#also if yous want any more PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK

[crheativity]

SUMMARY: Something goes wrong, and you’re in tears. How do the Overblot boys help you?

WARNINGS: Tried to keep things vague but sorry if it’s a lil too specific sometimes. Reader is Prefect. Written under a romantic presumption but could possibly be read platonic. The Hell Word pops up in Leona’s and Idia’s. Book 3, Book 4 and Book 6 spoilers in Leona’s, Jamil’s and Idia’s respectively. I wrote all of these late at night also, so fair warning

NOTES: sorry it’s been a while, life go brr. This is heavily self indulgent, and sorry if it’s OOC. Might do the others (First, Second & Third years) if enough people want it. 

Also, if you like this, please feel free to check out my Valentine’s Day Event!

He hesitates for a moment, hands hovering beside you as he thinks carefully about what to say. As he speaks, his voice begins to shake. 

“Thank you for trusting me of all people with your feelings and circumstances. I… I am so, so sorry, Prefect. I’m-- I wish I was good at this - there are no rules for comforting someone you care about - but I’ll do my best. I— I can’t imagine what it’s like, going through what you’re going through. What you’re about to be going through. But— of course, all of Heartslabyul and I are at your disposal. Anything, anything at all that would bring you a moment’s comfort or peace, please come to us. I— all of us care about you deeply. Please tell us what to do to assist.”

If you want it (and are willing to excuse a slightly flustered Riddle), he’ll give you a tight hug, trying to convey how much he cares about you. He hates that he struggles to talk about things like this. For you, he’ll do anything. Anything to bring your rosy smile back. And if anyone dares oppose him? Heads will roll. 

He’s been strangely quiet during your explanation, venting, tears - all of it. He waits until you’re finished - and then a moment longer, to consider his words. He reaches up to dry your tears. With his spare hand, he takes yours and pulls you a little closer, speaking in a low, gentle voice. 

“Oi, Herbivore, c’mere. It’ll be alright, you hear? You’re strong, shameless and crafty. Hell, you give that Octotwerp a run for his money. If you gotta fight tooth and claw to get through this, then I’ll fight with you, okay? Just— no more waterworks for now. Yeah, it sucks. But you’ve cried about things, so now you should have the strength to get up and stick through them. If that’s all you can manage, I’ll get Ruggie to take care of the rest. Just don’t push yourself right now, ‘kay? Good, now rest. You’ll need it after a sob-fest like that.“

He pulls you into a surprisingly gentle hug, rubbing circles on your arms. After a while, he’ll ask if you want to nap with him. Once you fall asleep, he’s calling Ruggie and making plans. No way in hell are you dealing with more than you have to. He’ll fight for you himself if he has to. 

Hearing the pain, the anguish and the tears in your voice, he has to fight back tears himself. He hesitantly reaches out for you. Pausing for a moment, he begins to speak, voice filled with emotion. 

“This is— I’m very, very sorry, Prefect. You do not deserve to go through this— any of this. Should you request anything at all, the Mostro Lounge will provide, free of charge, of course. If there is anything we— I— can do to ease your burdens, please do not hesitate to ask. The world can sometimes be a deeply flawed, unfair place. I wish that I had the power to better shield you from this side. I’m truly, very sorry, Prefect. Please know that I— we care about you. This world is a far better place for your presence in it. Please, let us return the favour for you.”

He (with permission) gently pulls you into a hug, holding you as though you were glass. He was going to find who- or whatever caused you to hurt like this and make their pitiful existence miserable. Those poor, unfortunate souls. 

As you confide in him, Jamil seems to turn strangely quieter than usual. His solution oriented mind begins to whir, thinking about what he can do to help, the logistics of it, etc. Your sniffling snaps him back into reality. Putting solutions aside for now, he reaches for your hands and squeezes them gently, offering you a small, sad smile.

“Hey, everything will work out. It sucks right now, obviously, but in a while, it’ll all be okay. That’s just the way life goes, for some reason. World shattering events can happen, but time marches on anyway. It’ll always drag you with it, too. What I mean is that because you’ll be okay eventually, it can help you be okay now. I guess. And we at Scarabia are always here for you, okay? Kalim’s… Kalim, and I’m always here for you if you need to vent or complain or if you need help. I’m never too busy if it’s you, alright? Just don’t bottle it up… that works out well.”

He smiles a little ruefully at that last comment, then takes off his hoodie and drapes it over you. He tells you to keep it - that way he’s always there with you if you need it. He squeezes your hands and rests his forehead against yours, comfortingly. Jamil wasn’t used to being quite so… hopeful. But you had helped him become better, and he wanted to return the favour.

Vil may be a good actor, but his thoughts were shockingly readable as you vented to him. He seemed to react correctly in all the right places, asking questions but never pressing for answers. When you finish, he gently reaches out and starts stroking your hair. He pulls you a little closer for comfort. He pauses for a moment, then begins to speak.

“I’m so sorry, Prefect. You do not deserve this - any of this. Pomefiore’s students and I are always here for you, no matter the need. Anything you need, it would be our honour and privilege to provide. In times such as these, I find taking care of oneself is extremely important. Not to the extent of perfectionism necessarily, but enough to bring you joy. So please, if it’s not too much trouble, please find one indulgent thing each day. Not something so unhealthy it’d ruin you, but something gentle and sweet. Like a bubble bath, or watching that movie you’ve mentioned wanting to see. It’s important to keep yourself as happy as you can, when life is attempting to do the opposite. And if you can’t think of anything, then please, come to me. Let me take care of you.”

He then, with permission, sweeps you into the biggest, comfiest, warmest hug you’ve ever experienced (Ghibli-style), and stays that way until you move. He wants to do so much more for you. He knows where you’re at, and, being the kind of person you are, he trusts you’ll know what’s best for yourself. He only hopes you let him take care of you, too.

Bro was low key in panic mode. What the hell is he supposed to say/do??? He really, really can’t afford to screw this up. He’s pretty sure he’d get a -1000 debuff to his Charisma stats if he doesn’t say the right thing. Usually, he wouldn’t particularly care if it was just some NPC he had to comfort - but this is the protagonist we’re talking about! And Ortho’s not here, just his luck! He sighs and his mind races back through every Otome/VN game he’s played and every shoujo romcom to figure out what in Twisted Wonderland he’s supposed to say.

“Uhh, that’s not very… plus ultra? Shoot, I mean-... That sounds really tough. I’m sorry, Prefect… Stuff like that is rough… I’m, uh, not the best person to go to for advice. Not particularly known for my ability to… handle stuff. mentally. But uh, I’m always here for a distraction if you need. That’s what I typically do. Distract until you don’t feel anymore haha… but uh, that’s probably not a good thing. Still, though. I’m always happy to play games or watch anime with you.. Or something. Those are my favourite things, not necessarily yours. We don’t have to. It’s honestly enough just to hang out with you… ugh, that was cringe, wasn’t it?”

Once you assure him that it was very much not cringe, he sighs in relief and gives you a small, soft smile - not an expression you’ve seen often on him. He reaches over and pulls out two controllers, throwing one to you. He boots up a game, commenting how he’s not gonna go easy on you just because you’re sad. You wouldn’t have it any other way.

You cautiously ignore the thunderstorm brewing outside as you vent to Malleus about your problems. You carefully construct your words and phrases, to protect Sage Island from month-long hurricanes. After you finish, Malleus asks if you are comfortable with physical affection. With consent, he pulls you into a hug. 

“Apologies, Child of Man, I am not familiar with methods of comfort. I will do my best - I only ask for your leniency if I say something wrong, and for you to understand that all I say is with the best intentions. I want you to know that I care about you. I believe it is important for those going through difficult periods of time to know where they have true friends. No matter what, Child of Man, I wish to be counted among those. If I am, and with your permission, I will enact all I can to assist you through and out of these situations. I only ask your patience. I promise, I will do whatever you require during this time. Only speak my name, and I will be there.”

Malleus continues to hold you gently, unsure about what to do or say from here, other than gently repeating he’s here for you. He stays there with you until you are ready to move on, then takes you for a walk around campus. And this time, he’ll only go on two tangents about gargoyles you pass.

♥Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it!!♥

[bunni-v1]

your shadow milk cookie relationships headcanons are now my canon. like what the fuck how can a piece of literature be so accurate to established information we know about him!!!!!!! hejsjsdjejwje ur shadowmilk is so loving and so cute lowkey

if you don't mind, since your requests are open, could you elaborate more on some more aspects of the relationship pre-ep 8 and post-ep 8? (if u haven't finished this part then u can just ignore this hehe) you mentioned how smc naturally gets more and more devoted as time goes on and he opens up (THEY MAKE ME FEEL SO ILL) so i've also wondered how he would act like when there is a threat that legitimately puts his lover in danger, or at worst, sets the tone to losing them. he'd mald, i imagine...

feel free to answer, feel free to ignore—i adore your work and i think it's not strange at all for you to shift to cookie run after dabbling in mostly human-ish games like ZZZ and TWST. all in good fun, plus you're feeding a parched audience (i am audience, haha) have a good day!

🍓Okay so this ask kinda has three parts to it, so please excuse me if it seems a little... all over the place. I'll answer both the pre and post ep 8 things, and then I'll be touching on what he's like with the threat. I do hope you enjoy my love <3

Tw: Mentions of body horror (cookie body horror?); Shadow Milk Cookie; Obsessive and Possessive behaviors; unedited

Info: Shadow Milk x Reader; Fluff; Angst (lowkey tho); Pre and Post episode 8 SMC (spoilers ahead lol); Drabble/Headcannons(?)

Pre Episode 8

From how the story seems to be set up, the confrontation with SMC should happen last, they just released it now because of the anniversary knowing he'd be hella popular lol. So I'm functioning with the idea that Gingerbrave and Co. arrive around when the other Ancients are finishing up their own confrontation with their respective beasts, meaning there's a lot of time to work with hehe.

Anyway, pre-episode 8 Shadow Milk leans into the category of 'yandere' a lot more than post. He's very obsessive about you, again stalking and watching you, learning as much as he can about you before he even allows you to see him.

You're more often than not being monitored by him, and if you're not, he's probably with you. He gets annoyed when other cookies talk to you, and he isn't afraid to voice that. While he does give you a lot of freedom, he does subtly limit the things you do and the people you're around. It's harder when you're not with him in the spire, but he goes about messing with the environment to keep you where he wants you.

And, yes, he'll crumble cookies in your name if he needs to. Their lives are arbitrary in the grand scheme of things, especially so if they're causing you strife. He won't hurt any cookies you hold dear to you -- though he really may want to at times -- only cookies that are a threat to your emotional or physical well-being. If the death causes you too much terror, then he'll tone it down to just... making their lives a miserable hellscape. It's what the deserve for hurting you, of course!

When you do join him in the spire (because you will, it's just a matter of how long it takes him to nudge you in that direction), the behavior is a bit more obvious. He doesn't like you leaving the spire for literally anything, and if you do he knows and will pop up by your side the second you stray too far. He plays it up as cute worrying, but he's legitimately scared for your wellbeing, like terrified. You're never alone in the spire if he can help it (and he can).

Like I said he watches a lot. There are eyes all around the spire and they follow you shamelessly. They appear content to just watch you, sometimes even literally forming hearts, so they're no threat to your well-being. Again, he's just observing you, more excited now that you're actually in the spire and close to him.

There is a notable difference in the environment, though you likely don't notice it (because you've only ever seen post you moving in). The atmosphere surrounding the spire is lighter, more colorful, and happy. It reflects his excitement at having you around, a visual nod to his love for you, even though you're not exactly away of it.

Despite the negatives here, there are positives! He's incredibly doting, you'll want for nothing with him. Your greatest dreams will come true with a wave of his hand, even with only half his power. He does let you wander around, you just won't be alone when you do so. He's very aware of the dangerous environment on beast yeast, he's cause for it, so he won't be risking your safety.

He's incredibly showy with his style of loving. Grand gifts and performances just to get you grinning and giggling. (He loves writing plays where the two of you are the main characters, falling in love in a million different ways, cutie he is.) He serenades you with syrupy sweet lyrics all about how much he adores all of you. Scoops you up in his arms and dances around with you. He's very touchy, like I said, always needing to have physical contact for whatever reason. (It's because he's scared you'll leave him too.)

He doesn't kiss you much if only to initiate more intimate activities. When he does, his intent is to fluster you nearly every time. Kissing is something that's hard for him, for whatever reason. It's more intimate than touches, and weirdly enough more intimate than sex in his mind. It makes him so vulnerable, so he tries to avoid it unless it's to get a reaction out of you.

Most of what he does is to get a reaction, actually. He likes seeing the way you express yourself, and regardless of what you do, he finds it cute. It's a little intimidating how much he stares, and he stares a lot. Very frequently you'll find him sitting around just... watching you. He won't stop even if you acknowledge it, just smiles all innocently until you go back to what you were doing.

That's sort of how it feels during this whole time, that he's just watching from the outside. There's a distance he keeps between you and him, the power dynamic is a lot more stark here. However, when you're not aware - be that you're sleeping or doing something where you can't see him - genuine affection comes out.

Floating around the spire in his arms as you rest, he whispers sweet nothings he could never bring himself to say to your face. He'll lead you around the winding halls of the spire with a path of your favorite flowers, aiding you in getting to where you want to go. He leaves gifts around, taking you on little treasure hunts just to reveal something sweet and heartfelt at the end. The spire itself shifts and changes around you to be more to your liking, and there are rooms within it dedicated to the hobbies you enjoy.

This gentleness is all hidden when you're together, though. Only showing itself when you can't look him in the eyes and reject him. He can't bring himself to let you in, he's scared of that rejection. He wants you to think he's powerful and amazing, so allowing you to see just how much he adores you would be terrible. What if you don't like him at his weakest? What if you realize that you could do better than him? What if you meet Pure Vanilla and you realize how much better he is? What if you leave him? Oh, it tears him apart.

So, he can't let you in. He'll put on a performance so dazzling it'll distract you from how much his heart aches when he sees you. He'll prove that he really does love you through flowery words and fantastical shows, anything to hide how much he adores you. Even when you try to get him to connect, he'll brush it off for fear of you not accepting him as he is. He can't handle you rejecting him, not after all he's done to keep you at his side, not after how hard he's fallen in love with you.

Post Episode 8

This is where we see Shadow Milk Cookie open up a lot more to you. After the so-called betrayal of Truthless Recluse, and his being incredibly emotionally vulnerable from Compassionate Pure Vanilla's offer for friendship, he's now forced with the problem of you knowing him. You saw that raw vulnerability, the loneliness that aches deep within his dough and infects his very being with a sickness he cannot cure.

No matter how much he puts on airs, he cannot avoid you knowing him now. He has nothing to hide behind anymore, you saw how much he craves connection and care, there's no going back from that. He briefly considers leaving you, but the idea of losing you sends shivers up his back, so he dismisses the thought as quickly as it comes. He may actively avoid you for a little while, but if you are patient and kind to him, he won't be able to hide for long.

Showing him that you still feel the same way by continuing your regular shows of affection is a huge relief to him. He truly expects you to think less of him now that you've seen that side of him, but you don't. It's rather odd to a cookie like him, who spent his entire existence being worshiped, revered, and feared. He assumes when you see him weak you will despise him - that you were only there for all the grandiose gifts and displays. He doesn't consider the thought that you have fallen in love with him. That you consider him yours as much as he considers you his.

It takes him a bit, but he begins to pick up where you left off. This time, though, he's more... gentle about everything. You get to take the lead around this time, and as odd as it is for him, it's cathartic to be taken care of for once. He can let his walls down and relax while you stroke his hair and hold him close to your chest. You kiss across his face with reverence that not even the most loyal of his followers could ever begin to replicate.

You love him.

He becomes addicted to the feeling, your affections being something he craves with a hunger he'd never felt before. It takes a bit for him to come to you for it, so usually you'll have to initiate it, but he melts into your hands so easily. It's pathetic how much hold a little cookie like you had over a god like him, but when you're humming sweet words at him he can't bring himself to care too much. (He will huff and puff if any of the other beasts give him shit for it, telling them off like a angry child.)

All of those hidden affections of his become much more obvious to you as time goes on. He's a bit awkward with it because he's never really been so open with any cookie before, but it's charming the way he tries so hard to be genuine with you.

You get to hear those sweet words of love from him directly, earnestly said while he holds your hand in an iron-tight grip. He gives you those heartfelt gifts by hand, telling you all about how he worked so hard to get it for you and how much care went into it. He leads you around places himself, preferring to be by your side than guiding you from a safe distance. Even the way he holds you is different, much more adoring than before. It's a kind of care he hadn't really shown you before, more considerate of what you might want rather than what he believes you might want.

And, of course, he kisses you now. Very frequently. He still does do it to fluster you at times, but less than he did before. Now every kiss has a purpose behind it, a means of displaying his affection for you. They're soft and loving, full of emotion.

Something that carries over consistently is the watching. He keeps an eye on you at all times, regardless of where you're at. Since you're no longer in the spire, there's more risk so he wants to ensure your safety. Even if you're with another beast or with Black Sapphire or Candy Apple, he's watching you anxiously.

Now if you acknowledge the eyes, they'll react to you. Before they usually just continued watching, but now they'll squint and shift excitedly at your attention. Sometimes he'll even drop flowers or a little plushie at your feet while the eye seems to grin at you with glee. You can kiss them, if you'd like -- they're warm and soft but they don't feel like eyes. If you do so the pupil with dart around nervously, then it'll pop out of existence and arrange itself to another spot you can't easily fluster him at.

Still, though, they just watch you for the most part. Making sure you're safe and happy when he isn't around. He's a bit less obsessive about who you're spending your time with, though. He trusts that you won't leave him a lot more now, and no longer finds himself threatened by anyone (other than PV).

Bonus below

Now, as a mortal cookie in beast yeast, most things put you in danger. It's a tough environment to live in, and there are a lot of violent characters around that wouldn't care if you died or not. However, most cookies are aware of Shadow Milk Cookie's, shall we say, claim on you.

There are very few things that could actually threaten you, especially with Shadow Milk Cookie monitoring you so closely. He makes the environment around you safer, and he makes sure everyone knows that you are off-limits. Unfortunately he cannot control everything, though he really does try to.

If anything, anything ever puts you in actual danger, he is beside himself with worry and rage. Your soft and sweet dough is not made for battle and danger, regardless of what you might feel. It would take the witches themselves to stop him from tearing apart the lands to ensure your safety. And tear them apart he would. He would carve deep valleys into the ground for you, slice mountains to their base, and raze forests flat if it means you will be safe.

If it's a cookie? Some insignificant act or protest from a foolish mortal, deciding to use you to get his attention? Oh, they'll know hell.

Depending on how much damage they do the punishment will vary, but it won't be pleasant regardless. If they just take you away for a little while, he'll torture them. Ensuring the life they go back to is much harder for them to live through, but he won't kill them. They have to learn their lesson and live to tell the tale so no one is stupid enough to follow their example.

If they hurt you at all, they're dead. Shadow Milk normally makes a show out of any crumbling he does, but when you are involved? He doesn't waste time with any silly shows, they just crumble. No fanfare, no sparkle, just death. They don't deserve anything more than that, not when they've caused you hurt.

Ah, and if there is a threat to you -- silly or not -- he takes it very seriously. His monitoring will increase tenfold, and he does his best to keep you with him at all times. He will not take your safety lightly, not when he adores you so.

If there is a genuine threat to your life, he will do everything in his power to remove it. After the fact, he becomes much more obsessive of your safety. It's almost suffocating for a while, but if you express concern he'll ease up a bit. Though you can feel the anxiety in his body language and the way which he speaks.

[s3ungm1nxxl0ve]

Come back to me, please?

Mafia!Ex!Jeongin x fem!reader

Warnings: mdni, humping, swearing, nicknames, mean jeongin 😔, crying 😢, kissing, breakup, making up

(Lmk if I missed anything!)

Angst, smut (again mdni), fluff

Word count: 3.9k

————————————————————

Jeongin is your ex-boyfriend and also the boss of a very powerful mafia group.

He has all the power, money, luxury anyone could ever want.

He tried to stay in contact with you, but you blocked him.

After a month, he decided to come to your house and you unknowingly opened the door without asking who it was.

He stormed inside.

"Aren't you tired of running away from me?

Or is running all you can do?”

You scoff.

“Who the fuck do you think you are, just storming inside without my consent.”

“Shut up, brat, you know you will always come back to me wether you like it or not.”

You wrap your hand around his tie and pull him closer.

“I’ve always loved your jealousy, let me guess, still miss me?”

His eyes flash with anger and something else, something he quickly suppresses as he sat on the couch.

"Shut up"

he hisses, pulling you closer.

"You think I'm jealous? You think I miss you?"

He grabs your waist and pulls you onto his lap.

You subconsciously start humping on him.

“What do you think you are doing?”

He asks, gripping your waist.

“See how long you can do this before I fuck you.”

“Come on then” You challenge him.

He unbuckles his belt and frees himself.

“grind all you want baby.”

He says while lifting you and sliding you onto him.

You moan at the big stretch,

“Innie, ‘s too big!!”

He starts thrusting up into you hard and fast

“Shut up, you were the one who wanted this weren’t you? So take it like a good girl would do.”

“Too much!!”

He smirks, feeling you clench around him.

“Too much? Too bad you just have to deal with it, hm?

You’re mine, and always have been and always will be-“

You start tearing up, and his expression softens just slightly.

Suddenly he pulls out,

“I can’t do this.” He says.

“W-Why’d you pull out? I thought we were making love to eachother..”

“We were fucking, there is a difference.”

“Was this only fucking to you?” You mutter.

“Is this the last time? Is that why you’re calling it fucking and not making love to me?”

His expression softens even more,

“No, it wasn’t just fucking. It was more than that.”

“What was it then?” You ask quietly.

The silence felt almost deafening before jeongin spoke again.

“I-It was supposed to be.. making up.

I thought we could forget everything and just be together again, even if it’s just for one night.”

You come closer to him before whispering:

“Come back to me, please?”

“Shut up" he mutters, pulling you onto his lap.

His arms wrap around your waist again.

"Stop fucking crying"

he says roughly, but his thumb wipes away the tears anyway.

"I'm here, aren't I?"

His voice becomes softer, almost vulnerable.

“Stay then” you mumble.

He sighs deeply.

“You want me to do that?

To live together again, to be your boyfriend again?”

“Do you want to?..”

His grip on your waist tightens before loosening again.

“Do you have any idea how many times I wanted to come back?

How many times I have waited for you to finally come back to me?

How many times I tried calling or how many times I have jerked off on even the though of you? “

His expression drops.

“Do you?”

“No I dont but let me make up for it, please.”

I say, sliding onto him

“Just, no fucking right now, only making love to eachother please?”

He hisses as you slide onto him again before agreeing.

“No fucking,”

He whispers

“Just us, slow, like before”

You nod, leaning in as he kissed you.

The kiss deepens gradually, filled with the longing and passion of months apart.

His hands cup your face softly, thumbs brushing away any lingering tears.

"Fuck, I missed you,"

he murmurs against your lips.

—————————————————————

THANK YOU FOR READING THISS 💗

Should I make a part 2?? :D

[thecircularsystem]

Circ's Switching Advice

The number one thing to remember when it comes to switching and learning to control, in our opinion, is compromise. You have to work together to switch, and that can be difficult.

Tips and tricks I've learned:

Grounding and meditation have helped a lot. When we're triggered, it's a lot harder to sit with myself and say, "Who do I need to help me handle this?" If you need to switch, stay calm and breathe.

We have found it easier with various visualizations. For instance, when we switched today, Ve imagined herself flying out of the fronting circle -- but she was in too much pain from our headache to switch. So instead, she visualized me coming over and patting her shoulder, which I did. Then, I was close enough to take the control, and she could go lay down.

In connection with that above bullet, visualization helps in the outerworld too. We found it helped us a lot when we started writing our experiences through the lens of a robot with multiple "cores" who represented our alters. When the bot switched, the color of its UI switched as well to the colors we associate with. Now, when we switch IRL, we visualize our eyes changing color to the associated color, which helped to ground our switches more in reality.

We found it helped to have an accountability buddy for switching, in this case our spouse @circulars-singlet. They will remind us of how long we've been out, which in turn makes us think, "hey, you're right, I tend to get burned out if I'm out that long. How am I doing?" Those check ins are really helpful. They'll also remind us if we said we wanted to switch.

We sometimes have found it helps to focus on the feeling of our body while switching. For instance, Numb when he fronts tends to have a better posture than us, so if we want to switch to Numb, we often straighten our posture. It's kinda like... we make the house something the person would like to live in if we want them to come to the house, yknow?

We also used to use music to help switches along. Still works to this day. Roy's the only one who likes country, so hearing country music helps get him closer to front. Same with vocaloid for Tavi and swing for Numb.

Communication is vital, however you end up doing it. We've basically always been able to contact one another, but we have used journals before to do so. If you want someone to switch in soon, maybe writing them a note or calling out to them innerworld would be a good idea. Making them aware of that desire in any way is a great call.

Connected to that and compromise, it can sometimes be hard to suggest someone come and take the burden. We actually still are struggling with this concept. Asking someone to switch in is hard, because we understand how difficult life can be, and it's hard to ask someone to take that burden on. Our therapist has been working with us to view it more as "Thank you for your help" and less "Sorry for what I'm doing to you."

I'm starting to run out of steam, sadly, but please folks, feel free to chime in with your own ideas.

[charlessmiths-wife]

SO

I’ve realised that my accounts display is highly RDR2 centric, specifically Charles - yet I haven’t made any posts in any way pertaining to either of them! And they’re my greatest loves!

So without ANY FURTHER ADO I present a few of my nearest and dearest headcanons for the gang (most of them are probably incredibly basic… also so biased to my big three of Arthur/charles/sadie)

CW!!!!!! mentions of violence

Under the cut if you’re interested!

-> Arthur has a small barely noticeable scar on his neck, just below where his beard finishes. He tells everyone he simply got it one day when he accidentally nicked himself whilst shaving - only John and Hosea know the truth. He got it when a member of an enemy gang held a knife to his neck too hard once, threatening him. It didn’t go on long enough to cause any lasting damage. Suffice to say Hosea took care of things before it reached that point.

-> Throughout his whole life, Arthur struggled to differentiate the kinds of love he felt. He loved Mary and Eliza, I truly believe it was romantically, in Mary’s case and he was aware of this, though there’s less to go off of with Eliza - but in terms of his relationship with members of the gang, that’s slightly more difficult. He knows he loves John like a brother, Dutch and Hosea like a father, and Sadie like a sister. His love for Charles is… different to all those, very much so less familial. But he died before ever figuring out what it was.

-> Charles and Sadie visit his grave every year. John also does, but not with them, he prefers to go alone.

-> After Arthur dies, Abigail tries so hard to get John to open up. He never really does. The closest he gets to doing so is when he kills Micah.

-> Sadie never EVER forgets Jake, as much as I would love to be a sadigail truther (and I truly believe there’s certainly a lil fruit in Sadie’s punch if you get me) Sadie never finds the connection she had with him anywhere else.

-> I’ve already touched on Charthur, whilst I certainly think the possibility of feelings developing was right there, I don’t think it could ever have materialised within the time frame of RDR2

-> in some hypothetical and beautiful universe in which Arthur lived, it takes years for Arthur to realise his feelings - even more so to actually act on them.

-> that is, if he chose to act on them. Something tells me Arthur would stay silent, and opt to let Charles make the first move if he wished.

-> When Arthur got sick, Sadie actually silently believed he would get better. Somewhere deep down she knew that was likely impossible - but she wanted to believe it wouldn’t happen again, she wanted to believe someone she cared for wouldn’t be taken from her for another time. It was easier for her to believe than accept reality at times.

-> John also believed silently he would get better, the gang had always pulled through, no matter what - it was hard for him to comprehend Arthur might not be around anymore.

-> out of the three of them, Charles was the only one who I believe truly accepted Arthur’s fate before it happened.

-> I think Dutch did care for John and Arthur, and the whole gang at a point. But Dutch, in my opinion, has an innate desire (more than anything) to feel in control and protect himself and his leadership. A combination of the death of Hosea and the manipulation of Micah (as well as Dutch’s own personal desires and characteristics) are what I believe led to his care for the gang dissolving into care for only himself.

-> not rlly a headcannon, more of an opinion - but Javier gets too much hate. He chose to stand against John and Arthur, but in my opinion, this seems understandable if you look at it from his perspective? His loyalty lay with Dutch because Dutch, in his mind, SAVED him. He gave him family, support, food, and, well - life, for want of another word.

-> I firmly believe that, if Shaun was still alive, he would’ve done the exact same thing as Javi.

-> (coming from the most DIEHARD FAN so please recognise this is no hate) but sometimes I think Arthur gets well.. watered down too much as being presented as a good man who was living in unfortunate circumstances. And whilst I’d say this is largely true, at least on a good honour play through - I’d also say it’s largely true for many of the other members of the gang? Sadie, John, Abigail, Javier, Charles, Lenny… I’d say they’re just some of the examples of characters who would also fit such characterisation and deserve the same sympathy as Arthur

-> John was the BEST at playing cards back in camp, Arthur never knew how. It infuriated him.

-> “Goddamn bastard… fool at damn near everything else… but a goddamn wizard at poker…”

That’s all! Feel free to add any you have yourself in the comments :)

[carlottastudios]

Every day I get closer to making an unhinged behemoth of a post listing all of the things about Kaeya and his possible connections to mythology & stuff that I notice but NOBODY ELSE SEEMS TO BRING UP IN THEIR THEORIES

(edit: OMG I reached the tag limit I'm so sorry)

[bonefall]

Oh yeah! In your Tiger's Fire AU doesn't Swift survive because of Fire? I remember that Twany joined Swift in his colony while Bramble stayed with Fire and became a medicine cat? I think Moth and Hawk, Feather and Storm were split too between the two huge lake clans if I remember the AU fully. Idk it's been awhile tbh. I just remember you had a tiny blub from Tiger's pov about Lynxkit's death and Firekit not understanding it. I really liked it.

OH sadly I don't run my other AUs anymore. All my time gets dedicated to BB and Clan culture these days (FOUR CHAPTERS TO GO BEFORE DARKSTAR'S COMMANDMENT POST IS DONE AYYOOO).

I'm deffo influenced by the work I did on Tigerstar's Fire in how I approach Tigerstar tho. You're probably thinking of this post. If you want to go hunting, I tagged that whole AU with #Tigerstar's Fire AU

[seawing-vibes]

Finally finished up some oc basefills!! These are surprisingly hard pfh, but fun !! In order this is Noctilu, Acacia, and General Hail! The latter two are v old ocs of mine that have been redesigned <3

Okay heres some bonus stuff!! I really liked how some of the lineart was done so here is the raw lineart for anyone interested + a speedpaint (?) of General Hail’s design process ! These guys were really fun to work on despite it taking me so long for no good reason ,,, heres some design notes on them all <3

Noctilu has a Lancier attached to the leather holster as he is the main fisher aboard the pirate ship he is part of

Noct’s line-wing patterns arent always visible, but some nightwing seers claim that the lines help them trace future timelines. Since Noct is a Nightwing Hybrid he wonders if those claims hold any truth

Acacia is a botanist out of the Scorpion Den ! Her bag is filled with journals, loose note paper, and writing supplies.

General Hail was hard as fuck to design guh . He is purple because I want him to be <3

Although he was part of the War of Sandwing Succession, he was born without his back leg and has had a prosthetic forever! Plus he was a very skilled fighter so most of his scars were inflicted by those he let harm him for whatever reason he had in the moment

Astrolabe I gave up on trying to redesign I’m so sorry bud. Hes Married to Noctilu (they have matching earring) and is the ships cartographer / navigator, so his quiver is actually filled with maps and scrolls. He keeps his actual astrolabe and sextant in his bags.

[creature-feature-creature]

Are people allowed to request more than one creature?

If so please consider sham hatwitch from the dragon quest series ^^

Yes absolutely!!!That is 1000% okay as long as it doesnt become spam (my definition is like ~5 requests for 2 or more of the same guy in the span of 1-2 days)

Ok review time

--‐---------------------‐-----‐---------------------‐-----‐---------------------‐-

SHAM HATWITCH FROM DRAGON QUEST!

From @spoofsies

Design; 9/10 - stub legs!! he's doing a little dance!!! He reminds me of lechonk from pokemon but that might just be me idk. One of my favorite character design tropes is "little guy hides under disguise"!! Also I love the hats scary face!

Purpose/Effectiveness; 8/10 okay i still dont know anything about dragonquest but i did a lot more research this time!! The wiki said that it was a monster with a low-level attack, making me think that it's probably one of the first you encounter in the game. Honestly this is really good low-level enemy design! It isnt that scary or imposing, but still enough to let the player know it is gonna attack you. Also wizard hat + using magic! We stan magic boars here!! From what the wiki also said it looks like it has other varients?? So as you go into more dangerous places you encounter more dangerous hatwitches?? That is actually really cool if it's true

Overall; 9/10 - this little piggy cursed your entire bloodline

[dont-hug-me-its-yuri]

Im running into the stage banging the floor demanding to know about the band au as you speak /hj

reveal yourself band au anon, I wish to know who you are cause you’ve allowed me to ramble

I haven’t figure it all out so this is kinda just spitballing ideas lol

Warning long ass post holy moly

So the band au is kinda written like Clone high, I treat it like one of those really serious romance dramas, except the band au is more just relationship focused instead of strictly romance, also there’s a lot of drama

I’ve come up with four main bands at the moment :3

The Grim Reapers - an underground goth band with Coffin as the bassist and Tissue box as the (main) vocalist, they’re most well known for their songs being about pretty grim subject matter, though they’re probably the least popular out the four main bands

Electric Current - A pop-punk family band with Electracey on the electric guitar, Elevator Speaker on the Bass guitar, Laptop on Drums, and Colin on vocals, they have a very futuristic theme and are by far the most popular band out of the four

Malcolm’s Angels - a band started by Shrignold the head of a love “organization” to help spread the gospel of Malcolm, their music is mostly folk type music, with Unicorn on the harp, Frog boy on the flute, Rabbit boy on the mandolin, and Shrignold on guitar and vocals, the other members of the “organization” are also there, to they just aren’t part of the band, but some of them are on the marketing team

Fly To The Stars - i also refer to them as “the rejects”, an obviously space themed rock band, with Gilbert on guitar, Solar system on the keyboard, Magnet on bass guitar, and Lamp as the lead guitarist

there’s also other characters that aren’t in bands but are still pretty important to the main story like

sketchbook - A young college student, currently studying art, she’s a big fan of Electric Current with her favorite member being Electracey, she’s also roomies with Tony

Tony “Anthony” Clock - An older college student studying history, roomies with Sketch and also a small solo music artist in his spare time (hehe)

saxophone - A music artists who’s songs are usually canoe related, has gained a small cult following due to this

Warren W. Eagle - Local homeless person, usually spotted around dumpsters, can play a pretty mean keyboard solo though

there’s more important characters but I these are the ones I’ve currently planned out (Saxophone isn’t really important though, I just found the concept I had for him funny)

and finally, some miscellaneous facts that I can’t fit anywhere else in this incoherent ramble

The two main locations are Clayhill and Mullhoven, though Mullhoven in this au has become a bigger city, well Clayhill has kept its gated community status

The main three do have a minor role in this au, with them being know as the “weird” residents in town, some situation always seems to be happening to them wether that be their house burning down or finding their pillowcases full of ham

Electracey and Sketchbook are both college age with them both being 17

Laptop on the other hand is a highschooler, being 15 years old

All the characters are humanoids, they basically have human proportion’s but still have some of their weird puppet feaures

Lesley is Electric Current’s manager, though it’s not her only job according to her, she won’t tell much about herself, she likes the game of mystery

Electracey’s name in this au is just Tracey, Laptop’s is Lapis, and Elevator Speakers is Alexa

Colin, Laptop, and Electracey are all siblings, Colin being oldest, Tracey being middle, and Laptop being youngest, well Elevator Speaker is their cousin

Tissue box is fine with her and Coffins band being pretty unknown, but Coffin wish’s they could be as popular as some of the others, and he will do anything to make that happen

Laptop is a big fan of Hatsune Miku and and makes references to her in some of Electric Currents songs when it’s her turn to write one

uh that’s it for now :3 *disappears in a cloud of misty smoke*

[folklouire]

cold little heart. literally thee song of all time!!!! your taste is impeccable and though the tags were not meant for me I added all those songs to a new playlist and I will check them out immediately <33

yeeeeeesssss!!! i just discovered it from spotify and i loved it and then i found out there's a longer version and i like this one a lot too. this song sounds exactly like a summer evening/ dusk you know what i mean? and i loooooove when songs give me that exact feeling.

and OMG that's so sweet 🥹 i adore music and i adore sharing the music i love with other people and yeah of course it actually makes me happy you liked my recs and want to listen to them. hope you enjoy them 💝💝💝💝

[wolfwarrior142]

hii um this may sound totally weird but i was just wondering, and you totally dont have to answer if you're not comfortable, but was it really hard to do the schooling to become a nurse? did you have to do any residency the way doctors do? did you have to do a lot of hard chemistry classes in school?

im just a college student who's trying to switch majors and i just needed some advice and i keep seeing that you're a licensed nurse and you can totally shut me up now.

again dont answer if you're not comfortable, no worries!

Hello! Oh it's totally fine to ask! Nothing wrong with it at all. I'm no expert on this and may not give the most helpful or concise answer, but I will try my best. And you're more than welcome to also message me to ask more about it, I'm happy to say what I know (and imma post this so other people who may be curious can read it too).

I'll be totally honest. Nursing school is worth kt for those who are interested in the field, but it is also extremely taxing to most people. Depending on your school, you will take 1-2 years of prerequisits, then 2-4 years depending on if the school has an associates or bachelor program. If the school has only an associates program, you will most likely need to complete 2 years beyond that school to earn your bachelor's. Most hospitals prefer or even require RNs to have a bachelor's degree, so unless you work at facility that's desperate for staff or don't want as broad of job options, you'll need the bachelor's. So that's 4 years in actual nursing school, plus 1-2 years of prerequisits if you don't already have some done.

For what prereqs you'll need, that depends on your school. Chemistry was by far one of the hardest prereqs I took, and statistics suuuucks. I'm usually decent with math, but stats has SO much word problems that it's just as much deciphering written problems as it is math. Its very confusing, and the teacher I took it with was new so she didn't have the best grasp on explaining stuff yet. Definitely recommend finding someone to work with in that class cuz you may need the extra brainpower to figure shit out.

Anatomy and Physiology really depends on where you go. Some places have great teachers for it, some have decent ones, some have teachers that make you wonder if the teacher only got their degree so they could torture and shit on students (I had the latter. Our teacher's average class grade was a C. When she started, most people failed the class. And she was proud that her students had such low grades. She made it seem like it was out fault, despite the fact that basically everyone had shit grades in her class. I'm pretty sure I somehow passed with a low B and I hated that class).

That's only some of the prereqs, there are many more and they depend on the school. Thankfully a lot of schools are good about transferring credits between institutions, so if you took the class at a different places the credit should still be mostly good.

Now for the actual program. Do objective research on what nursing school is actually like, preferably from people who have actually done it. Look at multiple sources. Ask students at the place you'd take it at if possible. Get an idea of what it's like. Then think on it for a while and decide if you're willing to deal with that.

Nursing school is tough. It kicks your ass. It changes you as a person, both by making you more nurse-oriented and just as a person in general. It is very worth it, but it is also very intense and taxing for most people. If you are truly hesitant on if you want to pursue it, don't. At least not for right now. I'm serious. Nursing school takes a ton of work, and if your heart isn't in it you may have an extremely hard time passing. Or may not pass at all. And if you are any kind of neurodivergent, you'll likely have an even harder time. Trust me, I know.

Most nursing teachers are nice or at least chill. Some are mean. Some are absolute assholes. Doesn't mean they won't be beneficial, but they may make things harder for you. If they offer to help, then take em up on that offer when needed. There's a lot of things that take a lot of practice and studying to understand, and if theyre willing to help explain shit, that can make it easier. Besides, we were taught early on that being curious and asking questions and vital for nursing. You'll ALWAYS be learning new things, no matter how long you've been a nurse. And while you're in school, teachers who are willing to help you when needed are lifesavers. But be prepared that most of em will not help a ton as they do not want to hold your hand.

Find friends to study/work on stuff with. Figure out your learning style (hearing, reading, writing, hands on, a combo, etc). Develop a studying technique, and be prepared that you may need to alter it. Be prepared to spend most of your days engrossed in reading stuff for classes, as otherwise you're not gonna learn enough and you'll struggle. However, youtube videos from credible sources can really help.

The tests are brutal. They're different than most tests. There's literally a whole textbook made to help you figure out how to properly understand and answer NCLEX questions for a reason. There's a whole damn process on how to answer NCLEX questions. There have been many times where while answering questions at work for training (questions that are given to Medical Assistants (MA) as well as nurses), my MA coworkers will be confused by the question and why there's multiple right answers. And I just laugh and say "Oh I can immediately tell from the style of this question that it was written by an RN in NCLEX style. I'm so sorry." Questions on nursing tests are a whole other breed of questions, and that's because they help your brain think through things in a way that is beneficial when dealing with real pts. Which is useful, but also a pain in the ass.

You will HAVE to get used to understanding the process of stuff rather than just memorizing a single answer. Rarely are questions just about remembering a simple answer. They're mostly about understanding a process of how something works, and using that knowledge in the context of the question to answer it. If that makes sense. Like I said, nursing school rewires your brain. And when it actually works and you realize you're able to think about stuff and process it in that way, it is SO rewarding.

There's a lot. Nursing school is intense. Like I said, if you're truly hesitant and have strong doubts, don't commit to it for now. You have to be truly determined to give nursing school your best shot to start it, because if you're hesitant then you're mentally not gonna be as prepared as you should be to complete it. You still can, but it'll be difficult as shit and there's a solid chance you may not be able to.

I HIGHLY recommend getting a job in healthcare first if you don't have much experience with as a healthcare professional and are hesitant on if you want to do it or not. You can earn your CNA license, or go a step above and earn your MA license. Then work in a setting where you get to utilize that license. Then if you do decide to advance to get a nursing degree, you'll have a major leg up as you'll have medical knowledge and experience that will be very beneficial. Besides, many programs require students to earn a CNA license first, so you'll probably have to anyway.

There is nothing at all wrong with waiting a few years to get into nursing school. Tbh, a lot of my classmates were in their mid to late 20s or older and they seemed to have an easier time than us younger people did. They had their head on their shoulders better. They had an easier time focusing in school it seemed. Plenty of my classmates were also my age or younger and also did very well, but it really seems that being a bit older helps for a lot of people in nursing school. And the more prior medical experience they had, the easier it was for them.

I will fully admit that I didn't complete Registered Nursing school. There were multiple things that made me withdraw when I did. But I completed enough to obtain my Licensed Practical Nurse license (in my RN program, it's the first full year and first quarter of second year, as what is taught there is essentially equivalent to what an LPN class it). So I didn't finish yet, but I'm still making use of what I did learn. And after a few years, I plan to complete an LPN to RN bridge course. Currently I'm working as an LPN in a clinic to help build my knowledge in prep of that, and because my LPN license is still extremely useful and shows that I did at least something. Doesn't stop the absolutely raging imposter syndrome, but at least I am still a nurse and have something to show for what I did complete of nursing school (I withdraw close to the end of 2nd quarter of 2nd year, so after almost 5 quarters in. Just 1 quarter shy of a full RN license, which sucks, but I was struggling SO bad).

Do research. A lot of it. Look into what nursing school is like and what is required at the school you want to go to for it/at the school you're currently at. Nursing school is not for the faint of heart and it is not an easy degree. Some schools are a TON easier, but those schools tend to also not teach their students as well and produce people who have a harder time passing the NCLEX as a result. My program was very tough to get into, with hundreds of students applying each year and only 150 being chosen. And they grilled us HARD. But the harder programs tend to also produce more knowledgeable nurses. Hell, I passed my PN-NCLEX first try after only having to complete half the test before the computer program determined I didn't need to do anymore because of the score I already had (there's an algorithm that runs during the test that gives you harder or easier questions depending on if you get them right or wrong, respectively, and eventually it ends the test early if it determines that you've answered enough that you'd either pass/fail the rest of the test if you were to finish it. If that makes sense. It's super cool). And I hardly studied before the test because I was a nervous wreck (thankfully you can take it multiple times with not penalty except cost, which is SO comforting). And I like to think that the way my program taught us helped me have an easier time passing. Compared to some other people I know, who completed their whole nursing program from other schools and had to take the RN-NCLEX multiple times before they could pass it. The programs that are easier to get into are also easier to complete, which is SO nice, but they'll also probably leave you less prepared for the standardized state NCLEX test and nursing in general.

Still absolutely nothing wrong with completing an easier program, tho. You can only learn so much in nursing school and you leave it with only a basic knowledge of nursing in general. They cram a LOT into your brain and make you drink it from a fire hose, but there's SO much about nursing that is learned after you graduate. And you'll always be learning. ALWAYS. So the program you choose is only a starting point. Just your choice which one you go for.

I'm sorry, that's a lot. Nursing is a LOT. There's a reason why one of the phrases I adopted and used a TON in nursing school was, "It'll be worth it in the end, but god at what cost." (Also started and still frequently use "It's better to be safe than sorry.") It was tough, and I'm not super looking forward to when I complete my RN degree. But for those who are determined enough, it is so, so worth it. Its impossible to know what it'll be like until you're there, but just know it takes a lot of determination and accepting that it'll kick your ass. Your life will be Nursing School Only while in the program. You will leave a changed person. But if you're willing to do it, especially after doing some of your own research into it, I highly recommend it. It kicked my ass but I don't regret it for a second, and I definitely want to complete my RN at some point.

I'm driven to help people and have always wanted to do something in a medical field (animal or human), and nursing is one of the main ways I saw myself doing that. And even with my LPN license, I'm still in a position to help people. I have helped some people and always strive to do so when possible. I have no regrets. And despite how hard it is, I highly recommend at least considering it if it speaks to you as well. It is not a light, easy decision, but it's a worth-while one if you choose it and set your mind to it.

[automatonknight]

all I know abt Lisa is through osmosis from your blog and !! I am very curious could you tell me more mayhaps.. if you want....

EEK YES YES YES!!! I COULD!!!! OF COURSE I WANT I'M DELIGHTED TO!!!! it's probably gonna be rlly spoiler-y though watch out! the games also discuss difficult topics such as sexual assault, abuse etc etc. i actually don't know much about the og lisa games (the first, the painful and the joyful) beyond the scope of what i heard in hbomberguy's essay about them . the gist is that an event called "the flash" happened that caused all the women to disappear, it was also sort of apocalyptic in nature to the world in general i assume? since it looks how it looks, basically a wasteland. the first is about Lisa, who is Brad's sister if i remember correctly. it focuses on her memories and trauma of being brought up in an abusive home. the painful follows the story of Brad, who finds a baby girl, names her Buddy and takes care of her the best he can. Buddy disappears one day and he tracks her down because it's a really dangerous world, especially to her. the joyful follows Buddy herself, as she murders all the poeple who could pose a threat to her so she's safe, basically, running off what i remember. i know a bit more about the hopeful, from what i've seen it happens between the painful and joyful, although no characters from those games are really invloved, although i'm pretty sure one scene hints at the fact that Buddy was nearby. the story follows 3 losers and their boss, basically. beltboy (benny), lanks (liam), cyclops (clyde) and rodriguez, who doesn't have a stupid nickname. in non-pain runs (basically pain mode makes the game harder and it sometimes affects the endings, just as doing "joyless" runs does. joy is a drug that makes you feel nothing, so it's very effective for battles and junk, but it has its risks) rodriguez get's killed at the very beginning and the three have to find "the girl", who is rumored to be somewhere in the area, on their own. in pain mode you can recruit rodriguez when you fail to bring him gasoline. stuff mostly stays the same between routes except for events at the sportsdome, where depending on how you talk to the others as benny, different person will sustain a serious injury (and either die later on or turn into a joy mutant, if they took joy) and different person will get captured by the lovelies (they're also looking for the girl, their leader is hart and they're all assholes, basically). if rod is with you, you bail sooner and don't participate in the sports event at the dome (the prize for winning is supposed to be the girl). then again the path forks at the end, where it also depends on who survived and if you took joy. the kind of "true" ending is for joyless beltboy, who, out of all the others, isn't as obsessed with chasing the girl and is more understanding, treating her like a human being. speaking of, the girl (whose name is five i think? and she's really a grown woman runaway experiment also) actually helps you in this ending yippiee!! friends forever. there are also two bonus characters you can have in your party, yogurt master and reginald, but they aren't as tied to the story as the others. i'm worried i'm running close to the character limit here anyways here's a very cool video on the hopeful by wormgirl if you wanna watch it (it's what actually what got me into the game!)

[notebookmusical]

can you recommend sites where to get special edition books, please, with links? i'm a bit new to this and i saw some bad reviews about illumicrate and i trust your judgement 🩷

hi hi!! happy to do so — i want to preface this by saying that i've never subscribed to any book boxes long term (aside from a book box that my local bookstore was doing, but that wasn't any special editions and i stopped once my six months were up) but i do have a lot of friends who have, and i have done quite a bit of research into book boxes, etc and can tell you my experiences + what i know of them!

this ask got pretty long-winded, so please feel free to send any follow up asks if at any point i stopped making sense 🤍 answer is under the cut! x

also, if anyone else has opinions/thoughts/etc, feel free to weigh in!

okay! so to better answer your question, i'm going to assume you are trying to grow your book collection and just get more special editions! if you're looking for specific special editions, however, let me know, and i'll amend this ask 🤍

first, you have your big book box companies — illumicrate (including their romance spin off — afterlight), owlcrate, fairyloot are the ones that often come to mind when i think of special editions. most people i know who do subscribe to a book box are subscribed to one of those; they've been around forever, they usually have some fun covers. the downside to those is that unless you get a book-only sub (all of them do offer book only, i believe) you are stuck with a lot of ... stuff ... that you may not want. unless you're big on looking up spoilers for book boxes, you will have a chance of ending up with a book that you have no interest in / do not want / may have already preordered — you can always email to pause your subscription, miss a month, etc (a couple of my friends did that when a specific book came out that they didn't want to support). book box subscriptions can also get pretty pricey, especially once you factor in shipping costs, but like most things, are cheaper in the moment than during resale later. book boxes are a good way for growing your collection and being introduced to a lot of new books, as long as it's a book box in a genre you like. for example, i am not the biggest fan of fantasy, so there's no incentive for me to have a fantasy book box subscription despite their covers always being phenomenal. i think that book boxes can be great for a lot of people, but i personally do not have the space for book boxes, and would rather spend my money on books i know i'll want + book merch i want. if i really do want a specific illumicrate set, i'll usually wait for it to go on sale, or ask around to see if any of my friends have a subscription + do not want it and buy it from them! (more on this later)

then there are some other, smaller book box companies — fox & wit is one that i really like, although they take a really long time to ship (or they did, in the past, when i shopped from them — but they were also going through some stuff back then, i think something about a warehouse issue? it's been a while since i ordered from them). fox & wit specifically has some really beautiful dust jackets as well; i ordered their raven cycle/dreamer trilogy covers back then (through their mister impossible box). if i recall correctly, fox & wit's "alt covers" are just dust jackets that come with a copy of the book. there's also once upon a book club which i believe is mostly romance focused; i ordered a book from them once for a friend.

most book box companies have their own "shop", where you can purchase any leftover items (sometimes they have the full box, sometimes just the book, and sometimes the trinkets/merch/etc that comes with a book). some book box companies will also do special releases for books, which is outside of the monthly subscription but current subscribers will get early access — for example: illumicrate has done an emily henry set, the night circus, bridgerton, etc. owlcrate has done the raven cycle, etc. <;- i would recommend keeping an eye out on leftover stock & getting book-specific boxes over a subscription, but that is my personal opinion.

specific bookstores will also have their own special editions of books — barnes and nobles in the US, and waterstones in the UK are two big ones! sometimes this will mean sprayed edges, usually alt. covers, sometimes they'll come with an extra short story at the back.

a lot of authors tend to post about any special editions they've got coming — whether that's with illumicrate, or a smaller book box, or a bookstore! if you follow them on social media, you'll most likely be able to find out special editions that way — it's how i've found out about smaller book boxes. i'm still getting emails from illumicrate / fox & wit / etc., even though i've stepped away from book collecting unless it's a book i really really love (space, money, etc) — you could also sign up for their mailing lists if you want too!

there are also other special edition books, that are really just: collector's editions. these would include: seasons edition, books illustrated, easton press, etc. some of these are pricier than others, and are really just collector's editions.

i will also say that some special editions of books that i have that are truly just display items / collectables — my illumicrate bridgerton set is one of them; it's beautiful, the sprayed edges are gorgeous, but i hate the font on the interior, and the paper just feels weird to me. the same can be said for my seasons edition copies: it's so pretty, but i don't like the font on the interior, i don't think it's really meant for reading (if that makes sense), and it's pretty fragile. that's not to say that all illumicrate books are printed weirdly though — my night circus illumicrate is just fine! i am also just a bit particular about fonts, and layouts and such, which doesn't help. my friend just got me the sense & sensibility luxury hardback edition with gold-edged pages, and it's gorgeous! but i also think it is a book that i will never read because i have my own reading copy (which i want to annotate) and because the pages inside are very glossy! but that's okay, because all the books i have for display purposes (seasons edition classics, bridgerton, etc.) are books i usually have another copy of — or books i liked a lot, but may not see myself rereading again (for example: bridgerton series). will also add a note and say that sometimes sprayed edges (or stenciled edges) have a weird feel to them — it's a little thicker, pages can be a little stiffer, which makes sense because: paint.

i would honestly encourage you to shy away from ebay and other resale sites unless you are after something very, very specific, (in which case — tell me! because i may know someone trying to get rid of a copy/i can keep an eye out for you) because people do mark things up and there is a weird resale market for book collecting!

[krysmcscience]

Did somebody say Bill shouldn't be allowed to swear? I think somebody said Bill shouldn't be allowed to swear. Thanks to that, have these retooled The Good Place jokes:

The "powers that be" can refer to either the Theraprism staff, the Axolotl, or just. Ya know. Disney in general. Or all three! Whichever you think is funniest. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The "party" Bill's referring to is Weirdmageddon, of course. He was quite the ashhole to everyone back then.

Ford has probably gotten pretty good at the 'tune out your psychopathic ex with dank memes' challenge.

It must be very cathartic to be able to make Bill shut up whenever you want with just the press of a button. I'm sure Ford doesn't abuse this ability at all.

Oh, sure, 'Not now,' he says, before he immediately backs out of the newly-made hole in the Theraprism wall. 🙄

Don't worry, Bill doesn't get far.

also yeah i know this one doesn't have an attempted swear - i just wanted to use the joke because of the massive stink-eye involved in it because it makes me laugh

⬇️ More goofs beneath the brief ramble if you wanna skip it lmao⬇️

Why is Ford even there, you might ask? Well, he either decided he preferred to watch Bill suffer in person over being distantly and repeatedly harassed with the same evil desperation book for the rest of his life, or he got roped into some kind of contrived community service for 1.) all his many counts of interdimensional thievery, and 2.) his ignoring all the very clear warnings to NOT summon Bill in the first place (which I like to imagine is also illegal). Theraprism staff were just like, 'Wait, this guy matters to Bill? Ooh, we can USE that! It might be the only thing that can help him want to get better!' It is not considered that throwing Ford at Bill so soon after Weirdmageddon could instead make them both WORSE - in new and altogether special ways! :D

Anyway, I'm calling it the Community Service AU, and I am most likely not going to do anything else with it beyond appropriating these silly Good Place jokes. So, feel free to adopt the concept if y'all wanna??? Just make sure that Bill is still not allowed to swear, no matter what, full stop. It's gotta be a real linguistic corkblork of a situation for him, is all I'm sayin'.

Finally, have these bonus Good Place jokes, but with Handyman!Bill this time:

'Opposite tortures' doesn't sound so bad...at least until it's an all-powerful chaos entity known for torture saying it.

you may think i forgot mabel's cute pink cheeks but the truth is that i did in fact forget but then immediately stopped caring which makes it okay, SHHHHHHH

And, finally:

lmao this is shit

True facts, if you cram Season 1 Eleanor Shellstrop and Michael into a singular triangle shape, they turn into Bill Cipher. This is science, look it up. Or don't, and just trust the source that is me, bro.

Anyway, I should be in bed, y'all have fun with these, I guess. Tune in after like a week or so and maybe I'll have an addendum to my comic about how Bill was drawn naked for karaoke night. Because him actually being naked was not the only thing I considered as a plausible explanation. XD

Also if you see any inconsistencies or errors in any of these comics, No You Do Not :D

Also also, reblogs are rad as hell and I appreciate every single one, just don't repost, please and thanks. Every time a repost is made, an artist somewhere cries. :,)

[thebibliosphere]

Hey friends, if I can ask for a moment of your time and ask you to sign this petition.

The Telegraph recently posted a horrifically ableist piece about chronically ill “influencers” (most people involved would consider themselves advocates), blaming chronically ill people for dropping employment numbers by “normalizing worklessness” and insinuating that visibly disabled and chronically ill people online are only doing so for monetary gain.

I’m not going to link to the article because I don’t want to give it any more views or clicks but you can feel free to look it up yourself. There are also excerpts from the article included in the above petition.

The journalist involved, Natasha Leake, intentionally lied to the influencers involved, claiming she supported what they were doing and wanted to raise awareness about their conditions. Needless to say what was printed was not supportive and the people involved are devastated.

And if you’re thinking this sounds like a rehash of something the BBC did a few years ago when they tried to pit disabled people against chronically ill people and made insinuations about “sickfluencers” being in it for the money, you’d be right.

Same old shit, different media outlet.

There has been a huge push back in media against chronically ill and disabled people over the last few years, in part because our governments are moving more toward fascism and they want you to feel apathy towards the neglect and suffering their policies cause. The media is a tool of this.

Please don’t let us be the only ones fighting back against it. No matter how healthy and abled you currently are, you are just one bad accident, one unexpected illness or fluke of genetics away from joining us.

Please spread and sign demanding that the Telegraph remove this defaming and ableist article and issue a public apology. Thank you 💖