#all of which is more a fandom problem than a PT problem

[faislittlewhiteraven]

Sad things that are technically very minor in the scheme of things but nontheless ruin your day all the same.

I spent the last eight hours typing away at a big long post about my blorbo whom I very rarely have the energy or guts to gush about.

I love my blorbo and very much wanted to maybe, just maybe, write something that might cause people who have not thought as obsessively as I have about this character to maybe appreciate their struggles, realize where they might have been unfair to this character and others like them in the past and maybe, in a teeny tiny way help people writing fanfic about my blorbo to actually write them as a character rather than a (cute) set piece that happens to be in their blorbos' lives.

I was under no illusion that my blorbo would become theirs. In all honesty I didn't expect more than like two people to ever actually read it and good odds those two people would still disregard it completely because there are very legit reasons for people to find my blorbo obnoxious or annoying.

BUT STILL.

That doesn't mean I expected some program (that's apparently reset its automated schedule to mid afternoon instead of the 4am I had it) to close all my internet pages as I was still writing them!

So yeah. I'm just gonna go mope and look at silly memes for a while until I can stop feeling grief over losing my character gushing and I hope anyone potentially reading this is having a much better day.

[idkfitememate]

Mora is a God’s Best Friend Pt. 1

♡︎ « Next Part ⋙

૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა Pairings : GN! Mora Reader x Liyue

૮꒰ྀི∩´ ��� `∩꒱ྀིა W.K. : 4.6k

໒꒰ྀིᵔ ᵕ ᵔ ꒱ྀི১ Tags/CW&TW : Fluff, crack, reader is slightly angry, only slightly tho I promise :)

Now, you wouldn’t say you were a greedy person… which would be a huge lie because holy shit you were compared to a dragon by your friends more times than your own mother said she loved you-

When you got your paycheck - which was a very handsome paycheck mind you - you hoarded that to the best of your abilities, but when you saw something you had to have? Bought. Spent all your cash on it.

… You have to many plushies-

You weren’t exactly an avid believer in the whole “money makes the world go around!” thing, but it certainly helped. Like, have you seen how happy Elon Musk is? That bitch living the life and you want that too.

But despite your adoration to money…

THAT DID NOT MEAN YOU WANTED TO BE IT!!

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🎂🍩🍰୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

When you woke up from a nice nap after a long day of hard labor- I mean work, you couldn’t see. You also couldn’t feel your arms or legs or… well anything in general that one would say when describing their body.

You did have your five core senses though, which is nice. Well… minus sight-

You couldn’t move, and whenever you would scream the people you heard around you - their voices were muffled… were you in a pouch?? - did nothing to help.

You continued for what you assumed to be hours, never once paying mind to the fact that you never got hungry or thirsty or ran out of breath. Then you felt warmth.

Something large and warm wrapped around your form which scared the shit out of you because as far as you were concerned, you were still very human sized. You continued to scream into the darkness as you listened to the… transaction (???) going on above you and-

Wait a minute. You recognized that voice.

A lot of your money went to Genshin Impact in your day, you were what was known in the fandom as a “whale”, did I mention you got payed handsomely?

Yeah it was enough the basically be a sugar parent for all your friends.

So you heavily related to a certain character who was constantly characterized as helping another with his money problems.

Can you guess who it is?

I’ll give you five seconds to guess!

5…

4…

3…

2… fuck it I hate the suspense-

It was Childe!

And hearing his voice above you shattered what you may have thought was happening to you. Yes you may or may not have thought you were being kidnapped-

You then felt yourself get placed on another warm surface and oh god-

“All repairs will be made in a timely manner! Thank you for the patronage!”

You flipped through the air with a small ‘whoosh’ and landed back in the hand.

… WERE YOU FUCKING MORA?????

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍭🍫🍪୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

Being merged to a weapon wasn’t fun.

Well at the very least you weren’t “merged” with a weapon. For some reason the blacksmith couldn’t find a way to use your specific mora body to upgrade Childe’s bow.

So there you sat as a glorified decoration. Right on the front of the bow.

But you did find something out, the second you felt yourself attach to the bow, you could suddenly see! And you could very tell that you were in Liyue, which made sense. And when you coughed on accident, the blacksmith jumped and looked around, before shrugging and turning back to her work, which meant you could now be heard as well!

All five senses back baby!

Only shitty thing was that you couldn’t move on your own, and you now noticed you were no longer hungry nor need to breathe, as well as sleep.

So you were stuck.

For four days.

Unable to speak or move.

I mean, you were still figuring out your existence yourself, no need to get anyone else involved with the process since you were beyond confused.

You’ve read the Isekai stories - and fanfics - but you had never read one personally about being isekaied as money. Yes, you have seen the vending machine one. And the one where he gets turned into a dummy ASMR head mic-

Not the point!

You were just trying to figure out how to… exist (?) like this. Which was pretty hard when coming to terms with the fact that you’d never eat your favorite foods again.

Never again…

“Thank you so much for choosing our services sir! Have a nice day!”

You were suddenly picked up and placed in the gentle care of Childe - ironic sentence I know - and off you both went.

You want to know what a weird sensation is?

Being a bow and feeling someone pluck your string.

Now yeah, that sounds super sensual but it felt more like someone… pulling your hair?? You couldn’t really place it but that was honestly the closest equivalent. Feeling him rub his hands all up and down your… body (?????) was a new experience to. Again, not sensual, just ticklish? And it sucked trying not to giggle-

God this was weird and confusing.

“Well I’m free for some time… I’m sure a little practice won’t hurt…”

Oh good god you could not catch a break.

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍧🍮🍬୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

A new fear had been unlocked within you.

You, a piece of mora crudely attached to a psychopathic killers bow, had just been de-summoned.

And it hurt.

BAD.

No one will ever know what that was like, the feel yourself fading, every atom slowly falling away into nothingness, and then the silence. That cursed silence. Deep dark blackness was what you felt for what appeared to be thousands of years to your still human brain.

Never again would allow yourself to feel that pain.

As you were summoned, you continued to stare off into the distance, coming to terms with what you had just witnessed while ignoring every word that came out of Childe’s mouth.

Something or other about practicing you couldn’t give a shit.

You only watched the changing scenery around you as you and Childe wandered aimlessly through a forest.

Then he dropped to his knees suddenly, which cause you to silently curse and sputter in shock.

Did you mention you got good at that? Being silent? Because you did.

Being that you were placed on the front of the bow, you could see perfectly where he was aiming, that being a small bird that you had to squint - how you squinted? You don’t know - to see.

It was ridiculously far away, covered in leaves. You were also slightly scared because Childe was being silent.

Childe. Silent.

Not two words you ever expected to put into the same sentence - again - but here you were.

You felt the bow string being pulled back, and him lining up the shot.

Then, you felt something course through you.

Obviously it was the Hydro infused arrow he knocked onto the string, but something else flowed through you.

You could feel yourself reaching, trying to connect with something to better control this sudden power flow, and then you found a great source.

His Hydro Vision.

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍰🍡🍪୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

Childe was a seasoned soldier and fighter, literally anyone who met him could tell you that.

He kept that fact near and dear to his heart, that fact being why he fought so hard, to become stronger and finally find that fight that would be the end of him.

He longed for the day where he would be strong enough to fight his mentor, and weak enough to die at someone who he saw worthy enough to end his stories and legacy.

… Legacy was such a funny word to the man as all he could think of when it was spoken was his second, stronger form, Foul Legacy. Ironically, that’s what he though historians would call his stories in the far future - he would never admit how close it was due to the Electro Delusion that sapped away at his life, slower due to his strength but sucking away his soul nonetheless - would call it, a Foul Legacy.

He was self-aware enough to understand that people hated him, yet oblivious enough to leave his family in the hands of The Rooster, a man known for leveling cites before they even had the chance to riot against himself and the Tsaritsa.

He was complex in the same way he was so easy to understand.

Just as how he allowed the world to see his Vision but kept his Delusion hidden.

Just recently he had gotten his bow repaired after a… well not a hard mission more so than it was annoying.

And by the Archons it was beautiful! Any and all scratches and marks had been repaired, a new layer of pain was an added, a stronger string was restrung into it and just… mmm she was beautiful.~

The finishing touch was the little golden emblem stuck directly on the front. So shiny and pretty…

He just had to take it for a test run!

Nothing too big or anything, just a little hunting as he hadn’t indulged himself recently. Just a couple small birds or mammals nothing anyone would notice.

… No that isn’t a human corpse nu uh ya stupid-

Besides that wasn’t with his bow! That was with his blades it doesn’t count!

But anyway, he quickly spotted his first target of the day, a little finch, and aimed.

He noted that his bow, while still heavy, felt much more sturdy and the current string was stronger than his last, most likely due to the whole “new string” thing rather than being better because that old string had weathered a lot.

He quickly knocked his first arrow and took a silent breath in, calming his shaking hands and the butterflies in his stomach. Of course neither were from fear or nervousness rather than they were from excitement and dare I say ecstasy. A smile forceably carved itself into him skin as he watched how easily Hydro infused itself with his arrow.

Though almost immediately after, he felt a sudden surge of power coming from not him nor the arrow, but the bow itself.

Specifically the small golden piece sitting front and center.

This was either an unknown or well known fact depending on who you asked, but the bow was Childe’s worst used weapon. He was much more skilled with a blade - like his duel Hydro blades or the duel-bladed polearm he wielded as Foul Legacy - and he even had some experience with a catalyst, but bows just seemed so.. cowardly. Even with his catalyst he was near to his opponents as its attacks were based on his fighting style, but he personally believed that bows were for the cowardly.

Those who wanted to fight but were too weak to even dare step foot onto a battlefield.

At least that’s what he thought before Capitano shoved a bow into his arms as he complained about needing something more to do. A new challenge.

And it opened his eyes.

Bows were not for the weak rather that they were for the stealthy. Something Childe was not the best at.

He was honestly more of a ‘punch more and talk later’ kind of guy. But the bow was forcing him to learn and grow, which was more than welcome in his book.

But this power was not something he had accessed yet. Hell, he’s barely felt anything like it with any other of his weapons. Closest he has ever gotten to this kind of power would be with Foul Legacy, and even then it’d be a stretch.

He’d even have the gall to say he could never feel this kind of power from his Master.

He watched as the area he sat in was bathed in a blue glow was his Vision and the arrow he still held grew brighter and brighter. With that, a gold shined through as the small golden piece on his bow - which now that he looked closer looked almost exactly like a piece of mora, just with the details buffered out - also glowed.

He couldn’t remember picking up any kind of ‘enchanted’ mora, just one random one he found on the roads right outside of Liyue.

It didn’t seem off in anyway-

His thoughts were cut off as Hydro swirled faster and stronger around him, knocking him off his knees and onto his ass, his grip on the arrow and bow tightening.

All the animals ran - of course including the small finch he was aiming for - from the sounds and lights, and something deep and primal inside of him wanted to run as well.

Something screamed that he wasn’t supposed to see this, to feel this.

Something was wrong.

Soon enough he couldn’t keep his grip on the arrow.

He let go.

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍪🍫🍩୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

Everything was a blur to you.

All you knew was that you had to let go of this build up of power.

You had to.

Something bad would happen if you didn’t and god damn it you weren’t about to find out.

You truly, desperately, just wanted to go home.

The songs of narwhals and whales comforted you.

‘You will be okay’ they sang.

You would be okay.

Just let go.

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍡🍪🍬୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

People in the city watched in shock as a forest not too far from the harbor became a light show of Hydro and golden light.

Small animals and creatures ran towards the city, this including monsters, but nothing stopped to attack. In fact, it seemed like everything was too scared to even consider attacking.

Ningguang and her guards quickly ran outside to asses the situation, meeting up with fellow Vision Holders on the edge of the city.

However, Xingqiu and Yelan seemed… out of it. And on top of that, Childe - though he wasn’t her favorite he was strong and could be of help - was no where to be found.

“Does anyone have a grasp on the situation?” Nigguang asked, only to receive shaken heads and no’s.

“I tried to get close,” started Xiao, “But something knocked me back. I was able to hear the Harbinger’s screams from inside, and from what I could gather, he doesn’t seem to be the… direct cause.” Despite what he said, Xiao seemed a bit upset at the fact that Childe wasn’t the true cause, likely just wanting an excuse to beat him up a little.

The Geo ridden Lady huffed befit finally turning her attention to the two Hydro users who seemed entranced by the lights.

“What are you-“

“They call to us.” Xingqiu cut her off.

“They sing for us.” Yelan finished.

Nigguang looked back to everyone else who simply shrugged, before noticing Zhongli also looked out of it, though before she could get a word out, he also spoke.

“It’s so calming… I have not felt true peace like this in…”

He didn’t even finish his sentence. His eyes, unlike the two Hydro users, were entranced by the golden lights that highlighted the light show.

Nigguang’s face was filled with confusion. Though she shook it off.

And again, before she could give out any orders, she was interrupted.

Though not by anyone, but by the lights themselves.

A flash of blue light blinded the group.

Then, the song of a group of narwhals and whales filled the sky.

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍩🍮🍧୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

Blue and gold light enveloped near all of Liyue, the show being noticeable by all surrounding nations, Mondstadt especially.

And the air filled with the song of Narwhal and Whale alike.

A miracle of All-Devouring Narwhals and All-Encompassing Whales swam into the sky, dancing through the clouds.

They flew gently over Liyue, the nation having been stunned into shock and stillness over the whole situation.

Nigguang watched with bated breath as they sailed by the Jade Palace, only exhaling when they passed with not problem.

Keqing watched from beside Nigguang, mesmerized at the trail of celestial power flowing behind them.

Xiao rushed up buildings in order to get closer, but was knocked back by the sheer force of their power, though he was caught by a worried Ganyu. Both landed by an armed-and-ready Shenhe, who was more than ready to attack if need be.

Xingqiu and Yelan simply stared up at the miracle, their Visions resonating with Hydro energy they released. They felt empowered, and could feel the pure raw and unfiltered strength rolling off them in waves. They wanted to be close to that power. Wanted to feel that power.

Something deep inside them wanted that power.

Everyone in the city watched as the miracle flew just above their homes and businesses, making their presence all the more apparent as they bathed the golden city in royal blue.

This continued until a small bird was dumb enough to try and take flight to get away.

This bird being the one Childe had targeted- not that anyone knew.

The Whales and Narwhals corralled the bird, forcing it to fly higher and higher into the clouds, and it wasn’t long before all ginormous creatures followed behind it.

Then an even brighter flash of blue echoed across the skyline, small star-like glitters falling to Teyvat then fading from existence before they could touch its surface. A small amount of feathers followed after.

Nigguang could feel her jaw drop.

All that… to kill a bird?????

… She was going to need a week off just to comprehend what had just happened.

Keqing pat the woman on the back, sighing in tiredness as well.

She had a sneaking suspicion that Childe may have had something to do with this… event. Gods the paperwork she was about to be loaded with…

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍬🍯🍩୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

Childe had figured out what primal instinct had led him to hide in the cave he was currently tucked in.

Foul Legacy.

He had yet to really tell anyone, but due to his time in the Abyss and its creation, it was safe to say it pretty much had a mind of its own. Which wasn’t bad as it would help him to doge attacks or alert him of presences he may not have noticed himself, but the shrieking and crying he heard from it deep in his soul was enough to tell him that this whole situation was wrong.

Nothing about what just happened should have been… well it shouldn’t have happened to say anything.

He could still hear it, resonating deep inside his soul, Electro cracking out whenever he heard a noise he couldn’t identify.

It was protecting him.

As he would for it.

He didn’t dare draw another arrow from the bow in his grasp, not until he learned what the fuck just happened. Including the fact that for some odd reason, he desperately wanted to just… stare(?) at the Narwhals and Whales until they disappeared, luckily Foul Legacy snapped him right out of that and told him to find shelter.

He did have his Hydro blades out, however, patiently waiting till he - and Foul Legacy - felt safe enough to exit.

A sudden loud caw of a bird made him flinch - not his proudest moment - and kick the bow to the side. What he wasn’t expecting was the loud string of curses that came from… the… bow..?

So now it was pinned to the wall by one blade and a foot, the other blade pointed directly at… it? There were no weak points on a bow..?

…Were there..?

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍮🍨🍪୧⁐⁐⁐⁐꒱ ɞ˚

This is not what you wanted.

First, you get isekaied against your will; you didn’t even remember how you supposedly DIED… if you DID die anyway…

Two, you were reincarnated as MONEY. FUCKING MONEY. How does that… who comes up with that??? A fucking high schooler who has nothing better to do than write shitty fanfiction????

And finally, three… HE KICKED YOU!!! WHO GAVE HIM THE RIGHT TO THREATEN YOU?!?

You didn’t understand your powers, what the FUCK just happened, why Hydro just… became?? you??? And why on gods green earth you had to be MORA. You’re never gonna get over that you became MORA???? Like??? Really??????? Money????? You mean, you love the stuff but COME ON-

Jesus fuckin’-

Huffing at the man before you, you finally decided speak to this bitch before you because how dare he.

“Listen here-“

You were cut off by the blade moving closer to your body(??????) and Childe growling - yes. Growling - at you.

“No you listen. I don’t know what you are but what in the name of the Tsaritsa was that?”

If only this man could see your eye twitch.

“No how about YOU listen? I don’t know what the fuck that was, but I plan on figuring it out now could you PLEASE MOVE YOUR DAMN BLADES FROM MY FACE?!?!? God…”

The Hydro blades slowly removed themselves from your face, as did the boot. But you were then picked up by the man, held shockingly gently in his grip.

“What… are you?” He asked hesitantly.

“I… I honestly don’t know how to answer that question. But I’m pretty sure I’m that little Mora piece on the front.” You answered. You forced yourself to calm down. This wasn’t his fault, just so happened to be the guy who picked you up… this was going to be a mantra for a while…

“Oh… so your this little thing right here?” You felt his fingers wrap around you - and you mean your real body - and pull. Fear immediately filled your being.

“Wait! WAIT!-“ He tugged you right out, rendering you silent.

When he pulled you out, your body glowed and you reverted back to looking like a regular piece of mora. Engravings and all.

You, meanwhile, were screaming your head off, as you now knew that if removed from a weapon, you’d just be a regular ass piece of money again. Immediately you mind started racing, wondering as to way, and the only thing you could come up with was the Elemental Energy, but lore wasn’t really your strong suit… you just liked the pretty women and men…

You felt yourself gently being pressed into the slot carved for you in his bow, and started talking again.

“NEVER! Do that again, please. Unless absolutely necessary, don’t do that. You know how terrifying it is to be able to see and speak then move a couple inches and no longer be able to see or have others hear you? Fucking horrifying I’ll tell you that…” you watched the man shiver before sighing.

“Noted. Um… anything else I should be made aware of before I ask anymore questions?”

You jumped on the opportunity.

“Whenever I am apart of your weapons. Don’t. De. Summon. Them. Hurts like hell. Ever felt your molecules beings torn apart bit by bit? Not fun, don’t recommend it.” Again, Childe shivered.

“Now… you really don’t know what that was out there?” He asked again, and you sighed.

“I wish I did. I’ll admit, I was thinking of that one move you use as Foul Legacy where you summon a Whale… and a bit of your master…”

You watched as Childe’s eyes lit up.

“You know of Foul Legacy? And of my Master?” Then his eyes darkened.

“How do you know of them..?” You shivered… as well as money can shiver anyway.

“Uhm… magic?” You asked, a noticeable tilt in your voice.

His glare then lightened up.

“Oh! Like… when you attach to a weapon, you suddenly gain a bunch of knowledge on that person?” Holy shit he just gave you a way out!

“Uh… yeah! Yeah that’s exactly what it is! You figured it out! Sorry I was uh… hesitant. Just didn’t want to reveal all my secrets, you know?” Holy shit. Holy fuck. Please work please work-

“That’s really amazing! A magical piece of mora… with the ability to make your attacks beyond that of a God’s… heheheh…”

Oop. Shit. That was not good.

“Listen. I’m not going to do anything for you without my consent, you got that? I’m not even here of my own free will mind you. Just gained sentience in your bag and all of a sudden I’m a bow. This is going to be a symbiotic relationship or I’m finding someone else, alright?” You spoke up, not even hiding the fact that you were… well a little more than concerned with what he just said.

“… What are you going to do if I don’t respect your wishes?” Shit fuck shit fuck-

“… I will scream next time you use me.”

And into a standstill you both sat.

He stared at you and he could feel you glaring into him. It was probably weird feeling a bow glare into him. New feeling he never thought he’d feel before.

“… Alright. Taking someone’s free will isn’t really something I do anyway. So don’t be fearful… comrade?” Was he asking your name..?.. Eh. Comrade is nice and you don’t feel like giving it out so meh.

“Comrade works. And uhm… yeah.” Welp that was awkward. Good job 👍🏾!

The two of you continued to stare at each other in silence for a few moments.

“So… what’s your favorite dish?”

“I can’t eat asshole-“

“Childe!”

The mentioned man whipped his head in the direction of the call, honestly scaring you with how fast it moved - you are a hundred percent sure you heard a crack.

By the covered entrance of the cave stood Nigguang, Keqing, Zhongli and both Hydro Vision users. Nigguang was the one to call him.

“What are enough doing out here? Do you have any idea was caused… whatever that was?? And - as much as I hate to ask - are you alright?” She was firing questions out at an extreme speed, making both you and Childe dizzy.

“Uhm… I was hunting, I… haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about! And yes , I am okay. Thank you for asking?” You knew he sucked ass a lying but like… how did that sound convincing in anyway?? The hesitation just made it worse!-

“You haven’t the foggiest clue, you say…” Keqing asked while glaring at the ginger. Ed She Ran lookin’ headass-

“Yep! No idea, not the slightest idea, definitely wasn’t my bow or the enchanted mora on it! Nope not at all.”

The group looked at him, and he looked at them.

They looked at him, and he looked at them.

They looked at him, and he looked at them.

And this went on for several minutes before this super smart man said:

“Yep, not me at all.”

And before anyone coup ask questions you groaned, forcing all attention into yourself before tearing him a new one.

“You dumb motherfucker! “I haven’t the foggiest idea😢” my ass!”

“How did you say that?-“

“Shut your bitchass up before I sew it shut. I should beat your ass for that. How they fuck you gonna say some shit like that and expect them to just go “Oh okay!😚” like some dumbass?”

“No really how-“

“I will slap the stupid outta you don’t fucking test me ginger bitch. Fatherless. That’s why your father sold you ass off it’s cause you so DAMN stupid, Jesus.”

“Mora?”

“What do you fucking want you cunt.”

“… We’re still in front of people.”

“… I will not hesitate to shoot all of you-“

… Nigguang was going to have so much paperwork tonight.

໒꒰ྀི˶˙Ⱉ˙˶꒱ྀིა Author’s note : MORA!READER MORA!READER MORA!READER MORA!READER MORA!READER LETS GIVE IT UP FOR MORA!READER!!!!! ૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა˖⁺‧₊˚

They’re here you guys!!!! Get happy get wild!!!! Holy shit that ending was mild!!! I hate it!!! Anyway-

This is gonna SAGAU because… meh. But that doesn’t matter! Their here! But I’m not done yet, next thing on my checklist is humanizing the animals (Main ones) so I’ll be be radio silent for a bit again lmao (unless I choose to post shit which is very likely-) ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Mora!Reader! More is, of course, on the way! ૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა

Have a magnificent day/night my dears!~

/)/)

( . .)

c( づ♡ Loves you guys!! <3

[justsomeectoplasm]

Hhhuugh so the reddit incident came and went but I know there's going to be a handful of twitter users that don't know jackshit about tumblr and are migrating here. Honestly it's valid that you all jumped ship because there's only going to be two outcomes to this:

-Muskratatouille is going to realise he fucked up and remove the rate limit.

- He refuses to admit his mistake and kills twitter.

So welcome! I hope you like my blog. Here's a revamp of some things you need to know before interacting with me and some general notes you need to know:

Massive porn bot problem here that can actually harass you and other users by sending porn through dm's and asks. Also shares malicious links to sites which is a big no-no. Therefore, PUT A DAMN PFP AND CUSTOMIZE YOUR BLOG, AND REBLOG POSTS. That's the only way to let people know that you're not a bot and that you're 100% a living breathing human. Lurking only works through reblogging without adding tags. (Side note: irl Hot lady pfps are not that great. Bots use them all the time. Anime hot lady is fine.)

Likes do jackshit. Tumblr is more of a blogging website than a social media platform. The way it circulates and brings attention to posts is by a sharing system called reblogging. If you really want to support artists, writers, game devs or just wanting your friends to see some funny posts, reblog it. (Reblogging artists work is not the same as reposting on this site. It helps us.)

Tags are your friends in this site. You can use them to navigate through content of your favorite subjects or you can add your thoughts to them. They can also help sort out your own original posts on your blog. (for example I use 'I ramble' on posts that have nothing to do with my fandoms.)

If you censor a word I will personally break your computer. You can say whatever the hell you want on this website and you won't get in trouble (unless it's hate speech, which you can report.)

Pt 2 of the above point: The reason why I'm so adamant on this point is because tumblr has a filter system. Users use this system to filter out content and tags that they don't want to see. This helps a lot for people with triggers and over all curating your online experience. By censoring words, you are bypassing these filters and doing more harm then good. Don't censor your words. If you want to use this feature go to settings and click on "content you see".

Pt 3. With that said, please please tag your posts if they have triggers or upsetting material. Whether you do dark content or not, it is important to tag your posts if they have a well known trigger.

There is no algorithm. You create it using tags. Your post going viral is a 50/50 gamble and you better hope it's a post that's actually great.

You can block anonymous askers since you need to use an account to send asks. Have fun.

Blocking users is much more effective. You can't see or interact with their posts and vice versa. Go wild.

[tinycheesecakedetective]

Potential Swap AU pt. 3(OLD)

I'm still thinking about making this official, mind you. Anyways, welcome to my third blog about this speculative AU project thing. Which isn't so speculative anymore, surprise! I call it Exchanged Fates, and all past and future updates about this AU will have the tag #exchangedfatesau. Today, we've finally reached the last Beast-Ancient pairing, Shadow Milk Cookie and Pure Vanilla Cookie! A fair warning, this one is longer than the others, so be warned. I talk waaaay more here.

Preamble There's a reason why these two are last. Knowledge is a pretty hard virtue to make something out of, and it's even harder when Truth and Deceit are two classic foils. You can make the truth a problem, but lies are always going to be tricky to make a good thing. Initially, Truth would be made into Judgement, but I scrapped it once I realized I couldn't think of anything for Deceit. So I took a break for a bit. I had a birthday and then several historical events just slapped me in the face-

Eventually, I had an epiphany. And I'd like to show you all now, if you'll allow me to. Behold,

Pure Vanilla Cookie, Beast of Despair and Shadow Milk Cookie, Ancient Hero of Hope

...I can feel my Danganronpa phase resurface. No time to waste, let's begin with Pure Vanilla. Throughout the story, he's presented as a paragon character, the most virtuous of the ancients. And it's somewhat true, but there's more to him than just altruism. He's quite sharp, able to discern the plans of his enemies and very emotionally intelligent, but is prone to some self loathing and suffers from an inferiority complex. I'm not *quite* well spoken enough to make a deep analysis on him, although I wish I was. He's so interesting to me and the fandom kind of brushes him off as this sweet old man-twink. Now he is, but there's so much more going on with him. If anyone does a deep analysis into him, I want to know immediately.

Sorry! Got sidetracked there, anyways! Why despair, hmm? Let's head back to his negative traits, the self loathing and the inferiority complex. Pure Vanilla struggles with his self image, blaming himself for how the flour war turned out and feeling as if he failed to protect the ones closest to him. Even after restoring his kingdom, he struggles with these feelings. Granted, it's not as bad as it was before, but you can still feel bits of it in Odyssey and in Beast-Yeast. Despite this, he still pushes onwards, being a beacon of hope for many. But there's only so much the soul can take. Even he can recognize when someone has to be stopped for the greater good, even if they did mean the world to him.

Fittingly, if he was one of the first to gain his soul jam, he'll be the last to turn, how tragic. Pure Vanilla would try everything in his power to save his friends, and when his efforts are unsuccessful, he has to stop them alone. Of course, the former ancients try to turn him to their side, and the battle of wills is long and painful. Since the roles are reversed, Elder Faerie exists and tries to help where he can, but he can see the writing on the wall and prepares for the worst. Eventually, Pure Vanilla falls. Despite everything he's done, nothing changes. He isn't strong enough to save them, and he isn't strong enough to stop them. He's only delayed the inevitable for himself, and even now his soul jam has begun to corrupt. Forced to face his own helplessness, he turns, finally joining his friends in sowing chaos across Beast-Yeast.

The Timeless Kingdom, once a refuge for escapees of the the other kingdoms, becomes stuck in time. Y'know how Blue Diamond emotionally manipulated those around her to make them submit to her will? Imagine that but worse. The kingdom feels like it's frozen in time. Nothing ages or rots, just... distorts. The moment you step foot there, you can feel your strength waver. Walking around, you see people consumed by agony as they stay in place weeping aloud, their bodies warped by a deep sadness as their hollow eyes stare back at you. Unlike the other beasts, Pure Vanilla's palace is open for anyone to visit, almost like he's flaunting his strength. You'll soon understand why. If you make the dumb choice and see him, you'll find him kneeling behind a veil. He'll greet you and talk to you for a moment. But don't be fooled. He's still a beast, and before you know it, you're overwhelmed. Visions of your greatest regrets flood your senses. Every action you've ever taken, every right and wrong choice flashes right in front of your eyes. Fight all you want, you're eventually consumed by it all, and become like the other residents of this forsaken kingdom. Forever reliving your worst moments in a never ending mental purgatory. If some of this sounds familiar, I took some inspiration from Bloozstella's blue diamond swap AU for this, by the way. Go check that out if you have time!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Now... Shadow Milk Cookie. The fandom's new favorite blue gremlin/pos. He's clever, charismatic, perceptive as hell, a lover of the theatre, and very cocky in his abilities. The very first time we see him, he gets to work immediately, corrupting some fairies, tormenting Pure Vanilla Cookie, and taking over the faerie kingdom, and that's just him toying around with them all. Interestingly enough, despite being the embodiment of deceit, he shares more truth than lies with the players and the hero gang, revealing Dark Enchantress' plans and telling them that all the other beasts have been awakened after his temporary defeat. His lies have been fairly obvious for the most part, which is a bit strange. I wonder if there's a reason for that...

So... Why hope? Why in the witch's oven would I make such a menace hope? Because of how he handles the truth. In canon, Pure Vanilla doesn't handle the truth too well. He'll confront it, but he has a tendency to get consumed in himself or worry about how others would take it. Shadow Milk, even before he turned to darkness, feels like he would embrace it without hesitation and keep moving like a runaway train. Pure Vanilla is reactive, Shadow Milk is proactive, and his curiosity and determination could make him overcome any obstacle. Probably why he's so dangerous, asides from the immense power he has.

You can probably guess that my head canon for him is that he was the last beast to turn evil, so naturally he's gonna be the very first cookie to get his soul jam! And he starts in the Blueberry Academy. Kind of, it's not formed yet when he begins. Our shadow menace starts out as an aspiring scholar/adventurer and thrill seeker. He's definitely a nerd, kinda like Wizard Cookie, and begins his hero's journey exploring the world. On one particular expedition, he visits the continent of Beast-Yeast, but doesn't make it that far before passing out. He wakes up in the company of fairy cookies who took pity on him, and is taken to Elder Faerie. Unsurprisingly, he tells Shadow Milk Cookie to go back to Crispia once he's recovered because this place is far too dangerous for him and he'll die. Unsurprisingly he takes this as a challenge, and during his stay he reads up on the place in the library. Far too invested to leave, he starts exploring beyond the kingdom in secret, and finds the soul jam deep within the forest.

Eventually he gets caught, and Elder Faerie wants to take the soul jam away from him, but whoops! It's already attuned to Shadow Milk and there's nothing he can do about it. Realizing there isn't much he can do, he at least offers to train him to use it properly, prompting a few training sessions before sending him off. When Shadow Milk gets back, he doesn't establish a kingdom. Instead he goes to find others like him first. For his research, of course. Eventually he ends up forming the group of the Ancients, and finally establishes his kingdom. He doesn't feel like he'd have a traditional kingdom. Rather, it would be more like the Creme Republic! It's a hub of the arts and sciences, a place where the brightest and most creative cookies can show their talents to the fullest potential. He finally founds the Blueberry Yogurt Academy in his "kingdom", and he, alongside a personal council makes the rules. In reality, the council does all the work and he acts more as a figurehead so he can focus on his own personal projects. He's definitely the most hands on with his subjects, hosting events, mingling with the commonfolk, exploring, etc. At least before the Dark Flour War... But that's a story for another time.

~~~~~

Finally... I'm DONE. No more foundation, now I can just think and edit. Mystic Flour's part is outdated with her release and now I have to rectify that in the future. I hope you all enjoyed this miniseries! I will be taking questions on both this AU and Fading Letters. I'll try to answer any questions a lot quicker this time, and hopefully the rest of this month is uneventful. Please.

This is being posted at like, 1 AM in the morning, so good night everyone! Hope you have a peaceful night!

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

pt IX good omens on livestream, i'm not ok: S1E4

You did it, Good Omens fandom, my dear maggots. You broke me in every way. Now I'm here, and where I once spent my day peacefully being sad about normal things, I'm now sad about a random fact about nightingales I learned on a British ornithology site and this is just... the brainrot. It's real. Raise brainrot awareness. Prevention is better than the nonexistent cure.

Well, I've procrastinated this post by like 48 hours by drawing fanart and being mopey over Crowley and generally being asleep because I'm still on antibiotics and ill. So let us not procrastinate further. First, episode 4. Tally, hoes!

In preparation for the stream, I gathered two emotional support oranges, only one of which was gaseous, and an apple. This was so that rather than waste an orange on being gay for Crowley I'd use the apple for that, symbolic of his temptation in the Garden of Eden etc. I didn't know how badly this plan would go.

On Discord, our collective loins girded, I noticed with no small suspicion that everyone was muttering about the bookshop and whether I'd be okay. When I demanded frantically what happened to the bookshop (I THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS IN S2) everyone shut up and told me the bookshop was in tiptop shape and it was all tickety-boo and nothing would happen at all in episode 5.

Spoiler alert it is not all tickety-boo.

We start with Aziraphale going for a jog to keep uh fit for exercising with Crowley, and he is interrupted by Gabriel, who is not Jimbriel, and is not naked, that is, we cannot see his arse yet, but we can see that he is an arse.

We then see not-Newt the deliveryman with his wife Maude and they are the only straight couple that the people on the chat care about. Calling him not-Newt is going to pose problems for me.

Crowley is being a smart baby, and researching astronomy. Poor Crowley. I love Crowley. Do you understand? I LOVE CROWLEY.

There is a lot of talk of spoons and forks and such innuendos. I make a joke about scissors being missing. The chat does not notice. I am disappointed in the gays.

I am so engrossed in the way Death says "deeAaaAAthHHhh" that I fail to notice Not-Newt get killed delivering a message to Death. This is going to pose problems for me.

I forgot about the apocalypse plotline till the horsepeople arrive. This is understandable. I care not for this 'world' ending, my new world is Crowley. I love Crowley.

Duck aliens fucking descend. This is not a joke. There are duck aliens, and they are supportive of trans people. Newt does not count their nipples.

The Shad guy doesn't care Newt found aliens. He is upset that Newt didn't find witches. If Shad was mowing his lawn and found gold, he would toss it aside because he is focused on mowing. I can respect that. People make jokes about Newt eventually finding a witch.

It is suddenly a Christopher Nolan movie. Someone corrects me and says it's more like Jerry Bruckheimer. I do not know what that is.

Someone says Crowley destroys the Bentley but for whatever reason, like a lot of people before, makes it a black box that you have to click to read. I don't mind that, I like clicking.

Aziraphale bought out a theatre for Crowley, like a Kdrama where the rich CEO buys out an entire theatre for his working class girl.

Adam goes through what I went through with OCD. It is not fun.

It is now a horror movie. Adam floats in the air. That was not a symptom I had with OCD.

Crowley asks Aziraphale to run away with him to the stars. Aziraphale says no. Crowley is upset and my baby Azi looks so sad and confused about everything he believes in. Great. I'm totally fine, I think as I start stuffing my emotional support orange into my mouth.

It is now a Home Alone movie. Crowley in gloves is sexy. Mmmmmmm yes. Crowley does great advertising for plant spray bottles as he murders and threatens demons.

I point out that the GO book says Crowley can do "weird things with his tongue" as I learned from the GO scent guide company page. It was after all the most relevant take-away from that page.

Disco Tony arrives. This is not a safe space.

AZIRAPHALE KEEPS TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND IS FAILED BY HEAVEN LEAVE MY BABY AZI ALONE WTF GO AWAY. THE ANGELS WALL SLAM HIM TOO. THAT'S CROWLEY'S THING YOU BASTARDS.

Newt and Anathema are cute. I DON'T NOTICE BECAUSE IM SO UPSET HE'S CHEATING ON MAUDE AND WONDERING WHY THE CHAT IS OKAY WITH IT BECAUSE I AM A FOOL WHO CONTINUES TO MIX UP NEWT WITH NOT-NEWT AND THEN THE CHAT TELLS ME NOT-NEWT DIED AND I'M CONFUSED.

Newt and Anathema are having sex. As an aspec person, I am very alarmed at the visuals.

Azi is failed by heaven and the metatron. Shocker. Fucking get away from Azi. Azi is miserable and looks like he wants to cry.

AZI IS EXORCISED AND THE FUCKING FLAME CATCHES IN THE BOOKSHOP AND THE EPISODE ENDS.

TAKE MY PAIN MOTHERFUCKERS. I WILL POST THIS AND THEN WRITE THE EP5 PART.

[david-talks-sw]

So, why should I care about Lucas’s narrative? Like seriously why should I care? Not to sound dismissive but a genuine curiosity? Man sold it for one thing and the EU and the fans that made it showed Star Wars was may more then his narrative at some point.

If anything Star Wars moved beyond Lucas’s narrative even before he sold it. Even from a grande perspective his narrative stopped mattering in some sense the minute A New Hope arrived and became a hit.

Oh, you're free not to care about it.

But the fact remains:

When Lucasfilm creatives promote new content, they’ll use George as an authority figure to legitimize what they say.

Big chunks of the fandom do the same by using Lucas’ words to make authority arguments on why they believe the new films and the current direction of the franchise is good or bad.

Seeing as there seems to be a general consensus that Lucas’ word holds some power, I'd rather set the record straight on what he actually stated and intended.

You totally can just say “death of the author, what Lucas intended or what he said outside the movies doesn’t matter, what matters is what’s actually on screen” and I’d have nothing to counter that argument with because this is a subjective stance. We can debate its merits, but that’d result in a much larger discussion about the place of authorial intent in fiction.

But again, you can discard my posts and analyses by simply saying:

“I don’t care what Lucas stated, I’m a free-thinker and I can interpret any movie I watch however I want.” 

At which point, the only answer I can give you is “cool, good for you”. 

You wouldn’t be the only person I’ve met who takes this approach, either. I have friends who are older than me, saw the Original Trilogy films in theaters and felt Lucas’ dropped the ball as early as Episode VI: Return of the Jedi or the Special Editions, let alone the Prequel films. These friends don’t put Lucas on the same pedestal as everyone else seems to do, and flat out tell me:

“David, either the Jedi are the problem or the Prequels are bad, I don’t care what Lucas was going for, the result is crap and the only thing that makes it all have some degree of sense is that interpretation.”

And I mean… what do I say to that? What can you say to that? That’s a personal interpretation of a movie, it’s not an opinion that’s less valid than anyone else’s. 

But when I’m taking this approach, I’m not saying “your read of the movie is inferior to that of George Lucas” (unless you confer some degree of power to his word, as the creator of the franchise).

All I’m saying is “Lucas’ message was X”. 

You can agree with the message, you can disagree with the message, the message may be factually/morally/philosophically right or wrong, that’s all debatable. 

I’m just pointing out that, when you look at all the data and you go by what George Lucas stated, it’s X, not Y, like most of the fandom and even authors of the franchise seems to keep stating.

Finally, on a personal note:

I don't like the fact that every time I see my childhood heroes on screen, nowadays, they're portrayed as protocol-worshipping stoic assholes.

I don't like that 90% of the fandom thinks that's how they're meant to be seen when the data demonstrates it's not.

I don't like that the reason my childhood heroes keep being portrayed in this uncharitable light is because the fans from the generation prior to mine - whom these characters weren't meant for - wanted to ensure that their childhood hero, Luke Skywalker, would be preserved as "the ultimate Jedi" and concluded that the only way to do so would be to reframe the Prequel Jedi as dogmatic and emotionless.

So now the OT fans have Luke, the Sequel fans have Rey, the TCW fans have Ahsoka... all unsullied protagonists.

Whereas pro-Jedi PT fans need to mentally ready themselves for when Lucasfilm decides to release the nth "Windu was more strict than a droid" case.

[sidewayspeace444]

Sooo…..

I’m not sure how to word this and hopefully it’s not long, but I’ll begin by saying, Chris Evans’ fandom just needs to ignore EVERYTHING from his side, that includes his friends, family, the “wife” and her friends, etc.

I do believe there may be more than meets the eye with this mess behind the scenes, but I also recognize that as much as this entire “shitshow” as its now been deemed, seems phony and fake…. At this point, let’s just say it’s what it is. Chris is a married man and he married a woman that I don’t believe he truly knows, but that’s on him. 🤷🏻‍♀️

See, looking back at everything, even if this started as PR, which I’m partial to believe…..Chris still sat his ass on stage last week and said he…. Married a woman from Portugal. 😂

But, I remember his likes on IG years ago, he liked and followed some big booty fitness influencer and no, not that Sara chick. I think he and 🐟 might’ve had a PR thing that started professionally and then he liked whatever, but when it was time to “debut” this mess….. his dumbass never expected the backlash. If this has always been real or pr turned real or just pr, etc he never expected fans to deep dive into the problematic woman who keeps trolling his fandom? See, people stated her IG cleaned up of over 100 posts so he or someone knew enough. He is not permanently attached to racist scum.

Look Chris is a very privileged white male, like….DUH!

But look how he talks about project roles, so many deserving actors and actresses are out here scraping for decent roles and then there’s Chris….Mr. “I turn down lead roles”, “I only want to make one movie a year”, “I don’t understand my privilege so I take advantage of it”.

Chris has been in a Marvel/Disney protection bubble for over a decade. It prevented him from growing as an actor and person. He had people at the ready to clean his mess and wipe his ass. He’s no longer in that bubble and ironically you can go back and see how he’s been cascading down ever since. He started decent with Knives Out and Defending Jacob, but then the pandemic happened and he like many…. Lost their minds and sanity.

First it was Lily James PR mess and then I guess money was decent that he chose to do another stunt and it’s led to all of this. Chris wants to seem like he’s smarter than he comes off, but I do believe he’s the type to go…. You like Eckart Tolle?!…..omg me too, yep we’re destined to be together. Boston has a huge population from PT, and racist history so 🐟 should enjoy her time there. 🙄

Anyway Chris has ALWAYS had problematic individuals in his circle both personally and professionally, again….privileged white man who loves to act holier than thou. He did some basic ass tweets during trump era and people started stanning him because everyone hated trump and Chris was basically the conduit of their thoughts.

He pandered to black women, even reprimanded one during an interview, after again…pandering …pretending to flirt over her white boots, knowing he’s being recorded …..then got pissy with her…all because she used the word “brand”. But look at his “brand” now. 😒

This man left social media because he couldn’t withstand the pressure of people not kissing his ass and his choice in life partner. He keeps saying the internet is bad, no sweetie, the internet isn’t the problem it’s YOU!

Ugh, I’m done, mainly because I too wanted this to turn out to be 100% PR, he acted like he didn’t like her publicly only to put a ring on it, yet that could have been to have people wondering and staying engaged with this mess.

I think she’ll be his karma for however long they last.

There is 0.1% in me that would LOVE for this mess to be revealed as shitty PR, fake marriage and all, but I’m tired of trying to force feed things. Chris has a ring… fake or not, it would be stupid to acknowledge himself as married only to come back with….. I’m not married, still single.

So for those believing this is PR, I stand with you, but I’m tired of holding out hope that he was ever truly decent. Decent people don’t have multiple problematic friends and coworkers, Emily Blunt is a fat shamed too, her and Justin should get along very well. Decent people don’t take their career and fans for granted EVER!

This IS who Chris Evans is and it’s time everyone drops the projection and fantasy. If I’m wrong…… I’d like to see Chris himself prove me wrong, but that’s not going to happen…..is it?

This fandom use to be a source of fun and relief from personal shit, but now it’s aided in more gaslighting and emotional hurt about a guy I never knew.

You all have been so cool and I wish Chris turned out to be the man we all thought he actually was, but his own actions have proven, he’s not.

Everyone take care! ✌️

Let’s stop defending this man like we are getting paid. Let’s drag him! He wants to blame everyone but himself for his flop era

[mariana-oconnor]

The Empty House pt 1

Now, in the hour of our greatest need, a hero rises to answer the call. Our dear friend John Watson provides food for our reading appetites and bravely returns to write the tales of his dearly departed* partner, Sherlock Holmes.

*all facts correct at time of writing

You may be forgiven for assuming that my silence indicated that ‘The Final Problem’ truly was the end of my association with Sherlock Holmes, and indeed of the man himself. The passage of time and many subsequent tellings of the tale has not diminished me joy in saying that it was not so.

WHAT??!

No, seriously though, the fact that Letters from Watson is going with the conceit that Watson knew when he sent the email that Holmes wasn't dead and then just went radio silent for three weeks is fucking hilarious. It's what Holmes would have wanted. I mean, he's not dead, but even so. I love the dramatic bitch energy here.

It was in the spring of the year 1894

I feel like this is as definite and accurate a date as we're ever going to get in these stories.

Also, I have definitely read this one before, multiple times. Partially for my own enjoyment when I was younger, but also during my Sherlock fandom phase where I needed to verify some original canon so I could mutate it terribly for my own personal amusement.

I definitely remember whodunnit and how this time, but I'm not sure if that's actually going to be the mystery.

Only now, at the end of nearly ten years,

So this is a story set in 1894, written in 1903, read by us in 2023.

I should have considered it my first duty to have done so had I not been barred by a positive prohibition from his own lips, which was only withdrawn upon the third of last month.

So Holmes stayed 'dead' officially for 13 years? I mean, I guess this is also sort of ACD saying 'please stop sending me death threats. Here it is. He was never really dead. I surrender I surrender.'

As I read the evidence at the inquest, which led up to a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown

Totally read this wrong at first as though the murder was against the person or persons unknown. 'We know a murder has taken place, but we don't know who, or even if it was only one person or multiple. But it was definitely murder.' But no, it's the verdict that's against them, not the murder.

There were points about this strange business which would, I was sure, have specially appealed to him, and the efforts of the police would have been supplemented, or more probably anticipated, by the trained observation and the alert mind of the first criminal agent in Europe.

It is pretty tragic to think of Watson reading the paper and sighing to himself as he thinks of how Holmes could have helped. But then also casually throwing shade at the police officers, also in tribute to Holmes' memory.

Adair's mother had returned from Australia to undergo the operation for cataract

Health tourism has a long and varied history. In a time before aeroplanes that's a long way to go and a long time to take for surgery. Did Australia really not have any opthalmologists worth their salt at this time? I mean, I don't know how good even the surgeons in London would have been with that sort of surgery, it's a little more finesse than amputations and they had enough difficulty with them. Got to assume that if you're going to take that long travelling for the surgery, there's got to be a reasonable improvement in your chances for survival.

OK, wow, the history of cataract surgery is long and I do not advise you to look it up if you are in any way squeamish about or squicked out by eye stuff. But apparently the earliest cataract surgeries known are in the 5th century BC, although modern surgery methods didn't seem to really get good until around the 1950s. Basically yes, infection was very possible and her vision would never be the same again.

That was very educational and quite unpleasant.

Ronald Adair was fond of cards, playing continually, but never for such stakes as would hurt him. He was a member of the Baldwin, the Cavendish, and the Bagatelle card clubs. It was shown that after dinner on the day of his death he had played a rubber of whist at the latter club.

I know it says that he never played for stakes that would hurt him, but I feel like being a member of three different clubs is a sign of something. Also, the fact that he recently broke up with his fiancee really needs to be relevant later because I cannot imagine why it would be included if not. At least as a red herring.

Mr. Murray, Sir John Hardy, and Colonel Moran

I wonder which of them is important? Clearly it must be Mr Murray. Absolutely could not be Colonel Moran, who is a colonel and therefore a respectable member of society who would never be associated with any crimes.

I stg ACD had some sort of beef with a colonel at some point in time. That's the only possible explanation. OTHER RANKS ARE AVAILABLE.

She had lit a fire there, and as it smoked she had opened the window.

They need their chimneys checked. Where are the chimney sweeps? I was under the impression that Victorian London was full of chimney sweeps. Was I lied to? Shove a small child up that chimney at once!

The door was locked on the inside, and no answer could be got to their cries and knocking. Help was obtained and the door forced. The unfortunate young man was found lying near the table. His head had been horribly mutilated by an expanding revolver bullet, but no weapon of any sort was to be found in the room.

Locked room mystery! Locked room mystery! Locked room mystery!

The window is open, but this is the second floor, and it's worth noting for any American readers, that in the UK the second floor is one higher than you think. We have ground floor, first floor, then second floor. So that's a pretty high window to reach.

(Unless there was already a small child lying in wait up the chimney...)

A minute examination of the circumstances served only to make the case more complex. In the first place, no reason could be given why the young man should have fastened the door upon the inside.

Sometimes people just lock doors. I automatically lock doors behind me sometimes. My brain is just like 'ooh, lock!' I made my flatmate at university think I hated her because I used to lock myself into my room, but I just... be like that.

There was the possibility that the murderer had done this and had afterwards escaped by the window. The drop was at least twenty feet, however, and a bed of crocuses in full bloom lay beneath. Neither the flowers nor the earth showed any sign of having been disturbed, nor were there any marks upon the narrow strip of grass which separated the house from the road.

So I know how this goes, but I feel there is a very real alternative solution to this puzzle that involves a circus troupe, an archer and a tightrope walker. Not sure how they'd get the tightrope back, but that can be sorted out in editing.

Again, Park Lane is a frequented thoroughfare, and there is a cab-stand within a hundred yards of the house.

Fine, people would probably notice the tightrope walking clown...

^ This guy could do it, is all I'm saying. (Although he would definitely use more than one bullet...)

since, as I have said, young Adair was not known to have any enemy, and no attempt had been made to remove the money or valuables in the room.

No one who gambles that much and consistently wins can be entirely enemy-free, that seems unlikely.

As I did so I struck against an elderly deformed man, who had been behind me, and I knocked down several books which he was carrying. [...] With a snarl of contempt he turned upon his heel, and I saw his curved back and white side-whiskers disappear among the throng.

Oh hai, Holmes. I'm not 100% that this is Holmes but lbr, this is Holmes. The snarl of contempt and abrupt about turn is totally to conceal his identity. Also I want to read The Origins of Tree Worship is it a real book? I feel like it has the potential to be the basis for a decent fantasy book.

but the window was entirely inaccessible, since there was no water-pipe or anything which could help the most active man to climb it.

I had not been in my study five minutes when the maid entered to say that a person desired to see me.

Drum roll please

I moved my head to look at the cabinet behind me. When I turned again Sherlock Holmes was standing smiling at me across my study table.

Certainly a grey mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips. Holmes was bending over my chair, his flask in his hand.

This surprise reveal brought to you by:

Brandy!

If Brandy doesn't save you, at least you'll die drunk!

“My dear Watson,” said the well-remembered voice, “I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected.”

No.

Shit.

Sherlock.

Yeah, totally unbelievable that your bff who has thought you were dead for two years and probably blames himself at least somewhat for falling for the obvious ruse and leaving you alone on the cliffside to face your demise, might POSSIBLY be A LITTLE BIT affected by YOU RISING FROM THE DEAD BEFORE HIS EYES.

You are such a dramatic little chaos gremlin and it's great, but a truly spectacular lack of forethought here.

"Now, my dear fellow, in the matter of these explanations we have, if I may ask for your co-operation, a hard and dangerous night's work in front of us. Perhaps it would be better if I gave you an account of the whole situation when that work is finished.”

Casually rolls back into town, greets bff. 'Like, I could tell you how come I'm not dead, but instead we could both risk our lives first... what do you think?'

"I had no serious difficulty in getting out of it, for the very simple reason that I never was in it.”

A cliffhanger - literally??

Disappointed we only got two synonyms for the falls though: "awful abyss" and "dreadful chasm" I was hoping for some other ones. "merciless maw", "terrible void", "cruel crevasse", "fell fall", "godawful gap". Hopefully some more can be shoehorned into the next bit.

[marengogo]

CORONA BOREALIS - 3: NINETY FIVE

Like Crazy + People Pt.2 PLAYLIST.

[Music is a very big part of my life and I’m MOSTLY INCAPABLE of writing without music, so I just thought I'd share what I am listening to while writing this]

🐺 — 🐺 — 🐺—

Every year we spend on this planet something that will change the course of our lives tends to happen. Sometimes, it is something as small as the discovery of a new plant, and sometimes it is as big as a pandemic. So let’s, for example, look at positive things that happened in 1995 cause believe me some pretty fucked up shit also happened this year. This was the year that made the internet mainstream (can you imagine our lives without the internet? … ). 

Music was also 👌🏾this year, it brought us some classics such as Waterfalls by TLC, You Are Not Alone by Michael Jackson and a “little” song named Gangsta’s Paradise, which instantly raised its singer to worldwide fame; Coolio. Yeah, 1995 was an amazing year for Coolio, but little did he know that his life would end up being intertwined with seven others, two of which were also born in 1995: 13 October 1995, in Busan, a little bundle of joy, named Park Jimin graces this planet and a couple of months later another one decides to make his surly quirky entrance, 30 December 1995, in Daegu.

Jimin. He turned out to be a boy who would be very confident in his abilities, but perhaps not so much in himself as a person. Nevertheless, he knew he wanted to accomplish big-big things, and was going to stop at nothing to accomplish his goals. Then there was Taehyung. He on the other hand turned out to be a boy very confident in himself as a person, but perhaps not too sure of his abilities per say. Yet, he had dreams, very big ones at that, and admittedly he might have not known exactly how to get there but his desire to make them come true was as big as the dream itself.

They don’t seem to have much in common up to this point do they? Like, if there ever were a human representation of the concept of YingYang, it be them, no cap.

Even from an astrological point, don’t mind me an my interest in things of the sort  😬😬😬 not only do they seem to fit their descriptions, but they also just so happen to be each other’s opposite. Jimin is an Air Sign, and people with this element are known to be intellectual and communicative. They are experts in the ephemeral, the things of this world that lack physical form, and this is especially true of language and information. Taehyung is an Earth Sign and people with this element are known to be patient and practical. On a bad day: Just as Earth signs can be loyal, they can also be stubborn and inflexible. It's often their way or the highway .

In conclusion, regardless of whether you look at their factual past or their theoretical astrology, any kind of relationship between these two would seem impossible and even non-advisable. Yet, there they are being soulmates and here are some in the fandom scratching our heads, which is exactly the problem. They are here taking in superficial information regarding VMIN, rather than moving a couple of steps further and going there, where VMIN actually are, and take a closer look. If they did, they’d find out that in fact, Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung share the same exact spiritual level. And what do I mean by this?

Tae and JM’s isn’t a simple story of “opposite attracts” because they actually also have so much in common. Both look for warmth and love in their relationships, they are indeed very tactile and in the same way respond well to being touched by those they love/care about. They like and seem to crave attention a touch more than all other members in the group, and admittedly, they have recalibrated this desire as they grew up. Both are not comfortable when those they care about are suffering, they have a need to reach out and try to “kiss it” better. This might have been very apparent to people lately with regards to Jimin They are both painfully shy, Tae simply has a better control of his facial expressions, but once that cracks, it is off to the nearest hiding point. Lastly, and this is very important in their friendship dynamic; they do whatever they want to do. Always this JM is more skillful in hiding. 

It is only fair to now take a look at the tangible parts of their personas which aren’t, or weren’t as I think they’ve actually grown out of some of them compatible. Jimin is actively aware of his surroundings and Tae isn’t, meaning that JM is more likely to quickly try and make a change in his situation if he doesn’t like it (help someone in need, cheat to win, etc …) and perhaps regret it later, but not really. Tae, who also has the same kind of awareness, is however a ponderer; do I have to do something? What will happen if I do something? Depending on his personal answer, and the situation at hand, he may or may not do something about it, and perhaps regret it later, but not really. The following, I feel like it applied to them as teens, their “possessiveness” towards things, or relationships, has always been to a point where JM would do his might best to latch on to whatever he wanted to “monopolise” until he did, whereas Tae, if he found out he couldn’t “monopolise” whatever, he would move on to the next thing he could. 

And it is exactly because they could understand each other on this level that their friendship has become so solid and further from reach that it’s understanding is also eluding the mind of many. Their friendship, in my opinion, has now exceeded the performative level, on every level, it is almost as if these two have unlocked the ultimate regular friendship goal, which has the dynamics of a non-celebrity strong-ass friendship. This is a friendship that right at its very core didn’t skip any step and has experienced it all, from euphoria for example, ANY and EVERY TIME they start acting like characters in their imaginary scenarios to tribulations arguments caused by thoughtless, resulting in insensitive, words or actions, particularly in their youth.

So then finally, if you piece all of the aforementioned together  a situation where the two of them had a completely different opinion, then one starts an action, the other has a reaction, they then stay put in their opinions for a bit but then one will eventually cave and the other will cave even harder as they soothe each other … isn’t too hard to imagine, is it?

In a way, if you think of them as their astrological signs. JM (air sign) has been that one person who has been able to understand and vibe with Tae’s quirkiness, helping him to elevate towards those heights he always dreamed of. And at the same Tae (earth sign) has kept Jimin grounded in moments when perhaps being up there in the air wasn’t it. In moments, when he perhaps needed someone who would be willing to very normally share a hug and/or a tear. 

As we all know, they both have separate friendship groups and are very involved with their respective ones, which also goes with the nature of their character; they will do what they want to do and this we know from videos, pictures they decided to share with us. But please, let’s not forget that Tae is the one person who has probably called JM the most, the one who has declared Jimin as his fav, the one thanks to whom Jimin's back is blessed with more moons. Let’s also not forget that Jimin has been around for Tae in moments of great loss, or that Tae is his forever teddy bear, and that Jimin can understand him just by looking into his eyes. They’ve gained each other’s trust and I’d like to believe that they also know how to protect and cherish it. 

Great. Now, let’s get back out here . BTS as a whole has really reached levels where performative actions are, yes, a fan-fav but they can, in all honesty, decide not to act up on them, like posting things on social media, fanservice, etc, it is really all to their discretion. So let me ask you? If you were either JM/Tae, in 2023, and had a problem with Tae/JM, which you wanted to solve, who would you address it to?: Tae/JM? Or your fans’? …

Whose words would ultimately provide you with the solution you are searching for? Tae/JM? Or your fans’? 

Always respectfully yours 💚💛

Marengo. 

[sukibenders]

no Edwina is married to an Indian and lives in her hometown in India, free my girl from the inbred prince who’s best characteristic is being “nice”, you losers clinging onto that white man when it’s canon she’s happy living her best life with a desi is sus af, I know what you are

Well, unless it was stated differently in s3 pt 2 (which I haven't seen except for small clips, none of which involve Edwina) then I stick by my point. Mr. Bagwell hasn't even been added or mentioned in the show, if that's who you are referring too (again, haven't seen s3 pt 2). I've shipped Edwina with a variety of characters, whether it be from Eloise to Friedrich or the original guy she marries in the books (who I also headcanon as Desi even if I don't talk about him much on this app) to Marina to even other random ocs, but Friedrich was the just main guy. It was never about race in hindsight but more because I wanted her to be a princess, which she deserves. It's kind of sus that, from all I've posted which was merely just fun headcanons, you thought it was something it wasn't. 🤔

I don't even know why you even came here being rude about a headcanon that, on one spectrum, is purely for enjoyment and on the other, about giving Edwina the respect she deserves (most of the Fredwina fans I interact with give her more development following s2 outside of even mentioning Friedrich, so it's not as if her whole persona is now revolving around this yte man). If you don't ship them, that's fine and, to be honest, I would have even enjoyed to see who you paired her with (because other people I follow sometimes ship her with someone outside the prince as well, not everyone has to like him) until you decide to get hostile and refer to me, and others, as "losers". If you don't even ship them, then why not block the Fredwina tag altogether? I know what you are, apparently.

I get not liking or really caring for Friedrich, as most of his character showwise is very simple and what is added comes from the fandom headcanon itself. You're entitled to that. But don't come to my page and try to write off something that brings me joy and amusement occasionally as something it's not, just because it doesn't suit your fancy. Is there a trope in fandom that happens with placing black and brown women with a yte man, especially in historical pieces, and the many murky, gross things surrounding it? Yes, I can acknowledge that and, in a way, see your apprehension for it in that manner. However, which you would see if you've even looked through my blog especially in regards to Fredwina instead of immediately writing it off, the ship itself does not fall into that trope (most from what I've seen and interacted with, so if you found something else then please share) and many of the Fredwina fans that I know have actively taken the time to display the importance in Edwina's heritage rather than write it off (I also literally have post that call out the show itself for how poorly it handled certain topics like this, so why would I be backing a ship that holds the problems that you so claim? 🤨) Again, if you don't ship them that's fine, but don't try to paint it (and random people you don't know with little evidence) as something it's/they are not. Have a good day.

[silverspleen]

@your-royal-highness-of-trash

Pulled out into TWO new posts b/c I cannot be subjecting my friends to one longpost but rather many smaller posts with the majestic read more tool. I hope this is cool.

(Context. My reply to This.)

THE FUN HALF lets ramble about character stuff yes pleaaaase they really did nail the characterization they did do that I hate how good of a job they did.

First it is so funny that you already know Bad Suns! I was literally introduced to them this summer by one of my D&D buddies on one of our driving days where we just hang out in the car listening to music loudly with the windows down and I was just, blown away by their sound. And then like a week later went. "Wait.... This is a blorbo song. This is an Alex pov Faralex song. This is him being filled with emotions oh my god"

Glad you are also just "eh" on Ghoap. Like. I've read some great Ghoap fics but like. Perhaps it's the hipster in me. I get the dynamic allure, I get the chemistry, I get that it's hot but I am just not insane for them like the majority of the fandom. Because I already have Faralex. And og Ghost Roach but WHATEVER.

I have posted about the Alex disability thing before already so I 100% hard agree. When I actually looked up the timeline for a prosthetic, just like, as a cursory google for the most vague of fic writing stuff, I was immediately like. OH THEY DID NO RESEARCH HUH. He would have still been in PT by the time they brought him into Warzone he would not be ready for it, but like. Yeah he's so? He's nice? He's a nice man and very friendly but he's also not a good man (we forget that these are not the same) and also sort of hyper focused on Farah and sometimes I think that it's easy to backseat his angst when Farah's right there for him to sort of focus on instead of his problems? He was a marine and a CIA agent and I'm sure he has some like very intense ingrained stuff about technically being actually genuinely disabled with likely chronic pain now and it probably isn't great! I love a healthy dynamic but I will not lie and pretend I'm not into a little bit into how his thing for her can 100% be a little unhealthy. I like a little smidge of the spice with that devotion dynamic. As you said, being mentally ill together. I like that she is in a position where she needs someone who is like, a little obsessed with her in a way that's Not Normal, and he is in a position where being Not Normal about someone probably gets him through some rough days but also watch out! Don't let that consume you!

I feel like he probably gets the prosthetic from Price (and Laswell later), but like. Surely it gets broken because, as you said, he is running around in the desert for hours at a time on combat missions. Farah gets her little care package of goods from Price and Alex just gets leg parts it's constantly leg parts every shipment there's a leg part in there you can tell he's been somewhere because we just have ruined liners everywhere and you can tell when stuff is really bad because there's just. A leg. Abandoned in some building somewhere and smashed half to shit.

Out of Alex I want 1) more disability stuff because yes. Like he has to use crutches a lot, right? Surely he does. How easy is it to shoot a gun in crutches I have to know! I want like "ah ha we have attacked the ULF off guard surely now we will be at an advanta-" *thudding sound of angry CIA deserter in crutches with a gun and still very capable of being dangerous* 2) We are so cagey about the whole "he is now a terrorist" CIA deserter thing. Does he have family at home? He died so like. Did his mom or dad get a flag? Do you get a flag when you desert? Surely they knew he was into some Incredibly Black Ops stuff so like when he vanishes off the face of the earth it was normal up until they get a letter like "lol sorry he's dead." (But he's not dead, you'll just never see the top secret blurry photos of him in the desert doing a terrorism, which was not all that different than what he was doing before he just enjoys it more now.) How many skeletons are in that closet boooy.

You should totally make a bookmark collection!! I know I value the heck out of people who do fic reviews and collections and stuff. Nothing like seeing that someone else is really enjoying a ship dynamic and collecting stuff that's their taste.

"Different Relationship" yes they are in love your honor. He would never intentionally mispronounce his beloved wife's name, he's just a stupid American and gets it 50% correct but he tries. I have never seen this video. Thank you so much for linking it.

-

Ugh thinking in my brain again about like, do you think he would have ever brought Farah to PT? Like he's going to PT for his leg under some assumed name somewhere and has told the therapists some sort of half truth sob story about his life that is 80% CIA lies and 20% actual dynamics from his life so they are aware of Farah in a "I need to get better because there is someone in my life I need to get back to" way. And then he slowly phases out as he recovers and later he actually brings The Someone to one of his checkup appointments and it's this tiny middle eastern woman that he has really intense energy with where they are clearly having entire conversations just by staring at each other. Between his military tattoos and how she gets this edge to her every time there's a weird noise outside it's slowly becoming obvious that they are both military somehow but everything goes well until there's a global news update about Urzikstan and they both get really weird and quiet until Alex is like "hey lets change the channel now :)" and Farah says something in Arabic and he replies and they have some sort of laugh about it and it's like, uh oh these people! These people are somehow connected to global events in some nebulous way that you're not sure you should be thinking about!

Anyway shout out to the government guy who brought his concealed carry into the clinic! I don't think that was necessary! I looked it up and it was probably legal since we didn't have a sign at that point but why did you do that knowing full well you would have to take off your shirt for the scan and I would have to be uncomfortably near it the whole time! I will complain about this whenever I can! It was weird!

[marys-little-cringes]

Let me start with a clean slate Pt.3

Pt.1 - Pt.2

Fandom: Smallville

Relationship: Clark Kent/Lex Luthor

Additional Tags: Bromance, Bromance to Romance, AU, Curtain Fic, Pre-Slash

Summary:

[4s17ep "Onyx"] An alternate ending in which the Lexs didn't reunite, instead Alexander is captured by Lex.

A/N:

I finished watching season 7, I am sad and frustrated. Starting with Belle Reve, it became vital for me that everything would be fine, because I can see perfectly well how everything is f*cked up. This series has become some sort of guide for me to the world where these two have a chance. The thing is, English isn't my native language and this is my first ff in English, so my also not-native-speaker-editor @nigthwingsleftbuttcheek and me did our best.  Anyway feel free to mark my typos or other errors if you find any. I would be most grateful!

Part 3

 Day X fell on Saturday. Clark stayed overnight at the mansion on Friday evening, so as not to waste extra time on the road in the morning. He couldn't sleep. He was tossing and turning on an unusually luxurious bed. He couldn't get the thoughts out of his head — one was worse than the other.

 Clark decided to take a little walk and suddenly found himself at Lex's room. Dim light streamed from under the door, and muffled footsteps could be heard. Clark had an impulse to knock, he gathered his strength for a few minutes, but eventually he didn't dare. He already felt out of place here, but it was at this moment that the feeling became unbearable. It seemed to him that after all the lies he had told, he just didn't deserve Lex's trust. He would have liked to repay him, but instead he felt like the rottenest friend. How could he even consider himself a friend if it was Lex who came to Clark's place, and asked to see him as something more than a way to solve endless problems? Asked him. Clark Kent — such an exemplary and thoroughly positive good Samaritan! Disgusted with himself, Clark returned to the guest room and lay awake all night.

 They had exchanged only a few words all morning — they had unanimously decided to do without breakfast. They spent the whole trip in the car in silence, and in the laboratory, Lex spoke only to the scientists: he asked for something and gave short orders.

 The one who called himself Alexander was already lying in the cell where the merger was planned. He was being brought out of a medically induced coma, still unconscious. Lex went in the same place, lay down on the chrome medical table next to him. Clark stood in the doorway, looking at nothing. He only moved when a voice over the speaker said, 'We're ready to start, Mr. Luthor.' The head of security took him warningly by the shoulder and looked at Lex with a mute question. He just nodded. A strong hand released Clark's shoulder and he approached the table. He searched his head diligently for the right words, but couldn't find any at all.

 “It was a waste you hadn't come in,” Lex told him quietly, smiling with the corners of his lips.

 Kent choked on air. Alexander stirred faintly nearby and he looked at him warily.

 “Hey, Clark?” Lex's hand squeezed his wrist, pulled; the young man bent over him. “Don’t give up on me just yet. Being your friend is the best thing that has happened in my life.”

 “Never.”

 Lex's smile was strained. He released Clark's hand and nodded toward the door.

 “I'm here, Lex, you hear me?” he blurted out a moment before the heavy door cut them off from each other.

 He was lucky: the kryptonite crystal was hidden under a protective casing before the experiment began. And now, thick walls, capable of containing the explosion, protected Clark. He was looking at Lex from above, through the observation window in the control room, the researchers were sitting at the console.

 “Starting the heating, Mr. Luthor,” one of them said into the microphone.

 Clark could clearly see the alarm in Lex's gaze as he glanced into the observation window. The young man put his palms to the glass. Green light flooded the room. Alexander opened his eyes and twitched violently in his binding. He saw Clark too. He grimaced in disdain and muttered something, looking at Lex. At the last moment, before the camera was vanished with a blinding flash, Clark saw Lex's expression change. His stomach clenched. He didn't need to have super hearing to understand exactly what Alexander said.

 Clark recoiled from the window. His first impulse was to run away and never come into Lex's field of vision again. It took all his restraint to overcome this impulse and give himself at least a minute to find out what would happen next.

 He tuned in his hearing. The door to the cell opened.

 “What— Where am I?” Lex asked weakly.

 “Mr. Luthor, you are in the special department of the LuthorCorp Research Laboratory,” the researcher spoke up. “You are here of your own free will…”

 Clark listened, as Lex was getting re-briefed.

 “What do you remember, Mr. Luthor?”

 “I don't know. Everything is fragmentary, like pieces of a dream. My last clear memory is of me in the laboratory, looking at the results of an experiment on seeds…”

 Clark was thinking hard about what he should do now. The instinct of self-preservation in Jonathan Kent's voice screamed at him to run and not look back. At the same moment, Lex's face was in front of his eyes, and Clark could still feel Lex's hand gripping his wrist. His feet carried him down the stairs by themselves.

 “Clark?” Lex said, discouraged, when he saw a tall figure standing in the doorway.

 He got off the table, staggered. The researcher who was measuring his blood pressure took him by the elbow, but Lex pulled free and stepped forward, leaning on the table with his free hand.

 “What are you doing here?”

 “You asked me to be here when they put you back together,” the young man grinned awkwardly. “So here I am.”

 Lex stared at him unblinkingly for what seemed like an eternity. Clark caught himself thinking cravenly, “Isn't it too late to escape?” but then Lex unfroze.

 “Thanks,” he said and smiled.

***

 Lex disappeared from the radar after that day. Of course, Clark had plenty to do without him. Smallville can't save itself from meteor freaks, after all. Studying, the Torch, and working on the farm also took up enough time. And yet, Clark felt that he was really missing him by the end of the second week. Chloe couldn't get enough of the fact that he finally stopped spending all his time with Luthor.

Leaving the school, Kent, out of habit, took a cursory glance at the parking lot where Lex often waited for him. He looked around without much hope and suddenly stood rooted to the spot, several students bumped into him. Chloe, enthusiastically talking about plans for a new article, stopped too and followed his gaze, and then rolled her eyes. Justifying her bleak expectations, Clark muttered something like, “Chloe, I'll... uh... see you tomorrow, right?” and, without an answer, hurried to the parking lot, where Lex Luthor was standing next to another senselessly expensive (in Chloe's opinion) car.

 “Lex, hey! How are you?”

 “Hello, Clark,” he nodded. “Well, it seems that losing my memory is becoming another bad habit of mine.”

 “You still don't remember anything, do you?” Clark hoped he didn't sound too worried.

 “Nothing coherent, no. But I spent a lot of time looking at the CCTV footage in the mansion.”

 Clark petrified.

 “You have surveillance cameras?”

 “A recent, but already proven investment of mine. By the way, that's exactly the reason I'm here. Will you ride with me?”

 “M-my truck—” Clark stammered.

 “—Will be delivered wherever you say, if you just hand over the keys.”

 The figure of Lex's guard appeared next to Clark. Taking the keys out of his pocket, Clark almost dropped them of his trembling fingers. He got into Lex's car, staring in front of him in a daze. Lex, as if nothing had happened, put on his glasses, started the engine, and, screeching with wheels, his car abruptly flew out of the parking lot.

 “Clark, I couldn't help but notice,” Luthor began, and the young man shrank into his seat, ready to break through the door at any moment and run away at superspeed, “that you and I have spent a lot, I would even say an unusually long time together over the past month. This is also consistent with the testimony of my staff.”

 “What are you talking about, Lex?” Kent was genuinely surprised. “I hope you don't want me to reimburse you for the losses to LuthorCorp for the time you spent with me?” he laughed nervously.

 Lex smiled.

 “I don't expect your father would approve of the fact that you were literally enslaved to the Luthors. I don't know how else you're going to cover my losses. But I can't help but agree that I really should have been saving my business instead of going to cinemas and concerts. The thing is I just wanted to find out what happened between us. There are surprisingly many mentions of you in my diary for the next month.”

 Clark struggled to hold back a sigh of relief and filled Lex in as much detail as he could.

 “So, that's it?” Lex asked for some reason.

 “What else?” Clark was a little bit baffled.

 He suddenly noticed something very strange. He could have sworn that Lex closes his eyes for a second and exhales in relief.

 “I just want to be sure that at least on one side the gap in my memories will be filled completely,” he said calmly. “So… Coffee?”

There's more where this came from: Too sweet

[ladyodaskonpeito]

Day 2: Physical Therapy

Fandom: Free!

Pairing: Yamazaki Sousuke x Tachibana Makoto

Wordcount: 885

Day 1

Sousuke returned to their table in the cafeteria with an abundance of food and drinks in hand—too much for two people. Especially since the person he just met was looking unwell and didn’t appear like he had any appetite for anything.

Nevertheless, Sousuke placed sandwiches and juices and milks in front of Makoto. He initially stared up at Sousuke like he was in awe—mouth slightly agape and eyes wide open, before dropping his gaze to the pile of food on the table.

“Here, have whatever you like—you’ll feel better with some comfort food in you. Sorry about scaring you like that. And about lying,” Sousuke rubbed his nape as he sat himself down opposite Makoto, suddenly very sheepish for defaulting to the “I’m a doctor” card even though he was only fresh out of medical school. “I was desperately trying to calm you down.”

Makoto’s eyes formed crescents as he flashed an understanding smile. “Don’t worry about it, I’m very sorry myself about freaking out like that.” His cheeks were tinged with pink from the embarrassment. “What were you doing in front of the morgue, by the way?”

“Oh, that was the morgue,” Elation hit Sousuke and he did a fist pump. “I had to go to the rehab centre, which was apparently next to it. Guess I was on the right track, then?”

Makoto gave him small nods, confusion apparent on his face.

Sousuke chuckled lowly. “It was the first time I got the directions right,” He opened the packaging of a sandwich before pushing it forward for Makoto to help himself. “Been struggling for the past one month. Are eggs and mayo okay? I didn’t know what you like, so I got one of everything. There’s tuna mayo, and ham and cheese too.”

Makoto had a meek smile on his face and looked down when he accepted the sandwich. “Thank you. I’m glad you finally found your way.”

“I would be too, if not for the fact that I already lost my way again now that I’ve detoured here for breakfast,” Sousuke gave a belly laugh. “My physical therapist hates me already for the number of times he had to repeat the directions.”

“Well, I can bring you there again. You won’t need his help anymore then,” An incredibly kind offer from someone who didn’t yet know the extent of his problem. “I’m heading there again too, clinical hours to fulfil and all.”

“Sweet, I’ll take you up on that, thanks.”

And that was how Sousuke got himself an excellent navigator for his physical therapy sessions. It was not something they agreed upon doing, but they’d meet up at the hospital entrance whenever Sousuke was scheduled for his twice-weekly appointments. Their I-buy-you-breakfast and you-lead-the-way acquaintanceship was enjoyable and refreshing, so he started looking forward to his Tuesdays and Fridays even though Sousuke used to dread coming for PT.

Once inside the rehab centre, Makoto proved to be much more than just navigation skills. He became an inspiration to Sousuke with how much care he’d put into ensuring patient comfort. He’d be highly focused whenever he was monitoring progress and pain scores. He’d check in with Sousuke frequently to see if he was comfortable with the regimen he had for the day. He’d even make sure that Sousuke was well-hydrated throughout the session by providing reminders to drink. His caring side would shine through and Sousuke fully understood then how this person was meant to become a nurse.

Sousuke thus hoped to keep the things he learned from Makoto in mind because he aspired to provide quality patient-centred care for people as Makoto did for him. And that was why it was an incredible shame when he failed to ask Makoto for his contact, or even a social media account. Anything they could have kept in touch with, because by the time his last session rolled around about three weeks after they met—when Sousuke had originally planned to suggest staying in contact—Makoto was nowhere to be found when he reached the hospital entrance that morning.

He loitered around for half an hour, fearing that he’d miss Makoto and make him wait. He didn’t go in until he was late for his appointment, and was subjected to an earful by his physical therapist for the tardiness and for needing the directions again.

Katsumi-san wasn’t mad enough at him to not answer, though, when he asked about Makoto’s whereabouts. Apparently, he had completed his practical module on rehabilitation and would be elsewhere in the hospital from now on, but Katsumi-san wasn’t privy to which department either. Sousuke decided then to leave his phone number with Katsumi-san so he could give it to Makoto should he ever see him around the hospital again.

Maybe Sousuke was a little disheartened that they wouldn’t be seeing each other anymore, as he wondered why Makoto left without any goodbyes. He was even puzzled by it since Makoto never said anything about finishing soon, but he quickly brushed it off by reasoning that Makoto was a professional person. He didn’t have to be chummy with Sousuke—after all, he might have just been kind to him all this while because Sousuke was a patient to him.

Well, it was a good thing that he didn’t have any more PT sessions left then.

To be continued on Day 3

[sabraeal]

what has been your top 3 favourite fics to write for so far this year?

Oh man, EXTREMELY hard to pick, especially since I wrote in a bunch of new fandoms this year and that process is always EXTREMELY rewarding.

I would have to say first off is The Man of Progress; this was the first time I wrote Viktor POV, which was SO much easier than Mel's to a shocking degree. I really thought I would be struggle bussing through all of that 10K, but he pretty much wrote himself. The real problem was that it was the first time Mel and Viktor had prolonged contact and GOD, all they wanted to do was talk. It was an absolutely blast to write even if I kept looking at the word counter like 👀👀👀👀OKAY CHAPTER CAN END ANY TIME NOW.

at home with the glass half empty also ended up being such a fun change of pace once I really got into Nanami's voice. I'd wanted to do more parts (and actually have drafts of some of them), but I just didn't have time before needed to get to the next thing on my schedule. If I'm lucky, I'll get to swing around to pt 2 soon, since it is my absolutely FAVORITE and I'm sure everyone else will like it too

This list would be remiss without an obiyuki fic, and it is SO HARD to pick just one, but I think right now it has to be Truth in Masquerade, since it had been FOREVER since I had gotten to write it, and I was SO READY to start untangling the knot Obi's last-minute kiss left for me. This is another one I'm hoping to get back to soon, since we're drawing EVER CLOSER to a scene I had written waaaaay back in 2016, even before I wrote Seven Suitors, and I am DYING to get it out there now (only like. better written. since it's been 8 years)

[mrxadreamin]

GACHA MECHANICS: Nu:carnival vs What in "Hell" is Bad?(Part 2 Final, the Electric Bugaloo)

HELLO I have made a second part to this, so hold onto you tighty whities because it's about to get WILD.

NOTE:  Please keep in mind that these are my opinions and criticisms. DO NOT let my perspective sway your decision in anyway unless you need otherwise. Same as pt 1, some parts of this essay is just an overview of how the currencies/pulling/banners work so feel free to skim to the thesis of each paragraph. Thank you and please enjoy reading!

Sorcery Gem Reruns vs. Chance up banner

As perviously mentioned in my last post, majority of the rerun banners for Nucarnival requires sorcery gems and for most f2p it's expensive because even 50 gems is equivalent to $53.97 and some of the banners require 100 gems to hit pity.

In What in Hell is Bad, The Chancce Up banners are for early access, and like most gacha banners, any character that shows up in the Chance Up banner will be put into the standard pool. Users can pull from this banner using Solomon Seals which are similar to sorcery gems, but like sorcery gems, they can be quite expensive...

SO we all know the Chance Up banners have 500 seals = 10 pull, and 500 seals cost up to $17.62(1200 ecoins) + $1.82(120 ecoins) which is comes up to $19.44. Another thing, for the most players can get is up to 3,000 seals would cost 6,527 ecoins which rounds up to 2,400($35.25) + 3,675($53.94) = 6075 ecoins for $89.19, but that's not enough since we need 452 more ecoins, so users would have to buy 720 ecoins($10.64). As a result, $89.19 + $10.64 = $99.83 so we would have to pay almost $100 for 60 pulls and if the math is correct, 500 = 10 pulls, the pity is 220 pulls, so we would need 110,000 seals. In order to get 110,000 seals, we'd have to pay even more than $200 at best and I've heard players who spent even $300. Not to mention the seals shop does not open until there's a new Chance Up banner and we can usually get them via achievements and the Holy Portal, but even by playing the Holy Portal, they usually give about 6 seals at best.

The best thing that PB can do is allow the seals shop to be permanent, which allows players to buy seals and save them overtime. Nucarnival has done effective job making the sorcery gems pack permanent and allows for players to buy gems and also accumulate over time until they want pull from a specific rerun banner or even buy other stuff with said gems(ie. Eiden's outfits in one of their recent updates).

HOWEVER the Chance Up are for players who want to pull for a character sooner rather than wait for three months. So having to buy the seals isn't a must, but if players can an the character exclusively then pulling on the banner is the way to go.

The Pancake Problem

Around July 4th, PrettyBusy released an update where they removed the original pancake shop and replaced with it nightmare pancakes. What's the big deal though? WELL my friend, based on the MANY criticisms amongst the fandom and community itself, the new pancake no longer has the red keys like the previous pancake shop. The new pancake shop has cosmetics and other characters for exchange(which...still doesn't really help..) Not only that, but buy selling artifacts and tealeaves below S+ grade, players receive coins and books of Crawley. In the previous pancake shop, users are able to sell their lower grade artifacts and tealeaves for pancakes and exchange pancakes for red keys. However, due to the recent update, players can only get nightmare pancakes by selling S+ or L grade artifacts and tealeaves. Oh and by the way, the only way to pull for S+ and L grade items is by using lesser keys TO WHICH people have to save up in order to pull on the lesser key banner. Keep in mind, it's already hard enough to save up keys and then having to use them for nightmare pancakes to get more? Saving for gacha is supposed to be funny, albeit it's not a cake walk, but it's not supposed to push players to break the bank.

The Lesser Key Shop

Later on July 19th, PB has yet again released another update, but this time they added a Lesser Key Shop.

It seems that they did not remove it entirely and decided to keep it in it's own section. Although it's a start to improvement, it's a long way to go considering the amount of guilty gems that players would have to exchange. If anything, the previous cost for 30 lesser keys were 1,980 guilty gems, but they reduced it so 1,366. Even if the keys were discounted, it doesn't accomodate to players that are trying to save. On the hand, it's to help compensate for the developers end to try and get players to spend on the game. In of itself is understandable, but not the best– let alone wisest choice to gets players to spend.

I also did a poll on how players feel about the update(link here) and by the looks of it, there's a large percentage of people who like it and people who do not like it. OH and by large I mean by a whopping margin of 54.5%. The margin between "it could be better" and "I don't like it" is 18.5% while the other margin between "I like it" and "it could be better" is 36%. Now the voting ends quite soon, but just by the results already tells and everyone in the community that they don't agree with this and it needs to get better. YES it's a stepping stone to better the game, but by sending more feedback and emails, it pressures the developers to listen to users, only then would we see changes for the better.

Some solutions

By keeping in mind of the most recent update...

Either remove the nightmare passes or reduce the cost. Players who are f2p or just on a budget do not need to go out of their way to spend hundreds to buy a characters then they can just pull on standard banners or change the method entirely. Not to mention, we now have gotten word the the nightmare pass may be an early access, but that doesn't mean that players should have to buy the characters.

Change the challenges. What on EARTH is the point of completing trials if we're just going to get free rewards instead of the superior ones? Let me iterate, a gacha is meant to be fun and yes requires effort, but what happens if that effort goes for nothing? It loses the players interest and defeats the purpose of having trials and completing them without being rewarded.

To refer to the first solution, maybe try a different method, like doing event trials to get the character that players want. Seeing how WHB has character events, it's only fair that players can earn characters through achievements. By doing so pushes users to login and play more. I would like to add this post because they provided a great, fair solution as well!

Reduce the cost of Solomon Seals and guilty gems. We do not need to remove it entirely, but micro-transactions are important. If PB wants players to pay, they need to consider who is their demographic and what kind of budget they would have.

Have different event banners using lesser keys. In many gacha games like Genshin Impact and Twisted Wonderland(yeah I'm going there–) use their standard currencies for banner reruns. OF COURSE taking into consideration of how players need to save lesser keys and how they are able to.

Either bring back the original pancake shop or remove the nightmare pancake shop. It's great that the new pancake shop has cosmetics, but players can buy that through another section instead of having to use pancakes. I also say this because players have to buy other material using nightmare pancakes and the cosmetics, although a bonus, doesn't quite help a lot and doesn't change course of the game and it's mechanics.

In Brief...

Prettybusy has a lot of work to do if they want their consumers to continue playing the game, they should consider the mechanics used in Nu:carnival because of how accommodating they are towards their players. Even if it's not Nu:carnival, they should consider other gacha games as well such as: Twisted Wonderland, Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Wuthering Waves, etc. They should think about lowering the costs of nightmare passes, or removing it entirely or even reducing the costs of solomon seals and guilty games. By adding new banners or trial events to gain characters and have more people play the game. Overall, having new perspectives, new insights, and new feedback will allow for WHB to get better and to push the devs to do better.

On that note, keep sending emails, and feedback to the devs because it pressures them and based on the recent update, there's a new silver lining that will part the clouds. Keep pushing and keep fighting–POLITELY please...

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Sunday, April 7

BUFFY: Y'know, I never stopped thinking about you. RILEY: Me neither. All I had in there was this one little part of you. (Gives her bandana piece) BUFFY: It's just the scarf part of me really. RILEY: Sure it is. Just knowing you were out there...that you cared...

~~This Year's Girl~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Pieces by CoffeeHunt (Fanged Four, M)

Research by skargasm (Xander/Spike, T)

Poem: the spark by LiraelClayr007 (Buffy/Spike, T)

Untitled ("big anya problem") by scooby-group-texts (Xander/Anya, not rated, worksafe, posted as an image)

Partly Cloudly, Eclipse 1999 by Saranac (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

First Day by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy, anthology rated PG-13)

Me and My Shadow by Chelle (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Surviving Together, Ch. 17 by ionlylikebadboys (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Something Lost Something Found, Ch. 8 by Safire (Buffy/Spike, R)

Love Lives Here, Ch. 46 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Rebehold the Stars (Love from the Other Side of the Apocalypse) Ch. 11 by Asokatanos (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Wilderness Retreat OR Super Mega Happy Kill-A-Rama! Ch. 3 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Gargoyle, Ch. 2 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Boyfrenemy, Ch. 5-8 by Lady Emma (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Celebrating You, Ch. 5 by DeamonQueen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Scoobies in Neptune, Ch. 30 by Buffyworldbuilder (Veronica Mars crossover, FR7)

When Ethan Rayne made Rambo, Ch. 9 by SplitEnz (Rambo crossover, Xander, FR15)

An odd Couple of grumpy old Brits, Ch. 11 by Julikobold (Giles & Spike, Buffy/Spike, G)

Forgiveness Doesn't Come Easy, Ch. 29 by Slaymesoftly (Buffy/Spike, R)

To All We Guard, Ch. 11 by simmony (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Perfect Clarity, Ch. 25 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, R)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Tarot card design: Andrew my little strudel Page of Cups by isevery0nehereverystoned (worksafe)

Meme: Positive reminders 🫶 by shewhosleepsalotincemeteries (Faith, probably worksafe, canon-typical manslaughter)

Giles/Jenny screencaps captioned with text posts by vampswritings (probably worksafe, somewhat nsfw text in a small font)

I tried drawing Drusilla from memory. Thoughts? by Coochie_Von_Moochie (worksafe)

Queer Buffyverse Moodboards by MadeInGold (Buffy, Dawn, Darla, G)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Fredless by evolutionleftovers

Buffy S7E2: Beneath You | Booze & Buffy

Superstar by Buffy the Vampire Straya

Pop Culture Role Call: Angel Series & Buffyverse Wrap-Up

[Recs & In Search Of]

All time favourite Spuffy fanfics recced by williamprattz

[Community Announcements]

alexsrousseau made an 18+ Buffy/Giles BtVS server

[Fandom Discussions]

People are too harsh about Kennedy from btvs by explosionshark

So Jesse’s death was supposed to be a twist right? by nicnacsnonsense

Watching the episode with Marcie... by nicnacsnonsense

I feel like ppl write the Slayer off too quickly. by theredpharaoah

I was thinking about Willow's will-be-done spell from S4... by ashmaenas

Re: favorite BTVS character arc? by breathing-and-stuff

Xander becomes such a compelling character when you imagine... by felixsfishnets

AU... where Spike is just a little more overtly bisexual than he is in canon, and Andrew gets turned... by lierdumoa

Re: If you could have given Riley a B-plot in an episode he didn't have one... by riley-summers

Riley ship opinions, pt. 3, Polyship edition by riley-summers

Tara and Riley friendship headcanons by riley-summers

Andrew - comic man-child or naive nuisance? (cont'd) by multiple people

Re: Where are people from, do they write, and has upbringing or location affected their work? by DeepBlueJoy

Which [AtS] “bad guy” character deserved another chance? by buffyangel468

willow x faith could have actually worked by Saturneinyourhead

How do the vampire origins, ubervamps, The Master, and Kakistos all work together in the Buffyverse lore? by cre8ivemind

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