#and worrying about the response

[shepscapades]

[Set in Mid-Late Hermitcraft Season 8]

In which we learn a little something about Cub, a little something about Doc, and a little something about Xisuma.

[read-alert]

Also obviously Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, but that goes without saying. I'd love to hear recs anyone else has though!

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Carmilla by J Sheridan Le Fanu

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski

Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz

[lucabyte]

Perceptive kid, I wonder just how much they pretend not to overhear.

[teaboot]

if ur a murderbot nerd now do u have any fun opinions abt it yet?

Oh my goddd you have no idea

I really, really, really like Murderbot because it comes at life with this perspective we don't often see that is very real among people who have already been through traumatic experiences, who developed skills and abilities to suvive that were once useful but no longer have context- that search that traumatized people go through to recalibrate and reorient ourselves in a world where we no longer really need those things to survive.

A bit personal here, but my own issues personally involved a lot of psychological abuse that made it difficult to trust my own perceptions of reality, and as a result I found I was very easy to lie to and manipulate.

To handle this, I became obsessive over writing things down, cataloging details and making notes of things as they happened- I'd carry recording devices and make audio recordings and stay up late at night to transcribe what they'd picked up, read those over and over again to reassure myself of things I wasn't certain about.

While doing this, there were others close to me that I felt responsible for, who I had to protect from others and protect myself from at the same time. Life was about two things: Evidence, and defusing threats

Over time, I learned to trust myself as my memories matched what had been recorded where their narrative didn't, but I never really kicked the habit. Like Murderbot, I had added something to my own programming that reassured me I was safe, that I was in control of myself, that I couldn't be mistaken or crazy or broken or used.

I'm only on book two, but already I see myself in Murderbot again. No spoilers here, but when I left home- left that dangerous context- I didn't need to repeat these patterns to survive anymore, but I still did, because I didn't know anything else anymore. It felt safe, comfortable, knowing knowing that the past couldn't repeat itself, because I'd written that flaw- blind trust in myself-  out of my programming and replaced it with something else.

Still, though, I'd become something specially suited to thrive in a very specific environment. Nothing else felt right like followinghigh-risk situations, like witnessing and watching and recording and knowing I had proof of the truth where others might not.

People took notice. I wound up in security by accident, but's an environment that I thrive in due to the same patterns and behaviours I originally developed when I had no other choice. I climbed the ladder pretty quickly, once supervisors caught on that my reports were the most accurate, most objective, most factual, detail-oriented and timely. I keep others and myself safe and prioritize public safety above all else, and I perform well under pressure

Now I'm in a position where I often wonder, do I enjoy this job, or is it just what I'm good at? I have a set of skills now, but do I have the option of choosing not to use them? What would I be, if not this? Could I be anything else? Can Murderbot be anything else?

It has a set of skills that set it apart, make it different, special. It does what it knows best. But is it free? Does it want to be? What does it want? Does it have to do what it was built to do? What if it didn't?

I know what I'm good for. The idea of deliberately leaving what I'm good for for something uncertain, that I might hate, that I might be useless at- the choice to give up what was so important to me for so long and become deliberately obsolete?

Let go of my entire purpose? The only thing I know, that I fit so well into but don't actually know if I enjoy? Now that I can choose? Now that enjoyment is a luxury I can afford to consider?

Yeah, that resonates.

I like the Murderbot series so far because it feels the way I feel: Like the most significant and formative part of my story, the part where I became what I am, has already happened

And now I have to just. Keep going

Into... what?

It feels absurd. Like a microwave giving up on reheating food and deciding to start a life around abstract dance.

So, uh. Yeah. It's really very wild to see this same philosophical-ish dilemma I've been digging over in the back of my mind and in therapy for the last forever laid out so plainly in a genuinely exciting and enjoyable story like this. I feel much less alone, and I... kind of really need to see how it resolves, I think.

So, uh. Yeah. Read Murderbot, I guess

[scribbling-one]

Sloop! Sloopis! Isaloop! Suck that spikey face!!

SIR YES SIR 🫡

[bacchuschucklefuck]

forgot to specify on firearm possession when he posted that job ad

[canisalbus]

This might be a strange question, but do you think it would be cathartic for Machete to have a tamagotchi in the modern AU? One of those things where it heals his inner child but he isn't sure why?

.

[grey-wardens]

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 324

Is Mermay Over? Yes. Is that going to stop me? No. 

So, Danny and Jazz might’ve run off to their uncle’s- they love their parents, don’t get them wrong, but even with at least one person in each generation of their family ending up a villain, they’re… intense. And they were getting that I’m going to destroy the government for this, look on their faces. 

SO! Off to Uncle Crane’s, the somehow responsible one of the family. Seriously, how the Gotham Rogue is somehow the responsible person is… well, it’s a story to be sure, but hey, he’s actually pretty chill. And sometimes you need fear to eat and survive, they get it, it’s a liminal thing and a ghost thing. 

Siren thing? 

Look, it’s something to do with how ecto interacts with the body of a living or partially living person, even if they’re all still baffled about the how and why. Then again, it’s not particularly important at the moment, they’re in Gotham now and vibing in one of their uncle’s homes. 

Honestly? They see why he didn’t move away after university, this place is pretty chill. Well, save for the fact the waters are horrible unless you’re used to it, but that’s what the tanks indoors are for. Even if Danny is the only one of them that has like, a proper fully aquatic form at the moment. 

But honestly, doesn’t really matter. They’re pretty chill, even if the local furry brigade keeps breaking into their warehouses? Like damn, it’s not like their uncle is even currently doing rogue work, chill. 

[kingdomhearts-and-soriku-trash]

I love when Riku is in the room where Sora’s sleeping pod is in, and he doesn’t see Sora at first, but when he does he RUNS to him. And then he’s panicked and says, “What have you done to Sora?!” And the way he calms down when he knows he’s not dead or hurt. He’s simply sleeping to get his memories back. And Naminé’s gasp before she says, “Nothing!” Just makes us all feel Riku’s wrath at that moment since she was like “!!!” At his words.

AND THEN!! How when Riku is talking to Xion in 358/2 days, and she asks about where Sora is at the time, Riku’s voice is a little sharper on the ‘that’ when he says, “That secret stays with me.”

AND HIM ADMITTING HE’S NOT MAD…HE’S JUST SAD!!! And wants his best friend back!!!

I love protective Riku when he’s actively showing it😭😭.

[larrylimericks]

15Jun24

Some your-names said Louis’s a slag; In Mexico, gave him a shag. Ten or more touched the sky! He sparked up to reply: Fuck your rumors and also jet lag.

[aregebidan]

FAULKNER: (Under his breath, weakly and numbly) How many stayed behind?

[ID: Art of Faulkner and Rane from the Silt Verses standing in a cloud of smoke. Faulkner's blue halo and crab claw necklace break up the bright orange tones. He stares blankly into the distance while a shadowy Rane tugs at his shoulder, shouting at him to run. End ID.]

[mr-urple]

16

[sanshinexx]

More incorrect quotes w/ the gang :D

Echo is so very done with everything. Tired mom™ needs a nap.

[More of these here]

[pumpkin-mines]

Your Dirk and Jake are incredible, and seeing your art always makes my day. Seriously, the way you draw Dirk is maybe my favorite interpretation of him! You do both of them such justice.

Thank you, I've been drawing them non-stop (almost) every day for over a year, while my Dirk has stayed the same my Jake def got WAY better.

Here's a collage of some of my favorite bits of both dudes.

(super deep and sincere thank you to the discord server bc they made me more comfortable in drawing Jake. everyone is always on about mischaracterizing Dirk but Jakey is a real doozy to handle if you think about him for longer than 5 seconds)

[geneticdriftwood]

my thoughts on dick and damian’s relationship is that damian is not dick’s son. but everyone who knows them knows that damian IS dick’s kid.