#also I would like to say I’m horrible with tone on the internet

[hawkzeyes]

why is everyone against bernard being the question guy wouldn’t it bring more to berdnard anyways

Mmm there are a lot of reasons personally for me! I’m gonna go ahead and say I’m incredibly biased and DC’s recent choices have my eye twitching.

1. Renee deserves to continue as The Question. DC has done this thing again, where an effective and exciting woman hero gets shifted backwards and we just lose all character development for no reason at all. This isn’t the first time DC has done this and it certainly won’t be the last time unfortunately. I’d like to see it fixed tbh and I’d like to see her back in the mask!

2. The Question seems to get just the title of a “conspiracy theorist” which is what I see B*tfam Stans using as a reason as apparently Bernard has had this trait, but that’s a huge misconception (mostly because of JLU love it though) sure he works with conspiracies but mostly because they are linked to corruption, which is really what he actually handles most of the time. Along with Renee! He just happens to be really cryptic about it, giving him that mysterious ‘crack pot’ vibe. That’s the purpose of The Question though. To go where the person behind the mask can’t, to stop the corruption at its core.

3. The DC comic verse has done enough sacrificing other characters for the b*tfam honest to god. Ppl are getting really tired of it. There has been plenty of this talk outside of the b*tfamily circle but it’s generally missed by them because they tend to stay in their circle. Which is totally fine! That’s their space, but the rest of the families/fandoms are irked. The way multiple characters have been altered and changed just to fit along that family is A LOT in the N52/Rebirth situation. The rest of the characters in DC are not responsible for Bernard being more interesting. If writers want him to be interesting they ought to just develop him as a person? Renee doesn’t deserve to lose the mantle because y’all want Tim’s boyfriend to be a cool conspiracy guy

4. If y’all want to see this, write fanfiction about it? That’s what fanfiction is for. What I don’t want is it being pushed at DC because A LOT of writers right now are waaaay too involved in fandom spaces rn (which I find highly unprofessional. Like I’m not saying you can’t be a fan, obviously I would prefer that, but starting fights with fans, beefing over Twitter, and using your power in these comic companies to run over others opinions and or steal ideas from fans is weird) and they do take from it. T*m T*ylor.

5. I think it would actually crush me to see Renee lose the mantle because of fandom space after Vic (who is one of my favorite characters) trusted her with it. The person who has it now respects Vic and the meaning behind the mask, because that very much matters when it comes to The Question, instead of just “lol conspiracies 🤪🤪”

6. If I remember correctly isn’t Vic back confusingly? With the whole Manhattan Flashpoint mess (please don’t ask me to explain I literally never understand the flashpoint LMFAOOO) So if Renee really is done with the mask… and Vic Sage is literally right there (I think) and about a million times better than Bernard would ever be at being The Question since he is literally the original, why should he? Bernard has literally done nothing to prove he would be better than either of these characters or has really done anything to show he deserves the mantle.

[dumbseee]

insecurity.

f1 au/fic: in which, lando and y/n have been dating for a few months, but fans are still talking about y/n’s past relationship. making lando feel insecure and questioning y/n’s feelings for him.

lando norris x singer!reader

(fc: jess alexander)

note: english isn’t my first language so excuse me for the mistakes this might have xx ALSO it’s the first time that i’m actually writing something so i hope it’s not too bad lmao. thank you for reading my aus btw <3

liked by landonorris, maxfewtrell, danielricciardo and 2 799 009 others.

y/n: happy birthday to my sun, you’re such a beautiful soul, i’m so proud to call you mine. i love you to the moon and back and promise to always love you.

_

landonorris: i love you more baby

danielricciardo: we’re at practice and he’s crying btw

fan1: they’re so absjdkdoldel

fan2: mama y papa

fan3: he always smile so brightly when he’s looking at her :(

fan4: i’m sorry but i can’t help but think about y/n’s ex… on the same day last year she was posting pictures of him

fan5: @.fan4 don’t do that… it’s about lando, not her ex

fan6: am i tripping or she also used to call her ex, her « sun »??

fan7: @.fan6 WHAT

fan8: @.fan6 no she didn’t?

_

lando sighed and threw his phone on his bed. of course he saw all the tweets about you and your stupid ex, how could he ignore them when it was all over the internet. people were speculating about if he was a rebound or a toy for you. lando was hurt, he always thought that you were way out of his league anyways so he should’ve seen it coming, right? you were an amazing and worldwide known singer, with your angelic voice and heartbreaking lyrics. you sang with your heart which made anyone who was listening to you, fall in love immediately.

that’s what happened with lando. he was always a big fan of yours, singing your songs on top of his lungs at parties, and following every single news about you, he even went to your concerts. one day, he went viral for singing your song on the radio with his engineer, he also happened to have made it to p3, which he said was because you were his lucky charm. the video was published online and went viral, you saw it and immediately found it adorable. the rest was history.

when you guys hard launched your relationship to the world, the big majority was happy for you two, happy to see you smile and happy to see that lando managed to get his crush. but a small minority saw that relationship as a rebound for you, saying horrible things about how you never loved lando and how you would dump him in a few months to go back to your one true love, your ex.

lando saw it all. and he hated it.

"lando? are you okay?" you asked, when you went to check in on him. he was supposed to bring a few blankets so you guys could watch a movie together. but he was taking way too much time so you went to see if he was okay.

"do you love me y/n?" he asked you, and the sadness in his eyes almost made you cry. lando’s eyes was what you loved the most about him, with his smile of course, but his gorgeous green eyes were full of emotions, you could drown in them and feel every little thing he was feeling just by looking at him.

"what are you talking about? of course i love you lando." you say, taking his hand in yours and softly kissing his knuckles. you saw him close his eyes and sigh deeply. you pushed him on the bed and sat next to him. "what happened?"

"it’s stupid, don’t worry about it." he finally looked up at you and faked a smile but it didn’t fool you.

"lando. tell me." you were still holding his hand and with your free hand you started to caress his cheek. he closed his eyes again and melted against your touch.

"your fans are still talking about your past relationship and how i’m nothing but a rebound to you." he said it in such a low tone you almost didn’t hear him. but sadly you heard his words and you could feel your heart shatter at how your fans words affected him. "i know that you guys stayed together for a while, and i know that you wrote good songs about him, i listened to them all, but… if you still love him you can-…"

"lando norris." you said in a serious tone, which startled him. "how am i supposed to love anyone else when you stole my heart and refuse to give it back?" his eyes lit up a little by your words. "and i literally wrote 56 songs about how much i love you so you better listen to them all once again and never doubt my feelings for you ever again, boy."

liked by landonorris, carlossainz55, charlottesiine and 6 808 009 others.

y/n: ‘you are in love’ is officially out ;) little gift from me to you sweet lan <3

_

maxfewtrell: lando listened to it and locked himself in the bathroom to cry

landonorris: @.maxfewtrell FAKE NEWS

danielricciardo: i wish someone would write 57 songs about me…

heidiberger_: @.danielricciardo excuse me? (great song btw y/n!)

liked by y/n.

fan1: ZKSKSLXPODOSOZ

fan2: y/n making haters eat their words with one song: queen behaviour

fan3: i hope haters will stop hating on lando now how can you say that y/n is using him as a rebound

fan4: CALL 911 IM ON THE VERGE OF DEATH

fan5: y/n writing a love song for lando on his birthday :(

fan6: i love them so much pls

fan7: that whole drama about her ex was so dumb, they broke up for a reason and y/n also wrote songs about how awful he was to her towards the end of their relationship, why do you guys want her to go back to that dog?

liked by y/n.

[amirasainz]

heyy !! I absolutely got HOOKED on baby!sainz reader and I'd like to ask you to write a fic about baby sainz when she's in a new relationship with an unproblematic celebrity (your choice) and the grid and the grid and her brother want them to break up by framing her boyfriend cus they think nobody is good enough for her. but she is actually happy and it's her first healthy relationship and when she finds out about what they did she is very upset with them and in the end Reyes scolds Carlos for ruining her relationship and tells him to go and fix it (ikkk its veryyy long ;] )

I'm back!!!! I changed this request a little bit but I hope you still like it.

Guys I got the notification that some request went lost on their way to me. Please, feel free to send me your request again, and I will writeit as soon as possible.

Enjoy reading and let me know if you have some whishes.

-XoXo

No Part 2!!!!

20-Step plan

When Amira Sainz and Timothée Chalamet officially announced their relationship, they didn’t just break the internet, but also the Formula 1 paddock. As usual in such situations, the drivers already had a 20-step plan. A few months ago, the drivers all prepared the plan, like some might prepare for an apocalypse. So when the perfect time arrived, the drivers set their plan into motion. Don’t get them wrong, of course they want Amira to be happy. However, in their eyes, no man was the one for Amira, even if Timothée was one of the most unproblematic actors in Hollywood. So after a “how-to-get-the-two-of-them-to-break-up-and-cheer-Amira-up-afterwards” meeting, the plan was set into motion.

Everything was going smoothly. They got to know Timothée when Amira and he visited the paddock in Canada. Then, they made sure that they spent more time around the couple. After some time, they took them partying, even going so far as only going with Timothée partying. They wanted to test his loyalty. They started little rumors about Timothée, talked with him about his exes in front of Amira, even making “innocent” assumptions about him and his co-workers. Even though nothing fazed the couple, the plan went smoothly. Until it didn’t.

“Carlos, I just feel wrong,” stated Charles. Lando, Carlos, George, Alex, and Oscar turned to their Monegasque friend after hearing his tone. Charles was deathly pale, his hands shaking. “Mate, are you okay?” asked George. “Yeah, you look horrible,” added Oscar. “Don’t worry Charles, you can help with the next step when we—” before Lando could finish his sentence, Charles exploded. “No. NO! No more us sabotaging your sister’s relationship. No more starting rumors. No more plan. I’m done with this.” Charles’ outburst made all his friends stare at him, shocked. “Guys, don’t you see how happy they are? How in love they are?” He looked at all of his friends who at least had the decency to look down. “Percival, we are just making sure that Amira is—” “No, Carlos. We are trying to ruin something that is beautiful. We all just want Amira to be happy and comfortable. And if she feels that way with Timothée by her side, then we just have to accept that.” After a moment, he continued: “If you guys want to continue, then fine. But every action has consequences.” With that, he left the room, making the other five share some looks with each other.

What they were unaware of was that Amira was standing in front of the door. She heard the whole “plan” they had and what their next step would be. Before one of the men could say anything, the door opened. They were met with Amira’s disappointed face, tears shining in her eyes. “Hermosa, what are you doing here?” asked Carlos. The moment he saw his sister, he stood up from his chair. “Carlos, what have you done? What have you all done? Why… why are you doing this to me?” Immediately, all of the drivers tried to defend themselves, while also trying to console Amira. “You know what? Save it. I don’t want to hear anything.” With that, she left the room, leaving the rest of the drivers speechless behind.

It took the drivers three months and a lot of apology gifts for Amira to forgive them. Timothée, who heard everything from his beautiful girlfriend, also convinced her to forgive the drivers after seeing how miserable they were. So after the three months, everything was like it used to be. Amira got treated like a princess and all of them are still in love with her.

Bonus (+)

When Carlos walked into the kitchen, he was met with the sight of his mother, one shoe in her hand. “Carlos, sit down,” Reyes ordered sternly. After a moment of hesitation, he sat down. “Amira told me what you did. I am more than disappointed in you, young man.” “But mamá—” “Did I say you could speak?” she rhetorically asked. After sensing he wasn’t going to say anything, she continued. “As punishment, I will take away your phone and you will sit in the chair in the corner, thinking about what you did wrong.” “Ay, mamá. I am nearly 30 years old. You can’t…” He fell quiet after seeing his mother slowly raising the shoe. “…But some self-reflecting will definitely do me some good,” he whispered, before slowly sitting down in the “I-behaved-bad” chair.

[reiding-writing]

Spencer who learned like a whole sss language or something niche like knitting, so he can teach it to reader cause he heard her talking about how hard it is to find a good teacher???

acts of service [ s.r ]

Summary:

Hobbies are supposed to be relaxing. So when Spencer sees you dwindle into frustration at your newfound hobby of embroidery, he takes it upon himself to teach you better than any low quality youtube tutorial would.

WARNINGS: unserious threat of self-induced harm, lots of mentions of needles and piercing things, horrible description of how to do a chain stitch 😭

pairing: spencer reid x gn!reader

genre: fluff

wc: 2.0k

masterlist!!

a/n: i genuinely spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to do a goddamn chain stitch because lo and behold, the internet sucks when it comes to tutorials 😭

Spencer watches from across his desk as you re-attempt a stitch in your embroidery hoop for the sixth time before giving up and throwing the hoop down on your desk with a huff and leaving to get a cup of coffee, muttering something under your breath about “Stupid stitches,”

He’d been watching you try in vain to learn to embroider for almost three weeks, and it was getting to the point where he was frustrated for you.

You’d picked it up as a way to relieve your stress whilst working, and instead you’ve manged to frustrate yourself to the point where you’re literally having to remove yourself from your desk to calm yourself down.

“Are you alright?” Spencer raises his eyebrow at you as you return to your desk with a cup of coffee cupped in your hands, and you sigh as you take a seat.

“I’m two minutes away from sticking my embroidery needle in my eye so I don’t have to look at this monstrosity anymore-” You place your mug down on your desk, holding the embroidery hoop to your face to judge your own creation.

“Please don’t,” Spencer’s tone carries genuine care for your well being, but its also followed by a laugh on the back end which indicates he knows you’re not serious.

“Why do I do this to myself?” You ask the question to no one in particular as you lean your head over the back of your chair, swivelling it back and forth with your foot as a pivot and leaving your hand to fall into your lap.

“Studies have shown that having hobbies, particularly creative ones, can decrease the amount of cortisol produced in our bodies over time, leading to an overall more relaxed state of being,” Spencer mirrors the way you turn in your chair as he watches you, answering your rhetorical question as if it were completely serious.

“I can tell you right now that I am the exact opposite of relaxed,” You exhale through your nose, joined by a shake of your head as you straighten your posture once more. “I think its time I cut my losses and give up,”

“No you should keep up with it, it’ll be much easier once you’ve got the hang of things,” He tilted his head slightly at you as he voiced his encouragement.

“Easy for you to say Mr. ‘I have an 187 IQ and an eidetic memory’,” You roll your eyes at him, although your expression betrays the fact that you’re not truly antagonistic towards his intelligence. “Half of the tutorials i’m watching don’t even actually show how to do anything,”

Spencer chuckles as your eyes examine the three straight lines of red stitching in the fabric like you were trying to incinerate them with your mind before discarding the hoop to the corner of your desk to actually get some work done.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It’s two weeks before the topic of embroidery comes up again, you sat cross-legged and hunched over in your jet seat on the way back from a case in Montana, eyes boring into the fabric as you tried to create a shape vaguely resembling a circle.

“You shouldn’t hunch over like that you know,” Spencer sat down in the seat next to you with a yawn, leaning back against the padding of the leather chair with his head tilted in your direction. “It’ll tighten the muscles in your neck and give you a tension headache,”

You huff at his chastising of your posture considering his own but straighten your back nonetheless, holding your embroidery hoop at eye-level as you carefully puncture the fabric.

He’s glad to see that you haven’t given up on embroidery yet. Partly because it’s good for you to have a hobby that had zero relation to your job and partly because it meant that his 18 hours of research over the last ten days hadn’t been in vain.

“If you’re going in a circle it’s better to use a chain stitch,”

Your eyes flicker upwards at Spencer’s suggestion, wonky thread oval forgotten about as you narrow your eyes at him slightly in an accusatory fashion. “How do you know that?”

“I uh-” Spencer blinked a few times, eyes flickering across the jet’s cabin as he tried to find a reasonable explanation for his sudden knowledge in embroidery that wasn’t because he wanted to be able to teach it to you. “I know a lot of things,”

His intelligence was usually a valid excuse for whatever niche bit of information would come out of his mouth, but you knew for a fact that he had no prior knowledge on how to embroider something. He might have known the history of it at a stretch, but how to physically embroider something? Absolutely not.

If he had he would have told you weeks ago. So this was definitely something new.

“Mhmm, apparently so,” You nod with clear suspicion riddling your expression, but you weren’t about the turn away his help just because you were suspicious of the origins of his newfound expertise in embroidery. “Alright genius, show me then,”

You hold out the hoop in his direction and he takes it from you with an awkwardly endearing smile, un-stitching your botched attempt at a circle and turning the hoop at an angle so that you could see what he was doing.

It was only six stitches, but the way he passed the needle through the fabric was effortless, and it left a perfectly symmetrical blue circle in it’s wake.

“Chain stitching is much easier to curve than straight stitching due to the nature of how the needle passes through the fabric,”

If you weren’t so beholden to his ability to be good at absolutely everything he does you’re sure you’d be a little jealous. Or maybe it was the way his eyes glistened as he looked at you. No. It definitely wasn’t that. You were just grateful he was willing to help you, that’s all.

“Show me how to do it then if it’s so easy,” You shift yourself towards the leather arm that’s separating the two of you, leaning your elbows on it to watch him more closely as your eyes locked on the way the pads of his fingers held the needle.

“Here,” He held it out towards you, blunt side up, as an indication for you to take it. “I’ll walk you through it,”

You take the needle from him with a raised eyebrow, one that only continued to rise as he passed you back your embroidery hoop as well and leaned towards to to angle the fabric at a 45 degree angle towards himself so that he could see what you were doing.

“Alright, so first you want to pierce the needle through the back of the fabric towards you and pull all of the thread through,” You follow his instructions as he speaks, nodding once you’ve garnered yourself a big loop of thread that’s connected under the fabric at one end and your needle at the other.

“Alright?”

“Alright, now go back through that same hole from the top, and bring the needle back up through the fabric about a centimetre downwards, only half pulling the needle through,” You furrow your eyebrow slightly but try to follow him, although he stops you as you attempt to pull the needle all the way through with his hand on top of yours.

“Don’t pull it all the way back through,” He adjusts his body to face a similar direction to yours. “Here, let me help,”

His hands brush the tops of yours as one comes to assist you in holding up the hoop of fabric and the other guides your fingers in holding the needle. His skin is frigidly cold against your own, although whether that’s just because you run hotter than him or the fact that he’s so close to you you feel like you’re internally harbouring volcano you’re unsure.

With his hand guiding your own, you reinsert your needle back through the original hole you’d made from the top down and pierce it upwards through the fabric a little further across, leaving both the tip and the end of the needle above the fabric with the middle underneath.

“Good yeah, now this is the complicated bit, you need to get the rest of your thread,” He loops his ring finger around the excess thread, and makes an effort to move his fingers as slowly as possible so that you can see exactly what he’s doing. “and wrap the start of it underneath the tip of your needle,”

He demonstrates his words as he speaks, pulling the beginning of the loop of thread tight underneath the tip of the needle before slowly pushing the needle all the way through the fabric until it’s free once more, and there’s a small looped stitch in the fabric.

“And then to create your next stitch you do the same steps, but start inside of the first loop,” He again demonstrates his words as he uses your hands to make a second stitch that, like the name suggests’ creates a two-stitch chain from where the stitches are connected.

“See, really simple, just a little convoluted in terms of instructions,” His eyes turn away from the fabric and back towards yours once he’s finished his explanation, although yours remain on your needle. “Think you can do it on your own?”

It takes you a second to come back to your senses, and you blink up at him blankly for a moment before nodding, a soft “yeah I think so…” echoing from your throat.

You didn’t have the heart to tell him that you were to distracted by the way his hands moved against yours to listen to a single thing he said.

“Let me know if you need any more help okay?” He gave you that awkwardly endearing smile that reached his eyes and made you want to scream into your hands at the prospect of being so perfect.

You return it with a half-stunted nod as you desperately turn your eyes downwards to your fabric again, unable to look at him any longer without flushing red light a traffic light. “Yeah thanks-”

“I’ll teach you how to do a running whipped stitch next, it uses two different colours of thread,”

Whipped is right-

Spencer’s tone held all the enthusiasm of a child who’d just learned that you could mix multiple colours to create a new one, and it easily rubs off on you as you resign yourself to actually listening to what he’s trying to teach you instead of just fawning over how it feels when he touches you.

“Can you- show me how to do a chain stitch one more time?”

“Of course!”

The minute his hands touch yours again you know you’re done for.

[ill-go-with-that-then]

Can I interest you in an AU where Aizawa tries to woo Mic with horrible pickup lines from the internet, because he has no idea how else to do it? And mic thinks aizawa figured out his crush and is teasing him? Imagine he has a list of them and every so often he’ll bust one out like Is there an airport nearby, or was that my heart taking off? Completely deadpan.

Mic kinda half-laughs sometimes but once in a while he shoots one back in an attempt to defend himself. Aizawa considers this progress

Eventually Kayama pulls him aside like as hilarious as it is to watch you roast him, I think you’re starting to hurt his feelings.

Aizawa:

Like he thought they were really getting somewhere and Mic is just weathering the storm.

Aizawa has to try something else, since the pickup lines didn’t work. So he goes to the card store and gets the biggest, cheesiest I LOVE YOU bear in the whole place. The cashier asks him if he would like to add an audio message to the bear, and he says he would. Now the bear says “I love you beary much” in aizawa’s expressionless voice whenever you squeeze it.

Hizashi sleeps with it every night, even though he’s still not sure if Aizawa is making fun of him. but he took the bear so aizawa thinks he’s batting a thousand. Hizashi is a lot of work to win over but aizawa is used to working hard. It’s worth it. Especially when he ends up in Mic’s room for something or other and sees the bear on the bed - he’s in cloud freaking 9 because!! Success!! Meanwhile Mic is dying of mortification and praying for a villain with a murder quirk to show up and put him out of his misery. Aizawa thinks they’re dating now. The bear has been accepted.

Now aizawa has to google “how to be a good boyfriend.”

So Hizashi starts walking into the apartment after a long day of radio stuff and patrols to find Aizawa is just... standing in the dark doorway. Waiting. “Tell me about your day” he demands, in the same tone he uses to interrogate criminals as Mic shrieks and drops all his stuff. He can’t figure out what it is Shouta thinks he did, and if he did do it, and there’s... something on the table. It looks like it was food once, before the war.

“I made dinner” says Aizawa, from behind him. The kitchen is not actively on fire but all the windows are open and a suspicious smokiness lingers. It’s the middle of winter. There is snow in the apartment.

“That was... so thoughtful of you...” Mic says, putting his jacket back on.

Aizawa nods. Date night is a success. Another flawless victory, thanks to the internet. He had tried to cook along with a YouTube video but didn’t understand some parts were cut out, to save time. Hizashi eats it anyway. This is what love is.

Aizawa had planned for them to watch a movie after dinner but it takes six hours to clean the kitchen. Most of the pots are unsalvageable. He wanted to make chocolate covered strawberries, but they were out of season. So dessert is one of those cans of mandarin orange slices with Hershey’s syrup poured into it. Then Aizawa tried to light it on fire, for fanciness. It didn’t burn.

It’s still freezing cold in the apartment at bedtime, so Mic offers to share his bed so they can keep warm. “Is that moving too fast?” Aizawa asks. He really wants to, but Hizashi has been so slow to win over, he doesn’t want to blow it by rushing.

Hizashi thinks he’s making fun of him again. “I’m not going to jump you in your sleep Shouta,” he grumbles, and aizawa nods. So it’s like that then. He makes sure to keep six inches between them, as a buffer. The perfect end to the perfect date. He’s amazing at this.

Aizawa also sets phone alarms, so he remembers to do things like Text Hizashi To Ask About His Day. Hizashi has to get used to his 3pm "what are you doing" text from aizawa. There are no follow up questions.

One of the things on the list of good boyfriend things to do was "compliment your partner!" so Aizawa made a list of compliments to use and he texts mic one per day.

"You keep the bathroom very neat"

"You always remember the name of the takeout place"

"You're very punctual"

Hizashi, sobbing: I don't understand what's happening

The best part is that Hizashi already does all the good boyfriend things, so Aizawa thinks this relationship is going great!! He's a very lucky man.

Eventually, Mic just gets pushed too far. Aizawa's daily 5pm compliment text was "you look handsome today" and Hizashi just fucking snaps. He leaves work early and rushes home. Aizawa is in the kitchen trying to figure out how to cook a stir fry. After they finish with the fire extinguisher, Mic throws it aside and says "I can't take it anymore" and full on dips Aizawa into a kiss.

"Finally," they both say afterwards. They think they mean the same thing, but they do not.

[raina-at]

Family

John slowly opens his eyes. The room is quiet. The lights are dim, and the television over his bed is showing cartoons on mute. The blanket is uncomfortable and it smells of antiseptics and human misery.

He hates hospitals. Well, on this side of the bed at least. 

There’s something heavy and warm lying on one half of his body. He looks down and sees Rosie, fast asleep, her head on John’s shoulder. Apparently, she took a bit of a break from colouring on his leg cast and fell asleep.

It’s impossible to tell what time it is, but he guesses it must be rather late.

The door opens and a nurse comes in. She smiles when she sees him awake. He nods at Rosie and motions her to be quiet and she nods.

“Everything all right?” the nurse asks quietly. 

John nods. “So far so good.”

“With a bit of luck, you'll be out of here by the end of the week,” she says, adjusting his pillow. “Your husband should be back in a second, he just stepped out to take a phone call.” She smiles at Rosie’s sleeping form. “Couldn’t get either of them to leave. You have a lovely family.”

“Thank you,” John says, returning her smile, not bothering to correct her about the assumption she made about Sherlock. It’s easier this way, no arguments about visiting hours. Also, he’s used to it. So many people think they’re lovers, and he’s long since stopped even trying to explain that they’re not, because honestly, it doesn’t make any difference. 

“Looks like the little one might be out for the night. I’ll bring in a cot for her later, we can settle you both more comfortably.”

“Thank you,” John repeats.

The door opens again, and Sherlock walks in. 

“Hey,” John greets him with a weak smile. 

Sherlock looks tired, but he returns John’s smile. “Hey yourself.”

The nurse excuses herself, muttering about seeing to the cot.

Sherlock sits down next to John’s bed and scrutinises him with narrowed eyes and what John calls his ‘deduction face’. “You still feel like shit, don’t you?”

“I was hit by a car not 48 hours ago, what do you think?” John asks, but he keeps his tone gentle because Sherlock looks exhausted and worried. “It’s not that bad, though. Could have been worse.”

“Three broken ribs, a broken leg and a light concussion, that’s not trivial, John.”

John holds out his hand and Sherlock takes it, clasps John’s fingers between both of his hands, moving closer to the bed. 

“I’m sorry I scared you,” John says, gently, quietly, careful not to wake Rosie. 

“Hardly your fault,” Sherlock mutters, looking down at their joined hands with a murderous expression. “That stupid driver. He’s lucky you weren’t hurt any worse, or I would have murdered him with my bare hands. Or maybe I would have just broken all his bones but let him live a life of misery and-”

“Calm down, love, you’re going to wake the Gremlin,” John soothes, squeezing Sherlock’s hand tightly. 

Sherlock grumbles something inaudible, but he subsides with the threats. 

Silence falls, and John watches Sherlock watch him. There’s obviously something on Sherlock’s mind, but John knows from experience that it’s better to let Sherlock work things out in his own time. 

“They didn’t let me see you,” Sherlock finally says, quietly. His eyes drop to John’s hand still entwined with his. “I had to tell them we’re married, otherwise they would’ve made me leave.”

“But you’re next of kin on all of my records,” John answers, frowning in confusion.

“There was a problem with the Internet, they couldn’t access your records.”

“I’m sorry, that must have been stressful,” John says, squeezing Sherlock’s hand. “I remember when they wouldn’t let me see you after you were shot.” He shudders a bit at the memory. “It was horrible. I didn’t know whether you were dead or alive for hours. I had to wait for Mycroft before they’d tell me anything.”

Sherlock looks down at their joined hands again, obviously lost in thought. “I was so scared,” he mutters, almost inaudibly. 

“You held it together like a hero for Rosie, though,” John says with a fond smile, remembering Sherlock and Rosie just before he was wheeled into surgery, Rosie holding on to Sherlock’s hand in a death grip, Sherlock white as a sheet but outwardly composed, explaining calmly to Rosie that John would be just fine.

“I was sick in the bathroom when Mrs Hudson came to take her home,” Sherlock mutters, still addressing their entwined hands. 

John smiles fondly. “I won’t tell her if you don’t.”

“John-” Sherlock looks up from their joined hands. “This is going to sound incredibly stupid-”

“We should get married,” John says, interrupting Sherlock.

Sherlock looks gobsmacked, and John congratulates himself silently for managing to surprise Sherlock Holmes. 

Sherlock blinks a few times in the way he has when his mind palace crashes, so John decides to take over the talking out loud part of the conversation. “I’ve thought about it before, but it never seemed urgent. But you know what I thought yesterday, when I saw you standing there? If anything happens to me, they’ll send Rosie to live with my sister, and we can’t let that happen.”

“But-” Sherlock blinks again. “But we’re not-”

“Sleeping together?”

Sherlock nods and actually blushes a bit. “I don’t-”

“You don’t want that, and I understand. I don’t, either. I know you don’t like sex, and I’m not interested in a sexual relationship with you,” John says gently. “But you’re everything else to me. You’re my friend, my confidante, my rock, my partner, my co-parent. My family. We live together, we work together, we’re raising a child together. You know how often I get asked if I have a partner? I never hesitate to say yes because that’s what you are.”

“You said romantic entanglements would complete me,” Sherlock says, his voice hoarse with emotions, his eyes wide and uncertain.

“That was six years ago, and I’ve learned a lot since then. You taught me a lot. Love is complicated, I get that now. And I love you. Not conventionally, but since when do we do anything the conventional way?”

Sherlock smiles slightly, but says nothing, so John continues,  “I was always looking for someone who’d stick with me, someone to spend my life with. Well, you’re it for me, Sherlock, and if that’s a problem for you, you’d better tell me right now, because otherwise, you’re stuck with me for good.”

“Not a problem,” Sherlock says, and there’s an expression on his face John has never seen before. Soft and gentle and hopeful. “You’re it for me as well.” He pauses. “And - I love you too. In case that was in any way unclear.”

John smiles, overcome with relief. “So that’s a yes, then? To the whole marriage, adopt the Gremlin, stay with me forever thing?”

“Yes,” Sherlock says, brushing a soft kiss over their joined hands. “That’s a yes.”

I think I never wrote Ace Sherlock/heterosexual John before, but there's a first time for everything. Fluff of the tooth-rotting variety here, sorry for the sappiness two days in a row.

Thanks for keeping us going with the challenges, @calaisreno!

Tagging a few people again: @keirgreeneyes @helloliriels @jrow @meetinginsamarra @catlock-holmes @khorazir @lisbeth-kk @thetimemoves @topsyturvy-turtely @fluffbyday-smutbynight @7-percent @the-reading-lemon and anyone else who wants to play!

[x-on-the-calendar-business]

ryan ross iceberg (tier 5)

tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, tier 4, tier 6, tier 7, tier 8

near end of the iceberg:

r.r. confessions twt account:

there used to be a ryan confessions account on twitter under this name, but it was deleted. however, people said the most unhinged shit on there and there was so much drama. i wish i could list specific examples, but i don’t have any unfortunately.

there is a new ryan ross confessions account here, but i think it was created after the last one ceased to exist [i]. this one also has some unhinged stuff on it, such as someone saying they used ryden theory for their gender studies class, and someone else claiming that ryan has a child on the way (they confirmed they were joking). also the person who claimed their friend hooked up with ryan in a bathroom or something like that.

there is just nothing going on in the ryan sphere so the stans are bored.

dank eyes:

this is the nickname for dan keyes because, when you look at his instagram handle dankeyes, it looks like dank eyes. in 2015/2016, this is how most of us referred to him. honestly, i still call him this most of the time out of habit.

light brown:

this is a…uh song? that shane morris (we’ll talk about him next) posted on his soundcloud in 2012 featuring ryan and danny fujikawa.

you can listen to it here for the lore:

shane morris:

buckle up for this one.

this is ryan’s former manager from about 2012-2016, and he was just an absolutely horrible person. the masterpost about all of his wrongdoings (which i will link of course) starts out with “tw: rape, self harm, abuse, pedophilia, body-shaming, sexism, swearing, talk of drug use, suicide, nazism, classism, generally dicky things,” if that doesn’t tell you how things are gonna go [ii].

there is so, so much that this could be an entire post itself, so i will give a tldr but link some posts for further reading. there’s a couple of things related to him that will also appear as their own entries, so i will save in depth discussion of those for later.

shane has a pretty extensive history of posting disgusting things on the internet: rape jokes, fat shaming, making fun of people who self harm, eating disorders, slurs, basically anything that is problematic. the post i’m going to link shows specific tweets and tumblr posts about this. he also has a history of bullying ryan’s fans, and the picture below is one of many examples of it.

so he was generally an abhorrent human being, but let me elaborate on some of the stuff specific to ryan. shane would often promise fans new music from ryan but never follow through with it, likely because ryan didn’t know he was doing this. he actually ended up leaking some of ryan’s songs, but we’ll touch on that again later, along with him impersonating ryan on both twitter and facebook. once he and ryan cut ties, shane also deleted ryan’s soundcloud, i guess in an attempt to “get back” at him and the fans by robbing us of music that was backed up anyway. he spread rumors that ryan is a drug addict and transphobic as well [iii].

the context that ryan is not really active on social media is so important here because he had no idea of a) the kind of person shane was and what terrible things he said on the internet, and b) the way he was attempting to sabotage ryan’s career.

don’t worry, shane is still at it with managing musicians and creating drama. he was travis scott’s former manager, and in 2021, he claimed that he helped travis fake all of his streams to launch his career [iv]. this could be true, but it’s shane so i always take everything he says with a grain of salt anyway. he posted the tiktok about it during the astroworld events, so it reads to me as an attempt to insert himself into the situation (which is so tone deaf for such an insane tragedy like) (and of course, i’m not a travis scott apologist either). i take it that he is still the same as he was 10 years ago.

like i said, there is so much more to cover about shane, but we still have more entries to go over in this tier. therefore, i will leave you with this link to the aforementioned masterpost:

and another link with some more information:

its for lovers or just friends:

i mentioned this in tier 4, but this is a quote from ryan’s last ever livejournal post from june 25, 2006: “You don’t have to love me. You already did. At least enough to keep me smiling from South Carolina to Virginia.it's for lovers (orjustfriends)”

brie larson disneyland:

this refers to this picture of ryan at disney with brie larson.

i think it was from around 2017? they were hanging out because brie and alex greenwald used to date, and they were engaged before breaking up. there’s more pictures of them from this day in this twitter thread [v].

chelsey:

okay put your seatbelts back on cause this one is another entry that is a lot.

chelsey lynn is also known as the panic! stalker, and for good reason. she is a pretty terrible person and a lot of the reason that ryan and brendon don’t speak anymore. as discussed in an earlier tier, ryan and brendon did run into each other at a hooters and hang out, but around that same time, they tweeted each other occasionally, although they weren’t necessarily friends; however, the chelsey saga ultimately led to the complete ending of their friendship (which, granted, is not the worst thing in the world since brendon is also a pretty abhorrent person).

in 2012, chelsey started to catfish ryan pretending to be brendon. she did this by hacking shane valdez’s (panic!’s former photographer and brendon’s former roommate) facebook account and messaging ryan under the guise of brendon. she told him she wanted to rekindle their friendship and was able to get ryan’s number, though she claims she got it from one of his friends, which is still weird. she catfished him for nine (9) months. she was able to coax all sorts of private and vulnerable information from ryan, such as the split, his relationship with z, his childhood, and more [vi].

once a fellow panic! fan and tumblr user got chelsey to confess, she went to shane morris about it, who thankfully actually took it seriously (even though shane has his own history of impersonating ryan, but we’ll talk about that later). due to the general public finding out about chelsey’s wrongdoings, she released an apology, but no fans really accepted it [vi].

chelsey did leak screenshots of her texts with ryan, which i won’t post here because i don’t think it’s appropriate, but you can find them if you feel so inclined. she also messaged someone on facebook stating that she has pictures of ryan she could leak, but she’s “nicer than that” [vii].

as i’m sure you can imagine, once ryan found out the truth, he was pretty upset. he made some instagram posts right after that were fairly sad.

the thing is, chelsey didn’t even like ryan that much; she was just obsessed with brendon and sarah. she stalked their families as well, and even had a spreadsheet of all of their information. she hacked several of their accounts too. she took photos from their private accounts and posted them on her tumblr, posing them as “rare” photos of brendon and sarah [vi].

the worst part of all of this? CHELSEY REMAINED ACTIVE IN THE FANDOM. she had a popular instagram account, called brendonurievines, and sarah followed it.

sarah ended up leaving a comment on instagram about it, in which she says there is nothing but love between them when they see each other…okay then. she also says she doesn’t follow her which is just a lie [viii].

chelsey has met brendon and zack hall multiple times, even as recently as when brendon was in kinky boots. she has deleted her instagram, but her youtube channel is still up. she hasn’t posted in 2 years, but even in 2020, she was posting videos of brendon and sarah.

lastly, she posted a statement on her instagram stories about it in 2018, taking no accountability.

so in conclusion, chelsey is a terrible person and one of the darkest sagas in ryan’s life. the way she catfished him during an already rough time in his life and gave him false hope that he could rekindle one of his oldest friendships was insanely gross. she shouldn’t be forgiven for this, and although she isn’t active anymore, we still shouldn’t forget what she’s done and continue to hold her accountable. here’s a post you can read to get more details than i put here:

gremlin:

a far more lighthearted entry than the last couple.

in 2015, ryan dressed as a gremlin for halloween. we’ll come back to this halloween party in the next tier.

zooey deschanel:

in around 2011, ryan and zooey were friends. they appeared on each other’s instagrams and tweeted back and forth some. the pics of them together are from vicky t’s christmas party in 2011.

the tragic love life of ryan ross:

this a series of tumblr posts by @pathetic-at-the-disco that chronicle ryan’s relationships. it starts from his high school girlfriend (who most of fever was written about), and it was originally supposed to end with helena, but they left off before moving on to z berg 5 years ago. it also discusses jac, keltie, katie, and his fling in cape town [ix].

they are fairly long posts because they contain a lot of detail, but i definitely recommend reading them because they’re really informative. definitely very well done and impressive. in fact, i sourced them a lot when talking about jac and keltie.

if you remember, in tier 2 i said i would link more info about his relationships with jac and keltie later in the iceberg. so here we are:

this is another post for further reading that corrects some things that were incorrect in the original post:

hung out with freshmen:

i cannot find the source for this anywhere, but in an interview, ryan said that when he was in his junior/senior year of high school, he hung out with freshmen.

tweets that aren’t his:

back to shane morris i fear.

in 2014, he hacked ryan’s twitter. i’ll talk about the specific tweets he made in the next tier. ryan did find out about the hacking and tweeted this.

all of the tweets are still up, and his twitter bio still says, “Nope. It wasn’t me.”

this is my coming out party:

in 2009, someone hacked ryan’s twitter and tweeted this, and it was absolutely iconic. i actually quote this frequently lmao

ryan ross struggles:

this is a twitter account, ryanrosstruggle (shoutout kiki), who posts struggles from ryan ross stans. struggle accounts basically just post unhinged or cringey tweets (or other posts) from people within the fandom. there are other kinds of posts they repost, but it’s really hard to describe, so you should just go to kiki’s twitter to see some of the things she tweets [x]. here’s a couple examples:

up next, we finish the actual iceberg before diving into the deeper waters.

tier 6

references:

[i] https://twitter.com/ryanrossconf?lang=en

[ii] https://astroe.tumblr.com/post/42733669382/shane-morris-and-why-everybody-hates-him

[iii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/172418363736/hey-can-you-elaborate-on-the-whole-shane-thing-i

[iv] https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/travis-scott-shane-morris/

[v] https://twitter.com/crossboydreamie/status/1569466922042802178?lang=en

[vi] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/172832450316/the-time-that-ryan-ross-was-catfished-by-a-fan

[vii] https://dallonsmiles.tumblr.com/post/42837896821/here-are-a-few-screenshots-from-a-conversation

[viii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/172147291981/last-year-i-remeber-in-a-comment-sarah-left-on

[ix] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/171140808026/the-tragic-love-life-of-ryan-ross-all-links

[x] https://twitter.com/ryanrosstruggle

[delicatelystrangepolice]

I said it before and I’m saying it now: Young Royals fandom only claims to be SO POSITIVE AND LOVING when in fact it’s one of the most toxic fandoms that I’ve ever been in

It’s very unwelcoming when it comes to the critique and different opinions

I understand the mechanism of feeling protective over the things you love. I also know that every fandom (every community in fact) is made out of individuals and it should be transgressive, and changing as it goes. The excuse ‘yeah, people on the internet are like this, there will always be individuals who are toxic’ just doesn’t work for me. No, individuals make communities and those communities can only work and grow when there’s enough space for all sorts of different behaviors and opinions. You would think that Young Royals fans would be understanding of that – always so eager to scream about social injustice. (I guess Lisa’s message that you can’t change anything ever was effective in the end. Congratulations.)

Last year there was a lot of lamenting: I can’t believe it’s going to be over after s3, what’s going to happen to the loveliest fandom then??? And then every time anybody tried to say anything other than widely accepted headcanon people raised and screamed: oh, don’t spread the negativity! Always in an exaggerated tone: I’M SO TIRED OF THE NEGATIVITY CAN’T WE JUST PLEASE LOVE EACH OTHER?? No, we can’t.  We can’t and stop silencing people because you are killing this fandom.

People are leaving (and left before) not because the show ended, not even because the third season was a fucking disaster, but because they feel like they can’t say anything other than lovey-dovey gushy mushy bullshit.

I understand that the critique is more accepted when it’s beautifully written and coherent

Tumblr however is also a blogging platform where people process things individualistically.  You don’t have to follow people who don’t share your opinions. Hell, you can even block them. You shouldn’t however go into their blog and write them mean anons because they dared to say something on their blog. (Yes, even if it was in your beloved tag or you saw that accidentally. Learn to fucking scroll past things) Your input that you think this particular person’s opinion is stupid and should be taken down does NOTHING to spread your beloved positivity. It only makes people shut down and you know what that is going to result in? A bland, weak fandom made out of people in an echo chamber.

Communities can grow because of the negativity

Even if the show ended, there will be people in the future who will watch it and love it and maybe love it enough to want to go on Tumblr and seek others to share the love. Among those people, there will be also the ones who won’t love every single thing about the show and they will seek others to share some disappointments too. If you want this community to stay alive and growing, there must be space for some fucking negativity.

Fandoms are often about finding your niche. This fandom, this fake fucking positivity almost killed the enjoyment of the show for me. I was lucky enough to find my niche but imagine if the people I found left before I got there. Maybe you’d be happy that I’m not here, spilling some hard to accept truths. Maybe you like your fandoms to be small and cliquey. I don’t. I found my niche because I wasn’t afraid to speak about my negative experiences.

Another helpful tip to some people here: don’t make personal claims when you are trying to argue with somebody

I’ve seen enough of ‘you must be (something negative or personal) to think this’:  ‘you must be too young to understand’ ‘you must be racist’ Hell, on one horrible occasion I’ve seen ‘you must have been abused to have this take’ HOLY SHIT. You on the other hand must not be as welcoming and accepting as you claim to be to say something like this to a person who was just writing about a fucking tv show.

I think it’s very ironic that people celebrate the ending of the show: yeah, you should leave the toxic environment if it’s hurting you and then in the fandom people are leaving because they are being attacked.

Yeah, I’m talking about a small group of people who do it. They are very noticeable and the community is accepting of them. If you think I’m talking about you then great, I’m happy you’ve read it to the end. My ask box is open, but don’t think you’ll change my mind if you try to tell me things about me. I know how to delete things. I know how to ignore things. I hope you can too, and maybe you can also take a little critique from someone who’s been in many fandoms before and never felt as unwelcomed and as uncomfortable as I felt in Young Royals fandom.

[pollenallergie]

My mind is a minefield right now, so I’ve been hyperfixating on skincare as of late (as I usually do when life gets tough). As a result, I’ve been thinking about what some of current comfort characters’ skincare routines would be (or, more accurately, if they would even have a routine). Since it’s been a while since I’ve written anything substantial, I decided to write down some of the thoughts I’ve been having about their potential skincare routines. So… Enjoy! Hopefully this isn’t too niche; I know not everyone is as obsessed with skincare as I am.

Eddie Munson doesn’t have a skincare routine…

Or, at least, he didn’t have one back when he was younger.

From the ages of twelve to about forty, Eddie’s skincare routine was nonexistent. He hardly ever washed his face and, when he did, it was just with the same bar of Irish Spring that he used for his body. He also hardly ever used lotion, or, rather, he hardly ever used it for its intended purpose (if you catch my drift). Eddie did, however, frequently use sunscreen, but only during the summer months, only because he absolutely hated getting sunburns, and only the shitty kind that’s practically always on sale at the drugstore (I’m looking at you Banana Boat). Also, he only started using sunscreen in his twenties because, prior to that, the only thing that was really available was “sun tan lotion,” which hardly provided any protection at all. In fact, the best form of skincare he did at that time was occasionally putting vaseline on his lips during the winter months. Safe to say, he took horrible care of his skin during his youth.

Now that he’s older, though, he definitely has a skincare routine. Whether he was introduced to the wonders of skincare by his kid(s), you, the powers of the internet, or some combination of those three is up for debate. Point is, he’s now in the know about skincare and, as a result, has even developed a routine of his own. It’s a basic four-step routine, nothing too fancy - just a gentle cleanser, moisturizer, toner, and sunscreen - but Eddie doesn’t feel right leaving the house without having gone through every step of it.

He even has a nighttime skincare routine. Granted, it’s just his daytime routine sans SPF, but he still likes to think that it counts. His nighttime routine once also included an anti-aging/anti-wrinkle cream, but then, one day, you told him about how much you adore the wrinkles he already has (just some creases in his forehead, some crows feet, and some smile lines) and, now, he doesn’t mind the idea of getting new ones quite so much anymore.

Ralph Penbury has a very elaborate skincare routine, one that even rivals that of his sister. Firstly, he starts off his morning by simply washing his face, typically with a gentle cleansing cream. He then moves onto shaving using his favorite, hand-whipped sandalwood shaving foam and silver-plated, double-edged razor. Because he’s rich and also incredibly meticulous, Ralph also uses a straight razor specifically for shaving his neck. Once he’s finished shaving, he applies some sandalwood-scented aftershave balm to help keep his skin moisturized. He then follows this by strategically massaging his face for about ten minutes to help liven up his complexion, which is a trick he learned from his mother’s maid. Next, Ralph applies his favorite skin tonic, one which has witch hazel in it to keep any breakouts at bay. After that, he pats some Special Astringent into his skin to firm it up, which he then follows with the Elizabeth Arden Muscle Oil that he stole from his mother. Next, Ralph applies his favorite moisturizer, his favorite lip salve, and some sun protection; his preferred product is the Novena Sunproof Créme from Helena Rubenstein. Then he applies a thin sheen of powder to even out his skin tone and prevent any unwanted shine. He also applies some deodorizing talcum powder from Yardley to his body. Finally, Ralph finishes his morning routine by dabbing on a Penhaligon’s eau de toilette, likely one scented with bergamot or something woody.

Of course, that’s only for his morning routine.

For his afternoon routine (yes, he has an afternoon routine), re-cleanses his skin by applying his cleansing cream to a cotton pad, which he has dampened with his favorite tonic, and swiping it gently across his skin. He then reapplies his favorite moisturizer and some more Muscle Oil to his face before settling in for his daily afternoon nap. Exactly thirty minutes later he re-emerges from his bed to go pat some more of his tonic into his skin before reapplying his sun protection and his lip salve, and, then, re-powdering his face.

Importantly, he also uses a lavender-scented, coconut oil-based hand cream throughout the day, usually applying it after he washes his hands.

Lastly, his night routine is a bit more simplistic. Ralph begins his nighttime routine by taking a warm bath, during which he washes his body with his favorite bar of moisturizing, lavender-scented soap from Yardley. Then he moisturizes from head to toe with a lavender-scented moisturizer, something he also stole from his mother, before applying his After Shower Powder. Then, he begins to pay particular attention to his face once more by cleansing his skin with his cleansing cream, just as he did during his previous routines. He then follows this by patting some skin tonic and Special Astringent into his skin much like he did during his morning routine. Ralph then applies some more anti-wrinkle cream, lip salve, and moisturizer, putting a bit more than necessary so it’ll soak in overnight. To cap it all off, if his skin has been particularly dry lately, he then applies some of the Orange Skin Food from Elizabeth Arden to help keep his skin well-hydrated while he sleeps.

I love Ralph Penbury with my whole heart, but boy is he extra in just about everything he does. Honestly, that kind of makes me love him more.

Billy Knight’s skincare routine sort of fluctuates with his mental state. When he’s in a more depressive state, skincare becomes entirely irrelevant. However, when he’s in a more manic state, skincare can sometimes become a compulsion, though it typically just becomes irrelevant much like it is during his depressive states. When his moods are more stable, though, he does pretty well at keeping up with a decent routine. Some mornings he’ll use a basic cleanser and follow it up with one of those lotions that’s meant for your face and body, though he really only uses it on his face. Typically, though, he just uses the cleanser in the shower and applies the lotion once he gets out, mostly because he doesn’t like how water always gets everywhere when he washes his face in the sink. Billy also sometimes puts vaseline on his lips before bed, but usually only in the winter when they’re more prone to getting dry and cracked. All three products were acquired at random from the nearest pharmacy.

Tom Grant’s skincare routine is truly tragic. To start, he washes his face in the shower every morning with the same bar of soap he uses for the rest of his body. Coincidentally, that’s also where his skincare routine usually ends. The man almost never puts lotion on and, when he does, he only applies it to driest spots on his body and nowhere else. Tom’s not totally awful when it comes to skincare, though. He does, at least, wear sunscreen, but only during the summer when he knows he’ll be outside for a while, and he reapplies it very infrequently. He’ll also do a face mask with you if you offer him one. But that’s about the full extent of skincare for him.

[m0n0lithical]

Sims - get to know me

Tagged by @igotsnothing thanks so much I absolutely wanted to do this one! Also if ya’ll like occults you better go follow them.

1. What’s your favourite sims death? Either meteor because of HOW dramatic it is, or pufferfish since that’s like, the only way for your own sim to kill another sims (without mods, anyway).

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? Mostly Maxis, but I do have mix elements (like the hairs that aren’t TECHNICALLY alpha but are so detailed they almost look it), especially in my fandom saves because the outfits in those are always alpha.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? Nah, if I really want a sim to stay the same weight, I lock the weight/gain loss (I do this for my selfsim every time so she’ll STOP LOSING WEIGHT oh my god woman). But if I’m playing with it on, what happens happens.

4. Do you use move objects? I don’t even have to enter this cheat because it’s always ticked on my BBB.

5. Favorite mod? I mean the most practical favorites are MCCC and BBB, and really most of the ;must haves’ the majority of people have, so lemmie pick a lesser seen one – PreferencesPlus by Helaene is a huge game-changer for someone who really dislikes all the missing likes/dislikes in the game.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? ...I wanna say Outdoor Retreat? I know, horrible pick, I didn’t know how lacking it was.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? Like LIVing

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? This...is hard, but I’m gonna have to roll with Amie, because she’s evolved beyond being just a sim at this rate – she’s also my FFXIV character, as well as a VtM character. But she absolutely did START as a sim.

9. Have you made a simself? Yes – she’s set loose in EVERY save I have for sake of hilarity – I love passing by her in-game and she’s doing something utterly random. The last time I saw her she was shooting down a goth witch lady flirting with her – thrilled the sexuality update can make her proper asexual now, was so happy to see it without having to put dumb flags on her!

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? Lover, Unflirty, Lazy, Cat Lover, Creative, Foodie.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? I’m a pretty big fan of the middle red tone. Or the green, if we’re picking unnatural colors.

12. Favorite EA hair? The RoM updo short locs are SO good. Honorable mention to the EL undercut half-ponytail.

13. Favorite life stage? I’m gonna be boring and say YA, because the game is LITERALLY built around them so you have so, SO many more options.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? I do a little bit of everything, but CAS is my specialty. I spend HOURS in there.

15. Are you a CC creator? If some hair/eye recolors and simple tattoos count, then yeah. I really can’t be fussed learning blender beyond pose-making.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? My social anxiety stops me from interacting a lot, even if I try my best to talk to people. Like, I know the chances of someone being an asshole to me are very, very slim and that most everyone is chill and laid back like I am – REASONABLY I know I’m being dumb, but also my brain is an asshole.

17. What’s your favorite game? In Sims, I’ve honestly only played 4 (a friend sent me 3 a while ago but I have yet to fire it up). Outside sims? Uh...Okami for single player, Guild Wars 2 for multiplayer.

18. Do you have any sims merch? God I wish.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? Hahahah like my internet would let me upload videos.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? Lord I have no idea...I’ve been fiddling with different types of sim face styles, but I keep falling back to the same one, really – at least for non-themed saves. And it doesn’t even stand out I’m pretty basic bitch.

21. What’s your Origin ID? Monophony! I mostly make sims, but there’s a few terrible builds there, too.

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? That is a hard as hell question...but I wanna say @simandy,. For multiple reasons, but primarily because their hairs are just...to die for.

23. How long have you had a simblr? It’s been a year or two, but I took several hiatuses as I got distracted by my MMOs. I have a goldfish attention span.

24. How do you edit your pictures? I have several different reshade presets I’ll alternate between, and a good number of Photoshop actions and/or PSDs, and it’s always some combo of those. Each save has a different reshade/action (or PSD) combination to make them have their own looks (I have a word doc for ref so I know what save uses what combo).

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? Vampires will always be my favorite, but I was shocked by how much I also enjoyed Werewolves – I’m not a werewolf person, really. Non-occult...Growing Together really does add a ton through the whole game.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I uh...well you see >-> I’M STUPID WITH MY MONEY I HAVE THEM ALL.

I’m only gonna tag a few peeps since I’ve seen most people having done this - @simarcana, @druidberries, @apricote, @lotus030, @salemssimblr if ya’ll wanna do this here’s your excuse! <3 Feel free to ignore if you don’t wanna!

[bluemoon160]

【IᑎTᖇOᗪᑌᑕTIOᑎ】 💙🌌

Hey everyone! My name is Rosalind but I also go by Ross or Ros. OR you could call me by my internet names Blue or Bluemoon if you’d like! (It’s a lot of names I know lol sorry. Just pick whatever).

I’m a 20yo artist, writer, and editor who will be mostly focusing on fanart, self ship, furry content, and maybe some cosplay on this blog. I do have a business focused on my published books, OCs, and editing services which you can find here if you’re interested. I’m more active over on those accounts since I work on that stuff almost full time now but I try and post fan/personal content when I can. This blog specifically will be a place for all my self indulgent interests. I may not be super active here but will try to anyway :)

【ᗪIᔕᑕᒪᗩIᗰEᖇ】

Skip ahead to read more about me, my, interests, and who I ship with, etc. But in the meantime, I need to get this out of the way and say that I really wanna make new friends here but I’m also hesitant to rejoin any sort of self ship and/or fan communities because of how many horrible experiences I’ve had with them before. Perhaps Tumblr is different but I wanted to put this out here for my own peace of mind lol. So please be patient with me. I grew up in fandom and self ship spaces that had constant arguments about literally everything. I didn’t even know what half of these discourses were even about and everything I’ve learned has been against my will. So no, this is not me “taking a side”, I just don’t want to be apart of drama anymore. My morals are this: live and let live unless you’re supporting/romanticizing anything immoral. If you have genuine critiques about how I portray certain things then definitely let me know since I’m always concerned about how I represent stuff, but aside from that, this is just a blog to talk about stuff I like so let’s keep it chill please. 🧍‍♂️

【ᗩᗷOᑌT ᗰE】

⭐My full name Rosalind B. Sterling (or you can call me by the other names listed above)

⭐I’m 20 (covered that lol)

⭐I’m bi and aroace (I also sometimes use the term procul but I don’t identify with it as a sexuality. Just an add on term for my asexuality to explain how my sexual attraction fades away once my relationship with someone becomes real).

⭐I’m genderfluid and my pronouns are she/he/they

⭐I’m mixed race/Puerto Rican

⭐I’m neurodivergent (OCD, MaDD, and a few other things) so tone tags would be great to use around me but they’re not required

⭐I currently live Ohio (yes I’ve heard all the jokes and they’re honestly pretty accurate lmao)

⭐My favorite colors are aqua, bright purple, hot pink, and neon green

【ᖴ/O's】

Note: some of these characters might come from controversial media. I just like them for personal/creative/self indulgent reasons so don’t interact if these make you uncomfortable.

“Main” f/o’s

(Putting this in quotes since I hardly ever talk about these characters nowadays. They’ve just been my main for a while and I feel too attached to take them off the list)

⭐Dan {Dan Vs.} (Started shipping 7 years ago)

⭐Gary {Final Space} (Starting shipping 6 years ago).

Current main:

⭐ Alastor {Hazbin Hotel} (Started shipping 4 years ago) And before anyone comes after me with the “but he’s aroace!” comments, I know that and I don’t erase it. I’m aroace too and kind of imagine him and my S/I being in a possible QPR type thing. I still have developing to do. I just like the thought of two aroaces hitting it off and bonding closely. I take a lot of comfort in him as a fellow aroace so leave me be please 😭

⭐The Narrator and Stanley {The Stanley Parable} (This one’s a polyship and is pretty recent. Been shipping for about 7 months now)

Other f/o’s:

⭐Pinkie pie {MLP}

⭐Reagan {Inside job}

⭐Jinx {Arcane}

Other characters I like but don't consider f/o’s:

⭐Connor {Detroit Become Human}

⭐The Warden {Superjail}

⭐Andre {Inside Job}

⭐Ken {Barbie Movie}

⭐Mike {fnaf movie}

⭐️Rarity {MLP}

⭐Reigen {Mob Psycho 100}

⭐Archer {Archer} (It's always the walking red flags that get me 😔)

Familial/platonic f/o’s:

The only ones I can think of rn is Angel Dust from Hazbin Hotel. I kinda see them all like family tbh but specifically Angel Dust. Also maybe Kirk from Star Trek. Like we’d definitely be besties I’m so fr.

There’s probably more but I’d have to think about it.

【KIᑎs】

⭐Reagan {Inside job}

⭐Brett {Inside job}

⭐Moxxie {Helluvaboss}

⭐️ Millie {Helluvaboss}

⭐Tina {Bob’s burgers} (This one’s so funny to me but it’s so true. She’s literally me in every way possible😭)

Am I comfy sharing any of my f/os and kins?

Yes! I’m fine having doubles. I used to hate it a few years back but now that my mental health is a little more in check and I don’t have to rely on self shipping for major comfort like I used to, I no longer feel bothered by that. It was unhealthy anyway. Not to judge anyone who hates having doubles. I understand folks have pretty valid reasons for it. I just realized the attachment I had to these characters was turning into an unhealthy kind of obsession and was hurting me more than helping. I’m out of that place now luckily. I still self ship for comfort reasons but it’s not as in ease as it was before and mostly just for funsies now. If you're comfy sharing and we have doubles, totally message me so we can gush and ramble together! I love doing that 🫶💖

【ᗰY ᖴᑌᖇᔕOᑎᗩ】

Putting this here too since I'll probbaly be sharing furry stuff whenever I get the chance. So here is my eyesore of a fursona which is a wolf/fox/bat hybrid with a scene kid aesthetic who looks like every middle school edgelord oc deisgn vomited into one character. But idc honestly. I’m not doing anything serious with her and am just having fun. I also might use her for self shipping if I end up F/Oing any anthro characters but idk.

Art credit goes to coral-kun

【IᑎTEᖇEᔕTᔕ】

⭐Anything sci fi, crime, or comedy

⭐Any time era from before the 2010s. Though I specifically love the 20s-50s, and 80s-2000s the best :)

⭐Cartoons. Specifically for adults. Adult swim is literally my go to channel lol

⭐Reading, writing, art, crafting, etc

⭐Space, science, dinosaurs/paleontology and history

⭐Animals and zoos

⭐Conspiracy theories and mysteries

⭐Anything horror, paranormal, or creepy pasta

【ᑕᒪOᔕIᑎG】

And that's it! I hope I can meet some new friends and stuff but also predict that my reach won't be all that huge since I've never had massive luck with algorithms. Especially as of late. But if you're seeing this, don't be afraid to message me or interact! I love meeting new folks :3

[ill-heart]

Distract and Win (A Flintwood story)

Please, give a big “hourrah” to my current and new obsession: The Flintwood ship ! 

Help me, I’m drowning into obsession other an internet couple. 

۩๑ ๑۩

Despite his incredible hability of focusing on an specific task, especially when it came to Quidditch matters, Oliver could sometimes be distracting. Of course, it wasn’t easy nor recurrent to take this young man away from his beloved sport; many tried and many failed to the point where it became ridiculous to count any attempt. The ones who wanted to drew a list of it gave up after one week, for the Weasley twin discouraged them.

“Give a number.” Fred would command with an amused grin, as his brother grabbed their shoulders with a similar smile. “It would always be higher than you imagined, pal.” And if she was present, Angelina would shake her head in agreement.

So, no, it wasn’t easy peasy lemon squeezy – as young wizards might say – to hijack Oliver’s attention however one boy, one annoying but charismatic boy, defied all the odds.

His eyes, as dark and mysterious as the night, stared at the Keeper while he was trying to establish a new strategy for the next match. Marcus Flint, Slytherin from head to toes, devour the Gryffindor in silence without even touching him.

What a bastard, thought Oliver as his quill hardly pressed against the parchment. If Flint’s purpose was to drive him crazy, he did an amazing job, for the Keeper couldn’t see and hear anything else but his satisfying grin and his petty humming. By Merlin’s beard, he couldn’t work in these conditions!

“What are you staring at, douchebag?” Oliver finally spit as he harshly put his quill down.

“Your face.” The other boy quickly answered, a cheeky grin spreading on his face.

“My face?” Asked the Gryffindor with a disdain tone. “What’s up with it?”

“It’s pretty.”

“Yes, and?”

Flint drew himself closer, before he whispered to Oliver’s ear those few words: “I want to kiss it.”

The Keeper almost choked as the other pushed his parchments, ink and quill to the floor. The furniture caused a horrible racket as it crashed on the slab, but no one cared enough to pity it. Marcus was definitely more interested by his companion’s neck, and Oliver was forced to acknowledge his presence, shivering when lips finally found his skin.

“You are ambitious, Flint.” He noticed with a stern voice, eyes following the pureblood’s moves. Marcus knew what he was doing; pretending indifference became uncomfortable for Oliver but he refused to abandoned himself to his companion’s hands so easily. He carefully and firmly put his fingers on the boy’s stomach and forced him to back down. “Maybe a little too much for your own good.”

“Never when it comes to you, Wood.” The Slytherin purred as he placed his hand on Oliver’s. “Plus, I know you liked it.”

“Like what?”

“When I claim you.”

Damnit. The little bastard made a point; Oliver found him hot when passion guided his gestures, enflamed his voice and words, darkened his eyes with an irresistible fire. In his rage or in his love, Marcus became the most beautiful wizard alive to him. He didn’t care about how people described the Slytherin as disgusting, repulsive because of his teeth or his general look, none of it matters when Flint embraced his feeling so abruptly. The pride dancing in his dark and hypnotic eyes meant everything for Oliver.

He lived for it, breathed for it as he lived for the Quidditch and the sensations it awoke in him.

“Having a huge confidence on yourself, haven’t you?”

“It’s not the only huge thing about me, Woody.”

Oliver snorted before his eyes lightened with amusement. “Compared to my ex’s di…”

Marcus muffled an insult on his robe then he assertively grabbed the Gryffindor wrist, attracted him against his chest and kissed his lips. Such an impulsive move; predictable also, but Oliver kept this thought to himself. He enjoyed the taste of his partner’s mouth upon his, licked it and pushed his tongue on the other’s teeth. “Did I hit a nerve here, Flint?”

“Fucking bastard.” The Slytherin tried to push himself away, but Oliver caught his cheeks between his hands and embraced him once again. Marcus started this stupid game, and he the Keeper would never let him win; never.

“I will fuck you so hard tonight…” The chaser whispered between two kisses. “You won’t be able to walk tomorrow…”

A wide and predatory grin grew on Oliver’s face. “Who is fucking who right now, Marcus?”

Marcus’s cheeks redden as the other boy breathed against his ear, fingers circling on the base of his neck with impertinence. “That’s what I thought…” He bit his earlobe then released the Slytherin, proud and victorious.

“Shut it already.”

The chaser sighed then straightened up, defeated despite his best efforts to win over the Gryffindor boy. However, he allowed himself one last act of defiance; well-aware that Oliver was stilled ecstatic. As he started to walk away, Marcus slapped his companion’s ass. “Good luck with the cleaning, Oliver.”

“See you later, Marcus.”

They shared one more smile, then Marcus disappeared in the corridors.

Sure, he didn’t win this time, nevertheless he could be proud to be one of the few selected people who could mess with Oliver. And it wasn’t nothing.

[yami268]

Zelgadis vs the Internet: Polling Theme: Modern AU Rating/Warnings: K Words: 699 Summary: While Zelgadis is browsing the internet, he comes across a poll that shakes his core and Amelia tries to help.

It happened to be one of those days where Zelgadis was mindlessly browsing the internet. He was doing some of his normal activities with several tabs opened. Many were for watching videos and there were a couple for checking his friends’ blogs. In all honesty, he found the social media aspect to be a pain. Still, it wasn’t like he didn’t have his own, but he didn’t do much with it.

While checking up on the latest posts, he decided on a whim to search himself, just for curiosity’s sake. He soon typed in his name and hit enter, seeing an alarming number of results that were about him. The top post was, surprisingly, a poll. Like one of those weird random polls that seemed to pop up from users who had nothing better to do. After scanning through, he saw that he was somehow one of the options for this poll. And to add even more insult to injury, he was losing. Badly.

As he entered a state of a sudden mental breakdown, Amelia popped up right beside him. “Hello, mister Zelgadis! What’s ya doing?” She didn’t get a response from him, which made her worried a bit. So, she poked him a couple of times until he snapped out of it.

“Huh?!” Zelgadis jumped, looking over at Amelia. “Oh, hey, Amelia.”

“Hello again, Mister Zelgadis. I asked what you were doing?”

“Well, I decided to see if there were any posts of me on social media and found this dumb poll. Also, I’m losing,” he answered, his head drooping a bit.

“What?!” Amelia exclaimed, causing Zelgadis to fall out of his seat. “How can this be?! To think that people would not vote for the most coolest person in the entire world! I swear, by the shining stars of Justice, that I will right this horrible wrong!”

“It’s fine, Amelia. It’s not like I care about something like that,” he lied as he deep down did care.

She then glanced over at him with a curious glint in her eye. “What is this poll about anyway?”

“I’m… not sure.” Zelgadis took a look at the post again, carefully reading what it was about. “… It says, ‘Best Coolest Dork Blorbo’.”

“… What’s a blorbo?”

“Beats me.” Zelgadis sighed. Maybe it was for the best anyway. He definitely knew he wasn’t a dork and blorbo could have been something along those lines. Still, he couldn’t help but be in an anxious state of low self-esteem, something that Amelia had noticed very well.

After pondering a way to get him out of his forlorn mood, she then asked him, “Um, mister Zelgadis, do you mind if I use one of the pictures I have of you?”

“Sure, why not,” he replied in a despairing tone. She then skirted off to the side, leaving him to wallow in self-pity. After some time, Zelgadis decided to check that poll again, to see how poor he was doing. To his surprise, he saw that he had a few more votes than before but was also gaining a lead.

He soon turned to Amelia, staring at her fidgeting form with an eyebrow. “Amelia, did you do something?”

She looked back at him, letting out a forced chuckle. “Well… Since it seemed unfair to be that far behind, I decided to vote for you. I also asked my online friends if they could vote too and showed them a neat pic of you.”

“Oh, really?” he said, his tone becoming increasingly gruffer.

Sensing his irritation, she stared with big emotional eyes. "Was that too much?”

“No! it’s fine,” he said, peddling back a bit. He then glanced away, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m just amaze you did this.”

“Of course! You’re my favorite blorbo… Whatever that means,” Amelia said before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. His face turned red, stunned by the whole gesture. Still, a part of him was glad that she would be there, no matter how miniscule.

It was only a few seconds later that Zelgadis then had a realization. “Wait… What picture did you use?” Amelia soon became flustered, inching herself away as he stared.

[ashley-slashley]

Strange Days

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Summary: you enter your apartment one day to find an artifact on the floor, and a strange man sitting at your table. strange days have found you, but jim morrison is no where to be found

Rating: M/Mature

Warnings: language, some violence, long paragraphs

A/N: unfinished overall story. i transferred this from my ao3. enjoy!

Chapter 2: People Are Strange

Apparently after his previous apprentice turned out to not only bastardize Morganian sorcery, but also just too self absorbed for his liking, Horvath gave up and decided to start from scratch. I think Horvath made a somewhat horrible mistake by bringing me into the fold of sorcery, especially considering my antics. He does like my nihilism and somewhat morally gray values, so I suppose he puts up with it. In a way, he’s kinda like Walter E. Kurtz, I count Horvath’s mission to essentially sacrifice all of earth for Morgana to be similar to exposing the hypocrisy of the US military and just imperialism in general using vile and cruel methods.

I mean, very early this morning I dropped my cat’s water bowl as I was heading to the sink. “What the fuck are you doing here? I’m not going to ask how you got in here, because I just don’t feel like it.” I picked up the bowl while in awe of my mentor sitting at the small dining table in my kitchen - at like 6 in the morning. Horvath just stared at me, not quite irritated but not quite bored, I busted out laughing at this situation. Gripping the counter with a hand, and holding my heart with the other, I slowly drifted to the floor while laughing. In his typical manner, he asked why I’m laughing, that just caused me to laugh even harder, fuckin’ idiot.

Suddenly I was thrown to the wall, wrists and ankles bound to the wall by knives, again. He slowly slithered up to me, and raised my chin with the handle of his cane, “What is so amusing this time?” Horvath demanded as if he was about to mug me. I calmed down from my fit of laughter, “ok so, there’s this video on the internet where this one guy” my voice picked up, oh shit, “this one guy fuckin’ says ‘come into MY house, suck MY dick, and call ME gay’. Please don’t even try to question why I thought of that” he just rested his face into the palm of his hand, a finger slowly massaging a temple. Not even a day into my apprenticeship, and this man is done with my bullshit. He put the knives away and let me fall to the ground, the knife marks in the drywall are going to be Very difficult to explain to the landlord, and I don’t think he’ll buy into the facts of some weirdo appearing in my home and convincing me to join his gang.

“Since we’re both up, and - I get you haven’t been out in society since before World War I, even though you may have witnessed history while trapped as a nesting doll. Speaking of which, where the fuck did those roaches go?” I went on a tangent, Horvath just sat there in silence and not amused. “Before we even think of world domination, you need training, since I don’t trust you battling for Morgana in this condition.” he put it bluntly, “so, is this a paid internship?” I asked the man, “for the last time, (Y/N), no, this is an apprenticeship” he replied. “Goddammit” I slammed my hand on the table, my superior’s expression remained the same as Keaton’s - stone. Once again he exhaled through his nose in a mildly infuriated tone, “and no, you are not getting paid at all” he glared at me. Considering the outfit Horvath permanently wears, I would have thought he’d be loaded. What type of person who’s not wealthy looks like they literally stepped out of a thirties drama? Then again, he did step out of either 1900 or 1910, I don’t remember the exact year.

Horvath cleared his throat, “I can hear your thoughts”, “didn’t I give you a warning about my internal monologue?” I retorted. Horvath claimed my thoughts are too loud and obnoxious, and that in order to help him achieve world domination and destroy Earth, I need to learn to control my thoughts. Well, uh, no. No, I can't control what goes on in my thoughts or the volume at which they project. His glare intensified, “You know, you could not be exposed to my absurdity by not reading my mind.” I returned the glare. My mentor sighed in disappointment. “Considering older white collar folks wouldn’t be too keen on some people using a public property to practice sorcery, and the limited space of my apartment, I have no idea where we should go so you can teach. I understand, I’ll shut up.” I somewhat rambled on, I could tell he was intrigued and wanted me to explain.

“Ok, so, in the meantime you were trapped in that doll, or as, whatever, about thirty or forty years into the future, a generation of entitled, self righteous, bigoted, unpleasant people were born. They were raised to be those adjectives because their parents didn’t know jack shit about parenting considering some of them were in their early or mid twenties when they got married directly after World War II, yes, two world wars a bit over two decades apart, there’s a lot you missed. Anyway, the way that generation, the boomers, were raised is that their parents just gave them whatever they wanted because the economy was forgiving and allowed people to just buy practically anything and have as many kids as they wanted, even though the standard or average was two kids. Then these kids grew into rebellious teenagers who said ‘I hate that I got everything I ever wanted in my life, I’m gonna go become an artist or join a gang or become a movie star or whatever.

"When they became young adults in college, they continued to hate tradition and wanted to be heard - what I mean by that is that their parents would silence whatever concerns or problems their kids had by just buying them something. Anyways, the kids were seen as accessories and never really listened to, most of them wanted to pursue the arts and become singers, dancers, directors, painters,and whatnot so their voices could be heard. Where this all fits in with the older folks nowadays bitching and complaining about everything not being handed to them on a silver platter, is that they expect people to just stop what they’re doing to obey their entitled actions, usually it’s the older women who make a big deal out of literally anything, but whatever.”

What do you mean he didn’t silence me? I thought he would have done that, but whatever. Then again, I think Horvath wouldn’t mind hearing about those who oppress free will and individuality considering Morganians essentially want the world to burn and leave sorcery up to the individual practicing it. Wait until he hears about evangelism and hardcore Christians™, there’s other religious practices, Debra. “Well,” I trailed off, “we could go on the outskirts of town and find an abandoned warehouse. I don’t know what exactly Morganian sorcery entails, but if anyone pulls a ‘you’re not allowed to be here even though this place is abandoned and literally nobody comes here’ you can just throw them to another dimension or something, I don’t know” I articulated my words by moving my hands around, as usual.

[mirrorsmp3]

doing my weekly internet scouring to find out if i’m warm or cool toned… i have a yellow undertone (only thing i’m sure of) but i’m not sure if it’s warm or cool, i feel like it leans cool, and as well the skin on my cheeks is pigmented quite pink which throws people off a bit… i just want to know if gold or silver would suit me better……. and i gravitate towards dark warm green to wear so i was like okay if that suits me then i might be neutral warm, but i also tend to navy a lot as well… and i think if i wore coral it would look horrible, and i don’t know if i avoid jewel tones because they remind me of 40 year olds or if i think they look bad on me… anyway i think the difficulty in determining undertones which has gone on for literal years points to me being mostly neutral but i wish i knew solidly if i learned warm or cool bc a person at sephora said i learned cool which i can see and trust and believe but i feel like i look so warm sometimes. <- i love. Self pefception. this is all cuz my grandma gave my dad money to give to me for my bday and we were both like ummm what should we say he got for me so she's pleased… so i was like okay send me the money and i'll get jewelry and tell her you got me jewelry

[fleetways]

chimera baby fact of the day: why you should vote for Mira aka Chimera Baby. An essay by me.

@sonic-oc-showdown

TLDR at end.

When it comes to original characters on the internet, there is perhaps no example more infamous that those of the sonic the hedgehog franchise. Since the franchise’s very inception, original characters have served as a cornerstone to the series’ identity, and everyone who could call themselves a web-user during the 2000s/2010s knows exactly what I’m referring to when I say “Sonic OC.”

Sonic, in general, has had gained infamy on the internet for being one of its favorite punching bags, and nothing exemplifies this attitude more than the reaction to the hundreds of thousands of original characters for the franchise that exist across the web. Everyone knows them, and everyone knows the common tropes: traced Sonic-X screencaps, crude deviantart bases drawn over in MSPaint, mary-sues that our main characters are hopelessly in love with, characters that are just mish-mashes of existing characters, and of course, fanchildren.

To the average person, the existence of Sonic OCs is a spectacle, a hilarious and cringe-worthy spectacle to the point where it’s become a game to search up “(your name) + the hedgehog” and spend a couple minutes laughing at how bad the results are.

Now, I’ve been a casual sonic enjoyer since I first watched Sonic X back in the mid-2000s, but I didn’t really get into the series as a fan until around 2015. If you don’t know, the early to mid 2010s was a point where Sonic’s reputation was straddling the fine line between “complete joke” and “complete irrelevancy.” The disastrous Sonic Boom had just dropped following a lackluster reception of Sonic Lost World, and the social media and marketing angle of Sonic had shifted entirely into “they’re not laughing at us, they’re laughing with us!” territory. The official Sonic Twitter account became a meme in itself during this time, and I believe is one of the earliest examples of a corporate social media account taking a “How do you do fellow kids” approach of using popular internet memes and hip lingo to appeal to an internet-savvy generation.

(^this last tweet is still up, btw. i will be getting back to this)

With the social media going full “sanic, gotta go fast, haha kissing princess” and the games mostly abandoning its serious tones and stories for a greater focus on meta-humor, Sonic had official entered what has been come to be known as the “Meta Age.” The public may see Sonic as a complete joke, but it’s okay because we’re in the know that he’s a complete joke! Wink wink. (—Sega marketing circa 2015-2017)

I’m getting away from myself. “John Fleetways,” you’re asking right now, “what does this have to do with Chimera Baby or Sonic OCs??”

And to that I say this; I am currently soaking in the bathtub and thought I would use my day off from work to finally air some of my thoughts regarding the era of Sonic the Hedgehog I’m most familiar with. But also I think providing context is helpful in understanding why I think it’s so cool Chimera Baby made it this far in a poll like this. Moving on.

In 2015 I was in middle school, a horrible period in many of our lives. Middle schoolers are at that perfect age where they’re old enough to know cruelty but haven’t quite fully grasped empathy yet, so as the “Sonic Kid” during this time I’m sure you can guess how popular I was. Genuinely, I was very ashamed of my love for Sonic. This very blog I’m writing on now started in 2015 as a quarantine for me to keep any inclination of my fondness towards the series hidden away under lock and key. I reblogged fanart with no commentary, lest others think I was some kind of weirdo who had OPINIONS on SONIC THE HEGDEHOG. It took months for me to work up the courage to post my own art, and any shipping art was absolutely out of the question (because now THAT was cringe!!).

With time, I became more involved in the Sonic Tumblr community around 2016-2017 leading up to the release of Sonic Forces (which could be a whole essay in itself). There was one thing above all else I noticed at this time—something unique to the Sonic Tumblr scene as opposed to other Sonic communities on the internet. That is, of course, how much less homophobic it was.

Homophobia (and transphobia) has been a notorious problem in the Sonic fanbase, particularly in the mid 2010s. It’s an issue I’ve talked a little about on this blog before, but it’s really hard to describe just how prevalent it was on every site outside of tumblr unless you were there at the time. Folks, it was bad, especially in comparison to other fandoms. Much like the simple act of making a Sonic OC, “making Sonic characters gay” was “cringe” in itself. Hugely popular Sonic fanartists and bloggers (some of which are still active on Tumblr to this day) would openly express their opposition to “homosexuality” and the depiction of it, and this was a fact no one seemed like they wanted to address (or if you did, you’d be accused of “starting drama.” Sonic Tumblr was better by a long shot than any other site for queer fans, but it definitely wasn’t perfect).

The worst part was that the official Sonic social media team seemed to have no problems reinforcing these attitudes. For those unaware, “identifying as an attack helicopter,” as seen in the tweet above, is a transphobic joke that was used by right-wingers and edgy 4chan users to invalidate transgender and non-binary identities.

The Twitter takeover following the release of Sonic Forces included questions regarding two Sonic ships. When proposed with the concept of Sonic and Amy in a romantic relationship, the voice actors act coy, embarrassed, but in a good-natured manner. It’s a clear hint-hint wink-wink nudge moment trying to appeal to the fans of a popular pairing. As for the equally popular gay pairing, though, it doesn’t quite get the same treatment. No, when presented with a question about Sonadow (one they did not have to answer, they chose to answer this question out of hundreds of others) the actors can only respond with disgust and horror.

There was some backlash on tumblr following this exchange, but for most people it just made sense that Sonic Official would treat it like a joke. After all, this was Sonadow! A lot of people hated Sonadow because it was gay! Sonadow was a joke because it was gay! It was hilarious to a lot of people that Sonic Official seemed to know just how weird it was, and in turn those people felt validated by the company for their hate! And just to cover my ass here, I am not saying that people who don’t like Sonadow are homophobic. didn’t even like Sonadow that much at the time this stuff was happening, but no one is gonna tell me it wasn’t homophobic as fuck for them to pull that shit. And as a young queer fan who was deeply hurt by a lot of the homophobia surrounding a series I loved, it left an impact on me that I feel to this day.

Luckily, today things are much brighter as far as lgbt-friendliness goes than they were a few years ago, from both the fandom side and the company side of things. The days of Sonadow being treated as only a joke are pretty much gone, and regardless of your opinion on the pairing, it’s awesome to see that the official sonic sources seem to be taking steps to treat their queer audience and queer pairings with respect. In addition to this change, mostly gone is the era of self-referential, punching-down humor of the mid 2010s, and instead what I’ve seen is a new resurgence in genuine love for the franchise and it all it has to offer, including original characters!

And now, we have the Sonic Oc Showdown—a tournament whose purpose is to celebrate the original characters that for nearly 30 years have been considered the butt of the joke of the internet, aka “peak cringe.” Upon examining my history with the fandom, starting off as a kid horrified by the prospect of enjoying Sonic even in private, I’ve recently begun to strive to wear “cringe” as a badge of honor. Yes, I am cringe, but in the words of some tumblr user at some point: “I may be cringe, but I am free.”

This year has been particularly freeing for me. Like a lot of people, I made fanchildren back in the day. There’s something undeniably fun about taking two blorbos and shoving them together and drawing the resulting hybrid. There’s a reason fusions, like fanchildren, are such a popular trope in the Sonic fanbase. One result of there being so many fanchildren, however, is how tropes begin to emerge within the tropes. For example: A lot of Sonadow fankids look the same. It’s just the truth. Black hedgehogs with blue stripes or blue hedgehogs with red stripes, an amalgamation of recognizable traits from both parents that immediately tells you exactly all you need to know about the character (but still manages to be more creative than the offspring present in official sonic media [looking at you Archie]). I am no exception to this rule.

Circa 2018, I had made my own Sonadow fanchild. She was a blue hedgehog with red stripes named Maria—it really doesn’t get more cliche than that. Over the years I had completely forgotten about her, only to remember her once I stumbled across some crude sketches of her on some scrap paper I found while cleaning my room. There was an earnestness when I looked at them, a nostalgia I think we can all relate to when we look at our old art, and I took some time to whip up some redesigns and leave it at that. “Maria” faded to the back of my mind once more. I moved on.

“Maria” c. June 2022. Like Shadow had Terios and Silver had Venice, this was Mira’s beta design in a way^. Yikes. Look at those McDonald’s shoes.

And then, everything would change at the end of 2022 when I first found that image of the bootleg sonic and shadow plush. It was incredible: a design that perfectly encapsulated every cliche I could think of when it came to designing Sonic x Shadow fanchildren. The concept of a chimera character followed shortly after, and mainly on a whim I took some old sketches of “Maria” and turned her into the chimera baby we know today. I decided to post her on my blog, and to my shock, the post blew up. And soon, I found a familiar feeling creeping over me as more and more people gazed upon her.

“Uh oh, am I gonna be known as the sonadow chimera kid guy now?”

Suddenly I felt 14 again, hiding all my sonic stuff in a side blog where no one could see it. It was a little embarrassing, but the thing is, a lot of people liked her! Just half a decade ago, I could see this concept being submitted to one of those “cringe” blogs dedicated mostly to making fun of mostly young and beginning artists trying their hand out at an oc for the first time. But instead what I got was a lot of love! People saw this oc i made based off a joke, a bootleg plushie of Sonic and Shadow sewn together designed to be a parody of all the common fankid tropes and said “this rules.” And you know what? It did rule.

I would now like to address the elephant in the room. I know there are some who are not happy Chimera Baby made it this far into the competition, and that’s fine. As a fankid, and a “joke” one at that, some may not see her as being worthy as some of the ocs she beat. It’s tough to see, but that’s the thing about tumblr polls—you never know how or why people are gonna cast their vote. Over the course of these weeks, I’ve had to root against some fantastic characters, and now, Mira is here, but she’s not the same character as she was at the start. Yes, she is still a parody sonadow fankid based off a bootleg plush, but before she was just a concept more than a character. Now, I can say she’s a character with a backstory and hobbies and skills and weaknesses and a personality and relationships! This is the first time I feel like I’ve ever had a fully fleshed-out oc, and it’s been a blast to share her with the world. She’s become real—you, dear voters, have made her real.

In a tournament like this, a tournament celebrating Sonic ocs rather than making fun of them, I think it’s incredibly cool that a character who epitomizes a lot of the aspects considered by many to be “peak cringe,” (fankids, fusions, and lgbt shipping) managed to make it this far. I want chimera baby to be a bastion for all those who like me, were once too embarrassed to share their oc designs, fankids or otherwise for fear they would be seen as cringe. I’m here to tell you that no, you are NOT cringe. It rules, and I want everyone who ever made a silly little fankid especially to know this.

So while Chimera Baby making it this far is already a big win for folks like us, I think her winning this would genuinely be a great Fuck You to the years of fun and whimsy cringe-culture tried to take away from us. Also I think it would be really funny.

ANYWAYS THATS ALL VOTE FOR CHIMERA BABY SONADOW NATION AND ALLYS AND PPL WHO WANNA CAUSE A LITTLE CHAOS RISE RISE RISE!!!

Tldr: sonic OCs have been the poster child for “cringe” for like 30 years so it’s cool that a fankid based off a lot of these “cringe” concepts has made it this far in a tournament celebrating the positive side of sonic ocs, and I think it would be a great fuck you to cringe culture if she won and also really funny

SONIC OC SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND

Mira belongs to @fleetways

Squabble belongs to @sonic-adventure-3

Find out more about them below!

Chimera Baby "Mira":

Chimera Baby is a chimera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)) and the oldest child of Sonic and Shadow. Mira was raised in the Chao Garden where she ate fruit and engaged in frequent karate matches and races and was very happy. As a young child she was very sweet and loving to her fathers but as she got older she has begun to experience latent Black Arms patricidal urges (exclusively towards Shadow).

Mira is the slowest in her family (but faster than you!), but has a very strong connection to chaos energy making her quite the powerhouse. However, she still has a long ways to go before she can actually hope to defeat Shadow. In her teen years Mira has become somewhat of a delinquent, speaking very little and preferring to get her messages across through action alone. She is the older sister of Mochi, who often acts as a mediator whenever she randomly tries to attack Shadow in the Costco.

Squabble the Pigeon:

incredibly cheerful untrained pilot and mechanic for a trio of freelance postal workers/hitman. LOVES airplanes and explosives and tinkering and package delivery, is a chronic pipe bomb maker, and has a boundless joie de vivre. she operates on cartoon physics, and has a messenger bag that functions as a hammerspace where she keeps her exposives, revolver, second identical revolver that pops a flag, bazooka, and everything else including the kitchen sink. incredibly cheerful and completely lacking in common sense or a coherent moral compass. about twelve, and on the short side.