#Y'ALL'RE THE BEST

[front-facing-pokemon]

[icannotgetoverbirds]

PSA to all acespecs:

Sexual attraction is JUST as weird as you think it is! You're 100% right! Like for real it is, in fact, getting turned on because of your perception of someone. And that's quite the experience. If you're ever worried that you're making it all up somehow (you're not), just remember this post.

Sincerely, a former asexual who is Still Getting Used To This

[cakemagemaeve]

Maybe I'm just stupid and/or naive, but I honestly thought whole idea behind the social justice movement was that no one should be oppressed, that no one of any race, religion, culture, gender, sexuality, country of origin or any combination thereof deserves to be discriminated against. I thought that bigotry was always wrong no matter what, I thought rape and torture were wrong no matter what. I thought that the ultimate goal was to end the bloodshed altogether, for the end of oppression and the beginning of peace. I thought that we all wanted everyone to live and meet on equal footing, not just to switch around who's being oppressed and who's doing the oppressing. I thought it was about making a better life for everyone, not just the select groups of people whom it's popular to care about this week.

Apparently I was wrong. Apparently there are exceptions.

[crowtits]

gotta say watching so many people hate on the watchertv idea makes me want to support it more

[the-state-of-georgia-official]

Hi!! I'm @ohio-thestate 's absolute best friend!!

well that's nice, hun! ^^ I'm glad y'all're gettin along so well

[glorious-imagines]

The Gala .II

TW: Mentions of Premature Birth

p1 p2 p3

"So, you and Conner?" Wally inquires as he sips some insanely expensive wine.

Y/n scoffs, "Yeah, we've been talking for a while. He's..." she shrugs.

"So you're not actively pursuing a romantic relationship with him?"

"No, I am... I mean, maybe?"

"Sounds like your heart isn't entirely in it."

"Conner's great. He really is. He treats me like I'm the center of his universe...

"But he's not Jason."

Y/n didn't like that he knew exactly where her thoughts were. But Wally was right. And she felt awful about it. "I hurt a lot less than I did in the beginning. Conner is the reason for that."

Wally takes her hand and leads her to the dance floor. "Think you can waltz and talk?"

There's a slight tingle of warmth in Y/n's nose as she allows Wally to take the lead. Her mouth quirked up wistfully as she glided across the floor. "You know, Jason is the one that taught me to Waltz."

"Really?"

"It was our first not-date."

"Not date?" Wally gently spun them.

"Ugh, I was so against romance in the beginning."

"Why?"

"Love hurts like hell. Bastard before Jay was a dickhead. But we're not talking about them." When Wally takes a step forward, Y/n takes a step back.

"Some other time, then."

"Anyway, Jason suggested we go on a date, but as friends. Of course, I was skeptical. 'men are garbage people' was my mantra. But Shana said, 'at best you have a good time; at worst you never talk to him again.' So, I went. Turns out he teaches a class on the Waltz to inner-city kids."

"Clearly, it worked."

"I didn't know then, but I fell for him that day. Like, of all the things he can teach those kids, why'd he choose the Waltz?" Y/n's laugh carried to those around her who laughed even though they didn't know what was said.

"It must have been love at first sight for him. And I can see why." He twirls Y/n away and then back into his arms as the song draws to a close.

Y/n sighed dejectedly. "He just had to go and ruin everything."

Wally pulls her into a hug. "Try giving Conner a proper go. He might surprise you."

"Thanks, Wa-"

"Please don't tell me y'all're having heart to hearts." Shana interrupts; she and her sister Meia looking rather disappointed in her.

Wally smiles brightly as he leans in to kiss Meia. "You can't just decide where to have a heart to heart."

"I hope you don't mind if I steal my beloved for a dance." Meia asks politely.

Y/n feigns shock. "Your boyfriend? Flirting with me when you have such a beautiful woman, already?" Everyone laughs when Meia tries to hide her face.

"See ya, Meia. If you see our third, lemme know so we can get him drunk as hell." Meia gives Shana a thumbs up before Shana drags Y/n to the bar. ... After his confrontation with Conner, Jason went to look for Y/n. He was serious about telling her everything. She deserved to know what a bastard Conner was. Like, yeah, maybe she didn't want to be with him. But he'd be damned if she stayed with someone who'd manipulate her life.

He was like a guided storm as he moved through people. Forcing them to break apart from one another and make way for him. He was determined to protect you from assholes. Conner being one of the highest order.

Then he heard her laugh. Saw her bright smile. His heart stuttered. His storm faltered, and he stood there. Gaping in awe of her. She was with Conner. Genuinely laughing at something he had said. Conner seemed to be embarrassed, trying to hide in his hands. Then she leaned up and kissed his hands before taking them away from his face. Her smile intact, she told him-- 

And Jason had to force himself to turn away. They were having such an intimate moment. Like they'd been together all this time. And he—he was intruding. He'd known her for so long. Had learned all her intricacies, her tells. Now, someone else was learning them. And he was an intruder. It hurt. Like hell. Like she'd stabbed him with a jagged and rusty knife, and Conner had twisted it.

His phone vibrated in his chest pocket. He took a breath. And then another. And one more. It was hard to collect himself when the object of his affection was twenty feet away. Being affectionate with not him. Breathe. Beathe again. In and out. Once his heart steadied and the sting in his eyes disappeared, he answered his phone.

"Jay, it's Gabby. We need to talk. Like now, right now."

"Why the urgency? You sound like you found a dead body." A beat of silence, and he was neverous that she'd known whoever she found. "Who is--"

"I didn't find a body, dumbass." She interrupted quickly. "Meet me at mine." And she hangs up.

He didn't like the sound of Gabby like this. All disoriented and vague. S'not like her at all. Well, least he had an excuse to leave. Being here was hell. He beelined straight to the nearest exit without looking back at Y/n.

He was at her place in thirty minutes. He'd decided to take public transportation. He ran into some school kids bullying another. He put a stop to it and gave the bullied his number for emergencies.

He pounded on her door. "Gabby, open up." He bangs some more.

She swung her door open, features fixed in a less than pleased grimace—a hand on her hip and one on the door. "Banging on my door like you the damn police!"

Jason chuckled; he knew she hated when he did that, obviously. "Next time answer the door faster."

"Get in here." She says and leads him to her bedroom.

He takes a seat on her bed, his hand going under her pillow to grab whatever snack she had there. "Ooh, gummy bears." He pops a couple in his mouth. "Why am I here?"

"So, I went to your place like you asked. With the pies. Isabel let me in, of course. She was all huffing and stuff. I didn't think much of it because she's pregnant. Figured every time she moved, it was like a workout because she's got to carry three bodies." She paused her incessant pacing to speak to him directly. "Which she is fucking huge, by the way. I am never having kids for as long as I live. You know any doctors--"

"Gabs, focus." Jason interrupts her babbling. And babbling wasn't like her. He glanced down, and she kept tapping her index fingers to her thumbs. "Just rip the bandaid, Gabby.

"There was someone there. He was naked except for a towel--"

"S'not like she and I are together in the sense that she can't be with other guys--"

"Lemme finish. Long story short, her water broke--"

Jason shot up with alarm. "What?! Gabby lead with that! She's months too early--!"

She put a hand on his chest and sat him back down. "Let. Me. Finish." She enunciated more sternly. "I saw the twins. They're adorable."

"Gabby," he warned.

"I had a friend of mine do a DNA test on them."

He glared at her. "Thats a line. How the hell would you have gotten--?"

"One of your many visits to the diner, duh. I was already in the process of it anyway."

"What?!" His anger suddenly flared.

"You're my friend! Of course I was gonna do it!" She huffs, frowning and shaking her head slowly. "Okay, yeah, no, I'm sorry. That was shitty of me. I promise not to do that again, and if you never trust me, I will understand."

Jason huffs too, his shoulders sagging like a weight lifted. "No, it's fine. I mean, it's not, and you definitely crossed a line, but... I get it. I... I kinda thought about it, too. I just wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt."

They both take a seat on her bed. She gently takes his hand in hers as he leans against her. "They're not mine, are they...?"

"Do you want them to be?" She whispers slowly, and he looks at her questionably. "Let me start off by saying the babies are fine. They're in that box thingy that keeps premature babies alive. Doctor says they'll have to stay there till they can breathe and eat on their own."

Jason nods along. "And Isabel?"

"Also, fine. Obviously, she needs to heal, but she'll be in there for significantly less time than the twins. Now, as I was saying, Isabel doesn't know that you know the truth. And after everything that's happened," she squeezes his hand a bit. "If you want to be a father to them, it's your decision to make."

"Thanks, Gabby. Never go behind my back like this again, but thanks."

NEXT

~~~ I have no idea what a waltz actually looks like, so don't quote me on anything that I wrote 🤷🏿 

Wait, should I have tagged Conner x Reader? 🤔

[folliesoftheforest]

A Night in Your Shoes

Hope y'all're for the next installment of this adventure! I'm a sucker for body swaps, so, enjoy!

Shop didn't even have to open her eyes before she knew something was wrong. Everything felt, in a word, bigger.

'I just feel heavier, that's all.' She thought to herself, which, was true in a sense, sleep paralysis affected everyone a bit differently, and for Shop, it would make her feel as though she was sinking into the bed. But this still felt different from past instances, and part of herself already knew why, but refused to believe it.

She sat up with a groan, and froze. That… was not her voice. The bed under her creaked in an unfamiliar way. This was not her bed. Panicked, thoughts began to swim, and she threw off the bed sheets that disguised herself and tried to vault out of bed, falling rather ungracefully with a loud thump before she scrambled to the nearby dresser. She knew this room, she knew its layout, and yet, she stared in horror as SD stared back at her in the mirror.

At the same time, SD was tossing and turning in bed, which was odd for him; normally he slept like a log. Was his blanket always this heavy? Maybe it was just his imagination. Deciding he might as well get up, rather than fight to rest, his first indication that something was wrong was how swiftly he sat up in bed.

He only thought on it for a moment, chalking it up to a classic case of waking up on the wrong side of the bed, somehow. SD went to raise his hands to rub the tiredness from his eyes, pausing at the sensation of a smooth face, devoid of any coarse beard hairs. He gingerly moved his hands away from his face, crystal clear vision allowing him to soak in all the unfamiliar details of the slender hands he now possessed. These were certainly not his hands. Slowly, he removed the weighted blanket, trying to process the situation as calmly as possible as he positioned himself to sit on the ledge of the bed. He looked down at his body, and it clicked into place, he recognized this body, although he never had seen it from this angle. Tentatively, he hopped down from the bed, and wobbled for a moment as he found his balance; he certainly wasn't used to being this… small. Still, he tiptoed towards the nearby dresser, as if he was going to break this body somehow. With the mirror sitting just above a set of drawers, SD could only see Shop's head and chest that stared back at him with muted disbelief. He gasped lightly, pursing his lips at the sound that came out of his mouth. His first thought was to go find Shop, but looking down at her body, he decided it would be best to change out of her pajamas, if only for his own comfort. He went over to her closet; he couldn't help the firm smile that spread across his face as he faced the seemingly random organization. He picked out a well worn pair of shorts, a blue tank top, and a soft jacket. 'What a way to start the day…' he thought to himself as he got dressed before he stepped out the door, not hearing the light buzzing coming from the phone that hid under a small mountain of pillows.

Shop just stood in shock for what seemed like an eternity before finally blinking, rubbing her face with a groan before she ran hefty hands across plump cheeks, roughed up by SD's beard. The sensation was odd, but calming, in a way. She found herself wandering back to the bed, sitting down on the edge as a curious hand eventually wandered down to the old scar that adorned his chest, something that Shop had only remembered now, after the initial panic. She had of course seen it before, but to handle it from its owner's perspective was, surreal, as was the general sense of how much space she now took up.

Unfortunately, the quiet did not last long before SD knocked on the door, startling Shop and prompting her to grab the nearby blanket and drape it over herself, as if being topless in her current body was taboo.

"C-come in!" She announced, biting her lip at the strange feeling of speaking in another's voice.

"Shop?... I ah, don't suppose you would have any clue as to what's… happened?" A chill ran down her spine as SD emerged through the doorway; there was a special kind of terror that came with seeing yourself walk and talk and knowing that's not you. SD must have picked up on his friend's tense reaction, stepping in place momentarily as he held his hands. "Is it alright if I sit with you?"

She nodded, clutching the blanket close as he hopped onto the bed, sitting a respectful distance away. SD's bed was more proportionate to someone of his height, so to get up required a sizable hop from the shorter of the two. This got a small chortle out of Shop, who quickly stifled the laugh when SD turned quickly to her in surprise, but said nothing. The two sat in a heavily awkward silence, still very much unnerved and unsure of what say. "Are you, doing alright?" SD finally asked, trying to break the ice.

Shop looked down at him. "Well, uh, physically, yeah, but ah….." She trailed off, hoping SD would catch onto what she was implying. He did and nodded thoughtfully before he ran his hands through his hair, letting out a small, pained huff when he scratched his head with his nails.

Shop heard this and perked up, alert. "Is everything ok!?" She quickly asked, though hesitant to move.

SD tensed up under the attention, "I'm fine, I'm fine-" He looked over the grown out, painted nails that more closely resembled claws on an animal than anything else. "I ah… don't think I ever realized how sharp your nails were, Shop." SD remissed.

"Oh! Hah, yeah…" She piped up, relieved that it wasn't anything too bad as she rubbed the back of her neck. There was another long silence before Shop finally cleared her throat. "I'm just gonna come right out and say it, but, hearing my voice with the way you talk is, weird."

"Agreed." SD huffed.

Neither of them really knew what to do after that, although SD could tell Shop was holding back a lot of thoughts with how she fidgeted with the blanket she had over her. He was unnerved by the fact that was watching himself act like Shop, because it WAS her. Meanwhile, he looked down towards the ground to try to think of something, anything really, to lighten the mood. He had started to feel an unfamiliar tightness in his chest though, rubbing it gently with a hand as he spoke up again.

"Well-" He started as he sighed and clicked his tongue, planting a hand firmly on his thigh. "At least now we can say we've both shared each other's clothes, eh?" He chuffed half heartedly as he gestured to the jacket he was wearing. He normally didn't like baggy clothes, but he was drawn to it, probably because it was such a comfort item for Shop, and it did seem cozy, like a small portable blanket.

Shop scanned SD with a scrunched up nose, before a smile spread on her face with a small chuckle. "Yeah, yeah I guess you could say that!"

SD matched the big smile with his own meek one, but he was ultimately distracted. His mind was silently racing with a million thoughts, and he could feel his chest starting to pound with its anxious heart; so that's where the tightness was coming from, he thought. He tried to dismiss the storm of thoughts with a small shake of his head, looking back up to Shop address her, stopping abruptly when he realized she had been staring at him with a hard expression.

"Uh… Shop?..." SD questioned, his cheeks starting to burn, which to him was another odd sensation. "Is… everything ok?..."

"Hm…" She responded, sitting back up. "Well, truthfully, no, but you don't look like you're doing too hot…" She had been watching SD's mannerisms begin to mimic her own, whenever she got anxious; conversely, this was the clearest she had been able to think in a while, if only because SD's body wasn't always on high alert like how she was used to.

"Ah!- Well, I, um-" SD found himself starting to struggle to respond; was this how she felt when she was panicked? The anxiety raked his poor body, and his mind began to swim as he tried to formulate an answer, but it all came to a screeching halt when he felt a heavy, warm pressure against the back of his neck before it moved to his shoulders, smoothing them out from their scrunched up position. SD took a moment to collect himself with a few deep breaths before he realized Shop had reached over and was the one applying the gentle pressure, though she quickly removed her hand when SD looked back over at her.

"O-oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you were looking tense, but, I should have asked you first if you wanted help calming down…" She bashfully explained.

SD seemed taken aback, but nodded his head as he rolled his shoulders. "You're alright, Shop. I, well, I didn't realize how tense I was getting." He scoffed with a smile. "Nor did I realize how effective I was at calming you down-"

"Are."

"Huh?"

"You are effective, at calming me down." Shop clarified. "I dunno what exactly it is that makes pressure on me so effective, but, it is…" She paused, a thought crossing her mind. "But you probably wouldn't like it, at least, if you weren't in my body."

"What… makes you say that?..." SD felt he already knew the answer, but wanted to see what Shop would say.

"Well," Shop began as she furrowed her brow, "You're always the bigger party, in ah, every sense of the word, and you always seemed so confused when I would tell you how I enjoy feeling, small, not in the weak sense, but, well, you get the idea-” She struggled to get through. “What I'm trying to get at is that I assume you don't like feeling, small?"

Shop got her answer as SD's face turned more red; she didn't realize she could get so blushy, but then again, it's not like she always had a mirror on hand for these situations. She noticed his chest quicken as it rose and fell, and reached her hands out to his, sandwiching one between her hands.

"SD, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" He stopped her as he rested his free hand on hers, taking a deep breath.

"There's no need to apologize; you've, well, pretty much hit the nail on the head there… Everything just, seems more, daunting, and, even now, I just want to be able to make sure you're ok…"

"Oh SD…" Shop rumbled, holding his slender hands in her blocky palms. "You know firsthand that I can take care of myself, push come shove; but even then, you know I want to make sure you're ok too, especially when you feel you've gotta stay strong, if you support me, then by golly am I gonna support you!"

SD couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he calmed down, shaking his head. "You know, you're pretty good with your words when you want to be-"

Shop reciprocated the smile with her own, giving her head a little shake. "Well it helps when you have a really nice voice!"

This sparked a small giggle fit between the two, who at this could do nothing else but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

SD sighed, giving his cheek a rub before he looked back up to Shop, "Well, I suppose we should get the day started… and you should get your- ah, my? glasses-" He cursed under his breath; this was going to be confusing for a while.

"Oh! Have I been squinting or something?"

"Quite a bit actually," he started, absentmindedly staring at himself, or rather, his body in front of him, taking in all the details. "I usually keep them in the first drawer in the nightstand." It was strange to see himself at this height, even when just sitting next to Shop. He glanced away to collect himself as she got up and went to get the lens, trying to find the words to say.

Thankfully, his stomach rumbled softly, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "I know it has been, crazy morning, to say the least, but how about you get dressed and I make us some breakfast, hm?"

Having retrieved the case and put on the delicate lens, Shop turned to SD, enamored by the height difference. "Oh! Of course, of course, you can go ahead, I'll ah, get myself all washed up and meet you there!" She gave him a sincere smile, as if to say that she'll be ok, and he hopped off the bed and stepped out of the doorway.

Alone again, Shop exhaled. She wasn't used to wearing glasses, let alone this face, and told herself that she would try not to fiddle with them constantly. She tossed the blanket back onto the bed and opened the nearby closet, all neatly organized, and couldn't help but smile at the thought of what SD must have thought of her closet situation. She stimmed as she thought, drumming her hands against her chest softly before she picked out a nice button up with a soft t-shirt, and some comfy looking slacks. She laid the outfit out on the bed, pleased with her decision.

And while she knew that her center of gravity was way off, she couldn't help but chuckle at her own inexperience as she got dressed, wondering what SD must think of her, all things considered. All dressed, Shop looked herself over in the mirror as the scent of warm, home cooked food wafted into the room, reminding both the mind and body what time it was. With her stomach rumbling, she gave it a tender pat, about to head out the door, but not before SD's phone buzzed and lit up on his nightstand, catching her attention.

She stepped over to read the notification, and her shoulders dropped, it felt like a rock dropped in her gut.

'FULL MOON TONIGHT' Is all it read. 'Oh no, no no no, that can't be tonight.' She grabbed the phone and briskly walked to her room, trying not to panic and alert SD with thundering footfalls. Inside her own room, Shop nearly dove for the pillows, knowing her phone must be there. It was clear SD had not seen it, since it had a couple of notifications that had gone off, all reminding Shop of the night at hand. How could she forget?! Granted, when you wake up in your friend's body, you're bound to forget a thing or two.

Holding both phones now, her brow furrowed, then relaxed. There was nothing to be done but break the news to SD and try to be as prepared as possible. She had started to see him gain more autonomy on these nights, likely just from the fact that he had gotten used to them, or at least, that was her best guess… he never did remember what would happen in the night. But, tonight would be a whole other monster, literally.

Shop dragged her feet down to the kitchen, the homey scent of food filling her nose and lifting her spirits as she sat at the table, lost in thoughts of how to prepare.

"Shop?" SD called out quizzically when he saw her enter the room, looking quite dejected. "Shop!"

"Huh- wha- sorry, sorry, I uh…" she raised her phone to gesture to it as she went quiet, not wanting to say anything.

"... it's tonight. Isn't it?..." SD quickly deduced.

Shop set down the phones, lifting her hands to graze through her messy head of hair.

"A full moon, yep… what are the odds, right?!" She slammed her hands on the table, spooked by the strength behind the sound.

"Shop… there's nothing we can do about that, we'll just have to, work with what we have, right? At least we know what we're getting into, no?" SD moved away from the stovetop and over to his distressed friend. He was a bit hesitant to console her, the strangeness of the situation growing more apparent; she had watched in terror as he turned too many times to count now, and now that was going to happen to her, albeit in his body.

The two, SD thought, must have been thinking the same thing, since Shop had taken off her glasses to bury her face in her hands, tensing up as a delicate hand rested on her back, her voice echoing words she had heard spoken before back to her. "Come now, why don't we have something to eat, ok? Then we can talk about how we're going to handle tonight…"

She sighed, deflated as she calmed down with a nod. "Right, right… what did you make? It smells delicious."

~~~~~~

The rest of the day went on as normal as it could, with the two comparing oddities and awkwardness, sharing a laugh here and there. The hours dragged on, and SD knew Shop was getting nervous about the coming night as they cooked an early dinner to help stave off the monster's hunger.

"Hey."

Shop hummed, looking up from the oven as some baked ziti broiled.

"You're going to be ok."

"Yeah… I know…"

"You don't seem so sure of that."

Shop gave her friend a sarcastic glance, but sighed as she sat down, still staring at the oven. She was quiet, thinking about what she wanted to say.

"What did it feel like? The first time it happened…"

SD exhaled through his nose, reaching over his shoulder to try to massage a knot out of his shoulder. Knowing how much her back would ache and where, Shop invited SD to sit on her lap. He seemed against the idea at first, giving Shop a scrunched up look of distaste, but she insisted, and he eventually obliged. Once nestled on the expansive lap, SD cleared his throat.

"... It's hard to remember how bad it was… But, it was a rush of adrenaline, at first, the kind you might get when you're terrified and want to run away," he paused as Shop ran her fingers through his hair, the sensation alien and familiar all at once. "Then… everything begins to burn from the inside out. The kind that gets itchy for a while, until it gets unbearable…" Shop hummed, listening, but also staying distracted from the panic as she gently, but firmly rolled her fists into SD's back. "Then, ah, well, the pain begins, and, well it all goes downhill from there…"

SD sat quietly as Shop finished up, resting her hands on his back. He slumped forward, disheartened, looking down at the hands that had balled up into fists. "I'm so sorry Shop… you shouldn't… you shouldn't have to go through this…" He began to quiver, his cheeks going red again as he held back tears he didn't ask for.

Understanding the telltale signs and hoping to provide some comfort, Shop said nothing, instead, she snaked soft arms around his torso, resting her head on top of his, encasing him in a similar fashion that he would for her. "I am… scared," she started, "but, you deserve a night off. Maybe that's why this happened… I know you'll take care of anything that happens to me, just like I would for you…" she trailed off, pressing a cheek onto the crown of SD's head, shedding a tear with him as they sat together in mutual silence, at least, till the timer went off for their food.

"Ah, food's ready-" Shop sat up, pressing SD against herself. "Not to, break up the tender moment we were having or anything-" She beamed as SD retorted with a low snort before he patted the forearms that rested on his lap and got up.

"Alright, let's eat something before we head out then." Over dinner, they reviewed the little notebook Shop had taken to keeping as she had watched almost every turning. While she had very little organization, she did always see the details, noting possible patterns and habits SD would take up.

Occasionally she would have to explain to him what certain keywords meant, almost as though she had developed a secret code for herself.

Afterwards, they packed up some things: extra clothes, lots of snacks, flashlights, and even a few sedatives, just as a precaution; tonight would be a bit unpredictable after all. Shop fiddled with the hem of her shirt as SD drove, occasionally looking over at him for reassurance. It was so strange to try and read her own face, but his mannerisms and expressions still existed within the confines they sat in.

Soon enough the car stopped and SD looked out into the waning light of the woods before them.

"Alright, come on, let's go get set up before you have to go…" he spoke with a soft cadence to his tone, trying to be the calm, grounding voice Shop needed to hear. A good thing too, as she tried to ignore the growing headache and churning from deep down inside as she stepped out of the car herself; it really started this early? Still, she took a deep breath and carried a bag for SD, glancing down at him as they walked. Would she remember anything from tonight? Would she be able to do anything to control herself around him? She knew the answers based on what SD had told her, but it was in her nature to worry and think too much about things. She must have spaced out at some point, coming back to the present as SD repeated her name again. "Oh, I'm sorry bud…" the sun was starting to sink, night quickly approaching. Shop gave her temples a rub, the headache growing stronger.

"It's alright Shop, come on, give me the glasses, you can leave the clothes out if you want to leave now."

Shop sighed curtly, which came out more like a pained huff. "I don't want to leave…" still, she surrendered the lens and started to take off her clothes, not bothering to fold them as her chest started to burn.

"Shop…" SD didn't continue, he knew that she knew that she couldn't stay, but it was obvious she was scared. "You'll probably find me, and I'll be prepared for you, alright?"

"Promise you'll be ok…?"

"I promise."

She gave him a tired smile as she handed off her pants to him, hair already starting to sprout everywhere. The pain in her head grew, dizzying in its intensity; was SD saying something? It was too loud in her head to hear anything, her body starting to feel as if it were boiling, just like SD had warned her. Staggered by the pain, Shop didn't get very far from where SD stood, only falling back into some small shrubbery as the transformation began to take place.

Curiosity grabbed hold of SD as he listened to his voice produce ugly, pained growls that slowly became less and less human. This was no break, he thought, this was just a cruel reminder to him that he was a monster. And yet, some unseen force drew him closer to the source of the sounds; he wanted to see what this looked like from an outsider's perspective, what Shop had likely seen time and time again. He steeled him as he came upon the withering form, blood splotches from where the antlers protruded from, claw marks in the dirt as arms bulked up and grew mounds of fur, a tail that solicited a grotesque bellow as the spine popped and stretched to accommodate its length. It was like a car crash, something horrible that you couldn't take your eyes off of. Soon enough, all the daylight had left the sky and the monster had curled up, shuttering through shallow breaths.

SD realized he needed to move back and start a fire, having been seemingly entranced by the transformation, but as he took a step back, he fell, having lost his balance over a root. This alerted the beast, who shuffled and groaned as it started to rise.

Panic rose in SD, which was something that did not happen all that often for him. He remembered something that Shop had mentioned she did at one point, so, hoping it would work again here, he picked himself up and rushed to where he had left the back bag. He didn't bother with a fire, the important part was getting the monster away first; he wasn't going to take any chances trying to reach out to Shop, not especially since this was all going to be new for her, or rather, the creature.

With a weak groan, it stood on all fours, dazed and confused. It had heard and smelled something that seemed, oddly familiar, but it couldn't comprehend why. Still, it followed the scent, wobbly on its legs; it would take it a few moments before it was properly ready to go. It came upon a small clearing, where the scent grew stronger; there was a small form in the middle, holding something in a hand.

SD tried not to freeze up as the monster emerged from the shrubbery. This is what he was now… and this is what Shop had to be. His heart sank for her as it shambled towards him, sniffing the air until it locked on him with glossy eyes. Could she tell who he was? Probably not.

Still, he held a bag of beef jerky above his head before chucking towards the creature with all his might, hoping it flew past it. The plan must have worked, SD thought, when it turned its head in attention, watching as it worked to shuffle itself around and return to the woods, and, as SD hoped, set it off to find something other than him to eat. Soon after it had disappeared, he realized how much time he had already wasted, and dug through the bag at his side for a flashlight, to help find some wood and rocks for a campfire.

Having torn apart the small pack, the beast ravenously devoured the dried meat inside, enticing its hunger from the transformation. It began to drool, ready to follow the scent of meat back to its source, but not before a deer jumped out of the woods and in front of the beast. Its eyes widened at the chance to eat a fresh kill, and before the prey item could jump away, it smacked it to the ground and dug its dagger-like claws into it, crushing bones like a cardboard box.

SD sat up at the sound of a dying deer, his blood running cold. That was close. Too close for comfort. Rather than try to run though, he looked back down at Shop's little journal, trying to distract himself with her notes.

Things like how fire seemed to deter it and running would cause it to give chase stood out to him. He trusted her to know what she was talking about; otherwise, he might not have been in the position he was at this moment.

The creature finished its first meal quickly, blood caked in its paws and maw. Still, it was hungry, and so, it trudged deeper into the woods, occasionally propping itself against a tree to stand on its hind legs, sniffing the air for food. It caught the scent of a boar, coming back down onto all fours with a dull thud.

Its jaw hung open as it panted, prowling through the underbrush in the dark of night, its saliva mixing with the spilt blood as it crept up to the unexpecting boar. The animal sat up at attention, knowing something was wrong, squealing as the beast lunged for its prey, but it missed, allowing the boar to jab at the creature with a tusk. It howled in defiance, ringing through the trees before the boar met its match in the form of the powerful crocodilian tail slamming down onto it.

The beast huffed, shaking off the shallow wound it had sustained before eating, satisfied with itself in winning this battle. Afterwards, it wandered the woods, occasionally giving chase to smaller animals that managed to get away from its grasp.

It followed the smell of water, walking into the refreshing rush as it stared at the water, as though it was trying to put something together in its mind before dunking its head in; it seemed inexperienced in how to go about drinking in how it would rear its head, gasping for air before dunking it again, garbled sounds bubbling from the water as it opened its maw to drink. Finally, with its hunger and thirst satisfied, it pulled itself away from the water, weighed down but it's partly waterlogged fur. It shook itself dry, grumbling softly as it looked around, some unseen force telling it to move, and so it did, wandering the woods for most of the night.

Back at the campsite, SD was nodding off as the fire beside him started to die. He shook himself awake and tossed another log into the embers, sparking up a flame once more. He sighed, a hand on the notebook that was keeping him company. He hoped that he would see Shop again, preferable from his original perspective. Unfortunately, his wish would come true sooner than he expected. A dull, rhythmic thud sounded out among crunched leaves and snapped sticks to announce the arrival of a forest king. The hulking beast lumbered out from among the bushes and branches, head held at a level angle and swaying a bit; it seemed, tired. It eyed the fire, staring at it as though its gaze would ward off the flames before the beast looked up slowly at SD. He was frozen in shock and awe of the creature and did not want to startle it. He told himself to hold his ground, slowly reaching over to the pocket that held the sedatives in their little vials. The beast never took its eyes off him, its ear swiveling to acknowledge that he was in fact, moving, which caused SD to stop, setting his hand back down.

Nothing about it seemed particularly aggressive, so maybe it would just walk away, but, it never did. It just stared at him, as he did back.

After what seemed like forever, the creature sat down where it stood, maintaining its hardened gazed, trained on SD. Paralyzed, SD sat frozen where he was, his gaze equally trained on the beast; but he hoped this night would be somehow over soon. The faint scent of blood lingered around the beast as it soon crept close enough to stretch its neck out to sniff SD from where it sat. His eyes snapped to the tail however, that swung a bit too close to the fire, singing it enough for the beast to feel, making it jump away from the heat, giving it a low growl as it bared its teeth.

SD had to stifle a small, nervous laugh at the action, not wanting to alarm the creature in front of it. Instead, he very cautiously stuck out a hand, redirecting its attention from the fire, to him. Why did he feel compelled to do that? This was a great leap of faith, as it could bite off his arm, Shop's arm, at any point.

He stared it right in the eyes, as it stared back, before finally giving the offered hand a cautious sniff, and although it still bared its teeth and growled, it seemed to be less hostile and more, confused?

A little less tense now, the beast stood back up and stepped around and away SD, so that he was between it and the fire, before it sat down with a resounding foomph, letting out a low grumble as it rested its head delicately onto its paws, closing its eyes with a heavy sigh.

SD simply sat in awe at how much the creature had calmed down, even if Shop had made notes of times where it had done so in the past before; this would seem to be the closest it would have come to them thus far. 'She must have had her fill of excitement out there.' He thought to himself, not daring to wake the creature up with speech. The way it had laid down, however, provided a perfect opportunity for SD to get closer to it. Should he? Shop didn't have anything written about trying to interact with the beast, which was understandable for her, considering her past experiences. His arm swayed to his side; he didn't want anything more to happen to her, especially right then. But still, curiosity won him over, ‘ I must be crazy��’ He thought to himself as he took a few cautious shuffles to test the ice.

The creature's eyes snapped open at the slight sound, watching SD, but, they didn't move. They did, however, growl as he scooted close.

SD raised his hands, open and empty. The beast seemed to scan him over, closing their eyes again, as if to permit him to come close. SD cautiously pressed a hand onto the beast's side. He held his breath, awaiting the worst, but it never came; it had fallen fast asleep. Relieved and thoroughly intrigued, SD held his hand in place for a bit longer, feeling how its chest rose and fell before he stroked the coarse fur, dedicating the texture to memory, seeing as he may never get the chance to feel it again. The creature took deep, slow breaths at his touch, its body expanding and contracting, oozing of power.

"You're doing great Shop…." He whispered under his breath, giving the monster a pat before he scooted a bit back to carefully nestle in for the rest of the night. He felt a strange wave of calmness wash over him as he watched the last bit of embers die out from the fire, but he was too tired to be worried, morning should be right around the corner anyway.

And the morning did come, as it always did, though SD wasn't the first to wake.

Shop shuffled awake, her whole body feeling sluggish. She rubbed her face with her familiar hands, pausing for a moment before her mind caught up, realizing she was back in her own body. She couldn't help the excited grin that spread across her face, but she just as quickly realized that she couldn't celebrate just yet, the wall behind her exhaling deeply.

Shop felt her heart drop as she scrambled away from the sleeping beast. What in the world did SD do?? What did she do?? Questions swirled in her mind until a headache blossomed, begging the poor thing to just stop for a moment. Daylight had just begun to crept over the horizon, and Shop, still cautious of the sleeping beast behind her, knew that SD would be just as exhausted as she was, if not more.

Curiosity overtook the poor thing though, as she turned to face the beast, withholding a gasp as she witnessed it begin to shrink and morph, accompanied by pained, sleepy chuffs. Shop wanted to look away, but similar to SD, she couldn't help but watch as fur and scales receded into skin, accompanied by the soft symphony of popping and crackling.

The transformation seemed as slow as the sunrise, and in the meantime, Shop decided to let SD rest as he shifted back to his normal self. It felt easy, in a sense, for Shop to get back into her own groove. No matter what she tried, most often than not, she would up end up awake before the sun had risen; in this case, it gave her time to clean up before her sleeping compatriot awoke.

Soon enough, Shop heard a familiar sound. She turned around, and couldn't help the small laugh that came out, seeing SD laying face down in the leaf litter, snoring lightly. She gathered up a fresh set of clothes for the man, and stepped over to him, resting a hand on his back to nudge him.

“Hey, hey bud, you ok?” She whispered, not wanting to startle him. She felt his muscles twitch as he came to, propping himself up.

“I'm up, I'm up…” He grumbled. His groggy mind was still processing where it was as he looked over to Shop, who was pulling out some wet wipes to help wipe away some of the dirt caked on his face. “Shop?... Shop!” SD exclaimed, finally catching up. The young lady beamed back to her friend, offering a wipe to him.

“That's me!” She cheerfully replied. “Guess uh, guess yesterday was just some kinda fluke, eh?” She suggested.

“That's some fluke…” SD commented, thanking Shop for the wipe as he sat up. “How in the world could it have happened in the first place…”

Shop busied herself by handing SD his clothes as she spoke. “I dunno bud, you're the professor; guess it's time for some researching?” She added, cheeky.

SD rolled his eyes with a smile and huff, dressing himself. “Maybe. But I would save that for later, right now?” He yawned. “I think I'd like to get something to eat and go home for a nice shower.”

Shop sniffed herself momentarily, wrinkling her nose. “Yeah that's fair, I smell like a wet dog-”

“Technically, it would be more like a wet beast-”

Shop stared at SD coldly, calculating his response, but it wasn't long before she smiled and shook her head, bobbing it in agreement as the two packed their things, and headed out to go home.

[scarlet-witchery]

You just gave me a prompt idea. Pride and prejudice but gallavich??????? If you would be so kind as to indulge me with a ficlet I would love you most ardently 🥺

Okay so anon you're in luck that I've been rereading a lot of my queer historical romance so if you'll pardon me the indulgence, I'm gonna have so much fun with this. You're gonna get a ficlet AND a whole lot of world building, so buckle up, m'dear 😘

(tagging @callivich and @holymurdock since they both cheered me on with this one, y'all're the best~)

———

Ian and his brother stood in the corner of the room, each of them with a drink in hand and feeling marvelously out of place. At least, Ian certainly did—he wasn't sure how he ended up being dragged along to a soirée like this, but his little sister had begged and pleaded because "if nothing else I'll need someone to dance with, and you're so much better at it than Phillip." The row that had started lasted them until Fiona bustled them all off for morning chores. Everyone had to pitch in at the estate, except for Liam, of course.

He took another swig of the cloying champagne, hiding his grimace; he'd rather be drinking a decent stout at the village tavern. Everyone minded their own business there; here, it was as if one's presence was all anyone needed to justify striking up a conversation. There were more unfamiliar faces than he'd expected at this party, although it was crowded enough that he felt safe to let his eyes wander a little.

The dance floor was positively flooded with young men and women, smiling pleasantly at each other as they tried to converse through the steps of a lively quadrille. Both of his sisters had been claimed for a dance; Deborah looked positively thrilled, while Fiona seemed as if she'd prefer to be somewhere else. Ian couldn't help but laugh when he saw how enthusiastic Fiona's partner was compared to her own bland smile. At the very least, their family had to keep up appearances, what with their father's reputation.

A young woman in a pale purple dress walked past them, her matching gloves strangely pushed down her arms until they bunched up at her wrists. When Ian looked again, he realized it was the same girl who'd asked him for a dance earlier, but he'd had to turn down—politely, of course—although he was quite impressed by her approaching him. Not many young gentry ladies would be willing to break convention in such a way. A shame Ian felt nothing for the fairer sex; she might have been someone he could have made a match with.

He watched with passive interest as the girl dispersed into the crowd, letting his gaze follow various other party goers as they engaged in conversation or found new partners for the dancing. Just another country party for eligible young people to meet, after all; there wasn't much else in the way of distractions, unfortunately—not even a room where men might play at cards. That had come as a disappointment for Ian. He'd been teaching the younger ones, and Deborah in particular had quite the knack for it. She might have been all of fifteen, but were young ladies allowed into the gambling hells that Ian and Phillip frequented, she'd clear them all out in a night.

Ian was still amusing himself with the image of his young sister taking the coats off of gentlemen's backs to pay off debts of honor, when he heard an angry voice call out from the crowd.

"Oy, you! Gallagher! You damned blackguard! That's right, I've some goddamn words for you, you piece of shite!"

Several of the ladies nearby gasped at the language; Ian, who had learned worse from the Army men stationed in the village, only looked up at the man advancing on him and set his glass to the side. He stuck his chin out stubbornly and crossed his arms, using his height to his advantage.

"There's quite a number of Gallaghers here," he said. "You might need to be more specific."

"I'm talkin' about you, bloody ginger bastard! You tried takin' advantages with my sister!" The man's accent was rougher than his language, which was almost impressive. He cracked his knuckles, and Ian could see the distinctive blue ink of tattoos peeking out from under the man's coat sleeves. "You admit what you did, and maybe I won't have to drag your apology out your mouth along with your back teeth!"

"I did nothing of the sort," Ian said, immediately putting his back up. Next to him, Phillip set his drink down on a table close by, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ian in a show of brotherly solidarity. "A young lady requested a dance from me earlier. I declined, but I said nothing insulting, much less took advantage."

The girl in question stood behind her brother; they were both quite striking, with pale skin and dark features, and the brother's intense blue eyes caught Ian off-guard. He regained his composure quickly, however, determined not to let himself be caught on the back foot by some do-nothing rogue. He's only defending his sister, a voice said in the back of Ian's mind. You'd do the same for yours. Which was true, but he might at least pull the offender to one side instead of starting a confrontation such as this.

"You callin' my sister a liar, are you?" the man said loudly, which only made the sister scowl at Ian. His face burned hot at the offense—he'd turned down a dance, for heaven's sake, not besmirched her virtue. "In that case-" he took two steps forward and punched Ian square in the jaw. "Come near her again and it'll be a bloody pistol next time!"

"Oy!" Ian shouted, blood suddenly boiling. It was one thing to put off insults to his character, but this was a step too far. He moved forward until he was in the brute's face, and damn his eyes because they were indeed far too good-looking than a man like this deserved. It only served to make him angrier. "I will not stand by and let you continue to speak lies!" He knew this was an idiotic idea, but sometimes one had to do very stupid things and apologize for them later.

The shorter man nodded, looking as if he were sizing Ian up. "Right, then," he said, voice rougher than Ian had expected, and damn if it wasn't a sound that hit him in the best—worst—way. "Outside with you. We settle this here and now."

Phillip finally deigned to step in, putting an arm out to push in front of Ian. "This is a party," he said, in that condescending voice of his that set Ian's teeth on edge. "I'm sure our hosts wouldn't appreciate a fight between guests as a way to end the evening, lively as it might be."

The dark-haired man started to speak, but his sister reached out and grabbed his arm. She spoke in a low voice, low enough for only her brother's ears, and then he turned back to Ian. "This is your one and only warning, then, Gallagher," he practically spat. "Next time we meet you won't be so lucky. Or have your brother to take your lumps for you."

Ian moved forward into the other man's space, using his greater height to crowd him in. "There won't be a next time," he said through gritted teeth. "If I never see you again in my life, I'll count myself damn lucky. But if I do, you'd best hope we're in decent company, or we'll see who's a quicker shot."

——————————————————————

(And here's the world building, under a cut because it got really long)

So the Gallaghers are in the business of coal (because that was a Big Deal at the time, finding coal deposits with the Industrial Era making a big wave) because their great grandparents came from Ireland and established themselves in England. Frank is a wily bastard with a nose to ferret out how to steal shit from under people's noses, so he's a master scam artist but has to move around constantly to run different schemes so the Gallaghers rarely see him. Monica is dead, either in childbirth when she had Liam or from taking too much laudanum.

Fiona, being the eldest, has to get them all presentable to Society and keep up maintaining the house and property along with Lip. They'd likely be at least lower gentry, so they've got land and a few servants, but they're not tenant farmers. Lip may be the one who gets to inherit but everyone knows Fiona is in charge of the household. (p&p fans, I'm imagining them in a similar situation as the Bennets—things aren't great but they're doing their best.)

The Milkoviches immigrated from the Russian empire probably either during the reign of Empress Elizabeth or Tsar Peter III (just before Catherine the Great), and they're still considered outsiders due to their heritage, but Mickey has worked hard to get Mandy a Season so she might make a good marriage and thus have a good life. Mickey makes his money off of wealthier men because he's damn good at gambling and wins a great deal of money playing cards.

As in the ficlet, Ian and Mickey ofc meet ugly like in canon, and they'd have a few run-ins until Mandy and Ian come to an understanding, which is when she tells Mickey to apologize to Ian (he's just trying to stand up for his sister's honor, okay, it's not his fault she keeps changing her mind!)

Also there are ~lingering looks~ and ~fingertips brushing~ against each other when they finally shake hands and call it a truce after getting into a few dust ups. After they do so, Ian thinks hmm and starts to like, seek out Mickey when they're at the tavern in the village or society gatherings for the gentry, and he's pretty certain that they share the same "proclivities" and it all comes to a head when they get into a heated discussion and Ian ends up shoving him against a wall and notices how Mickey reacts and then they fuck nasty in an empty room, but Mickey says not to kiss him, because that's something ladies expect and he's anything but.

Ian ofc is disappointed but at least he feels smug about being right, even if Mickey still calls him a damn Irish bastard and Ian shoots back that he's some Muscovite imbecile (Muscovite being what they used to call people from Russia ofc because I'm pretty sure Ukraine wasn't even on a map at this time in history), but yet they still seek each other out for ~assignations~ while constantly sniping at each other to the point where their rivalry becomes well known in Society. Rivals to lovers is delightful, I can't help it!

They play at hating each other in public but behind closed doors they're fucking nasty and Ian absolutely gets swept off his feet. Mickey does too, obviously, but he has to hide his feelings so Ian doesn't get too attached and ruin a good thing. (Spoiler alert: this fails miserably.) Terry Milkovich, by the by, is currently rotting in debtors' prison awaiting transportation to Australia and good fucking riddance to him (sorry aussies!).

I also love the idea of Debbie wanting to mix in Society and Fiona trying to run the Gallagher estate (which may not be a large one but it's their home) and Carl having dreams of joining the army—Ian wanted to as well but he probably had to stay home and take care of the younger ones, and it's not like he's going to make a Society marriage, anyway. Also Debbie thinks she wants a season to get a husband but ends up being like 👀 at all the fine young ladies—I also just love the idea that she's great at cards from playing with her brothers and learning how to fuzz the cards 🤣

Ian still has bipolar disorder in this au—it's a family secret. Whenever he starts to have an episode—by this point they all recognize the signs—he stays at home and the siblings just say he has a "weak constitution" and ofc he knows the staff gossip about him but better than being sent off to a sanitorium and away from his family. And he hates not being able to control his own mind but his siblings love him and they all promise to take care of him no matter what (it's why he never got to join the army like he'd hoped for, but he still helps Carl learn how to use a rifle, and practice drilling, and all that such like).

This kind of got away from me and I don't have a solid concept beyond all of...this. I know you asked for p&p, anon, so I tried to at least keep to the spirit of the thing, and I hope you like it regardless?? <3 I'd love to hear what other people think about this one, so please share your thoughts!

Eventually there would be, y'know, plot—probably something to do with land inheritance, Frank scamming people and it coming back to bite the Gallaghers in the ass, and both Lip and Debbie end up finding out about Ian and Mickey; Ian would have a bipolar episode and instead of running away, Mickey gets worried about him and is like, oh no I'm having feelings this is Not Good, but at this point he knows he's in too deep. Also he and Ian will have to work together for some reason or another and put their public rivalry to bed (lol).

[wobblefloss]

Eighteen of you booped me so tenaciously, so prodigiously, so shamelessly, that you blotted out the sky in my notifications.

Hats off to some real MVPs. Y'all're the best Boopers that ever did boop. Trophies for all y'all.

🏆 🐾 🏆 🐾 🏆 🐾 🏆 🐾 🏆 🐾 🏆 🐾

@ancient-trees

@beesandturtles

@meabeck

@android-cap-007

@crow-dog

@going-getting-got-ghost

@dg-darkfantasy

@melannen

@familyofpaladins

@atethys

@blazichu

@thebronzedragon

@vvatchword

@cannedviennasnausage

@onesmolangel

@thearcaneuniversity

@messingwithvampires

@lovelyladylavie

Y'all made my day and I'd sure like to keep in touch. I'm not always very talkative with my own posts, but I'm around reblogging this and that. Hit me with a boop whenever you like. Thanks again for playing along with me!

✨️

[ur-boyfiend]

shoutout to stays uploading the member's bubble posts on here y'all're the best <3

[it-is-i-zim]

We need Post-Starro Captain Boomerang from Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The DCU issue #3

I'm sorry but I want his tits and the best way to do that is to have him live, preferably with his tits out, and a Starro shaped scar on his face like Harley had in the series.

Are we really going to put this design to waste? Why is no one talking about him?

Man's got his tit out and y'all're just ignoring it.

[purity-town]

Been a little while since I last answered some asks, so -- replies below the cut!

Here ya go! Also tossed it in my sta.sh in case Tumblr crunches it.

Aha, don't worry, Chris! You'll get to experience plenty of horrors soon that'll validate your weird dreams!

All things considered, Chris is handling things pretty well right now, but I think he'd still accept a hug!

I whipped out my extensive comic collection (four of The Adventure Zone graphic novels) to get some inspiration for this! Those books tend to have a pretty basic back cover with a couple of the main/supporting characters tossed onto it, and I can see something similar working for Purity Town considering how many NPCs there are overall in the game (even though the number we've actually seen in the comic up to this point is much lower)!

:D Thanks for reading! I can't always manage to finish pages on time, but I do my best and I'm glad y'all're enjoying updates.

My first experience learning about the whole Guide/WoF thing was...I think a Stampy Cat video years before I even knew what Terraria really was. I assumed it was the scary final boss of the game, and didn't think anything more on it for half a decade. And then 1.4 came along and I got incredibly attached to the character. That's just how it goes!

For what it's worth, I will make the disclaimer: while I find it interesting to push characters and write how they react as they crack, at the end of the day, I do write happy endings. And there's plenty of room for more happy one-shots in the AO3 fic!

I kept the monsters in a sketch/low-detail/silhouetted style mostly to emphasize that Chris' dreams were strange and imprecise, but it was still cool to play around with monster designs a bit! Translating designs from the game version to comic characters can be weird because you need to account for the game expecting you to always see them from a particular angle -- the Wall of Flesh is the most extreme/obvious example of this. When we get to seeing more of Plantera proper I'll definitely have to brush up on my flower-drawing skills, haha.

I haven't actually built it out in a Terraria world proper! The world used in the blog header is a screenshot from the world I first beat the game in.

As far as a general description goes, the main town is located in a forest biome with the snowy-mountains-and-lake background. In the main area of town is the tavern and the nurse's clinic, plus the (now abandoned) clothier's store. Andrew also lives in the forest town, though slightly up-hill from it, so that he has to walk through some trees before he gets into the town square itself.

For the most part I imagine characters living in the biome they prefer in-game (with exceptions for those who like the Hallow), though the bulk of folks live in the Purity Town. The settlements in the other biomes are smaller, since having the pylons means you can go wherever you need to go for business quite easily.

Thanks! Terraria has some crazy lore once you start digging into it -- I think it'd be really cool to see "Zullie the Witch"-style lore deep dives just going ham on the minutiae of NPC interactions and Bestiary entries.

But in any case, getting to take all of that and work it into the comic here and there is good fun :D

Thank you!! I had a lot of fun with this chapter's cover, especially with the lighting and the border around the top. The Aether/shimmer stuff and the more glowy critters like faelings and prismatic lacewings are just such a delight to draw, haha.

[jellybeanium124]

so as I'm walking into the pharmacy a car pulls up with a young man in the driver's seat, right into two handicap spaces. a young woman gets out of the car, and I think "oh ok, he's just dropping her off. still mildly dickish but whatever." but then he doesn't move. so when I'm in front of the car I give him my best "dude what the fuck" face and gesture at how he's parked in two handicap spots. he moves. yippee social pressure worked!

when I exit the store, two other cars without any sort of handicap indication are parked in handicap spots, and mr. double parker is now double parked in two regular spots. y'all're all lucky I hate the cops more than I hate you (and also wouldn't want to put random strangers into debt potentially just because they're an asshole) because you can get fined hundreds for parking in handicap spaces. why are people such dickheads???

[torra-and-the-toons]

I am getting tested for ADHD during the upcoming months and hopefully get much appreciated guidance and help during this chaotic time of my life.

When I was little and confused I'd think about what Ed or Wakko or Chowder would do in my sort of situation I was in and laugh to myself about the kind of hi-jinks they'd do.

I related to both characters a lot and didn't think much about it until turns out I share a lot of experiences and traits with people with ADHD and realizing I'm undiagnosed and that's why I project onto characters and found a reason why I'm like this.

Finding your blog really made me happy because I found someone like me who still loves cartoons, who still draws their favorite media!

Who still creates content for said fixations and combining them together.

It's really inspiring so, thank you, Torra.

You have no idea how much it means to see you thrive and just do what you want with nothing pulling you down. Makes me feel like I can do so too.

I'm gonna go dust off some old sketchbooks and start drawing again.

Best of regards,

Anon-13

oh my god this message made my cry, thank you?? This is so sweet...

I would hardly say I'm thriving though, there are definitely days when I fall into a slump, where I find it hard to concentrate on anything and I get frustrated. Days when I want so desperately to focus on something, create anything, but my mind won't let me. In fact, I'm finding myself in one of those slumps lately. It's frustrating.

But I just have to remind myself that it'll pass. So, I keep marching on.

ADHD is a monster, and coupled with anxiety it can almost be suffocating at times, but in the end, it's important to go easy on yourself.

It makes me so incredibly happy I can reach out to others with my silly art, especially because I just like to draw what's on mind, whether it's relevant or not. So, to have that be the case and still manage to find people out there who appreciate my niche little drawings is so very amazing. So it is I who must thank you, anon, and anyone else who's ever seen my stuff and smiled.

It means a lot that y'all're here.

I'm glad you're taking initiative and getting some help. It's something I never actually did for myself, I fumbled around in the dark for so long before I figured something out. So, you're already a step ahead of me. Just know that no matter what, you'll always have a lanky 8ft tiger character cheering you on from a distance lol.

Live free, dear anon! Draw what your heart desires!

[xprojectrpg]

Moment of Awesome - Sam Guthrie/Cannonball:After a shaky start, Sam gets a job interview for X-Factor Investigations. In the kitchen.

"You should talk to Jean or David, when he wakes up," he advised. "You've clearly been through a lot, and I'm sure you want to keep your privacy around telepaths like me. They're good at teaching people to shield their minds from psychics."

"Oh shit," Sam hissed. "Sorry, sorry- I took a shielding class at Muir but I was hardly around a telepath so practicing was.... a bit tricky..."

Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mumbling a barely audible, "there goes your shot at that job Sammy," before turning to look at Quentin, nothing but pure concern on his face. "Are you alright? I didn't- I'm sorry. I'll work on it."

Quentin released his white-knuckle grip on the counter and stood up to stretch out the fresh crick in his neck and soreness in his arms and legs. "Don't shit yourself, it takes more than a little residual trauma to turn me off. I'd never get off if that were the case," he quipped as he did an overhead triceps stretch, keenly aware of how much he was revealing in a crop top. Shifting the balance of dominance back in his favor, as he preferred it. "Why do you want to work for X-Factor, anyway?"

"Savin' the day from a big monster is fine and all I guess, and I'm sure there's folks that love goin' around saving dimensions an' doin' big ol' trips to go help the world... but my hometown had folks come in every summer to help us and people tryin' to stop us from getting worse and natural disasters that brought in folks to put us back together and that's not what I'm interested in doin'. I was part of that rigamarole my whole life. The folks I always admired? They were the ones who put in the work in the community- the ones who helped take care of things, handled situations when they happened, and then tried to make sure they didn't happen again." Sam sighed. "Daddy always told me that you didn't fix a problem just cause you stopped it from getting worse, that you had to tackle the problem too, ya had to learn about it and take steps to make sure it didn't happen again. I reckon that's what y'all're best at. Y'all catch the bad guy and then help to make folks less vulnerable to the next one. That's the kind of work I wanna do."

Sam rolled his shoulders back and offered Quentin an awkward smile when it made the burn scar on his arm show from the sleeve of his t-shirt. "You can't individualize a systemic issue, but you can help individuals that're trapped in systemic issues. It's work worth doin' and I wanna be involved in it."

The telepath stopped mid-stretch, frozen as he processed Sam's words, then lowered his arms and sat back down. "That's very astute. I might steal that and claim it as my own," Quentin teased. "Do you have any experience with private investigating? Or criminology or the law?"

“I graduated high school early to illegally work in a coal mine to support my eight younger siblings.” Sam replied, shaking his head. “That’s about the only thing I’ve got experience with aside from bartending but I was heavily involved in the union. Worked with the secretary of our chapter and did a lot of the clerical work and pourin’ over labor law……..What I don’t know I’ll learn. Take any course available to me and work twice as hard as a pair of Percheron mules. I ain’t in the habit of lettin folks down.”

Quentin smirked, amused and encouraged by Sam's eagerness. "Sis, chill. I was younger than you and had far less experience doing anything besides being a whiny bitch when I started, and now I'm running things. Which is crazy to think about, but anything's possible when other people are footing your bills and you're psychic. So I guess what I'm saying is, let's see what you got."

"T' clarify-" Sam said, slowly, "does that mean I'm in?"

[mishafletcher]

i'm sort of enjoying the influx of new people, but feel like there are a few tips i've seen left out of many welcome-to-tungle posts, so:

unlike most platforms, it's hard to tell who's following you on tumblr! if you have even a moderate amount of activity, it's super easy to miss the notification, and the only other way to tell if someone is following you is to go manually search your followers. sometimes this is a blessing, sometimes this is a curse. (mostly a blessing, tho.)

if you're a writer or a podcaster or an artist or whatever, put that info somewhere obvious! put it in your header, even if it's just "i wrote this thing!" i know you make cool stuff, but some of y'all're making it real hard for people to find out that you make cool stuff.

embrace tags as commentary. if you're adding substantive content to the post, sure, add it to the post, i guess. if it's a post about what you have for breakfast, though, or a meme about which [whatever] are you, just throw it in the tags.

if someone added stuff to a post that you don't agree with, or that isn't adding anything to the post, it's fine to fish around in the notes to find a version that doesn't have that addition.

back to tags. i literally can't overstate how much we love tags here. metacommentary on the post? throwaway comments? vaguely related anecdote? put it in the tags! tags are so much a part of tumblr's conversations that the options for filtering reblog notifications are "reblogs with comment" and "reblogs without comment"—and if you select "reblogs with comment", you'll still get the ones that have had tags added.

side note that you can filter your activity feed, which is where you can see how people are interacting with your posts. i personally try not to engage with mine—not my business—but if you want to look at a specific thing, like who's followed you recently, or replies on your posts, hit the little filter button above the feed and you can be very specific about the types of activity that you want to see.

nope, sorry, i'm still talking about tags. bonus to embracing tags as commentary: you can say whatever weird shit you want! tags are delightfully ephemeral. you want to search the tags? best of luck! you probably cannot. choose to view this as a feature, not a bug.

sometimes your tags pass peer review, as we say, and someone will screenshot or copy them and add them to the post. this is a compliment.

the queue function is the unsung hero of this website. are you posting in real time? are you posting from a queue? are you mixing it up and doing both at once? who can say? congrats, you're ✨mysterious✨!

another important function of the queue is that helps you make *your* blorbos into *our* blorbos. twenty-seven untagged posts about your new hyperfixation in two hours is the soul killer, the thing that makes your followers super tired of even hearing about it. the exact same twenty-seven untagged posts spread out over the course of a day, though, scattered among other posts like seeds on the wind, are somehow charming—compelling, even. wow, that sad wet cat of a man *does* seem awfully sad. i wonder what terrible thing has happened to him!

anyhow, these aren't rules and i'm not the boss of you, but if you were looking for unsolicited advice from a gremlin who's been on tumblr for way, way too long, now you have it.