#i felt like so many of my edits were either too similar or just.. not good enough bc people never really reblogged anything. and then id g

[ohdeerfully]

Headcanons! Alastor with a plush demon reader :3 like readers sinner form is a plush! Because I love height differences and it sounds real cute

-🃏🐱

hi 🃏🐱!! i wrote this more platonically, so it could be read either way, but i might write a more romantic flavored one too :3! sorry its rather short, i hope you enjoy it anyway!

edit: after rereading the request i realized u asked for headcanons but i wrote a whole oneshot im </3 *knocks on my head and it sounds hollow*

Alastor x Plushie!Reader

PLATONIC fluff TW: none! readers kind of a weirdo by accident

join my discord!

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It was no surprise that you became popular in hell very quickly after manifesting. You were often stopped in the streets by people wanting to squish your soft skin, and some people wanting selfies.

I mean, who wouldn’t fall in love with a living stuffed animal? You were very likely the first of the kind.

There was one demon, however, that seemed immune to the charm. No matter how many times you stood on his lap, your giant squishy paws pressed onto his chest, looking at him with your shiny button eyes… he just would not yield. And it frustrated you to no end.

So, you had made it your life—or, death—goal to get him to squish your plushy skin. Even if you had to force him to.

It started with you merely sitting next to him at every opportunity, swinging your legs against the cushion of the couch. Your legs barely reached over the edge; you were quite short. Sitting next to Alastor felt like sitting next to a skyscraper. 

You would lay down, sit up again, roll onto your back, over and over again, trying to get his attention on you. He wouldn’t ignore you, per say, as he would respond to your conversations politely, albeit a bit condescending in his typical manner; but, his hands never left the comfort of being folded neatly in his lap.

It got to the point where you were practically laying yourself on top of him, getting desperate now. But, every time, he would simply grab you under the arms and easily set you a foot or so away from him. He would give you a quick pat on the head, but you wanted more than that. Every pat on the head felt like a cruel reminder that he wanted nothing to do with you.

Your frustration has even caused you to get upset with Niffty a few times. While on one hand it was awesome to know another demon that was of similar height, on the other hand it pissed you off at how easily she seemed to grab his attention. Though, she was also just overall more insane—it’d be hard for anybody to ignore her.

You had to admit, though, that the lack of his attention only made your intrigue in him grow exponentially. In a Hell where you were stopped on every corner of the road, in every store, Alastor stood out to you. How come, of all the demons out there, even some of the cruelest in the Pride Ring, the one demon you were actually interested in… could care less about you? Sure, the only reason you were interested in him was because of this very fact, but still! Why?

You had gotten fed up. Alastor was in the midst of, again, picking you up off of himself, when he paused holding you midair at the look of fury on your face. You saw his grin widen in a sinister manner, and his eyebrows quirk quizzically. 

“What a huge expression for a face so little,” He laughed shortly. You hated the way his laughter crackled with radio static, and how it practically mocked you.

“You. Are such. A jerk!” You cried, swinging your legs in an attempt to kick his chest. You missed by a longshot, as he held you out as far as his arms could stretch. He only continued to watch you, amused.

“Just pet me!” You cried. You immediately halted after saying that, arms frozen mid-flail. You realized instantly how weird that was to say, especially to Alastor. And he knew, too, evident in the way his eyes narrowed at you and he rushed to place you down on the floor. You struggled to maintain eye contact when he stood back up, his height being the actual physical manifestation of impending doom. His hands brushed down the sides of his coat.

“I believe it makes sense for you to be a stuffed animal,” He said matter-of-factly. “Because of how utterly childish you are.”

You couldn’t help but stomp your foot at his statement; and his grin stretched at being proved right. But, like, come on! Yeah, what you said was kind of weird as fuck, but you weren’t in the wrong or anything! It’s only natural.

His gaze shifted up and ahead of himself, and your shoulders slumped in defeat. Another failed attempt.

That was, until you felt a clawed finger touch against your head and briefly scratch at your velvety skin, right behind your ear. You looked up, shocked, towards Alastor’s unreadable expression. The touch was very brief, and he stood and walked away without another word, leaving you standing there awestruck.

You shook yourself and bounced after him, trying to call his attention again but he ignored you. You opted to just follow him around for a bit, at least until he made it obvious you should leave him alone. He had his hands folded behind his back, a tune humming in his mouth as he walked down the halls. Alastor would never admit it to you, but he did find you rather cute, in a similarly chaotic way to Niffty. You weren’t quite as unhinged, but you had an entertaining amount of spunk and confidence, which he found sort of funny—so much personality squished into one tiny body. You sort of reminded him of a stuffed animal he had when he was a boy.

#ohdeerfully #🃏🐱 #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor x reader #platonic #fluff

[ryker-writes]

i just remembered reading ur pome siblings post and oh my god please if you have the time and motivation, write an angsty version of vils part! its so interesting to explore his potential sibling relationship rgsfbyddnr

absolutely! I feel like a lot of the dorm leaders could have a broken and angsty relationship with their siblings, Vil just was the first one that popped up in my head

warning: Book 5 spoilers

Vil as a sibling (Broken relationship edition)

the Schoenheit family was not an easy family to live in

that became very clear early on in your childhood

your father was a very famous celebrity that did a lot of modeling and acting

and he really wanted you and Vil to do the same

the two of you would be signed up for many roles and auditions in anything

even if you didn't want to, you had to

sometimes you two would be so busy that you didn't have time to just relax and play with other kids

half of the time you and Vil wouldn't get roles in the same thing and you wouldn't even see each other

even just being in the Schoenheit family was enough to get a spotlight on you and your life

you grew up with eyes on you at all times

eyes that criticized every little thing you did

if you tripped, made a slip of the tongue, or even got slightly upset you would be criticized

but you wouldn't only be criticized by the public, but also by your father

he would lecture you on how to act at all times until you got it right

until it became second nature

it was a constant demand for you to be perfect

and you had no choice but to do what they all say

it was either do what they say or be shamed by society and your own family

so you did everything you could to be perfect

to not let the public ever see a single flaw and to be considered beautiful

Vil often helped you with this too by giving you pointers

as you grew up you became very good at it and so did Vil

you two were both well established celebrities by the time you entered Night Raven College

the both of you ended up in Pomefiore together of course

Pomefiore is the dorm that values beauty

you and Vil often talk since you two are in the same dorm

it actually felt nice to talk to Vil about school things instead of new roles or similar things

at first it was fine

you even met his friend Rook, and found out he was a fan of yours and Vil's

but then he started pushing you away and talked to you less

he always said he had important things to do and didn't have time

he couldn't completely ignore you though so there would be times he would still hang out with you

while you may have liked to spend time with your brother, Vil hated it

there he was with the ultimate goal of being the most beautiful

and there you were, not even trying to be the most beautiful, but the other students talked about you being beautiful and perfect and even debated which one of you was more beautiful

the answer should be obvious right?

but now he not only had Neige as rival, but you too

and when you had a new post on magicam or a new role in something, he would check to see who was currently the most beautiful

he absolutely hates when it says your name

it's one thing for it to be someone else but for his own family to be better than him?

especially after he helped you when you were younger

and he gets so angry when he thinks about it

but he never shows that anger

in fact he acts very nice when he is around you

it's when he's alone in the privacy of his room that he'll let the anger show on his face

for just a single second, the thought of poisoning you crosses his mind

the Evil Queen did that, and she's his role model after all

but he would have a moment of rationality after that

he couldn't do that. you were his sibling

but you were also competition

so maybe he couldn't poison you, but he could do something else

when Vil did hang out with you, he would always point out some small thing about you that was out of place

even if you had everything together, he would find something to criticize

afterwards he would always make a comment about how you should be careful because your actions reflect on him and your father

sometimes he would even give you a backhanded compliment or when he was especially angry, he would straight up insult you and claim he's trying to help you

everything he says slowly chips away at your confidence

and it hurts even more to come from your own brother, someone who helped you become who you are

once upon a time he was someone you could look up to

if you started slipping up more in public, he would be happy

unless...somehow people enjoyed that because it was cute or a reminder that you're human

at that point he's furious and it's getting harder to hide

Rook started noticing too

sometimes you could be hanging out with Vil and Rook will come along and tell you someone else wants to talk with you

he basically separates you two in hopes Vil will calm down

through this repeating process, the distance between you and Vil grows greater by the day

an unspoken hatred and sense of competition is hard to miss

and the one person who you're supposed to be able to rely on at NRC, absolutely hates you

Somewhat happy ending:

after Vil overblots, he has time to reflect on his actions the past few months

he does realize that the way he treated you was rather ugly

and he will personally apologize to you

he'd be lying if he said that people claiming you were more beautiful didn't bother him anymore

it still does, but it doesn't make him as angry

he tries to spend time with you to actually genuinely spend time with you instead of tearing you down

it can be a bit...strange at first

but give him time and he will start to come around more

he's really trying to be nicer to you and try to fix what he's done

but is it too late? has too much damage been done? is it even possible to fix it?

the choice is up to you

will you forgive him?

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twst vil #vil schoenheit #vil shoenheit x reader #twst vil x reader #vil x reader #pomefiore #pomefiore x reader

[fandomhype]

Plagiarism Somerton

I obviously didn't watch the new James Somerton apology video ON his channel because I did not want to give that man the views and you shouldn't either! It has been re-uploaded and summarised elsewhere so that he doesn't benefit if anyone wants to see it.

The original hbomberguy video was wild to me because of all the stealing, I found it highly entertaining, loved all the Memes and it honestly did my imposter syndrome wonders! but then I watched the Todd in the shadows video and it really upset me.

He didn't just steal from other LGBT creators he lied to his mostly young LGBT audiance who were looking to an elder gay for guidance and to learn about their history.

Todd's video starts with a clip of James lies being spread by another person on a podcast, there's clips of people discussing his made up gay nazi fanfic he has presented as hard facts. He actively harmed his own community for cash! There are young gay men bringing that subject up in conversation being laughed at for falling for it and that leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

Now I'm not a part of that community but a lot of people I love are so that angered me a lot.

...and then he comes back with another apology video, conveniently within the three months he would have had to post something on his channel to retain his monetisation status weirdly?! In which he blames both a head injury and his ADHD for his theft - at no point does he address the lying in either apology video or any of the apology posts he made that I could find.

I have combined ADHD, when I was first diagnosed the NHS referred to it as ADD with Hyperactivity element but everyone seems to have gone back to calling it ADHD and that is the term used most commonly online so that is what I refer to it is as.

I am medicated but there has been a world wide shortage of my medication and I was without it for some time over winter, which was HELL! I got nothing done.

I am in no way a big creator, Youtube for me is a fun wee hobby that will hopefully grow and allow me to collaborate with other people with similar interests but ADHD is for sure a large part of my journey as a creator.

I've published like 7 videos and currently have around 10 being worked on because, you know... ADHD! *siren noises*

I know that I am forgetful sometimes, just for the record I also had several head injuries and concussions as a child because Lil undiagnosed at the time me truly had no fear of climbing or other dangerous activities so I have my script (because free talking a subject with this brain would be nearly impossible) open in one google doc and my research open in another. It's not hard.

That's the way it was at school, college and Uni too. James claims he went to Uni to do business. Every university uses anti-plagerism software for essays and has done since like the mid 2000's? so he knows not to copy pasta. He's straight up lying there.

Another thing he's lying about is his ADHD making him forget he copied things. Now if you tell me a joke that I like it'll stick in my head and I will straight up tell it as my own later, I've been called out for this many times! But entire articles? whole sections of other peoples videos? (he also flipped a fan Vid he had ripped off of another YouTube to avoid detection and tried to pass it off as his own) No that's not something you can accidentally do even with a swiss cheese brain like mine.

Weirdly all the the paragraphs James claims he accidentally copied were also edited to remove aspects of the Trans, Bi and Ace experiences that James markedly does not believe exist. Strange considering he accidentally copied them and assumed they were his own words? Imagine going back through a paragraph you think you wrote yesterday in the edit the next day and finding swarths of things you don't agree with there?!

Why am I telling you all this? Well because I wanted to put my two cents in as a creator with this condition, partly because I felt it was somewhat of an attack on us!? He's put it out there that ADHD creators are liable to steal from others and that's not ok by me. Also I just really like the sound of my own typing!

TL;DR : James Sommerton is a suck ass liar and he doesn't get to use his disability as an excuse for what he did! and...

****** ADHD DOES NOT MAKE YOU STEAL SHIT!!! ******

Also watch Todd's Vid, everyone saw the Hbomberguy one but this one goes deeper:

#james somerton #actually adhd #james sommerton #hbomberguy

[derseprinceoftbd]

I realized I should say this first before my actual thoughts on the book; Please send me your favorite fanworks! Music, art, anamatics, fics (especially those), you name it! I'm ready for everything and immune to spoilers, and I'm getting this way before uA! Hahahahahahahahahahahaahhaahahahahahahahahhaahahah!!!!!!!!

So: Nona.

Certainly the one with the biggest, most fundamental, and most annoying flaws; slow pacing, too many characters with too little personality, convoluted plot (I still understand nothing about the convoy). And yet the highs were not just the highest of the series, but *21st century literature*. Seriously, the moment Nona clicked felt like turning the page and seeing the imprint of Tamsyn Muir having ripped her heart out and pounded it, still beating, into the page. And may I remind you, *I'm* using the *audiobook*!

Man, I *really* disrespected this series. Like in hindsight without my lenses there is genuinely not one TLT character that accurately maps onto any one Homestuck character, and TSG has just fuckall to do with anything, but I'm a fucking jackass who wants to feel like she knows everything.

On a similar note, *not YA*. I am a moron and should not be listened to. This series is not appropriate if you are under sixteen. Certainly I don't really think you'll *get* it.

Interesting that John is, at once, environmental destruction, death, child predation, imperialism, and religion, but not really actually *patriarchy*, and *explicitly not* capitalism. I'm the kind of person to be grateful for that last bit, even if it does seem out of place with the whole ethos, but really, am I just missing a dimension or should there be more gender commentary? I guess maybe it's an AFAB thing I'm too non-passing to have any social understanding of what Muir's trying to say.

EDIT: REDDIT EXPLAINED EVERYTHING I WAS MISSING TO ME, VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY, BECAUSE I'M GENUINELY A STUPID PERSON.

Anywho, I don't have great confidence in Alecto-that is to say, in the idea that it will come next. I'm almost certain, in fact, that what would once have been Act 2 of Alecto will *also* be spun into its own book, to be released no sooner than 2025 and no later than 2030, and that this will be a 5-book series; I know not whether 4 or 5 will be Alecto, but the other will definitely be Kiriona. I'm willing to put good money on this. I'm not really willing to make any predictions beyond this-I might honestly jinx it if I do.

(Also John was wrong and the rich folks were 100% going to take everyone in later waves.)

So, yeah. Thank you for everyone who read along with me; I'm going to do The Unwanted Guest next, and after that, I'm thinking either Lolita or the Torah and Gospels, then the other, then The Magician's Apprentice, then a reread.

Oh, and I can finally actually subscribe to the fucking tags! Wooooohooooo!

Let's hope none of the talented people have blocked me.

#the locked tomb #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #nona the ninth #john gaius #tamsyn muir #harrowhark nonagesimus #gideon nav #griddlehark #alecto the ninth #alectopause #alecto predictions #alecto theory #urbananchorite #the unwanted guest

[suzukiblu]

disappointed missing fearless

Cut for weird alien biology kinky porn but mostly just for length. Also, I don't know if there's an actual established ship name for Slobo/Kon but this is technically from a YJ polyam fic either way, so idk if it actually matters right now, hah.

Pretty sure I posted at least some of this excerpt before, but this SHOULD be the extended edition.

"The Boy Wonder just had to be our token straight," Kon grumbles, folding his arms. Which is whatever, fine, preferences are preferences and the dude's still his friend and he would still very literally die either for him or on his say-so, but is the idea of letting Kon go down on him every now and then and maybe also making out a little somewhere in there really that unappealing? Like, seriously? 

Bats are the freaking worst. 

"What's it matter?" Slobo asks, wrinkling his nose at him. 

"I mean, it doesn't matter-matter," Kon says with an exasperated sigh. "But also I just want to finally score some dick for once, man, and I still can't actually keep up with Bart's and Suzie only has one when she's in the right mood and Rob's isn't even into me, and I don't wanna go knock over a civilian for it, that's just–" 

"And that'd be all the options for dick currently available to your picky ass, yeah," Slobo cuts in dryly, leaning in towards him with a pointed look. Kon turns red. 

"Actually I kinda figured you were straight too," he says, glancing sidelong at the guy. "And very solidly monogamous, given all the time that you and Anita spend ignoring the rest of us in favor of rooms with doors that lock." 

"We ain't monogamous, she just don't like gettin' interrupted when she's in the mood. Though yeah, you're right about the straight thing," Slobo agrees with a dismissive shrug. "But also, look, I'm Czarnian. Which literally none of you bastiches are. And gonna be frank here, you and Anita got a lot more biological similarities to each other than Anita and a Czarnian chick would, so at this point I don't really give a shit what kind of hole I'm fraggin' so long as whoever it belongs to's got somethin' interestin' to say about the process." 

"Huh," Kon says, frowning to himself. "That literally never occurred to me as a thing that might be a thing, actually." 

"I mean, what, are you attracted to Branx and Bolovax Vikians and Karnans and Martians?" Slobo snorts dubiously. "Or frell, even Czarnians?" 

"Well, just the ones I like, but yeah," Kon says, a little puzzled by the question. They're all sentient species with free will and also he would absolutely let that one very specific Green Lantern just fucking step on him whenever the guy felt like it, so yeah, why wouldn't he be attracted to them? And . . . Kilowog, he's pretty sure said Green Lantern's name is? Kilowog's built like what a brick house wishes it could grow up and be. So Kon would definitely let him step on him. "Is that like . . . weird or something?" 

"Galactically speakin', yeah," Slobo says wryly. "Though I guess you're already a hybrid so I probably shoulda expected you to be less discriminatin' than the rest of the universe tends to." 

"So what, are you calling me a slut?" Kon snorts. "Like on a genetic level?" 

"Depends how many people you've screwed, galactically speakin'," Slobo says. 

"Not enough," Kon replies frankly. 

"Then yeah, pretty sure you're a slut," Slobo says with another shrug. "Especially if you miss dick bad enough to get in a snit on the couch over it." 

". . . I mean, okay, I haven't actually socialized with another dude's dick before," Kon admits grudgingly, making a face. "Unless watching gay porn counts, and to be honest I usually get bored if there's only one style of genitals onscreen so I don't do much of that. Just I just finally figured out that I fucking want dick and my options for getting it are frustratingly limited right now." 

"Then wanna actually socialize with mine?" Slobo suggests, which is an approach that Kon appreciates the straightforwardness of. "Seein' as it don't belong to a picky control freak or a hyperactive speedster or someone with a real fraggin' inconvenient tendency to turn intangible when they come." 

"Suzie does that?" Kon asks. 

"Accordin' to Anita," Slobo replies with a shrug. "And since I trust her with my literal fraggin' life at this point, I'm assumin' this ain't the thing she's picked to lie to me over." 

"Huh," Kon says. "Weird, but noted for future reference. And yeah, fuck it, let's socialize. Room with a lock, or . . . ?" 

"Naw, give Wonder Girl the chance to walk in on us, she wants to see your indestructible ass get wrecked real bad," Slobo says with a smirk, then sticks with that straightforward approach that Kon so rightly appreciates and immediately yanks his belt open and whips his dick out right there on the couch. It is not remotely proportionate to his build, and Kon definitely means that as a compliment. 

"Oh, is that the plan here?" Kon says, as someone whose mouth just went dry and who would also admittedly like to see his indestructible ass get wrecked for once. Like, that's a thing he'd like to get to do before he dies, that's all. 

"Damn right it is," Slobo says, smirking wider at him and giving his cock a meaningful squeeze. Kon glances down at it speculatively, wondering exactly how Czarnians fuck. Said cock is currently actively rising to the occasion, and also getting increasingly disproportionate to Slobo's build. 

Like. Very increasingly. 

Damn. 

"What'dya think? Wanna come on it, bastich?" Slobo asks with a leering grin and a very unsubtle tug. Kon flicks his eyes back to his face and just eyes him. 

. . . then he eyes his dick. 

It's actually, like, a very appealing dick. It might be a little smaller than Kon's own is, he thinks, but it's definitely comparable and still plenty damn big either way, all long and thick and heavy-looking, and it's got, like . . . ridges. Bumps. Textures. Like, Bad Dragon wishes it could design such a dick. 

. . . Jesus, actually, is that a knot at the base? And–

Oh. Okay. 

"Is your dick prehensile," Kon asks, officially just staring at it. 

It waves at him. 

"Is it?" Slobo asks with a smirk. 

"Fuck," Kon says as a downright vicious stab of arousal goes through his gut, and then he very suddenly feels very weird. Slobo cocks his head, looking surprised. 

Kon looks down at himself, because again, he feels weird. "Himself" is not there to be looked at. 

Well, like, it is. Just not in very . . . "him"-type fashion. 

"Huh," Kon says to the very nice pair of tits currently sitting all cute and perky under his S-shield. He blinks in absolute bemusement, and Slobo's expression lights up hungrily. 

"Shit, you really do like me, huh," he says, letting go of himself and reaching out to put his hands around Kon's suddenly very, very narrow waist. Like . . . way too far around, actually. That's . . . an experience. Wow. "Never had Kryptonian pussy before." 

Yeah, well, you're not the only one, Kon thinks only slightly hysterically.

"You can't get knocked up 'til you go through a full cycle, right, so can I stick it in raw?" Slobo asks like this is all just perfectly normal, which admittedly for all Kon knows about Slobo's life experience and alien biology in general it could in fact be. He thinks of several thousand reasons to say no, but given both who he is as a person and also how bad he really, really wants to finally score some dick for once . . .

"Yeah," he says, then half-reflexively flicks his eyes back down to Slobo's cock and licks his lips. Slobo grins. 

"Nice," he says. 

Anyway, Kon's suit lasts about five seconds after that. Which–it doesn't fit him quite right at the moment anyway, so it's whatever. It's very weird to see tits and ass and a statistically improbable amount of curves when he looks down at himself, but it's weirder feeling Slobo's hands and mouth roaming greedily all over said statistical improbabilities as the other pushes him down against the cushions. The prick hasn't even kissed him, which: rude much? 

Not that Kon's really complaining, because if he wanted "polite" that bad he wouldn't be socializing with Slobo at all, much less his dick, and Slobo is currently making his way down his body and clearly on a mission to kiss him somewhere. 

So yeah, the "weird" feelings are very rapidly losing out to the "holy shit, do that again" feelings. 

"Holy shit, do that again," Kon says. Slobo grins sharply up at him and then Kon meets his clit and his clit meets Slobo's very eager tongue and anyway Kon now officially and intimately understands why people who've got one bitch so damn much when a partner ignores it. Like wow, does he ever. "Ohhhhh my god. Oh my god oh my god oh my god–!" 

So that's pretty distracting, for at least a couple minutes there. 

Not that Kon's brain is in any condition to be noticing the passage of time right now. 

"Frag, you're already dripping. Wanna get off on my tongue a few times or just get straight to the main attraction?" Slobo asks as he hooks his hands around Kon's currently statistically improbable and also badly shaking thighs and licks his own very slick and shiny lips. Kon remembers the sight of the guy's big fat disproportionate dick very, very vividly, then immediately spreads his thighs as far as he can without the back of the couch interfering. 

Possibly he damages said back of the couch just a little bit in the process. 

Like, just barely. 

"Main attraction," he says firmly. Slobo grins at him again. 

"Damn, rolling out the red carpet here, ain't we," he says. "Gonna make a guy feel downright appreciated like this." 

"Put your dick in me right the fuck now or I will put you through the fucking wall, asshole," Kon threatens, and of course it's Slobo, so he just grins all the wider. 

"Fraggin' flirt," he says with obvious approval. 

Then he puts his dick in him. 

Kon's vision very literally whites out at the way Slobo feels sliding into him so big and hard and big and deep and big and good and he jerks up instinctively underneath him and makes some really, really undignified noises as his body seizes up. The couch might suffer a little more damage. Kon doesn't give the slightest bit of a fuck. 

"Holy shit, did you just fraggin' come?" Slobo asks in obvious delight. 

"Shut the fuck up," Kon barely gets out past the aftershocks making his whole damn body twitch and tremble under Slobo's, and Slobo laughs and sort of . . . rolls his hips, kind of, and Kon moans. 

"Shit, you're tight," Slobo says, sounding approving again, and this time in a way that makes Kon shudder even harder than he already is. "And soaked. Feels like I just stuck it in somebody's sloppy seconds. What do you think, bastich, want the whole thing in your snatch? Think you can take it?" 

"Yes," Kon chokes desperately, and Slobo does the only gentlemanly thing that Kon has ever seen him do, which is immediately just thrust into him balls deep. 

That is definitely a knot, yeah, Kon notes. 

And definitely Slobo's dick is prehensile. 

The literal only reason that Kon doesn't fucking scream is because they're in a building full of active superheroes and god fucking forbid somebody come and "save" him right now. Like, Cassie can watch if she really is into that, but if anybody in any way tries to fucking interrupt he is gonna straight up just become a supervillain. 

Unless it's a supervillain interrupting, he guesses, in which case he's just gonna take a page out of Wonder Woman's book and give them the Maxwell Lord special. 

Either way, he emphasizes deeply with Anita and her locked doors. 

Real deeply.

#kon el #slobo #superboy #not sfw #anonymous #rinfic #wip: gender? I hardly know her!!

[thecameronchronicles]

My Best Friend, The Cam Girl

TW: Smut. Masturbation. Language. 

SUMMARY: Your best friend, Rafe, comes across your secret little Cam girl account…his reaction is more than unexpected…

WORD COUNT: 1400

*Requested*

My Best Friend, The Cam Girl

Best friends tell each other everything. Crushes, dreams, ambitions, and failures. All for that promise of their comforting words and loving embraces that may even consist of that constructive criticism that was necessary for personal growth. At least this was what Rafe thought as he pulled up his computer for the afternoon, believing somewhere in the back of his mind that he knew every detail about you. Even down to how you came fastest, despite the fact you two had never even kissed. But as he slipped his lubricated hand into his sweats, the preparation of a cam girl on the other side as a pre-recording to his fantasies, a girl chosen with your specs as you were his type to perfection, he stilled in awe at details of the similarities between the two of you. 

Down to the same red comforter he sat on that very morning as you whined about some recent grade and a lack of attention from your shared peers. He continued slow strokes of his shaft as these details continued to strike him. A specific shift of color in the tint of your hair only visible when the hair would hit it just right. The snowglobe he had given you last Christmas of New York because you had always dreamed of going there during the holidays. And finally, that scar on your shoulder that he had been somewhat responsible for after playing a bit too rough when you were younger and you'd fallen off of the jungle gym you were playing on, wearing that scar as evidence of his victorious strength against you. 

A sudden rush of guilt washed over him as he convinced himself these were all coincidences. There was no way this could be you, his best friend. And yet, a continuation of details such as this popped up around him. The hue of your curtains, the way you wore way too many hair ties on your wrist despite rarely wearing your hair up unless you were alone at night, even the sound of your breathing that had been a means of solitude for him when he'd rest on your lap when his days were in need of that comfort you allowed. 

"Mmmm..." You had moaned into the camera, his hand continuing, even quickening, as he felt guilt pulse through him. You were friends. You were so close you could almost be family. And yet, he couldn't stop his hand from those motions. So much so, that he would spray himself beneath his sheets in record time at the forbidden thoughts of you. Your moaning. Your exposed chest. And more importantly, how he could make this a reality the next day. 

"Do I have to ask you again?" He inquired as you hid your blush behind a nervous smirk before rolling your eyes. 

"How did you even find it?" 

"Doesn't matter-" He spoke quickly. 

"I thought you had that girl from the pep squad taking care of you-" 

"I don't think you should be on there..." He was protective and domineering as always, offering this behind his usual reserved hostility and blazed irises darkened from their usual light blue. 

"Why?" 

"Because only certain people should see you like that..." 

"Like you?" 

"No!" 

"Yes..." You teased, editing the space between you until you could take a deep breath and touch his chest with the tips of your breasts, perked nipples at attention at the thought of his touch. 

"Why is it any different if it’s you or someone else?" 

"Because they don't care about you..." He defended quickly as you weren't in the mood for chivalry or even romance. 

"Did you come?" 

"What?!" He moved away from you as if you'd asked a ridiculous question. 

"Did you come watching me?" 

"No I-I shut it off..." He lied, eyes shifting in either direction and evading you as you closed in on him. 

"So you didn't see that beauty mark...right here?" You asked, pulling your shorts and panties low enough to reveal what you spoke of. 

"And you didn't see me..." Pulling your fingers between your lips, you carried your digits into your mouth only withdrawing them when they dripped, as his eyes followed their descent into your panties. 

"Do this?" 

"Stop..." He was weak in tone as you chuckled. 

"Are you made because it's me? That anyone else can see it?" You moved even closer to him, "Or that you paid for something you could get for free?" He cocked his head. 

"Don't say shit you don't mean..." 

"Do I ever?" You moved to the bed, legs wide for his view, as you ran your fingers in quick strides and eventual penetration as his eyes followed your motions. 

"Rafe..." You moaned his name as his jaw clenched. 

"You know I think about you when I record myself?" His eyes darkened, his chest heaved, and his palm ran lines down his shaft in the attempts to tame its newfound ache, as he was on the tightrope of his resistance to you. Now more than ever. 

"I have a picture of us at the beach...the one where your shorts are low enough that I can just imagine how big you are...the things I'd do to you...the things I want you to do to me...and your muscles..." You shuddered, a sensitive twist of your nerves making your toes curl as you watched him in awe of you. 

"I even say your name...but I always edit it out...just in case you found me...but a part of me always wished you would..." You suddenly withdrew your fingers. 

"So what are you gonna do about it since you have?" You brought your fingers to your mouth, eyes pulling into a roll as this had been enough for him. 

He pounced without a care of what it meant for your friendship. Instead, he pawed you in the attempts to leave you naked for him. Once he succeeded, he took stock of your breasts and nipples, moaning against each one as he left them dripping and and writhing, until pulling himself freely from his pants. Your brows rose in shock to how large and thick he was, a momentary regret to initiate this as you knew how painful he would be. But before you could ask him to be gentle or second guess it, he was already inside of you. 

"Fuck!" You both moaned in unison as he moved quickly. Years of sexual tension and denial of feelings had come through each reckless peneetration as his fingers ate into your hips while he lifted you further against him. 

"You're never making another fucking video...nobody else gets to see you like this..." He demanded as you chuckled. 

"Oh really?" 

"Don't push me..." 

"But it seems to fair well for me..." You were now taken away from him. Ass lifted in the air as he penetrated once more. 

"Mine. I'll brand this ass if I have to-" He smacked yourcheek, pulling your hair as you moaned to this teasing abuse. 

"Harder!" 

He obliged. 

"I'll leave you so marked up nobody will question that you have someone-" 

"Are you my someone Rafe?" 

"I'm gonna be your fucking everything!" He called behind you, hand now to your clit as you catapulted to that edge. 

"Just like you've always been mine." 

"Yeah?" 

"Fuck. Yes." He grunted. 

"About time..." 

"Shit..." He nearly whimpered, your words that further pulled to his own release. 

"Come for me, Rafe! I can feel you so deep, I can't take it!!!" 

"Take it baby...take all of it-" He growled into your shoulder, bent over you perfectly, to hit THAT spot, before you trembled in unison to his orgasm as he brought you to your own. 

"I mean it about those videos. No more." 

"Starting now?" His eyes narrowed as you but your lip and pointed towards the laptop with a lift of your head, the computer set on record, and pointed towards your bed. 

"You recorded us?" 

"I mean you did just barge in here making demands...very sexy..." He wanted to be upset, he had every right to be. But instead, he could only scoff. As he pulled you over his lap into a straddle. 

"What do you say, we make it worth their money then?" 

Taglist: @hopebaker @iovdrew @penny4yourthoughts @magnificantmermaid @pickingviolets @lovedetlost @trikigirl271 @maybankslover @slut4starkey @slvtherinseeker @obxiskewl @obxxrxfes @bluesongbird @slut-era @ailee-celeste @rafesbae

#rafecameron x reader #outer banks #obx #drew starkey #outerbanks #rafe cameron #outer banks smut #obx fanfiction #netflix #rafe cameron smut #rafecameron #drewstarkey #rafecameronfanfiction #obxsmut

[nicosraf]

Sorry if this gets rambly, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate and admire you for turning down a traditional publishing offer to continue to write the way you want. There's a certain level of tender rawness in your works that I know would be completely stripped away by a publishing house. From the topics you write about to the way you portray queerness, it would all be soulless and devoid of any beauty if you signed it all away. I don't think I would love your work as much as I do if you didn't self-publish. From the topics you write about to the way you portray queerness, it would all be soulless and devoid of any beauty if you signed it all away. My previous experiences with reading self-published books has always been 50/50, and most of the time, I felt like they would've been better if they were polished and cleaned by a traditional publisher. In reading Angels Before Man, I've come to realize how important it is to read books outside of the "approved publisher" bubble. It feels so liberating to read something so unapologetically queer and dark and emotional. In a world where queer works feel like they're getting more and more santitized for the comfort of cishet corporate overlords, it's comforting to know that we're able to tell our stories on our own terms.

Hello!!! Thank you for saying this. I'm sorry if I also get rambly but I have a lot, a lot, of thoughts on self-publishing and the industry after I've taken some big steps away from it.

I need to make the small correction that I didn't turn down a deal itself. I was in limbo waiting for the deal and had already gotten a rejection or two on ABM getting picked up. I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to talk about but I'll try to be clear

The series of events goes: I posted ABM online in November 2022, my agent reached out to me in January, ABM immediately gets sent to a "very interested" publisher in February, then I revised the book before I sent it to other "interested/excited" publishers around March. I lasted until early August, had a meltdown, then begged my agent to tell the publishers to let go of my book so I could work on the sequel.

I'm giving context because "stripped away by a publishing house" really struck a cord with me.

Here's the thing: the publishing industry is in a downward spiral. The author dream is gone. If you sell a book, your advance is more likely to be, say, 50k instead of 100k and that 50k is going to split into 4 payments over 2 years. Publishers don't market books anymore; they just make you open up a TikTok account and tell you to dance. Editors are overworked and picking up books that either are or feel already developmentally edited and (some) are asking for blurbs from big name authors (?!) before they look at your manuscript. They want books they can line edit quickly and send to market — but it's not their fault. HarperCollins editors were on strike for an absurdly long time and have gained... well, basically nothing. Agents and editors are leaving the industry. Publishing houses are "poaching" successful indie books and stroking indie author egos to take half their royalties.

I haven't even gotten to the racism and white liberalism problem. Look at Xiran Jay Zhao having their work being held hostage by their publisher for being anti-genocide. I worry about how queerness is represented in tradbooks but maybe more deeply worry about the race problem. There were calls for diversity 10 years and they've led absolutely nowhere. "Diversity" focused imprints keep getting shut down and leaving their authors in limbo.

But about editing again — so I'm sure you've heard of this book Babel by RF Kuang. It's popular but gets critiqued for hand-holding a white audience too much. Here's the thing though — I made a similar comment to my buddy and he told me whether that's the fault of Kuang or the fault of the editor. And that made me think — how many books are critiqued for what authors may have been forced to do? Yellowface by Kuang, written after Babel, goes into a manuscript getting heavily changed to appeal to white readers. Editors say "But I'm confused" and "But it doesn't make sense to me" because your editor is themselves the inescapable, white audience. And usually the cishet audience too — the straight person sighing that your fags are too problematic in these scary political times.

So why am I saying all this?? Look, I've never thought ABM was perfect. I think it's got some mediocre lines, some things I attempted that I don't think I pulled off. I, also, got into the habit of looking at self-published books (my own included) and thinking, "Oh this needed a professional hand-holding it." Tradpub was exciting to me because I could have someone hold my hand and work on the prose with me. I wanted to make the prose better.

But so I step into tradpub and it all goes wrong. They don't know what to do with me. They suggest a revision to cut it down to a novella. I get angry and then get angrier when I'm treated like I'm being spoiled; it's not about my "vision" here. Imagine if I announced to ABM readers that I cut ABM to 80 pages for a little bit of money?? Others started implying Part 2 basically needed to go; it's too confusing, too fucked up. Part 1 was perfect. Rafael, have u considered it being more of a romantasy? Have you considered a happy ending. Have you considered Michael and Lucifer having romantic virgin sex and have you considered cutting that other part with God entirety. Have you considered whether you're just trying to shock people and maybe you need to calm down

Well, I responded to all this with "What about the readers?? I can't make any big changes. They wouldn't like that." But I saw that they didn't want my readers.

There's a publisher right now who has Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás slapped on their "type of books we want" brochure they sent to (I believe) agents. They never contacted me though. I started to see that maybe no publisher ever wanted ABM. They wanted something like ABM, the idea of ABM and the idea of rafael, the mysterious queer mexican guy. you see, the publishing dream is not dead! you too can be like rafael. you can be a nobody who gets their book picked up by Penguin Random House and Fixed to Be Good and make a hundred thousand dollars and youll get to sit at the cool kids table.

Anyway, I love to read self-published, 0 rating books. They're usually weird, full of typos sometimes, but I never care. I don't read to judge something on a merit of goodness anyway (what does that mean) but just to experience something. I love reading porn, but I'm not usually sexually tantalized but it; I just love how insane it is. And seeing someone put their whole heart in something full of typos and pacing issues and plot holes is a thousand times more fulfilling to me than reading a polished husk of 3-act structure, perfect clean characters, strong prose that was worked on by 19 people and doesn't hold the dreams/desires/flaws of anyone.

I'm really happy to self-publish. I like not having a censor and pouring my heart into something. And work! Hard work is incredibly fulfilling to me; I care more about the work I put into A&M than the product it'll end up being. But I also keep thinking of situations like Babel and I think that if my work sucks, at least it's because of me and my skill, or lack thereof. It gives me a little bit of dignity.

thank you again for the ask. i appreciate it very much.

#sorry for the ramble agh #mine #ask #publishing #self publishing

[pokememes]

I have thoughts on ttpd

And I don’t know where else to share them without my criticisms and qualms being written off as blind hatred so here goes

Quantity over quality was definitely the motto with this one. She said at one of the eras shows that this album was when she needed writing more than ever. That doesn’t however, mean that everything she wrote needed to be on this album. Part of what makes an album good is an artists ability to edit their songs into a cohesive work.

Going off of that last point: I blame the vault tracks. Swift and her team saw how much people loved the vault tracks and went overboard with the concept of “give the people more.” The vault tracks worked so well because they felt like a bonus. When the whole album feels like “vault tracks” it loses some of the allure.

The concept is pretty weak overall. The aesthetic that was used to market the album only fits about half of the songs. I was hoping for literary references beyond just name dropping various poets and artists but so far Cassandra is the closest that I can recall that actually references poetry. I’m sure there’s some connections I’m missing so please enlighten me, (my academic background is in art history, not literature).

I feel like conceptually there are at least two albums here. The first is the actual ttpd concept of poetic sad songs, and then there’s a second set of songs that feel much more modern and feel like they belong on a different album (Florida!!!, down bad, imgonnagetyouback, etc.). I wish she would’ve taken the double album concept all the way and grouped the songs into more cohesive narratives.

Imgonnagetyouback is the exact same idea as get him back! by Olivia Rodrigo. I just feel like there’s some irony there because didn’t Taylor sue Olivia for something similar (I don’t know the ins and outs of that whole situation so forgive me if I’m missing some nuance)? Not that two people can’t write about the same thing but something about these two songs in particular seems too similar. They don’t sound the same but specifically the lines “key his car… make him lunch” in Rodrigo’s and “be your wife … smash up your bike” in Swift’s are the exact same “domestic tasks/destroy vehicle” dichotomy. Idk man something isn’t quite right about the whole thing to me.

A lot of the lyrics do not fit the melodies AT ALL. so many lines feel oddly paced, either stretched out where they shouldn’t be or too many words crammed in. The melody should fit the lyrics and it’s just not happening in this album as a whole. So many of the lyrics are just too wordy and awkward. Poetry doesn’t need to be long to be good.

Some of the lyrics are just so bad that they take me out of the song. I’m sure anyone that’s read this far can think of a few instances that made them pause. Hearing the words “finance guy” in a song was absolutely jarring.

Overall I just feel like it’s a poor representation of her abilities. She’s shown that she can write better. Her other albums were better sonically. There’s just nothing about this that is phenomenal. Very few memorable songs. No standout radio hits. It’s not the worst album ever made but it’s just so mediocre.

This album was made for a specific type of fan; someone who is up to date on her personal life and will listen to find Easter eggs, someone who will buy all of the vinyls just to complete their collection, someone who will love these songs just because they are Taylor Swift songs. I think every fan can find a few songs they like but I’d be shocked if anyone could genuinely say that they enjoy every song on this album, or that they think this album is one of Taylor’s better releases.

#ttpd #taylor swift #the tortured poets department #criticism and thoughts #media criticism

[sesshy380]

Hi friend! Thank you for the lovely holiday gift offer <3

If possible, and if it's not a bit of a cop out to ask this, I'd like you to write whatever you want to write, your fave pairing and your fave prompt from the links you shared <3 <3

Keep being wonderful ^.^

There were a couple of prompts that called to me with one of my fave ships in mind…though this kinda feels like I’m just creating a gift for me lol

I decided to go with Deathshipping and ‘Finding the perfect gift’ for the prompt (because we all know Yamima would freak out about what to get Ryou for their first Christmas together). Huge shoutout to @resuri-art for helping me decide what Amir (Yamima) would get Ryou for Christmas!

(I literally just finished wrapping this up like 15 min ago and just did a once over for edits)

Amir stared at his horrid attempt to replicate the Monster World boss figure Ryou had been obsessing over for months. The closest similarities he could find between what sat before him and what it was supposed to be was that it had what appeared to be wings and too many eyes. Aside from that, the two weren’t even close.

How could he have screwed this up so badly? He’d watched Ryou create his own figures multiple times, and he’d made it look so easy.

Maybe he should have just sucked up his pride and asked Marik for the money to buy the figure. Hell, he probably could have walked into the bank and pretended to be Marik and withdrawn the amount, and Marik wouldn’t even have noticed it missing.

It wasn’t too late to do either of those things, right? This whole ‘Christmas’ thing wasn’t for another few days, and Ryou had to work every day leading up to it. That should be plenty of time to obtain the funds, run to the local shop that had the very expensive figure in its display, and get it home and wrapped. Ryou would never know that the fake monstrosity had ever existed.

Amir looked at the time. Ryou wouldn’t be home for another few hours. That would give him plenty of time to decide which route he was going to take in order to obtain the money he needed (though the idea of pretending to be Marik felt more degrading than just straight up asking for the cash).

He quickly re-hid the abomination in the far corner of one the higher shelves in the closet, then closed the door, trying to be as fast as possible so that he could at least get the money and get back home before Ryou did. He’d barely turned around, when he saw Ryou standing in the doorway of their room.

“What was that?” Ryou asked, his face expressing a sort of innocence that Amir had come to learn was more of a ‘I’m going to feign naivete to see if you’ll be honest with me’.

Shit. He’d been caught. How long had Ryou been standing there? Had he seen Amir’s horrifying attempt at a re-creation?

“Just putting away a few things, ya amar. Nothing important,” he lied…kinda. There was a small truth to what he’d said. “Aren’t you supposed to still be at work?” he asked in an attempt to deflect Ryou from further questioning what he’d been doing.

Ryou’s eyes subtly narrowed, sending a small chill up Amir’s spine. Fuck! Ryou knew he wasn’t being completely honest!

“It was a slow day, so I got to come home early,” Ryou said with a small smile that sent another chill up Amir’s spine. “Plus, it gave me the opportunity to pick up something I had commissioned a little while back. I was going to wait to give it to you on Christmas, but I can’t wait to see your reaction. Here.”

Ryou plucked a small box from his pocket and presented it to Amir.

Oh shit…Ryou was giving his Christmas present early! Did he expect Amir to give his gift early in return?!

Amir carefully took the small box, wondering what Ryou could have gotten him. He stared at it, trying to figure out what could fit inside such a small box. It looked just like one of the hundreds of small boxes Marik owned that his jewelry came in.

Amir had never been into the excessive amounts of gold Marik was into, so it was odd to think that Ryou would have gotten him jewelry in general.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Ryou asked.

Amir glanced up momentarily from the box. “Uh, yeah. Just preparing myself.” He gave a small smile. “You know how I am with surprises. Gotta be ready for it.”

He looked back down and removed the lid, everything coming to a complete standstill as his brain registered what was inside.

It was a cartouche, similar to the one that Pharaoh had been gifted. That wasn’t the part that shocked him though. It was what was written on it.

It was his name written elegantly in Arabic.

Not Marik's. His.

Amir continued to stare down at the object, awkwardly frozen with the small box in one hand and the lid in the other. As much as he hated to admit it, his time with Marik had taught him how to judge the quality and worth of jewelry from looks alone…and the white gold piece before him wasn’t something Ryou could easily afford. He had to have saved up to have this made.

Now he had to find a way to get Ryou that figure. There was definitely no way he’d ever be able to present the horror hiding in the closet.

“Based on your expression, I’m going to take it as you like it?” Ryou asked, snapping Amir out of his frozen stupor.

“Ya amar…I-...yes! I love it!” he managed to fumble out.

He quickly set aside the lid and removed the cartouche from the box. He then slipped the chain over his wild mane, letting the pendant come to a rest just below his collarbone.

He closed the space between him and Ryou, tightly embracing his partner to show him how he felt about his gift.

“Thank you hayati. I don’t have the words to say what this means to me.”

Ryou squeezed him back just as tightly.

“I’m glad you like it. And I just know I’ll love what you made for me.”

It took a moment for Ryou’s words to register in Amir’s brain.

‘...what you made for me.’

Amir was glad that the way he was holding Ryou, that Ryou couldn’t see his panicked expression.

“Made?” he asked, trying to hide the panic in his voice. “I didn’t make anything?”

He was a terrible liar, and he knew it. Whenever he attempted to lie, he either ended up pulling a ‘Marik’ and being cocky in an attempt to hide the truth, or he nervously fumbled and created a story with more holes than a block of Swiss cheese.

Ryou pulled back and gave Amir that look. The one that said he knew Amir was trying to (badly) hide something from him.

He released Amir and folded his arms across his chest, that look boring into Amir’s soul. He pointed over to the small table where tools were still strewn.

“You’ve been using my crafting tools for weeks. I know you made me something.”

Oh shit. He had planned to put all of that away after hiding the monstrosity in the closet, but Ryou’s unexpected appearance had made him forget all about it. Damn. He’d been caught. There was no point in continuing to lie.

“Ya amar, it’s no good. It doesn’t even compare to what you got for me. I was going to go out and buy you something that is worth more than my terrible attempt.”

Ryou’s gaze softened.

“Amir, it’s not about the cost of the gift. It’s the thought that went into it. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you imagine. You’re just being overly self-critical of your own work. I do it all the time. Please let me see what you made.”

Ryou was giving him those eyes. He knew Amir couldn’t refuse his request when he was looking like a sad little creature that might cry if told ‘no’.

Fuck.

Amir heaved a defeated sigh, then reluctantly retrieved the horror from the closet. He looked at it one last time, still void of paint at this point, then presented it to Ryou.

He couldn’t even look up to see Ryou’s reaction. He was already too embarrassed at being caught and having to show his failure.

Ryou’s silence after taking the horror into his own hands seemed to linger for ages, and the sound was deafening to Amir’s ears.

“Is this-...is this what I think it is?!?!”

Ryou’s surprised voice shattered the silence, startling Amir enough that he had to look at Ryou’s face.

Amir was confused. Ryou looked like the happiest person in the whole world at the moment as he gazed upon the abomination in his hands.

“This is that Monster World boss figure that I’ve been wanting, right?!?!”  Ryou asked in excitement.

Amir was speechless. He could only nod his head as an answer. Ryou actually liked what Amir had made him???

“IT’S PERFECT!!!”

Perfect??? How in the name of Ra, could Ryou think that thing was perfect?????

“Ya amar, I don’t understand? It barely resembles what it’s supposed to be. It doesn’t even have paint.”

Ryou chuckled lightly. It was obvious to Amir that there was something he wasn’t understanding, and Ryou’s little laugh meant he was about to explain it.

“I can see that it doesn’t have paint,” Ryou said with a smile. “As far as not resembling the original, that’s what I love about it! It’s a very unique, one-of-a-kind version! It may even have higher stats, making it even more powerful! I can’t wait to incorporate it into one of my campaigns!” he added excitedly.

Amir was still beyond confused, and he was certain his face showed it.

Ryou set the figure aside, then cupped Amir’s face in his hands as he gazed up into Amir’s eyes.

“You put all that work in just for me. You know I love Monster World and you knew I wanted that figure, and instead of just buying it, you decided to create one for me. The fact that you put so much thought into it is why I love it.”

He lowered a hand to the cartouche that rested on Amir’s chest.

“If I had attempted to make this myself and it came out looking terrible and the spelling was all wrong, would you love it any less?”

“Of course not, ya amar.”

It was then that Amir understood. He rested his forehead on Ryou’s and smiled.

“I would cherish it just as much, if not more.”

Ryou’s smile was always heartwarming in his opinion, but this particular smile made him feel warm all over (it reminded him of how that green guy felt towards the end of the movie they had watched the night before).

“I’m glad to hear that. You know what? Since I’m home early, why don’t you help me plan the paint scheme for this? While we’re at it, we can also discuss its stats and abilities. I’ve been wanting to incorporate a really challenging boss that will require a sound strategy to defeat. Oh! Maybe we can create a special item that without it, the boss’s stats are even higher!”

Amir couldn’t help but laugh at how excited his partner was becoming over the idea of having a legendary level boss for his campaigns.

“Calm down, ya amar. Our next game night isn’t until after the start of the new year. We’ll have plenty of time to create a difficult adversary for our friends. Let’s just start with the paint.”

Ryou nodded and rushed off to gather his painting supplies.

Amir looked over where the horror had been temporarily placed. It still looked awful to him, but now that he wasn’t stressing over it being an exact replica of the original, he found he could appreciate it better. There was a certain charm to its little imperfections, and he felt proud knowing that he had made it. Not that he was inclined to attempt something so elaborate anytime in the near future…but he felt he might try his hand at a few simpler figures. If anything, he knew Ryou would love having something else for them to do together.

Ryou returned to collect the figure.

“So, I was wondering…what if we painted the eyes on different parts of the body different colors, and because this is a legendary boss, the players have to take it down one body part at a time with eye colors indicating the type of ability it uses?”

Amir’s smile turned into a devilish grin. “I love it. I can’t wait to see our friends' horrified reactions.”

#ygo #my writing #holiday prompts #bastetwastaken #deathshipping #yami marik #yami malik #yamima #ryou bakura

[the-three-pure-souls]

Do you have any headcanons for J.D/Vandal? If so, what are they?

Thank you so much for asking about him! :D He's one of my favorites! I have a bunch of little hcs for him so I had to pick which ones I wanted to put here ^^' Sorry it took me so long to actually write them ^^' I love this silly little guy and I, uh, made them much longer than the previous ones for Stumbler and Wulf, and accidently made them depressing and also mini shortish stories for some reason ;w; Maybe I'll turn the second one into an actual fanfic one shot! ^^ Tw for the second and third one, as the second one is related to Connor. The third one, albeit the shortest is about his trauma from his time in the Studiogrounds lab. ;w; I'm still figuring out the colors I'm gonna use for Vandal and Husk, but for now I think I'll use blue for both J.D and Stumbler and I'll use orange for Husk!

Feel free to ask about my other hcs too!!! :D I don't really have very many for characters like Husk atm but I do have quite a few for some of the other characters like Rex! ^^ Now onto the boy:

J.D/Vandal

J.D doesn't actually have a name for himself, simply going by whatever people start calling him next. People start calling him 'the Studiogrounds Vandal' when he starts writing stuff on the walls around Studiogrounds to try to get the truth out there? That's his name then. Sounds pretty ominous so he's sure they won't mind him just simply shortening it to 'Vandal'! He's on the loose and people start calling him 'John Doe'? Well, he might as well have some fun with this one! It probably stems from his strange relationship with his own identity, who he is. For all his life he's been dehumanized, treated like an object, an animal.  It felt so weird to him, the first time someone used both He and It to refer to him. It may have felt weird to it..but it also felt right somehow. This got him to start thinking about things.. For so long he was simply a scientific mishap..a mistake. Some thing Broadside used to experiment on before he and his twin, Husk, split. Something which still haunts him to this day.. Maybe, though..he can almost be..a..person? He might not be a human per say, but he can act like one! Right..?  This was how he discovered he enjoys painting. Art. Both that and recording videos, editing them! Despite this though, he still has a lot of issues involving around who he is. Maybe that can change one day.

He only showed up on the island some while ago, and when I mean show up, he just..appeared. No boat. Nothing for him to have come from the water. He also acted like the island was his home. To say this freaked out the wolves is an understatement. This random..creature just showed up one day who very much acted not similar at all to any being any of the wolves had ever seen before. He walks just like the characters from the various Broadside cartoons that they have in the theater. It was uncanny. Wulf and Stumbler who had learned of Layer 3 before this had their suspicions of what he was. Though, as long as he didn't harm anyone, the wolves were alright with him staying there. That being said, they didn't really warm up to him either. J.D should be used to this! It's been alone it's whole life! ..Well..no..no, that isn't true. There once was a time..he did have someone else..and before that he had Husk, his twin! But still..even despite the pain he already is in..why does it hurt so much that Chief Wulf in particular is avoiding him too..? Why did he remind it so much..of..him..? It hurts to think of back then. It hurts. It hurts. He doesn’t want that, it doesn’t want to hurt. Back then he finally had a friend..why did Husk..? What did Husk say to him that day..? He tries not to think. Think about the body on the ground. Think about him standing on the balcony. Think about how he didn't say goodbye.. The world is a blur now, everything a blend of colors..black tar going down his face. Ha..ha..he really is the worse half, isn’t he..? No matter how much he wants too..and no matter how much he meant to it..He couldn’t save Connor..

Medical and lab supplies along with closed dark spaces that aren't the Stitchcaves bring back memories he’d rather forget. If he’s trapped in a room he can’t get out of, suddenly the room feels too tight he suddenly can't breathe and the next thing knows, he's huddled in a corner whimpering uncontrollably. He isn’t able to stop shaking when that happens. In that place they felt so much desperation and helplessness, terror and pain. He doesn't want to go there again. He would rather die than go back to that hell again.

#my posts #ooc #Asks #J.D #Vandal #Headcanons #Shipwrecked 64 #shipwrecked 64 vandal #Shipwrecked 64 headcanons #Broadside Beach #broadside beach #shipwrecked 64 #Studiogrounds #tw: death #tw: suicide #tw: grief #tw: implied suicide #tw: trauma #Spoilers #Implied suicide #grief #death #SW64 #SW64 headcanons #SW64 spoilers #sw64 #sw64 vandal #j.d #shipwrecked 64 spoilers #shipwrecked 64 j.d

[erikiara80]

One pic, two theories

Let’s do it!

EDIT: now that I believe Will is already in a trance at the end of S4, maybe it’s him who will have the vision at Rink-o-mania. But, well, we’ll see the Rink-o-mania. Of that I’m sure. The Byler-Lumax parallels continue.

Theory 1: Mike will have a vision of him and Will together. But, surprise, Will is actually Vecna  

So, this theory is similar to @connect-dots7 theory. I too noticed that in the show there are references to Labyrinth, one of my favorite movies! (the Escher posters in Mike’s and Sara’s rooms). One of the most famous scenes of that movie is the ball, when Sara and Jareth dance. I don’t think Mike will have a vision of the snowball, but of Rink-o-mania. 

The evidence, imo

-  Vecna’s shirt in Max’s vision. It’s almost identical to Will’s shirt. And we know there have been many parallels between Byler and Lumax. For example, in S2, both Mike and Lucas were Venkman, whose girlfriend is possessed by a demon. And both Will and Max have been possessed-cursed by Henry/MF. It’s also possible that in S5 Will too falls into a coma, but for different reasons... Anyway, if Mike has a vision where he thinks he’s with Will, but then realises it’s Vecna, I’m very curious to see what Vecna!Will tells him. I would like to see Noah playing Henry. He was so good when he played evil MF.

-  Pics of Noah in his season finale shirt at the Rink-o-mania. I don’t know if Noah, Finn, Charlie and Eduardo were filming other stuff and then Noah spent some time with Millie, who was filming at the Rink-o-mania. We’ll see. Imo, it just makes sense that Mike is targeted by Vecna. Or maybe it’s Will’s vision, sure. There’s that video with the actor who plays Lonnie. And Lonnie wasn’t in S4, so, either they cut his scene or they’ve already filmed stuff for S5 and Lonnie will be in a flashback or... a vision. Can’t wait.

Theory 2: differences between the cursed kids’ connection to Vecna and Will’s connection to the MF/Vecna

Just some thoughts. In S4, we see that the kids Vecna cursed have visions, nightmares, headache, and their nose bleed. But Max can never feel Vecna’s thoughts or even his presence. It’s always Vecna who starts the connection. For example, in the hug scene, when she thinks she’s hugging her mom, she doesn’t know it’s Vecna until he speaks. Or when she thinks she’s talking with Lucas. And when she was in Vecna’s mindspace, yes, she said she felt that he didn’t want her there, but he basically said it. Something like, what do you do here? Or you shouldn’t be here.

But the connection Will has with the MF/Vecna is different. Even before the possession, in 2x01, when he just sees the storm, Will knows it’s evil and wants to kill, not him, everyone else. Very specific. He felt that thought. Like all the other times. In the sauna he knew the MF was activated. In the cabin he knew the MF knew they were there. And then the couch scene in 4x09, when he said that from the the moment they arrived in Hawkins he has been feeling Henry’s (MF’s?) thoughts. He feels that he’s hurt and angry and wants to take everything and everyone and will never stop. I doubt Henry/MF is communicating with him. He’s just in pain. And Will can feel it. 

So, Will could feel the MF even before he was actually possessed. And still feels Henry/MF after they disconnected him from the hive mind. And he was disconnected or he would’ve died at the end of S2, like the demodogs.

That connection is deep and probably the MF and Henry don’t even know about it. But when they finally realise he can feel them, Will will be a target again.

#byler #will byers #henry creel #max mayfield #st s5 theory #st s5 #the mind flayer #stranger things theory #stranger things

[teecupangel]

Seen the Ark Survival Evolved posts, what if Desmond was a rock drake in altair's time? Perhaps guarding the apple?

I think this could be very similar with the Desmond as a dragon AU

Edit: For anyone interested in the Ark Survival Evolved AU, here's the tag.

So we’ll focus this one to be more specifically tailored for a rock drake as they are portrayed in Ark.

Have a little short fic!

=====================

Altaïr could feel Robert overpowering him and could not help but grit his teeth at such a blatant display of weakness.

He could not even stop Robert as he threw him across the room, his back hitting something rough and…

It felt like scales.

That didn’t make sense.

From the way the Al-Sayf brothers and all the Templars were looking at him with wide eyes-

No.

Behind him.

He was sure now.

His back felt warm.

He slightly turned his head to look behind him and froze when, right before his eyes, what was meant to be an empty space between him and the barely propped up exit…

A-

“It’s a dragon!”

Is it right to call it a dragon?

It certainly looked very similar to how they were described in the many books Altaïr had read back in the Master’s grand library in Masyaf.

Reptilian features but too large to be called a lizard…

Golden scales that shimmer against the light of the torches…

Yet, this up close, Altaïr could see the white-gold lines glowing softly underneath the scales, lines that seemed to make up some kind of pattern that he could not fully see.

The same white-gold made the crown on its head and the feathers that composed its wings glow. Altaïr fully turned to look at the large reptilian creature of legends and stories, golden eyes widening when it turned to stare at him.

With the same golden eyes that Altaïr was so used to seeing whenever he sees his reflection.

Altaïr took a step back and it looked behind Altaïr. For a brief moment, fear grasped Altaïr’s heart as he feared that it would turn its ire on Malik and Kadar who were still standing behind him.

Then it…

Looked at the treasure that their master ordered them to retrieve.

Before it looked back at Altaïr once more.

Altaïr could see the intelligence in his eyes before it closed them, could see the deep thought it was currently harboring by the way it tilted its head in an almost reptilian version of how Altaïr would sometimes tilt his own head.

“Surround it! Take it down but don’t kill it!”

He heard Robert shout, could barely hear Malik shout his name as he grabbed Kadar…

That was when it opened its eerie familiar golden eyes and turned to look at Altaïr once more.

Before slamming its body against Altaïr hard enough that he toppled forward.

Falling onto its back.

He felt it move, could feel himself slipping and he instinctively gripped the strong scales on its back.

The creature was quick and it could either fly or glide, Altaïr wasn’t sure, but it jumped so high Altaïr let out a surprised shout that echoed all around the room, easily drowned by Robert’s orders and Malik and Kadar screaming his name in panic.

He found purchase and managed to balance himself by straddling the creatures and bending his body closer, gripping the scales on its neck. His eyes widened as it just…

Gobbled up the treasure…

Destroying the altar it had been and the wall behind it.

Its head seemed to be harder than it looked and Altaïr was right as it could used its wings to fly (or perhaps glide?) upward…

The voices behind them became quiet noise…

As Altaïr sees the beautiful sky of Jerusalem…

=====================

Btw, my childhood friend got me playing Century Age of Ashes… ssssoooooo does anyone want an idea for an Assassin’s Creed dragon riders AU? XD

#desmond is a drake #desmond is a rock drake #yup we ended it there #i swear desmond is a drake #but people are mistaking him for a dragon at the moment #i guess desmond technically kidnapped altaïr? #sorta #idk anymore #ask and answer #assassin's creed #altaïr ibn la'ahad #desmond miles #fic idea: assassin's creed #teecup writes/has a plot #to be more specific

[mx-piggy]

Time for my weekly Futurama review! Definitely a mixed bag with this one but all-in-all I didn't hate it. Spoilers ahead!! (Also, I talk a bit about next week's episode, Zapp Gets Cancelled, at the end, because I felt like writing about that over this episode) I'm really curious to see if I'm the only one who didn't like this episode, so feel free to let me know how you felt about this episode.

So, this episode is probably my least favourite so far. It did have things that I appreciated and that made me chuckle, but as a whole I just didn't find it overly entertaining or engaging, as someone who never really found all that Covid/pandemic/lockdown/etc. very funny. If this episode had come out a couple of years ago, it might have felt less tired. I know that Covid is very much still a thing, but this episode really feels late. Probably the best thing I can say about this episode was that it didn't say anything disagreeable? Though, I'll be honest, it barely held my attention.

My main problem with this episode was that it felt really unfocused and like it didn't really know what it wanted to do beyond 'Covid episode'. The only storyline that went anywhere was Hermes', and I was really happy that Hermes got a lot of focus this episode because he's really under-utilised as a character. But, and maybe this is just me being kinda stupid, but I don't feel like it really fit with the rest of the episode? Maybe it was some kind of commentary I just didn't understand, but I just don't get why voodoo was the right cure for the virus. 'Zombie virus' just didn't feel like it fit with the explovid virus. So, the whole episode just felt kind of confusing on what it was going for (other than 'Covid episode) because the only continuous storyline that went anywhere was Hermes', which was sort of fun but at the same time it feels so out-of-place with the rest of the episode that the concept just fell flat for me. If I'm missing something, please explain it to me in the comments.

EDIT: I also really wasn’t a fan of the whole LaBarbara still cheating on Hermes thing.

EDIT: I did like parts of the Fry and Leela subplot too.

I just think having an episode centred just on a virus was kind of a tired and dull idea. I thought it was a clever idea to have the Omicronians creating division by spreading misinformation and using this to invade, but that storyline went nowhere either, and was obviously just there so they could make an Omicron joke. It could have been a cool idea for the main plot of the episode, but I knew it couldn't go anywhere because they didn't introduce it until they were fifteen minutes in.

This is probably the trickiest review I've written so far because this episode felt like a whole lot of nothing to me. There were so many plot points that just didn't connect, and I've forgotten a lot of things that happened in this episode as a result. It felt more like moments of social commentary and like they had nothing interesting to say about Covid or the pandemic era (I feel weird calling it that, but I can't think of what else to call it). I had similar frustrations with the Impossible Stream for having nothing new or interesting to say about streaming services. But, at the very least, the Impossible Stream had a relatively cohesive story, really funny jokes and an attempt at a sci-fi premise with the streaming suit thing.

I think the best thing they could have done with Rage Against the Vaccine was if they went all-in with either the Omicronian invasion story, or if they made it feel more natural to draw the 'zombie virus' conclusion. Or, they could have done a mutant-related story. Or, just something more focused that didn't make the episode feel like a series of scenes that made two years too late social commentary. Point is, I think they still could have done a 'Covid episode' with a far more interesting premise and an engaging plot, rather than 10 minutes of Hermes in New New Orleans and 12 minutes of barely connected scenes.

The closest episode this can be compared to is Cold Warriors, which I really like. The premise felt really interesting and since it came out a decade before the pandemic it wasn't trying to be topical. It was trying to be an interesting sci-fi premise, whilst also having a nice subplot. This episode fails spectacularly at delivering an interesting story, because it barely has a story.

I also think it can be compared to Related to Items You've Viewed, which was 'topical' in that it looked at Amazon, its mistreatment of its workers, and how inescapable Amazon feels in this day and age. It's not a perfect episode, but it did have a lot going for it outside of the pretty solid Amazon commentary that was delivered with far more subtlety than this episode, that being a genuinely interesting exploration of Fry, Leela and Bender's new dynamic. The episode would have been far worse if it had just been 22 minutes of Amazon jokes.

There were some things I liked in Rage Against the Vaccine. I did actually find the sight gag of everyone wearing their masks wrong kind of funny and clever. Again, I really liked Hermes' storyline because it felt far more interesting than anything else in the episode (plus, it's Hermes, c'mon). I thought it was fun to see the Merpeople of Atlanta again. And I liked the Angry Dome.

I really didn't have high hopes for this episode, but I was still pretty disappointed with it, especially since last week's episode was my favourite of the season so far.

I'm hoping Zapp Gets Cancelled will be better than Rage Against the Vaccine, and I'm hoping that this will be a 'topical' episode like Related to Items You've Viewed, where it's not just untimely, repetitive social commentary that has all the subtlety of a baseball bat to the skull. It seems like the episode will give Leela some focus, with her replacing Zapp as captain of the Nimbus. I'm praying that the plot isn't 'Leela gets borderline sexually harassed by Zapp again, so Zapp gets cancelled and Leela gets to take over his job because she was the one who got harassed by him', because I don't like the connotations of that storyline (that being women who speak out against mistreatment are invariably rewarded). Zapp's usually a really funny character even in minor roles, so I'm hoping that this episode will be strong humour-wise.

#episode: rage against the vaccine #futurama #hulurama #futurama spoilers

[focsle]

Deep Lore (lol it’s not that deep but) about Lacrimore is….it’s about an epidemic, and so much of how I wrote about said epidemic and how it was handled was inspired by the yellow fever and smallpox epidemics in NYC in the 19th century. Lacrimore is basically a gothic fantasy version of Roosevelt Island (and so many islands over history that were used for similar purposes). Part of the reason it’s also a fantasy is I never wanted to take a specific real world tragedy to write a book about how history can scar a site. It felt almost exploitative. I wanted to use historical trends of where I saw this happening to build my own narrative and world, that would reflect these histories but wouldn’t have a direct line to a real historical moment.

And then the book was in the middle of its final edits in March of 2020 when I was living in one of the global epicenters of covid. It pulled the entire rug out from under me in a really weird way. There were some small bits I rewrote or pulled because suddenly it felt way too close and pointed and real. For a time I didn’t even know if I was going to publish it, because I was so worried about people either thinking I was capitalizing on something horrible, or that it’d just be too close for people to read at that time.

I talked to my editor about it (while also apologizing profusely about them having to suddenly read it and work on it while everything was happening and being like ‘um u can take a long break if you need it none of us know what’s going on…). And they understood my concerns, but ultimately felt that the book, being set in the wake of an epidemic, touched on things that some people might find helpful or resonant, rather than any idea of me sensationalizing something tragic we were all currently living through.

But man was it published in a weird time. It’s partly why I didn’t query, why I just self pub’d cos I was like ‘ugh god I feel so weird but I spent a couple years on this so I’m pushing it out into this most uncertain world!’

I’m glad people like it tho…

#lacrimore

[wifelinkmtg]

Cruel Angel’s Thesis intensifies

Technically, it’s “Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty” and not “Neon Dynasty Kamigawa” but only the latter facilitates “get in the robot, Shinji” jokes when you tap your pilot token to crew your Thundersteel Colossus, so. Anyway, none of the mecha cards are relevant to this project - it would have been too much to hope for a POWER DoLLS situation - so really, the moral of the story is that I should have saved the Samurai Jack title joke for this edition.

TODAY ON WIFELINK: GUSHING ABOUT CYBERPUNK FANTASY JAPAN

NDK was a great set, you have to understand. Do you remember how one of the few unequivocally good things about Legend of Korra was this project of imagining a 1920s industrial setting derived from (mostly) East Asian art and architecture? Yeah, similar story here. Just one example: the Imperial mecha look like someone did origami to sheet metal, which is super cool and lends their faction a distinct visual identity. The art in this set is gorgeous - soaring architecture, grungy neon alleyways, sick cyborgs, spirits (in the original Kamigawa block, spirits had some of the weirdest creature designs Magic had ever had, and this continues that legacy) - sagas! saga art is in-universe visual representation of a story that’s important to the people of the world, and NDK sagas are told on ornamental fans, wall scrolls, porcelain jugs, the carved hilt of a katana, a silk dress, in a leaf carving and vector graphics AND, the best saga art ever, on the back of a biker rat’s leather jacket. (I would be remiss at this point not to recommend Rhystic Studies’ extremely good video on sagas.)

And the mechanics! Sagas turn into creatures when the story is over, sort of living memories. Ninjutsu made a triumphant return, the channel mechanic multiplied interesting choices, and so did the reconfigure mechanic, which let you either use a mechanical centipede as a whip attached to one of your creatures, or let it operate autonomously as a creature in its own right (which led to one of the best type lines in MtG: “Legendary Artifact Creature - Equipment Jellyfish.”)

The draft environment - and I know I’m way off-topic here, but I’m about to say some mildly unkind things about this set and I need to preface it - the draft environment was the best I’ve ever encountered. There were so many different viable archetypes, so many different cool choices you could make during drafts and gameplay. The blue-black ninjas deck, fast red-black artifact sacrifice, recursive green-white enchantments - all felt powerful and fun. The whole set was flavorful and compelling, and there are not that many good wifelink hits, I’m sorry to say.

THE QUALITY OF A MAGIC THE GATHERING SET IN TERMS OF THIS PROJECT IS NOT AN IMPORTANT INDICATOR OF OVERALL SET QUALITY

Heiko Yamazaki, the General (art by Magali Villeneuve)

Heiko makes it where her cousin Norika (also by Villeneuve) doesn’t for two reasons: one is that I find Heiko’s broody expression indicative of a rich and stormy internal life, which always hits me like the smoky scent of a fine scotch or a cup of lapsang souchong. A woman with inner turmoil draws me like a moth to a bug-zapper, which I suppose is why I keep getting into trouble with older women in troubled relationships. “If I simply provide enough unpaid therapy, she’ll leave her abusive husband back in [REDACTED FORMER SOVIET REPUBLIC] & also the closet she’s been in for forty-five years & stay in the United States with me!” Yeah, that’ll happen, idiot.

The other reason is that Norika is a cop.

Tamiyo, Compleated Sage (art by Chris Rahn)

There are a lot of planeswalkers I don’t care about, personally, and I’m not only talking about the male ones. If I’m being honest, my engagement with Magic story has always been kind of shallow on account of Magic story is frequently (but not always!) bad. Like, pursuant to the previous entry, I did enjoy the apparently-uncredited story about the Yamazakis Wizards published back in February. It’s compelling! There’s juice to that relationship. We will never get anything else about these characters.

See, it turns out that the incentives of creating a collectible card game are not terribly aligned with those of creating rich long-form fantasy stories. Novelty sells cards. We hop around. Those few characters who do enjoy a prolonged spotlight often wilt under the attention as we all collectively get sick to death of the fucking Gatewatch or whoever else. Magic the Gathering is still compelling media, or else why would I be doing this, but to me it’s a kaleidoscopic whirl of mostly detached ideas, characters, settings, and vibes.

ALL OF WHICH IS TO SAY that I never knew much or cared to about Tamiyo. She was some nerd from Kamigawa who didn’t save Avacyn, whatever. Then the Phyrexians got her and turned her into an ichor-weeping cyborg brainwashed into working toward the universal expansion of New Phyrexia, a biomechanical plane of horror, corruption, and ego death, so now she’s hot!

Go-Shintai of Hidden Cruelty (art by Johannes Voss)

I don’t think I can explain this one, to be honest. Sometimes you just wanna get fucked up by a magical bone machine.

I KNOW THIS ONE HAS BEEN REALLY TALKY ALREADY BUT I GOT SOME BEHIND-THE-SCENES STUFF TO SAY AND A SET WITH ONLY THREE HITS SEEMS AS GOOD A PLACE AS ANY

Well, only three hits that I can find high-quality images of for. I suppose I could be using card rips of Tia Masic’s Moon-Circuit Hacker (reminiscent of my introduction to cyberpunk via Shadowrun, a bad setting paired with a bad system which nevertheless compelled me to consume more cyberpunk, most of it also bad) or Wisnu Tan’s Spring-Leaf Avenger (a delightful vaguely-orchid-mantis bug ninja) but that would look like

and

...oh wait that actually looks fine, at least to me on desktop. Okay, then, I’ll incorporate those into my strategy as an acceptable last resort going forward. Actually, while I’m at it:

Junji, the Midnight Sky (art by Chase Stone)

The dragon’s hot, man, I don’t know what to tell you.

THE OTHER THING IS ABOUT WHAT WE WILL GENEROUSLY CALL AN “UPDATE SCHEDULE”

Phyrexia: All Will Be One releases the second week in February and I am goddamn well going to review that as soon as it’s out, because I played Cyberqueen at the young and impressionable age of twenty-two and now “quasi-omnipotent dominatrix corrupts you into a biomechanical horror ecstatically enslaved to her will” is the hottest thing I will ever get out of Magic: the Gathering unless Ashiok decides to start force-femming planeswalkers, so I am going to be tearing through one set a week for the next three weeks.

Next time is New Capenna, the Art Deco Metropolis of organized crime, bad draft experiences, and well-muscled arms, followed by a return to Dominaria where my excitement for more Phyrexians will be tempered by the fact that my favorite characters from the last Dominaria set are not quite so hot this time round.

#there's an argument to be made that i should more substantially edit these after writing them instead of continuing to discover #what the structure of the post is as i'm writing it and then leaving it as-is #there's also an argument to be made that i should have fewer tangents digressions parentheticals for overall readability #but i'm not going to do either of those things :) #anyway did you know that there are zero hits for forced feminization in the mtg tag on AO3 #personally i think ashiok should start with teyo and move on from there but i am open to suggestions

[gillianthecat]

I'd love to read your opinion on seanwhite, danyok, toddblack and gramblack tbh

Oooh, thanks for this question anon.  I have so many thoughts about Not Me and no idea where to begin, so this provides a great entry point to start writing.   

SeanWhite is the easiest one: I really liked them.  I liked the pace of very slow burn and then a fairly quick switch into unwavering support and domesticity.  That kind of pacing wouldn’t always work for me, but it fit these characters and this show.  Although the show was unequivocally a BL, it was also many other things, so I wasn’t primarily looking at it as a romance story.  

This got kinda long, so the rest is under a cut.

I think the actors had great chemistry together.  And I like that they seemed like actual enemies until they weren’t.  I love how in The Eclipse Akk and Ayan keep giving each other long lingering looks while they’re “enemies,” but I’m glad that Sean and White didn’t do that.  They behaved like antagonists until they stopped.  Sean genuinely hated the person he thought was Black, and acted that way, until he stopped.  And I could see that White was intrigued by Sean, and probably attracted to him, but he was keeping his distance and mostly he was confused and trying to solve the mystery.

Probably my favorite scene with them was the one in Black’s bedroom – the first time they start to really be vulnerable with each other.  I can’t remember all the details anymore, but it had such a feeling of intimacy and warmth.  Similar to their sex scene in the tent, actually.  The way it was filmed and edited, with tight close-ups and shots through the netting on the tent. I love the way they asked each other what they liked, that was very sexy. There were so many details about their interactions that felt real and specific to them as characters.

Oh, and the scene under the rainbow flag!! That was amazing, not just because of them, but I loved their interaction there - the freedom and joy in White’s body, the way they saw each other on opposite sides, the way we could see Sean… not falling in love yet.. but maybe beginning to see “Black” as the person White actually was.  (Oh! It was Sean’s fanfic oh moment.) 

I guess I’m mostly writing about moments with them.  But overall I just felt good about them as a couple.  It seemed like they were people who loved each other and supported each other and would continue to support each other.  There’s a lot to say about the way White kept lying about his identity, probably past the point where he should, and how he pulled away from Sean when Black asked him to.  And how they started in violence.  But those rough parts don’t really ruin my feeling that they’re just good together.  

GramBlack:  I get why people ship them, based on that card in Gram’s room, but I don’t see any textual evidence for it.  Gram turned out to be only interested in Eugene, and I honestly have no idea of what Black thought about most things, but I didn’t see anything to indicate he was interested in Gram.  He seemed pretty dismissive of him in the few interactions we saw.  I didn’t really get the sense from either of them that they were attracted to or romantically interested in each other.  

I imagine that there could be a lot of amazing fanfic written about them anyway! But since I’m not going to get into the fanfic for this show, I see them as very non romantic. 

I am curious about what their relationship actually was though. Because the way that Gram treated White-pretending-to-be-Black was very friendly and helpful, indicating that they’d been close friends, and that they worked together regularly.  But when Black showed up, he all but ignored Gram.  Was he changed by nearly being murdered?  Or was he always like that with Gram?

ToddBlack.  Black and Todd are very intriguing, in part because they are in the background most of the time, but they are also the ones who are responsible for initiating everything that happened.  

I think the Not Me world felt too real for me to ship such a toxic relationship, if we are talking about ToddBlack as a romantic relationship.  They have fundamental moral and ideological differences, and have hurt each other so much, so it would never make sense for them to be together.  Maybe they used to be boyfriends or fuckbuddies, before Black got radicalized.  Maybe they had hot and/or miserable hate sex with each other after Black returned from the near dead. But I can’t see them in a relationship now, even without Todd being in a coma.  And even ignoring the fact that they each beat the other so severely they ended up in a coma.  In something like KinnPorsche I could imagine a relationship coming out of that, but not in Not Me.  

If we’re not talking about romance, then I’m fascinated by Todd and Black’s relationship.  I’m fascinated by Black in general – how did he become the person he is today?  How did his radicalization happen?  How did he change from the rich kid, judge’s son, friends with Todd, to an anarchist(?) leading missions to destroy property and ready to fuck shit up?  What even are his political beliefs?  Does he have an ideology?

I really want to know their history together.  From what I can tell, they used to be very close friends, and ideologically aligned.  It seemed like they had dreams and plans to fight Tawi (which is this show’s lightly veiled stand-in for the authoritarian Thai government) together.  But then somehow their ideologies shifted in opposite directions - Black got radicalized and Todd started to believe that he could play god with his money.  And now they’re in this twisted mess of hate and love and old affection and deep ideological conflict.  And it seems like Black sees the chasm between them for what it is, and hates Todd for what he’s become, only slightly tempered by the old love.  While Todd genuinely thinks they can repair things, that he hasn’t become the enemy, and it seems like his love is stronger than his hate.

But what kind of love they had, I couldn’t tell.  Was it romantic? Friendship? Comrades?  It seems like it was intense, whatever it was, to produce the shards that we see.  I have so many questions about them.  What were their dreams? When did things start to go wrong between them? Why did Todd attack Black to begin with? Was it all a plot to infiltrate his crew?  Was it in anger?   (Maybe some of these were answered in the series, I haven’t rewatched to check.)

DanYok.  Oh DanYok.  Honestly I kinda just shut my mind down to them at the gallery reunion scene and tried not to think about them because I was feeling so upset about it.  But there is a lot of stuff surrounding them that is worth thinking about, so I will open my mind back up.

Starting at the beginning.  They were adorable.  As much as rescuing someone from a fire you started yourself can be called “cute,” I loved their meetcute.  And Yok’s fascination with UNAR, his hunt to find him, all of that.  The kidnapping was maybe a little silly, but I loved that whole scene at Dan’s art studio hideout.  Yok’s flirting (oh my), Dan’s distrust turned to shyness. And everything about Yok drawing Dan was so powerful.

Their whole relationship I was kind of on the edge, wanting to trust him, but not sure that I should.  So when he appeared in the hospital with the other cops, I was both shocked and not.  But I ached for Yok at that betrayal.  And even his last minute switch to helping them escape… it didn’t redeem him for me yet.

Frankly, I was hoping that Dan would just disappear from Yok’s life, and their goodbye at the hospital would be the last time they saw each other.  I really did not want to see Yok welcome him back.  I want nothing but happiness for Yok, and seeing Dan again clearly made him happy, but my visceral reaction is that I’ve completely lost trust in Dan and want him far away from Yok.

HOWEVER.  This brings up important questions about redemption and responsibility and change.  And Dan quit his job as a cop, so the show was not asking us (and Yok) to accept him as the same person.  And of course he was blackmailed into betraying Yok and his crew. (Assuming I understood that scene correctly, but I’m pretty sure that rich guy threatened Dan’s family.)  So it’s not that I think he’s irredeemable.  I guess I also don’t trust him because he clung to being a cop for so long.  Which I think was intentional on the part of Nuchy et al. – my read is that they wanted to interrogate the question of the role of the police in society.  And they did that through him.  Which I guess would mean that their answer is: cops cannot do good while they’re cops.  The system will force them to betray the people. Dan was full of good intentions but in the end he was on the state’s Tawi’s side in the final confrontation.  It is only after he quit that he was allowed to approach Yok again.

So redemption.  Of course I have to believe people can and do change.  I think I just struggle with the idea of redeeming a police officer, especially after the barrage of US American copaganda media that wants us to feel sorry for the poor cops who are at war with the criminals and forced to make difficult decisions and kill.  BUT. That is not actually what Not Me is doing with Dan, and if I let go of that imported baggage, I can have hope for a future for Yok and Dan together.  It’s just the beginning of their story, so we don’t get to see him change, but I do believe it’s possible.

So you asked me about relationships and half the words I wrote were about politics.  I guess for me in this show they are intimately twined.  I hope that this makes sense and at least sort of answered your question, anon.  Thanks for this ask!  It’s helped me work through a lot of the swirling thoughts I have about Not Me.

#not me #not me the series #seanwhite #danyok #toddblack #gramblack #asks answered #my ramblings #this feels like i splatted out a bunch of disconnected thoughts #and there's so much more i could say about them all #but its tumblr so its ok #anon asks