#Most importantly thank you all for the kindness. I means a ton!

[ray-elgatodormido]

Recently acquired might I add.

Back at it with memes.

Would honestly be hilarious if Lü Bu accidentally set Luoyang on fire with this divine smites I mean weapon enchants. Or he just left the oven on.

[ahappydnp]

so sorry but ive seen two different things about this now and im very lost, why did people think they were breaking up/broke up in 2012??? pls help me understand, wise keeper of the lore. thank u so much

response under the cut for general 2012 discussion/too long

basically 2012/2013 used to get (and sometimes still is) generalized as this dark and awful time period where dnp "hated" each other and us, when in actuality it was two very young very scared closeted queer people who were in the process of several major life changes at once while also dealing with a new exploding fan base

there's a few big things from that "era" that people talk about:

deleting old posts- around this era dnp deleted a ton of old tweets/formsprings/dailybooths that could read as them being in a relationship. they were blowing up online and had more eyes on them than ever before, not to mention had just starting working with the BBC (where being queer would have greatly affected their careers). also keep in mind dan was still in the closet to EVERYONE, and now he's got tons of fans going through his accounts and sending shit to HIS LITTLE BROTHER on tumblr asking if dan's gay. anyway people decided them deleting early tweets meant they had broken up

dan's customerservice tumblr blog- in the middle of them blowing up and people finding all these old posts, dan in an effort to control the narrative, makes a new blog for people to anonymously ask him questions (: which went about as well as you can imagine for an extremely defensive closeted 20 year old with undiagnosed depression. basically he said some unfortunately things out of fear

the video leaked again- won't get too much into that because of the subject matter, but the yeah the video leaked for the second time except this time way more people saw it/shared it and dnp actually had to respond to it this time. which is. just fucking awful and heartbreaking all around.

phil persona- basically this was the birth of the amazingphil persona that'd follow phil to the quiff era. he became more sanitized and less personable than original phil fans were used to (which got romanticized into uwu he's sad because he and dan broke up and now he's shutting down)

"no homo"- pretty self explanatory...people asked if they were gay (every single day constantly on every platform) and they would say no because what else are they going to say. this one particular vyou where dan's actually trying to make people think kills me (x) god he was so young. but they'd also started doing the "omg i don't want to see you naked/ew people want us to kiss" and the infamous "you need a girlfriend" "my future wife" etc etc.

the breakup rumors mostly stemmed from and became popular/ treated as fact by younger fans who kind of saw them as these fictionalized characters (which i mean not to blame them because they were literal children and youtubers were still so new that people did treat them like tv show characters you could be friends with). it also got turned into more sinister theories like the "dan is abusing phil" ones and "phil is actually gay but dan isn't and just used phil for attention and fame in 2009"

there was also factors like them moving to london in 2012 (and people were CONVINCED they'd stop being friends in london??), people thinking them getting popular would mean they'd get girlfriends like other popular youtubers (shoutout danrific shippers), and most importantly just them sharing less about their personal lives with their audience. like of course they're not going to live tweet their day/location anymore when people are showing up at their house and trying to find their families.

basically, dnp were putting boundaries between themselves and their fans, but the fans interpreted it as putting distance between each other. in actuality the 2012/2013 era was full of some really amazing memories and content and things people loved (literally the photobooth challenge is from 2013!! sleeping phil saying i hate you is from 2012!!!)

in conclusion, imagine building a forever home with your ex lmao

[sindar-princeling]

LOTR Newsletter update - this time final

Hi everyone!

Thank you very much for your patience as I figured out how to organise the rest of the newsletter this year. There will have to be changes, but I tried to make my solution as convenient for all of us as I could.

Long story short: we are still reading - with changes that I hope will be okay with you.

Long story long:

It seemed that TinyLetter was genuinely the last of its kind; after many hours of searching I have to say the platforms I found were either expensive, or the free plans were too small for the size of the newsletter, or they had many social features which made it impossible to keep the newsletter under the radar (believe me, I tried, and I failed).

To keep the newsletter going and keep it under the radar, I had to come to terms with the fact that without TinyLetter, it can't take the form of e-mails - so here's what I came up with.

I have set up a MEGA folder that's available to everyone who has this link. Inside it, there is the whole newsletter - September 15th to May 26th - as an .odt file, as a .pdf file, and most importantly as an .epub file, because I assume most of you are reading on your phones (if you don't already have an .epub reader, I use FBReader, and everything worked fine on my phone). At the beginning you'll find the whole table of contents with hyperlinks, so the navigation inside the document should be easy! Grab yourself a copy and keep reading from tomorrow on!

I am aware that not all of you will want to continue reading this way - and I'm sorry I couldn't continue the newsletter in the old way. I had tons of fun sending you all the e-mails, but TinyLetter closing forced me to try to find a different platform, and when I couldn't do that - a different way to continue. Ensuring everyone who wants to keep reading has means to do that was the priority here - I didn't want there to be any breaks. And with everyone having their own copy of the whole thing on their phone or computer I hope it isn't much less convenient than e-mails.

I hope you continue reading and talking about LOTR in the tag! I'm really going to miss sending e-mails, but I'm still here coordinating everything and talking about current entries and available if you want to contact me about anything.

BIG thank you to everyone who sent their support and advice over the past few days, it has been quite a frantic almost-week, and being able to talk and consult you here and on Discord helped a lot.

[fuckyeahizzyhands]

Con O'Neill interview with Awards Radar's Steven Prusakowski 😭😭😭❤❤❤

SP: Busy time of year, but, you know, starting to slow down in just enough to hang out with the family and do all the cooking for, like 48 hours and then.

Con: Are you the main cook in the house?

SP: I am the main cook.

Con: Yeah. So am I. I love it.

SP: I love it, too.

Con: It's my go to place.

SP: Yeah.

Con: Because when I left school, I trained to be a chef.

SP: Oh, wow.

Con: Briefly. Another story.Okay, let's rock and roll.

SP: Well, that passion never leaves you, I think. I think once you start, especially when someone enjoys and says, hey, I really liked your food.I hear from my daughter's friends or their parents, she loved your pasta or whatever it was, I'm like, okay, now I'm...

Con: It's the best feeling, isn't it?

SP: It is. It's wonderful.

Con: And just that kind of inherent, nurturing thing of just going into the kitchen empty handed and coming out with a meal for people is really rewarding. And I love it. It's intoxicating. I absolutely love it.

SP: Same here.

Con: Because I travel so much, I don't always get a place with a kitchen. And that's why I always try and get an apartment when I'm filming because it just gives me a place to be in my head that isn't about work.

SP: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I can talk cooking forever, but-

Con: But we should.

SP: I know we're short on time and I have a ton of questions and I won't get to all of them. So let's just jump into the series and maybe we could pick it back up. Sorry to interrupt, but I love the series. I love your character and your performance.

Con: Thank you.

SP: It's a stellar, and there's so much to Izzy that we see on the surface, but there's so much more to him beneath. How was this character originally pitched you and what did you initially want to bring to him?

Con: The thing about this character was he wasn't in the pilot. So when I spoke to David about it, there was nothing written. So he explained it in very broad terms. But then I quite like specifics when I'm choosing projects. And kind of... he brought up Salieri from Amadeus, and I really hooked into that. Now, I don't know whether we went that way with it in the end, but it was a really good hook for me because Salieri is that guy with a mission who is on the surface wanting, but is underneath something else. And I think initially, Izzy was that, but then we exploded him in several other ways and Salieri diminished to something else. But it was a good hook for me

initially to get in by thinking about Salieri.

SP: Yeah, I like it. I could see that for sure. And to start the season two. So going into that, he's a shadow of himself from this feared, intense, strong man to a broken man. And what was it like taking this character and exposing that humanity and starting to peel away some of that shield.

Con: I mean... David had spoken to me before we started shooting and explained most of the hulk to me, and I'd always played Izzy as a man who was in love but didn't know he was in love. And for me, the key into this season was a. the design, but more importantly, was the Taika's performance. To see a man that I love to be that broken and to be that vicious because of the heartbreak, it was profound for me to see what he did with Blackbeard, and it did break my heart a little bit. So the emotional journey was quite clear that at the end of the day, all hatred of Stede had left him, and all he wanted to do is fix Blackbeard, and he risks his life to do that. He literally puts himself on the line for that because, like always. And what I loved about what David and the writers did was they didn't remove Izzy from season one in season two, he's still there. And what Izzy does is about the crew. He puts his life on the line because Blackbeard is killing his crew, and he risks it all for that. But it breaks him seeing the the man he loves so fragile and broken and angry, it breaks him. So, It wasn't an easy job. It was quite a lonely job. It was quite a difficult job because it was going down that path that I knew inevitably we were going to go down. But I thought it was beautifully written. So most of what I needed to do was on the page, to be honest-

SP: -I'm sorry-

Con: I just had to throw myself into it.

SP: Excellent. And then with Izzy being broken and literally broken, he loses his leg, which is symbolic of much more. It leads to one of the most touching moments of the series, a note with four words: For The New Unicorn. What did that mean to you, and what does that mean to the character?

Con: You know, I've been talking a lot last couple of days - because I'm allowed to now - and, you know, this season is about Izzy coming out. In many ways, he comes out, but that moment, that rest, that beautiful piece of writing again, the writing, where the crew embrace him, and it just releases him. It releases him from his own concept of who he is. It releases him from his own concept of who he has to

be to be a first mate and a brilliant first mate. It released him of concept that he's alone. None of this would have been possible to Izzy pre season one, none of it. And in many ways, it's Stede that brings this into his life. Because before Stede, Izzy never thought of his relationship with Blackbeard as a loving relationship. He never thought of it as being in love. He only realizes he's in love with Blackbeard when he sees Blackbeard lose Stede. That's the only... The reveal is he's heartbroken because the man he loves is broken, and he doesn't know what to do with any of that. He's not emotionally capable. And the crew giving him the letter and calling him the new unicorn and releasing him from all the stuff that he'd done, all that pain that he'd suffered and anger that he'd raged upon them, it's a really accepting moment. So... yeah, I'm waffling a bit now, but it meant a lot, and it was a very beautiful moment to play. And I thought Andy, who directed it, directed it so...Andy was a real shoulder for me to lean on in those scenes, because a lot of those early scenes I'm shooting on my own. And it's quite difficult to play an emotional narrative when you're on your own, because it tends to just be one tone. And he was wonderful, and Alyssa and Alex and all. They were all wonderful in helping me gauge those moments, as were the rest of the cast. But, yeah, that moment touched me enormously.

SP: You know, you have this love triangle that is never really spoken, but it's there.

Con: Yeah

SP: Then it kind of shifts - it's almost like a love square. It's Ed, Blackbeard, Izzy and Stede. And where the love, you know, crosses, it's all... or the hatred is at sometimes, but then it evolves...

Con: Absolutely.

SP: It's so complex.

Con: I mean we all're in contemporary language. We always associate love with romance. That isn't the case here. The love that Blackbeard and Izzy have for each other is deep, man. It's deep, and it's rooted in years of working together, loving each other, saving each other's lives, being constant. This is probably the only constant they both had in their lives, is Blackbeard is Izzy, Izzy is Blackbeard, and then they have this buffoon come in and steal Blackbeard's heart. It's not that Blackbeard falls in love with someone else. Blackbeard falls in love with this guy. This Izzy just can't comprehend, and it's a constant. And then once, I think once Blackbeard hands him the gun, everything changes. And Blackbeard says, kill yourself. Everything changes. And then there's an openness to Stede and Blackbeard that brings him to that place of acceptance-

SP: -It's great to watch also. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Con: No, that. I mean, I'll waffle again. I'll waffle a lot, because that's what I do. But the more I think about that relationship, the more I go down all these different avenues of what it could have been, and what it could never have been, and what it is and what it wasn't. And as you say, it's layered and complex, and I'm honored to have been able to get to play with those actors, and especially with Taika, who's a profoundly good actor - everyone talks about Taika's director and writer - the man's a fucking great actor to work opposite, and he's... he's exquisite. So, yeah, I could only go where I went because the writers and Taika. Really.

SP: That's great. I... of course, we have to touch upon the end of the season and the end of Izzy, unfortunately, which I'm hoping is not. I'm hoping David has something up his sleeve. But what was your reaction when you learned it and how emotional was shooting that final scene? Because that final scene says a lot between...

Con: It was a... listen, I've been around a long time. The writing was on the wall when I started to read the scripts, and David had kind of hinted at it anyway when we went out for the famous dinner where he told me what the plan was, and I was gutted because I loved playing him so much. But, yeah, narratively, yeah, it makes sense. And I have complete faith, respect, love, admiration for David Jenkins, and whatever he thinks or wants to happen in season three will be the right thing if he gets season three, which I, whether I'm involved in it or not, I really hope he gets it, because he deserves it. And the show deserves it. The show deserves its triangle. It deserves it. But, yeah, it took a few days to sink in, and then I was fine. I was incredibly tired by that time. And I was lonely, as... really lonely because I was so far away from home filming all these scenes, and I tended to isolate when I was filming because of the nature of the work. So when I wasn't filming, I was sword training, or I was working out, or I was learning to walk on that fucking leg, or I was whatever whatever whatever. So I found myself isolating a lot. And in a way, it was a relief to be released from it. The final scene David had sent to me several weeks earlier. And I prepped, as I always do, and I prepped and I prepped and we were going to shoot at the beginning of the last week, and then it got shifted to the middle of the last week, and then it got shifted to the morning of the last day, and then it was shifted to the last thing we were going to shoot in the entire season. And there's always a dark cloud around those scenes because you never quite know how it's going to play. And there's a lot of pressure. And it being the last thing we were going to shoot, put more pressure on. And we were on the ship, which is a huge set, hundreds of crew members, the cast, everyone who could possibly be there was there. And I was getting quite unsettled by the amount of cacophony of noise and people. And then we rigged it all up, and it was still just [noise]. And then suddenly it was just me and Taika and just saying goodbye to a character we both fell in love with. And it was... it was a, I'm saying 'profound' a lot, but it was a profound experience doing that scene because everything else disappeared. It was just me and him. It was just Izzy and Blackbeard. And it was a lovely lovely moment.

SP: It was painful, but-

Con: It was lovely to be held by-

SP: -beautiful to watch.

Con: Yeah. Thank you. I mean, it's lovely to be held by another actor just... creatively and likewise with me to him. And David had a playlist playing and it was... elegant to do. It was nice to do. It was a nice, fitting ending to that chapter of this character. And I'll always be grateful that they shot it in that way.

SP: I do have to wrap. I just want to say before we do, I really enjoyed your rendition of La Vie En Rose. fantastic.

Con: Thank you.

SP: That's beautiful. And I appreciate all the work you did in the series, and I hope we see you again. And hopefully maybe you'll have a cooking show too, along the way, because I'd love to see what you make in that kitchen.

Con: Come on and let's bake together. Oh, I can't bake. I'll cook. It's lovely l ovely talking to you, Stephen.

SP: Great talking to you as well. Have a great day.

Con: Thank you. Bye bye.

SP: Thank you.

[year2000electronics]

OHENSBNDMDNG okokokok let me tell you a story. While thinking back on brozone's flashback at the start of band together, my mind fell on grandma Rosie Puff, and how I've come to be really intrigued in her. How did she end up having to raise all of brozone on her own? Where the hell are their parents? But most importantly, how can we make one of the only other character traits of hers that have not much to do with brozone have some sort of hidden lore to it? I'm talking about the scene where she shows to be very very enthusiastic and serious about rummy, and supposedly other gambling games.

And for a while I've been SUCKIJG AND CHEWING on that crumb of bread. LITERALLY.

What could this mean for the world of trolls? Does gambling exist within singular troll genre clans? Orrrrr is there some sort of clandestine gambling world going on outside of the old troll tree where trolls of all different backgrounds and obscured pasts come together to gamble together? What the hell am I on?

But anyway! That thought never really went anywhere. It just stood in my mind. But I had no idea what to do with it.

And then.... Your trolls Royal Flush au came out of NOWHERE.

I've only just started reading the Google doc and I've gotten past the adaptation of brozone's fallout and, I just gotta say that I really appreciate you giving Rosiepuff a whole lot more autonomy and control over a bad situation. Instead of just staying in one place, where she barely made any huge life decisions that affected Branch (other than sacrificing herself) and having a very vague picture of what kind of person she was, this single paragraph in your Google doc about what she and branch did after brozone disbanded has done A WHOLE TON OF HEAVY LIFTING TO CHARACTERIZE HER THAT I REALLY, REALLY HOLD DEAR.

How she probably became a beam of hope to little baby branch after realizing his brothers are never coming back.

How her bold decision to completely change her and branch's life for a better future, makes her a strong, determined, and confident person.

How... She must've been the ONLY PERSON in Branch's life he could still rely on at that point.

Its just... I've known this lady for a single paragraph but her death just means so much more, and HURTS so much more. Dying in the place she used to thrive in.

SUDDENLY THIS BEAM OF HOPE, THAT WAS THE MAIN SOURCE OF BRANCH'S STRENGTH was taken away from him. So suddenly. So unexpectedly.

I'M GONNA KILL MYSELF

Sorry I went on and on about a character who had one paragraph dedicated to her.

But she also got one paragraph

So therefore she's worth talking about.

In trolls one, we're supposed to care about Grandma Rosiepuff's death because of her assumed importance to Branch without really knowing ANYTHING about her.

But in this AU, you just painted such a clear image of her, we knew her for one paragraph but we also realized she's all that Branch had for a good portion of his lonely childhood. So much more than just one scene of her being taken by a berger, than just one paragraph.

Just!!!!!!!!!! I'm happy I'm really happy with what you did with Rosiepuff. Slay in peace, sweetheart.

BUT NOT JUST THAT-

THIS ENTIRE AU'S WORLD BUILDING.... Is really really thorough!!!!! Like!!!!! It's so well done!!!!! I loved the introduction to the world at the start of the Google doc, AND I LOVED HOW YOU INCORPORATED THIS WORLD BUILDING FOR ROSIEPUFF'S BACKSTORY.

AGHJHHHH I NEED TO CONTINUE READING

Thank you if you went this far!!!!! You deserve roses for all the amazing work you have ever put out into this world big or small, I'm excited to see where this goes.

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

THANK YOU SO MUCH AAA!! yeah i knew that if i was doing a big casino au i couldnt NOT give grandma rosiepuff some connection to it i mean come ON!! i think thats generally a big overarching theme of how the city of luxgoode takes advantage of vulnerable people and like, taunting them as if risk can make their dreams come true. people will ruin their own lives if they can save the ones they love, even for some of the casino owners (gristle and creek obvi but i think even chaz is a lower rung in this system, it goes up to the 1% mount rageons, especially and mostly v&v's parents)

i also just. love the idea of brozone sharing traits w their grandma. jd may have pulled a lot of the weight but she did raise them too!

[aspoonofsugar]

you wrote such a beautiful rwby analysis but unfortunately I think you put more thought into the plot than the entire writers room

Hi!

Thank you, I am happy you found my analysis beautiful!

That said, I am sorry, but I disagree with your statement. It is fine if you dislike the series and even if you criticize it, but as for me, I think the writing is rather strong.

Here are some thoughts, which aren't really directed at you, but rather are born by me seeing a tendency going around where it is somehow "cool" to outloud state RWBY is badly written. I even saw people like... "apologizing" because they enjoy the series. Newsflash...RWBY is good.

RWBY is a series with a writing that goes from decent to very good depending on the moment. I would give it from 7 to 8.5 or even 9 in some scenes. More importantly, it is a story the writers are clearly enjoying writing, as for now. This is why I like watching it. It is genuine, upfront in what it wants to say and it takes risks. Ironically, a series with limited resources shows much more freedom in execution than many other stories, which are economically backed up.

I would also add people keep talking about good writing, but never really elaborate on it... And like, trust me, I do think there is good writing and bad writing. The problem is that people just take examples of "well written series" and decide a series written differently must be bad. This isn't really the case.

First of all, let's focus only on a specific type of story, which is the kind most modern movies, books and series are. This type of story is built on 3 (4) factors:

Plot

Characters

Themes

(Worldbuilding)

I would say the first 3 are more important usually, but there are some stories where the worldbuilding is so strong it becomes its own selling point.

Now, a good story is usually strong in all these departments. The perfect story is top notch in all 3 (4). That is because a good plot usually lets you develop the characters better, which in turns helps exploring the theme.

However, here comes the amazing truth... even the most incredible stories. Even the masterpieces loved by everybody... even them... end up choosing only 1 or 2 of these aspects and sacrifice a little bit of the 3rd (and 4th) one.

Naoki Urasawa's Monster? Its focus is themes. He chooses to go all out on this department, which is why the story is so powerful and resonates so much with people. Still, to do so, he chooses to sacrifice some parts of the plot to the point... some mysteries are not really solved. Some people may be annoyed by it, but I would not call it a flaw. It is a choice. Leaving some things open enriches the themes.

Death Note? If the story has to choose between characters, themes and plot, it goes for plot. This is why despite having so many well liked characters, it is difficult to think of outstanding character arcs in it. The same goes for the themes, which are only touched superficially. This is why btw Death Note is not a fave of mine, really.

Now obviously, many examples can be done and we could discuss forever on some because there is always always always a subjective component. What I am trying to say is... there are different ways to write a story. Not all people would like the same. Luckily, we have tons of stories.

Back to RWBY. I would say RWBY shines when it comes to themes. Characters and plot are good and interesting, but what keeps the story together, despite it playing so much with genre is that it has a very strong thematic core. You can't invent it or fake it btw. See, Death Note's author tries to do it in later works (Platinum End cough cough), but fails. At the same time, there is another department RWBY is top notch and that is symbolism. RWBY has a very rich symbolic system. Again... surely there are coincidences, but like this is a little bit too much...imho.

Now, does it mean, the writers came up with all the patterns I and others find? Probably not, but here is the thing... writing has an unconscious component. If you go earnestly at it, you are bound to unconsciously create patterns. A good writer is able to recognize them (either consciously or unconciously) and to capitalize on them. So far, I think CRWBY has capitalized on the patterns they created. I also think it is clear they are very good at researching and at playing with different sources by going deep into them. Again, you can't come up with the Ever After if you have not read and even studied Alice in Wonderland. It is just impossible. You would end up with a shallow and uninteresting copy cat. The Ever After isn't that because it is used to explore themes, characters and lore in an interesting way. Hence... ladies and gentlemen... it is a fruit of... good writing.

But really, since people are not commenting on it... I would like to point out that in 5 episodes of less than 20 minutes, they have managed to introduce a whole world, with its own lore, set of characters and main story (Alyx's) and to tie it to the protagonists' predicament in a way that hits really hard thematically and psychologically... To do that you need exceptionally thight writing... it is not that simple to do...

Anyway, have a nice day anon and consider watching something else. Thanks God the world is full of stories!

[getmylifetogetherwme]

9/6/24 - Hi!

Hi!

I guess I should start this whole thing by introducing myself. My name is C! I'm in my final year of college, and I'm in the process of trying to really figure out what that means.

I spent the past three years of my college experience battling a serious illness. I won't go into too much detail, but just know, it rhymed with schmancer. So yeah. I had that, a really stubborn one too - the type that just refuses to go away even after you blast it with a ton of chemo.

Anyway, so that experience culminated into an extreme effort this year to finally rid me of the darn thing, and voila. It worked. I've been in remission for a few months now. It was really hard at first. Like I said, it was a pretty extreme effort (won't go into detail here, maybe later), but it left me feeling pretty terrible. Like I-couldn't-believe-the-world-was-still-turning-because-everything-was-so-awful kind of terrible. But finally, I guess I started feeling pretty human again.

So what does this all mean? Well, I guess it really means that I experienced shit at 19-22 that most people won't experience till they're much older (if at all). And I guess it also means I didn't really get the traditional college experience most people really strive for. There were few if any "wild nights" and fun.

I did "find myself" though. And then I found myself again. And again. Etc., so at least I had that bit of "normalcy." Everyone does that in college, or so I've heard.

Anyway, so this blog. Why make it, right? Here's the truth of the matter:

I am 22, in my final year of undergrad, and I want to get my life together. I want to study effectively, take care of my body (especially after all it has been through + done for me), and I just want to be the version of myself I know I can be.

Most importantly: I want accountability. That's where this blog comes in.

My hope with this blog is that it'll keep me going. I've tried a few times to kickstart this sort of "be the best version of myself" journey, and I've only been successful once, a few years ago, but then I fell off that horse, and well - I WANNA GET BACK ON!

So this blog will be a sort of an accountability diary/journal of sorts for me. I'll tell you guys all about my week, what I did that week to achieve my goals, etc. etc.. Also share pictures of things I'm studying, my life, etc. etc.. And maybe you guys will feel comfortable enough to let me in on some of your victories too!

I haven't really used tumblr in a while, not since I was like 16-ish, so I'm not really sure if people still use it for more traditional type of blogs, but if you're interested in studying, working out, reading, writing, trying to reach life goals, I would really appreciate it if you followed my blog and gave me a chance!

My next post will probably be getting into my details about my goals and such.

Thanks for reading,

-C

[darkling-books]

KINKTOBER 2023 - DAY 26 - HANDJOBS

PHANTOM X SWISS

Summary: Swiss is taking care of the newly summoned ghoul Phantom. Phantom wants to spend the day in his pants watching movies... Swiss obliges. 

Warnings: hand job, Oral Sex, I try to be funny.

THIS IS NSFW

READ ON AO3

It hasn’t been long since Phantom joined his new pack at the ministry, he was growing closer to them the more time they spent working together. It was easy to love Phantom, he had such a dorky character and an innocence that made you want to be his friend and more importantly, be around him. His laugh was infectious, and his quintessence magic was strong. He fit right in.

This particular day started just the same as the others, he woke up and went to look for breakfast. Peeking out of his dorm room wondering if anybody was up yet, it was quiet, and he didn’t want to disturb anyone. He tip-toed towards the kitchen as quiet as a mouse until... Boom. He tripped over the carpet landing on his nose.

“Ouch…” he expelled. “So much for being quiet...”  He thought to himself.

As he was about to pull his face out of the carpet, he could hear his pack shouting him “you alright Phantom?” They all shouted in unison as if they psychically all knew who it was who had tripped up. They were beginning to get used to him and all his quirks. Before he knew it Swiss was stood in front of him with an eyebrow lifted in intrigue, as if he was wondering how, it was possible to trip over the same carpet every day since he arrived here.

“Phantom, do you think you will ever be able to walk out of the dorms without falling on your face? I know you’ve just been summoned but, come on…” he chuckled.

Swiss pulled Phantom to his feet and taps the dirt off his pyjamas.

 “I'm sure I’ll be fine Swiss, just adjusting. My feet like to do what they want” he said making spaghetti arms at Swiss.

“Well, any injuries?” Swiss said eyeing phantoms face with huge eyes.

“I'm fine... I’m fine... Just Hungry for a bowl of cereal” Phantom said as he called on walking towards the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and the cereal box and plonking himself down on to the sofa. Swiss follows and waits to see if Phantom realises, he’s forgotten one important ingredient.  Phantom looked down at his dry cereal in the bowl “Milk...” he mouthed.

Swiss handed him the milk over his shoulder. Pouring the milk into his bowl, he looked over at Swiss and gave him a huge toothy grin.

“Thanks Swiss” he smiled.

“You're with me today Phantom, I’ll be taking care of you. We have a day off today, what would you like to do??” Swiss grinned.

“Sit in our pants and watch movies?” Phantom answered to him.

Rolling his eyes Swiss laughed “I guess we could… Netflix and chill?!” he grinned.

 Phantom lifted his eyebrows and widened his eyes “I don’t know what any of those words mean Swiss, but sounds fun”

The morning dragged on and the rest of the ghouls carried on about their day, most of them had chores or guard duty to deal with and no time to spend lounging around like Swiss and Phantom.

Phantom still being new to earth didn’t have the much knowledge of humans and hadn’t spent a lot of time around them. He was intrigued by them and their behaviours, Swiss had already let him meet a few of the siblings of the abbey. It went well, and they seemed to enjoy his goofy company, but Phantom had tons of questions after that meeting, leaving him even more confused by them. He wanted to spend the day relaxing with his kind, in the comfort of his pack... Enjoying his new hobby, Movies.

Phantom and Swiss were laying curled up in Swiss’s dorm watching movies, Phantom lay across Swiss’s chest with a blanket pulled up to his neck.

“So, what should we watch?” Swiss asked Phantom.

“What about that one? ER-O-TIC THRI-LLER” he spelt out its genre to Swiss

“What's that? What’s an erotic thriller?” he asked looking up at Swiss.

Swiss grinned “it’s a sexy movie...a bit like soft-core porn but it’s got lots of dangerous violence stuff in it...”

“What do you mean by sexy? Like… humans? Having sex?” he said with widened eyes

Swiss giggled... “Yes phantom” he said petting Phantom on the head.  “Ahhh, little Ghoul... You have much to learn” he laughed.

“Well, go on then... Put it on” Phantom shouted, scrunching up his face in annoyance at Swiss poking fun at him.

They watched and snuggled. Phantom lay there with widened eyes, Swiss just sat and watched Phantom’s reaction as he saw the movie unfold before his eyes. Him reacting to every small detail of change or bit of action the movie threw at them. The sex scene was approaching, and Swiss couldn’t wait to see what Phantom had to say, he was almost giggling internally as it unfolded.

“What…. What are they doing Swiss?” Phantom said

“She's playing with his thing, Phantom...” Swiss said looking amused by the whole thing unfolding before him.

“What do you mean, his thing?” Phantom asked...

“His dick” Swiss blurt out.

“Oh. He looks like he’s having fun... Look he likes it!” Phantom giggled.

Swiss smiled at how sweet Phantom was, his innocence of being a freshly summoned Ghoul was hard, but he always managed to make the others laugh.

“Swiss, could we? Could we do that? It looks like fun? I’d love to know what it feels like with my new earth suit …” Phantom said.

Swiss choking back a laugh looked at Phantom with his head tilted, he seemed serious. Phantom, since being on earth and getting to know the pack hadn’t engaged in any sexual activities yet with the others. Maybe it was time to pop his earth cherry Swiss thought to himself, again giggling internally

“Are you sure Phantom?” Swiss asked.

“Yes yes yes, obviously I’ve fucked ghouls before Swiss, come on... It’s not like I'm a kit”

Swiss moved in and kissed him deeply not wasting anytime and drawing Phantom up to his knees and into his kiss as Phantom writhed his hips into Swiss as he takes in his passionate kiss.

Swiss could feel all of Phantom through his tight shorts, his girth was thick and growing hard as Swiss pushed himself apart from Phantom. Desperately needing air but also desperately wanting to look at Phantom in his glory.

Swiss moved his hand to top of Phantoms shorts, skimming his claws softly over his hard cock making Phantom growl at his touch.

“Let's remove those shorts… you won’t be needing them” Swiss smiled.

Phantom stood up and dropped his shorts, leaving Swiss to take in the sight of Phantom, not only was his body ripped with pure ghoul muscle, but his form was magnificent. Swiss scooted to the edge of the bed, growled at Phantom and then grabbed his hips and pulled him in. He licked his chest, leaving a long line of wet from his stomach to his pubic bone.

Swiss looked up at Phantom and then took his penis into his mouth… taking the whole of him without a second thought. Running his tongue from the tip of his penis all the way to the base. Phantom was beginning to lose himself in Swiss, his cock going deeper and deeper into Swiss’s mouth. Phantom grabbed Swiss’s hair and tugged making Swiss moan against his cock. Phantom grunted, the feeling of Swiss becoming all too much for him. Swiss noted his urgency and slowed down to lick the tip of him, lapping at his tip with his rough tongue. Swiss grabbed his cock in his hands and began playing rough.

 He wanted Phantom to cum for him, and cum hard. He wanted Phantom to feel what it was like to explode in his earth suit, and it being with him made it all the sweeter.

Swiss tugged at his cock, making sure to keep a quick pace. Feeling the pre-cum forming on his tip, Swiss smiled and guided the slickness down his shaft. Not giving Phantom any time that would let him lose the chase that Swiss had built for him. Phantoms legs tensed, and sensing that the ghoul was about to cum. He moved his hand thick and fast, letting Phantom reach his high. He spiralled fast, grunting Swiss’s name with other ghoulish words too gruff to make out, letting himself go and spilling himself into Swiss’s warm hands.

Phantom smiled, as his high brought him back down to earth and the ghoul sat in front of him. He opened his eyes to Swiss and saw him looking back into his gaze with widened eyes that could have eaten stars. Swiss smiled back at him “So little Ghoul... How was your first time in your earth suite?”

Phantom laughed through drunk eyes “Do you think we could go again? This time I wanna play with you...”

Swiss tilted his head “So, Netflix and chill is it then?”

[kentuckywrites]

Imperium 4: Chapter 5

Promissio ante horam ultimam. (A promise before the last hour.)

Nessa calls Elma after Pongo splits off from the group. Even though comm devices have the annoying tendency to pixelate when their batteries are low, she can pick out the clearly defined eyebags on Elma’s face. It dawns on her that it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since Telethia landed on BLADE Tower, alerting them all to the danger beneath the sea. Elma’s been awake all this time. Nessa and Pongo have been awake all this time. The fatigue, the exhaustion of it all - it weighs heavy, stacking and multiplying faster than any of them can comprehend. 

Elma updates her as briefly as she’s able. BLADE paperwork is a nightmare, and though HQ is doing their best to push everything forward, there’s only so much they can do in twenty-four hours. BLADEs are out on the field, unable to be recalled back to the city until their missions are complete. The ones still in the city are gearing up, preparing for what information they’ve been given. The Outfitters in particular are working on mass production of Skell frames, hoping to outfit every BLADE with a pilot’s license with a new, more powerful machine. The public’s being kept in the dark, and the Mediators have been working hard to silence any potential rumors, locking confidential information behind closed doors. 

As Elma takes a breath, it hits Nessa that they’re preparing for war. That’s what this is: war. They haven’t fought anything of this scale as a collective unit before, not even the Ganglion troops. Syriahnydra is a yggralith, a creature that could wrap around half the planet, intent on eating the planet. She’s thankful the civilians of NLA aren’t being told yet - there’s a time and a place for this kind of announcement. Let them live in bliss for a little while longer.

“I have something else,” Nessa says at the end of Elma’s debriefing. “After my last update with you, we found Pongo in Noctilum. Apparently he’d been sent with L on a mission to decipher some old Miran ruins.”

“I remember when he accepted the mission,” Elma nods. “What did he find?”

“He found murals about the fights with both yggraliths,” she summarizes, “and some weird drawings of us trying to save Mira. But most importantly, on their way out, Pongo said that L got possessed by Syriahnydra.”

“Possessed? How?”

“Wish I knew the specifics - all I know is that it happened, and Syriahnydra reanimated a ton of Ganglion corpses in the tunnel system too. Pongo and I theorized that it could be a way for Syriahnydra to harvest enough ether to reanimate its own body. Froyoyo seems to think it could be one of Syriahnydra’s mental tricks; he remembers it using them in their first fight.”

Elma hums, contemplative. “If Syriahnydra’s plan was to harvest ether, why would it pick corpses? There’s no life force to grab onto.”

“The body’s still composed of ether to a degree,” Nessa responds. “It’s not nearly as much as a soul would provide, but maybe it’s all Syriahnydra needs - or maybe, it’s all it has the strength to take.”

“It managed to take control of L, though.” A pause. “It could be like you and Mira. Needing an avatar to communicate intent.”

“Oh, it communicated intent alright,” she stiffens. “That being said, this means we might be working with a shorter timeline than I thought. I don’t know if Syriahnydra’s still controlling the corpses or L, and if it is, I don’t know what its plans are. But Pongo said there were hundreds of bodies down there. I can’t imagine Syriahnydra would’ve gone through the trouble of possessing them if it didn’t have a plan.”

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Elma confirms. “A swarm that size should be easily detected with our existing radar, and considering BLADE is on high alert already, there shouldn’t be any issues spotting their approach.”

“That’s reassuring,” Nessa grins. “Now, you’ve been awake a long time. Debrief the head honchos, then let one of them take over. Vandham, Nagi, Chausson, whoever. We’ll need you at full strength if a huge undead army is on the prowl.”

“The Commander’s been telling me the same,” Elma replies. “I suppose I have your brother to thank for my persistence.”

“Funny way to say ‘insomnia’,” she points out. “C’mon, Elma. You’re not the only one working on this. It’s not gonna hurt if you step back for a little bit.”

Elma’s shoulders slump, taking Nessa’s words to heart. “You’re right. The Commander and Secretary Nagi are pushing permissions along at a reasonable pace. I’ve been meaning to visit Lin and Tatsu and update them on our progress - perhaps I’ll step out to do that, after I’ve informed HQ of your findings.”

“Sounds good to me,” she says. “And we’ll keep you updated here, too. I’m going to spend more time with Froyoyo and Vanala, see if they have any insights to Syriahnydra’s tactics.”

“Of course. Good luck, Nessa. Be safe.”

They end the call, and Nessa stashes her comm device away for the time being. She’s parked herself outside of Froyoyo and Vanala’s tent; both Nopon had ducked inside, and she can make out the faint makings of a conversation beyond the blanketed tarp. She glances at Telethia’s form in the distance, making out Pongo’s silhouette standing next to them. She’s not sure how long he’ll be, but she doesn’t want to wait. He knows where she is. He’ll come when he’s ready.

Nessa ducks down, heading inside the tent. Small lanterns flicker with golden ether, illuminating the space with a warm sunlit glow. Snow becomes padded furs and fabrics, thick enough to capture the warmth the ether provides. Deeper inside, there’s a collection of blankets and pillows. The Nopon of the Desserta Caravan like to initiate sleeping piles to share their body heat, so Nessa assumes this must be where Froyoyo and Vanala sleep. Near the pile, there’s a few birch tables covered in all sorts of miscellaneous items. Froyoyo’s sword leans against one of them, gleaning in the lamplight.

Froyoyo and Vanala are standing in front of his sword, and both turn their heads as Nessa enters. “How are efforts going with other flesh trees?”

“They’re working on gathering resources,” Nessa explains, sitting down next to Vanala. “They’re building more Skells, enlisting more BLADEs to join the fight. It all sounds promising.”

“Reassuring to know that friends, Froyoyo, and wifeypon won’t be fighting alone,” Froyoyo says. “Got lucky with Corvhesperikon in last battle. Froyoyo may be legendary heropon capable of felling gods, but Froyoyo also recognizes age. May not be as spritely as Froyoyo was in youth.”

“Hubbypon being humble,” Vanala jokes. “Having flesh trees’ help will make the fight easier for sure!”

“It’s humanity’s planet now, too,” Nessa adds. “They want to help protect their home, no matter the cost.”

As Nessa thinks about everything leading up to this point, she shifts in her spot, her hands folding in on each other. Everyone has been talking about war. A fight, according to those who know about Syriahnydra, is inevitable. The yggralith is awake, and it’ll only be a matter of time until it has enough strength to rise again. Its size alone is enough to warrant concern, but its hunger, its insatiability? This is what makes Syriahnydra one of the greatest threats to Mira’s safety.

And it suddenly occurs to Nessa that Mira’s been silent for a while. She digs into her subconscious, reaching for her connection with the planet. The ground beneath her grows warm with life, a sign that Mira’s heart still beats beneath the soil. But it remains silent all the same. 

Mira? She thinks. Pongo’s not your only avatar. We could use you right now in planning ahead. 

Silence. 

Damn, do I need to flirt with Solstice again to get your attention?

Silence.

You’re scaring me. C’mon, Mira, that’s enough. Say something.

Silence.

A wing drapes over Nessa’s arm. Nessa returns to the present, and only then does she realize that her hands are shaking. Vanala is careful in her ministrations, her wing rubbing comforting circles into her skin. 

“Nessa is shivering,” she observes. “Vanala wants you to know that it’s okay to be scared.”

“Me? Scared?” The lie comes easily. “I’m itching to fight that overgrown worm. I’m just trying to think about other ways we could prepare for it.”

“Nessa doesn’t have to lie.” Vanala responds just as easily, concern written across her face. “Should get some rest. Everyone will need it for when Syriahnydra wakes.”

“I’m okay, I promise!” Another lie, though Nessa tries to build up more bravado to go with it. “Actually, I have a question. We know Syriahnydra’s pulling from whatever sources it can to amass ether, enough to mobilize its body. Is there a way we could cut off its supply, or just limit its ability to collect it?”

Froyoyo hums, his wings folding inwards. “Impossible to cut off ether supply. Everything is made of ether - Syriahnydra could pull from any source it wants.”

“But inhibiting Syriahnydra’s ability to pull the ether?” Vanala says. “That is possibility. Something Vanala might be able to do since Vanala is ether entity, but may need help.”

“Perhaps friend Aidoneus could assist?” Froyoyo ventures. “If ether entities like wifeypon can control intake of ether, then look no further than the planet itself.”

Both Nopon turn to Nessa expectantly. She’d been able to lie before, yet the truth struggles to emerge in her chest, a metamorphosis of stress and anxiety clawing for recognition. She can’t give this monster a reason to thrive. “I’ll ask Mira about it later. I think it’s with Pongo right now.”

“Of course,” Vanala’s settled by this answer, her grin turning devious.“Nessa should rest in the meantime. Go find littlepon to play with to unwind. Vanala has idea in the meantime: a surprise for Aidoneus’s avatars.”

“Wifeypon up to no good,” Froyoyo rolls his eyes, amused. “Froyoyo loves when wifeypon is clever.”

“Vanala always clever,” she retorts, “and Vanala insulted that hubbypon thinks otherwise.”

“When did Froyoyo make implication? Froyoyo insulted that wifeypon would think so little of her!!”

Nessa rises from her seat, unable to suppress her smirk. Despite everything, being with Froyoyo and Vanala is a comfort. It helps that they’re keeping high spirits, and it gives Nessa the strength to mirror them. 

But deep down, she knows Vanala is right. She just has to do a better job of hiding her fear. There’s no place for it at a time like this.

~

Nessa and Pongo end up staying the night, and the night after that. A few days turns into a week with the caravan, and the vast majority of their time is spent talking strategy with Froyoyo and Vanala. Elma provides updates where she can, but it’s only by the end of the week that she’s able to report BLADE’s unanimous agreement to mobilize. Any BLADE with a Skell license had their loyal machines upgraded and tuned up, and any BLADE lacking a license was given temporary permission to operate a Skell for the duration of the emergency. Even if they’re not skilled, BLADE needs as many fighters in the sky as they can get. 

However, little progress was made on the aquatic combat systems. The Outfitters were at a loss on what materials would work best for a hydrophobic Skell, and progress on a compatible frame has been one step forward, two steps back. Nessa remains optimistic all the same. As long as everyone’s got a Skell, and as long as every Skell’s equipped with a flight module, they should have enough manpower to strike Syriahnydra down before it rises too much.

Pongo’s present for every update, engaged and attentive. His discomfort with Cocytios seems to fade the longer they stay, but there’s still times where she finds him on the edge of the caravan, staring out into the endless snow. There’s days where Cocytios is beautiful, an angelic expanse of possibility. But Nessa’s memories are frigid here, as frigid as the bitter winds. She pushes it down, making room for the warmth the caravan provides. 

Every night, they feast on a collection of thermonanas and other flora the members of the Desserta Caravan scavenges up. Some nights, their hunters return with enough small game to feed them all. Nessa doesn’t hold back her admiration end even offers once or twice to go out and help. The littlepon all laughed at her for that, the first time she asked. “No way flesh tree could stay hidden,” Froyoyo’s eldest, Pecana, snickers. “Caribears would gobble up Nessa in seconds!”

Nessa takes clear offense, but her pouting is outweighed by the laughter - and outweighed by Pongo joining in. Sprinkle Sprinkle always sits on his lap during dinner, and his arms wrap around their little body as he tries to suppress his giggles.

“Not funny,” Nessa scoffs.

“Extremely funny,” Pongo grins. 

It’s easy, after that, to coax Pongo out of the fortress he’s built around himself. He spars with her during the day, keeping their minds sharp, their bodies on the move. At night, they go inside the tents, bury themselves beneath Nopon-quilted blankets, and pray they aren’t plagued by nightmares. Nessa’s not as prone to them as Pongo is, and he’s had his bouts of insomnia as a result. It was worse in the beginning of the week, when the memories clawed fresh wounds into his psyche. But somewhere along the way, Froyoyo’s littlepon took notice, and after a while, Nessa would wake to him smothered by nine furry little tufts. 

“What, I don’t get a snuggle pile?” Nessa jokes with Sprinkle Sprinkle one morning. 

“Nessa always welcome to join,” Sprinkle Sprinkle replies. Then, their smile fades. “Starr had very bad nightmares for long time. Sprinkle Sprinkle and siblings all know what makes them better. Just normal now.”

She’s not sure whether she should thank them or cry.

The end of the week comes quickly. Pongo and Nessa are by the caravan’s border, sparring once more. Vanala walks up to them, alone, and the two pause to acknowledge her. 

“Vanala’s surprise is ready,” she says. Pongo and Nessa exchange a quick glance before following her back to her tent. Nessa ducks inside first, the receiver of Vanala’s excited “Ta-daaa!”

Lying on the blankets are two sets of armor, similar and different in many ways. They’re both crafted from the same gray-blue leathers, outlined with the same cream-colored fur. The boots and gloves especially appear to be sewn together with the same patterns.

But the differences lie in the shape of them both. The set that Nessa believes - knows - is hers has gems adorning the belts and chestpiece in the shape of Solstice’s armor. Sword holsters on the back of the shirt, meant to mimic the Telethia’s wings. A horn headpiece, bent in the shape of Solstice’s horns. 

Pongo’s, meanwhile, has a waist-length fur cape, and a familiar silver brooch clipping it in place. The dark brown belt, salvaged from someone Pongo used to be a part of. His horn headpiece, in the shape of a man who wore a skull to conceal his pain.

She hears Pongo’s breath hitch as he lays eyes on the armor. Vanala stands beside them both, looking over her masterpieces. “Vanala believe friends are poorly dressed for Cocytios weather and wanted to make new armor before fight with Syriahnydra. And…Vanala thought it fitting to make outfits reflect journey up until now. Now, you’ll both have memories of love to use in battle.”

Nessa smiles, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Thank you, Vanala. It’s beautiful. Gods, I want to wear it every day.”

Pongo takes longer to respond. When Nessa turns to face him, his expression is oddly stoic, as if he’s lost inside himself. She reaches out, grabs his hand. He blinks, and he returns. 

“Do you think Starr would be proud?” He whispers. “Or do you think he would find this insulting? Me, wearing something inspired by him. Inspired by what he represented.”

“I think he loved you in the end,” Nessa tells him. “I think he’d be proud of how far you’ve come.”

Pongo sighs, bending down to address Vanala directly. “Thank you. This is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.”

“Vanala thinks you’ve had better gifts, but appreciate the compliment nonetheless.” Vanala winks, then looks up at Nessa. Pongo follows her gaze, and smiles.

“You might be right about that,” he says.

For the first time in a long time, Nessa finds herself blushing.

~

Later that night, when they’ve each changed into their new (and much warmer) clothes, Nessa tries - and fails - to fall asleep. She cracks an eye open, realizing that the pile of littlepon she’s grown accustomed to seeing is one Pongo-sized human short. She pries herself out of the pile, much to a disgruntled Chocola’s dismay, but she’s lucky that she doesn’t wake any of them. She exist the tent quietly, holding the flap so it doesn’t rustle in the wind. 

Outside, Nessa finds Telethia curled up in the snow close to the caravan, fast asleep. Solstice had left for a while, promising to survey the ocean for any additional signs of movement. They’d returned earlier in the day and huffed a quiet greeting, but Mira hadn’t translated it. They walked off when they realized Nessa couldn’t understand them. She’d been annoyed at first, then scared. Mira hadn’t spoken to her all week. 

Further in the distance, on a cliffside overlooking the vast white expanse of Cocytios, Pongo sits with his knees curled into his chest. She blows a quiet kiss to the sleeping Telethia before joining Pongo, sitting down and stretching her legs out in the snow. The new armor keeps her warm, something that her usual getup doesn’t afford. 

It’s one of Cocytios’s rare nights where the skies aren’t clouded over, where the only snow they need to worry about is beneath them. From this high up, Nessa has a great view of the rings embedded in the mountainsides, the frozen lake surrounded by winter flora. The moonlight from Mira’s several moons is enough to provide her with that. But from here, she can also see the Grave of the Undying Starr, the massive pit that swallows the white expanse. A lone bridge connects two sides, rickety and battered by the frigid wind. The Nopon must’ve built that recently, she thinks, because I don’t remember that being there last time.

She looks at Pongo and tracks his gaze. His attention never wavers from the Grave.

“If you’re out here for too long, the littlepon will notice,” she says, realizing that Pongo won’t be the one starting the conversation. “Starr was lucky to have them. I wish I could always wake up to a fluff pile.”

Pongo tucks his knees closer to his chest, heaving a muffled sigh. Nessa lets the silence take them for a while. She won’t force him to speak, not when the air around them is infused with tension, bitter and cold on the inhale. 

When he finally speaks, it’s level and calm. Not what Nessa was expecting, but a welcome sound nonetheless. 

“I have not been able to speak to Mira recently. I think something is wrong.”

“Shit,” she curses softly. “Me neither. Here I was, thinking it would rather talk to its favorite child.”

“Favorite child? That is not true.”

“Oh, please.” Something in Nessa starts to fracture, finally splintering under the weight of her own thoughts. “We both know it prefers you over me. Eldest child privileges and all.”

Pongo frowns, his legs relaxing away from his body. His arms come to rest on the tops of his knees. “Nessa. Whatever you are thinking, stop thinking it.”

“You know I’m right,” Nessa says, “C’mon, Pon. You know I’m right. Why else do I look like you, but with better tits?”

“Nessa.”

“Fuck, I was made to save you. And need we both forget, I shot you. I killed you. Mira’s never going to forgive me for that, not when the sole reason for my creation was to -”

“NESSA.”

Pongo slams the snow next to Nessa and she flinches back, knocked out of her rambling. She doesn’t know what came over her. It all spilled out without warning. Pongo’s eyes are ablaze, the stars trapped inside burning with his rage. 

“Do you realize how much it hurts when you say things like that?” He cries, “Do you know how many times I have thought the same thing about myself? I do not think I can ever forgive myself for becoming a Ganglion weapon, but my failure does not mean you are a failure. You are a gift, Nessa. I wake up every morning and think about how awesome you are, how confident and easygoing you are. I keep wishing for even a fraction of your strength, and you have the audacity to call yourself lesser than me.”

“A fraction of my strength? I wasn’t strong enough to save you back then. That’s a failure that’s always going to follow me, no matter what I do. I just - I hide. I hide from it all. Whenever it comes up, I hide, because that’s easier than confronting the truth. That’s not strength, that’s me being a fucking coward.”

“You think I am any better than that? I was so afraid to believe the truth that I pushed away the trauma and became a different person. I created a life that was so weighed down by guilt that he grew to hate me and all I symbolized. I failed you, Nessa. I failed everyone.”

Nessa swallows hard, forcing herself not to cry. Pongo isn’t nearly as lucky, tears streaming down his cheeks. His headpiece gleans in the moonlight, like his tears have brought it life. 

“I don’t want to do this,” she ends up mumbling, unable to look him in the eye. “We’re close to fighting the biggest fucking threat Mira’s ever seen. Last thing I want to do is have an argument about who’s been shittier.”

“Have we both been shitty, then?” Pongo asks. “Can we agree that we each failed, somehow? And…and can we agree that after Syriahnydra is dead, we can be kinder?”

“Kinder,” Nessa echoes. This sentiment is the final straw. Everything she’d been holding back cascades, and she curls into herself, burying her sobs. “I don’t know what that means. Kinder.”

“Me neither,” Pongo replies, barely audible. “But I want to figure that out, together. Starr would want that, too.”

It takes Nessa a moment to respond, letting the waterfall escape her. She rebuilds the dam around her heart and roughly wipes away the snot and tears staining her face. Can’t have them ruining her good looks, but sometimes, spilling over can’t be helped. Maybe that’s what kindness is - recognizing she’s allowed to overflow, that she’s allowed to break down her defenses and be vulnerable. A hard thing to learn. Impossible, alone.

“Sounds like a promise,” Nessa ends up saying. “We’ll keep each other in check. If one of us slips, we’ll pick each other back up again. Gods know I’ll fall a lot, but I like knowing you’ll be there for me.”

“Nessa.”

“Oh come on, I’m not being self-depreciating right now -”

“I know. Did you hear that?”

Pongo stands, on alert. Nessa doesn’t respond; she can’t claim to know what Pongo’s referring to, but she trusts his instincts. The wind rises, drumming against her ears, and for a moment she wonders if that’s what he was hearing. 

But she picks it out, in the end. The rustling. 

They’re no longer alone.

Nessa draws her dual swords, bracing herself for an indigen attack. Scanning their immediate surroundings, she sees no other signs of life, but Cocytios’s indigens are experts at camouflage. They have to be, to survive such an inhospitable ecosystem. 

Pongo’s also on the defense, but he’s not as quick to draw his photon saber or his dual guns. Instead, he remains alert, gazing out at the endless white horizon. Snow crunches beneath their feet, and she tries to silence her footsteps, trying to sense what could be out there.

Pongo stops.

“Nessa.”

She turns, hoping he’s found something.

Snow dances around their ankles, and the wind blows them towards a figure a few yards away. 

A figure dressed in blue, a hood obscuring their features. 

“Death,” is all Nessa manages to whisper because the ground shakes, a deafening roar shaking the continent. In the distance, the ocean folds in on itself, and a long, serpentine body erupts from the water, rising high enough to block out Mira’s largest moon. Its ink black scales fling water across the world, its mouth cavernous and full of teeth. There’s no end to its body, an eternity of famine given form. It turns its head towards Nessa and Pongo, and even from such distance, Nessa can tell by the curl of its maw that it’s smiling.

Syriahnydra is alive.

And despite their planning, despite everything they’ve done to prepare - it’s too late.

~

I tend not to reveal myself in the mortal planes. Forgive my curiosity, but I was intrigued by Vanala’s new outfits for them. 

This world is beautiful. There are infinite possibilities in the process of creation, and some possibilities present as more…appealing…than others. It is rare that I make such observations, as my duty is not tied to these phases of existence. 

I apologize if this is not straightforward. Nothing tends to be, I’ve observed. All I ask is that you have hope. We must face the end before we can forge the beginning. You must die before you can be reborn.

[missmugiwara]

Hi, everyone! I just want to say a little something as we head into 2024! 💖

If you know me then you know I am very sentimental. 😍 So get ready!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I've never been this cool before. Your kind words and reblogs mean the world to me. Thank you so much. If just one person can find joy in my writing then I am elated, but it seems there are many who do! I am beyond thrilled!

Now let me tell you a secret. I always hoped I could get a nice little fanbase on tumblr. Sometimes I'm not sure what I want anymore. However, I do know this! I don't want to be the best writer, but I hope I can at least be a writer that makes you smile. That is my goal!

It is such an honor to provide you some joy after whatever is going on in your busy lives. If you follow me, then I hope it's also for my personality and entire blog as well. I want to be true to myself! And I don't want popularity to get to my head. I'm not cool - just a lady who is madly in love with 2D men.

I joined tumblr hoping I could make some friends through this love. I've made a ton of friends this year, and now I don't feel so lonely! You are all a blessing and make me so happy! So I am sending kisses and hugs to you all.

I am so overwhelmed by the kindness you all have shared with me. I'm really blessed to be here! To everyone, you all deserve great, beautiful things. Keep writing, keep drawing, keep creating, go start if you're afraid to, and most importantly just keep loving each other! This community is a joy to be in. Oh, and also keep loving your 2D blorbos. Love them with all the passion of the blazing sun!

Happy New Year! Love, Mugi

[optiwashere]

I just found you on ao3 and i wish i had earlier all the recommendations were fine but your writing is the perfect mix for me. All the high kudos fics in f/f don't hit the same.

No question just appreciation for my new favorite author!

Hey anon, this is all incredibly sweet of you to say! Thank you 💜 Hope you continue to enjoy the fics.

I would just say that I'm very happy with having anyone that reads my stuff. I love hearing from anyone and everyone that comments on my fics or leaves an ask here. And holy shit, some of y'all have been coming out in force lately. The reaction to Nightsongs alone is super inspiring, and very sweet! I try to ignore my stats altogether, but that's incredibly kind of all y'all.

That said, I'm also not a doofus and I've been around fandoms for a while. So I know "the game."

I rambled a lot about pointless shit, so it's all under a break. It wound up being more directed at other fic writers than about your original sentiment, anon. Just another day on this strange planet for me.

Please don't think about this stuff too hard or too much. It will never make you happy. If you're a "big name fan" it will just be awful for you for different reasons. I wasn't a BNF, but I was very recognizable in a previous fandom. It wasn't pretty for me then either lol.

But if you're curious, it's all down to how people sort, read, and how momentum in fandoms works.

You need either a big social circle or to write for the biggest ship/trope to fit into those sorts of rec lists, or have an external social media find you. Not that those rec lists are totally irrelevant to quality! Far from it sometimes. But they are a specific type of popularity that you as the reader have to be aware of. Even you mentioned that you used rec lists, but from my understanding most people sort by word count, hits, kudos, or bookmarks.

It's the reason I tend to just sort by new and go with the flow.

That does mean that sometimes you have to wade into unknowns as the reader. Sorting by those sorts of metrics tends to perpetuate momentum rather than indicate... really, anything.

Not to say anything negative about the quality of the high kudosed femslash for BG3! I just don't read a ton of fic these days, and I have very specific things I look for (usually it's characters that aren't cis). Plus, there's one ship that's the very clear fan favorite, and there's a few tropes that are the obvious favorites. So you have to orient your perspective around those realities as a writer if you plan on keeping stats visible.

So the way I see it? I don't write a popular pairing, I write trans fics which in the smut might feature things that some readers do not want, and I don't write the biggest OC trope for Shadowheart/Tav works. Therefore, I tend not to be found by a certain subset of readers. Additionally, I write one-shots linked together by a series rather than singular longfics, so I don't "gather" additional metrics to make discoverability easier on the usual fronts listed above.

All that to say: I'm really happy that a lot of people read and comment on my fics :) Love my li'l gaggle of readers so much!

And additionally, most importantly maybe, I don't want to see in my inbox the sorts of talk I've been seeing in the fandom places I've been poking my toes in lately. That is, I don't want to see others being put down to prop anyone else up. Fandom is meant to be fun, it's meant to be a hobby.

Am I annoyed by some things in the fandom? Absolutely. Without question. But I try to avoid that stuff at all costs to save my sanity and focus on the things I do enjoy instead.

My motto is love what you love. Read what you enjoy. Fuck the rest, ignore it.

[tactician]

my absolute fav mythic pokemon in its shiny forme is finally here with me - shiny manaphy from pokemon ranger!!! i named mine reides after my beloved dnd oc, who is another sea prince!!! and i'm going to try to make it a 'ribbon master' as well (prob minus a few battle tower related ribbons but We Will See), so i'll be transfering lil reides up through multiple generations. i'm starting off in pearl, where it'll be part of my official storyline team!

i definitely have a lot to say about this hunt. it was absolutely CRAZY from start to finish, by far the craziest one i've ever done, so i'm gonna slide some ramblings about it under a little cut here...!!! i’m gonna try to keep it brief but i just know i’m gonna end up writing a ton LMAO

ok! so! manaphy has actually been shiny locked in every single game that it's been featured in. the pokemon ranger manaphy is no exception to this. :( the manaphy egg that you get from pokemon ranger is specifically programmed to NEVER hatch as a shiny in the game you receive it in. but thanks to a little programming oversight, you can actually hatch a shiny one if you trade the egg that you received in one game over to another one. then you hatch the egg in that other game and it has the potential to be shiny. that's how people do this hunt: by ensnaring themselves in the union room and trading over the eggs repeatedly until one hatches shiny.

but let me tell you. getting one legitimate manaphy egg alone requires sooo much preparation. you need a copy of pokemon ranger played to the point where you can transfer the egg over (aka post-game), and you can typically only get one single manaphy egg per save file of pokemon ranger. even if you select 'new game' in your copy of ranger, the manaphy egg would always be marked as claimed. so if you look into the process of this shiny hunt, you'll find out about a method involving four copies of ranger and 'reverse hunting', wherein people shuffle the same four eggs from these copies around various gen4 games for the whole hunt, restarting their games and playing through the whole opening sequence repeatedly in the hopes that their new trainer ids will eventually match up and result in the egg hatching as a shiny. luckily, though, people eventually found out that the 'one manaphy egg per cartridge' thing is actually kind of a misconception. if you have a way of wiping that cartridge's .sav file BEYOND selecting 'new game', you can actually get as many eggs from one cartridge as you like - and, most importantly, these eggs will not be clones of each other. since i only have one copy of pokemon ranger AND i had the means of doing the .sav wipe, i decided to take this approach to the hunt. i also got really lucky because the friend who gave me his copy of pokemon ranger (SHOUTOUT TO JM) had played to the point of having the manaphy egg on the cartridge but hadn’t sent it out yet, so i didn’t have to take on the pokemon ranger plot grind at all. this was a huge motivator for me when i decided to take on the hunt bc it was just so incredibly convenient! 

at first, i started off with two systems, but at this hunt's peak i was using four (4) systems to transfer and hatch eggs. after doing that tedious back-and-forth for a good ~700 eggs (averaging at around 45 eggs per day and using up like 90% of my free time to get them - transfer speed was SLOW, to the point that i feel like doing the reverse hunting method may actually be faster), my friend cody randomly brought up the concept of rng hunting. i'd heard about rng hunting before, but it always seemed like a really convuluted process with lots of Numbers (and, y’know, Numbers Scary) - so i stayed away from it for years. but i offhandedly looked into it again and saw that a lot of people had success with it for their manaphy hunts... so i ended up looking into the process in a way more in-depth manner than before. and i'm not gonna lie... it totally gripped me. in EXTREMELY simplistic terms, rng hunters use (external) timing programs which assist them in loading into a specific seed of their game. they then advance the frames of that seed to a targeted one with a shiny, then catch that shiny. it's a process that requires a whole lot of precision - especially if you're doing it on an actual console vs on an emulator of some sort - but the more videos i watched, the more hype i was to try it for myself. not gonna lie, attempting it seemed almost fated bc the night before i had been randomly gripped by an urge to find as many of my old consoles as i could, which included my ds lite. i ended up needing to use that for the rng process, as i needed a copy of leafgreen slotted into the ds while i tried to get the right seed. the timing of that was seriously so weird. destiny fr.

anyway, there were a lot of setbacks initially - mostly because the transferred manaphy egg is received in a mart, and, in dppt, all of the marts have moving npcs which mess with your frames SO much - but after a bunch of attempts, i ended up prevailing in the end. i was pretty sure that i messed up and advanced my frames too far but i took the egg anyway, traded it over to platinum, hatched it... and there it was. a lil brave-natured shiny manaphy!

that egg was my 713th egg, and so this manaphy took 713 eggs to get home and gained another special element of being my very first successful rng-based shiny!!!

i'm really so thrilled with how it all turned out, this is definitely a shiny hunt that i won't ever forget!! i made so many crazy memories during it with friends and i feel like i know soooo much more about pokemon as a whole now. i'm super happy to have this ribbon master challenge to focus on now, too. it's what reides deserves!!! <3

[dearreader]

hi! i just want to start by saying you definitely didn't miss all your opportunities in high school and college. i know lots of people who met their SO after those things, including people who hadn't dated until their mid 20s. you are very normal and things will happen for you!

other than that, my advice is pretty generic. join activities, group classes, and other hobby-based groups to meet people who share common interests with you. do the apps (i know hinge is more for long-term stuff but that's about where my expertise ends on that) if you find enough patience to wade through trash before eventually finding someone worth your time. go on blind dates and get set up by your friends. be honest with the person/people you're talking to about how you haven't had a ton of previous experience (the right person will understand and not be judgy! if it scares them off that means you warded off a red flag).

most importantly, remember that these things don't have an alarm clock attached to them. some things take time but i find that they usually fall into place when the time is right. sorry i couldn't be more helpful as far as advice goes though. best of luck out there!

hi! thank you for saying this!

it’s just kind of hard to do it but it’s always reaffirming to know that it’s normal and it takes time. i’m trying to meet people but it’s hard with work and such but i’ll try and do that more. thank you 🫶🏻

[back2bluesidex]

Thank you for another lovely update!

Ngl, I am not the biggest fan of this mc. As much as I can understand her not wanting to bother anyone with her issues, it's a little annoying to witness all that self-pity. At some point, you've got to stand up for yourself and Slide mc is not very good at it. I hope she discovers her place in life and finds people to trust. Sometimes I literally want to jump through the screen and shake her because girl wyd 😭 stand upppp and tell that man you're carrying something that belongs to him. It's too late now but the right thing would be to tell him. She needs someone to grieve with, I'll actually go nuts if she goes through his alone too. Nobody is more important than yourself 😖

I understand your frustration, trust me I do. But certain things happen for certain reasons. The oc is standing up for herself in her own ways.

Taking decision of carrying a baby of a man who is still in love with his ex, that too, just right when the said ex comes back... Is a brave thing to do too.

Not everyone is good with words, good with people. And sometimes dealing with certain things alone is kind of better than fearing what will happen if you take a leap of faith.

Imagine telling Yoongi about the baby, and he realises his mistake, realises he is in love with the oc and then happy ending. Wouldn't it be too predictable?

ALSO, she was about to tell him. I mentioned that in this chapter. But yeah things went south before she could.

My sheer intention is to draw pain, suffering, anguish, animosity that we often don't get to feel. But I know.. it's not the easiest story to read, especially after this chapter.

But if you put your trust in me then I'll urge you to wait a bit for the next chapter. And then you'll see how this was important for the characters, their development, for their life to turn around.

And most importantly, for Yoongi to feel certain things.

Hope you understand what I'm trying to say.

Thanks a ton for keeping up with Slide. 😭 Means a lot to me! 💜

[wakkoroni]

(Thanks for the tag!)

1. The main lesson of my story is to actually get to know people before one judges. My story is co-written with a friend of mine irl. It’s in a Greek Mythology world where demigods are considered “normal” and hybrids (a mix between god and monster) are considered dangerous and are killed the moment they step into a sanctuary/camp. The leader convinces the younger generation that the hybrids are bad and should be killed and they’re seen as lesser beings. Until the protagonist befriends a hybrid and realizes “they’re not all bad people, they’re friendly” and so he betrays the camp and recruits people and goes to war against them. So it deals with discrimination, racism, and mass murder. So yeah, the lesson being taught is don’t judge a book by it’s cover and don’t discriminate.

Though if you give it to an English teacher they’ll probably find a deeper meaning

2. Inspired by Percy Jackson. It actually first started off as a fan-fic but we ran into a lot of complications until my friend was like “why don’t we just make our own world” and so we did. We changed everything and yeah.

3. I’m trying to teach my readers to get to know people. Don’t be racist. Don’t be afraid to socialize, meet new people and don’t let stereotypes step in the way of judgement. If you’re going to hate someone, at least get to know them.

4. Funny story- technically none? Like we wrote a full book about 200+ pages on Google doc plus the second book that also has a lot of pages (which I’m proud of myself even if it’s not that good cause we wrote it when we were like 14?) but then we changed the entire storyline, have new characters, scrapped old ones, fleshed out new perspectives and the characters have more personality. So now we have to rewrite it. So yeah… no chapters for them. They have a shit-ton of scripts tho, like I have notes filled with scripts and my friend also has a lot of scripts. So yeah

5. This is original content, what am answering these questions with. I also write fan fiction but I don’t really add messages in them. They’re kind of self-indulgent. Those are usually one-shots but I’m working my way up

6. I have no idea! Cause it’s not written yet but when I’m older I’d love to actually publish them with my friend. That is… if the writing is good. But so far I have no clue, I gotta actually write instead of daydream lmao

7. Have fun with the characters. Flesh them out, give them quirks and a backstory. If you have a character that has the most angst packed into them, don’t let that be their only personality. Let them have fun. Let them be happy (cause then you can take it away and have some soul-crushing angst AH it’s great)

More importantly, write for you. Write whatever makes you happy. Make fan fiction of your own characters (Trust me I have nothing officially written but I have so many fics with my characters) just enjoy your creation, because it’s yours. No one can take that away from you.

Writers of Tumblr, I have an ask game for you all!

Please reblog and answer these questions, maybe tag others too! My asks are also open for them.

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

When and why did you start writing?

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

[magicalmysteryperson]

Adrienn Banai: The Rat Lover

I didn't want to post about any of this, but this person forced my hand.

I can't let this person run around on this hellsite anymore.

For those not in the know, this person harasses artists into drawing their husbando: a rat character named "Grey" from the children's series "Larva Island". Sometimes they also harass people into drawing Grey's grandpa, a female version of Grey named "Greyless", Grey wearing Roxanne's dress from "A Goofy Movie", and plenty of parodies of the opening scene of said movie. Like, they subjected one person to draw that same sequence with different characters like 6-7 times. And the "best" part? Sometimes they steal the poor victim's art to claim it as their own. And sometimes, they create edits of them WITHOUT CREDITING THE ORIGINAL ARTISTS. And when they do get caught, they apologize. A lot. But that's only a front to get respect again.

Her husbando

And I was one of their unfortunate victims. This person is weird as all hell; they ship this rat with Pibby (a character that is canonically from a preschool show), Meilin Lee (A hecking 13 year old girl), and Adrienn themselves.

The rat, according to the user, is 15 while the female version of the rest, his girlfriend, is 12.

Adrienn themselves are either 17 or 19.

The fandoms they follow are: -Courage the Cowardly Dog -Friday Night Funkin -Learning with Pibby -Little Nightmares -Turning Red -Anything Disney related (Goofy mostly) -Steven Universe -Made in Abyss -Road to El Dorado -Eddsworld -Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -Super Mario series and, most importantly, Larva.

She stole my artwork just to make crappy edits

adrienn, flat out admitting that they steal art from people

It's already kind of weird enough, but then I did more digging on this person. They have a butt ton of accounts on a multitude of social media websites. They have a few on reddit, a few on wikia, one on vimeo, and a few on behance, of all places. They have a long history of harassing users, especially on reddit and wikia. They have the most accounts on Tumblr, with five (two of them are inactive.) The second biggest is wikia, with four. The earliest accounts were on DeviantArt, which makes a lot of sense. Oh, but it gets better. They have uncensored nsfw content on two tumblrs. This is from one of their accounts. I am not going to show you the image, but I'm going to show you the tags:

I mean, I'm glad that they tagged it as "rule 34", but I'm more surprised about how tumblr didn't purge those posts or ban the user entirely. So, if you see someone with any of these accounts ask you to draw this rat, dump the ask and block em. Hell, even report them if you need to : https://adrienn-banai-09.tumblr.com/ (WARNING, NSFW CONTENT AHEAD) https://adriennbanai09.tumblr.com/ (Not as nsfw as the one above, but still, nsfw) https://andreabanai.tumblr.com/ https://adriennsposts.tumblr.com/ (currently active) https://adriennbanai-09.tumblr.com/ (currently inactive) https://adriennbanai-2022.tumblr.com They may also go by "zoltanbanai", so keep your eyes out.

And Adrienn/Andrea, if you are reading this, I urge you to take a break from the internet and get some help. As I said multiple times, this behavior will not help you make friends. It will only make more enemies. I am an autistic just like you (probably. idk) and I really don't want to put you down like this, but you're already weirding a bunch of people out. Though you probably won't listen to me anyway, since apparently in your eyes the word "no" is just an unspoken "yes".

And please don't harass this person or send them death threats. Doing that just makes you a bad person.

I hope this is the last time I talk about this person, because I don't really have the time or the patience to deal with stupid bullcrap like this.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. The clorox brain bleach is on the right side of the exits.