#I don’t really polar post on here but I quite like this!

[buildoblivion]

i’m reading worst journey in the world again and I can’t get enough of these little dudes

[cozycottagetarot]

Random Things About Your Person

From Elle: Pulled This One From The Drafts... wasn't going to post it but maybe there's something useful in it for someone. It's a chill one ✌️

Notes:

Definition of 'Your Person': At this point, I'm not sure how I personally define 'Your Person', so I guess I'm leaving that up to you're interpretation. For now, let's just say someone you'll have an impactful connection with.

Reading Layout: This reading is done in a brain-dump style where the info is just bullet as it came to me and less organised.

Dividers From X

Reading Masterlist | Patreon | Paid Readings -- Open 🥂

PILE 1

This person is such a loving and nurturing person… they could even help heal your inner child. If you want kids then this will transfer over to how they parent and it's very heartwarming.

They give off ethereal vibes. Very in tune with their intuition or have a strong sense of knowing

They could be your 'perfect match'

Someone you 'grow old' with or could envision yourself 'growing old' with

They could have a diverse friend group or their friend group is very important to them.

Night and the moon could be super important. They could be born at night, you meet at night or you communicate with them through your dreams.

They’re very abundant. Regardless of how much money they make, they just have such a rich life that you can see they are without want.

They’re very calming. They could calm your nervous system.

You’re going to have a very passionate/intimate relationship

There could be a 1-3 year age difference between you two (this is more so if you're interested in age differences... I don't why but I ended up reading those here)

They’re trustworthy and reliable

A very strong, gentle and protective person

PILE 2

Could live by the water or be very emotional.

They’re your heart, your everything. It might be hard to deny your attraction to them… but not physically. More so like a knowing once you meet this person that they play a significant role in your story

'Lionheart'... Regal energy

Lots to learn from them... So much that I actually wrote it twice lol

Kind of exotic… very beautiful

They don’t bark, they bite

They're someone who makes things happen

Very quiet…. It makes me think of something that I saw that goes along the lines of "You're harmless, not peaceful. If you’re peaceful you’re capable of great violence" or something like that. This is not meant to say that they're this aggressive/violent person. I feel like it's quite the opposite really.

I kept seeing this image of coming across a wounded animal, a wolf to be exact. You can see they've been in a fight/injured and are on guard. They're not going to hurt you but you can see that they are alert and will attack if you show you mean harm. A case of survival...

I feel like they hold the key to your happiness in a way

Something angelic about them… it could be their mind too

3 to a 8 year age difference (this is more so if you're interested in age differences… I don't why but I ended up reading those here)

An unexpected meeting

Beauty in darkness. Easily stressed or anxious. It feels very tense compared to pile/group 1

They’ve overcome a lot… flexible at a cost

One of you is further ahead in life than the other

Protective of their energy. Loyal, ambitious.

Overstimulated frequently or easily

PILE 3

They may be big on naps. Like napping together is their love language

They may be a little weird

Grumpy x sunshine vibes

Whimsy or connected to their inner child, youthful vibe

Very calm and peaceful

You two could be polar opposites but you work well together.

Their appearance can change a lot... I think more so through them willingly changing it. Really, don't be alarmed if you come home and they look completely different. I feel like they're mischievous and would get a kick out of your reaction

You could have a 2-6 year age difference (this is more so if you're interested in age differences… I don't why but I ended up reading those here)

They've managed to maintain a positive disposition despite the hardships they've faced

They could give off a met you in a past life vibe

Either good at helping you relax or they easily get stressed out but then can just as easily relax themself

Could be very creative or artistic... muse energy

Could like to take their space/time alone.... but could get lost in their head if not careful.

"Living in alignment" could be important to them... they may have a set of personal values or principles they really like to adhere to.

[arliedraws]

I've seen your posts about AI. I also know it's a pretty polarizing topic and what the majority opinion is, especially in regards to art and writing. And being an artist myself, I totally agree that it sucks, like you have to pay attention and all, but.... I hardly dare to say this because I know how emotional the discourse around AI is, especially on a platform like tumblr, which sometimes seems so strong that I don't participate in a discussion about this topic at all because I feel like people here would hound me for it, but I still use different AI software, but not in the way that I use it to create something that I can publish and pretend that I spent hours creating it myself. I think it can be really helpful.

If I need information about something quickly, it's more efficient than spending a lot of time searching different websites for a particular piece of information.

I also like to think of it as a group member when I'm working on projects. That doesn't mean that I get the ideas from it and then just copy them. In the same way that group work is beneficial, you pass the ball to each other with the AI and exchange ideas that you can then develop further. Or it can help you if you're looking for another word to describe something better, like a dictionary. And I still know how to use real dictionaries or do proper research, because I know that AI can make mistakes and you shouldn't believe everything. Just like it is with information from the internet in general. Anyway, now I come to the actual “confession”, which is that I also use it, not to let the AI create the art, but as a tool to help myself creating it. I usually use reference images for drawings to help me get the scene itself or the anatomy correct etc. Andy capture it properly. But sometimes I have a very specific scene in mind and can't find a suitable reference, and it can take me hours to find something that fits. So I like to use AI to create that reference for me, because unfortunately I don't have people modeling for me and personally it helps me extremely to have examples to work from.

Idk where exactly I'm going with this. But since the general opinion on generative ai seems very clear here, I wanted to finally get this off my chest because I always kept my moth shut being afraid of how others might react, even though I think that my methods are still quite legitimate, as I still do the real work myself. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your opinion.

Ahhhh okay, well, thanks for the vulnerability here.

You know my opinion on AI. I’m not going to tell you you’re a terrible person or anything for using it, but I’m also not going to justify your personal decisions. Instead, I invite you to change your perspective.

My opinion is this—and it’s more of a question: why are you creating the art? I’m going to hit a few of your main points and just pose questions because I think this gets to be more philosophical than a cut-and-dry “if you use AI, you are a bad guy.” Because I don’t think that—I also don’t think you should use it.

The reason I don’t blame people for being attracted to using AI is because as human beings, we’re designed to find the most efficient way to do things. Thinking and using creativity is a huge caloric expenditure. Right? Naturally, we’re attracted to ways that things can be done FOR us and reduce our cognitive load. Your brain is working as it was designed! But this is also a really cool way to take away your voice and mold you into someone who cannot think for themself.

(This is also what you’re doing by ���confessing” to me. You’re unloading your cognitive/emotional burden so you can keep on doing the thing you know is probably a bit shady.)

First of all, I don’t know you, so I don’t know what your art training is. However, you need to train your brain to start coming up with stuff on your own. I am really sorry, but I don’t buy the “I don’t have enough references.” When there are free resources like Unsplash.com and even just looking at buildings around you, the furniture in your house, etc, you DO have the references. But you need to learn how to use them. This is a tool.

Second thing, if the reference isn’t exactly what you need, then you need to start learning volume and shapes. You need to study anatomy. Eventually, you will be able to look at a reference and understand how perspective works and be able to transform a reference in your head to what you need. OR - start combining references. If I’m doing a full scene, I probably have about 5-6 reference photos I’m working from. This is a tool.

Third, start taking photos of yourself for reference images. If you can’t find what you need, do that. I periodically have to go into my camera roll to delete the god-awful reference poses for myself. This is a tool.

Fourth, start a collection of things that “strike you.” Start a reference blog. Have a folder filled with images that intrigue you. Personally, I take an insane number of photos when I’m traveling. For example, I went to a mansion for a tour and took photos of all the early 20th century objects and rooms so I would have these in my arsenal. This is a tool.

My fundamental question is this—why are you having an algorithm create what’s in your head for you? Why not learn how to do these things instead? Your imagination is so cool. The process of creating is making happy mistakes. What do you think Bob Ross would say to you? When you use AI, you’re just copying. The imaginative part has been done for you. You’re just a tool of the robot.

We do so much to avoid frustration, but frustration is the part of creating. When we can see the skills we need to learn, that’s how we know we’re improving. It means you’re trying, and when you press through that discomfort, that’s when you grow. Stop seeing this as a block to your end goal but as an opportunity to continue your infinite journey as an artist. Celebrate that there are so many beautiful things to learn.

Additionally, please don’t see AI as a group project. A group project indicates that all parties involved consent to participate, and I know most artists do not want their art to be used in this way. Imagine if you learned to do all the things I’ve described above and taken time/years/frustration/love to develop these skills, and someone years later then took your work and said “It’s okay - we ALL contributed to this.” It’s just not true.

The artists you see online don’t simply sit down and draw a bunch of cool stuff without practice. I watch Youtube videos of professionals. I draw a gazillion sketches of just MOUTHS or hands so I can create my own references in my mind. Why would you deprive yourself of this?

Look, I think it comes down to this: if you’re looking for efficiency and ‘getting it done’ quickly, then why are you doing it? Are you enjoying the process? If you aren’t, why are you even doing it?

If you need a robot to imagine something for you, then you don’t actually want to do it.

[paceywittters]

yes, i do think lucy has fault in their relationship breakdown - happy to talk about that elsewhere if you want

okay, so @to-the-east asked me to expand on this thought from my other post and while i know this is an unpopular opinion on a beloved character, i don’t mind talking about it (even if it’s become a really polarizing thing for the rookie fandom). the fact that lucy's flaws get looked over in favor of constant praise for her actions is kind of odd to me.

a note before you see how long this is: this is just my opinion about a tv show, i am allowed to have it just like you are allowed to have yours! if you don't agree with me that is ok i will be fine and so will you. please don't come at me for typing my little essays, if you've been here long enough u know i just like to yap.

also just to be clear: i think lucy's a great character. i think she's good at her job. she deserves happiness personally and professionally in whatever way that looks like for her. i also, however, recognize that as a three-dimensional character, lucy's flawed - and i like that she's flawed. i want the show to delve further into those flaws the way they do with basically every other character rather than pretending they're not there. me saying lucy has flaws is not an attack on her character. it is observation and analysis of the source material. that is all.

ok now you may proceed if you want lol

some chenford fans looked at the breakup in season six and saw tim’s issues, tim’s faults, tim’s lies, etc. as the root cause - and they were absolutely part of the cause, but there were bigger things at play than just what was happening in the moment. tim’s knee-jerk reaction to his deception/inability to see himself in his actions/breach of his moral code during 6x06 was to break up with lucy, because he didn’t know who he was. he couldn’t trust himself with himself, so he certainly couldn’t trust himself with her. we’ve all heard this a hundred times over, i’m sure, but it’s worth repeating because i actually think the breakup happening like this did a major disservice to the characters. while i wanted a breakup, after sitting with the way it’s played out, this breakup didn’t scratch the itch for me, so to speak.

throughout the end of season 5 and the beginning of season 6, tim and lucy both wind up facing a major shift in their lives. they decide to be together in 5x08/5x09, and this is where we begin to see the…lack of consequences, more or less, for lucy’s actions specifically.

just to reiterate, because i'm about to sound harsh: i want lucy to succeed, and i want her to grow. i am not trying to say lucy should have to face consequences for things while others shouldn’t - this isn’t meant to be a comparison to anyone else in the cast, but an analysis of what we’ve seen laid out in front of us.

throughout the show’s run, lucy’s had fairly good luck when it comes to not facing disciplinary action when she should’ve - but this goes absolutely batshit crazy in season 5 and 6. in the span of a season, lucy:

breaks up with her boyfriend of at least 6 months who has been expressing interest in living with her, giving little to no reason re: why (regardless of how you feel about chris, this should've have some kind of consequence or challenge attached)

begins dating her superior officer in secret without disclosing that information appropriately despite knowing she is supposed to legally (skirting around rules, ultimately without any consequence)

devises an inter-departmental swap with a group of colleagues in order to find a way to benefit her personal life without consulting tim, who this would directly impact (she does eventually face a professional consequence for this, but not a personal one)

expresses no remorse to tim when she gets caught and he is, rightfully, irritated (she quite literally says “sorry, not sorry”)

learns that someone within the inter-departmental swap is not happy that she’s manipulated a bunch of people for her personal gain and doesn’t seem to understand this is a problem (again, she will eventually face a consequence with this - but does not appear to understand why, which is the issue)

continuously appears to understand that her boyfriend, who has baggage surrounding undercover work, is struggling with her decisions but is trying to put on a brave face and doesn’t call him out for a lack of communication (to be clear, this part is very much also on tim - in moments even more so than lucy - but we’ll get to that later)

picks fights with her boyfriend for doing his job/treating her like his colleague when she has directly asked him to do so (i will not be engaging on the discourse surrounding tim's behavior in 6x01 other than to say that lucy asked him to behave like a TO and he did)

pushes her boyfriend again on his stance on undercover work when he’s openly trying to resolve his issues with it in order to keep their relationship stable (6x01/6x02 pre lie detector test is wild)

makes some deeply dangerous and mostly unnecessary calls that put her in extreme danger in order to make herself stand out because she doesn’t feel she’s getting enough recognition at work (lucy getting that dinged up radio as a trophy was sweet but we veer away from the fact that lucy quite literally chose to do something she didn't need to for kudos and could've died because of it - instead, we see her praised and applauded for her efforts without any ounce of "but you didn't have to do all that")

ignores the fact that she knows going into her detective’s exam that one of the proctors is not in favor of her, and then doesn’t anticipate the fact that it will impact her score/opportunities moving forward (again - this is a time where she does face a consequence, but does not anticipate it whatsoever, which i think is part of the problem)

and that’s just the big stuff. lucy consistently doesn’t face consequences for her actions - the detective’s exam thing is probably one of the few times i feel like i’ve seen her actually find herself in a pickle due to something she’s finagled. i love the fact that lucy can be crafty and creative, it’s one of the things i enjoy the most about her character…but a lot of the writing in the last season or so has felt less to me like she’s being crafty or creative, and more like she’s just skirting any legitimate consequences for her actions/ignoring any faults she’s shown as she’s moved through this phase of her career. even when she does have to face her decisions head-on, lucy often winds up trying to justify her behavior rather than admitting she was just...deeply over-achieving, or trying to do something to better her situation. she rarely sees a consequence coming, which is confusing when her character is clearly someone who can analyze situations for others.

with that being said, let’s get to this part: tim and lucy had problems before their breakup, and neither of them wanted to talk about them. think about the back half of season 5 - we see tim struggling with lucy’s uc work, lucy struggling to talk to tim about it or get him to own up to his feelings.

early on in season 6 we see them confront this a little, but it comes to no resolution whatsoever - and while it’s tim’s problem with lucy’s uc work, lucy chooses to act like that’s the only problem in their relationship. in 6x02, tim’s discomfort with uc work is treated like it’s their biggest issue when we as viewers know that there have been multiple times lucy’s just straight up lied to/withheld information from tim, either because she doesn’t think he needs to know or doesn’t want him to be in the know. lucy’s long-preached having great communication skills/knowing that open honest communication (5x18) is the key to her relationship with tim…but she doesn’t actually practice it.

lucy, unfortunately, is a bad communicator who thinks she’s a lot better at sharing her own feelings than she is. lucy is good at facilitating communication for others - it's a major skill of hers - but she's far less in touch with her own self, and we've seen that many times through the course of the show.

seeing her refuse to acknowledge her faults to tim, who she’s supposed to be sharing herself with fully, is a struggle throughout the beginning of season 6 - and so the tension was brewing for chenford when tim’s whole past-life-army-drama came into play.

now, here’s the thing: tim also has some serious baggage that he brings into this relationship (and just being real, in your 30s/beyond who is not bringing baggage into a relationship? i would be offended if they didn’t) and he has his own level of fault. the direct cause of their breakup in 6x06 is a tim thing. he’s not communicative, he’s a people pleaser (this is what i meant when i said we’d get into that later - tim’s people pleasing tendencies, esp in interpersonal relationships, are huge, to the point that he needed to be hooked up to a lie detector to even really grasp that he had issues with lucy going uc. that man gaslights himself into thinking things sometimes, and he’s always going to try to be amenable to the people he loves because he doesn’t want to lose them - which is a big flaw and a big reason why he broke up with lucy, but i digress), and he’s the kind of bitch that self-sabotages. things got difficult and he fucked up and he took himself out of the equation because leaving is easier than getting left - which, honestly, is probably a new feeling for tim.

but. this is about lucy, and the fault she has in the breakdown of their relationship. to be clear: they share fault. they are very much both at fault for the breakdown of their relationship (again - the direct break up was tim’s call, but we’re talking about what led to that), and i don’t think either of them grasps it just yet.

lucy has become used to getting her way more often than not (not all the time, obv, but enough) and if she doesn’t get her way directly, she can usually find a path into what she wants without much consequence. she doesn’t speak directly about her feelings or find herself probing for the feelings of others in tough situations where she’s directly involved. it's a strange dichotomy for lucy, who comes from such a psychology heavy background - and i often think it's one of the most interesting parts of her character, but the way she's been written in the last season and a half has really brought to light how misused it feels as a trait when she doesn’t see it.

so, tl;dr: lucy has flaws in her communication style and often finds herself lucky enough not to face the consequences of her actions, so when they do crop up at times, she's gutted by them. her chronic over-achieving has become her fatal flaw, as she's often trying to overdo things to make herself look good, rather than taking a step back to actually consider situations. while we can see these things on screen, they’re not addressed by the show which can be frustrating.

these qualities of lucy’s wrapped up in a bow make for her own set of issues that lent directly to the slew of issues that simmered into a boil of a breakup for chenford. while i don't think lucy was the whole problem by any means, i'm also not going to put that fully on tim. i want lucy to be able to grow and change and receive recognition for her work in a meaningful way, but without actually focusing on her flaws and acknowledging them, i don't really see how the rookie can do that in a way that serves the character.

ok don't hate me bye

[bratphilia]

── ★ ˙ slice of heaven ̟ !!

pairing ✧.*‎‎ leon s. kennedy x reader

cw ✧.*‎‎ reader is of age, hyperfem, afab!reader, real dad!leon, incest, age difference, oral sex (f receiving)

taglist ✧.*‎‎  @gilfhub @iwantyouinacage @d10nyx @leonspup @snowzbun

synopsis ✧.*‎ your dad comes home from his mission without your mom there for him to go bother.

the sound of the door shutting and a sigh ringing out from the lower level of the house was your cue to get up from bed and close the door to your room. your dad was called into another mission, having to fly out from the town you and your family resided in, to san francisco in order to carry it out. your dad never confided in you about his missions. you just were never close. polar opposites, really. when he wanted to teach you to use a gun, you were more interested in learning how to braid your own hair. it’s not like the two of you didn’t like each other or anything — you got along just fine — it was just something about him that always put you off.

for starters, he isn’t funny. not in the slightest. and the problem with that? he’s a wisecracking-dad-joking-machine. it’s annoying as fuck, the amount of times your eyes can roll until he gets the message. then there’s the part where you’re just not interested in his line of work. something he always wished for in his offspring — someone to take after him, take a liking to serving justice, and that just wasn’t you.

anyways, you always try to avoid your dad.

post-mission. he’s tired, in a pissy mood, fucking horny, and you want no part in that whatsoever. you can hear the bed rocking from downstairs sometimes after a particularly rough work trip, and it’s disturbing to be quite honest. sometimes, the shit he says travels through the vents, words such as “such a good fuckin’ pussy” and “gonna cum buried inside you” and other disgusting utterings you would rather not think about at this current moment. not unless you felt like puking your guts out.

however, this time is unique. your mom is away on a business trip herself. no, not something related to a viral infection, but something a lot more mellow — it’s still important, though. it’s rare that you have the house to yourself for days at a time, but you’ve enjoyed the excuse to do nothing, keeping a promise to leave the house in one piece.

so naturally, your dad is stumbling around downstairs. the telltale sound of the fridge opening and closing, most likely grabbing a beer bottle. you can hear him muttering curses to himself through the thin walls before he flicks on the television, drowning down everything. this is usually the part where you put a vinyl in on your record player and ignore the outside world around you, but you’re interrupted by your dad calling out your mom’s name.

“where the hell are ya?” he calls out once again.

it’s pissing you off. did he forget? you want to call back to him, tell him she still isn’t here, but a wiser person wouldn't disturb him. you did not want to draw any attention to yourself whatsoever. however, the worst case scenario comes true: you can hear footsteps up the stairs. you pray he’s using the bathroom, or going to the guest bedroom, or—

a knock resounds on your door. you bite back a sigh and get up to open it. you’re met with your dad, beer bottle in hand and supporting his weight on his right leg. the smell of alcohol overpowers the natural scent of vanilla your room seems to produce. he clears his throat. “hey kiddo, what’cha doing?”

“nothing,” you say, hoping the frown on your face conveys the message that he should not be still calling you ‘kiddo’ at your big age.

he mockingly pouts. “don’t look so down, kid. dad’s just teasing ya.”

“right,” you say, unamused. “i heard you calling out for mom. she’s still not back from her trip, y’know.”

your dad brushes past you to sit on your bed. he runs a hand through his hair. “right. okay.” he sounds thoroughly disappointed. he sets the beer bottle down on your nightstand, much to your chagrin. he pats a spot next to him on the bed, “c’mere.”

you sit next to him, hugging your knees to your chest and resting your chin on the joints. “how was it? staying home for a ‘lil while?”

“it was fine,” you say, keeping your answer short with disinterest.

“yeah? do anything fun?”

“no.”

"jeez, tough crowd,” he chuckles. you roll your eyes but keep yourself from talking back.

he sighs and nudges you with his arm. “hey, kid, why don’t we get along like we used to?”

“probably because you still call me ‘kid’ while i’m literally an adult,” you deadpan.

“ha-ha. fine, i’ll stop.”

you stubbornly don’t say anything back. he sighs again. “i’m sorry i give you a hard time and stuff. i’m just trying to mess around with you; don’t mean anything by it. i miss being close to you.”

“when have we ever been close?” you huff with a roll of your eyes.

“you kiddin’ me?” he says, not accusatory or anything, with a smile, actually. “remember when we would play baseball outside? or when i would give you piggyback rides n’ run up n’ down the stairs? what about all those batches of cookies we would make?”

“we did all that stuff when i was little,” you grumble. “i’ve changed.”

“right. that was before hello kitty n’ the gang came in your life and took my spot,” he chuckles, grabbing your my melody plush laying on your bed and flipping it over, running his hand over the soft fur absentmindedly. “we could still do that stuff together, y’know.”

“i don’t want to do that stuff,” you say finally.

“what? you like baking cookies, ‘s perfect for this whole coquette thing you got goin’ on,” he says.

you cringe at his use of the word. he’s too old to be using coquette in that context. where did he even learn that? he takes your pout in, your gaze fixed on the ground, and shakes his head. “c’mon, i’m trying here.”

“i can tell,” you grumble bitterly.

he soothes a hand on your back, plays with your hair ‘til it sweeps over the left side of your head, leans close to plant a kiss to your forehead. his arm stays slung over your shoulders. “gimme a break, you little monster.” you can’t help but smile and lean into his touch. when was the last time he held you like this?

then he ruins it when his hand runs down the small of your back and lingers there even when he pulls away to look at you. the way he looks at you is different. it instantly fades your smile, you can’t quite put your finger on what’s weird about it, though. “dad?”

“yes, baby?” he coos, blindly reaches for his beer and takes a long sip. he wipes his mouth with his sleeve when he sets it back down. you shake your head. “you’re so grown up, look just like your mom.”

oh. “in what way?” you hear yourself asking before you can stop yourself. the smile that overtakes leon runs a shiver down your spine.

“c’mere,” he holds his arms out again for you and you hesitantly, stupidly accept his embrace. his hands instantly go to the hem of your babydoll top and reveal your chest to him. you yelp in surprise, but before your arms can cover yourself he grasps them. he lets you go of your wrists, but he’s quicker to grip onto your bare breasts.

“mmm, no bra, sweetheart?” he comments but you’re too shocked to respond. shocked he even laid a hand on you.

he gropes your boobs, the calloused palms of his hands rub deliciously on your sensitive nipples. you’re sick in the head, you decide, absolutely mentally ill, for liking the way your dad is touching you right now. you hum uncontrollably, back twitching sensitively, anything to get away from his grip on you. your dad’s face is one of a kid’s in a candy store. all marveled at everything in front of him.

his thumbs reach out to tease your nipples. they run over the pointed skin and the noises that escape your mouth are absolutely pathetic. “this,” your dad says, “is what i mean.”

“dad,” you sniffle. “dad, stop. this is so wrong.” your hands grab at his wrists but you don’t have it in you to do anything with them. all you do is shut your eyes and let tears water them, hoping he’ll get the message and just stop.

“come on, baby,” you open your eyes and see your dad’s stupid pout. “won’t you let daddy touch his babygirl? i’ll be so gentle. just want us both to feel closer for a few minutes.”

you feel your stomach curl at his phrasing. was this what he had in mind this whole time? it makes you sick. you want to double over and throw up at his shoes right now, and maybe that will get him out of your room for the rest of the night.

“daddy,” you try to speak his language but it only makes things worse as he buries his face in the crook of your neck and inhales deeply. “stop, please.”

“c’mon, baby, lemme make you feel good,” he leans up to whisper in your ear. another shiver shoots down your spine and you wordlessly soften at his touch, your permission for him to continue. the truth is, nothing else can settle the ache between your legs that he started by putting his hands on you.

he settles you back onto the bed so that you laying down, both arms wrapped around you so lovingly. all the while he’s pressing kisses to every inch of flesh he can reach. “let’s get these off, ‘kay?” he mutters, hands tugging at the hem of your flimsy shorts. it’s the cute, waffle-knit white pair, with a pretty pink bow in the middle. he slides the material down your legs and you help him by kicking them off. you also take off your top in the process, the fabric is wrinkled from his earlier ministrations.

you didn’t think to wear a bra or panties since you were just lounging around in this outfit, no intentions to go out anywhere, and that went straight to leon’s cock. instantly, his face is pressed to your mound, sniffing you down there, running kisses up your thighs. your legs shake a little and he settles you by pressing your knees to your stomach. “just let daddy take care of you, he’ll kiss it better.”

with that, he presses a kiss to the hood of your clit. warmth dissipates throughout your stomach and tightens. “oh,” you moan out. your dad suckles on the sensitive area, expertly runs his tongue along it. you, with the limited experience you’ve had, can’t believe the attention you’re getting from him. you never even expected your dad to be capable of doing this.

it’s your intoxicating scent that pulls him back in for more, though. the way you internally have to wrestle yourself, he notices, to stay composed is just so adorable. the taboo-ness of it all fills leon with a sick sense of delight, too. that’s why he licks your pussy with fervor he didn’t even know he had within him. he laps up the area, slurping around, suckling you like he would with a straw. you squeal and hold onto your legs, trying your hardest not to move them and accidentally kick him.

wetness coats the area around your pussy and drips down to your ass. it’s to the point that an ugly squelch resounds every time he brings his mouth back down. you’re coating his face with your arousal and he honestly wishes he could drown in it. his tongue thrusts inside your weeping hole to gather the wetness there, all the while you dig your fingers into your sheets and muffle your moans with a closed mouth.

“‘s that feel good, honey?” he asks, and you catch a glimpse of his face. pupils blown out from pleasure, usually kempt hair in a mess, lower half of his face coated with your juices.

“mhm,” you whimper in response.

he takes that as a cue to amp things up a notch. suckling your clit like a vacuum, face pressed against you so that you could feel his cheeks buried against your pussy lips. he keeps sucking, shaking his head against you, ‘til you’re cumming on his face. he moans at the wetness flowering into his mouth and onto his chins, furthering your orgasm at the vibrations against you.

leon pulls away to press his forehead against yours, kisses your nose sweetly. “you’re my princess, you know that?”

“yeah,” you say quietly.

"yeah?” he repeats. “my best girl.”

[nynyhaha]

Machi and Shizuku — How to treat human remains

Both of the beautiful Spider members cause death with their abilities,increasing the number of corpses.But what do they do with them afterwards?

Despite being in the same organisation and doing crimes together their approach to corpses is very different.

I’d even call them polar opposites.

Machi is known for killing and healing people with her threads,but what matters here is her skill on restoring dead people to look better.

It’s made clear that she came to master nen Threads in that exact context.Kinda tragic,actually. We don’t see her trying to restore anyone to their original beauty so it’s unknown to what extent she knows Renkos craft,but since she wanted to learn it we can assume she knows quite a lot about it.

A personal headcanon of mine is that she took it upon herself to arrange the flowers for Paku’s “grave”

Look how sad it is :((

Meanwhile Shizuku,well…cleans up.

Being sucked into a vacuum like dust just to disappear in its void seems like a bad way for your body to end.I mean,what is a corpse really worth?

Is it not a puppet?🖊📖🕷

But if corpses were just puppets there wouldn’t be people like Machi and Renko.

If Machi had no emotions towards Hisokas corpse she’d just dispose of it or call Shizuku.But she fixed it up.

Because people care about the dead,their bodies and their wishes.

Treating corpses as humans allows one to spend a bit more time with them,to keep them alive a bit longer in their mind.

The importance of human remains being buried properly is also why Kurapika is so relentlessly searching for the eyes of his kin.

It’s why we can judge Chrollo’s moral state by his treatment of corpses and see that there’s clearly something seriously wrong with the way he sees people.Which isn’t just a Chrollo issue(Check out my Neon Nostrade post)but a broader problem in the HxH world.

Machi and Chrollo started out in the same place.

Horrified at how their friend has been dehumanised along with other kids of Meteor City,they vowed to take revenge and reverse this trend.Now they themselves kill people without batting an eye.

What started out as “we are humans so see us as such,even in death we have dignity”

turned into “human corpses are just like puppets and we can use them in any way that fits us.”

Surely,Pakunodas body and even Hisokas are very different than those of dead mafia men.That’s just how it is with close people.

So..what is it? a) human remains are to be respected

b)corpses are just empty shells,they’re inanimate objects so they don’t matter

c)corpses might have meaning and personhood attached to them but we will only honour that with those we care about/those who deserve it

It must be a mix of b and c by now.Hypocrisy is a big theme of HxH.But in the general view of the Spiders, Machi included,human lives rarely matter and their dead remains are even less important.

Young Machi might’ve been horrified by Shizukus ability,I mean,imagine Sarasa’s kidnappers “cleaning up” her body in such a manner.

But now Shizuku and Blinky are very useful to the troupe and everyone appreciates them.

Shizuku is a troupe member that’s rather unsettling to me because of her innocence and young age(19).She’s calm and we don’t see cruelty or bloodthirst in her.Even out of the women in the troupe she seems the least threatening.Yet her ability is very bleak and shows acceptance and indifference when it comes to horrible things.

She takes Chrollo’s orders seriously even if that means letting him die.She’s one of the people that appear normal and could live a normal life. Or so it seems.We know nothing about her past but she must’ve had a reason to join the troupe.She no less passionate about it than Machi.

Oh,if only we knew how and why she developed her ability!

I don’t think that would be a happy story tho,haha.She even reminds me of Chrollo a bit,that mix of apathy and pleasant calm demeanour just has something to it.

Machi seems to have a bit more “rage/fire” in her.She’s closer to seeing corpses as people even now.But despite the differences,the Spiders get along.

So it really depends if your corpse will be patched up by Machi or deleted by Shizuku.

[monstersinthecosmos]

Hi, completely agree with what you said here but it makes me very sad to think about it. As someone who imprinted on Armand at 12, Marius/Armand was my first ship in VC but I find it hard to ship them post Venice era, even though Blood Communion seems to suggest some positive developments in their relationship (Marius standing behind Armand during his argument with Benedict supporting Armand being his own person iirc?). Idk I want them to work their shit out but it’s still hard to imagine them putting their differences aside sans an apocalyptic scenario like in QotD.

And sometimes idk if Marius loves Armand enough to work on it. I know that the corner of tumblr that loves Marius (And I certainly understand the appeal of a complicated and polarizing character like him. Kudos to Anne for creating Marius!) likes to push the idea that the turning of Benji and Sybelle was mostly out of love (and to a varying extent depending on the person’s pov, due to Marius’ mental health issues) but how much was that love and how much was it ‘my pet needs to have pets so that he stays alive for ME’. Not saying these 2 motivations are mutually exclusive but I’m genuinely curious about your views.

I’m rambling but guess what I’m trying to say is, how much do you think Marius’ love for Armand is unselfish, whether in Venice, at the end of TVA or after Blood Communion?

Asdghjakl yeah I have really similar feelings about them as a ship! Like the Venice era is my favorite time period in the VC but modern/present-day Marius/Armand doesn’t really hit the same way for me because it’s just such a motherfuckin mess lol.

What I do want to say, though, is that we’re kind of dancing around a topic here that involves the inhumanity and inherent monstrosity of Marius, and while I tend to think “THEY’RE VAMPIRES” is a lazy approach to analysis, there’s a deeper version of it that’s relevant here.

What I mean is that Marius can love Armand truthfully, sincerely, unselfishly and STILL cause harm, and still love him imperfectly, and still cause problems. I think when we really wanna start dissecting Marius/Armand as a ship, and the Venice era as a whole, and whatever trauma it left on Armand vs Marius’s motivations/intentions/character morals, it’s important to remember that Marius was not human. 

I think a lot about like, when we say that Armand is a “pet”, or that Denis, Daniel, Benji, and Sybelle are Armand’s pets, there’s sort of a connotation or shorthand to TLDR that it’s their cute little human. But I think about like, for example!, my fucking cats! Like, when I think about ACTUAL pets IRL, um, I would fuckin die for my cats? They’re my lil babies? I love them so fully and with my entire fucking soul but they’re dumb little animals that live in my house and I take care of them and I don’t think they have a single thought in their fucking skulls. 

So when you think about like, a 1500 year old immortal night creature adopting a little human, he can love Armand with his ENTIRE being, and I believe he really really did, and it’s still “aww the cute lil human that I feed”. And Marius is unique amongst the vampires for how hard he tries to stay connected to the human world, and it’s still never enough, he’s still never quite there, so I have always believed he had the right intentions even if he fumbled it or did things that could cause harm. It’s not like, he’s a ~MONSTER~ in a scary way, but literally, he’s so removed from humanity that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing. 

(Don’t let me get into a side essay here but it reminds me so much of like, imperfect boomer parenting, like looking at different generations’ parenting styles and realizing how much harm they caused, but most people aren’t intending to harm their children and just don’t know any better. Every generation will likely experience a form of this as we learn and grow and try to be better, but I find this really interesting for Marius specifically because of the age of the author!)

He was fifteen hundred years old when he met Armand. I think in a lot of ways he acted with good intentions that wound up causing a lot of harm. But it does a disservice to the story and to him as a character to only look at the outcome, without considering the universe he’s operating in. 

And idk like, where is the line between selfish and selfless love? Like, Marius is clearly a fucking mess at the beginning of TVA and didn’t take the news of Armand’s suicide very well. Is it selfish to do something drastic because he’s worried that Armand is still suicidal? Where does one end and the other begin? Especially with immortals like, is your own death a gift? Is it an act of kindness to save someone’s life instead of allowing them to check out? Idk idk! Grief is fucking messy, it can be both, but I don’t think it’s fair to characterize it as purely for himself. He even immediately fucks off to Norway in shame afterwards. I think I prefer to think he just wanted Armand to be happy and safe. By the end of the book they're still struggling to communicate with each other about religion, and in some ways I think Marius doesn't think Armand truly wanted to die, vs seeing a religious fit for what it is. So I'm not sure he sees Armand's suicide attempt as sincere, either, and maybe doesn't feel the need to respect his wish for death.  

I think a lot about the conversation Marius has with Armand after he turns Benji & Sybelle and realizes how bad he fucked up. 

"You loved them selflessly," he whispered. "For all their strange faults, and wild evil, they were not compromised for you. You loved them perhaps more respectfully than I... than I ever loved you." He seemed so amazed. I could only nod. I wasn't so sure he was right. My need for them had never been tested, but I didn't want to tell him so.

Even at 500 years old, Marius still doesn’t entirely understand Armand as a complete person. He doesn’t completely understand Armand’s needs, or the person he wants to be, or what his human companions were to him. I think it even starts when Armand is still alive, how Marius treats him like a silly little pet, like, Armand’s piety is a cute little quirk that Marius humors without ever truly respecting. It doesn’t occur to him that Benji & Sybelle aren’t just pets. And I think Marius being stuck in his trauma means he’s just perpetually trying to believe in himself and control everything around him, while Armand stuck in trauma means he’s constantly trying on different roles and figuring out who he is. 

(But FUCK ME, christ, “I wasn't so sure he was right. My need for them had never been tested, but I didn't want to tell him so.” this really fucks me up so bad, we have to keep talking about this another time because like, these two can NOT communicate with each other! They are useless with the barrier between them maybe they need to drink from each other more often and iron this out.)

Someone can do their best, and mean well, and still cause harm. Humans do this, too. I’m sure we’ve all been there. And Marius is a great example of vampires being stuck in the trauma of their turning—it doesn’t matter how wise he tries to be, he always comes back to the same trauma, over and over. Even the way he treats Armand in Venice is a direct result of Marius trying to fix his own trauma. And like, would therapy even work on a vampire, or are their brains stuck forever where they were? How much of their “changing” is just learning behavior, and learning to mask?

Because I think Marius 100% could do that for Armand. He loves Armand. Armand is his child. He was the first fledgling Marius ever made of his own will, after 1500 years! But I think canon left us off in a place where neither of them are quite there yet. Marius is in decent shape at the end of the series, I think—it feels like he’s made some huge strides in accepting himself and his nature, so I think there’s some potential! Armand also has to learn how to use his fuckin words a little bit better, which he’s never been good at, but I think the way he goes off on Lestat after keeping that inside for 200 years is a really great sign! 

I go back and forth about “does therapy even work on vampires” all the time, like, do they have neuroplasticity, are they capable of change, have we uncovered something in the PL Trilogy that could be a key to them functioning better and learning to change. I don’t really have an answer because canon doesn’t, it’s just a fun thing to think about, but it’s the best way that I can reconcile Marius’s intentions vs his actions, and how he somehow continues to make the same mistakes and never learns! 

Basically, I think it’s not helpful to ask if Marius loves him enough. He does! But loving someone doesn’t mean we magically know how to behave, and the qualities in Marius that cause him to behave selfishly are so deeply tied to his trauma, his control issues, his use of ego as a defense mechanism. And even in real life we can have boundaries and hold people accountable when they hurt us, even if it’s because of mental illness. We can have empathy and still have boundaries, and we can be hurt and still know when something wasn't personal. That feels kinda IRL and serious to frame vampire meta but like, Marius can love people and still fuck up, because he can’t help it, and I don’t think it’s a fair reading of the text to insist he’s a diabolical abuser because it just doesn’t really match his characterization otherwise. 

I hope he gets better! 

[snakepitgunner]

1. Incredible, once I got over the starstruck ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ moment, he was so attentive and loving. I’m on the pill so I’m covered, he told me he didn’t like condoms and wouldn’t be able to get off with one. He’s not at all what I would’ve expected, we ventured as far as choking in terms of kinky stuff but he’s just a really tender, loving guy.

2. He just said she was kinda ‘there’ all the time, she suffocated him on the GNR tour and he felt like he couldn’t be himself so they’re taking a break but he hasn’t been happy for a long time.

3. I’m working on anonymising my account as I don’t want backlash (I have quite a few GNR fans on my tumblr) I’ll send the photos later today, you’re welcome to publish anything.

4. Just internal disagreements as far as I know, the lead singer was very controlling and mad that London was in a relationship so she flipped and he quit.

I just wanted to get my story out because I do feel bad that he lied to me and Meegan, when I came home the next day, I headed straight to instagram and saw he’d sent her flowers saying how much he’d missed her, like, dude? I’ve just left your hotel room.

Now this is the content I'm here for.

1- I'm not surprised about the attentive thing. I remember reading some interview he did from forever ago (the early days of guns) where he said he like to get his partner off and that was hot to him.

2- This doesn't surprise me either. She isn't just there all the time, she always has a camera in his face. A while back, his brother made a comment about her attaching herself to Slash to get attention for herself.

She was the polar opposite of Perla and would go along for the lifestyle and that was convenient to Slash. -At least that's what I've heard.

3- Can't wait to see the pics.

4- That's a shame but it's probably for the best. He seems to be doing well without them so that's good.

I doubt they are separated, as in, not living in the same home. However, he sent Perla flowers the entire time they were separated too. From what I've heard, the women he dates like to keep up appearances. That's something Meegan and Perla have in common. It's even been suggested that they sometimes send them to themselves and just make it look like they're from him. I don't know if that's true but it's been said.

[Originally posted February 2, 2024]

[this-game-has-themes]

short vignette between vegh and knicks based sometime during the game events that i wrote a while back and didnt post bc, well. gestures vaguely to knicks

on that note, cw for vykker bodyhorror warcrimes and fantasy pervert racism. you know how it is

“All of my pieces are of the highest quality stock, of course. I don’t use any discards or body clearance material. All of these installations were 100% untouched, mentally intact Mudokons.”

Every time a Vykker opened up his mouth, he would say something that was somehow even more abhorrent than before. But, Glukkons were accustomed to their monstrosity. Some of them were complicit, even revelling in the worst the Conglomerate had to offer.

Vegh was no investor himself, though he ran into Knicks a couple of times when their respective businesses traded with one another. The routine exchange had reversed its polarity in the past couple of years: instead of receiving raw corrective material from Knicks’ enslavement firm, Vegh was now providing corrective stock directly to him. He didn’t see the results of their transactions until now, outside of business hours. At the Vykker-run crimp show, where he saw familiar mud faces on display. The muds who still had faces, that is.

Among the mutilated and surgically transformed Mudokons, Vegh could recognize Knicks’ penchant for blackened leather, latex and metal to garnish his installations. It reflected his own appearance; a ghoulish, sharp-toothed smile of self-installed dental implants, legs that were capped with sharp prongs that clicked against the panel floor. Vykkers were known to be eccentric with their self-modification, seeing theirs and others bodies as material to be transmuted to their liking.

They were disgusting to their Glukkon associates, but it was no secret that the Magog relied on Vykker ingenuity. They held the strings, but they had no interest in pulling. Too obsessed with their fetishistic passions, too content to be creatives rather than rulers. Easy to control, when given the resources to keep them content.

Vegh was learning more about Vykkers than he ever wanted to here, but he came seeking Knicks for a reason. If that meant humoring his revolting nonsense, then so be it. He was used to dirty jobs.

“So they’re all…” Vegh grimaced as he looked at the still, vacant things encased in latex. “... Aware?”

“Let’s check!” Knicks clicked over to one that had been forced into a quadruped position, shakily balancing on the stilt ‘legs’ that their bent and bound limbs were attached to. The Vykker tapped the side of its gimp mask. “Hello in there! Do you want to say ‘hi’ to Mr.Vegh?”

The Mudokon shook a little on its stilts, and let out a muffled sob behind its mask. Knicks stilled them before they could lose their balance. “Don’t go getting too excited now, we just got you used to standing and walking. And you better not fall off the runway during the presentation! Do you hear me?”

The bound mud nodded as best as it could in the highly restrictive suit it was squeezed into. Vegh sneered at the sight of it. “So are all of these my correctives? It seems a waste.”

Knicks preened, inspecting his black-painted claws. “My work has meaning behind it, you see. It's actually quite important to use corrective materials to convey the total subjugation of their paltry species. If I used scrub stock, the message wouldn’t be as impactful.”

“... Right.” Vegh, like many Glukkons, never really ‘got’ art, save for its role as a status symbol. He tried to retain his proud posture as the Vykker scuttled too close for comfort, making him instinctively shrink back.

“You of all Glukks should understand the message behind my work, being a scion of poor dear Kwalia. My condolences, of course. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” The wrinkles on Knicks’ hideous face pulled into a mocking smirk. He looked the Glukkon up and down, And Vegh vaguely wondered if a Vykker would ever be so bold as to involve a Glukk into their perverted ‘artwork’.

“And you… have come suspiciously absent of an escort to the gala. Quite unlike a Glukkon of your recent status.” Knicks gave Vegh a knowing look. “I would have expected you to adopt that queen I sold to him all those years ago. Unless women are not to your tastes?”

“That’s… actually what I came here for.” Vegh bowed his head, and his eyes shifted around suspiciously. All of the Vykkers on the show floor were preoccupied with their show-muds, and all of the Glukkon patrons were preoccupied with not throwing up in their mouths.

“I actually sold her upon my advancement; it was a practical matter, I needed to offload some liquid assets, and she was becoming a problem.”

“Well, now I’m just disappointed you didn’t sell her to me.” The Vykker licked his exposed teeth. “I would have loved to make a masterpiece out of her for all she-”

Vegh cut him off. “I sold her to Molluck.”

Knicks’ smirk fell, and he did a bit of a double-take as that information sunk in. “Really? That Molluck?”

“There isn’t any other Molluck all over the news.”

“Well, that means the queen is charcoal in that smoking crater of a meatpacking plant now, so what of it?”

“I don’t think it's that simple.” Vegh leaned in closer. As repulsive as the Vykker was, he valued their privacy more. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the other rumors following that disaster. The ones about worker revolts, and several high profile Glukks being involved in ‘accidents’?”

“What are you getting at, Vegh?”

“I’m just saying, I’m quite suspicious about the plant just happening to blow sky high after my little ‘delivery’. And not even a week after that, General Dripik ‘accidentally’ falls on a trophy spear? Be serious.”

“You alright in there, Vegh?” Knicks gave him a suspicious squint. “I know the disinformation these days is ridiculous, but are you honestly saying that mute little cocksleeve has something to do with these unrelated incidents?”

Vegh steeled himself, momentarily wondering if he really was crazy. If all this paranoia was just the blowback from his years of planning, culminating in that near-impulsive heel turn against his accomplice. “I… know her, Knicks. Far better than you do. I know the things she is capable of, and I know the sort of things she would do if she ever caught wind of either of us.”

Knicks’ smirk turned nasty again. “I’m sure you know her quite well. From what I understand, quite a few men could say the same.”

“I sold her to RuptureFarms because I thought the problem would take care of itself.” Vegh scoffed at his own error, looking back. “And surely, she would have been butchered and eaten by that old bastard within the week. So why do I feel like my days are numbered?”

“Stress, maybe.” Knicks, ultimately, was unbothered by what Vegh had to say. He dusted off the immaculate leather that lewdly hugged his body. “Getting rid of your fucktoy right when you’ve come into an executive seat will do that to a man.”

“I just feel like a lifetime of bad quarma has been building up to this.” Vegh straightened up against Knicks brushing off the term ‘quarma’. “I came to warn you, Knicks. If Howler is out there, loose, she’s going to want both of our heads.”

“Oh, if I had one moolah for every life I've ruined, and every time I've been ‘cursed’ by fresh captures reciting their woo-woo tribal nonsense at me. I would have retired richer, earlier.” The Vykker shrugged. His capped legs tapped the floor impatiently. “Howler wasn’t even the worst I’ve had to process. Just another piece of wasted potential to shove off to Viss Madre at the end of the day.”

Knicks turned to Vegh, amused by how the Glukkon’s tight brow had begun to sweat under the floodlights of the show floor. He gave him a patronizing smile. “Oh, she’s just a bushmud, Vegh. How much damage could one Mudokon do?”

[autistic-writer-angel]

OCtober Day 16

Prompt: Lament

Words: 665

Canon to my other stories: Yes

Additional notes: Another scene I've had in my head for a while. Context? Don't know her.

@mooshie-blue I think I told you I was going to post this one.

TW: Slight self-harm and quite a bit of self-loathing.

Credit to @apromptingwewillgo for the prompts.

Lament

“Angel?” Captain Barnacles called. He could hear her on the other side of the bushes. It wasn’t like her to just run away, though. Something must have been wrong. “Angel?!”

He pushed the bushes aside and was shocked by what he saw: Angel had grabbed a long, thick tree branch and was hitting herself with it! She whacked her arms over and over again.

“Angel! What are you doing?! Don’t do that!” The polar bear took the branch off of her and tossed it as far as he could without fear of hurting any creatures. “You could hurt yourself!”

“That was the whole point!” the girl countered, beginning to cry.

The Captain was alarmed. Angel got upset very easily, but she rarely cried. He knelt down beside her. “Angel. Why are you crying?”

Angel let out a sob. “Because I keep screwing up!”

“Angel-”

“It’s my fault we’re stuck here! And I just keep making things worse! You could have gotten back to the Octopod ages ago if it weren’t for me, but we’ve been stuck here for three days! Your big day is completely ruined! And it’s all my fault! I’m sorry!”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Angel”, Barnacles pointed out gently.

“NOT AS MUCH AS I DO!” she exploded. “All I do is screw up! I just can’t do anything right! Here!” She slipped her Octo-watch off her wrist and threw it not at him, but towards him. “I don’t want this anymore! I’m never going to be good enough!”

Captain Barnacles knew that Angel struggled with self-esteem. He knew every Octonaut and Octo-Agent had their areas to work on and this was Angel’s main one. Still, it was hard to listen to the rant that followed. She bawled her eyes out, describing herself as completely useless and the worst thing ever. At first, he said nothing. He just allowed her to lament. Maybe all of this just needed to come out.

Eventually, when she was crying too hard to keep going, he decided to intervene.

“Angel. Take a deep breath.”

The thirteen-year-old drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she did it again and again.

She sniffled and wiped away a tear. “I’m sorry. You should have told me to shut up.”

“No”, he told her gently. “Angel, everyone feels the way you’re feeling sometimes. Everyone feels like they’re not good enough, but it’s not true. Any of it.”

“Yes it is!”

“You’re so hard on yourself. You have done so much more than you give yourself credit for… Do you remember when you and I first met?”

Despite herself, Angel had to smile a little. “I wish I didn’t.”

“You were so scared of me, but look at you now.” He smiled at her. “And you saved the life of a little penguin. You’ve helped me in the Caves of Sac Actun and helped save creatures in the Ring of Fire. You’re kind, you’re funny and you brighten up every day on the Octopod. And I'm very proud of you.”

Angel let out another sniffle. “Really?”

“Of course.” Seeing as she wasn’t convinced, he held out his arms. “Come here.”

The girl collapsed into his hug, resting her head on his chest as she sobbed. Captain Barnacles stroked her hair and talked to her gently.

When her sobs slowed, the Captain let her go. “Come on.” He stood up and pulled her up to her feet as well. “We’d better keep moving.”

Angel let out another sniff and shook her head. “Go on without me. You don’t need me getting in your way. You should just get back to the Octopod.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you”, the polar bear countered. “Oh! One more thing.” He picked up her Octo-watch. “You’re going to need this.”

Still not believing she deserved it, Angel put the Octo-watch back on her wrist. Then the Captain took her hand again.

“Junior Octo-Agent Angel. Let’s do this!”

[theatrekidenergy]

I don’t think I’ve never made a post about it before but I’m a huge fan of Ben Brainard, he’s a great comedian and I especially enjoy his state series (wttt), especially Texas and Austin’s dynamic so here’s a couple things I personally head canon:

- Texas has an innate fear that he will one day wake up blue blue hair and piercings because the hat fell off in the middle of the night and Austin did Austin things

- California: *viscously trying to grab cowboy hat away from Austin* DON’T BRING HIM BACK- PLEASE- PLEASEEE-

- Texas has like an agreement except for himself- Like Austin gets Thursdays and Tuesdays and Texas gets the rest of the week yk

- Texas: “Look I hate to say it but sometimes, SOMETIMES, your food is.. okay.” - Austin: *beaming* “Really? 🥹”

- Alaska and Austin are polar opposites (quite literally) which frequently results in very interesting conversations, however Alaska definitely favors Austin over Texas purely because Austin isn’t as much of a jerk

[struggling-author]

Hey what are your avatar otps besides azulaang?

oh umm… I wouldn’t call them OTPs since that is exclusively Azulaang, but my bi Azula headcanon lives in a variety of ships. Azutara, Azuki, Maizula… not Tyzula tbh because that feels like… imbalanced? and not Tophzula because they are menace-besties but not romantic, but with any of the other girls I think it could be great. Azutara has the enemies to lovers from Azulaang but with more spice and less forgiveness, they‘d tear eachother apart first but that makes it even sweeter if they eventually fall in love. Azuki is kind of different because Suki is more rational and holds less of an emotional grudge, it‘d be difficult for Azula to earn her trust but she would not be openly hostile to her unless necessary. I imagine this one could only happen if Azula is already in the middle or post redemption though, because Suki would not put up with any EtL shit. I guess that is exactly why it intrigues me too, I feel Suki would be more willing to give Azula a chance, more than Katara for example, but at the same time it would be impossibly hard to win her trust and I‘d like to see if Zula can manage it. Lastly Maizula, and I prefer this one over Tyzula because I feel Mai is more capable of holding her own against Azula in a relationship. It’s a complicated version of childhood friends to lovers and I‘m kind of here for it. No idea how it would work though lol.

Aside from Azula ships, I think Zutara is pretty cool and works well alongside Azulaang. Kataang is kinda cool in theory too, but I don’t like shipping Aang with anyone except Azula, it feels wrong 🤷‍♂️ The only other Aang ship I can imagine liking is Zukaang, but I don’t talk about it much.

Oh and I have to give a shoutout to Sokkla, I don’t particularly vibe with it but they’re the sister ship to Azulaang and I do see the potential of the two genius strategists, so if Aang didn’t exist I would definitely ship Sokkla instead. Nothing but love to the comrades over there. 🫶🏼

edit: totally forgot this but I actually also love Tylaang aka Ty-Lee and Aang, it just has absolutely no fandom so it’s hard to get the ball rolling. I just feel they would be such a wholesome bubbly cute ship, and I dig the Ty-Lee airbender ancestry theory so she‘d love to learn all about airbender customs and they‘d have so much fun and probably a huge family 😅 anyway I think party of why I ship this is just because I think these two deserve the world and it represents my wish for them to be totally carefree and happy. you can also add Azula and make this a throuple, I think that would work because you have Tyzula as the polar opposites and Aang in the middle to bridge the gap.

speaking of throuples I enjoy the idea of… Azutaraang? (Azula/Katara/Aang) but it is very difficult to make work. The only way I can see it is if Azula and Katara fall in love first because nothing good could come of them fighting over Aang. or maybe I could see like a stranded on a deserted island AU where the three of them have to work together and learn to rely on eachother… idk, difficult but not impossible.

Oh and I love Zuki too (Zuko x Zuki) …damn I guess I do have quite a few non-Azulaang ships. anyway this is essentially a bodyguard AU and it’s actually my favorite Zuko ship (sorry Zutara) not much to say about it cuz I’ve barely engaged with it, but I love the idea and think they would just work really well together. I also can see this as a throuple with Sokka again. I don’t really vibe with Zukka on their own but if you add Suki then I love it, because Suki deserves two good boys and it’s more fun for everyone involved if those two good boys are in love with eachother too.

final edit hopefully: Sokka Azula Aang is good too, for the same reasons listed for Zuko Suki Sokka, I swear that’s it now. goodbye lol.

[tempests-bards-and-birds]

venti

I’m sure you don’t talk about him enough ; )

ah anon. you know me so well. anyway *cracks knuckles* here we go

how i feel about this character: i think about this character so much it's probably worrying. he's just so complex and compelling - from the moment you first meet him you realise that he has a really unique relationship with the world in general, and just. every time he makes an allusion to something that he doesn't expand upon either because he feels he shouldn't yet or because he's perhaps trying to protect himself i simultaneously want to throw him in the horse plinko and hug him. how do you even live after the first person who was ever really your friend, whose wish was to see the sky from beyond the barrier that was made by a god, dies after you fought for that with him and barely even got a glimpse of the freedom that he strived so hard for. how do you live after you take his form when you end up becoming the very thing that was the cause of your friends' suffering because you maybe feel that it's the only way to keep his ambition and hope for freedom living on after he died because maybe having a god's ideal be a human's wish for freedom is one of the only ways to negate the inherent respect that godhood commands but also probably because you just can't bear to let him go, at least for a period. how do you- *gets dragged forcibly off-stage*

all the people i ship romantically with this character: i can appreciate a lot of the popular venti ships however the only two that have ever really appealed massively to me are xiaoven and zhongven. you can see my post for this ask game about xiao for some my thoughts on xiaoven (i can elaborate if need be though) but for zhongven i just find their relationship sooo fascinating. they've lived through wars together, so chances are they've seen each other do utterly unspeakable things, and even that by itself can produce a very close kind of relationship. on the surface they're polar opposites but when you actually think about it they are fundamentally quite similar, despite their opposing natures. idk something something about a mountain that can erode and change but won't fall or move and the wind that comes and goes as it pleases but can still change it's course and can still come to rest sometimes. you get it right

my non-romantic otp for this character: *chanting* venti and jean. venti and jean. venti and jean. venti and jean-

ok but in all seriousness i just think that explorations of jean's religious devotion to barbatos being put under insane amounts of duress after the events of the mond archon quests very interesting. what do you do when you find out that the god that you devoted your entire life to is not just a concept and is, in fact, a person who's probably pretty depressed. idk. "met god and he's just some guy" type shit

my unpopular opinion about this character: uhhh i can't really think of anything right now? maybe how i actually think he's way more moon-coded as a character than sun-coded but i don't see many people on here actually talking about that so idk

one thing i wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: hehe. haha. forced barbatos reveal to all of mondstadt babyyyyy i feel like backing him into a corner and stopping him from running away from his problems so much would be good for him in the long run

[autumnmobile12]

“You’ve always been so good with children, Mai,”  Rei said.  “But you’ve never talked about having any of your own.”

This hadn’t been the first time someone had asked her about this.

As she searched for the words to a concise answer, Mai pulled her mom’s old house key from her neck and dangled it in front of the baby in her arms.  “What is that, Touya?  What’s that?”  It wasn’t as though she hadn’t thought about it.  Mai liked children, and many of the hundreds she’d rescued or helped rescue had taken a liking to her.  Ayako had often told her she would be a good mother.  And yet, “My Quirk is distressing, Rei.  It's not fire or ice. It's not a power I can just stop using. What it allows me to see and experience is so real and so intense that if I were to pass that along to any potential children, or some variation of it…if I were to wake up in the middle of the night because a son or daughter of mine was inconsolable over a nightmare, knowing I’m the cause, I don’t think I could live with myself.”

Rei put a hand on her back.  “You’ve never told me this.  I knew your abilities troubled you sometimes, but——”

“No, don’t worry about it,”  Mai said with a smile.  “The idea of not having kids doesn’t bother me, really it doesn't.  It just means I’ll have to be content with being an auntie to this little one.  Isn’t that right, you little firebug?”

By now, Touya had grabbed ahold of the key and was trying to tug it away from her.  Mai stuck her tongue out at him.

...

“Tomorrow’s Saturday,”  Aunt Mai said.  “I don’t want you to go to the mountain.”

“But——”

“We’re going to…”  He watched her face scrunch up in search of an idea.  Mom did the same thing sometimes.  She used to.  “The zoo.  We are going to the zoo.”

“What?”

“Yep.  You and your siblings.  We’ll head there tomorrow.”  At that, she pushed away from the table and rose to her full height.  She was a little taller than Mom, so he was barely higher than her elbow, and yet for some reason, he always felt so much smaller next to her.  Bringing her hands together in a light clap, Mai said with a wide smile,  “We’ll go see the animals, we’ll get ice cream, and we’ll all have a wonderful time.  Sound good, Firebug?”

Touya stared at her.  “I’m not five anymore.”

“Neither am I, what’s your point?”  She crossed her arms and tilted her head to one side so that her long braid dangled off her shoulder.  “Don’t go acting tough with me.  I know for a fact you still love polar bears.”

He supposed they hadn’t gone to the zoo, or anywhere fun, in a long time. Mom was never the same after Shouto was born, and Dad didn't have time for any of them aside from Shouto. And from the look in her eyes, Aunt Mai knew it, too.

...

(on phone) "This isn't a good time, Naru."

"This is important."

"Is it more important than teaching my niece and nephews how to make tea, preferably without it winding up in someone's face?"

"..."

"..."

"...carry on."

"That's what I thought. Talk later."

...

If you saw my other post notes on this crossover and read the snippet I wrote with Mai and Hawks, you probably already saw that I have the Ghost Hunt cast aged up quite a bit compared to the usual fandom stuff I do.  To clarify, in the current timeline of My Hero’s canon, Mai is forty-six years old.  (She’s actually a month older than Endeavor. There’s nothing significant about that; it’s just petty ‘I’m marginally older than you,’ fodder and I think that’s funny.)

In this crossover, Mai chose to never have children.  Since Quirks are hereditary, she feared passing her Retrocognition and the Death Dreams that come with it along to potential descendants and what it might mutate into over the generations.  She decided her power was one of pain and anguish and she refused to willingly inflict that on someone else.  That said, she did grow up with Rei, so she is very close with Rei’s children and inevitably got herself entangled in the family’s toxic dynamics.  But here is the conundrum I’m having with exploring avenues for this crossover because there are three ways to look at Mai’s presence and how it affects My Hero’s canon, particularly the events revolving around Touya’s ‘death’ and how Mai’s dreams work:

Scenario 1:  The fire and feeling every second of that experience firsthand through one of her dreams was traumatic enough that she was deceived into believing he died.  Canon events continue as normal.

Scenario 2:  Since Touya wasn’t actually killed by the fire, the incident wouldn’t trigger one of her dreams, and therefore she would know he didn’t die, which firmly lands him in missing person territory.  Investigation ensues.

Scenario 3:  The fire never happened.

The reason for this last one is based on this previous post, but the main part of it is Mai definitely is a character who has the mental fortitude and determination to stand up to someone like Endeavor, and the absence of that character-type is a huge part of how and why the situation in the Todoroki family got so out of hand.  Rei would not stand up to the threat to herself or her children, and the kids were too young to do so for themselves even if they were able to understand their family dynamic was not normal/healthy.  No one was checking Endeavor’s behavior.  Enter the very angry sister-in-law and her, “Fuck around and find out, I dare you,” mentality.

That said, I do have the headcanon that adult Mai is also super wary around kids due to her many, many close encounters with weird kids/ghost kids in canon.  So I think her method of dealing with Touya’s increasingly erratic behavior is probably a mixture of resignation, turning to the other three and saying, “Promise me your teenage years won’t be like this,” and then having to go talk the little pyromaniac down from whatever frenzy he’s worked himself into because apparently neither parent was going to do it.

Bringing us to the million dollar question: Can Mai deal with Touya?

Well…between how quickly she interceded with what the creepy Yoshimi kids were up to and her lifelong career of dealing with arrogant, little shits…yes, yes she can.  If she can handle Naru’s arrogance, Ayako and Takigawa’s bickering, and Yasuhara’s bullshit all in the same day, she can handle a thirteen year old having a crisis.

Plus, I think if she knew he was on Sekoto Peak, waiting for his dad in the dark and the cold, it would probably bring up some uncomfortable memories of what happened to Kenji, so she definitely would’ve gone looking for him.

[bluedalahorse]

musings before I go to the market

Thinking this morning about how of the YR character studies I’ve written by myself, I have one centered on Sara, one about August, one about Simon, and one about Felice.

I’m about to talk about kudos, which can feel kinda gauche, but I mostly want to bring them up from the angle of something that contradicted my expectations a bit.

So it turns out that:

the August-centered fic (published in June 2024) has the most kudos at 32

Sara’s fic (published in September 2021) comes next at 29

Felice (published in August of 2024) is next at 25

and Simon (from July 2024) comes in last at 21

I don’t want to draw too many conclusions about this, because it’s a very small sample size. But it’s interesting.

What really contradicted my expectations is that the August fic has the most kudos. Moreover, it’s a fic that takes a pretty optimistic view of August’s future and portrays him as a relatively decent guy who’s trying to do the right thing. I think some of this might be timing-related—it was written close enough to the aftermath of season 3 that the post-completion fandom surge hadn’t quite died down yet, and while August had his vocal detractors I also think there were a lot more fans in the fandom last spring who gave him grace and wanted him to grow. I do sometimes wonder if that undercurrent in fandom still exists, very quietly, and that anti-August sentiment is perceived as “universal” in YR fandom because it’s what select people are most vocal about. Are people more hopeful toward/interested in/just plain curious about August than they let on? Sometimes I want to believe that, but I also don’t want to be naive.

Sara’s fic having 29 kudos seems to be in part due to its longevity. It’s been around forever, which I think is what allowed people to find it and read it. It’s my first fic, but not my best fic. There’s some cultural error weirdness and some side characters who aren’t used well. Other than that, it’s written in a pretty polarizing format—verse and second person. But it’s a fun little Good For Her story about revenge! I also think this speaks to the bigger size of the fandom in the early days, and the fact that there was more interest in non-Wilmon characters.

I think of all the fics I posted to AO3, the Felice one is the one that got the most reblogs when I announced it on tumblr. It also brought in readers outside of my usual circle. I attempted a more traditional fanfic form here, and had fun playing with it. In some ways, I think of it as the fic where I was most itching to make a statement, because I just had A Lot Of Feelings about the part where fandom (myself included) often praises Felice for being a selfless and generous friend. I wanted to poke at that notion a bit. I wonder what kind of reception it would have gotten if it had been published at the same time as the August fic, like which one would have caught people’s attention more. There is a lot of professed interest in Felice—she won the non-Wilmon favorite character poll, back in the day, after all—but I always wonder how that translates to fan interest in stories centered on her.

The other stat that really surprises me here is Simon coming in dead last for kudos, because he is after all the fandom’s most beloved. I can see there being reasons for this, though. First of all, the fic is written in verse, which is polarizing. It was also published during Simon’s month (I had at first hoped to attach it to a prompt, but then second guessed myself about that) so I was competing with a lot of other Simon fics. It’s maybe the closest thing I’ve written to a traditional wilmon fic, but Simon’s relationships with Sara and Linda are put on equal footing, and also I am just… I have a very particular way of writing romance that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. So I feel like it exists in this uncanny valley between traditional wilmon fic and my usual YR fanfic brand. At the same time, the people who liked it seemed to like it a lot! So there’s that.

Anyway, I’m about to add Vincent to the mix as of tomorrow, in a serialized drabble format with multiple POVs. So it will be interesting to see what kind of engagement he—a much more secondary character—gets compared to main characters.

I feel like I’m wearing a little lab coat and goggles and such. Let’s do fandom science!

[ask-the-handpuppet-bon-bon]

hello!

so hi I’m Bon-Bon! Umm… u can ask me things… and idk what to put here

ask box is titled: press this to interact

Ask box is always open!

(ooc: I’m bored and here is a few details:

I’m a minor

my time zone is in Missouri

my main blog is @concerned-wet-floor-sign-bot

Bon-Bon is a boy if anyone forgot or didn’t know that.

there is a blog for Bonnet it’s run by me as well and it is @ask-the-handpuppet-bonnet

In this Bon-Bon is the friendly one and wud never hurt a fly quite literally unless he has a really good reason to.

Bon-Bon doesn’t usually get a say in what happens example he never wanted to be a part of enard and he also never wanted to scoop Michael he actually wanted Michael and all the other night guards to leave alive.

My version of Bon-Bon has a small fear of FT Freddy mostly from his loud echoing voice and large size but also from when he used to throw him down long hallways and he would land on the floor, and also FT Freddy is reasonably a very scary character and animatronic, But don’t get it wrong they are genuinely good friends.

Bon-Bon sometimes refers to Funtime Freddy as “my psychotic bear of a friend” and “the smaller but scarier version of a polar bear” and rarely “the closest thing I have to legs”.

Bon-Bon knows pretty much everything about FT Freddy.

Bonnet exists and is Bon-Bon’s friend and possible girlfriend.

U can honestly ask anything at all and be known I will always answer asks and if I don’t I either don’t have time, have a long response, haven’t seen the ask, or I cud be drawing something for the reply.

I don’t draw often.

yes I can draw but I will only post my digital art and it has to have something to do with rp or a ask or some comment.

u don’t have to have a actual question when u do a ask it cud be a comment or anything.

Imo Bon-Bon Is the only Funtime other than Bonnet who doesn’t have any murder in his programming and as a result he is easily upset by the mention of it and is very emotional when it comes to kids and that sort of stuff

in my opinion Bon-Bon is pansexual! Wich means he loves people regardless of their gender so he would date anyone without caring about their gender.

Bon-Bon will sometimes just stare off into the distance after saying “I wish I had legs…” he is just thinking about how wonderful it would be if he had legs. )

(ooc I will edit this every once in awhile if I notice that I forgot something or there’s a typo or stuff like that)