#and no I won’t give context to this image >:3

[pastelanthophila]

Fulfilling a wish of yours >:3c.. Is your OC monstrous in any way? Is there something that makes them monstrous? Are they aware of their own monstrosity? Do they accept it or reject it?

Oooooo this is a good question with many implications…but to answer your question… Depends on your definition of monstrous really :3

(Alt under the cut)

[irrealisms]

diptych || a c!crimeboys web weave

[sources and IDs under cut]

The first collage is a collection of 14 images.

Image 1: A human hands a raccoon a gun. It is the same image CC!Wilbur sent CC!Tommy with the caption "Me passing the dirty crime boy title to you."

Image 2: Question 4 of 15 Do you love your brother? Answers, please choose 1

Image 3: WILBUR: This isn't just a silly river delta to me anymore, it's got a name, it's got a story, it's— it's L’Manberg, and it's … to me it's, it's you.

Image 4: A painting of Cain and Abel. Cain holds a club in one hand and Abel's wrist in the other as they walk forward. While it is in the background and mostly covered by the other images, their faces and hands are visible.

Image 5: Question 5 of 15 Liar. You feel guilty, don't you? Answers, please choose 1

Image 6: A screenshot from The Fall by SAD-ist. Wilbur has his hand on Tommy's shoulder and is leaning forward to speak to him. Tommy looks anxious.

Image 7: "Am I my brother's keeper?"

Image 8: A piece of paper pinned to the wall, reading "Someone is looking up to you. Don't let that person down." In the context of the collage, it is pinned onto Wilbur's sleeve/upper arm from the SAD-ist screenshot.

Image 9: Question 6 of 15 But you're the one that left him. Answers, please choose 1 [check mark next to the selected answer] I wanted to and I wanted it to hurt him so he could let go of me.

Image 10: WILBUR: I’m glad, Tommy! You know what, I’m glad! Because me and you were never good for that server. We just weren’t!

Image 11: When I close my eyes I'm climbing in the dark Trying not to fall apart Sometimes I get so high Falling is the only out I see And I don't wanna take you down with me

Image 12: a softer world comic. the text reads "At my worst, I worry you'll realize/you deserve better./At my best, I worry you won't."

Image 13: Question 7 of 15 Do you think your brother loves you? Answers, please choose 1

Image 14: WILBUR: Tommy, come over here, please, I— Tommy, I was scared I wouldn’t see you again if you didn’t forgive me. And I didn’t want to not see you again.

The second image is a collage of 11 images.

Image 1: WILBUR: You love it, don’t you, Tommy? You love… L’Manberg…

Image 2: a softer sea comic. the text reads "You're my brother and I love you./That's it./No punchline."

Image 3: A painting of two men standing next to each other. they look similar. the one on the right puts his hand flat above both of their heads, sheltering them; the one on the left has his hand up to touch the hand of the one on the right. the painting is titled My Brother's Keeper.

Image 4: I will stand in the dark for you I will hold you back by force I will stand here right outside your door I won’t see you disgraced I will protect your name and your heart Because I miss my friend

Image 5: A screenshot from Final Waltz by SAD-ist. Wilbur has his hand on Tommy's shoulder. Tommy looks up at him.

Image 6: In essence, the entire Bible is written as an affirmative response to this question.

Image 7: TOMMY: I believe that everyone’s got a little bit of good in them. And I know that Wilbur had good in him. Alright?

Image 8: This is no garden. This is my brother and I need a shovel to love him.

Image 9: A collage of an open book with forests, butterflies, etc. the text reads: i care for you still and i will forever.

Image 10: A painting of two young boys wading in the ocean and holding hands. The smaller one has spiderman swim trunks.

Image 11: TOMMY: It’s not about chances, Foolish. It’s about making sure you don’t give up on the people you care about.

[purple-obsidian]

Your fic and your Ak Jason man, aaaaaauuughhh it's getting the brainrot even harder

I wanted to know your take on your ak Jason with a reader that treats him with the most gentle touch, the sweetest words (probably a reader with a savior complex). Cause I got the picture of Jason being defensive as hell as he feels like some kind of 'healing project' for reader or a charity case

thank you, my dearest anon <3 I am so happy that you enjoy!

i think you’re right, jay would get defensive and possibly angry at reader if he felt like he was being treated like a charity case. he’s very much in a state of mind where he’s trying to restore his dignity [after joker stripped him of it, to put it lightly.] I don’t think jason is the type to care too much about what others think, but he does, at this point, demand respect from his men and reader, even if he doesn’t give respect back. so being coddled or infantalized has the potential of pissing him off.

but in the same breath, i think jason would secretly enjoy being doted on in such a way. in my own au/storyline, i imagine him and reader were dating before he died, but they were like 16 or 17, super young and still in the honeymoon stage. they never really fought a whole lot, every real memory jason has of reader is a good one, filled with the excitement of being desired by someone for the first time and reciprocating love. having reader be extra gentle and accommodating to him and his needs would reinforce that idealized image of her in his head, and make him feel even safer with her.

the reoccurring theme here is the back and forth, the mood swings, the instability of his mental state and ego.

a lot of his reaction would depend on the context. in front of his goons or other criminals, he would be embarrassed and pissed at reader if they were to be all sweet and gentle with him. [in ‘say it back’, I briefly referenced a time where reader told jason she loved him in front of his militia and he just laughed at her, same energy here.]

if they were alone, i think he would tolerate it or even play along until reader said something to set him off. in ‘let go’, we see him stay calm and level-headed while reader is patching him up, but as soon as she challenges him and his way of thinking, he’s triggered and has an extremely emotional response.

i didn’t want portray reader in that ‘savior complex’ way, though. thats one of the struggles for me with doing reader inserts instead of oc’s. for complex storylines like this, it’s hard to not imbue reader with some personality or assume what they would do. but i wanted to show that reader is also very much at war within herself, knowing jason’s treatment of her is wrong but being so in love with him and worried for his well-being that she can’t bring herself to abandon him, even if it would be well within her right to do so.

remember, jason was robin. the best of the best. a shining star among the ever-growing darkness that is gotham. he used to be her hero, everyone’s hero, and she still sees him in that light, and hopes he will find himself, hopes that her love and support will be enough to fill the dark void in his heart. not because she sees herself as his savior, but because she knows jason won’t let anyone else get close to him or help him, and she just wants him to be happy. which is why i am trying to write her as extremely tolerant but still confident enough to challenge him or correct him on things. she wants to remind him who he is, and encourage him to be better. she’s also, of course, somewhat scared of him now too, which brings up a whole other topic. i have another ask in my inbox talking about that so i’ll save it for later.

tldr; having reader be extra gentle and sweet with him would probably confuse his emotions even more, adding to his ups and downs, resulting in more yelling but also open him up to some more moments of vulnerability. deep down he craves such gentleness, but he struggles with allowing himself to accept it because of his deep-seeded insecurities that were exacerbated by jokers torture and manipulation.

thanks for the ask!

xoxo sid

[demonqueenart]

hi I'm still learning about all of the stuff you talk about on your blog but I have the meet and greet package in portland and I was wondering if (god forbid) they haven't addressed any of this by then, we are allowed to give them a letter and if it would be a good idea to write about this stuff in the letter to try and bring it to their attention? or have other people already thought of this?! I'm still more ignorant than I should be on this issue, but I'm gonna work on remedying that and I want to try to help but I don't want to go about it wrong.

Oh, anon :( I'm sorry you have to find out about this now. My heart goes out to you. 

I have heard of the letter idea before, I imagine it's something people will start to do if dnp were not to address this by then. I've talked to a friend who's in the same situation as mine, and they said they didn't think it's a good idea, since that would be pressuring dnp and it would only lead them to stress out and not take action even further. But to me personally, I can't even imagine how people would be able to not bring it up in an m&g if they haven't addressed it by then lol, since a lot of people are aware of it and understand it by now, and it would be awkward to just pretend it didn't exist, yk? : "Hey, the tour’s great! So uh, why haven't you addressed the racism thing?" Lmaooo. 

At that point, I think it's much better if they come to terms with it themselves. That way, they'll be in more control and have a much better result. And I imagine if this was out publicly by having people speaking about it during the tour, that would have hurt their image a lot.

Either way, anon, I appreciate you trying to find ways to help :) But for now, I think we need to believe in them and hope for the best that they'll bring it to light soon. Sending much love to your way (✿˵ ꒡3꒡˵)৴♡*

Auto-message: This ask’s purpose is to acknowledge dnp’s past/present exclusivity, not to cancel them! But to embrace mistakes that they’ve made so that 1. we won’t exclude people in need in this community, and 2. we can normalize bringing up exclusivity so that improvement can happen. Hopefully this will one day help dnp realize that this is a safe space for them to talk about their mistakes, so that this space can become safe for people of all kinds too <3

*If you don’t understand what is happening, scroll through my blog for context. And I’ll be taking time to answer my asks, so don’t think I’m ignoring youuu*

[luminousbeings-crudematter]

Please would you write Simon going down on the reader from your series <3 <3 please I love your writing so much!!!

Anon, I am SO sorry that you had to wait LITERALLY 3 MONTHS for this, but I hope you like it!

PAIRING: Simon “Ghost” Riley x F!Reader 

WARNINGS: somnophilia, pussy-drunk Simon, no plot, 18+ only

LENGTH: 1.2k

(More Situationship Simon here.)

____

You’re dreaming.  

You have to be, because you feel good, something’s making you feel so good, your core feels so warm and wet and you’re floating in that strange lucidity of being aware of your surroundings but missing their context.  

You try to dissociate, try to fall back asleep so you can continue swimming in the feeling until you hear a groan, deep and pained.  You know that sound, you’ve heard it before, where have you heard it before—

“Wake up for me, love.”

The voice is deep and muffled, and carries a distant, dream-like quality to it.  But it’s quiet for a few moments after and you think maybe you’ve just imagined it.   You’re warm and safe and cosy, there’s a familiar and comforting weight on your thighs, and the edges of your thoughts start to slowly trail off again.  

But then you feel a sharp nip on the inside of your thigh—it’s like being jolted awake and your eyes fly open.  Waking up is so sudden that you’re not at all prepared for what you’re seeing, and it takes your brain a second to realise what’s happening right now.

Simon’s on his knees on the floor in front of you.  That’s not the bit that surprises you.  What does take your exhausted brain a second to compute is that your body is at the edge of your bed, your legs spread wide-eagle.  His mask is pushed up to the bridge of his nose, and his hands are on your thighs, holding them open for his busy mouth.  

Oh fuck.  You briefly wonder how long he’s been giving you this particular brand of his attention and even as you watch him, he lifts your legs gently and brings them to sit over each of his shoulders, scooting his body slightly closer to you. 

One arm disappears under the bed, and you can hear him, fuck you can hear him stroking himself.  His arm moves quickly, and the graceless movement of his hand creates a sound that is wet and sloppy and if you hadn’t completely melted on to the covers underneath you before, you’re pretty sure all that’s left of you is a puddle now. 

“There she is,” he mumbles, and you finally drag your eyes up to meet his.  He watches you with dark eyes and you wonder what he’ll say next, except his mouth is preoccupied on account of trying to change your life with the way he’s eating you.   

How can something he’s done for you a dozen times before feel just as thrilling, just as good as that mind-bending first time?  For one, you think, Simon’s enthusiasm never falters—he knows what makes you feel good, he knows how to bring you to that edge and push you into freefall—and he only proves this when a flick to your clit makes your back arch off of the bed.   You can still hear him touching himself, and your inability to see him only makes you more desperate to reach that blessed end.

But no, you can’t, you won’t let yourself come yet.   You let your eyes drift to the ceiling, struggling to even think anymore as Simon continues to move his mouth, wet and purposeful against your soaking cunt.  His tongue runs up and down your slit, once, then twice, and you swear you can see stars on your ceiling that certainly aren’t there.

“Fuck,” you whimper against your hand, while the other goes straight down to his jaw, pulling him closer into you, shifting your hips so that Simon’s hot mouth never leaves you for a second.  He’s moaning quietly into you, one arm wrapped tight against your thigh.  Just the image of him eating you out while you’d been asleep, on his knees for you, has you whimpering.  Your fingers root harder into his jaw—gentle, always, but firm—and you use the leverage to grind your pussy into his mouth, inadvertently tugging him forward.

Presumably, he likes it.  He seems to like it so much that he seems to forget that he was close to the edge himself, and a single hand comes up to rest casually by the bed while he licks you.  “Please,” you whisper, your own hand grasping his tight.  “F-fuck, please, Simon.”           

He complies immediately, a finger sliding deep inside you, curling instantly.  The gasp that leaves you is loud and desperate, and his mouth latches to your clit again.  The finger inside you is quickly joined by another, and—

“More, please, I can take more.”  You can tell your words are slurred and barely intelligible, but Simon seems to get the message.   It’s only a few moments before a third finger is inside you, and this time, your moan is long and drawn out.     

But it seems Simon’s getting as much from this as you are.  He moves his face away—your whine of protest is quickly shushed—and all he does is watch his fingers move in and out of your cunt.  His eyes are wide and glazed over and he looks up at you quickly, before bringing his attention back to his fingers inside you.

“Wish you could see, sweet girl.  Take m’fingers so well, love.  S’like this cunt was made for me,” he whispers, and the filthy words have you clenching on his fingers, poetically proving him correct.  But even Simon doesn’t seem to be able to stay away, because his mouth is back on your cunt with renewed vigour, and you try to spread your legs even wider to keep him there.  Each point of contact between his tongue and lips and your swollen clit sends a jolt of pure pleasure through you, and you’re ready to come for him, so fucking ready.

It’s almost as though the man reads your thoughts, because Simon’s lips wrap around your clit and suck lightly.  You slap a hand over your mouth as he kisses it, his tongue lapping and dancing slow and sure over the swollen nub.  You’re biting your lower lip so hard you’re sure you’ve drawn blood.  A light huff of air is placed directly on your clit and you feel like your spine’s about to snap from how tightly it’s locked.  No matter how hard you try to be quiet—why are you?—a small oh fuck leaves you anyway. 

You grind your pussy into his face as wave after wave of unrelenting pleasure leaks down your spine and it has to be hours that you must stay in the throes of your pleasure, because your spine aches with how taut it is.

When you finally come to, Simon’s fingers are making small, comforting circles on your belly while he places soft, open-mouthed kisses along the inside of your thigh.  The inside of your thigh where you can feel how wet you are because you’ve made a mess of yourself for this man.  If you were capable of higher thought right now, you imagine embarrassment would be foremost.

But Simon makes you forget all about it in an instant though, when, even through the mask, you see his smile in the crinkle of his eyes.  

“Mornin’ love,” he whispers, seemingly as eager as you not to break the silence of the moment, and if you didn’t know how you felt for him before, you’re certain you do now.

[elizakai]

100+ FOLLOWERS DTIYS AND OLD ART REVEAL.

✨WELCOME✨

SO, as promised, I’m bringing to fruition every Undertale fans worst nightmare. I’ll be giving a taste of the dark recesses of every UT fans past. The old art. 🧎🏽‍♀️ I’ve picked 9 random, and silly drawings I did back in…somewhere around 2016? I was like 11 or something. I couldn’t use a lot of the others because most were referenced

if you ARE NOT interested in the challenge, skip to below the cut for a laugh⬇️

DRAW THIS IN YOUR STYLE CHALLENGE, but based off of …these. (Seriously…don’t get to excited.)

GET CREATIVE. THIS IS A FUN THING, the point is to see how creative you can get from a…not so great starting point💀

in fact, I would ENCOURAGE just basing loosely!! Get creative with it ;p

(I will also redraw some lol)

You can do as many or few as you like, as serious or silly as you like :D

This is super chill and just for laughs, draw however you want <3

❗️I’ll share below the cut in a moment❗️

QUICK RULES:

Any medium is fine! Keep anything you intend to share sfw! Be nice to eachother!

Tag me @elizakai so I can see!! AND TAG #100kaidies (cause I am dying.)

3. DEADLINE is SEMPTEMBER 30th

But again this is so not serious, feel free to draw afterwards if you want to.

✨PRIZES✨

❗️3 ARTISTS WITH ENTRIES can make DRAWING REQUESTS❗️

I’ll give details on that after the challenge, but I don’t really have limits on the drawing size wise. (And for fairness sake, I obviously won’t be picking two entries from the same person!)

❗️2 HONORABLE MENTIONS will get doodle requests and bragging rights❗️

⬇️⬇️ENTER IF YOU DARE⬇️⬇️

OK, YOU WANTED IT

1- the red pen is ‘current me’ commentating, it’s scrawled. If you need me to type it just ask!

2- feel free to roast these. I laughed real hard looking back at the hundreds of drawings I have stashed on cheap printer paper.

3- simple and messy enough to be interpreted however, but if you want better context just ask!

⬆️Click to see the images fully⬆️

…(whyyyyyyy)

if this inspires anyone to expose their own old work, then I have won.

[centrally-unplanned]

AI Art discourse is so hyper-priviledged from the “freelance artist” perspective that creates a ton of false ideas about how art is consumed and produced. I hear this “art without the intent of an artist behind it is meaningless” argument being so dominant and it is just laughably wrong in so many contexts. Most visual art is for-a-purpose! I do not care about the ‘intent’ of the illustrative diagram of capital stock flows in my econ textbook, or the logo for a kombucha company, or the banner image for a WSJ article. They do a job, setting tone or creating a brand or communicating information. 

So much art actually does, like, no job! Those images on say finance articles, its just like...walls of text are scary? So you need to give your eyes a break? But they are fucking cowards and won’t put pics of hot anime chicks in the middle of their discussion of the carried interest loophole so they pretend by making the image ‘topical’ its adding value. That is all it does! Intent of the artist isn’t relevant in the slightest.

And that doesn’t even begin to touch the reality of making big, commercial art. if you are doing say animation in modern toolsets like Toonz they have automated in-betweening tools; you draw keyframe A, keyframe B, you need frames in between to smooth the motion, and the program draws the inbetweens for you. That is AI art! Its been used for years now. Advances in AI  will make that more powerful, you can get better results, draw less frames, etc as that improves.

In animation so much art is made that isn’t in the final product - concept sketches, early layouts, etc. These don’t exist to be ‘intent of the artist’, they are tools to guide a production process. You could absolutely use AI tools to improve the effiiency of that process, its what we *currently* do, its been the history art & technology for the last 3 decades. This kind of art is what the majority of money and time in the art world is spent on - freelance ‘online’ art is just a piece of that world.

This isn’t a statement to invalidate the whole debate or anything (or shitting on freelance artists, I love them). I tend to be ‘pro’ AI art, as much as that framing makes any sense at all (it doesn’t), but there are a ton of other aspects to this debate that are more complex. For example, we have legally decided you can’t copyright art styles, which, fine, I agree, but that does sit in tension with a company being able to legally claim IP ownership of a tool built out of those art styles. Maybe those tools should be open access, the legal regime isn’t built for this scenario - or like the entire scenario of modernity, it all sucks. 

But regardless, in the complexity of this debate I think some really idealized conception of ‘art’ are being bandied about without a lot of evidence to back them up.

[jacob-blogs]

Okay I can give you a Kendrick and Drake beef rundown. Apologies if I’m explaining shit you already know but IDK your background on this so I’ll be thorough just to make sure.

Major Characters:

Drake. Aubrey Graham, AKA Drake, is extremely financially successful, but not very well respected in actual hip hop scenes. He’s generally seen as a culture vulture because of his privileged child actor background and white suburban upbringing putting him at odds with other people in hip hop culture. Also, in 2018, he very publicly lost his beef with another rapper named Pusha T, who revealed he had a secret newborn son named Adonis. Lastly, he has a long history of being kind of a misogynistic creep, the worst parts being a history of being sketchy around underaged girls.

Kendrick. Kendrick Lamar is an extremely respected rapper, though his songs aren’t always the most radio friendly and he doesn’t release them super frequently. He’s extremely artistically minded, though, and is one of those artists who’s just so good they can feel borderline untouchable. If I had to pick a rapper who was the consensus greatest at the moment among big hip hop heads, it would be Kendrick.

Backstory: Drake and Kendrick are arguably the two biggest rappers right now. A third rapper, J. Cole, had a lyric about the “big 3” in October naming himself, Kendrick, and Drake. The second part is that in March, Kendrick had a bar where he said “fuck the big 3, it’s just big me.” Cole tried beefing back, dipped out pretty quick.

Drake released two diss tracks against Kendrick on April 19, Push Ups and Taylor Made Freestyle. The latter was especially controversial because he used AI to replicate the voice of Tupac, which is… a huge no-no.

Last Tuesday, Kendrick finally responded with his first track, Euphoria. It was what people were expecting, for the most part: he went in on Drake in the ways a diss track normally would, just with extra finesse since he’s Kendrick. Still an excellent record on its own.

On Friday morning, he released 6:16 in LA on Instagram, which mostly got attention for implying that Kendrick had a mole from among Drake’s own crew. Also, the cover image was an image of a black glove.

On Friday evening, Drake released his response to Euphoria, Family Matters. Among other things, Drake accused Kendrick of beating his wife, though since Drake has a history of lying people are unsure how seriously to take that. Notably, though, some of Drake’s bars seem to have been preempted by Euphoria, which lends some credence to the idea that he may have a leaker.

Only thirty minutes after Family Matters dropped, Kendrick released Meet the Grahams, which directly responded to several things Drake said, which confirms he has a leaker. Not to mention, the cover image was a zoomed out version of the 6:16 image, which now includes items like literal receipts and prescription bottles of Ozempic and Ambien with Drake’s legal name on them. So this photo was taken inside Drake’s mansion. The song itself is the equivalent of bringing a switchblade to a cage fight, and among other things drops that Drake also has a secret 11 year old daughter, as well as it accuses him of being a pedophile and a sex trafficker. This song is why everybody’s talking right now. Nothing like this has happened before.

Anyways, Kendrick dropped another track tonight, but the dust hasn’t quite settled on that yet so I won’t say too much.

Thank you sooo much for the context.

Rap as a genre is always interesting to me because it's characterized so much by not only the songwriting and lyrics, but also the messiness and drama that goes on behind the scenes. I don't necessarily listen to it on the daily, but it would be insane not to recognize the cultural influence it has on American pop culture. And hell, up until recently tumblr was a huge supporter of Drake through his weird career decisions.

But like.... homie's gotta hang it up flat screen. Drake and his team of ghost writers literally ain't got shit on K. Dot. Like how can you pay folks actual money to take up in your defense over a dance beat while this other dude's dishing out bar after bar of straight fire getting after you, your career, your family, your crew, your lies, your shitty behavior...

Like okay, it's a rap battle but also this has got to be THEE cultural reset of 2024

[camillathe6th]

Snippet. None of us are free.

DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to Larian and Baldur's Gate 3. CONTEXT:  This is supposed to take place somewhere at the end of act 2 / at the beginning of act 3, when Astarion and Hero were still basking in the unresolvedness of their relationship, and were NOT basking in bickering constantly about Cazador and the meaning of freedom. They're at the point where they're honest enough to know each other (this relationship is real), but not trusting enough to let the other put a blade to their respective throat (is it real?). Deception expertise will do that to you. SOME DETAILS: Hero is a bard and a charlatan, plays the lyre, has a propensity for psychic damage, and appears in other mismatched snippets here. I'm using this to explore both their voices a little, so there's nothing key in here.

Approaching Baldur's Gate, 1492 (Hero)

Watch. I am watching. Not around, around is incidental, around is always shine and dust. Eye-catcher, eye-blinder. No, I watch; I am watching, his beautiful face, which moves like cracking paint around the lies that tug below.

“When we go back to Cazador’s palace…” he whispers.

This is the right moment to do this: night has fallen, and sleep has fallen, and in the haven of the sighing-breathing camp, only the fire crackles, a little way away. I am still seating, my feet tucked beneath the cold weight of his thigh, and from here I can see.

The stars are misted with velvet fog, as Astarion is.

He smiles; on his back, as if abandoned, as if trusting, he closes his eyes, and murmurs—a tip-toe of the tongue, just a slip, a casual talk, a faraway dream. You understand, of course: if it is light, if it is airy, then surely it can’t be dangerous.

Dangerous to you. Dangerous to me.

“You know what would be even more satisfying?”

I take away my eyes—leave him time to snag himself out of hiding.

“Stealing his jewels?” I coo. “I remember talk of a bloodstone tiara, back in the day…”

A laugh: just this side of strained. Don’t joke about this, says the strain. This is serious.

“Good one”, he lies. “But no. Stealing his ritual, rather.”

I arch a brow, mimicking a surprise I don’t feel.  

“Vampire ascendant,” I say, pensive—not pensive at all. “The most powerful of them all…”

“Yes,” he hisses, and thus shows his hand. “Yes. You get it, don’t you? I knew you would.”

A touch to my ankle, as cool as night-dew. His eyes meet mine and clasp them there—another show of faith and trust, there, keep, don’t blink, oh, I can almost hear his thoughts, go on, Astarion, let your mask slip, keep, keep so the mark will see your hunger and mistake it for your soul bared.

Two hundred years of experience, and still so ham-fisted with the changing of his face… Clearly he was not a natural.

Still, I let the semblance of a lying smile shift on my mouth—barely a hint, a little coy, a little flattered. It says, Oh, Astarion, you knew I would get it? My my, we really are soulmates.

“It would become you, it’s true,” I say with a touch of my fingers to his moonshaded knuckles. “After all these years…”

“I deserve it.”

“You deserve it,” I nod.

He does. Of course he does. Don’t we all deserve to sit on the throne of power that haunt our fantasy worlds? Don’t we all deserve to climb above, to sit in the rawness of ubiquity? Why not you? Why not me? Why not us?

It’s as simple as that. Strength. Safety. Beauty. Power. Let your soul spill over the world and shape it in your image. Have you not suffered enough for this? Bled enough for this?

Yes. He’s lying, but he’s not wrong: I do get it. I do get it. I do want it. I want it, every day, I want want want it— But if we all deserve it, that means not one of us can have it. And certainly not…

“Not just I, little lyre. We would take it together, for ourselves. Just for ourselves.”

What? I feel the slip but can’t stop it. For a second, he has me there, promising something I did not expect, an alliance he can’t, wouldn’t, won’t give. For a second, I am pinned and stuck, spider-webbed, and my heart sings louder than my mind.

Just for ourselves. Centuries of power, pulsing in our joined hands. Just for ourselves.

He smiles. Just a second. Just a second. Just a second before I catch myself back.

Tsk-tsk. Be serious now.

“But I wouldn’t become ascendant, would I?”

“I didn’t know you wanted to become a vampire to begin with,” he purrs, following the curve of my calf. “And squander all that lovely vivacity into undeath? Darling…”

“Then,” I smile, darling, sweet as child-blood, “we wouldn’t take it for ourselves really, would we?”

He frowns.

“I would share my power with you. I told you, love. This is real.”

I don’t flinch; I don’t, I know I don’t. Inside my skin I do, but skin is here to screen truth. A smooth and chiseled façade for the bile-and-guts sacks we all are.

Is this real? What binds us, is it real? Me, him, is it real? Is he real? Am I? Together and apart, are we real? The gut-sack might whisper from the depth, pounding like a heart, but it is lying. I know this. I learned this.

Nothing is real. Nothing has ever been real. Promises are smoke waiting to be dispelled. Promises of power, promises of love, promises of intimacy, promises of eternity: a charlatan arsenal, nothing more. Words and lies mould the world.

This cannot be real, and I am not caught. I am not.

I am free.

“It’s a lovely fantasy,” I say, cutting the pantomime to the quick.

And so the illusion breaks. He sits up, he tenses, eyes ruby-sharp.

“It can become reality,” he presses.

What, did he think this was ever a debate?

“No,” I laugh, a last effort at civility in front of the rushing tide. “Because I won’t let you.”

It’s a cheap shot: I know this is exactly the wrong thing to say.

“You won’t let me?”

“What did you expect? That I would encourage you to take over the world?”

“Oh, so this is about you, isn’t it?” he jeers. “You’re afraid that I will take over you. Why can’t you trust me? When I’m Ascendant, I can change you too.”

“Stop,” I clench my teeth. “It’s not about that. I don’t give a damn about ascendancy—”

“You were tempted. You were. Don’t think I don’t see through you, Hero.”

“Then you’ll know I like entertaining what could be, before I decide what should be.”

“But it’s not yours to decide!”

The star-face cracks: the smile is gone, and the composure, and the promises; and the hope. Maybe… Maybe, this is real.

“What? Do you think you’ll defeat Cazador by becoming Cazador?” I ask, harshly.

“I would not—”

“You would! I get it, alright? We’re weak. We are. Fear is guiding you now. You’re a grasping, terrified little—”

“Shut it,” he cleaves.

“No. You need to hear it. This isn’t freedom. You want freedom but you keep missing the point. Freedom is tie-cutting. To be free you need to end him, and with that I will help you unconditionally; but then you need to let it go. Do you think you’ll be free of Cazador as you recreate Cazador? Do you think you’ll be free of your past by enacting it onto others? Do you think you’ll be free at all, carrying the burden of godly power in your hands? It will only control you just like your master controlled you. Gods aren’t free, Asta—”

“Oh please!” he laughs, an ugly laugh now, his face lined, his eyes blazing, his voice as stinging as a poisoned dagger. “What do you know of freedom, Herodias? What do you know of captivity? What do you know of despair? You fled your mommy because you were sad at home, and you think you understand the plight of those who have known real enslavement? You dare preach to me about freedom because you had the guts to—what—leave a golden cage whose door stood open for your escape? Did they even come for you when you disappeared? No. They wanted you to disappear.”

“That’s not—”

“Look at you. You’ve lived nothing. I was tortured for centuries. Thrice as long as your lifetime. Do you understand that? I was used, flayed, insulted, dissected, humiliated, robbed of myself until I was nothing more than pain walking, then numbness walking. Nothing in my mind, nothing in my body, only Cazador. You think you can judge me and understand me? You think you can influence me? Do yourself a favour and keep your cheap tricks for your drunken clientele. What you know of life are stories, only stories. You’re just a brat playing make-believe, but I’m real. My pain is real. My worth is real. I will make my freedom the shape I want it to be.”

There’s a moment then, a moment of floating, ringing like blood in my ears. I’m not sure what my face looks like. I’m not sure what anything looks like, really, not through the blur. Maybe I have draped myself in the singing protection of the weave—the fear is kept at bay, but it cannot muffle the treacherous roiling, roiling—inside.

Inside, usually, I am silent. I am outward, like a shimmering mirror to what lies beyond myself, making it mine. I am, joyfully, a sham—but here, and now, inward, I am—I am—a sham—a, a, a—a sh-sh-shamed.

The tadpole squirms and projects; Astarion, in the fey glow of my unveiled thoughts, has gotten to his feet. 

“You should be,” he spits, and leaves me to sit only with myself, a punishment that fits the crime.

[onwriting-hrarby]

Thank you letter: The End

Image commissioned to @andengeu <3 Thank you so much for this amazing Eren and Mikasa from Rotten Judgement!

If you’re reading this, it means you have wrapped up your reading on Rotten Judgement. First of all, thank you so much. Whether you have liked your reading or not (although I hope you have), thank you for making it up here: to know that you’ve considered my story worth it of finishing, among so other many stories that there are (so other distractions in our daily life) makes my heart flutter and gives me a sense of plenitude.

When I started writing this story, I wanted it to be an amiable rom-com, that kind of fanfiction that people read to disappear from real life. I think I was pulled by the attraction of gaining a readership. However, as the story began forming in my head (in December, 2021!), I realized that these characters and their stories and their problems were much bigger than my not-so-down-to-earth ambitions. Why was I writing, firstly? Did I want to write just for exposure, or did I want to tell something that worried me in my writing? The second won, as you have all seen: I believe that we do not live in a kind world, that we have to fight endlessly, and that everything is politics. Excerpts from Fritz’s speeches were taken from Donald Trump and Santiago Abascal (the chief of the ultra-right party in Spain), although I could have cited many others. The demonstration of the last chapter was inspired by the massive demonstrations we’ve had in Spain in the last few years, too. As I wrote, I realized how important it was to me to show all the love, the friendships and the families in a political context. I won’t pretend I have discovered something new in this fanfiction, of course. If anything, I hope that it was mildly enjoyable, despite being the complete opposite of what I envisioned from the first time. It has surprised me to know the number of people who have read this: mainly because my chapters were long, and dense, and chapter by chapter you were here, commenting. I truly have no words.

This story wouldn’t have been the same without the world of Isayama, of course, but also Disney, and most particularly, Hercules. Without reading, either, since I read all the time, professionally and also in my spare time: I believe that reading takes us places, whatever we read. It makes us more empathetic and sets us up for healthy debate. So, despite the bans in libraries, in books, censorship all over, and morality police, do not stop thriving for books, and do not stop reading.

Some people have been very important throughout this year. In real life, my boyfriend and friends. In the virtual world: Sam, Ris (@liquorisce), KB (@irememberthedark), Jo, Kami, Anna, Hannah, Heart (@heartvu), Rotten (@rottenlover), Rae (@staraesea), Lys (@sunlightandsuffering), Ashley (@r-brauns) Shon (@wlshond), Onigiri (@onigiri-dorkk), Chaos (@chaosisbeauty23), Nuri (@nuri148), Bry (@bryhaven), Sam (@shenanigansam) (I hope I don't forget anyone)—thank you for the beautiful conversations, for giving me a place when I felt disheartened, for commenting on other fanfictions and readings with me. Special thanks to Ro (@dead-dolphins), for being her genius and creating self, full of empathy and altruism and making such beautiful banners for Rotten Judgement. All the covers for the different parts are her doing. And special thanks to Nina (@sinigangsta-ao3): for lending her ears whenever I was wrong, for her interactions with series and books and politics, for her effort in beta-ing some of the parts in this fic and giving me the vocabulary to talk about things I didn’t know how to express, but most of all, for being an extraordinary friend.

I am thankful for a lot of other people, too: especially some of you, commenters, who have been following my stories since I did not live until today, or even those who have discovered me with Rotten Judgement but have, without fail, left a comment someday. I know some of your usernames by heart, but I trust that you all know already who you are. Without your engagement, I would have felt discouraged to write some days. Coming here was a safe haven, and so I thank you deeply. For the ones that read, left kudos I thank you all, truly, for the motivation and encouragement you left along this 500 pages of story.

Some images of this past year and the making of Rotten Judgement. Thank you again.

[1moreff-creator]

Hey, it’s me again. As I’m finishing up the script for the LGI analysis video I’m working on (which I’ve been writing as I edit), I’ve come to a point where I have to make a decision. And I want Tumblr’s input, since a lot of you are way more passionate about this stuff than I am.

The issue is, what should I do with tally 5?

Because obviously I have to talk about it, but I don’t know how far I should go. There are two things I’m sure of. I won’t put the image in the video, if nothing else so no one gets spoiled by hovering over the runtime bar, and I’ll give hints so anyone who wants to try to figure it out themselves can try.

After that comes the big question: after giving the hints, and after giving people a moment to pause and go try to figure out the code themselves, should I just say the solution? As in, just tell people how to do it step by step, and show the final string of characters you get when doing that?

Now, I’m aware the creators didn’t want us leaking the image or the code, but here’s the thing. If someone really doesn’t want to or can’t decipher the code themselves, they’re just going to look up the image, which has already been leaked in a few places. If I explain the solution in the video, at least they’ll know how we got the answer we got, instead of just pasting a code on the website or seeing the image without the reasoning.

And the people on Youtube, from what I’ve seen, generally aren’t as… obsessive, as the people on Tumblr. The most recent comments on the LGI MV video are still talking about extremely elementary stuff, and youtuber Ocean Unknown (who I love and whose videos I definitely recommend) recently claimed the “correct/incorrect” code hadn’t even been solved yet, to give you an idea of the disconnect. Most of the people there either don’t want to or don’t have the time to figure out the code.

And my video is meant to be for everyone, even the people who have remained completely separated from this kind of speculation.

Again, I will give hints first, and I will encourage people to figure out the puzzle themselves. But realistically, not everyone will. So I feel it’s better to at least explain the solution, instead of having them go and find the image with no further context.

It’s also important to keep in mind, the video won’t be out for a while. I can’t give an estimate on how long it’s gonna take, but at the very earliest it would be released at the middle/end of September, more likely around October. I’ve never been part of this type of ARG-adjacent stuff, but usually people, like, stop being secretive about this stuff at some point, right? Again, don’t know how it works, or what the time frame is to go from “don’t leak the solution” to “talk openly about the solution” usually is, so please correct me if I’m wrong.

So yeah, I’m indecisive. Just because other people leaked the code, doesn’t mean I get free reign to do it. I personally feel it’s a good compromise to give hints, encourage looking for the solution, then and only then give the reasoning for the answer, but again, I don’t feel qualified to make the final call, since I wasn’t as passionate about the code back when everyone was still trying to figure it out.

The other option is to not give the answer at all, only give the hints. And that comes with the other question: should I even talk about the image? If I give the answer, obviously yes, but even if I don’t, I feel like I still would have to talk about the image. I’ve already talked about it in other posts. But that sort of makes the whole “hiding the answer” sort of redundant, if I then just talk about it.

So I’m leaving it up for a poll. Here’s how it’s gonna work.

•Option 1 is to only give hints, don’t give the solution, and don’t even talk about the image.

•Option 2 is to give hints, but not the solution, yet still talk about the image.

•Option 3 is to first give hints, then explain the solution, then talk about the image. For this one to win, it needs to get over 50% of the vote. So I’ll only talk about the solution if most people want me to, and if they don’t, then I’ll decide what to do based on the percentages of the first two options.

So, uh, here’s the poll. Take care!

[sirwow]

since iv posted so much abt rose apocalypse id thought id share the first 3 pages of the fic since its taking quite awhile. Context of the story is this around the end of pikmin 4

Apologies for the white flashbang </3, text version will be under the cut if you dont wanna look at the images

A trumpet rings out throughout the hull of the S.S. Shepherd, followed by the dozens of groans of tried castaways being abruptly woken up. “Attention everyone! We need you all suited and ready in an hour so you can all head home so no diddle daddling!” Shepherd barks out to a groggy crowd. After some quiet annoyed sighs and whispers the ship begins to wake up with the movement and chat of the castaways

The Rescue corps members file order amongst the wave of people walking around the ship. Pom hops outside early to stretch and bask one last time in the morning sun of PNF-404. The mission has been a success, no treasure or castaway left behind and Pom’s hard work has finally come to pay off. “You look ridiculous.” 

Pom jumps a bit. “Who said that?” She stutters while looking around. “Over here, Wilted.” The sneer of a sickly pale figure reveals itself from behind the ship’s wing. “You look silly posing like some kind of hero over a bunch of pebbles” Harbinger chuckles. Pom retorts. “What do you want?” “Oh please don’t act like you don’t know what we are. I just find you such a ridiculous curiosity really.” Harbinger claims.

“What do you mean by that?” 

“What’s your goal? Be friends with the ants you could destroy with a flick of your hand? They’ll figure you out sooner than later and probably get rid of you.” Harbinger states. “They won’t. And what is your problem?” Pom questions “Mmm I don’t think you’d understand considering your plans. Better off dumb and clueless, just like your plan!” Harbinger flicks her antenna with a sizzle and laughs to himself.

Poms face burns red as Harbinger mocks her under his breath as he hobbled off. She stalks after him and grabs his arm to demand answers. “I- what the hell are you doing?? Let go!” “Not until you say what you’re up to!” The two struggle against each other and Pom doesn’t realize the pain in her hand until she had completely lost her grip as her glove and parts of her hand had been torn and wilted. “W-what did you-“ Pom stops herself as she sees roots and thorns growing and blooming where she had her grip on Harbinger’s arm. He’s pulling at them but it’s clearly left a glowing mark where they grew.

Harbinger stomps up to Pom to yell but her attention is focused on her panic upon seeing Collin hopping out of the ship to investigate what the yelling was all about. All 3 freeze as Harbinger’s glowing goop drips from his arm and Pom fails to hide her torn suit glove. Collin is confused and processing what he’s seeing. Harbinger isn’t willing to give him the chance to think, shifting his hand into a bright blue claw and lunging for Collin.

He’s stopped in his tracks as long claws grasp his heel and throw him back into the dirt. Pom breathes heavily as her claws burn. She’s unsure herself what just happened but Collin’s scream most definitely snapped her back. “Collin!-“ Pom’s plea for his silence is fruitless as the rest of the Rescue corps and other castaways jump outside from hearing the scream. 

The air is malleable. Pom stands, frozen in time as hundreds of eyes stare her down. Her claw has ripped through half her suit sleeve. Harbinger stands up from the dirt, his disguise falling apart and only now seeing the sea of glares he and Pom are now drowning in. 

Pom runs. Shepherd, acting on her instinct, demands her crew to stop them. Though the others freeze, Yonny pulls a tranquilizer from his side and fires. The first hits Pom in the shoulder, and a second hits a cowering Harbinger quickly trying to transform. The others begin moving as the shock wears off, Pom scrambles past Harbinger getting to his feet, her body turning most monstrous without her control. The sting of the tranquilizers and frantic panic drive both wraiths into a dash across the undergrowth.  ——————————

Clicking of Shearwigs fills the dusk’s quiet. Pom slowly trudges through the pedals of Blossoming Arcadia, feet worn and muddy from the run. It’s strangely peaceful with most all the wildlife minding its own business in the dark. Pom reaches the stream and rests by the edge, water soothing her legs and washing away the muck. A green glimmer against the ripples catches her eye and looking up to her side is the unmistakable burning stare of Harbinger despite the neon state.

“What do you want?” Pom snears “What do I want? You’re the one who did this! Now I have to be stuck in this stupid cubby!” Harbinger barks back. He opens his mouth to shout again but slinks back into the old toy car upon seeing a Bulborb looking over the edge of the pipes from the noise. Pom huddles under the bridge she built weeks ago to hide. The Bulborb stomps away after hearing another creature back from whence it came. 

Harbinger peers out again, stating in a much more hushed tone, “And now you’ve set us up to be eaten in hours.” Pom merely gives a glare before falling back against wet rock and sighing. “..Ugh.. you and your silence. Why don’t you go ahead and marry it if you love it so much?” Harbinger jests.

Pom pays him no mind much to Harbinger’s annoyance. Her mind is still rushing with thoughts and worries about what to do now. Surely she could explain to the rescue corps and they’d be accepting. But what if they had already left, scared of the monsters that had snuck among them? What if they were now out to kill her? It was all too much.

Harbinger watches her in boredom and still a piping fury of his plan being ruined by Pom’s nosiness. “What worried no one will ever trust you again? That you’re gonna be left here, stuck like this cause of your “friend”? Cause’ it’s right.” Harbinger mocks. “You don’t know anything.” Pom returns. “I don’t know anything? Dear I think I know full well what it’s like to be alone and dropped by people at the drop of a hat. They’re not coming back for you.”

 “Shut up.”

[coolcattime]

noir au martha who instead of having like a magical weapon, can “see” the future using radio. similar to a spirit box and that one bit in final destination 3 where the radio played the music as a warning. her “visions” are a pretty normal occurrence, but probably super hard to understand context for.

i see her in this au as working as a singer for a club that’s in dianitee territory and is semi-frequented by capsize. cause while capsize does do her job at jordan’s bar, I think she’d much prefer the atmosphere of the other club even though she’s not as safe cause it’s not on neutral ground, but whatever that totally won’t bite her in the ass later.

there’s this scene in my head about them where they’re both feeling each other and head back to capsize’s. however, there’s a picture from capsize’s childhood that gets martha’s attention and she starts inquiring about it, specifically about the man posed next to, who she’s told was, capsizes aunt. capsize very quickly gets weirded out/frustrated/defensive and martha gets more and more pushy, and neither of them get lucky that evening. they both have not talked to one another since.

Ooooooo! I love this idea so much!

Martha having the power to see into the future using radio is such a good idea! Like I can so clearly hear the way spirit boxes and the radios in Final Destination and they fit so well the vibe of the noir au!

And I do love the idea of Martha just getting these visions on a regular basis, but typically getting them without context so they aren’t really helpful.

I fully agree that Capsize would definitely want to relax somewhere that isn’t Jordan’s bar. As much as she has customers everywhere, her free time at Jordan’s tends to be quickly consumed by people wanting to talk to her for work so she goes to a different club instead. She has enough of a reputation that people tend to leave her alone and Redbeard tends to be about to jump in if anyone does bother her.

Martha as a club singer. Like it works so well with her more flirty side and I can see her gravitating towards a musical career as it gives her tiniest sense of control over something she associated with the visions.

If she’s singing then the noise can’t be manipulated to give vague hints towards the future.

I do love the scene you’ve put forward.

I can so see Capsize and Martha going to sleep with each other. Like they are definitely each other’s types.

I really like the image of Martha just getting fixated on the photograph and completely (though unintentionally) just freaking Capsize out.

Because like Capsize is secretive. She needs to be with her line of work and frankly she feels safer keeping as much of her life as possible to herself. Like she’s fine with telling Martha that it’s a picture of her aunt, but once she starts pushing for more information Capsize just gets an uncomfortable feeling that she ends up not being able to shift.

She doesn’t really know who Martha is or why she’s being so pushy about the man in the photograph. So she ends up asking Martha to leave half just out of fear that she’s invited someone that knows more than she’s letting on.

Martha for her part is incredibly frustrated, both at Capsize for not telling her anything about her father when that was the best lead she’d had in years. But also at herself for scaring off her.

She still sees Capsize coming in the club sometimes, though neither approaches the other again.

But now it’s been a while since their encounter (longer than a while, but still seeing each other even if just in passing makes it feel shorter). Martha has started to have particularly intense visions once a month for the past six months. The radio goes crazy as songs are interlaced with screaming and yelling.

She knows that they’re linked with the murders. After the first two it’s impossible to not tell. But it isn’t as if she can do anything with the information gained.

That is until, once again her radio is going crazy, and this time she recognises one of the voices cutting between the music and she realises that she needs to talk to Capsize again.

[eagleeyecherrypie]

I want to talk about Dick’s reaction to Kory in the season 3 finale after she casually mentions the Lazarus pit. (If someone has a gif of it I would love it!) Notice his response when she mentions using it as a way to save the people exposed to Scarecrow’s toxin. Right as she does, Dick gives her a quick look of shock and kind of freezes. Like a kid caught with their hand in a candy jar. Has anyone analyzed that brief reaction yet? Also, notice how his next reaction was to get snippy with her about expecting miracles. That never sat right with me until I thought about it in context.

I believe that he had to put that vision out of his mind so that he could focus on the task at hand. He could not let feelings cloud him in that moment. It’s why he got frustrated with Kory right after that. I think he was pushing her away in that moment because it would have been too easy and way too distracting to embrace those feelings and the images that the pit reference provoked. Kory can easily break open those emotions if he let’s her so he had to force his walls back up to stay in hero mode. The same thing happened when she asked him directly about the vision in this newest season. You could see the initial anguish and then the precise moment when he decided to reject the feeling and put his walls up again. (I’ve analyzed the attached gif like the Zapruder film. “Back and to the left”.) I think this is what frustrates Kory (and us) so much. He was finally letting those walls down and then went right back into his old ‘batmanesque’ habits. Can’t wait to see him finally let go and fully embrace those feelings. We won’t recognize the new (and improved) Dick.

[psza]

Random headcanon dump

Nauru has incredibly poor financial decisions (Stems from the poor investments the country made in an attempt to diversify their economy. It failed from things like multiple 5* star hotels, private jets, banking and a theatrical musical about Leonardo Da Vinci and the Mona Lisa)

Austria, Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark have a little area where they probably judge everyone’s spending (Frugal four reference, that is still fascinating to me)

San Marino is sort of the reason the microstates are closer (Reference to the sports for small nations which was actually made by San Marino to get other microstates and other smaller states like Montenegro, Iceland and Cyprus together and even the Vatican, which they somehow agreed and they were going to play in 2021 but it was cancelled)

Remember when I headcanoned France and Monaco to be siblings? Well they still are related it’s just that Italy is also related to Monaco but not in the way France and Italy are related (Monaco was formed from the old lands that used to be Genoa)

Scandinavia are distantly related to Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Netherlands, Austria and maybe Liechtenstein. Finland is another phenomenon and Iceland is well, Iceland (The Scandinavian languages of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are all Germanic and related to German, English and Dutch) But most of the time none of them can understand a single sentence from each other except maybe the Netherlands and UK with a couple words

Eswatini likes both making candles and gifting candles, her favourites to make are the elephant shaped ones (Not sure how to give context here because I genuinely forgot about this a while ago so here’s some images, these are pretty)

If you asked other African countries to describe Botswana, even the one’s close to her you’ll probably hear ‘Quiet and reserved but keeps a smile’ or something related to that which may confuse people at first since she’s very open when others come to visit but when you pay attention to her on the international stage. She doesn’t say much aside from what she feels necessary and only speaks when someone else props her up to. This largely quiet and awkward persona is mostly why a lot of people leave her alone (Yes this retcons the ‘Botswana tries to five advice’ character I headcanoned but it made zero sense why she would want to put herself in a position of a leader and even example when she’s barely capable of a diverse economy and top 3 most unequal places in the world. But the quiet reserved personality is more akin a reference to whenever someone is listing all African conflicts in the 1900’s as colonies to 2000 as independent states, you won’t ever hear of Botswana since even during colonialism the British left them alone as they were a protectorate and not a colony and after independence they were mostly silent too, you could call them the Switzerland of Africa if you want to, but I personally prefer San Marino with a hint of Swiss, both are the oldest in something, San Marino oldest republic in the world and Botswana, oldest Democracy in Africa and while does rely on South Africa like San Marino does for Italy, still largely independent like Switzerland)

[clickerflight]

do you have anything like a character info or picrews for your adventurers story? since there seems to be a bunch of lore outside of what you’ve posted so far :)

i already thought the whump week story was interesting so i’m definitely going to have a look at what you’re writing about them this time !

— honey <3

Of course!

This story is one I started developing when I was 14 and it has grown with me. The whole worldbuilding and everything is so complicated it takes literal hours to explain it.

So, the general idea is that in the entire universe there are thousands of galaxies and plenty of them have some inhabited planets here and there. People can travel to other planets, but most of them don’t get involved in space travel. Most people instead use the complicated art of portology (this is mentioned in the story and I could sit an explain portology by itself for an hour)

Anyways. In the beginning there were five base races. One of these were the Telari, the first dragons. They were meant to be the protectors of the universe (protecting planets, helping end wars, guarding ambassadors, stopping apocalypses etc) and they did a good job until about 1000 years ago when they vanished. Most people believe some malevolent force set a trap to capture them, leaving the universe vulnerable.

So people stepped forward and created an organization called the Kahtir (this generally translates to memorium) and now they perform the jobs that the dragons left behind.

This whole story/thought project/daydream fodder thing is named The Adventurers because this story focuses on a team called that. Explaining how they all met is another hour of exposition but they became Teliar, agents of the Kahtir. They’re specifically a resource team which means they’re sent into most of the really fun jobs. The big magical catastrophes and whatnot.

Got distracted giving context. This story was built this way so that I could make my own worlds, but also include worlds from books and movies and such (this also has an in universe explanation but I won’t get into it now) so in the story of you see references to things like Star Wars and whatnot, that’s why.

And on to the actual character lore!

Laurance is actually based off a character in a show I watched as a kid but he’s changed so much that you can’t really tell anymore lol. He was born on a medieval planet and trained to be a guard. He got caught up in a cult on a pocket dimension and got killed and brought back to life as a demon and kept as a slave when he would swear to the ‘god’ the cult worshiped. He ended up escaping with a part dragon (scaleon) named Anisha who later became his wife. So here’s some are of him.

And yes, I drew them.

And a drawing I did last night for my Halloween wallpaper of his demon form

And then the other main character in this short story I’m writing is Matsu. He’s also based on an anime character I watched as a kid, but he’s changed so much that all that really remains the same is the color of his hair.

I have a yearly tradition of drawing him with a boba drink.

Matsu is a half mer so his other form really only shows up when his gills are immersed. This drawing was done by my friend.

Here’s a drawing I did of Laurance and Matsu I did a while back.

The other two members of the Adventurers show up in the short story towards the end so I’ll throw a couple of images here. I don’t have much are of Kira because she has been going through a redesign and it has been a mess.

Anisha

She is a part dragon known as a scaleon but she is actually stunted, 2-4 feet shorter than normal scaleons and her face is way more human looking than a scaleons is meant to be.

And we have kira. She is fully human but has slight abilities with shapeshifting. Only enough to change her hair and eye color occasionally. She’s from a high tech society and her parents while traveling through space to a new planet when she was still in the womb were in a radiation accident. Not enough to cause too many problems, but enough that any unborn children on that ship were later born missing limbs. She’s missing one arm but that’s not a big deal. She’s a techno wizard (a literal wizard that mixes magic and technology) so her prosthetics are nearly perfect

So, that’s the lot of them. (Not including all the kids they keep adopting over the years)

There is so much lore. I could talk about this all for days if anyone showed interest.

Thank you so much for asking!!! I’m very proud of this story and it’s complicated worldbuilding so I love getting the chance to talk about it, especially done I don’t usually get to because of how complicated the lore all is and how long it takes to provide adequate context for it.