#also they use discord to text just saying

[nymphthroughthestargate]

Overload Part Two

a Pooka fic by mushroom

Cassie watched as the fear took over her dear friend. she knew that him holding back his shifting wasn't good for him, but he had waved her off and ignored her. obviously, Pooka turning into a terrified shadow creature proved that Cassie was right to worry. she grabbed Celise, and made the girl look her in the eye.

"try your best to calm him down, I'm going to get Bjorn!"

Celise nodded, and turned to the entity that she knew as her brother. "it's alright, bubby. we're not going to hurt you."

Cassie burst into Bjorn's home, the residents already standing up ready into investigate and/or fight whatever was out there.

"it's a long story," she started, speaking quickly, "but that creature out there is Pooka. he's a shapeshifter, genetically modified. I promise he won't hurt anyone on purpose, and any attack will make him worse because he's just scared. he hid his talent - that's what it is, a talent - because he's terrified of people being scared of him. we just need to calm him down, and Bjorn, I think you need to be the one to do it."

Bjorn pointed at himself, surprised. "me? why me?"

"because he loves you." Cassie said bluntly. Pooka didn't have time for tact, and he was just going to have to forgive her for outing him.

Bjorn looked starstruck. obviously, Pooka's feelings were requited. when he got outside, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a stone that sparkled like the night sky. mica, Pooka had called it when he excitedly picked it up that afternoon and chattered away about the implications of mica on another planet. Bjorn brandished the stone as high as he could reach (which was quite high because he is very tall) and called out to the creature before him.

"Pooka!" he bellowed. "I have never feared you, and I never will!"

~ • ~ • ~

darkness. fear. memories.

this was all Pooka could see, until a voice calling his name felt like an anchor into reality.

"I have never feared you, and I never will!"

was that true? Pooka blinked, looking down at Bjorn who was holding up a small rock in his hand. he had picked up that rock on their walk that day, and had handed it to Bjorn. had he really been carrying it this entire time?

Bjorn was walking closer to him. didn't he know he could get hurt? he didn't want to hurt him.

a warm hand was on his constantly shifting arm, and it felt so nice. so comforting.

"I will never fear you, Pooka." his voice seemed to come from everywhere, drowning out the shouting in his memories. "because I love you."

oh.

Pooka felt like he could start to breathe again. he could feel his shape settling down, could feel himself shrinking back down to his usual size. however, as the fear and shadows drained away, he could feel his energy draining as well.

~ • ~ • ~

Bjorn had said it out loud. he had said he loved Pooka.

and it seemed like that did the trick. the creature stopped thrashing about, and while making eye contact started to shrink down. he had to catch the small man, who had fainted from the energy the overload had taken from him. Cassie came running, and saw Bjorn carrying an unconscious Pooka in his arms.

at least he was back to himself.

Cassie waved at Bjorn to follow her. "we can help him, but we need to get him through the gate. can you do that?"

he just nodded, and followed Cassie while carrying Pooka in his arms. Celise jogged up beside them.

"Hey, I know he looks like a whole child right now, but he is 29." she told him with a knowing look. Bjorn wondered why she felt the need to tell him that, especially when he had already had that conversation with Pooka.

on the other side of the gate, Cassie started barking orders as soon as she had reintergrated.

"mom! mom, we need you!" she cried out to Dr. Fraiser.

"what's wrong, Cassie?" Janet asked, worried.

"it's a long story, but Pooka is unconscious. I don't think he's hurt, but we should get him to the infirmary as soon as possible."

as Cassie was talking, Bjorn came through the gate. Janet looked over at the unconscious shapeshifter in his arms, and waved Bjorn over to the waiting stretcher.

"put him down on there, honey, we've got him."

Bjorn listened and gently placed Pooka on the stretcher, and watched as the medical team wheeled him away. Cassie put a reassuring hand on his arm, because she couldn't quite reach his shoulder.

"he's going to be ok, and they'll let us know when we can see him."

~ • ~ • ~

Pooka woke up in the infirmary, still quite groggy. he looked over and saw Cassie leaned back in a chair, Nymph cuddled up on Cassie, and Celise straddling one of the uncomfortable chairs probably stolen from the cafeteria. he smiled sleepily at his family, then recounted.

one... two... three...

so who was holding his hand?

his head felt as heavy as a bag of bricks, but he still managed to turn to see Bjorn resting his head on the bed, holding his hand. Pooka shifted, trying to figure out what was going on and how they all got there, when Bjorn stirred and woke up.

"oh, you're awake. good, I was worried about you." Bjorn flashed a warm smile and Pooka returned it. their movement had woken up Celise, who noticed Pooka was awake and threw a pillow at Cassie and Nymph.

"the boy is alive!" she joked when the other two had stirred awake from the thrown pillow.

Pooka mustered a small chuckle. "wow, Ce-Ce. I'm feeling the love."

"you really worried us, bud. you've been out for-" Cassie checked her watch. "17 hours. they were about to use the Daedalus and grab your mom."

Pooka's eyes widened in shock. seventeen hours? it didn't feel like that long - but he supposed it wouldn't, with him being asleep the whole time and all. his stomach rumbled, and he remembered that he didn't finish his dinner last night.

"can you get me a snack or something?" he asked, unsure if he'd have the energy to eat it.

"sure, I'll see if they have a sandwich." Cassie gently pushed a still-sleepy Nymph off of her and got up to go to the mess hall.

some memories of what happened started to come back, including what Bjorn had said to him. Pooka turned to him.

"so, you really love me?"

Bjorn startled a little, then smiled sheepishly. "yeah, I do."

"I do, too. love you, that is! I mean, self-love is important, but like-"

Bjorn leaned over and kissed Pooka mid-sentence, and the traitorous heart monitor started beeping faster and louder. when he pulled away, Pooka just stared at him. he felt another set of eyes on the two of them, and leaned over to glare at his sister.

"whaaaat? I'm not doing anything," Celise droned, a smirk on her face that could rival that of a supervillain. Pooka rolled his eyes.

"sisters, am I right?"

"I'm sure my brothers would react the same," Bjorn laughed.

"yeah, how many of those guys are actual brothers and how many are like friends you adopted?" Pooka asked, raising an eyebrow. he knew he considered all three of the girls his sisters, but he wasn't sure how Bjorn's culture worked in that aspect.

"it's hard to tell. I'm pretty sure some came from another village altogether, but we raise them as our own."

Pooka knew how that felt. there wasn't a single member of his family that was from the same planet.

Dr. Fraiser walked in to check on Pooka, followed by Cassie with that sandwich.

"hi, Auntie Janet."

the doctor scowled at him. "that's Dr. Auntie Janet to you, mister. what do you think you're doing, holding back your shapeshifting? you could've gotten very sick or even died. we still don't know everything about it."

"yes, ma'am." Pooka stared at his twiddling thumbs. he knew she was scolding him because she loved him. he also knew she was right. "can you please take out the IV so I can try shifting?"

Janet nodded, locked the tubing, and started taking the bandages off his hand. Pooka turned to Bjorn.

"don't believe the movies, ripping one of these out by yourself hurts like hell." he joked.

"what's a movie?" the viking asked, just as Janet pulled out the IV with a slight pinch.

"ah. yeah, we gotta fix that." Pooka rubbed the spot on his hand, and took a deep breath. he was anxious about shifting in front of Bjorn, but he remembered that he had already seen him at his worst, and any controlled form would be better than that thing he was last night.

"so, what would you like to see? a crow? a dog? little kitty cat?" Pooka asked, procrastinating.

"could you become a small fox?" Bjorn asked. his eyes lit up in anticipation.

"one little fox coming right up."

Pooka shifted into a fox, golden eyes staring right at Bjorn. the hospital gown he was wearing had fallen onto the bed, meaning it was real fabric and he had to remember to shift into clothes when he became human-shaped again. banishing that embarrassing thought from his mind, he pranced around the bed and shifted into a sparrow and flew onto the curtain rod around the small area, where he shifted into a little spider monkey and jumped back onto the bed. he flashed a human smile at Bjorn when he settled down, wearing a button-up with avocados printed on it, and black high-waisted skinny jeans. Bjorn was amazed, and even clapped and cheered. Pooka, being the theatre kid he was, bowed dramatically and winked at him.

"thank you, thank you. oh, thanks Cassie."

Cassie had handed him that sandwich she was holding onto during his little show, and he tore into it without realizing just how hungry he was.

"so, when do you think I'll be able to go home, Auntie Janet?" Pooka asked with his mouth full.

"I'm not that comfortable with you going home alone, especially with us not really knowing what happened to you."

Pooka opened his mouth to say it'd happened before, and he'd been fine, but Bjorn spoke first.

"I could go with him."

Pooka nearly choked on his sandwich. "uh, what?"

"I'll watch over him, he can teach me how to reach you in case anything happens, and maybe I'll figure out what this movie thing is."

this was a disaster. he did have a pull-out couch, and he would like to spend time with Bjorn, but how would he get an alien viking into his apartment complex?

"that sounds like a good plan, Bjorn." Janet smiled, and pointed at Pooka. "and you, no driving for at least a week."

"you do realise who you're talking to?" Pooka retorted.

"come on, mom. I tried to teach him to drive once, and after two minutes he pulled over, turned into a bird, and flew out the window. I had to drive the car home." Cassie smirked, which made Pooka blush from embarrassment. his sisters were such brats, he counted himself lucky he didn't have any baby pictures for them to brandish.

after much argument and planning, Pooka and Bjorn were in the back of a military escort vehicle headed to his apartment. he wondered how they were going to get in, seeing as he had no idea where his keys were and he only used his front door on occasion for appearances. maybe he'd turn his finger into a key. maybe there'd be a bobby pin on the ground and he could pick his own lock. both solutions sounded kind of sketchy the more he thought about it. and then he remembered the hide-a-key above his doorframe for if his family needed to get in.

"well, this is it. my house." Pooka said awkwardly as he legally opened the door. "I can turn on the TV, and we can watch something."

he looked down at his phone, where he was texting his sister.

pookaboo

<hey would it be insensitive to watch httyd with my viking boyfriend>

thegirlfrompegasus

<lmao do it>

he closed the chat, and showed Bjorn how to call Janet if anything happened. then he turned on the TV and put on How To Train Your Dragon, hoping Bjorn would find it funny and cute, not drastically inappropriate.

Bjorn did end up loving it, and the two of them fell asleep on the couch halfway through the sequel. Pooka was in his dog form the entire time, showing just how comfortable he was.

Pooka woke up to a thread of texts on the group chat.

thegirlfrompegasus

<what did he say about the movie 👀👀👀>

no1believesme

<what are they watching>

thegirlfrompegasus

<httyd>

no1believesme

<lmaoooooo that's insane>

ispeak4datrees

<I love that movie 🥰🥰🥰>

thegirlfrompegasus

<it's a wonderful date movie>

<with your gay viking bf>

ispeak4datrees

<😶😶😶>

<that's brave>

thegirlfrompegasus

<hence why I was checking in on them>

pookaboo

<jokes on you he loved it>

thegirlfrompegasus

<AYYYYYYYYY>

ispeak4datrees

<AYYYYYYYYYYYY>

no1believesme

<AYYYYYYYYY>

pookaboo

<youre insufferable>

Pooka looked over to see Bjorn staring at him with curious eyes.

"what?"

"what are you doing?"

Pooka held up his phone, chat still open. "Oh, this? I'm texting. uh, I put words onto my device, hit a button, and my words appear on Cassie, Celise, and Nymph’s devices because of a signal."

"that's amazing."

"that's the internet for you."

Bjorn still looked curious and amazed, which made Pooka chuckle. he remembered the first time his mum had shown him a computer, his face looked pretty much like Bjorn's did now.

pookaboo

<I just told Bjorn about the wonders of texting>

no1believesme

<oh yeah?>

pookaboo

<he says hi>

ispeak4datrees

<hi bjorn>

thegirlfrompegasus

<hi bjorn>

no1believesme

<hi bjorn>

Pooka laughed at how synchronized they were. "they say hi. hey, do you wanna send them a selfie?"

"what's a selfie?"

"here, I'll show you."

Pooka turned on the front-facing camera, and leaned into Bjorn.

"say cheese!"

it wasn't the most flattering of pictures, but it did the trick. soon after, the girls sent selfies of their own. he knew that Nymph and Celise were together, since they shared an apartment, so it didn't shock him when those two shared a picture. Cassie threw up a peace sign and a silly face in hers. Pooka showed the pictures to Bjorn, who laughed and asked him to show him what else the phone could do.

they spent hours scrolling through memes and playing silly puzzle games and watching stupid videos. it made them forget that they were from two separate planets, and really separate times. they were just together, and laughing, and having fun.

part one

[mynnthia]

was talking with a friend about how some of dunmeshi fаndom misunderstands kabru's initial feelings towards laios.

to sum up kabru's situation via a self-contained modernized metaphor:

kabru is like a guy who lost his entire family in a highly traumatic car accident. years later he joins a discord server and takes note of laios, another server member who seems interesting, so they start chatting. then laios reveals his special interest and favorite movie of all time is David Cronenberg's Crash (1996), and invites kabru to go watch a demolition derby with him

[yooniesim]

I know nobody gives a shit about this in comparison so posting a save file with uncredited builds in it, but reminder of that time @mapanou started calling me out of name and spewing hateful nazi ideology at me out of nowhere just bc i made a lukewarm criticism of a paywaller and I dared to say black people are often criticized more for being angry... but since only one of my parents are black that ain't allowed 😬 some of yall acted like this was okay but I didn't forget it, I notice how some of their friends are acting all betrayed now bc their homie turned out to be a sims content thief but you knew who you were laying down with clearly. You were glad to support an extremely nasty ass person when the vitriol was directed at me, but God forbid someone not credit a build! anyway guess who was struck down and it wasn't me bitch 💀

That aside, since the insufferable cunt had the nerve to mention the One Drop Rule, which has been used as a tool to discriminate against all black people and keep their mixed offspring othered for as many generations as possible, here's some sources on what it actually refers to (and some related articles about the struggles of mixed race people). It's a method of discrimination by white supremacists, not a way for mixed race people that you think are unworthy of speaking to "claim" to be black. If you're lurking, mapanou, i hope you and your friends read them and understand something you should have already at your "very big age".

One Drop Rule on Wikipedia (for the basic concept + more sources)

How The "One Drop Rule" Became a Tool of White Supremacy

How The Nazis Were Inspired by Jim Crow

Understanding the Stressors and Types of Discrimination That Can Affect Multiracial Individuals

Exploring Black mixed-race experiences of Black rejection

Not Enough Or Double The Prejudice: On Being Black & Asian American

Why Imposter Syndrome Goes Deep for Multiracial People

When Your Own Family Is Racist Toward You

^ the basic gist for the lazy. and just an added bit. I don't know if mapanou has ever seen me, because I barely know them and certainly didn't share with them, but I have been doxxed plenty and my pics probably shared to them by others and im obviously not white though i am light skinned. im very proud of my dark natural hair, brown eyes, thick lips and big nose that I all got from my father. I have nothing to prove nor hide about who I am. I am black and asian and white and I love every part of what makes me, me. I am mixed race and if you don't believe or like me as I am that's your problem not mine. just wanna clear that up for all the people that may have been confused about it. and for all my followers that are mixed, especially black and asian, I love you and you have a place here. your voices and experiences are valuable and you deserve to be heard. that's all I got to say.

[loud-whistling-yes]

nobody touch me i just read kj encore and SO NO ONE'S GONNA FUCKING TALK ABOUT HACHI COMPETING WITH JOKER TO BECOME A THIEF???????

[soumic]

About once a day I go through the mental gymnastics of going "god I should probably make an art insta, for ~professional purposes~ and ~networking~ and ~cultivating an audience~"

And then I scrunch my face up so hard my features cave inside my skull thinking about conceding to using an algorithmic social media platform in 2023, let alone a facebook product

(please don't take this as a call to suggest alternative social medias to me sdlkfjs I mega super promise you I am aware of them)

[aroace-number-eight]

When you were too passionate in the tags (and hit tag limit) that Tumblr starts breaking around you

[pankomako]

sometimes i think about interactions boat and i have had and things he's said to/about me over the years and it makes me feel as though i must occupy some little space in his heart. like i live in his mind rent-free the way he does for me, although not nearly to the same extent lmao.

speak of the goddamn devil i just got a steam notification he's playing tf2

anyway i never thought i'd have that kind of effect on a person, much less my favorite content creator. but it sure appears to be that way, and idk. it makes me feel special. warms my heart n all that :)

[caruliaa]

deciding if i want my text post about my father for today becuase too many would be whiny to be about how i get very terrifed anytime he raises his voice and thats prob not normal (which i already knew but yk) or a snarky "how come my dads on discord i though that site just pushed and agenda and tricked people into thinking theyre gay? that why i wasnt allowed it right?"

[protector-utahime-miku]

59 56 79 everyone!

//lol

TW: IMPLIED BULLYING AND SA, AND (STATED) DEATH

(plain text: trigger warning: implied bullying and sexual assault, and (stated) death. end plain text)

and also probably mischaracterization of kitsune because of reasons in the tags.

59. how different are you from the little kid you used to be?

🎶: quite a bit!! i've seen a lot more stuff in the past two millenniums... but i still love to sing! ♪( ´▽｀)

🎀: aha... ummm... i'm much cuter now! and... i'm... not the same happy kid i was before.

🤖: similarly, i'm happier about myself... in some aspects. however...

⭐️: ... very different... aha, d- don't worry about it though! i'm... a star! yeah! that's all that changed...

🦊: i'm pretty similar! but also not the same, aha! it hasn't been the same since...

56. when's a time when you felt real genuine fear?

🎶: it was looong ago, before i became who i am now. when i slipped into that lake and almost drowned... another time is when i saw... what was beyond reality. it's dark and lonely...

🎀: ... it was... when they... m- my middle school classmates, that is... they... th- ... i can't say it. i just can't. s- sorry, aha...

🤖: ... ah... i... i'm not sure i could answer this one, even if i wanted to... i- i was just trying to make friends...

⭐️: e- eh?! what k-kind of a question is that?! a- a true star ne- never feels fear!!! ... i... but i can't be a star. not anymore. after that..?! how... could i be one?

🦊: ... when i learned about about what she had. i was scared she'd die... and... i was right. obasan... i miss you...

79. what's something you wish you could change about yourself?

🎶: i mean, if i want to do that, i can just change at will! in fact... hehe, most of the time i'm not even in my original form, but instead a slightly modified version! guess what i changed! (⌒▽⌒)

🎀: uh... i wish i could change my body, like utahime can. unfortunately she can't give me that ability now. i can turn into animals, though! [briefly, they turn into a pink ragdoll cat. and after letting out a small meow, they turn back.] ehe, see? but... i also wish i could get rid of... the lingering feeling of their touch...

🤖: it's the same answer as kokoro, that being my body. although i can turn into animals, just like they can~! sometimes, we spend time meowing at each other as cats, fufu~ it's quite fun! although... getting rid of the feelings of their hands... does sound nice...

⭐️: SO many things!! my hair is too long!! but i'm a girl, so- I- I MEAN- NOT THAT GIRLS CAN'T HAVE SHORT HAIR, OF COURSE!!!!! it's just... aha... it's hard to explain!! and my chest is too big, too!! i hate it!! but again, i'm a girl! and just my body in general!! and... a.. aha... i... i want... to be innocent again i mean- what? i said nothing...!!!

🦊: there's only really one thing i want to change! but... it is kind of personal information. and besides, i've learned to live with it!

[notanotherblorbo]

The problem with having friends is that I want to hang out all the time and do things for 1 million years but I am also. Tired. And having a job. And having a family that has a bunch of shit going on all the times.

[autistickfigure]

i think im gonna have to put them down ..

[sreegs]

I reblogged it earlier but I'm glad the Something Awful Forums 9/11 thread was archived because it's an incredibly important slice of internet history. For the record I think 9/11 was thousands of personal tragedies for the direct victims of the attacks but one big national farce that led to America's ongoing slide into fascism, and the nationalism and remembrance around it is a joke especially in the wake of the same amount of deaths every fucking day in the US during the height of coronavirus.

Nevertheless I think it's important that if you do not remember because you were too young or just didn't exist on Sept 11, 2001 to read the Something Awful 9/11 forums to get an idea of what the internet was like at the moment when America changed to 24 hour news cycles and renewed hyper-nationalism not seen since WWII.

This all happened before Twitter, Facebook, before Discord. Before smart phones. Before most people had cell phones. When a lot of people still had dial-up internet, even. Some people in the thread were relying on radio because internet and TV weren't keeping up.

It was a live event of internet denizens reacting to the biggest national event (and among the biggest international events) of the past 25 years. It was also a slice of what the internet was like at the turn of the millennium. Not only that, but people accurately calling out who was responsible, and what would result before the attacks even finished.

Keep in mind that the links that follow contain images of the event, lots of Islamophobia, people calling for the Middle East to be nuked, people blaming Palestine, casual racist and homophobic language (this was Something Awful after all), etc etc. They preserved the first 17 pages which spanned about 24 hours during the events. It's the origin of the "WATCH BUSH START A FUCKING WAR" screenshot.

Links under the fold. I've also annotated the pages with notes regarding the timeline and any posts of interest. Note the thread was preserved in Pacific Time even though the page says times are Eastern. That's incorrect. Post timestamps are 3 hours behind Eastern Time, which is the time zone where the attacks occurred:

Page 1 - Note the first post was edited to include images of the second attack. The thread started after the first plane hit. Second plane hitting the WTC happens here too.

Page 2 - Poster accurately calling out Bin Laden was responsible at 9:14 AM EST

Page 3 - "WATCH BUSH START A FUCKING WAR"

Page 4

Page 5 - First official acknowledgement it was a terrorist attack.

Page 6 - Pentagon hit

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9 - Commercial flights grounded by FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)

Page 10 - First mention of towers collapsing at end of page

Page 11 - More reactions to collapse of first tower. People thinking it was a bomb or yet another plane. Rumors about a fourth plane just missing the White House (these are false and predate the actual 4th plane crash by minutes)

Page 12

Page 13 - By this point there's just rampant speculation about more bombs at the WTC, the US Capitol building being hit, etc (all false). Remember this is all just people reacting to TV news and radio and the rumor mill via phone, AIM, IRC, and maybe text messages.

Page 14 - By this point internet news sites are overwhelmed

Page 15 - Second tower collapses. First acknowledgement of the fourth plane that crashed in PA.

Page 16 - There's an abrupt time jump in the threads, I think it was the result of admins pruning the activity or the SA forums going down. This page starts on 9/12 even though it is page 16. American flag signatures and ribbons start appearing.

Page 17

[ailesswhumptober]

Prompts for AI-less Whumptober 2024

As promised, we're bringing you the official prompt list of AI-less Whumptober 2024 today!

We have 31 days of excellent whump prompts, with three prompts per day to pick from, fun themes, and 10 alt prompts to play around with. We hope you enjoy! Additional info + plain text versions of the prompts can be found under the cut.

FAQ and Rules

What sort of content can I create for this event?

You can create whatever you want (fic, art, edits, etc). Any fandom is allowed, as well as OC stuff. NSFW is allowed, but please tag your content accordingly! The only thing not allowed is AI-generated content.

Do I need to make 31 things to participate?

Oh heavens no! You can make as much or as little content as you like, skip days when desired, or combine prompts (so for example, write something that covers a prompt from day 1, 2, AND 3). You don't have to do the days in order either, go wild! To be considered a 'completionist', you only have to make sure that at the end of the month, you've covered 31 prompts from 31 different days, but whether you do that in 31 works or just 1 is up to you.

What are these alts about?

If none of the three prompts of a particular day are your cup of tea, you can swap them out for an alt prompt of your choice.

What are these themes about?

Just a little bit of extra fun for the mods. Like last year, we'll be handing out various badges for people participating in the event. A full list can be found here, perhaps there is a special badge or two for people who can't be completionists but who do manage to finish every single day of a specific theme ;)

How do I tag and is there an AO3 collection?

It suffices to tag your work with #ailesswhumptober for us to see and reblog it! Please also tag nsfw, since we'll be using that tag too. Tagging the day is optional but does help the mods along.

There is an AO3 collection to add your fics to here.

That should be all. If you have any additional questions, check our pinned or hit us up in the ask box. Or join our discord maybe, whumping can be a great group activity!

---

Plain text versions of the prompts:

October 1 - Torture Tuesday

public torture/public use, stress position, “If you cry, we’ll go easy on you.”

October 2 - Whumperless Wednesday

Unfortunate fall, car accident, “Don’t move. You’ll be okay.”

October 3 - Trauma Thursday

Shared trauma, survivor’s guilt, “It’s not your fault.”

October 4 - Fright/Freaky Friday

Painful transformation, non-consensual body modifications, “You’re a monster.”

October 5 - Sensory Saturday

Overstimulation, migraines, “I can’t take this anymore.”

October 6 - Surprise Sunday

Multiple whumpees, self sacrifice, “I’m the only one who can do this.”

October 7 - Medical Monday

Field medicine, running out of supplies, “Hold on, we’re going to have to improvise.”

October 8 - Torture Tuesday

Rope burns, gagged, “You’re so much prettier this way.”

October 9 - Whumperless Wednesday

Hypothermia, heatstroke, “You look pretty pale.”

October 10 - Trauma Thursday

Self worth issues, pushing away a loved one, “You don't need to earn this.”

October 11 - Fright/Freaky Friday

Hallucinations, truth serum, “Why would you even say that?”

October 12 - Sensory Saturday

Isolation, sensory deprivation, “Can you feel me? I’m right here, whumpee.”

October 13 - Surprise Sunday

Whumpee using themself as bait, defiance, “Take me instead.”

October 14 - Medical Monday

Seizures, concussion, “See if you can follow my finger with your eyes.”

October 15 - Torture Tuesday

Waterboarding, removing body parts, “Don’t break down on me yet.”

October 16 - Whumperless Wednesday

Drowning, hostile environment, “I don’t know how anybody could survive that.”

October 17 - Trauma Thursday

Abandonment, misunderstanding, “Why did I even think you cared?”

October 18 - Fright/Freaky Friday

Mind control, possession, “Everybody will end up despising you.”

October 19 - Sensory Saturday

Disassociation, losing a sense, “I wish I could get you back.”

October 20 - Surprise Sunday

Enemy/Stranger to caretaker, accidental de-aging, “I’m absolutely not qualified for this shit.”

October 21 - Medical Monday

Drugged, ambulance ride, “This will make you feel better, okay?”

October 22 - Torture Tuesday

Forced (to kneel/watch/hurt somebody else), whipped, “Do not look away.” October 23 - Whumperless Wednesday

Fever, passing out, “Hey?! Stay with me, okay?!”

October 24 - Trauma Thursday

Deconditioning, relapse, “It’s normal that you need more time.”

October 25 - Fright/Freaky Friday

Humiliation, betrayal, “How could you?!”

October 26 - Sensory Saturday

Electrocution, burning, “This is going to sting.”

October 27 - Surprise Sunday

Before vs after, Alternate universe, “Well, there’s a first for everything.”

October 28 - Medical Monday

Internal bleeding, needles and stitches, “I didn’t think the wound was that bad…”

October 29 - Torture Tuesday

Ownership, branding, “Everybody will know that you’re mine.”

October 30 - Whumperless Wednesday

Poison, delirium, “You’re not making sense.”

October 31 - Trauma Thursday

Panic attack, facing a phobia, “You need to get out of here!”

Alt prompts:

1) Pistol whipped

2) Co-dependency

3) Animal bite

4) Zombies

5) White room torture

6) Shock collar

7) Pulling teeth

8) Kidnapping

9) “You always make everything worse!”

10) “If you weren’t around, I’d be long dead by now...”

[hexiva]

Roleplay Is Not Dead Nor Doth It Sleep

There's a post going around about how text-based, freeform roleplay is dead, and I was typing up a huge response to this, with an accompanying guide on how to find roleplayer in 2024, when I realized it might have a bigger reach if I made it its own post. So here's that guide.

I hesitate to say that there isn't a problem with the new format of social media making roleplay more difficult to find, but in the desire to make that point, the OP of the original post has left people with the idea that there's no way for them to get into freeform text roleplay in 2024. Which just isn't true! Here, look at all the ways.

Forums

The link to RPG-Directory to find roleplaying forums is a good start. Once you've found a forum RPG, even if you don't join, there's usually an 'advertising' section on that forum where other forum RPGs post their ads - this may help you to find forums that don't advertise on RPG-D.

Another really good forum to find roleplay on is Barbermonger. Barbermonger is focused on connecting people for one-on-one roleplays.

This last one's going to be weird, but it turns out that there are still people seeking roleplay on the Gaia Online forums after all these years. I think this is delightfully retro and then crowd there seems a little older than average. No pre-existing knowledge of Gaia required.

Tumblr

You can also find forum roleplay groups (as well as tumblr and Discord groups) right here on Tumblr. Usually, the thing to do is to use the search function - search for "[genre] rp" or "[fandom] rp" and sort by "latest." (If you sort by Top, you are likely to find dead RPs.) For example, here's fantasy rp, historical rp, and marvel rp. You can also try jcink rp, as most roleplay forums are hosted on Jcink these days, or discord rp, depending on your favored platform.

There are also tumblr blogs specifically dedicated to advertising roleplays. I'm not super familiar with these nowadays, but just in the process of searching those tags above, I found these:

Jcink Tinder

RPG Adverts

RPings

There are more, I just don't know them off the top of my head.

Reddit

Listen, don't run away, I swear it's good now - I swear Reddit is good now -

Reddit is a good place to find Discord roleplays. It's a little heavier on smut-only roleplays than other platforms mentioned here, but it's not impossible to find sexless, plot-based roleplay here either. Most ads are for one on one RP, but you can find groups mixed in here too. The big subreddits for text-based freeform RP seem to be:

r/DiscordRP

r/RoleplayPartnerSearch

r/roleplaying

r/Roleplay

Some of these have weird rules about what you can put in your ad, and I don't remember which ones, so read carefully and don't get discouraged if your ad is initially removed.

Discord

In 2024, Discord is by far the biggest and most popular platform for roleplay, and it has its own native roleplay advertising hubs. Here are a bunch:

roleplay partner hub

Rockin Roleplay

The Roleplay Garden

roleplay help

the roleplay connection

RP Central

Roleplay Central

Roleplay Hub

Barbermonger also has a Discord server

Roleplay Meets: Reborn

RP Hub

The Scribes Guild

DM Rp Village

cherry blossom! roleplay hub

DM-RP

Roleplay Round Table (21+)

The Historical Syndicate (specifically for historical roleplay)

The Roleplayer's Directory

If you can't find the Discord roleplay you want on here, you can also try Discord hub websites, like Disboard. These work similar to tumblr tags - search for [genre] rp or [fandom] rp.

Other

The original post specifically mentions that 'all the old "omegle but for role play" type websites died out ages ago'. This is mostly true, but not quite! There's still Rolechat. It's a little janky, but what it needs more than anything is a bigger user base. Their Discord server is also a good place to find one on one discord roleplay. It is, of course, free, but if you want to support its development, they have a patreon.

Please reblog this post, and add your own tips on how to find roleplay!

[felassan]

John Epler in the BioWare Discord (August 7th) -

John: "You can disable/enable helmets for cutscenes or at all times." --- User: "Will we be able to collect codex entries again?" John: "Absolutely. Codex entries are part of the series' DNA - plus, they're really fun to write." --- User: "Are there long curly hair options?" John: "There are!" --- User: "Are sub-classes locked to the faction you’re in?" John: "No. They're themed towards factions, but you can choose a specialization from a separate faction than your own." --- User: "Will subtitles from companions be on screen with their icons lit up like in Inquisition?" John: "Subtitles will appear center-screen and have the speaker name attached. So you'll see who's saying what." --- User: "Regarding the cutscenes findable in the game, will a gallery be available for re-watch?" John: "Not at present, no. Since our cutscenes are (almost all) real-time in-engine, this would be nearly impossible with our tech."

[character limit text break!]

User: "What are the chances for a third World of Thedas volume after The Veilguard's release?" John: "I can't comment on specific plans, but World of Thedas is close to my heart and I'd love to do more in general with our ancillary books and products, once we're able to come up for air from the game." --- User: "Can we edit our race during character creator freely or are we locked in by choosing race first like in inquisition?" John: "Lineage informs a number of options after that choice - you can always go back in CC and change it, but it's the first decision you will make and changing it will reset the following decisions." --- User: "I did have a follow-up on lineage - do the other lineages/races also have background choices the way elves do with city/dalish? CAN we play a qunari raised within the Qun?" John: "So a couple of things, just to be super clear on this. There is no 'city elf/dalish elf' switch (for example) that you can pick in character creator. Each lineage can be each faction, though, and that will provide a baseline for your character you can further refine through role playing. For Elves, as an example - Veil Jumper elves tend to be more 'Dalish' to reflect that background, while Shadow Dragon elves tend to have a background that reflects being an Elf in Minrathous. Other factions have their own nuance. Importantly, those things tend to be more focused on how you relate to that faction, while leaving more general 'Elf' topics as something you have more freedom with. Or, TLDR - while choices at CC define some baselines around your character, we like to give you the opportunity to build your character's background and beliefs through in-game RP. Hopefully all that makes sense." User: "That does, and is right in line with what Corinne said during the Q&A! I was asking whether we would see the same background variety in the non-elven lineages." John: "Yes! Sorry, that's what I was trying to answer - there will be plenty of opportunities to RP who you are/were as the other lineages as well."

[character limit text break!]

User: "are there companions gifts again" John: "Isn't the gift of your presence enough? More seriously, though - you very well might find things in the world that certain companions would appreciate!" --- John: "Rook is generally assumed to be anywhere from late 20s to late 40s, but ultimately we don't give Rook a specific age. You can RP them to be however old you want." --- User: "will conversations be zoomed in like a cutscene type or zoomed out like in DAI?" John: "While we do have some 'lighter' conversations for specific types of content, they use a more traditional over-the-shoulder cinematic camera. I created the simple conversation system in DAI and while it did what we needed it to do, we heard the feedback on the camera loud and clear." --- User: "The darkspawn look fairly different in veilguard. Is ot a simple redisgn like the demons or is it due to them being enhanced by red lyrium?" John: "I'm not going to tell you WHAT it is that's making them look different, since that's a spoiler, but it's more than just a visual redesign." --- John: "Need and inspiration, mostly. We can't bring in every single animal out there, especially since we want the ones we DO put in the game to be at the right level of quality. So we pick the ones that we know make sense in the spaces we're building, and also it's based on what the team wants to do. If someone is incredibly passionate about bringing in a specific creature, it's something we want to give opportunities to pursue wherever possible. As to the general ecology of Thedas - there are absolutely similarities, but it's not 1:1. A world where megafauna still exist as apex predators (dragons) is going to have some pretty significant impact on what else exists." --- User: "does the lighthouse have a kitchen, can we eat and drink? what sort interactables are there at the home base" John: "Not going to get into specifics on interactables, but there is more to do in the Lighthouse than conversations with companions. The Lighthouse does have a kitchen, and your companions acknowledge it/use it both narratively and ambiently. Some maybe better than others." John: "A little more expansion on this - we want the Lighthouse to feel like a 'real space' as much as possible. That means making it a space that makes sense and, eventually, feels like home to you and your team. It also means spending a little extra time on how the companions (and Rook) use and exist in the space. At this point we've made a LOT of personal hub spaces in DA and ME, and we've learned a lot from doing so." --- John: "It wouldn't be a DA game if we didn't have some returning characters. We've shown some of the more obvious ones, and hinted at others, but we want to keep some surprises for launch."

[source: the official BioWare Discord]

[gor3sigil]

Trans drag performers deserve better.

Okay so since y'all seem interested, here we go.

[This is about MY experience as a “former” transmasc drag king, in my local scene. This isn't representative of the drag scene as a whole because drag is a wide, huge scene with pretty much any type of people in it. I have never done paid gig. I only performed a couple of times before deciding to stop.]

I discovered drag with RuPaul like a lot of people, and for a long time, I only knew about drag queens. It’s when I learned about an initiation to drag king happening in my town that I decided to try it. I did a bit of research before the event took place and that's how I learned that drag king is widely undocumented, compared to drag queen. A bit disheartening but I was excited to do something new and especially to get back in my local queer community after 2 years or so of “no contact” with it because trauma (see my post about my first T4T relationship to understand why).

First surprise when I got there, I was the only transmasc present as an attendee. The organiser and person who teached us is agender and go by he/him, and his at the time SO is a transmasc enby but appart from them, I was the only trans person. Most of the others were cis lesbian women. Makes sense. The initiation weekend went really well and we ended up performing in an open scene at the end. I can't count the amount of times I got misgendered by other kings during this weekend and I have to say, it pissed me off so fucking bad because I was the only one getting consistantly misgendered. But I brushed it off and had a blast.

My drag persona is more of a dragula king, really goth, and I did a lipsync performance on a Black Dresses song. I loved it and had a blast. A year or so later, we decided with other drag kings to do a little group to perform together.

Once again, I'm the only trans person.

And that's when the shitshow kinda happened. From all the drag kings present, I was also the only one who wasn't already part of a collective. So the group we had was composed of people from 2 collectives who would basically cheer each other out at every show, and it's great !! But I wasn't being integrated into the group, and I felt defeated. One of the main reasons why I didn't go to drag shows was because I was FLAT BROKE. I couldn't attend these events as they were always or in a bar so you have to at least buy a drink, or had a fee, and I couldn't afford that.

We started doing rehearsals and I set up a discord server for us all to use and organize the said rehearsals. It soon became apparent that they weren't really serious about this group, that they were more involved in their own collectives and it was HELL to have at least one rehearsal a month. But we had a show scheduled for september, and half of the kings weren't ready, didn't know their texts nor songs. I knew it was going to be bad. Also we were confirmed that the gig was going to actually happen 3 days only before, because the people who said they were going to do the visuals NEVER DID and we had to fumble something quick so the event was promoted very fucking late and we weren't sure we could even afford to do it, because not many tickets were sold.

During the rehearsals I got singled out for everything. My voice was dropping because of the T (I had started 8 months prior) and I tried to do my best with the singing parts but got told a few times that my low voice would sound “weird” amongst the sopranos. Also, one of the solo part a king was going to perform was on a very upbeat music and he said we could join IF WE WANTED.

I said I'd pass since it wasn't my style at all.

And when we got to the venue, the venue didn't have any backstage and I had my solo part just after that, so I couldn't just stand there on stage and do nothing. The others in my group KNEW IT as they had performed in this venue BEFORE but just told me “oh, too bad, improvise something” when they were the same ones who told me that taking part in the number was not mandatory.

Regarding the other artists, man, I hated everything. I got misgendered constantly IN KING LIKE - I'M A DRAG KING FFS. Even by others in my group.

When I corrected another performer, a cis gay dude, he laughed at my FACE and told me “but you're trans aren't you like, against gender or something ?”. As I was pre op and still early in my transition I was basically outing myself everytime I told my pronouns and I got so many cis performers ask me invasive questions about my sex life, or being like “yeah I have a trans friend who goes by X but I knew them as Y so it's Y to me but it's not in a disrespectful way you see”.

So yeah, I didn't have a great night. :)

The cis kings called me “girl” or “sis” because “I'm one of them” even after telling them time and time again that I wasn't comfortable with that.

And after this quite disastrous experience, the same ones who called me “girl” and me got into an argument because they wanted to change a song about forced toxic masculinity which is an INCREDIBLY POWERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL SONG into lyrics to talk about femininity. I said that we could use another song then, because there's so few cis men singers who sing about being forced into toxic masculinity and virility that I found that a bit disrespectful to take this important message and make it about women and femininity. There's plenty of songs about that that we could use.

And now guess what ? I was a MEAN MAN who wanted women to NOT TALK ABOUT THEIR ISSUES because I was a very MANLY DUDE DISGUSTING MALE.

The same people who couldn't gender me correctly and called me “sis” a WEEK BEFORE.

So yeah, I got the fuck out and gave up.

I really wish I can perform again one day, but it'll be in another scene.

So PSA: book drag kings, because they are so underrepresented it's disheartening, RESPECT trans drag performers, don't but bioessentialism in drag for the LOVE OF GOD IT'S DRAG. Like imagine being transphobic as a DRAG PERFORMER. Learn the history. And fucking do better.