid life advice - 91 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i have a bit of it anyway (don't ask me to pronounce the word bag it's stressful) but if i'm working with customers i go full lutheran mom

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Book Review Time!

I reviewed @natalieironside's new book, In the Court of the Nameless Queen, on my 18+ blog! I've been wanting to branch out into book reviews anyway (I usually review sex toys) and this was a hell of a way to dive in.

Is this an erotic novel in a fantasy setting, or an erotically charged fantasy novel? I dunno, but there's spider-fuckin'. And I loved it. This is exactly the kind of erotica I've been looking for while complaining about other erotica.

[T]hat’s actually what I enjoyed most about the erotic elements of this story. Almost every sex act really meant something to the characters—sometimes learning things about themselves, sometimes finding freedom or validation as they explored their sexuality. In one case, a character accepts that she’s trans by being dommed into it, and it’s an absolutely beautiful sequence. As someone who has a whole tag dedicated to kink as a coping mechanism, I loved seeing sex and kink used to genuinely improve and enrich the characters’ lives.

Curious? Check out Book Review: In the Court of the Nameless Queen.

(The review does contain affiliate links to Amazon, but this was not a sponsored post.) Thanks again to Natalie Ironside for working with me!

-

(Queer Earthling is my 18+ sex blog. If you’re interested in supporting a sex-positive, queer, neurodivergent weirdo, check out my support and affiliates page!  If you’d rather not see these on your Tumblr feed, feel free to block the tag “Queer Earthling.”)

Aphobes, bi/panphobes, trans/nb-phobes, anti-kink, TERFs & SWERFs DNI

242 notes - Posted January 25, 2022

#4

i may be going crazy rbing dracula daily stuff today because Van Helsing is my favorite, with his zillion degrees and quirky old man charm and his LOLCat syntax. I'm delighted at all the folks finding out that he is not in fact a sexy action hero but rather, y'know. That.

335 notes - Posted September 3, 2022

#3

I hate you ad-friendly censorship I hate you unalive I hate you seggs I hate you numbers in place of letters to the point of incomprehensibility I hate you sanitization of social media to the point of sterility

346 notes - Posted October 10, 2022

#2

Dr. van Helsing is out here giving Lucy brandy, blood, and morphine all in the space of like 3 paragraphs, I love 19th century medicine.

1,481 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

My first instinct is always to get super pissed at Mrs. Westenra at this point but tbh, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing of 97 PhDs, it wouldn't have hurt anyone if you'd explained the necessity of the flowers to her BEFORE she decided to "help." You didn't have to explain the details.

Honestly (some spoilers) a huge number of the issues in this book come from the men deciding not to tell the women what's happening to "protect them" only for that to lead directly to bad things happening. I'm sure there have been papers written on this. Was this an intentional statement on Bram Stoker's part? I really don't know.

1,938 notes - Posted September 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #tumblr #my posts

[o0anapher0o]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for tagging me @meraki-yao. I am very happy at the oportunity to shamelessly plug many, many of my fics :D Let’s do this!

How many works do you have on ao3?

47

What?! When did that happen? And how?

What’s your total ao3 word count?

502,199

Weirdly less surprising, even thought hat number is completely unreal.

What fandoms do you write for?

Interview with the vampire (2022)

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

Red White and Royal Blue

Star trek: Deep Space Nine

And I have one teeny tiny Thunderbirds fic

Top 5 fics by kudos

Somewhere I have never travelled (ds9)

Petal by Petal (ds9)

Your most frail gesture (ds9)  

Watch that man (rwrb)

Personality (ds9)

I feel like I should count the first three as one, since it’s literally parts 1, 2 and 3 of a trilogy.

Surprising how fast my first rwrb fic got up there.

Do you respond to comments?

Always, usually a bit rambly. I love talking to people about my writing :D

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Puh, that’s a hard one. I’m such a happy endings girl. My instinct was one of my iwtv fics, but they’re more angry than angsty lol, so I’m saying it’s between Of all untruths the truest is you (iwtv) and Do no harm (ds9)

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Your most frail gesture ends with a wedding, though actually I like the accepted proposal in Petal by Petal more.

Do you get hate on fics?

None so far (knock on wood).

Do you write smut?

No. A lot of my fics make it clear sex is happing but I don’t write it and I haven’t really any urge to.

Craziest crossover

My TayNick character crossover New Information. Also my only crossover so far, but that’s a side note.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. Hopefully having all my stuff archivelocked will keep it that way.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

YES! Someone did a translation of Do no harm into Russian. Only one of the coolest things that ever happened to me (though I would have preferred to be asked beforehand rather than simply be presented with a link).

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I’m not entirely sure how that would work, but I’d be open to it.

All time favourite ship?

Why do people insist you have to have one favourite over everything else? No, I’m an adult, I can have as many OTPs as I want.

What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Beneath Lucifer’s claws. I love this story so much, but I have it in me to finish it. I also have an old ATLA fic I love to bits, that has really neat bits but I was such a different person when I wrote it, it would need a complete rewrite and half of my favourite scenes don’t really work anymore.

What are your writing strengths?

I’ve been told my pacing is good. And I think I’m quite good at characters voices right when it comes to fanfic.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Punctuation. And I definitely suffer from ‘why use a period when I can use a comma’ disease XD. Scene transitions always feel clumsy to me, I don’t know if they read like it.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Oh, there’s an essay. If I were to give general advice I’d say, avoid it. It’s fun to read when you speak the language and annoying if you don’t, having to look up stuff all the time interrupts the reading flow. It’s even more annoying when you speak the language and the author clearly didn’t.

I’ve seen it done well once, where it was used so the characters couldexchange information because that was the natural thing to do for them, while keeping it a secret from the reader. That was neat. 'But even that could be done by just saying 'he said something in [language]'.

First fandom you wrote in?

Published or not? My first published fic was Jack’s Desk for mfmm. But I also still have fifteen year old supernatural and vampire diaries fics in a notebook somewhere. The world wasn’t ready yet.

Favourite fic you’ve written?

Something unstoppable and Somewhere I have never travelled. Neither of them came out the way I thought they would but I love how they ended up so much.

tagging @sapphosewrites @xenobotanist and @nalyra-dreaming

#ask game #fanfic writing

[steampoweredstarsketch]

I just got my Samsung Z Fold 3 a day ago and so far shits been... Interesting... 😎

Obtaining the device!

So I ordered it unlocked and lavender straight from Samsung and I really liked their deals and payment plan options, particularly their 4 payment plan (splitting the cost into 4 payments, one every two weeks) so I don't have to get stuck with a 24 month commitment but I also don't have to fork over $1000 bucks upfront!

(Plus Samsung has lots of bonus deals, like they threw in a pair of galaxy live buds for free. They don't come with the phone as a default, but just something they threw in to sweeten the pot a bit more, and I kinda like these beans, I feel like they are way more comfortable than my gen 3 airpods and somehow feel like they won't give me tinnitus as bad as some other earbuds.

First impressions compared to last phone

The phone itself is interesting. I got a case with a ring on it and gave up my popsocket so I could utilize the wireless charging capabilities. It charges easy, though I am mourning the loss of my beloved aux cable port!! 😣

My last phone was a Samsung Galaxy A51 4G

The aux cable from my phone to my car has been my 1# favorite way to enjoy music, and even though my car has Bluetooth option, in the past I've been hesitant to use it because whenever I did in my siblings car, there would be a solid couple seconds of lag with YouTube videos and with pausing/playing music on Spotify, but maybe a better phone with a mightier processor might help with that!

But it is so much faster and the screen is really beautiful, it's fun to just watch it flex it's really cool

Also I really super love the fingerprint sensor being on the side of the phone and not on the screen!! I'm a Cheeto eating being!!! I don't wanna smudge my screen more than I have to!! (Also it's way quicker than waiting for your screen to turn on, register your thumbprint, only for you to have to reposition so it can read it again, etc)

Plus I love being able to close it and feel like the screen is protected from whatever's in my pocket, and not have to worry about accidently leaving the screen on and accidentally typing shit and draining the battery in my pocket!

An ADHDers perspective....

I REALLY LIKE TOUCHING THE CREASE!!!!

You'd be surprised how feeling the crease in the smooth plastic is like stimming sensation!! Like I just really like touching it and feeling the space where the top and bottom squares meet. The plastic is really smooth and soft and my brain just really likes the feeling of running my thumb over it.

Plus, the crease gives me a good idea of where my thumb is on the screen spacially. I think that's a good thing just because it is quite a tall phone, so knowing where the middle is just by touchjng it makes me instinctively want to grip it at or below the crease. Personally it makes me feel like I have a more solid grip on the phone.

Also just the act of opening and closing the phone or just bending it is almost a stimming sensation for me. Its just fun to hold it at a 90 degree angle like a Sci Fi star trek device, to watch something while it's on the wireless charger, or just to prop it up on my desk vertically.

THE OUTSIDE SCREEN

I dunno about you, but I think this works wonders for keeping me from getting lost in my phone when I'm just checking a notification. I glance at the cover screen, and make the active choice whether or not I wanna open up the phone and engage with it or not, which is WONDERFUL and keeps me from zoning out for an hour on my phone not even remembering what I was looking for in the first place.

The same goes for the time and the weather widget and timers and pausing and playing music.

Also phone speakers are GOOD AND LOUD!

----------

Closing thoughts!!!

The battery is a tad lacking but I'm getting a magsafe battery pack to compensate.

It's hard to say this any other way, but, only buy this phone if you WANT a folding phone! If you feel like opening it every time would annoy you or whatever else, then this isn't the phone for you.

On the other hand if opening and closing it would bring you joy, then this is a good phone for you. It runs really well. The only downfall would be the shorter than average battery life, but there are settings you can adjust to compensate and it will last you just fine.

♥️♥️♥️

#Samsung z fold 3 #tech review #neurodivergent perspective #phones #samsung

[artzee-bee]

Crush

Fandom:My babysitter’s a vampire

Request: ” If possible can you write about different times where Benny weir tries to impress the reader and fails but ends up successfully wining her over somehow please 🥺👉👈 “

Genre: Fluff

Warnings:Mentions of violence

~~~

Benny's crush on you was nothing short of obvious. You'd known him and Ethan since grade school, so there was no way not to notice his change of behavior towards you.

At first he started texting you more often. Instead of talking on the groupchat you had with the fang gang, you would have long private conversations about movies, school, Friday night plans, the supernatural and spells and everything in between. You weren't special in any way, didn't have powers like Benny or E and you weren't a vampire like Sarah or Rory, you were just you. Nevertheless, you loved helping your friends through all of their adventures. One of these charades, however, ended poorly for you. 

You had gotten beaten up by a couple of vampires one night, as revenge for taking out their leader. They left you for good on the ground, covered in blood and dirt and tears. Almost instinctively, you made your way to Ethan’s and from there, everyone found out about what had happened. Benny got to you first, after he received the messages about the incident

"What happened?" he burst through the door of E's room. You were laying in bed, all bandaged up, with E bandaging your wounds. That didn't last long, cause Benny decided to take over and take care of you himself. 

"You feeling ok?" he asked, once Ethan left to get you something sweet from the kitchen, to cheer you up

"Better and better" you replied honestly

"You could have come to mine, too. I would have cared for you just like E!" 

"You're helping me now, it's all that matters!" 

Soon enough, you were back in action, back to your old self, as if the accident never even happened. 

Couple of weeks after that night,you and Benny were walking home after school when he cracked a joke about how great of a couple you would make 

"I mean, could you imagine everyone's face if we got together?" 

"Sarah would lose her mind" you laughed

"I know but like, honestly, I think it wouldn't be that crazy?" he raised his shoulders, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal but failing miserably "I mean we've been friends since forever and we both like the same things and have the same idea of a perfect date night!" 

"Oh do we now?" you laughed "Care to share?" 

“A movie night in!” he replied, very confidently “Pizza, snacks, cuddles and action movies. What more could you possibly ask for?”

“Some romance for starters” 

“Did I forget to mention the cuddles?”

“No” you laughed at his silliness “But what about something a little more fancy than pjs and doritos”

“First off, my star trek jammies? Bomb! You even said so yourself” Benny pointed an incriminatory finger at you and you nodded your head “Second off, go ahead! Tell us about this elegant dream date of yours!”

“Dinner in town!”

“Lame!”

“A walk through the city center after? Dressed in fancy clothes and looking up at all the Christmas decorations! Oh, did I mention it’s the winter season?”

“I can sense that you are trying really hard to redeem yourself but still pretty lame”

Talks like this, about perfect dates and ideal partners became a routine between you and Benny. You opened up to him a lot more than you ever did to anyone else and he was opening up to you just as much, if not more. And then the compliments came next.

“Y/N, your hair looks really good today!”

“That shirt fits you well!”

“I like what you did with your makeup!”

“Y/N, you look especially pretty today!”

Each day that went by he got more and more bald with his comments. Compliments turned into flirtations remarks that made you blush and than, finally, he asked you on a date. It happened after you and your friends captured a fairy that Rory summoned by accident, while playing with grandma Weir’s spell books.

“So, anything else planned tonight?” Benny asked you, on your walk back home

“After that?” you laughed “No, I think whatever plan I had went out the window after that”

“So then maybe you could come over? Grandma made brownies, we could steal the tray and watch horror movies'' Benny stuffed his fists into his pockets and took a  deep breath before adding “ Like a little date night…”

“A date night?” you questioned

“Well, yeah!”

“It’s kinda late...” you said after giving it some thought “And I’m tired.”

“Oh, um, yeah! No problem!” he smiled in a poor attempt to hide his disappointment

“Thank you though!”

“Yeah, no problem.” you walked past him and turned the corner on your street but before you could get too far away, Benny screamed

“The offer is still open whenever, you know?”

“I do” you smiled before waving goodbye!

Next day at school, things were back to normal. Benny was as flirty with you as ever and even a little more touchy than you knew him to be.You were getting used to this Benny and the more time went on, the more you were growing to like this new version of him. 

One day, a little over a month after that night, after classes, he was helping you study in the library. You had an important history exam coming up and needed help learning. You had spent all day there and were beyond exhausted by the time you finally exited school with B by your side.

“ You will do great, don’t even worry about it!”

“Easy for you to say. This grade is important to me Benny. Maybe after I get home and have some lunch I will look over my notes some more and…”

“No, no no no!” you were cut off by Benny “You are tiring yourself out for no reason! Listen to me, you are more than prepared!” B stepped in front of you to look into your eyes “You did amazing today and got incredible scores on all your practice tests. You are more than prepared and I believe in you! You got this!” you smiled at his kind words

“Is the offer still available?”

“What offer?” you giggled. It had been a long time since that night

“Date night offer” Benny’s expression turned to panic as he realised what you were talking about

“Aaa, yeah! Absolutely”

“Cool. Then I’m free on Friday?”

“Yeah, yeah! Friday works fine for me!”

~~~

“Just a few more steps…” Benny whispered to you as he was helping you navigate his house blindfolded. He had a surprise for you that he was very excited about.

“Don’t peak!”

“I won’t”

“Ok, you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be” when B took off your blindfold, it took you a moment to adjust to the dim light of the candles, that were flickering all around the dining room. The table was decorated with roses and 2 servings of pasta were waiting for you

“Benny…” you were left speechless

“It’s the middle ground for both our perfect dates! A fancy dinner, except in the comfort of our home” he laughed before adding, somewhat more shy this time “Do you like it?” but all you could do was wrap your hands around his neck and kiss him deeply. At first he was taken by surprise but as soon as he registered what was happening, he wrapped his arms around your waist, bringing you impossibly closer to his body and kissing you back with even more passion. His soft lips felt like heaven, like the way you always imagined they would. Had it not been for your need for air, you wouldn’t have pulled away ever. “That usually happens at the end of the movie” Benny laughed

“Yeah, well, we aren’t exactly your standard couple” you giggled

“C-couple?”

“Yes, Bens. Couple!” and with that you leaned back in for another kiss, getting lost in his embrace and the taste of his lips.

#mbav x reader #mbav #benny weir #benny weir imagine #benny weir x reader #benny weir fluff

[mylordshesacactus]

In her aspect as the Breaker of Chains, do you think the Raven Queen would fit as a patron for death domain clerics? Like obviously you'd have to switch out animate dead for a more fitting, but aside from that do you think it'd make sense? I have an idea for a cleric character who already deeply believes in the death to tyrants aspect, but couldn't think of deity that it'd make sense for, but reading the blurb about rinda made me realize the Raven Queen might be a fitting deity.

You might not even need to switch out Animate Dead, if you didn't want to--you could flavor it as consent-based. Asking permission, and the only dead who rise are ones who choose to and who the Lady consents to allow to answer your call. She is, always, all her aspects after all--worshiping her aspect as the Breaker of Chains does tend to focus pretty exclusively on uplifting the abused and helpless in life, but there's no reason they COULDN'T also call on the dead to take vengeance.

(Hell, you could work in some very OG Christmas Carol vibes--if you've never read the original novel, Marley gives Scrooge a pretty brutal explanation of what the real "hell" of his ghostly existence is. Only the living can help others; only the living have the chance to alleviate suffering. I think you wouldn't even have to homebrew anything to make a Death Domain cleric of the Breaker of Chains. There must be a lot of spirits in the Land of the Dead who either didn't, or couldn't, help others or fight back against oppression in life. You could flavor Animate Dead as calling to those spirits and giving them a chance to do so.)

Honestly, my approach is--SHOCKING, I KNOW--generally descriptive rather than prescriptive in general. I had the hilarious realization last night that Atri, if I ever get the chance to play her properly, would most appropriately work as a Life Domain cleric of the Raven Queen. Ironic, right?

(Rinda is a paladin of Bahamut, who rather warmly approves of her general, affable mindset of "if you're the god I think you are, you won't ask me to do anything unethical, and if you're not the god I think you are, then the magic powers were nice while they lasted but I can do just as much good without them and keep my soul in the process". Atri has a much closer, more devout and traditionally worshipful relationship with her deity. Essentially--Bahamut is Rinda's boss. The Raven Queen is Atri's goddess. It's really interesting to explore for both of them!)

What I mean by descriptive over prescriptive, in this case, is that I think it's possible for a character to serve most (if not any) deity from the perspective of most (if not any) domain. It's all about flavor and roleplaying. You want to play a Forge Domain cleric of Melora? I think that's possible--you just have to figure out why. (Offhand: If I wanted to play that combination, I'd probably give my character a backstory of being like, a charcoal-burner as an early career--living deep in the woods, understanding the connection between fire and life, living in large part off her own skills and needing to be able to build anything she needed to survive. Thus, an intrinsic connection this character feels between "closeness to and respect for the power of nature" and "the power of the forge".)

I think the question would be, what is YOUR character's relationship with their deity? What about that deity earned their loyalty? And how do they express that loyalty--like, what do they DO in the name of their god(dess), and how would those actions connect to the deity in question?

In my experience, one of the most useful exercises you can do in this scenario is to run a bunch of what-ifs, even and perhaps especially for options you're pretty sure you're not gonna take.

For example: You want to write a Star Trek AU of your cast of characters. Rather than going with your first instinct ("this character's the protagonist, so obviously she's the captain, and this one's the Smart Guy so he's the science officer"), take each character one by one and go "Okay, how would things work if she was the captain? Is she well suited for it? What about if she was the science officer instead? What would that say about the setting or the themes? Or what if she was the chief engineer? How would that impact the plot? Does it work for her character?"

Even if you know she'd work best as the captain, and you end up making her the captain anyway, it's worth it to do those what-ifs because often, you realize that actually, with her canon personality and interests and skills, she'd work WAY better as chief of security--or, at the very least, you've done a LOT more in-depth work and you can articulate WHY she's a great captain, and be better able to emphasize those qualities in your writing.

So, my advice would be: Take this cleric, sit down with the list of deities your campaign is using (or just, like, a list of deities, if you're adding a new kid to your pile of unused D&D concepts like the rest of us) and start running through options, even ones you're not planning to use. You can write some of them off--for example, you can just say I Don't Want To Play A Cleric Of Fucking Asmodeus, Actually. But turn over what it would look like to be a Death Domain cleric of, say, Melora, or Pelor, or Bahamut!

What would it say about your character? What kind of relationship would they have with their god, do you think? Would it work at all? What would you need to do to MAKE it work? Would that be interesting or compelling to play?

Trust me--when you find the one that fits, you'll know. It'll click into place, and the contradiction will stop feeling like a contradiction--suddenly, it just makes sense, and it feels ridiculous that you could ever have failed to see how those two aspects of the character intrinsically fit together.

#d&d #character creation

[caelimonoceros]

moonlight — childe

pairing: childe x gn!reader

wc: 1.9k

tags: fluff, it’s just fluff, established relationship, i guess a lil light angst if you squint, childe lovable dork number one

notes: of course my first piece is about childe my one and only…my beloved…please come give me some constellations <3 pls enjoy! i’m planning on writing some more similar pieces with some other characters but i really wanted to post this one now tehe…interacts/reblogs appreciated!

Just as the moon guides the tides in and out of the shore, she pulls you to him—Childe, quiet in his solitude and unsuspectingly calm on the beach.

You find him on the beach just north of Liyue Harbor, on a long stretch of tan sand with a sheet spread out under him. Uneven rocks pin down the corners of the makeshift sand-protection, and you can make out the shape of the Harbinger’s jacket and boots settled next to him.

Upon hearing your soft footsteps crunching on the sand, Childe perks up. The slight curve of his posture, betraying a weeks-old exhaustion, straightens into a bright smile and a cheery wave, the welcoming facade he throws around to unsuspecting strangers who won’t ever make the plunge into the depths of his heart. Blue eyes, blue like the ocean and the cosmos and the frost on your skin after too many hours spent trekking around Dragonspine, pierce the dim night, only lit up by the small lantern next to him and the faint blue glow of his vision. They give his skin an unearthly glow, the warm light of the lantern bringing out copper highlights in his hair while the blue of his vision drives deep shadows into the far side of his face.

The night is peaceful in its simplicity, watched by the careful eyes of the moon and her starry companions. Childe’s smile brightens as you settle next to him, kicking off your own shoes and stretching out across the oversized blanket. Your own bag, full of warm midnight snacks and soft blankets, hits the ground as you do, and rolls with a soft thud.

“You made it,” Childe inches closer, quick to put his hand over yours and fold your fingers together. You let him, settling your joined hands over one of your thighs and sitting to lean against his shoulder.

“Yea. The slimes didn’t drench me.” You huff, eyes pointed out towards the water; then slowly drifting over to him.

“Well, since the slimes didn’t get to you, I was thinking…” Childe rubs a gloved thumb over the back of your hand, directing your attention. The leather is rough against your skin, worn equally from working a weapon and signing bank documents.

“Your ideas are always awful. I wanna know,” you lean into him.

“Midnight swim!” He says cheerfully, pointing out towards the water with his free hand. “The weather has been so warm lately that I’m sure the water will be as well. Plus, it’s just the two of us! Wouldn't that be nice?” Oh, you don’t want to crush his dreams and his eager, giddy smile, but you are not going in that water. No thanks, you are perfectly content to stay warm and dry on your big, spread out blanket and watch Childe make a shivering fool of himself before he comes back and soaks his half of the blanket.

“I’m not going in the water, especially not in my clothes, Childe. It’s cold out.” Childe blinks at you, as if he doesn’t understand the problem for a moment before sighing, as if he knew this would be your answer.

“Fine. But I’m going to go in, and I'm sure you’ll join me in no less than five minutes!” He says it so confidently, living up to his namesake so easily that it makes you swallow down laughter. The tall Fatui makes sure to blow you a dramatic kiss from the water’s edge, before he turns his back entirely. Really, you are completely content to watch him enjoy himself in the shallows. It’s refreshing to see him so light on his feet and in his words.

The soft moonlight illuminates his back, drawing out the folds of his dark shirt. The metal accessories around his belt glimmer in the cool light as well, twinkling like stars at you, but you’re almost mesmerized as you chase the patterns of moonlight across his ever-moving form. The water is so clear, reflecting him and the mountains situated behind you, every trace of silvery-white light that dances down an uneven slope or a curving tree branch rippling amongst your lover’s own reflection.

“You know, the water’s still warm!” Childe calls after a few minutes of peace. He’s rolled his pants up to just under his knees, but they’re still being soaked by waves of water. From your warm, dry, position on the shore you’re inclined to protest, but a shimmer in cerulean eyes not brought on by the moon or stars cuts your words before they can begin. He begins making his way over to you, sloshing through the water and then up onto the sand.

“C’mon, just stick your feet in. I promise I won’t let you drown.” You roll your eyes at his proposition; the way he walks so arrogantly over to you and crouches ever so slightly, extending a hand to you. He’s tracked wet sand onto your clean, safe haven, and his wet pants are dripping seawater on your bare shins, but you still hold your tongue all the same.

“Please? It’ll be fun. You don’t have to, but I think you’d enjoy it.” The Fatui offers his hand with a little bit of a wave this time, and you give in to his easy smile and comforting presence. It’s hard not to, hard to resist the way he sweeps you into the ocean, the same way he’s already swept you away entirely like a pebble torn from shore.

The water is still warm, but it’s still much cooler than your skin and you shudder as you’re exposed to it much too quickly. Childe’s grip on your hand is too tight, his excitement adorably obvious as you come to a halt some ten feet into the water, where it rises just above your hips.

“See? It’s not bad at all.” Childe leans down, his face mere inches from yours, and sticks his tongue out playfully. You resist the urge to pinch it between your thumb and forefinger, instead flicking his forehead gently, just enough for him to recoil as if you’ve shot him and dramatically clasp a hand over his head.

“It’s not bad at all,” you mimic, unable to stop yourself from laughing at the ginger’s over-the-top reaction. Cute, he’s so cute sometimes and you doubt he truly knows it, cute when he drops something from his chopsticks or shoots an arrow into the ground or trips over a loose rock when he’s pretending not to stare at you. Cute when his guard is down, when he’s not a battle-hardened warrior and traces of the myth you know to be named Ajax are allowed through the ever-present cracks in his facade. Just as you’re lost in thought, a spray of salty water meets your face, and you close your eyes and cross an arm over your forehead quickly.

“That was uncalled for!” You complain, but it trails off into laughter as you return the splash back at Childe.

“Hey, your aim’s not half bad!” He’s even quicker to fire back, and soon the water around you both churns enough to drown out your shared laughter. Your clumsy feet, weighed down by your movements kick up sand and cloud the water, and you brush grit from your face and hair after a particularly well-aimed splash flattens it down your back.

“That’s practically an insult, coming from you.”

“My aim isn’t that bad!” Fake offense riddles his tone, one hand placed over his poor, scandalized heart.

“Will you be less arrogant if I tell you I’m enjoying myself?” You dodge most of another splash, but even when you’re complaining you find your jaw beginning to ache from a wide smile.

“So much for staying out of the water,” Childe taunts, gesturing to the soaking mess you’ve become. He’s no better, water dripping down his face in rivulets, blinking the salt away from his eyes instinctively and pushing the wet hair back from his view.

“This is your fault, you know,” you tell him, but the complaint holds little water. He lets you splash him again, a full wave that hits against his chest, and you take another step closer to him—just close enough for him to hook a gangly leg around your own and pull you down, spinning gracefully and catching you just as your hair begins to fan out in the water. One arm holds securely under the middle of your back, while the other settles on your hip.

“You just can’t stay away from me, I know.” The smug confidence he wears is equally endearing and enraging. You begin to counter him with an asshole—, one hand moving up to poke his cheek, but before you can make contact he completely retracts his arms and you submerge with a shriek. When you come up moments later, coughing and spluttering in surprise, Childe is laughing so hard that he’s bent over with his hands on his knees. He’s completely unsuspecting, the perfect target for you to grab the back of his head and shove his face into the water, too.

Except, Childe topples over his own long legs, the two of you falling down messily and his head bumping against your knee as you land flat on your butt. He makes a face, rubbing his cheeks as he kneels. Despite how you joke around, it’s clear that the bump actually hurt, and you can’t help but feel a little pang of guilt at the genuine pain he displayed. Holding his head, Childe moves closer, until he’s easily looming over you with your hands braced against the sand and the water level just under your chin.

“You’re so difficult,” he sighs, your foreheads pressed together. The feeling of salt grinding between your skin is just on the edge of unpleasant, but nowhere near enough to make you back away. “Nearly gave me a black eye there.”

“Aren’t we both?” You smile in response, cupping a cool, wet hand over the cheek he’d hit on your leg. His eyes flutter closed, and he breathes out a sigh against your nose as tension visibly drains from his shoulders. It’s like the final traces of his daily life have fallen away with just your touch—gone is the hedonistic Childe, the calculating Tartaglia, leaving only the scattered fragments of a Snezhnayan boy far from home. Even at peace, there’s a longing in the way he looks at you—eyes wide as if in disbelief, unable to hold your gaze with all of his defenses stripped down.

“Yea. We are,” he concedes—so quiet that you barely make out the words over the sound of the wind and the soft movements of water. Difficult, and he’s right: nothing involving a Fatui Harbinger will ever be easy.

“I think you’re well worth the trouble,” you confess, letting your eyes meet his. They don’t shy away this time, there’s a blue fire blazing somewhere in the back of his soul that warms your cheeks and has your free hand clenching the sand underneath. Certainly well worth the trouble, for all of the moments he looks at you like this—holding the intensity of a thousand suns and all of the love and guidance offered by the moon, an entire universe dancing in his usually lifeless eyes.

And the trouble is most worth it when Ajax—not Childe, not Tartaglia, but Ajax, closes the miniscule gap and kisses you under the witness of the moon—you can be at ease.

“I am?” He teases, a whisper against your lips. You roll your eyes before the hand on his cheek slips to the back of his head, and you pull him close once more.

#viv writes #genshin x reader #genshin x reader fluff #genshin #childe #childe x reader #gn!reader #fluff #genshin fluff #short fic

[dearestones]

The Only Way to Win… Is to Not Play (Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, and Satan Scenario with Reader)

Warnings: Unjustified anger and malcontent towards an NPC.

Scenario: (SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST SEASON DURING THE SATAN-AND-LUCIFER-SWITCH-BODIES ARC) It’s the last session inside of Levithan’s dating sim game. Unfortunately, all of the brothers that have accompanied you on this quest have their sights set on you. What happens if you decide to give the game the middle finger and not choose any of the brothers? What happens… if you choose John (an NPC from the game)?

(The game has completely discarded Cerberus from the storyline and progresses the way it should before that plot twist).

.

.

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GAME START!

The walk up to the roof of the building was somewhat silent and eerie. Although you’ve spent a fair amount of time with each of the brothers, a part of you feels somewhat apprehensive with the decision that you’re about to make. You’re not sure how much time has passed in the real world, but in the game world, at least a semester has passed. In that time, the boys have spent most of their time thinking of cheesy pick up lines, engaging in activities that you thought might like, and generally doing everything in their power to win.

In all honesty…

It was kind of cute.

Having this much attention after getting hounded left and right by many demons in the Devildom because you were a weak human took a toll on your mental health. Honestly, you had to agree with Lucifer on this one. Technically, you didn’t have to try or work hard at anything. By all accounts, you were basically the heroine of the game, but they were trying to win you over.

Let’s be real, it was a nice change to get pampered and complimented

It was a vacation for you and a competition for the boys.

As all five of you made the final trek up those stairs that would lead you to the roof, you knew that in a few moments, you would have to come to a fateful decision. A surreptitious glance at your side made you realize that each of the brothers were somewhat apprehensive in their own way.

Despite yourself, you smiled and noted that even if some of them thought of this as a mere game, you knew that they tried their hardest to woo you. Their attempts were all noteworthy (except… perhaps Lucifer), but you knew that you had to keep true to your gut instinct.

You only hoped that their priceless reactions would be enough to stave off any guilt that might accompany your actions.

As all of you assembled in the middle of the school roof, you looked at each of them in turn, took a deep breath, and said—

“John. I choose John.”

SIDE LUCIFER

For a moment, he’s confused.

Really confused.

This man has been putting up with Diavolo and his weird ideas for entertainment. For literal centuries. He would have thought that a lowly human such as yourself wouldn’t have raised the bar on how weird life can get, but here he is.

Completely and utterly baffled.

John???

You’re choosing an NPC who had at best ONE (1) line in the entire game?

Him?

Before you can get another word out of your mouth, Lucifer is crowding around you, not because he cares that you obviously didn’t think that he was worthy of your love confession (he does, but it’s not like he’ll ever admit it), but because you rejected him. For John! Not even one of his brothers, but John!

Honestly, you should count your lucky stars that Lucifer has some sort of semblance of self-control because if this were any other situation, Lucifer would have done away with his human glamor and donned his more demonic appearance.

That said.

Lucifer is somewhat mollified that you didn’t choose Mammon.

Or, Father forbid, Satan.

SIDE MAMMON

You killed him.

For centuries, humans have been trying their damnedest to kill high ranking demons and here you are, the Avatar of Greed quite possibly keeling over in befuddlement.

“Wha—You can’t just—” Mammon throws his hands heavenward, a pleading look in his eyes. He had accepted that he might be rejected in favor of his brothers, but this—! This was too much! “Oi! Where did you get that idea that you can reject The Great Mammon for some guy?”

“But I thought you didn’t want to—?”

“The Great Mammon would happily receive a love confession from you!”

He says with a blush and hearts in his eyes.

He’s also pouting (“Demons don’t pout!”) and crossing his arms as if he were a child who wasn’t gifted their favorite toy.

Honestly, Mammon was actually trying his hardest throughout this game and you had the audacity to not only not choose him, but a nobody?

Who was even John?

In fact, where is he? Mammon’s going to kick the ever loving devil out of that guy and then, maybe you’ll come to your senses.

That, or Mammon will cry.

Or both.

Either way, Mammon is somewhat mollified by the fact that you rejected everybody, even if everybody also included him.

SIDE LEVIATHAN

How dare.

How dare you.

What makes you think that you have the right to ruin Leviathan’s long, long, long streak of speedrun wins?

He worked his butt for this game! Do you have any idea how much of his “Socialization with Normies” juice has been depleted? And he also had to think of so many cheesy one-liners and pick up lines…

Why?

What did John, a no good NPC, have that he didn’t?

Leviathan already compares himself with his brothers and basically everyone else in the Devildom, now he has to compete with fictional side characters? Seriously, where is the appeal?

Does John even have interests?

Anything that makes him stand out among the blank canvases that are part of this game’s world?

Does he even have a face???

You can see that Leviathan goes through the five stages of grief and only seconds away from pitching himself off the roof.

Maybe confessing your love for John on the roof wasn’t a good idea?

SIDE SATAN

This man, this demon… he does not care.

Sure, he may or may not have actually tried to play the game, but honestly, Satan used it as a way to get to know you better.

After the incident where he nearly killed you, using the game as a way to climb the intimacy ranks into close friendship was probably the closest you’ll get to resolving any hard feelings you may have had for him.

That said, Satan wishes he had his DDD with him because the look on Lucifer’s face is priceless.

Satan wishes that you said his name instead of John’s, but Lucifer losing is always a win in Satan’s book.

Although, Satan has to wonder, what did John say or do that made him catch your eye?

Perhaps he should… gain some knowledge before the game officially ends.

Watch as Satan sneaks off to find John and possibly question his methods as an NPC.

Overall, Satan appreciates your audacity and is probably the only one who understands that you’re not taking the game seriously.

BONUS: SIDE JOHN

Umm… is this a bug?

This was not supposed to happen?

John is an NPC?

And now at least three demons are coming to rip apart his binary code?

Help?

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If you want to donate a Ko-Fi, feel free https://ko-fi.com/devintrinidad.

OBEY ME! ONE MASTER TO RULE THEM ALL MASTERLIST

#obey me #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me lucifer #om lucifer #obey me mammon #om mammon #obey me leviathan #om leviathan #obey me satan #om satan #obey me john #om john #obey me x reader #om x reader #lucifer x reader #mammon x reader #leviathan x reader #satan x reader #dearestones #devintrinidad

[st-just]

Hey, Cuba-anon again with a slightly different question. Less about Cuba, more about foreign policy and ethics in general. I am interested to know what you think about Nationalism and it’s place in the modern world. How should one view their relationship to their country versus their relationship to the global community?

To give my point of view, I think I am a pragmatic nationalist? I am not gung-ho about America because “it is the best nation ever and the president is never wrong, uwu”, but rather because I live here, my parents and grandparents live here, and if something in the world negatively impacts America it will by extension negatively impact me. I don’t think other countries are beneath me or anything, but I also know that the feeling is not always reciprocal. So, to me, putting the well being of Americans first and everything else second is similar to putting on your air mask first before helping others in the event of a plane crash.

Either way, would love to hear your point of view and see how others tackle the question.

(sorry for the delay in response, got halfway through writing this then saved it to drafts and completely blanked on it)

But okay, interesting question, and worth breaking down.

So, you know how through the '90s and early 2000's there was this just utterly overpowering narrative where the last chapter of every history textbook ended with a chapter about how national borders were less and less important and how through the magic of The Internet young people were more connected and cosmopolitan than ever, with the strong implication that the weight of history was pulling us inevitably towards a post-national utopia of frictionless exchange and understanding. Call it the Star Trek ideal.

Hasn't exactly worked out, of course. And to a large degree was bullshit even at the time (or the optimism of academics expecting all of humanity to think like they do, being charitable). But in my heart of hearts, that's still how I think things should work.

But okay, to get a bit less abstract, a bunch of barely connected thoughts-

- Nation-states (and states generally) are, at best, convenient administrative divisions of humanity. They have no value outside the services they provide to their residents, and certainly no rights or moral worth outside that. America doesn't deserve your loyalty or life anymore than the state of Ohio or city of Baltimore do (replace with wherever you live.)

-If you accept the basic idea of humans having equal moral worth (or anywhere close to it), then the entire idea that someone's entire life should be defined by what side of an imaginary line on a map they were born on seems obviously absurd as soon as you start thinking about it?

-Nations - in terms of borders, whose included, what characteristics are 'national', etc - are also both contingent and a great extent artificial, defined by state and cultural elites via a standardized language, a mythologized national history, patriotic holidays, nationalizing and creating traditions and rituals, national education and entertainment, etc, etc. There's nothing primordial or inherent there.

-Unfortunately, people really, really like having teams to identify with, and like excluding people from those teams and/or treating them like shit for not belonging to them even more. (People talk a lot about x or y horrible thing being fundamental to human nature, but I really think this is one of the places where human nature really lets us down.)

-Nationalism is an extremely easy and powerful way of dividing the world between us and them, and across the world there has been massive success using it as a locus for identity formation and to organize populations around basically every sort of project imaginable, from funding public education and welfare to genocide.

-Nationalism is, as mentioned, inherently exclusive - and no matter what it's proponents say, in practice there's always someone within the borders of the nation who doesn't quite fit (in the European context, Romani and Jewish people are the most obvious examples). Cases where the nationalist imagination doesn't perfectly overlap with state borders, or with the identity of some subset of the 'national' population also tends to go, uh, badly.

-However, within the national population, appeals to national solidarity or theoretically shared ideals can often be (to a limited degree) useful in transcending or working to ameliorate regional, ethnic, class, etc divides.

-While it's true that large chunks of the American (Canadian, British, French, Japanese, etc) populace benefit quite a bit from their position in the current international system, it's almost universally the case that what foreign policy elites consider 'the national interest' extends far, far, far beyond anything that provides concrete benefits to the average citizen - I'll just gesture vaguely towards Afghanistan, here. Or World War 1 - and quite a lot of death and misery is inflicted for the sake of a narrow slice of the elite's material interests and entirely meaningless concerns around national glory and prestige.

-To be frank, in specifically America's case, putting the interests of co-nationals first and everyone else second is less putting your own air mask on first and more launching a life boat at half capacity to make sure you have leg room.

-But, again, the fruits of pursuing the national interest really, really aren't evenly spread. Does the US government's tireless and vicious championing of stringent IP laws, regardless of how many needless deaths result from the constraints on the drug supply they create, really do much for the average American?

-Which, to go back to the air mask analogy, brings up the awkward point that very often it's not so much putting your own mask on first as tearing the masks off people around you so you have extras, just in case. How much less is the life of someone on the wrong side of the border worth? Half as much? A tenth? A thousandth? The pursuit of America's national security and national interests has a death toll well into the millions.

-Honestly, even if you don't care at all about foreigners, in terms of domestic policy it's just a useful heuristic to instinctively distrust anyone who relies too much on nationalist rhetoric to justify themselves. I mean, the music's almost always bad and anyone who actually gets invested in the symbolism of their flag is reliably a complete killjoy, but even beyond that - they're just very reliably the worst people. This is admittedly unkind and not always true. But, well, see that quote about patriotism being the last refuge of the scoundrel, which applies wonderfully to both people and organizations. If someone's trying to sell something by wrapping it in the flag, that usually means they don't want you looking too closely.

-Viewing the world through a nationalist framework and caring about zero-sum issues of national prestige also make it incredibly hard to coordinate around issues that don't care about national borders, or are going to disproportionately hurt people without rich and powerful nation-states defending their interests. Like, I don't know, global pandemics. Or climate change.

-Anyway, in conclusion, borders bad, nationalism bad, and also any officially codified 'Patriotic' culture is instantly cringe. Hopefully some of this makes sense.

#reply #anon #in this essay i will #this is theoretically a writing blog #nationalism #political theory

[mxvladdy]

True Form- Belphegor

*collapses dramatically* Oh Gods its done! Sorry for the break! I hope my edits are good! 

More to come in this series soon :) 

Hope y’all enjoy!

True Form- Belphegor

Keeping a defined for is hard. Too hard for him anyway.

His true form is inconspicuous. He just naturally doesn’t take up much space in the physical realm. He likes it this way though.

An overlooked predator is a dangerous one.

If he is ever seen in this form it looks like a thin film. He drapes over everything, like dust in an unopened room, or the cling of fresh dew in the morning in the rose garden.

He never uses it when awake. His human form is more palatable and functional in all honesty. Don’t get me wrong though, he doesn’t hate it. It used to be really useful when he wanted to nap and Lucifer was on the prowl. But, such good things can only last for so long. Now Lucifer can sniff him out from a mile away incorporeal or no after centuries of practice.

His real form is best implemented in the minds of his slumbering victims. He can cultivate himself there, using his form to feel out the needs and desires of his unsuspecting host.

He is a manipulator, tried and true. His cunning and wile gets him pacts more than a promise of power or wealth.

Belphegor draws them in with promises of grandeur and unexplored inventions. Limitless discoveries all at the very tips of their fingers, if only they take one more step further. One more little slip deeper into the abyss. Then they can stay sleeping forever with him.

Even as an angel he was known as a dreamer. More often then not he could be found in the inner sanctums sleeping with Beel and Lilith during lessons or being carried around by Lucifer. Back then he always had pleasant dreams or innovative ideas that the other angels made use of. The little inventor.

Now that he has fallen, nightmares come to him more often than not, uncontrollable flashes of The War, his sister’s death, and the pain of betrayal. Perhaps that was his punishment, always drowsy with no control over when he sleeps, with nothing but nightmares to accompany him.

When he has control over himself in his slumber he likes to flit around into other’s dreams. Most of the time he goes to Beel’s as they are very pleasant and help distract him from the night terrors he had just escaped from.

Sometimes when bored or pissy he jumps to Lucifer’s dreams. It’s a rare occurrence when they are asleep at the same time, but he takes absolute delight in fucking with his oldest brother’s dreams or looking for secrets to lord over him.

He doesn’t come into your dreams uninvited though. Not after you freed him. You have given him permission to. But he uses it sparingly. When he needs a break from his own head he might control when you are tired. Just so he can have some time out of his head.

He is very controlling in that retrospect. He will form the shape of your dreams at first. But, you ween him out of it. Now he trains you to lucid dream. He lets you shape your reality around you both. You don’t know it, but he is allowing you to shape him as well.  

Mini Fic

He watches you from a distance. The grassy knoll you built was bright and airy. Pink and purple flowers sway in the light breeze you created, winking at him as they move. The large willow draping over you pulls a happy little hum from your chest. The swinging branches tickling your sun kissed cheeks. You lounge sprawled out on the ground staring up at the false sun with the largest grin on your face. The rays of sunshine illuminate your prone form, casting stark shadows in its wake. They travel down the hill searching and coiling for shelter from the strong lighting. They find him, latching on to his bare feet and merge with his own disjointed outline. How apropos.

"You can come up here Belphie. Promise I won't bite." You call out into the sky. Your eyes were still closed, but you tilt your head in his direction none the less. The smile you throw down at him is more blinding than the sun you dreamt up.

“I don’t want to intrude.” He steps out from the tree line blinking owlishly. Being welcomed in a dream had been unheard of before you. The mindscape was an intimate and private space. He was meant to be an invader, a taint. Before this he had been nothing but a rogue clinging to the edges. A whisper of temptation carried on the wind, or the hollow thud of a heel echoing down an empty street. It’s different here, with you. You expected to see him or sense him in whatever form he chooses. It was-nice.

“You're never an intrusion.” Your raw honesty floors him still, even after all this time together. “Had a rough night?” You ask patting the space beside you.

“Something like that.” He murmurs dropping down next to you. He is distracted momentarily by the heat radiating off your body. “You’ve been practicing.” You beam, proud that he noticed so quickly. His lessons on dream walking and lucid dreaming were hard, but looks like they were finally paying off.

It had been difficult at first, keeping a solid detailed form while knowing you were asleep. Then trying to stay asleep while doing it. You had to fight against the instinct to wake up constantly. It was like somewhere deep inside your psyche was trying to protect you, like it knew what happened when a human ventures too far into this place. Almost like it knew that a cunning little demon was lurking somewhere down here.  

“How’d you guess?” You ask rolling onto your side. He answers by reaching out to you and dragging a soft finger down your bare arm. You shiver at the cool touch, little goosebumps awakening under his touch. Your picturesque scene wavers at the corners from his touch. The caress breaking your concentration for a moment. Belphegor smirks. “I’m still working on it!” You blush.

“I don’t mind, as long as I’m the only one that that can shake you so.” He pulls away to summon a large pillow for himself. You watch him try to get comfortable. He punches and rolls around the poof for a moment trying to get comfortable. You could tell something was troubling him. The energy in his gaze was borderline manic. His usually relaxed stature was strung taut, right on the border of snapping. He would murder you again if you said it; but he looked so much like Lucifer right now. Tight, cold, and rigid. A clear signal of distress.

“You want to take the helm?” You wave around the small scene offering him a distraction. He could expand the scene far further than you could, probably ever could. “Or do you want to let your hair down?” You wiggle your eyebrows at him. You smile at his little snort, that human saying always got him to laugh.

“Sure you don’t mind?” You shake your head and sit up. Truth be told, you liked his weird demon form. You could never entirely place where he was when he was in it, but you just knew he was there and close. It was reassuring.

He breathes a sigh of relief before flopping backward. He disappears on impact with the soft ground. The grass and flowers coming up to engulf him as he takes over.  He flows around you into every corner of your mind, stretching himself to the furthest corners of your dream. He weaves himself in your fantasy. You get swept up in it for a moment. The raw force of him pulling at your center. It is suffocating for a moment, the oppressive weight of his magic. It brings out a bone-deep weariness in you without meaning to. You feel the growing need to just rest. Just a moment.

“Back with me?” You open your eyes. When had you closed them?

“Ye, sorry.” You lean up onto your elbow and shake your head to clear the fog that still clung to it. It was always a head rush when he did that. Blinking the rest of his magic away you take in your now joint dream. The sun was gone, replaced with twin moons and awash with multicolored stars. His sky bled colors, dripping purples and blues onto the green grass around the edges of your vision. The more you focus the more the field grows and stretches. Off in the distances, tiny tents emerge, sprouting up like shoots from the blackness. “Really?” You eye the tents with a wry smile. If you strained your ear you could hear faint carnival music.

A low rumble bounces around you. “You suddenly have an issue with the circus?”

“Absolutely not!” You raise, calling out into the vastness around you. “You better make a carousel!” You could feel him chuckle around you as you began your trek down the hill.

Belphegor is quiet while you navigate the forest. He’s whole being hyper focused on building the world around your quick steps. His was divided and working overtime in an attempt to distract himself. Part of him was busy building the carnival, another working on making sure you don’t stir from your slumber, and the other awake and aware. He hasn’t done this in a while, splitting his consciousness so thin like this. His human body lumbering along in the physical world while his mind was busy in the subconscious one. Hopefully, none of his brothers were awake and would try to intervene. He wanted to be close to you, in both body and mind tonight. You reach the edge of the woods and he turns his full attention back to you.

He had gone all out for you. Bright lights and the echoing laughter of imaginary guests assault your senses. You could even taste buttered popcorn and caramel on the tip of your tongue. A warm hand takes yours causing you to jump. Belphie gives you an apologetic grin for startling you before dragging you off into the park without a word. Who knows how long the two of you spent. Time, as you understood it, worked differently here. Faster or slower you had no idea. But, right now you didn’t care. He needs you here in the present.

“So-” You start hesitantly much later in the evening. You lick at some cotton candy that had gotten stuck on your fingers. “Want to talk about it?” Belphegor shoots you a look from where he perched. His feet dangling from a study steel fence. He watches you ride the slow-moving carousel as it goes round and round in lazy circles. He mulls over what to say as you make a rotation.  

“I dreamt of Lilith again.” He admits. He comes to sit on the metal animal beside you, disappearing and reappearing in a puff of smoke at your side.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ye. Me too.” He pats the kelpie he sits on. Its listless eyes bore into his. His old nightmares reflecting in their ruby gaze. He wanted to be over this. Why wasn’t he over this? The longer he stares into the horses dead eyes the more his nightmares creep back onto him.The dream shifts around you. The air dropping in temperature drastically. The merry background noises choked off and replace with a buzzing that made your head hurt. The sound of metal striking metal and shouts start to grow at the base of your neck.  

“Belphie-” You reach out for him, cupping his face. He doesn’t notice you anymore. His mind going somewhere you shouldn’t venture. His expression turns stormy, closing off to you completely. Fear begins to build up inside of you. Something uncontrollable riding in on the fast building winds. The night sky he built changes. Stars blinking out one after another like blown bulbs. The moons swelling in size, crashing into each other as your dream begins to crumble. “Shit.” You had to wake up, and fast.

You awake with a start back in your bed. Eyes snapping open while your body lays motionless. An odd sensation of sleep paralysis locking your joints. Something radiates behind you, a lanky body drawn close to yours. Sweet breath tickles the nape of your neck. Fighting the paralysis that held you, you turn to greet your bed guest.

Belphie’s half-lidded eyes seem to look through you. His body was icy, a ghostly vapor wafted over of his pale skin. You tried to wake him but your tongue was stuck. All you could do was stare wide-eyed as he dreamt. He comes back to you slowly. His eyes twitch and roll sporadically until he blinks, drawing in a ragged breath as he comes to. His skin warms with each passing tick of your alarm clock. As your drowsy demon stirs the stiffness in your body begins to ebbs. His chokehold on your mind weakening. After what seemed like an eternity he awakens. He takes you in for a moment and then he’s on you, lurches forward to drag your pliant body to his. “Scared me for a second there Belphie.” You mutter into his soft hair.

He sighs, breathing in your scent and focusing on your strong pulse. It had been a while since he had lost control of himself like that. Building up a world was easy. Tearing it down was even easier. The thread that kept people under was thin, like a single strand of silk. To lose himself to a nightmare in another being’s head? It was unheard of. It terrified him. “Did I hurt you?” He rasps.

“No,” You reassure him, pressing a kiss to his sweaty brow. “I woke up in time.” He goes quiet again trying to keep his breathing steady. “Hey.” You stroke a few strands of hair from his face. “You’re thinking pretty hard there, can I help?”

Could you help? If he was losing control of his dreamscape again… He would have to tell Lucifer. A shudder runs up his spine at the thought of retraining. No, he was still strong enough to keep it under control “Just keep stroking my hair, please?” He yawns widely, lethargy hitting him hard. He drifts off to the feel of your fingers flowing smoothly through his hair. The lingering fears slip further and further from his mind with each soft caress.  

#obey me #obey me fandom #obey me belphegor #obey me fanfic

[fictionadventurer]

I can’t stop thinking about the Superman AU where Kara doesn’t get lost in the Phantom Zone so both children are raised by the Kents.

Kara’s ship was set up to teach her English (and possibly other Earth languages) during the trip, so the Kents learn the whole story of Krypton right away. Both kids keep their Kryptonian first names.

Kara’s extremely protective/possessive of Kal at first. She was sent across solar systems to take care of this kid, and it’s hard to step back and let anyone else fill that parent role.

Right away, the Kents notice that Kara’s stronger and faster and more durable than a human, but she doesn’t start developing outright superpowers for at least a few years. Kal starts showing signs of it by the time he’s in kindergarten, though extreme powers don’t really start to develop until his teenage years.

Kara’s homeschooled for a few years, but she does attend Smallville High for, yes, the socialization. (And to quell some of the rumors about the weird kids the Kents adopted).

The Kents have a swingset that’s the site of tons of terrifying acrobatic stunts from two children who are developing powers of invulnerability and flight.

Kara never quite loses her Kryptonian accent. In high school, there’s a running gag where she claims the accent is from more and more ridiculous places. Metropolis. France. Antarctica. Mars. Middle Earth.

(One time someone joked that her accent was from Alderaan, and it hit way too close to home).

(The official story from the Kents is that Kara was adopted from parents who did a lot of traveling and her mixed-up accent was worsened by a mild hearing/speech impairment).

The Kent household is bilingual. The kids are both fluent in Kryptonian, and Martha and Jon made sincere efforts to learn, though they’ll never be really adept. About half of the conversations in the house occur in a pidgin Krypt-lish.

For Kara’s sake, they try to adopt Kryptonian celebrations into their family traditions, but it’s difficult when a good chunk of Kryptonian holidays celebrate celestial events that they can no longer see or family connections that no longer exist.

Kara = Jock Girl. Kal = Nerd Boy.

Kara’s smart, but her early education on a different planet makes it harder to adapt to this world’s knowledge system, so she doesn’t put her focus toward academics.

She’s somehow both a tomboy and the girliest possible girl. She’ll be shoveling manure one minute and buying mascara the next.

She’s also got a very practical, no-nonsense personality, but she’s devoted to her carefully curated selection of stuff animals. She may have made one or two based on memories of Kryptonian animals.

Kara’s on a couple of athletic teams in high school. I could see her being on a dance team because good performance requires her to work in sync with the entire team, so her superpowers don’t give her that much of an advantage. And she’s in volleyball because she has a volleyball girl vibe.

Kal’s more introverted and sheltered (especially with two protective mother figures hovering over him), but he grows up comfortably human while fully acknowledging his Kryptonian heritage. He really does need glasses as a kid, learns to read young, and overall slots comfortably into the role of Friendly Neighborhood Nerd from his early elementary years.

(”What’s Kal short for?” people ask him. “Kaleidoscope”, he replies.)

Both kids are close with both Kents, but Kara has a particularly strong bond with Jonathan while Kal is more similar to Martha.

Kal bonds with Martha over her collection of pulp sci-fi books. (Kara finds their depictions of other worlds too unrealistic). They’re also both Star Trek fans--Kal prefers the original series, while Martha prefers Next Gen.

Kara stays on the farm after graduating high school. She still feels a strong duty to stay and care for Kal, and though she won’t say it out loud, she needs to cling to the sense of home that Smallville provides after losing her home planet.

She helps out with the farm work, and also works as a paramedic and/or firefighter. The job serves her caretaker strengths, and also provides a lot of opportunities to use her powers to rush to the rescue. It doesn’t take long for the “Smallville Angel” to become a local cryptid.

Her love interest is a down-home Smallville boy. Possibly a high school sweetheart, possibly someone she meets on the job, whether working alongside him or helping to rescue him. He has a very hands-on job, whether it’s as a firefighter, construction worker, or a farmer.

By the time Kal’s a high school freshman, he takes over the Smallville High paper and transforms it from a sports-scores-and-lunch-menus fluff page into a hard-hitting investigative paper. Within his first few months on the paper, he uncovers an embezzlement scandal at the school.

Kal is far more at home in Smallville than Kara is, but because it’s the only home he’s known, he also feels more of a drive to explore the world outside it. He does some traveling after high school, goes to Metropolis for college, and though he visits Smallville frequently, he never lives there again after leaving.

Kara gets married (to the above-mentioned love interest) around the same time that Kal graduates high school. They settle down in Smallville.

Kara has at least one biological kid, but she also becomes a stepmother/adopted mother. Could be that her love interest is a widower with children from his previous marriage. Maybe they adopt a couple of his brother’s kids. Maybe they adopt some kids from a rescue situation Kara came across. But I want Kara to have to deal with some of the “You’re not my real mom” stuff that she put Martha through.

(And it’s even more interesting from the perspective of the kids. When do you tell them? How do they deal with “my stepmother is a space alien who shoots lasers from her eyes”?)

Kal takes up hero work in Metropolis, but has a harder time keeping his identity secret with so many eyes around. With his imagination primed by pulp sci-fi, it doesn’t take long to come up with the idea of a costumed alter ego. Kara thinks it’s a bit silly, but her heart soars when she sees the costume’s focal point is the House of El crest, and she loves that it becomes a symbol of hope for this world.

It’s a big step when Kal brings Lois home to meet the parents, but the real test is when she meets Kara.

“She’s my big sister. Well, really my cousin. Also kind of my mom.”

“I didn’t think you were that kind of hick, Smallville.”

If she’s being completely honest, Lois is intimidated by the idea of meeting someone with all of Kal’s abilities and a mother-wolf instinct to protect him. But the Kents are intimidated by Kal getting involved with an investigative journalist who’s the daughter of a military general.

They hit it off great, though, and both sides quickly realize they have nothing to worry about.

There’s also a huge Kent extended family that was involved with these kids from the moment that Jon and Martha found spaceships in their cornfield. The Kents are exactly the clan you want at your back when you need to hide two alien kids from the government. Need fake identification and adoption papers? Someone to steer the Men in Black off the trail? The Kents will pitch in with enthusiasm.

Not everyone in the family knows about their abilities or secret identities, but they’re a close-knit clan anyway. They have a harder time adjusting to having city-gal Lois among their ranks than two space alien kids.

It’s a crazy, chaotic, blended and adopted family that’s growing and shifting over the years and always provides a place for Kara and Kal to belong.

#superman #supergirl #this is awesomebutunpractical's fault #i started thinking about kara raised by the kents and then kal decided to show up anyway #kara's not built on anything canon #i'm just building off of teenage girl from an exalted family sent to raise a kid on a farm #but i'm still flashing back to my days watching supergirl's early seasons #the great thing about this franchise is that it's built on so many fragments that there is no canon #and even an au can be just as canon as anything else #i'm sorry this is long #even if no one else cares about this extremely mundane au i'm attached to it