hiirenvirnas

[strwbrymlkshake]

finished my normalcy phase returning to the horrors

[weirdmageddon]

the shift in lore literacy in homestuck’s fandom

i was thinking about how the people who got into homestuck after it ended—whose interactions with the comic are in a static, archived state, not an ongoing thing—missed out on information that was more common knowledge in the fandom at that time. i don’t know if this is true since i’m not on tiktok, but i wouldn’t be surprised if it was. the fandom certainly isn’t the same as it was before.

ive found that many people reading homestuck now simply do not understand things in homestuck that were common knowledge back in the day, with calls for “homestuck literacy classes to become mandatory” in response to baffling takes because so many people just now seem to have glazed over the comic without absorbing important plot points, and i think i know why this may be. i ended up writing a post reflecting on my time with the comic, my perspective and how ive seen this change. i still think and write about homestuck because it still fascinates me. earlier i quote retweeted that call in my thread talking about the temporal relativity of dave and rose’s god tier ascension in the green sun, saying “my homestuck literacy is 100% so guess im doing my part as a teacher by pointing out whatever i think is really cool about it”. this post im writing now started out as a reply to this tweet i got in response.

i joined the fandom in 2013. i was 11. i had been aware of it since at least late 2011, early 2012 when my friend ryan in fifth grade told me to read it but i couldn’t get past the first few pages. i remember writing a journal on deviantart around this time (late 2011-early 2012) that was mocking people who typed like gamzee, which ironically was very karkat of me. and i remember someone on flipnote hatena i was following was making flipnotes with the alpha kids.

i dont know what caused me to flip the switch into reading it but 2013. i got into it somewhere between april (i think closer to april—i remember it being quite a span of time between the last update before HOMOSUCK dropped.) this was the most recent page the comic, meaning there was no > [S] ACT 6 ACT 6 at the bottom.

i got into it during a pause in updates, which looking into it, was the year 4 megapause. i wasn’t sure of the month until seeing the news post detailing the reason for the hiatus and the status report of the comic’s development at that time. pretty cool i could narrow it down by referencing the dates of those updates and the news post to correspond with the pause!

according to readmspa, the year 4 megapause was a 59 day hiatus from Apr 14, 2013 ==> (EOA6A5) running to 12 Jun 2013, [S] ACT 6 ACT 6. then for a few months there were the first updates that i was apart of the fandom for.

and what an exciting time during the story get into the webcomic! when the updates resumed in june, part 4 of homestuck had begun. here was a glimpse of the updates in that span of time before the next hiatus began in october.

that hiatus was none other than the gigapause, the longest hiatus in the comic, which started october 2013 and lasted for a YEAR, and i already posted about what happened on the date of return.

but here were the main events happening in the story at the time i first actually got interested in it. i wasn’t aware of the full context of them then like i am now, but i was looking at the most recent updates anyway with interest:

the alpha kids just emerged as god tiers from their slabs in derse and prospit, blown up by the condesce and caliborn / lil cal-possessed b2 jack noir.

the journey to the new session started 24 hours after jack called an early reckoning in descend—for context that was about when dave entered around midnight central time and before jade even entered. it’s pretty easy to forget that side 1 of homestuck basically happens within the span of a single day—and at this point in the story, the 3 year journey (which was also 3 real life years) had just ended. john and jade emerged from the other side of the yellow yard through the fenestrated plane on LOMAX. john’s real body was asleep upon arrival in the new session, while his dreaming projection out in the dream bubbles came across vriska’s ghost ship to learn lord english lore with vriska and aranea, and go on the treasure hunt where they found the ultimate weapon at the X mark out in in the furthest ring. in the dream john stuck his hand in the juju, started warping all over canon which removed his real body from the ship on LOMAX. he zapped around for a while but eventually zapped back to LOMAX, now awake, completely out of the loop of what everyone else is up to, and bored as fuck. what was everyone else getting up to while john was asleep?

jade was now once again within the domain of the green sun. im pretty sure her space god doggy essence comes with the power to sense what was anywhere within the domain of the session since her face looks like she arrived at that spot with intent (and she literally has jack noir’s exact powers from bec’s prototyping. also this panel). she immediately dispatched b2 jack to the edge of the incinisphere, defending the newly god-tiered jane and jake. i think even if they weren’t in any danger, she would have warped to them instantly anyway because she COULD now, and i can imagine she wouldve been sooooo eager to meet everyone. even davesprite comments about her rapid departure.

the pre-scratch refugees arrived during the only time serious shit ever went down in the nobles’ months-long inert void session. the condesce used her freak psychic bronze-cerulean powers to commune with jade’s bestial side and mind controlled her, which is super dangerous as someone with the powers of a first guardian. she then used jade’s powers to corrupt jane with the tiaratop. no funtime meetup allowed!

the trolls’ meteor with rose, dave, and the remaining trolls was pulling up into the new session with no way to slow it down. grimbark jade warped there once it was in the incinisphere and took active control. she warped everyone off the trolls’ meteor and sent them to LOMAX.

as john was losing his mind on LOMAX waiting for everyone, the meteor crew warped in. after 3 years he finally reunited with rose and dave, and at least saw the trolls in person. close curtains, end of A6A5. this was the newest [S] flash page at the time, one of my first impressions of this comic, and still one of my favorite flashes. knowing the context of the flash in the story only enhances the retrospective joy i have at getting into the comic at the time i did because it’s such an anticipated moment in the story for everyone, while for someone with no context of the story it was still enjoyable.

so that’s what was going on plotwise when i joined the fandom.

from this time, through those few months of updates and through the gigapause, i was familarizing myself with the characters in the story and overseeing the state of fanbase, getting myself acquainted with the story and wrapping my head around everything.

at that time i found that a new-ish group called colab HQ who were producing a let’s read homestuck series on youtube. hearing the voices and the pacing of it like that really, really eased me into it (maybe it was my adhd that gave me trouble actually starting it?). i caught up to a certain point using lets read homestuck and from that point was able to continue with the comic on my own, and by the time the gigapause came to a close i was fully caught up. i remember the rebranding of colab hq into voxus about a year and a half after i discovered them.

but.. back to the main point of my post. even these posts from hussie’s tumblr exist in archived states. how many new fans know about hussie’s old tumblr? i don’t know, unless theyre a new fan that must scour the internet for more deep more dives on homestuck and its fandom as a whole. but since hussie deleted his tumblr (it exists archived now on homestuck.net which, alongside from the unofficial homestuck collection, has nearly singlehandedly kept the most important relics of the fandom and lore archived), that page is not an active part of the fandom now, because it’s gone. it’s a pile of bones. it’s not living and breathing. it’s in an archived state. the whole thing is already there. homestuck and its fandom history is something you now binge instead of slowly consume and meld with as it comes out. it’s now this rapid information intake that you might forget about if you read it now instead of engaged alongside it. you’re not surrounded by people actively talking and theorizing about developments anymore. the ability to have those sorts of conversations during the ongoing development of the story reinforced concepts, ideas, and lore over and over as we tried to make sense of it.

being in a fandom when the author is still delivering the story is like nothing else. it allows you grow alongside the characters and engage meaningfully with the media and people in the fandom space around you. it feels like you’re participating IN the media itself, especially if you’re interfacing with the creator. it’s in always having something to theorize or talk about and speculate. and people become very aware of these sorts of forgotten story facts because they were applying the logic of the newest official post from hussie into making their sburb ocs or something and share resources and discussion posts about “what just happened in this update?? recap????” it was this cultural osmosis thing. i think this is why homestuck literacy is now at an all time low, at least from what i can see on twitter.

reading homestuck then vs now is like the difference between serialized shows with spaces between episodes to discuss stuff and time to reflect and learn and become attached to the story, narrative, worldbuilding and its characters, vs the netflix model where it’s all dropped all at once and people forget about it after binging.

at this point in time im getting the sense that “homestuck elders” now are no longer just people who were there since 2009-2010, but now also people who were there while it was still updating, probably stretching into 2014-2015. there are many sources of lore that were common knowledge in the fandom at the time that, since becoming susceptible to the deletion of content and link rot, and with the thanosing of mspaforums, are no longer accessible at the source. and a lot of people moved on after it ended, especially following the epilogues, the kate drama, and the whatpumpkin-sarah z drama, leaving a void of information behind if not for archivists and people such as me who continue to keep old facts relevant in discussions. my friend has called me a fandom scholar before and seeing this post i think i get what they mean.

EDIT: there is a series of video essays ive watched multiple times (because theyre that good) and they are exactly what modern fans need to see more of. they really help contextualize the comic and the themes present in it help you appreciate the basic fabric of homestuck a hell of a lot more. i highly recommend them and encourage any fan of homestuck to watch them, or someone considering getting into homestuck to watch the first one.

i think this is arguably as close to the “mandatory literacy class for homestuck” that person was talking about as you can get, especially the first video.

additionally, there is also the website https://rafe.name/homestuck which is essentially a sparknotes for homestuck and can help you follow developments in the comic itself.

[chuunai]

Henlo I have something to add to the 100 followers event if that’s cool

Dazai with scenario 2 and prompt 16. Idk how these things traditionally go but…. Your stuff seems good so far and I’m excited to see what you do with this

Thank you thank you, Anon. Also sorry for how long this took everyone I swear I’m combing through the requests 3_3

✧˚ · . dad first, detective second - dazai osamu

who would’ve imagined the demon prodigy having a hellion of his own?

summary ⋆ ★ comfort, fluff, established relationship (marriage with reader), SFW → baby baby baby, Dazai really likes your boobs, etc.

It’s a perfect night, really.

Your warm body resting against his, limbs lazily tossed over each other as you snuggled and acted like lovesick fools. Moonlight poured in from the cracks of the curtains, casting small slivers on your face. Dazai couldn’t help but think of an angel when it came to you. A heavenly being that granted him a new life and forgave him for his past.

Nudging at your cheek with his nose, his voice came out in a sleepy tone.

“You should sleep, [name].”

His hand reached up to cup your face, playfully using his thumbs to gently close your eyelids like one would do with a body. He’d seen many people in the Mafia do that—try and make the deaths they caused seem more peaceful rather than a brutal end. Dazai himself never did that. No need in beautifying a simple concept of its finality and simplicity.

“Can’t. I know she’s about to wake up. It’s nearly eleven, and we put her to sleep at seven. I can tell.”

You shook your head stubbornly, looking at the baby monitor nearby where static noise and the occasional mix of a tiny snore and coo came from.

His little hellion.

Really, he had no clue how he got so lucky. First with the fact that he impregnated you and you carried his baby. Second with the fact that he had his own family now. And third with the fact she looked so much like him. Thick brown curls of hair on her head, big curious eyes that looked at him so adoringly. The tiny freckles and birthmarks scattered across her skin. She had some of your features, yes, but they were more subtle than his features.

Coupled with the fact that she was a bundle of energy and sass like him.

“I insist, pretty. Shinju needs her daddy too.”

He knew how much she made you tired with her habit for refusing to nap for more than an hour or two coupled with breastfeeding and the general responsibility and time that being a mom took. Dazai wanted to spend time with his daughter too and relieve your stress. You’d get sleep, he’d get to see Shinju. Win-win, in all accounts.

Hell, he even gave you puppy eyes in the darkness of your room.

“I…fine. But don’t wake me up if you screw up.”

Dramatically, he sighed and frowned, placing a hand on his heart.

“Does my ‘bella really think I’m an incompetent father? How heartbreaking and cruel of her!”

Much to his relief, you playfully groaned, pinching his sides lightly.

“I didn’t say that, dummy. God, I swear Shinju is more mature than you.”

Jesus, you were so insulting tonight. How was the baby that tried to put anything she could in her mouth more mature than him? Sure, he was a bit funny and childish, but he wasn’t a baby. Well, if he had his face buried in your boobs he’d be a baby. Still, it’s not his fault that they’re just so big and warm and squishy and seem to beg for his attention.

Which is what he soon did, resting his head on your chest while cupping them softly. You were wearing one of his shirts and a nursing bra underneath. He wished you weren’t wearing anything at all, but it wasn’t fair to ask for that when you recently gave birth just a mere two months ago. His libido lowered itself only for you. And when you did have sex—quickies when Shinju would nap—, he was so much nicer and loving than usual. The mother of his child didn’t deserve rough mean sex, no, she deserved gentle treatment under the sheets of their futon.

You deserved everything that he could possibly give you.

So when the small baby demon eventually began to wake up and whimper, he pressed a kiss onto your cheek and slowly got up, whistling a small tune under his breath before waking to the makeshift nursery nearby.

Opening the door slowly, he made his way to the crib and picked up his sniffling newborn, shushing her comfortingly.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Daddy’s here. We don’t want to wake up mama, okay?”

Her tiny hands balled up into fists, weakly moving around and occasionally hitting his chest. Sitting down on the rocking chair nearby, he fumbled around for one of her stuffed animals, grabbing the familiar bunny as he placed it in her arms.

“Look there, Shinju. It’s your bunny!”

From an authoritative Mafia executive to a tired loving father. Lord, Chuuya would be laughing his ass off. Or have that stupid face of confusion while he’d berate Dazai with questions about what unlucky woman had to bear his spawn. But what could that short alcoholic of a ginger say? No woman wanted to birth his babies.

He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when Shinju’s tiny fingers began to grab at his chest, thinking he could feed her too. He could, just not straight from the source unlike you. Standing up, he went over to the mini-fridge nearby which contained bottles of your milk. It wasn’t too chilly, and so he carried it and the cooing baby to the kitchen where he warmed it up in the microwave.

After it warmed up, he carefully began to feed her, leaning back against the counter as he did so.

It still felt so odd to him. Caring and loving someone he helped to create. His self from ten years ago would never believe it—that they’d find love and even have a baby after escaping the Mafia. He had you to thank for that. The one who picked up the discarded pieces of his soul and welded it into the man he is today—a father first, and a detective second.

Kinda rushed the end but I couldn’t think of anything more :(

Tags: @twst-om-lover, @sinfulthoughtsposts, @xxcandlelightxx

[demuredociledoll]

kitty's bimbo bucket list

As my bio states I am literally just a girl. Please treat me as such. Please do not treat me differently because of my gender transition. Please do not bring it up unless I bring it up first. If you do, I'll get skittish and sad and it won't be nearly as fun a conversation as it could be. Use these to break me

soooooo i'm a tgirly who's been on hrt a long time now, i have great tits and great ass and my brain is Way fuzzier but like. i want more. i wanna be like the cool girls i see on who are just completley ultrafeminine. i wanna be the perfect boys girl. im like. might to be a bimbo tradwife. i wanna be that so bad. ive also like. been doing the bambi 20 day challenge and its like. making me realise i neeed to make these changes lol

so i thought id like. make a list of things i need to do to be the girl of my dreams i see girls with lots of fun lists where they like say "at 10 reblogs i'll do this and i kinda like. wanna arrange this like one of those eventually (if you see a bimbofication step-by-step around PLease send it to me!! i love doing what rules say). reeeeeeeally reeally reeally open to feedback and other things to include on this list.

Bimbofying my looks

so this bits like. ways i want to look prettier :)

Nails always varnished: i think this might be the most easy for me to do as i spend a lot of time painting my nails anyway, but i wanna make like a pledge to make sure my nails are Never left unpainted. i think this would be a good place to start on this

Makeup every day - i used to wear makeup every day before covid and i reeeeeeeeeally wanna get back into the swing of it. i only do it like, maybe like once every few months which just Sucks. especially when i look so pretty doing it. so i wanna like get back into a position where i do my go to routine (foundation+eye shadow+eye liner+lipstick+lip liner) at least once a month, then at least once a week, then at least every day i'm not working, then at least every day i dont have like, a work video call, then every day.

Dyeing my hair: i reeeeeeeeally wanna dye my hair but im so scared of losing my natural colour. so im thinking of like, starting Blonde frosted tips as a start, before working up to being a totally bleach blonde

Get rid of trousers and only wear skirts: girls literally shouldnt wear trousers. it literally should be illegal. i wanna like. slowly get to a point where i only wear skirts. skirts make it easy for boys to access my holes :) but actually having said that. boys really like tight clothes. so i should keep wearing ultra tight. i also need to really increase my lingerie and sexy clothes collecshon :)

Lip fillers!! I reeeeeeeeeally wanna get lip fillers but i know its gonna be a big step to get there. i wanna do everythign i can to make my lips bigger naturally in the meantime. i think i wanna get lip fillers first before i think about. bigger tits. i reeeeeeeally want srs so bad but like., thats the goverments problem

getting bgiger: im like sooooo thin at the moment, and i neeeeeeed to get bigger tits and a bigger belly to make me more grabbable and wobbly. its a little diffcult because ive got like. lots of tummy issues. but i wanna slowly scale up my food intake. ive been eating lots of ice cream but i wanna like. follow a proper plan for biggerising myself feedee style

brain feminisation and IQ reduction

sooooo this sections like. ways to girlify my brain and make sure i just think girl thoughts

im alreayd doing good on hypnos with the bambi challenge (which is going soooooo well!! im learning sosososooso much :) ). but like. i wanna keep listening to hypnos moer

staying in my place; i'm already Really good at this. doing the cooking, cleaning, housekeeping, serving men in every way i can i am already 100% that. i stepped back from a job recently so ill have even more time to do that and i can't Wait.

knowing my place: despite this i clearly like, have a tonne of feminist baggage from my old self i really need to get rid of. i need to like. have my opinions broken and like, have like the gender politics of a conservative American housewife drilled into me. i wanna genuinely believe that women should stay in the kitchen and women shouldnt work and shoudl just serve men (smart boys please please please fix me!!!). i want pro-patriarhcy to be like. my mission in life. im thinking of like. writing lots of good girl essays on tumblr to try and fix my brain lol

dumming down my writing and speaking: likeee i think im already making good practice on this, ive been workiing on a lot lately. im trying to like. not use words longer than two soundy things, like short words, with the only ones allowed being like. sexy words. and mispeling them when i cant use any other words that are small. and using the wrong words and to like get rid of capital letters apostroches. i think im getting there on this. i also need to dumb down my speaking but honestly like im already there with that, i always say words wrong and everyone makes so much fun of me for it, it turns me a lot when people make fun of me for saying words wrong lol :)

girlify my music tastes: i reeeeeeally need to get into some girlier music. i really want to. currently i dont really have much of a music taste, i mostly just listen to synthy tunes and stuff which are easy to listen to while doing worky things. however, like ive tried listening to more popular stuff like taylor swift and the brat album and its like, okay, but its like not my thing lol. I used to be suuuuuuper into paramore but im like, aware thats a more like punchy girl band and im like not that lol. update im gonna work these into my daily music playlists!!

girlify my media intake and hobbies: currently i listen to a lot of boy stuff inherited from my old self, like ww2 books and podcasts which are...boring lol. i dont want learn things like that anymore. i wannna watch more stuff thats for girls, but im not really too sure where to begin? ive tried like, reading girleir magazines like Good Housekeeping and the like but it doesnt like. completely engage me lol

taking cock and being a good sexdoll

this section is like. ways i wanna be a better fuckdoll :)

m already like. so good at blowjobs. i absoltuely adore blowjobs. i dont think theres anything i need to improve here. i already deep throat, swallow every time. id like to take more facials though :)

but i neeeeeed to get better with my other hole. again i used to ride my dildo all the time prepandemic but ive fallen out the habit, its like my makeup i only really play on veyr special ocassions

increase my toy collecshun: my toys are not in as good condition as they used to be and i want like. good ones. i need to like. make a good purchase of some good quality toys for assfucking. i already have some good buttplugs :)

get good at getting my ass fucked: im thinking of like. mirroring what i did with my makeup here. like go from wearing my buttplug for a long period at least once a month, once a week, when im not working...etc. and likewise wiht my dildo. aggain its hard because i have a lot of tummy and bottom issues.

Only cum with permisson: this is so important. girls literally should not control their cumming. it should literally be against the law. im thinking of listening to cals curse some more to like. make that a hard and fast rule lol

so like!! this is what i kind think of right now. but i really wanna like. learn more from others and think. thank you!!!!!!!!

[rockalillygirl]

Mamma mia here we go again…

So I have more thoughts because apparently there’s no bottom to the murderbot mindhole I’ve fallen down.

(Spoiler warning- minor stuff from several of the books, pls check tags etc.)

I’ve been reading a lot of things recently exploring Murderbot as an unreliable narrator, which I think is a cool result of System Collapse (because we all know our beloved MB is going through it in this one). There’s also been some interesting related discussion of MB’s distrust of and sometimes biased assessment/treatment of other constructs and bots.

And I’ve been reading a lot about CombatUnits! And I want to talk about them!!

Main thoughts can be summarized as follows:

We don’t see a lot about CombatUnits in the books, and I think what we do see from MB’s pov encourages the reader to view them as less sympathetic than other constructs.

I’m very skeptical of this portrayal for reasons.

The existence of CombatUnits makes me fucking sad and I have a lot of feelings about them!

I got introduced to the idea of MB as an unreliable narrator in a post by onironic It analyzes how in SC, MB seems to distrust Three to a somewhat unreasonable degree, and how it sometimes infantilizes Three or treats it the way human clients have treated it in the past. The post is Amazing and goes into way more detail, so pls go read it (link below):

https://www.tumblr.com/onironic/736245031246135296?source=share

So these ideas were floating around in my brain when I read an article Martha Wells recently published in f(r)iction magazine titled “Bodily Autonomy in the Murderbot Diaries”. I’ll link the article here:

(Rn the only way to access the article is to subscribe to the magazine or buy an e-copy of the specific issue which is $12)

In the article, Wells states that MB displaced its fear of being forced to have sex with humans onto the ComfortUnit in Artificial Condition. I think it’s reasonable to assume that MB also does this with other constructs. With Three, I think it’s more that MB is afraid if what it knows Three is capable of, or (as onironic suggests in their post and I agree with) some jealousy that Three seems more like what humans want/expect a rogue SecUnit to be.

But I want to explore how this can be applied to CombatUnits, specifically.

We don’t learn a lot about them in the books. One appears for a single scene in Exit Strategy, and that’s it. What little else we know comes from MB’s thoughts on them sprinkled throughout the series. To my knowledge, no other character even mentions them (which raises interesting questions about how widely-known their existence is outside of high-level corporate military circles).

When MB does talk about CombatUnits in the early books, it’s as a kind of boogeyman figure (the real “murderbots” that even Murderbot is afraid of). And then when one does show up in ES, it’s fucking terrifying! There’s a collective “oh shit” moment as both MB and the reader realize what it’s up against. Very quickly what we expect to be a normal battle turns into MB running for its life, desperately throwing up hacks as the CombatUnit slices through them just as fast. We and MB know that it wouldn’t have survived the encounter if its humans hadn’t helped it escape. So the CombatUnit really feels like a cut above the other enemies in the series.

And what struck me reading that scene was how the CombatUnit acts like the caricature of an “evil robot” that MB has taught us to question. It seems single-mindedly focused on violence and achieving its objective, and it speaks in what I’d call a “Terminator-esque” manner: telling MB to “Surrender” (like that’s ever worked) and responds to MB’s offer to hack its governor module with “I want to kill you” (ES, pp 99-100).

(Big tangent: Am I the only one who sees parallels between this and how Tlacey forces the ComfortUnit to speak to MB in AC? She makes it suggest they “kill all the humans” because that’s how she thinks constructs talk to each other (AC, pp 132-4). And MB picks up on it immediately. So why is that kind of talk inherently less suspicious coming from a CombatUnit than a ComfortUnit? My headcanon is that I’m not convinced the CombatUnit was speaking for itself. What if a human controller was making it say things they thought would be intimidating? Idk maybe I’ve been reading too many fics where CombatUnits are usually deployed with a human handler. There could be plenty of reasons why the CombatUnit would’ve talked like that. I’m just suspicious.)

(Also, disclaimer: I want to clarify before I go on that I firmly believe that even though MB seems to be afraid of CombatUnits and thinks they’re assholes, it would still advocate for them to have autonomy. I’m not trying to say that either MB or Wells sees CombatUnits as less worthy of personhood or freedom- because I feel the concept that “everything deserves autonomy” is very much at the heart of the series.)

So it’s clear from all of this that MB is scared of CombatUnits and distrusts them for a lot of reasons. I read another breathtaking post by @grammarpedant that gives a ton of examples of this throughout the books and has some great theories on why MB might feel this way. I’ll summarize the ones here that inspired me the most, but pls go read the original post for the full context:

https://www.tumblr.com/grammarpedant/703920247856562177?source=share

OP explains that SecUnits and CombatUnits are pretty much diametrically opposed because of their conflicting functions: Security safeguards humans, while Combat kills them. Of course these functions aren’t rigid- MB has implied that it’s been forced to be violent towards humans before, and I’m sure that extracting/guarding important assets could be a part of a CombatUnit's function. But it makes sense that MB would try to distance itself from being considered a CombatUnit, using its ideas about them to validate the parts of its own function that it likes (protecting people). OP gives what I think is the clearest example of this, which is the moment in Fugitive Telemetry when MB contrasts its plan to sneak aboard a hostile ship and rescue some refugees with what it calls a “CombatUnit” plan, which would presumably involve a lot more murder (FT, p 92).

This reminds me again of what Wells said in the f(r)iction article, that on some level MB is frightened by the idea that it could have been made a ComfortUnit (friction, p 44). I think the idea that it could’ve been a CombatUnit scares it too, and that’s why it keeps distinguishing itself and its function from them. But I think it’s important to point out, that in the above example from FT, even MB admits that the murder-y plan it contrasts with its own would be one made by humans for CombatUnits. So again we see that we just can’t know much about the authentic nature of CombatUnits, or any constructs with intact governor modules, because they don’t have freedom of expression. MB does suggest that CombatUnits may have some more autonomy when it comes to things like hacking and combat which are a part of their normal function. But how free can those choices be when the threat of the governor module still hangs over them?

I think it could be easy to fall into the trap of seeing CombatUnits as somehow more complicit in the systems of violence in the mbd universe. But I think that’s because we often make a false association between violence and empowerment, when even in our world that’s not always the case. But, critically, this can’t be the case for CombatUnits because they’re enslaved in the same way SecUnits and ComfortUnits are (though the intricacies are different).

There was another moment in the f(r)iction article that I found really chilling. Wells states that there’s a correlation between SecUnits that are forced to kill humans and ones that go rogue (friction, p 45). It’s a disturbing thought on its own, but I couldn’t help wondering then how many CombatUnits try to hack their governor modules? And what horrible lengths would humans go to to stop them? I refuse to believe that a CombatUnit’s core programming would make it less effected by the harm its forced to perpetrate. That might be because I’m very anti-deterministic on all fronts, but I just don’t buy it.

I’m not entirely sure why I feel so strongly about this. Of course, I find the situation of all constructs in mbd deeply upsetting. But the more I think about CombatUnits, the more heartbreaking their existence seems to me. There’s a very poignant moment in AC when MB compares ART’s function to its own to explain why there are things it doesn’t like about being a SecUnit (AC, p 33). In that scene, MB is able to identify some parts of its function that it does like, but I have a hard time believing a CombatUnit would be able to do the same. I’m not trying to say that SecUnits have it better (they don’t) (the situation of each type of construct is horrible in it’s own unique way). It’s just that I find the idea of construct made only for violence and killing really fucking depressing. I can’t even begin to imagine the horror of their day-to-day existence.

@grammarpedant made another point in their post that I think raises a TON of important questions not only about CombatUnits, but about how to approach the idea of “function” when it comes to machine intelligence in general. They explain that, in a perfect version of the mbd universe, there wouldn’t be an obvious place for CombatUnits the way there could be for SecUnits and ComfortUnits who wanted to retain their original functions. A better world would inherently be a less violent one, so where does that leave CombatUnits? Would they abandon their function entirely, or would they find a way to change it into something new?

I’ve been having a lot of fun imagining what a free CombatUnit would be like. But in some ways it’s been more difficult than I expected. I’ve heard Wells say in multiple interviews that one of her goals in writing Murderbot was to challenge people to empathize with someone they normally wouldn’t, and I find CombatUnits challenging in exactly that way. Sometimes I wonder if I would’ve felt differently about these books if MB had been a CombatUnit instead of a SecUnit. Would I have felt such an immediate connection to MB if its primary function before hacking its governor module had been killing humans, or if it didn’t have relatable hobbies like watching media? Or if it didn’t have a human face for the explicit purpose of making people like me more comfortable? I’m not sure that I would have.

Reading SC has got me interested in exploring the types of people that humans (or even MB itself) would struggle to accept. So CombatUnits are one of these and possible alien-intelligences are another. All this is merely a small sampling of the thoughts that have been swirling around in my brain-soup! So if anyone is interested in watching me fumble my way through these concepts in more detail, I may be posting “something” in the very near future!

Would really appreciate anyone else’s thoughts about all of THIS^^^^ It’s been my obsession over the holidays and helping me cope with family stress and flying anxiety.

[mirrorsims]

Sooo.. I may have a tiny bit of an obsession w the 60s, 70s & 80s, and therefore I've accumulated a lot of CAS custom content both made for and capable of working in that time-frame! Here is a (very non-finalized) master list of said CC. I will most likely edit this, or post a part two. (I am also 100% open to WCIFs regarding these decades, vague and specific!) Full list below the cut, but creators shown in the preview are @ridgeport @simduction @ice-creamforbreakfast @feralpoodles @hezzasims @simstrouble @joliebean @zombietrait @its-adrienpastel @deathpoke1qa, @leeleesims1

(an * denotes a TSR link)

1960s

Sets

@enriques4 & @serenity-cc's Back to the 60s set is a must have for bright 60s basics to mix and match

@sentate & @trillyke's 1990s-themed 2020 Collab has pieces that are perfect for mod fashions

From babydoll to boho, Sentate's April 2021 Collection has it all for late 1960s & early 1970s looks alike

For some gorgeous turn of the decade looks, be sure to nab @ice-creamforbreakfast's Date Night Collection

Clothing & Footwear

Create more early 1960s looks with @gilded-ghosts Earth Angel dress!

I love @ridgeport's Birdie skirt as a mod mini! It comes in tons of colors & excellent patterns

amythesailor's Twiggy dress is full of fun patterns and colorways!

If you need something bright, @deathpoke1qa's 60's dress and matching go-go boots are the way to go

Hair

@simduction's blog is full of big fun retro hairstyles, but their Nancy, Peggy, & Beecky hairs are some of my favorites of the bunch.

@daylifesims also has a ton of fun picks, Shades of Cool, Hammer Horror, Heavy Bangs, & their Daphne and Fred Hairs are best suited for 60s style

@joshseoh's Blaire hair is cute and curly for a peppy 60s chick!

@feralpoodles' Monique & Monica Hairs are sleek and modish, they're perfect on their own or with some accessory bangs

Lets talk beehives. @ravensim's Terri Hair is loose and wavy, ridgeport's Fleur Hair is stacked and layered. @candysims4 has two beautiful beehives, Follow Me & the long and sleek Bee Hair.

@glimersims' Sugar Hair is an adorable flippy half-updo

A more 50's style like @birksche's Higher Twist Hair is perfect for your older sims

And @okruee's Bordeaux Hair is a wonderfully messy bun

1970s

Sets

Lets start the decade off strong with Gilded-Ghosts & @surely-sims' Perfect Party Set, which includes some gorgeous Build/Buy items as well (and BB could and should be a masterlist of its own..)

@joliebean & @clumsyalienn's Slavic Allure set lends itself perfectly to hippie and prairie style looks in a gorgeous Eastern-European inspired package.

On the topic of hippie, clumsyalienn's Heatwave Pack is perfect for all your free-spirited Sims

And so is serentiy-cc's Bohemian Child collection- that fur coat is a must have

Now for something bold and fun, straight out of Sears, ice-creamforbreakfast's 70s-inspired November 2022 set

Clothing & Footwear

@glumbut has never let me down with their Sonny and Dahlia jeans, and their Aroa top is recent favorite of mine

I love using ridgeport's Phia Suit for some good late-70s professional girl vibes

Hair

I've got some more feralpoodles hair for you, her Diana Hair is perfect for all your flower children & the layered and windswept Lara & Farrah hairs are straight out of the late 70s

And of course more ice-creamforbreakfast, another Fawcett-inspired look with their Farrah Flip, and their Milla Afro is a must have, whether you make vintage sims or not.

@simstrouble's Mirela hair also lends itself to a more subdued 70s style

And if you're looking for a long shag, @kamiiri's got you covered with their Phoebe Hair

1980s

Sets

Joliebean's 5th Avenue Conversion is great for both 80s business & 80s-does-40s looks.

@zombietrait's 80s Goth Pack is perfect for, well, trad goth looks. It's a must.

@dogsill's Upside Down Pack is full of great basics and rockin hair.

A multiparter, @aniraklova's Wild and Stylish 80s sets are over-the-top in the best way possible. Make sure to check out all 3 parts!

Clothing & Footwear

Now, it wouldn't be the 80s without some Wall Street goodness, and @quiddity-jones' Double-Breasted Suit is perfectly patterned for all of your business needs.

Part 2 of @jius-sims' Retro Collection is sweet and classic, perfect for the 80s housewife, or your girl-next-door.

@cooper322's Blondie Jacket is just so splendidly rocker-chic.

More from joliebean, their Ultraviolet & Daytona dresses are wonderful for all sorts of patterned & neon looks

Hair

joliebean's Beatrix Hair is a fun cropped style, it works for all sorts of fem looks, but I especially love it combined with a classic powersuit

@goamazons' Gloria Hair* is equally classy, and even bigger

Now, it wouldn't be the 80s without curly (often permed) looks, so here's some, ranging in volume. Goamazons' Floris Hair*, simstrouble's Beatrice Hair, & @softerhaze's Rhiannon Hair are all long styles with cute curly bangs. simstrouble's Eddie Hair is similar, works for both frames, and rocks a shaggier mullet-style.

@candysims4-ccfinds' Bonnie Hair is a shorter curled look with plenty of volume

Kamiiri's got two hairstyles I *love* for this decade, the Simone Hair is a full, long, curly style, and the Celine Hair is shoulder length with beachy curls and just the right amount of volume.

Multiple-Decade

Sets

As hilarious as it is, ice-creamforbreakfasts' half of the My Wedding Trauma Set has some awesome pieces. The Kelly-Marie Hair works great for 80s looks, and the dresses involved are right out of the class of 1987's prom. It even has an Elvis-inspired jumpsuit. (Check out surley-sims' half for the matching sunglasses)

Clothing & Footwear

@melonsloth's Jolene Outfit is a wonderfully classic outwear piece

@casteru's Bodycon Wrap Dress is just that! It's simple and works great on 70s-80s ladies.

Jius-sims' Retro Collection has some great footwear as well, they're simple and classic enough for all sorts of decades looks

@hezzasims released some beautiful 50s-inspired pieces, though I think they work great in any decade!

Hair

daylifesims' Long Rose Petals hair is simple enough for any decade, though I particularly love it in the late 1970s & early 80s.

The same goes for simstrouble's Rhoda hair, it reminds me so much of my mom's when she was a teen in the 70s & 80s.

[deathclassic]

ART TAG

I just want to see more art and creatives

-

Have you always been interested in creating art? Yes! I've been drawing for as long as I can remember

What's your favourite medium to use? If digital, what programs do you like? I really enjoy drawing traditionally, a lot of the time i sketch and then take a photo to finish it digitally on photoshop (that i pirated)

Do you create outside of fandom? Yes, I draw for myself a lot but I don't really share them

Share something you haven't finished and/or never got around to posting mickey eating vegemite toast which i sent to nosho and never posted here haha

Favourite piece you've made?

ive always liked my beer bottle and carton design

Draw your icon in a minute or less

An underrated piece you've made in your opinion

any of my stranger things fanart bc i dont have any stranger things mutuals <3

Do you do art in a professional setting? kinda? im a qualified graphic designer and im working on a logo for a boxing trainer now

A piece you don't like but did really well on social media

100% this one, dan posted it on his ig story and tagged me in it and used it as his header on twitter for a while too

Post an old piece and compare it to your most recent, what are the similarites?

still doing outfit challenges, still adding a splash of colour in the bg, colour, details and adding waves to hair! also the shading is similar on the stomachs

Have you ever collaborated with another artist/s? yes!! ive done a dan and phil poster with other phan artists, a calendar that @pseudophan organised years ago (i still have it) and some cool one on one stuff with other artists in various fandoms <3

What piece has the most notes? Are you surprised?

this series, very surprised tbh currently at 12k+ notes

Who/What is your favourite subject matter?

People/characters i love, i just love drawing people i enjoy watching ya know

Show us something not from fandom you've made

a modernised take on shakespeares 'Taming of the Shrew', the badge is currently on my battle vest

Where do you like to create? in my bedroom at my desk, i feel inspired in my art corner

Do you have a tag that you use to group your creations? Tell us so people can follow it

'm does art' is my art tag!

Give yourself a shoutout, where can we commission/buy/follow you for more pieces?

commissions - unavailable but will open in a month or so instagram redbubble

tagging: @doshiart @gallapiech @spookygingerr @konaiiro

@michellemisfit @heymrspatel @vintagelacerosette @ghoulish-art-tendencies

@sgtmickeyslaughter @creepkinginc @kiennilove @burninface

@darlingian @suzy-queued

[homestuckreplay]

‘scrawling notes furiously into [my] psychoanalysis journal’

(page 460-471)

8/12/2009 Wheel Spin: Long Pesterlog Verdict: One Day Too Soon

8/13/2009 Wheel Spin: Movie Reference Verdict: somehow, incorrect

Yesterday was the one hundredth update day, today is the four month anniversary, and what do we get for the occasion? Plush Rump. Which is probably accidental but it is upsetting all the same.

cw: a lot of this post is about puppets.

So I originally assumed Dave’s bro was around 16, but this update has me questioning that. The fairly adult website that ‘rakes in thousands of dollars a month,’ the recent mention of taking Lil Cal out on gigs, and the control that Bro has over the common areas of the house all could be true of a teenager with permissive guardians, but I also wonder if he’s Dave’s sole guardian. If that’s true, I wonder if this is a long term arrangement, or if going to live with his cool adult brother is a recent move Dave’s made in response to other circumstances. It would definitely explain how Bro isn’t used to sharing his space, and maybe how Dave has latched onto Bro as someone to emulate, if he’s lost other people in his life.

Dave ‘starting to flip the fuck out’ on p.465 really plays into this. It’s really unclear if Dave flipping the fuck out about puppets and then confessing it to his friends is a regular daily occurrence, or if it’s happening for the first time now after building up for weeks, months or years. We do find out Dave has nightmares about Cal and wakes up scared, possibly even with panic attacks, and this happening regularly in the daytime hours could explain why Dave pesters John so constantly.

While Dave’s been on the computer, Cal has swung his legs round to the other side of the speaker tower and is staring at Dave. I still think Bro is hiding somewhere and messing with Cal. Honestly, just from seeing Cal’s face up close on p.463 with his too-realistic eyes, I can understand why he haunts Dave’s nightmares. But if Bro is regularly stealth-moving Cal around the house like an evil elf on the shelf… even if it’s done as a joke, that sounds like a genuinely distressing way to live.

Back to Plush Rump, I guess. :/ We’ve got categories! Following ‘Gallery’ and ‘Live Video,’ the site caters to a variety of puppet subtypes. These definitely don’t represent all the types of puppetry out there – but maybe these are what make the big bucks in the Smuppets industry. I didn’t know all of these and some seem fairly niche, so here are the definitions.

Marionette – a puppet (often wooden) controlled with strings Bunraku – a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater Plush/Foam/Felt – all materials a soft puppet could be made from Marotte – a medieval rod controlled puppet, associated with jesters Senor Weñces – a Spanish ventriloquist who lived to be over 100 Chinface – using the human chin as a puppet, where the upside down real mouth becomes the puppet mouth Finger puppet – a very small puppet worn on one finger

So how ironic is this, really? Bro is clearly spending a lot of time and energy on this, it could be his main source of income, he knows a lot about the art of puppetry. So what level is he on? Is he actually genuine about the puppet stuff, and telling Dave it’s ironic because Dave is too young to know what’s really up? Was it originally ironic and then Bro accidentally committed way too hard to the bit and backdoored his way into becoming part of an actual puppet subculture? Is Bro cool and above it all this entire time, mistakenly thinking that all the puppet fans are also doing this ironically? Or is ‘being into Smuppets ironically’ actually a massive trend among hipsters in this world, and everyone’s doing it ironically?

To be clear. I think puppetry is a genuine art form. But I think it’s written in Homestuck to be intentionally unpleasant to think about, the webcomics equivalent of reblogging a post that causes psychic pain. And I think it is definitely accomplishing that.

In today’s much more pleasant update, we get Pesterlogs! Dave messages John (no reply), Dave messages Rose (we see their previous conversation from p.419), and Rose messages John (no reply). This brings Dave almost in sync with Rose and John in the timelines of their pages – he’s a couple minutes behind at most. My hope is that these three will fully sync up, and then GG will get introduced either slightly in the past, or slightly in the future.

I like when previous Pesterlogs get repeated and we see them again with new context from the other participant. Now we’ve seen the puppets and the websites, Dave processing his feelings about them feels more genuinely anguished. Rose claiming she ‘likes’ Bro’s websites takes on its own disturbing new tone, although I’d guess she just likes psychoanalyzing the mind behind those sites. But my favorite line is Rose saying she and Dave don’t have time to ‘evaluate each other's radically debilitating pathologies.’ It really paints a picture of their relationship – we’ve seen now that they both have pretty strange lives, share their homes with odd people, and maybe aren’t doing well because of it. I think the same is true for John, but Rose and Dave don’t see that from their perspectives. They do recognize this in each other, so they’re both the one person the other can be honest with about their mental state.

On p.471 Rose deploys the punch designix, and I am SO excited to see what this thing does, we are BACK and it is SBURB TIME. Rose moves the piano to place it, and it kind of looks like a piano, except with no keys and instead had a computer keyboard attached to it. It also has what looks like a slot on the upper left… perhaps even a slot for punch cards, to design them.

[rockybloo]

As I’m doing this ask, I’m just watching Jack the Giant Slayer and making me SEVERELY wanna read Beanstalked, I’d love a passion fueled essay/reason from you why I should read it! (I’m gonna ready it anyways)

OH BOY I GET TO DROP MY LIMITERS

For starters, Beanstalked is a fantasy slice-of-life with a sprinkle of adventure and action. It does feature swearing, violence and gore as well as some body horror and existentialism. So just a heads up.

The main plot is basically that Lore, the planet that Beanstalked takes place on which exists directly parallel to Earth, has an event every 100 years where individuals are selected to become Bookmarked. This is where they are assigned roles from fables and legends from our world and gain secret weapons known as Märchen for self defense. This event has gone on practically forever under the watchful eyes of the Sun and Moon, the gods of this world.

But that all gets disrupted by an evil fairy called Nevermore who is bored of witnessing the same fairy tales happening over and over again. She has rounded up Bookmarked villains and the occasional misled protagonist to assist her and her army of ink stains as she aims to rewrite the world and rid it of happy endings.

The newest generation of Bookmarked are very unlucky as it is their turns to live out their assigned tales due to their stories all having been screwed up due to Nevermore's interference. Jack is one of these unlucky Bookmarked, who has just recently come to learn he has been assigned the same Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk. Much of Beanstalked follows hm as he learns about the magical side of the world he lives in, how to use his own Märchen, his own family history, and what exactly a "Happy Ending" is.

Beanstalked is meant to somewhat explore fairy tales and how suddenly becoming a figure in one can affect one's life-whether it be good or bad. It's also, at its center, a story about learning more about one's self and figuring out what truly makes you happy.

If you are a fan of fairy tale retellings then Beanstalked is a good pick for you. Especially if you are a fan of retellings that:

Aren't just mean spirited spins about the original tale

Aren't completely dark and gritty retellings of the source material for the sake of being edgy

Aren't just rip offs of Disney designs and characters

Or if you are petty like me, don't want to read another story about a protagonist having fallen into the land of fairy tales

Every Beanstalked character is meant to be based off either a direct character from a fable or a stock character. And for each fable, I try to bounce off the original story if there is an author (Like Pinocchio novel) or the oldest retellings as many fables don't have direct authors and simply have collectors that put their own spin on things.

So if you are worried about another fairy tale retelling story where each fable is just based off Disney's spins-DON'T WORRY BECAUSE ROCKY GOT YA' COVERED!

Beanstalked also contains a lot of found family elements, such as the entire village of Briar Patch being a community of Bookmarked who watch out for one another.

There are also cool af battle scenes due to the existence of Märchen (because Rocky grew up watching too many shounen anime and now has to put battles in everything), a ton of world building (I've had this story for nearly a decade now), a lotta characters with melanin (many being black), and a cast comprised of bi and pan characters.

ALSO ALSO...if you are a fan of pretty black girl love interests that kick ass (and may also be a monster girl with sharp teeth and claws and whole big monster form) then you will enjoy Beanstalked as Jack's love interest, Nana, is all of said above mentioned things.

SO if any of this happened to catch your attention-GO READ BEANSTALKED! As of right now I've rebooted it from the original 2010s version I had so it currently only has chapters 1 and 2. Which means you don't have a lotta catch up to do!

I have also handcuffed myself to this story which means I will be working on it till I finish it. I am on a mission. So if you want a webcomic and don't wanna worry about it suddenly being cancelled or disappearing one day-DO NOT CONCERN YOURSELF CITIZEN as I am unhinged about my fairy tale babies and am in for the long haul.

[muneca-lemon-steppa]

Congratulations!

Can you do “Why do you need my approval?” W/Santiago Garcia?

Thanks!

100 Follower Celebration: Don’t Be Stupid

Santiago ‘Pope’ Garcia x F!Reader

Warnings: Aggressive and Possessive Santi, language, allusions to creepy older men, bad Spanish because I’m a no sabo

A/N: Hello angels!!! I know that this isn’t my typical bread and butter but… this is my guilty pleasure and I had soooooo much fun writing this. A couple of housekeeping measures… I am a no sabo kid. To my non Latinx friends that means that while I am Latinx, and did speak Spanish as a primary language for the first 5 years, I was moved to another part of the country and lost my ability to speak Spanish. So I’m trying to learn it again. It’s hard. For my Spanish speaking sisters and brothers, give me so grace, because I am trying. Secondly, I think I have two more 100 follower Drabbles, and then we can finish Interviews for New Beginnings and the other requests I got! Love you all so much my darlings!! Have a wonderful dayyyyy - Mo 💕

Summer nights in Florida were always far too hot. It was the price of living in paradise. The heat of the afternoon's sun baked into the pavement and stucco walls now radiated back onto your thinly covered body. The surrounding water made the air far too wet, and immediately upon going into the outside air did you feel the thin film of sweat and honeyed air cling to your face, arms and legs. Summer nights were brutal in heaven.

But you would never leave it. Not for a million dollars. And neither would your Delta Force boys.

It was on these brutal nights where you tried to beat the heat and the stickiness by going out to the dive bars in Ybor City, the smaller and rowdier younger sister of Tampa. The crowds were easy to get lost in, and the music was thumping no matter where you stood; which was just the medicine you and your friends needed on a night like this.

In the back corner of such a bar, you were squished between Frankie and Santi, trying to fit in the massive and unruly Ben and Will to this too small table. "Whats good boys!? And baby girl, looking beautiful as always." Ben laughed out with a toothy grin. He was always all too happy to be with you all. And if a night out also involved a couple drinks, he was more in paradise than usual.

You laughed mirthlessly at his flirtatious jokes. He always threw one your way whenever he got the chance. You only wished that Pope would do the same.

Though you met the rest of the boys when you joined the Delta Force, you had actually known Santi since middle school. Your mom moved you both to the apartment next to his back in the 6th grade. When the creepy older men were harassing you on the way down to the school bus, Santi stepped in. And from that day on you never walked to the bus, or rode the bus alone. He kept the creeps and bullies away. You helped him with his math homework. Perfect partners. Best friends. A perfect pair. And God how you were in love with him.

You both had had your flings and boyfriends and girlfriends. But they all came and went. You were there and he was there when it eventually went to out the window. Some times you wondered if maybe he felt the same ache in his chest as you. But you pushed it to the side. He never saw you that way. He never would. You were best friends. A sister to him. It would never be more. And it never bothered you until recently. Maybe it was because you were getting older. Maybe it was because your girlfriends were having babies and in serious and solid relationships. Yet you were still here. Drinking barely cool enough beer with the Delta Force ding bats. You loved them. You loved them more than life and would and have put your life on the line for them. But you were getting older. You wanted to be seen as a woman. Not just another teammate.

Santi smirked and ruffled your head like a child, messing up the hair you had corralled into a pony tail, "Chiqitita muñeca is pissy tonight. Heat is getting too much for her."

You rolled your eyes and pushed him away. Frankie looked up from his ever present hat, "Pissed because she is stuck next to you and you won't let her up. Querida vamos. Let's get you another drink. This white boy at the bar has been giving you eyes all night and I wanna put him out of his misery."

Benny and Will whooped and laughed and your eyes widened, "Fish stop no he's not."

Frankie stood up, stretching out his long limbs and shaking his head, "He is. C'mon you haven't been putting yourself out there and it's dumb."

Frankie was right. You hadn't. In the past 3 years you hadn't even gone on a date because you were hoping, HOPING, that Santi would maybe make a move. That he would do something. But he hadn't. And you were tired of waiting. Frankie pulled you by the hand out of the booth and out of Santi's orbit. You smoothed out your cotton sundress, turning to the rest of the boys in the booth you hold yourself out to be appraised, "Yay or nay? Do I look gross?"

Will gave a thumbs up while Beni gave theatrical worshipping bows, "Hot sexy hot sexy hot sexy. Go get em tiger."

You noticed that Pope hadn't said anything, you turned to him waiting, "Pope??"

Eyes stern and cold he didn't even look up from his beer, "Why do you need my approval?"

You stomach dropped, and your face crumpled. Frankie rolled his eyes, "Coño la madre, don't listen to Pope you know how he gets when he's PMSing. You look nice. C'mon white boy is waiting. "

White boy was indeed waiting for you. His name was Connor. Clean cut. Not a Florida native which you clocked before you even made it up there. Worked in financing in downtown. Loved the Florida lifestyle but was still getting used to it. Super polite. Cute. And wanted to get to know you and buy you drinks and call you pretty. Soon any insecurity you had about Pope was miles away.

Frankie was pleased with himself, and brought back a round of beers to the table. Will and Benny were snickering in their seats, and Santi... well... Santi was fuming.

"What the fuck was that Fish?"

Smirking, he took a sip of his drink, "Que paso? No te queires chiqitita si?"

"Cabron, tu sabes quiero ella."

Benny cut in, "Hey hey hey. Don't let the gringos out man! Pope why are you getting pissed off? Nothing happened?"

Will spoke up, "He's pissed because Frankie basically delivered Chiqi to khakis boy over there."

Benny shrugged, "And??"

Will turned to him, looking as if Benny had grown another head, "And... Pope has been in love with Chiqi this entire time?? And Frankie knows that?? Benny did you get too many punches to the head or something?"

Benny’s eyes widen. The pieces fitting together. Will rolled his eyes, but Santi couldn’t care less. He was enraged with Fish. And Fish didn’t even care!! Fish knew that Santi had been in love with you for years. That he wanted you more than anything or anyone. That he had purposefully cut in on past relationships to keep you to himself. That he had building the courage to finally ask you to be his and only his. And yes here comes Fish. Delivering you to some… to some guy at a bar?

Frankie finished his beer and looked into his best friend’s eyes, “Hermano… I love you man. But you’re being a little bitch. No in fact you’ve been a bitch. Chiqi has been free and available for three years and you’ve done nothing about it. She’s clearly head over heels for you and you have been tiptoeing around it for no reason. You’re stupid. Chiqi deserves more. And if you’re angry about it you can go fix it.”

Frankie held his arm opened, lighting the way to you. He saw you laughing, your smile bright, things that he wanted to reserve for him and him alone. The things he had said were for him. The moment he saw Khaki’s hand brush up on your thigh, he saw red. He downed the rest of the beer that Frankie had gotten for him, and pushed his way out of the booth. The whoops and laughs from his brothers faded into the buzz behind him as he made his way to you.

“So… if it’s alright with you, I’d really like to take you out to dinner. Maybe next week?”

Connor was cute you thought. Not the same breathtaking handsomeness that Santi had, but Connor looked sweet. He looked honest. He would do for a boyfriend. You smiled, about to accept and give him your number, when Santi shoves himself in between you and Connor. “Oye Chiqi. Come dance.”

Connor gets up to look at you, “Hey man she’s with me relax.”

Santi turned around, “She’s not actually she came with me.”

You pushed Santi’a shoulder, “What the hell bro? Connor I’m sorry. This is Santi, we grew up together and he’s stupid protective and drunk. Santi can you please go back with Frankie I’m talking to someone.”

Without looking away from Connor Santi answers, “mm not drunk. I’m just making clear what’s mine.”

Connor looks at you and then Santi. Before he sheepishly smiles, “It was nice meeting you. I hope you guys figure things out.”

Connor walks away and you feel the rage building inside you, as Santi triumphantly turns back to you. You shove Santi’s shoulder, barely moving him, “You’re such a fucking asshole Pope. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Dance with me.”

“I’m not fucking dancing with you.”

He rolls his eyes and pulls you to the dance floor despite your protests, your skin burning in shock and anger where his hand clutches your wrist. You make it to the center, him hungrily grasping at your waist. You’re pissed off but also so confused at this change in temperature. Santi won’t stop looking at you. Those dark lashes attempting to hypnotize you back into his orbit. He brings his mouth to your ear, “When’s the last time you danced with me Chiqi?”

You scoffed, but brought your arms to wrap around his neck as he tugged you closer, chest to chest, “Senior prom. After Michael Vazquez left me for Torrence Sheltzer. And I stepped on your toes all night.”

He laughed, “Michael was such an idiot.”

You stay like that. The bass coursing through your body, right in time with the pounding of your heart against Santi’s chest. He was always a good dancer. Too good of a dancer, it was almost obscene the way he had you moving against him. You don’t know how long you had been spinning, and you had to rest your head on his shoulder because of how light headed you became.

“You shouldn’t have done that Pope. He was nice.”

“He was a wimp. Wouldn’t be able to take care of you.”

“What you’re going to chase away any man who comes up to me? I’m tired of being alone.”

“You’re not alone. You have me.”

“You know what I mean.”

He pulled your face off his shoulder to make you look in his eyes, “I do know. And i know what I said. You have me. You’re mine. I’m yours.”

You feel tears in your eyes. Either from the smoke, the alcohol, or the embarrassment, “Santi stop being stupid. You’re being mean. You know I love you and you’re making fun of me.”

He presses his dry lips to the tear that escapes your eye, then puts his forehead to yours, “I’m not Chiqi. I’m not. Chiqi I’ve loved you since the 8th grade. I’ve hated every one of your little boyfriends and I’ve coveted you for years. I’m not joking.”

“Then why haven’t you said anything? Why didn’t you come get me when I was right here?”

The tears fall more now. And he keep kissing your cheeks to remove them, “Because I’m an asshole. I’m a fucking asshole who was too afraid of you saying no. Too afraid of when you left. I didn’t want to lose you. But I can’t take it anymore Chiqi. I can’t take another boyfriend. I’m selfish. I’m a selfish asshole. I want you for myself. I want you to yell at me and call me stupid as long as it means you never leave my place and you never leave my side. Cmon Chiqi…. Let me call you mine.”

You stared at him. He was telling the truth. He was being raw and real and you knew that this wasn’t some act. This was Santi in his rawest form. He wanted you. You brought your hand around to squeeze his cheeks together, “I want you to take me on a date. A real one. Not the bar or the bowling alley with the boys. I want dinner that you pay for. And flowers. And for you to wear a real shirt.”

He shakes your hand off and smiles, “Tomorrow night. I take you to The Colombia. I pick you up. With roses.”

“Do I get to order flan?”

He smiles even wider, “Only if you let me feed it to you like those stupid romance books you read.”

You shove him and he laughs and pulls you closer, “Kiss me and seal the deal Chiqitita. C’mon don’t be mad. Kiss me and tell me you’re mine.”

You couldn’t keep yourself from laughing, making him work for your kiss. You finally relent, pulling him in for the best kiss ever. The best kiss of your life. Until tomorrow’s

[kazoohaa]

hello!! i would like to request something platonic with jing yuan

how would jing yuan be as a father? (like biologically) headcanons please

𝐀𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑. honkai star rail

— notes. omg yes !! also i’m sorry ive been really inactive recently yall 😭

— details. father!jing yuan & gn!reader.

honestly i think he’d be really fun to have as a father!!

light teasing is engrained in his Personality™, he lovingly does it to you a lot

despite his responsiblities as the luofu’s general, 90% of the time he’s somehow free whenever you approach him for things

jing yuan is also 100% happy to spoil you, a lot — he believes that you deserve the best, after all!

what do you mean he can’t spend just a bit of money for you? just this one time? (it isn’t just this one time, and won’t be.) sure, it might seem like it’s a lot of strales (..it is,) but you don’t have to worry about it, he’s got more than enough :)

buys you lots of little things quite often, small presents and trinkets, something like a keychain or an interesting book he spotted, or just your favourite foods from aurum alley

jing yuan also regularly plays xianzhou starchess with you. he’s proud of having taught you many different strategies — a goood amount being ones that you’ve learned from observing his tactics during your games. he’s quite proud of that, it’s made your observational skills sharper, after all! but, even if you’re equipped with lots of knowledge on how he usually plays, it’s still always a challenge to beat him, especially since he keeps somehow managing to one-up you, leaving you baffled, or trying to pull things mid-match without you noticing LMAO

“...did you just take off that piece?”

“which?”

“there. i swear you had a piece on that square—”

“hmm? i don’t know what you mean.”

“daaaaddd.....”

it’s become a bit of a game between the two of you. a passerby could see you and jing yuan intensely staring at the board in silence, occasionally glancing at each other, and they’d think that the general and his child must be having an intense match of starchess — but really you two are just examining each other to try and figure out what their tactic is and when you can find a good time to snatch a piece /j

while he doesn’t talk about the past that much, since those times were rather... complicated, and also he doesn’t really see much reason to randomly speak about it. but he does mention some tidbits here and there if you ask him, but sometimes they’re also the most jaw-dropping things that you’ve ever heard, and then it leaves you doing a double take while you process that information he just dropped out of the blue like that — imagine hearing stories about the high cloud quintet for the first time

he also teaches you combat, although he hoped that there wouldn’t be many occasions where you’d have to use those skills. it is undeniable that some areas of the luofu are quite dangerous, especially because of the mara-struck and the followers of sanctus medicus wandering about, but as a parent, he’d prefer that you never get into any dangerous situations if he can help it.

sometimes, you train alongside yanqing, who gets really excited and absolutely fired up at the prospect of getting to spar against you, more so when he actually gets a chance to. being the child of the general, how cool is that! you must be a strong opponent! you two give each other pointers sometimes — jing yuan is a proud father x2, he’s happy you and yanqing get along so well :)

[8aji]

you're the sunflower, i think your love would be too much. // m.c.

a collection of spiderman!chifuyu hcs + drabble of you finding out about spiderman's real identity

pairing. spiderman!chifuyu matsuno x reader

wc. 3.7k (hcs - 1.8k, drabble - 1.9k)

tags/cw. spiderman au, fluff, very very minor angst, mentions of injuries, implied violence, mentions of doubt and insecurities, mix of past + present tense for story telling purposes (hcs), a little ooc, not beta-ed (?) + please let me know if i missed anything !

a/n. second time writing bullet hcs !! it was definitely an experience and im definitely up for creating more short-format content im the future. this story was inspired mainly by @/_slvx0 spiderman!chifuyu fanart and my recent tasm obsession. PSA. chifuyu’s character was adapted to fit my vision of spiderman instead of fitting spiderman to who he is. this means his character might be ooc. bear mind that this is my first time writing for chifuyu and so im not a 100% with his characterization — i apologise for any ooc-ness in that regard.

m.list ˖ tags ˖ byi/dni

Got so insanely giddy when he found out about his powers. He was so close to making a group chat with all of his friends to break the news to them. Thankfully he managed to stop himself from sending the message because he had already created the group and come up with the lamest excuse to cover his tracks

Comics and Shonen manga become his personal bible. Every superhero-related thing he did was likely inspired by one of those. That included the way he patrols the city at night and the ways in which he hides his identity. Too bad none of them show how to balance superhero-life along with his college one, a step-by-step guide would be of great help

One time, when swinging through the city, he forgot to shoot his web at another building and just found himself freefalling for a bit — he almost gave himself a heart attack that day

Found out about a video of him going viral while he was eating a sandwich on top of the Tokyo tower. He was so taken aback he almost lost his balance; in his defence, it was a really cool video of him. And deep down, reading the comments underneath the video gave him a sense of relief. He had always wondered if his job as a night vigilante was worth it, often doubting whether he had any sort of positive impact on people, but the support he was flooded with was enough reassurance for him to keep going

For a while, he favours Spiderman over Chifuyu — he wasn’t particularly insecure per se, but he found out that he felt the most comfortable and confident when he was wearing the mask, he felt a lot more freedom whenever he did.

Kazutora was the first to find out about Chifuyu being a superhero. It was 3 in the morning and he was sitting on their living room couch doing some homework when Chifuyu came through the window, almost crashing against the coffee table and knocking over a flower vase. The two of them stood frozen in place, tension rising by the second. Kazutora was getting ready to call out for Baji because a random masked man wearing a leotard had just broken into their living room, never mind the fact that it was a relatively famous and beloved superhero. But before he could, Chifuyu took his mask off in a panic AND BAM Kazutora was flabbergasted, speechless, unable to comprehend the fact that one of his best friends was risking his life protecting the city — ‘Tora then proceeded to beg Chifuyu to let him be the man on the chair.

Being a vet student isn’t of much help when it comes to making superhero equipment, so he follows multiple youtube tutorials whenever he wants to make improvements to his suit — the first time he tried to follow one he fucked up so bad he was tempted to spill his secret to Mitsuya just so his friend could help him out with the suit design.

One of his favourite pastimes is finding the tallest buildings and reading manga or comics while sitting at the top. He will sometimes listen to music as well. Makes a playlist titled ‘Rooftop reading’ or something corny like that

His favourite superpower is his ‘spidey sense’, he would pick the web shooting but it still freaks him a little.

He met you one night after getting home from his patrol when he swung onto the fire escape. As far as he knew, everyone in the building was asleep and the apartment next to his was empty. But of course, he had been wrong and instead had given you the fright of the century by coming out of nowhere and landing right in front of your window. — you ended up recognising him as Spiderman right after he apologised, and intrigued by his presence you asked him a couple of questions along the lines of ‘Why the fuck are you outside my apartment at 4 in the morning’

From then on, he makes sure to be more careful whenever he returns home. Though every now and then he will purposely make his presence known by landing a little too roughly on the iron platform or by knocking on your window just so the two of you could chat for a couple of minutes. Bear in mind that he only does it when the lights are on, which is more often than not; turns out your sleep schedule is just as messed up as his — and with the schoolgirl crush that has his heart 

Sometimes he will add a few ‘trapeze-esque’ moves to spice up his swinging routine. Makes him feel more like a superhero — and yes, he also learned those from youtube video tutorials.

His enhanced vision comes in handy whenever he finds himself too busy being Spiderman to study for exams. Tries not to feel bad about it, and has to remind himself that Baji and ‘Tora have both done the same thing to feel better

He becomes a little too chismoso because he can’t help but hear the gossip no matter how much he tries to tune it out and turns into somewhat of a picky eater.

Learning how to keep his superhuman strength in check was the hardest thing in the whole ‘Spider-acclimatization’ process. Before he figured out how to, he had already broken multiple glass jars, splintered the window and broken the hinges off of three doors before — Though the thing that hurt the most about not being able to show his super strength was knowing he could easily win an arm wrestling match against Baji but not doing so to keep his identity hidden.

Still, Baji had a hunch that something was going on with his best friend. With both, the superhero and the man on the chair. He had seen Chifuyu return to the apartment through the fire escape very late at night and managed to catch a glimpse of the red suit underneath an oversized hoodie and sweatpants, and he had heard the incoming ‘disturbance reports’ through the radio in Kazutora’s room. But in spite of his own curiosity, he refused to press his friends for the truth — he ended up officially finding out when he saw Chifuyu coming out of the bathroom fully dressed in his suit.

No doubt he will most definitely use his costume for Halloween, and absolutely adores it when people compliment it because ‘omg it looks literally the same as Spiderman’s!’

Freezed the first time he met you face to face without the suit, unable to apologise when he bumped into you by mistake. He just stared, and his friends were the ones to break the awkward silence when they recognized you as their neighbour.

He was ecstatic to finally be able to talk to you without having to wait for the early hours of the morning. For some reason, he hadn't thought about introducing himself as Chifuyu, but now the four of you hang out pretty often.

He would follow you around like a lost puppy around uni, force himself to do his homework to spend some time with you in the library and bring you coffee every time you met up. Whenever Baji and Kazutora had classes during the afternoon, think 6pm to 9pm lectures, you would get together at one of your apartments and watch movies — though these hung outs ended before 11pm max. he would come up with a very believable excuse and bolt out of the apartment, running down the fire escape to not be seen until next morning. 

That didn’t stop you from growing even closer. By then you had alrwady started to develop something a little more than a platonic fondness for the blond and his childlike excitement.

He was adorable, almost reminding you of someone you had met before…including his unusual nighttime behaviour. It always got your mind wandering, but you stopped yourself before it did any further. You could be a bit of an overthinker, and you missed your ‘spider-friend’.

It was true that the closer the two of you grew, the more spaced out his ‘spider-visits’ im not sorry for calling everything he does spider-something became. It got to the point he stopped showing up at your apartment for a month. He was too lovesick and too focused on being Chifuyu to notice that you missed his alter ego’s company

He found out you did one day when he saw you sitting on the fire escape. You had been bottling up your feelings for a while and just needed to let it out. Of course, you didn't tell him you it was Spiderman you were missing — he would probably think you were insane. So instead, you told him you missed a friend and after a little thinking, it clicked for Chifuyu.

At first, he felt a little self-conscious. Was his company not enough? Would he ever live up to what Spiderman had become? But then it clicked, once again, that you had no idea that both Spiderman and Chifuyu were the same person. Plus, you had explained how the person you were talking about had been your first-ever friend when you moved to the city — the melancholy in your voice was enough for him to promise himself he was going to visit you one last time, and maybe if he made up his mind, he would tell you his secret.

But of course, the night he planned to come clean was the night he got into ‘real’ trouble as Spiderman for the first time. Getting ambushed by 7 people at the same time was no joke — Both Kazutora and Baji, the newest member of the ‘man in the chair’ club, had warned him about the dangers of confronting the group of armed men, but he had let his ‘spider-ego’ get in the way of his rational thinking and now every muscle in his body ached as he made his way home.

So in retrospect maybe it hadn't been so bad, his body was just achy achy but other than that and a couple of cuts on his arms and legs he was fine !! And he was still determined to carry out his plan.

But he hadn’t taken into account how exhausted his body truly was. He ended up miscalculating the distance from the neighbouring building to the fire escape.

Thank whatever higher power that your window was wide open because he crashed straight into your apartment, falling right into your coach and knocking over a lamp.

But ! you ! were there ! Glued in place, the movie you were watching still playing in the background and popcorn laying all over the floor

“I love Wall-E!” he exclaimed while dusting himself off and wincing as he raised his arm to point at the tv.

“What the fuck are you doing in my house.”

He winced again when he tried scratching the nape of his neck in embarrassment. He thought you would’ve been a lot happier to see him, maybe jump into his arms and tell him you had missed him so much. Maybe you would even pull his mask up enough for you to kiss him — though thinking about it, the idea didn’t sit well with him. He wanted you to kiss Chifuyu, not Spiderman.

“You’re hurt.” You pointed out once the initial surprise had worn off.

“It's nothing I can't handle, give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be as good as new.” He was proud of himself for the confidence he had exuded with his heroic nonchalance, though he was dying on the inside and most definitely needed to lay down.

“How many minutes?”

“Huh?”

“Until you’re ‘as good as new’, I mean.”

“Um,” he wasn’t prepared for you to question him on his healing factor. It wasn’t exactly something you would ask someone you hadn’t seen in a while — ‘it’s nice to see you again! By the way, how long exactly does it take the cells in your body to regenerate? Just curious, toodles!’. Imagine someone asking you that, wouldn't it be weird? You were weird for asking him that, definitely weirder than the random man who jumped through your window and forced you to spill popcorn all over the ground. “Maybe, uh, 120 minutes for the cuts and then a little over 480 for the rest of my body?”

You looked unimpressed.

“So ten hours in total.”

“I promise it's usually a lot quicker than that, it's just been a rough night.”

When you rolled your eyes at him, he was sure you were gonna kick him out of the apartment — and start locking your windows at night. But instead, you gestured for him to sit down before rummaging through your kitchen cabinet for a white box with a cross on it.

“You a first-aid fan?” he asked when you sat down next to him, cringing at the stupidity of his question.

“All apartments in the building have one.” You brushed off, chuckling, and pulling out some gauze and hydrogen peroxide. He swore he could melt against your touch, the pain of his injuries melting away. And maybe it was the glimpse of a smile, the comfort in the creasing of your eyes, that turned him stupider than he already was.

“Ours doesn’t.”

He joked, forgetting for a minute that the version of him sitting in front of you wasn’t Chifuyu. But as soon as he saw your hands freeze in place, your gaze locking with his in confusion, he could feel the colour drain from his face.

“Wha– what I meant was that my, you know, apartment, which is somewhere that’s not here, because I don’t live here–”

“So you live here.”

“Well, I just said I don’t–”

“And you still couldn’t bother telling me you were going to suddenly disappear.”

“I’m sorry I–”

“You’re unbelievable.” You scooted further away from him, brows furrowed in simmering frustration. “All this time I was worried about you.”

Frustrated, annoyed and pissed off. He had seen you like that before. Annoyed at people who walked too slowly on the street or at men who couldn’t bother moving out of their way, bumping into you because they expected you to move. Pissed off when you received a ‘bad’ grade according to your standards, or when one of your groupmates refused to respond to the group chat even when the project was due the next day.

Frustrated, annoyed and pissed. He had seen you like that before. But never had it been directed at him.

“I understand–”

“No you don’t!” you interrupted him. “If you did, you would’ve said something, and it’s not like it’s hard to put on your costume and climb down a couple of floors to let me know that you were okay.”

“It’s not a costume, it's a super suit…” he trailed off, and you sighed in response, letting yourself fall back against the backrest of the coach. The growing silence between the two of you only fed the tension dense enough to be cut with a butter knife. And it killed you to feel the tangible difference between your previous interactions and what you now thought would be the last one.

He had become a very important person in your life, the first friend you ever had after feeling desperately lonely without your family or friends in a new city. And of course, there was always the possibility of him not feeling the same about you. Maybe you weren’t as important to him as you would’ve liked.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, “I know I should’ve let you know I wasn't coming as often.”

His voice had curled onto itself. It was strained as it tried to make its way past his throat, like he was trying hard not to choke on his own words. It made your heart ache in return. And maybe it hadn’t been nice for him to just disappear, but he was a superhero for fucks sake. Were you really expecting a super-fucking-hero to make some time in his ‘saving the city’ calendar for you?

You thought he had been unfair, and now you were taking it out on him. Hypocrite; you complained about him not being nice to end up being not so nice yourself.

“I know…I know you’re busy doing hero stuff and all, I'm sorry for snapping at you.” You mumbled, gaze stuck on the ceiling. “And I’m sorry for making fun of your suit.”

He smiled at that, and like a peace offering, you nudged his arm with your hand, asking for permission to help patch him up. It made his cheeks flush underneath the mask, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from squealing at the fluttering in his stomach. It was true that he had been primarily reading action-hero manga and comics, but that didn’t mean his love for shojo was cast aside. Sometimes, he couldn’t help but imagine he was the main character of a romance story, and, in spite of how cheesy it sounded, he really wanted that with you.

“You know, I,” he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He wasn’t sure if it was too soon to be revealing a secret of such magnitude. Especially after the tension that had risen between the two of you. But his goal was not only to apologise but to offer you a proper explanation. “The reason I wasn't coming here as often was, um,”

You stopped dead in your tracks, the gauze soaked in hydrogen peroxide lingering over one of his cuts. Still, you avoided meeting his gaze, eyes stuck on the ripped edges of his suit as if scared of what he was going to tell you.

“It was,” breath in, breathe out. His quickening heartbeat was so loud it wouldn’t allow him to hear what he was saying. Breathe in, breathe out, maybe he couldn’t do this, maybe this was a bad idea. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out, “because I was already over all the time, just not as Spiderman…”

Your head shot up in the blink of an eye, and even he was surprised you hadn’t somehow given yourself whiplash. But never mind that, because the sudden familiarity that flashed through your eyes as you mentally pieced together every single event, clue, hint and theory you had discarded along with the new information you had received, was enough to let him know you recognised who he was.

“You are–”

“Yeah,” he nodded, biting his lip in anticipation. “It’s me–”

“Keisuke.”

“What? No, It’s me, Chifuyu.”

And as if to prove his point, he pulled off his mask, revealing the tousled mess of blond locks and the purple bruises underneath one of his eyes and his lower lip.

He had to hold back a whine at the ruined grand reveal.

“No, I know.” you deadpanned, and he had to hold back a whine at the ruined grand reveal. Had it been any other circumstance, he would’ve felt proud to be mistaken for Baji. But when it was the love of his life doing so, it felt more like a flat-out rejection instead of a compliment.

“Chifuyu,” you called out to him, effectively pulling him out of the self-pity spiral, and pointed at your window. “I mean ‘Keisuke?’”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Baji waved at the two of you from outside, “were you about to kiss?”

“No!” “Not yet.”

“Oh okay, cool,” he shrugged, pointy canines sticking out as he smiled. “You were taking longer than usual, we figured you had gotten in trouble or something.”

“Yeah!” Kazutora poked his head from behind the wall, hair tied in a messy bun. “But then we heard your voice coming from here and we thought we’d check it out.”

“Well, I'm fine, so you two can,” he made a gesture with his head, urging his best friends to leave the two of you alone. “You know, go.”

He hadn’t expected it to work. They weren’t ones to pass on the opportunity to tease anyone, especially him, being the younger of the group and all. But to his surprise, all they had done was send a wave your way with a promise to hang out tomorrow night and left.

Now the two of you alone, all he wanted to do was stare at your face all night while you patched him up because if there was any trope that concocted the perfect mix between action and romance was when someone took care of another person's injuries. And wasn’t it one of the sweetest displays of affection? Just taking care of the one you love? Even though he wasn’t a hundred percent sure you liked him like that, at least he could dream, right?

“Wait,” remembering what you said earlier, it felt like an ice water bucket was poured all over him. Suddenly, the giddiness inside his tummy had returned with full force, and he could feel his cheeks straining with the inkling of a smile. “You said ‘not yet’.”

You hummed in confusion, biting on the inside of your cheek. Sure, Baji and ‘Tora had spared him from the teasing — although one could argue that showing up had been the teasing itself— but you could always make up for it with a sprinkle of intentional obliviousness. “What do you mean?”

“When Baji asked if we had kissed, you said ‘not yet’, does that mean you want to kiss me?”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, a cheeky smile on your lips as your fingers traced aimless patterns up his forearm and bicep, to then let your hand rest on his cheek, your thumb caressing the soft skin. “Do I?”

He leaned closer to you, prompted by your touch, and you were quick to follow through, letting your leg rest against his. He looked so cute with his eyes sparkling with excitement, lips parted in contained desperation as he waited for you to say ‘I do’.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered, breath mingling with yours, and lips barely brushing against each other. He looked so pretty sitting on your couch, the light of the tv casting shadows on his face, and absolute lovesickness coating every single inch of his body.

You nodded in return, smiling as you basked in the taste of him, the man behind the mask, because even though he had his own waves of doubt, it had always been him.

It would always be Chifuyu for you.

© 2023 SHINACHIRO ; Do not repost my work. Do not recommend my work outside of tumblr. Do not translate my work. affiliated with @tokyometronetwork​

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Finding Each Other-Chapter 3

Fandom: Superman, Batman, Shazam, and Wonder Woman

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Dick Grayson, Diana Prince, Billy Batson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Kara Zor El, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Alfred Pennyworth, Lex Luthor, Jonathan Kent, Connor Kent

Summary: Clark Kent always knew he wanted a family. He just always thought it would be traditional like his parents. Little did he know that destiny had something different in store for him.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2

Clark followed B and Dick out to a white Rolls-Royce. B went to the passenger door and opened it for Clark and said, “After you.” 

Clark blushed and said, “You really didn’t have to do that.”

B smirked and said, “But I insist.”

Dick giggled as he got into the back seat of the car and said, “You guys are funny.”

Clark blushed harder as B chuckled as he went to the driver’s side and got in. The distance between the museum and Bruce home was short. They were only in the car for ten minutes chatting some more about Atlantis when Clark just stared at the scene before him with his mouth wide open. Bruce had initially stopped at a gate. Once he put in a code, it opened to the most beautiful scenery that Clark had ever seen. It was a mansion. The biggest mansion that Clark had ever seen. He wouldn’t be surprised if it had over 100 ones inside. While the outside had a dark gothic look, it was counterbalanced by the assortment of beautiful flowers on the outside as well. The flowers did make the mansion appear less threatening. 

B smirked and said, “You seemed surprised.”

Clark chuckled and said, “Well, I have never seen a mansion so big so far.”

B chuckled and said, “That is refreshing to know.”

Clark looked at B confused and asked, “How so?”

B smiled and said, “I am used to people either trying to play it cool when they come here or being self-important. However, you are different. You seemed to be very much in awe of the place.”

Clark chuckled and said, “It is not hard too. Not only is the size incredible, but the gothic feel combined with the flowers, make it appear welcoming.”

B chuckled and said, “That would be my mother’s doing. When she moved here, she hated the place because it reminded her of the TV show Dark Shadows.”

Clark chuckled and said, “That is a show I haven’t heard of in a long while.”

B looked at him startled and asked, “So you are familiar?” 

Clark smiled and said, “I used to watch the old episodes with my Pa. It had everything I liked in fantasy: vampires, witches, love, and death. It was quite thrilling.”

B looked at Clark impressed and said, “I haven’t met that many people my age that have seen it before.” 

Clark sighed and said, “I am not surprised. It is from a while ago. I wished the movie they did recently did it justice.”

B sighed and said, “I couldn’t agree more.” B shook his head with a wistful smile and said, “My mother used to joke that she thought that Barnabas Collins haunted the grounds and would come out to get her.”

Clark raised an eyebrow and asked, “Really?”

B nodded while smiling and said, “My dad thought it was funny at first, but seeing how scared out of her mind she was decided to redirect her focus to something positive. He suggested gardening which she took to like drinking water. She planted so many flowers of different colors to liven up the place.” B’s face fell a bit before wiping off a tear from her eyes and said, “I wish you could have met her. She was a very lovely and gentle soul.” 

Clark didn’t know what to say to that but decided to gently squeeze B’s hand who smiled back in appreciation. As they continued up the driveway, they finally got up to the front of the mansion after a couple of minutes. When Clark looked up, the front door was open with a man already standing there in a three-piece black suit. He seemed like an older gentleman either in his late 60s or early 70s. Dick instantly got out of the car and ran ahead of them to the older gentleman and instantly embraced him in a hug. 

The man smiled and said, “Master Dick, it is nice to see you too. I take it you and your dad had a good time?”

Dick looked up at the older gentleman, smiled, and said, “We had the best time, Alfie! We learned about Atlantis and I got cool stuff from the gift shop.” Dick instantly opened the bag and showed the older gentleman its contents. 

The older gentleman chuckled and said, “I see you are adding more to your Superman collection.”

Dick smiled and said, “Yup.” Dick looked back to Clark and B coming up right behind him on the stairs and then directed the older gentleman’s direction to Clark and said, “Oh! We made a new friend tonight too, Clark. He has a lot of awesome ideas about Atlantis.”

The older gentleman smiled at Clark and said, “I see.” He raised his hand to shake Clark’s and said, “My name is Alfred Pennyworth. It is nice to meet you.”

Clark shook Alfred’s hand and said, “It is nice to meet you.”

B smiled and said, “Alfred is my adopted father after my parents died.”

Clark smiled and said, “You raised a fine young man.”

Alfred chuckled and said, “Heavens know that it was a struggle, but I believe everything turned out good in the end.”

B chuckled and said, “Alfred is putting it mildly. I was a little hell raiser.”

Clark smirked and said, “I still can’t imagine that.”

Alfred smirked and said, “He used to get into a lot of mischief growing up. However, I wouldn’t trade it for anything for the world.”

B smiled softly and said, “Thanks, Alfred.”

Alfred placed a gentle hand on B and smiled. Clark's heart warmed at the sight of the love between the two. 

Alfred cleared his throat and said, “Well, let’s not keep you all outside.”

As they entered the foyer, Alfred asked, “Shall I get you guys anything?”

B shook his head and said, “I was just going to make us sandwiches. I thought we could have chips and ice cream with it for dessert.”

Alfred nodded and said, “Very well. I will be upstairs in my room reading if you need anything.”

Alfred proceeded to head up to the staircase a couple of feet in front of him while B and Dick started to head down the hall to the right with Clark following right behind them. After walking for a couple of minutes, they entered a brightly lit kitchen. B went to the fridge while Clark and Dick sat at the kitchen island. 

As B looked through the fridge, he said, “Clark, if you could have any sandwich right now, what would it be?”

Clark looked up thoughtfully and said, “A roast beef sandwich on white bread.”

B nodded and said, “Coming right up. Did you have any preferences for toppings?”

Clark smiled and said, “If you have mayo, cheddar cheese, and lettuce, that would be awesome! If not, the roast beef and bread will be fine.”

B chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, I got you covered. The best parts of the sandwich are the toppings. I tend to be more into honey mustard fan myself when it comes to toppings.”

B brought over all the ingredients to the kitchen island. 

B looked up at Dick and asked, “I assume that you are wanting your usual?”

Dick nodded enthusiastically and asked, “Can I have the sour cream and onion chips too?” 

B nodded and said, “They should be in the pantry. Do you mind getting them out and the BBQ flavored chips and…” B turned to Clark and asked, “Was there a particular flavor of chips you preferred?”

Clark smiled and said, “I am actually a big fan of sour creme and onion, especially the ones from Pringles.”

Dick smiled and said, “Those are my favorite too even though Lay’s sour creme and onion is a close second.”

Clark nodded and said, “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Dick beamed and said, “I’ll go get the chips. I’ll be right back.”

Read the rest on AO3

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for refusing to babysit?

I(17 ftm) frequently babysit my siblings, D(4m) and J(7m). J doesn't need to be babysat as much as supervised, but he's very needy / always wants to be doing something together, so I usually spend as much active time babysitting him as much as I do D(for example, J refuses to read on his own and prefers it when I read to him).

We're currently in the middle of moving, and my mom(44 W) often will drop me and the kids off at the library or the park or something for hours so that she can pack. I don't super mind this, but it's exhasting. They fight like cats. And I love them, but I'm also going into my senior year in a couple days, so I've been a little irratable too from the stress of packing and school and whatnot. This is all to say I've been babysitting a LOT recently.

My mom wanted me to babysit tonight for about two hours so she could take J to his open house and meet his teachers for the upcoming school year. I was 100% okay with this, and came downstairs when it was about time for them to leave. D gets a lot of seperation anxiety though, so when I heard my mom and him in the kitchen near the back door I knew she was probably trying to leave, so I got up came in to try and help. I tried to distract him by getting him to play with me at the table, but he wouldn't listen. As things progressed I also tried to comfort him and say we should go watch a show on the couch, but that also didn't work. At this point J is in the car and mom is standing in the doorway.

Mom then leaves to walk to the car, but doesn't shut the door, which makes D try and follow her out. He's crying and yelling at this point about how he "wants to leave". I was trying to very gently pull him back and say we could watch them go and wave as they pulled out, but I didn't want him leaving the doorway, since it would be 100% harder to get him back inside once he actually left the house.

A huge ass butterfly flew by while we were doing this. I tried to distract him and say "look at the butterfly!!" but it didn't work and he kept yelling he "wants to leave". MOM them mishears and starts yelling at me to let him go, so I do, but then he's outside and I'm frustrated. She tells me he was ACTUALLY saying he "wants to SEE", i.e. the butterfly, and now it's gone and he's more upset because I wouldn't let him see. When asked, he cried and said he WAS saying he wanted to see. But I KNOW he was saying leave at first, and tbh Mom was kind of asking him leading questions when asking if he was saying wants to see about the butterfly, so I tried to explain that he was at least not saying see at first.

She keeps pushing it though until I'm done and I say "Whatever, are you going to leave or not?", because at this point there's only 20 minutes left to get there. I genuinely didn't think this was a huge conflict at this point? Like yeah we were arguing but I didn't think we were being personal, idk. It was pretty dumb and we were both stressed. I thought it was gonna be one of those things where we're both friends again by the time she gets back and we've cooled down.

But then she told me to go fuck myself. And that was too much for me, because I feel like cursing at someone is just really disrespectful, and something I try not to do at all in arguments, especially with people I love. I'm not against cursing during arguments, but cursing at me like that felt really mean.

I was properly angry at that point and told her to just go so I could babysit. She told me to get a job(???? she's refused to get me a workers permit for years now), and I finally snapped and said she should just take D with her, then shut the door.

I did NOT lock the door. I didn't even fully close the door. I just left the kitchen and sat on the couch instead, staying downstairs in case she came back in and told me again to babysit(which I still would have, for J's sake). For context, D WAS allowed to go to the open house with mom and J, she just didn't want to have to take him too.

My mom is now giving me the silent treatment. They apparently weren't even able to go to the open house because mom's car wouldn't start, and now J is very sad and anxious about the first day of school. Mom's also been snipping about how if I hadn't refused to babysit and wasted so much time arguing with her, she might have been able to get a different ride.

Idk. I know he argument was dumb, but I feel like she crossed a line with cursing at me like that. But I could also see how me refusing to babysit from then might have been too far. AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[ink-flavored]

Get to Know Your Moots Writeblr Interview

This looked fun, and I love answering lists of questions

Tagging: @foxys-fantasy-tales @noblebs @ceph-the-ghost-writer @auntdarth @damageinkorporated @srjacksin @wyked-ao3 @alesseia and anyone else who wants to do it!

Blank Questions for those who join me!

-

On the Tumblr Writing Community

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

I’ve been on Tumblr since 2014, but I didn’t make this writeblr sideblog until 2019.

What led you to create it?

Mainly because I crave organization, and I felt weird posting my fanfiction to a blog where I didn’t really talk about writing. Plus, I didn’t feel like anyone on my main would have been interested in hearing me talk about my original writing either, and even if they were, it would have been drowned in everything else I reblogged. I wanted to have a place that was 100% dedicated to writing to keep my blog topics more organized.

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

I love talking about writing, for one, but I also love how many varied ideas you see in this community. There are SO MANY incredible WIPs waiting to be discovered here, of any genre you can think of, featuring ideas that make you salivate. The world-building some of you people have going on is fucking amazing, and I’m eating it.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I love talking about stories, including yours! Come say hello if you feel at all inclined to!

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

More people going crazy and/or stupid about their own stuff. Be your own biggest fan, and others will follow!

The kinds of writing I always enjoy seeing more of, in general, though: poetry (literally any kind of poetry), fantasy (high & urban), sci-fi (hard & soft), crime (bonus points if set during the Prohibition), romance, erotica (bonus points if kinky), detailed world-building (bonus points for fiddly politics, more bonus points if it’s inspired by other cultures than the generic European template), and any of these things in combination with each other!

What tips/advice do you have for someone who made a Writeblr today?

Reblog other people’s work if you want them to reblog yours, always send someone an ask if you reblog an ask game from them, don’t be afraid to self-reblog no matter how annoying you think it is, but most importantly, do whatever you want forever. Have fun.

Lots more under the cut!

WIP it Good

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Mainly my [currently untitled] urban fantasy anthologies and Pride & Justice. My anthologies are getting outlined for my own make-shift “write as much as you can” challenge I’m doing in parallel to NaNo this year, and I’m basically always thinking about P&J at all times whether I like it or not.

How long have you been working on them?

My anthologies are only officially around… a year or two old, probably? I had the initial impetus to start them ages ago (like, closer to 4 or 5 years ago), but didn’t start working on them as an actual project until relatively recently. Hell, I didn’t have the idea for an erotic urban fantasy anthology until December 2023!!

As for Pride & Justice, it will celebrate its second birthday on August 9th! It’s the only WIP I have such a specific date for, since it originally started as a fanfic I did for AUgust2022.

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

For my anthologies, I’ve always loved urban fantasy, but pretty much all the urban fantasy I could find growing up was lacking in some way (to me). Either the fantasy elements were pasted onto our already existing world—usually “in secret” or with some other excuse to keep the “regular people” from finding out—or it was a genuine fantasy world with more advanced technology, but always a detective story. Seriously, what’s with urban fantasy and detective thrillers? They’re cool, but there’s so many of them…

I craved something closer to a “slice of life” urban fantasy—what would a fantasy world with our current level of technology and manufacturing actually look like? How would people live, what would a city be like, how would things like magic change what a sufficiently advanced culture looks like? And then, of course, the crazy magical sex????? That’s the logic I’m working from with both my anthologies, a sort of “what-if” combined with a slice-of-life peek into urban fantasy lives.

For P&J it’s a lot simpler: the fanfiction I wrote simply didn’t want to be a fanfiction. It wanted to be something bigger, more original, with more room to breathe. I gave it permission to be itself.

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

All of the time. Forever. If I am thinking about something, it’s probably my WIPs.

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

I reflexively answer “fantasy, and I dabble in sci-fi and contemporary fiction.” Sometimes I clarify I write both high and urban fantasy, because most people assume high fantasy. I usually also mention I write poetry, and sometimes I’ll mention my Magnet Monday schtick.

What do you want to say (if it’s different from what you do say)?

Well, if people could get really cool about me saying “fantasy romance and erotica” that would be neat. I think we’re still a little ways off from other people’s reactions not being 1) smiling stiffly but politely before changing the subject or 2) making a rude face before changing the subject.

Let’s Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

List them all? We’d be here a while.

I have an OC Roulette that I spin when I need to pick a character at random for whatever reason, so I’ll just list the ones currently on it:  Pride, Justice, Kindness, Ollie, Sofia, Dante, Honesty, Lust, Xinya, Yu-Qi, Jao, Han Lao, Sita Zhai, Asim, Mira, Cahaya, Priscilla, Henry, Yvonne, Harlan, Hayden, Lenora, Teconia, Seraph, Park, Jamie, Kiran. And the OC Roulette list will surely expand as I come up with more blorbos.

Who’s the most unhinged?

It depends on how you define unhinged, I guess? Yu-Qi could be considered unhinged because she’s a God-Dragon who does not care much what you think of her and does literally whatever she wants, whenever she wants. Priscilla enjoys violence to a suspicious degree, to the point where her husband just sighs and shrugs about it. Honesty is an Evangelical Christian angel with the one and only mission to carry out God’s Word. Take your pick, really.

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Can I just blanket say “the protagonists”? Generally, I use the POV characters for a reason, and it’s because I find them the most comfortable to write. I very rarely write multi-POV stories, and when I do switch POVs, it’s usually for one very significant part that the regular POV character isn’t present for or something. So—Pride, Xinya, Asim, Priscilla, etc.

Do you ever cringe at them?

Honestly, not really. Sometimes I get nervous about people accusing me of self-inserting or whatever, but then I remember that those people are stupid and lame. Of course my characters are going to be at least a little like me—I created them. Some will be more similar than others, but I put a little bit of myself into everything I write, including the characters. And even if they were self-inserts, who cares? I can do whatever I want, and don’t need to cater to pissants.

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

They fly off the handle sometimes. The most persistent example is from The God-Dragon’s Wife, which was supposed to be about a monogamous couple, but a prominent side character started hassling me to make it a polycule so she could join in. I am now rethinking the entire plot to see if I can make it work.

In general, though, I feel like my characters exist somewhere in between “totally under my control” and “completely unrestrained.” I can drop a character into a scenario and act them through it, and there are absolutely times where I go “nah that’s out of character,” and have to change something. But for the most part, it’s like… observation. If I have a good handle on a character’s personality, arc, and motivations, I can just watch. Wow, look at ‘em go…

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

YEAH!!!!! ALWAYS AND FOREVER!!!!!!

Honestly, no preferred medium for questions. Send me an ask, reply in a post, DM me, message me on Discord (if you have it), leave a comment on my website, whatever. I love talking about my characters, and if you also want to talk to me about my characters, well that means I love you too.

On Writeblr Engagement

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

Usually I scope out a blog and see if their WIPs are interesting enough for me to want to see regularly on my dash. Sometimes I’ll see a post from someone looking for other blogs that post [x] genre or [y] content, and if they match up with what I do, I’ll skim their intros (if they have them). I don’t like horror, so I’m not gonna follow people who only post horror stuff. I really like fantasy, so I’m more inclined to follow people who post fantasy stuff. If I see a particularly interesting WIP, I’ll follow the person even if it’s not the kind of thing I normally read. It all depends!

What makes you decide against following?

Genres I don’t like to read and my personal squicks, usually. Maybe the WIPs didn’t grab me. Some writeblr blogs are also people’s main blogs where they post a lot of other non-writing things, and I usually don’t follow those since I’m here for the writing first and foremost.

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Sometimes! Usually it’s my mutuals who talk to me the most, so I interact with them the most. As a general rule though, if you talk to me, I’m gonna talk to you back, no matter what our following status is.

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

If I know enough about them, yeah! I have plenty of other people’s OCs floating around in my brain from time to time, especially if they’re a regular occurrence on my dash.

[artyandink]

Just a little thing from the entirety of my heart:

I have only started properly writing on just Tumblr since a few months ago (haven’t kept count really), but I started an account a few years ago. But in that time, I’ve managed to grow as a writer and a person, got a lot more feedback and followers and publicity (don’t know what to call it otherwise) and it’s absolutely amazing.

I’m not as technically skilled or organised as some of the other absolutely goddamn brilliant writers on here, but I can tell you that I’m so grateful for everything that y’all have done to build my little space here.

I’ve struggled a lot over the years, with depression, anxiety, some degree of Autism Spectrum Disorder and have had some great difficulty with socialising and keeping real friends, which is a bummer. But fanfiction, writing, original fiction- it’s all an out for me. To be someone who I’m not, to escape from everything in the outside world and have one more where people look at me and think ‘wow, she’s so cool’ and out there it’s ‘ew, she’s so socially awkward’ because my social battery doesn’t replenish very easily and I tend to expect the worst.

Now, I know you don’t want to listen to my rant about my hardships, so here’s a selection of people that I wanna thank for making me more confident and more skilled as a writer just in general, which I absolutely appreciate (even if you aren’t mentioned in this list, I absolutely love y’all who support me as a writer):

@zepskies - You’re such an amazing writer here, you deserve every bit of support and love that you get from your readers because you’re truly a natural writer and such an amazing person in general. I only improved after analysing your writing and putting it into practical use. Also, your writing’s like self-therapy for me. You should be really proud of yourself (and this goes for everyone). @k-slla - Same for you, Kerly! Another thing was that I saw you about on Tumblr, and we found each other but you helped bring me out of my shell and gave me the support that I needed, and I’m forever grateful for that. @waynes-multiverse - Wayne, you were one of the first writers to give me your feedback on my first proper, thought out series here on Tumblr and I’m so glad you did, cause I met an amazing person and got to see your brilliant work, again something that I took inspiration from. @jackles010378 - You, my friend, are such a good hype person! You also tagged me in the little ‘get to know you’ posts, and otherwise I’d be a socially awkward hermit, so I am indebted to you for it. Keep on doing what you’re doing and including me even if my social battery hasn’t charged. It’ll shoot up to 100% ;) @angelbabyyy99 - Thalia, I bow down to you and your ability to write CJ. And you’ve reviewed my latest fics and it hyped me up so much that after a section of writer’s block induced by being horribly ill, I’m banging out fics in a day or two that previously would take me weeks. So glad you found me, and I hope you stick around, lovely! @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior - You’re such a good writer, and I recently found out that you were/are/could be in the same boat I am, and I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. To know that this isn’t a battle I’m fighting alone meant everything and I can’t thank you enough for sharing your struggles with everyone.

That was pretty heartfelt, but I felt like I had to say it otherwise my heart would burst from being so goddamn happy that I found my community.

The SPN community is so goddamn nice?!?!

Love, Arty 💜