#can you tell i'm still not 100% like what is this

[witherby]

hello! great work so far :-) im getting into batfam myself and been loving the platonic/familial works you do w littlest wayne! was wondering if you'd ever do an teen y/n or just an older one? I'd love to see you tackle the idea of a robin y/n or jaybe just some angsty kid stuff,,,,,, hope you had a good new years!

-- :33Anon

I love angst with my whole heart and soul, and I'm happy to write it with a slightly older Reader. Hope you don't mind I've commandeered your prompt to showcase the ability you guys voted on.

This one's a long read so I'm splitting it up. This part is roughly 2400+ words.

The Littlest Wayne: Uncertain Home

(Part 1/2)

Masterlist is Here!

Uncle J'onn is looking at you curiously.

He's been doing that a lot, lately. When Daddy brings you to the Watchtower to be babysat so he can go save the world, one of his co-workers that they can afford to spare gets put in charge of keeping an eye on you. Usually it's Uncle Hal, but this time it's J'onn and he's in his natural form, which you don't mind. Green is your favorite color, and his whole body is green! He's nice and calm, and tells you lots of stories and plays any game you want, even if it's hard for him not to cheat and read your mind. He says it's instinct. You don't hold it against him because you still have fun.

Lately, though, when he talks to you, he tilts his head a bit. He usually does that when he can't understand something.

You wipe your face, checking for cookie crumbs. All clean. You search your shirt for any weird marks or stains. All clean. You scrunch your nose and puff out your cheeks, pouting.

"What's wrong, uncle J'onny?" You ask him. Daddy says the way to get honest answers from someone is just to be forthcoming (Dicky told you what forthcoming meant when you asked him later), so you are. "Did I do something wrong?"

That seems to snap his train of thought. J'onn shakes his head and goes back to sorting out the jigsaw puzzle pieces for you. You're good enough at this to do 100-piece puzzles, now, and when you get really stuck you don't even cry anymore!

"Nothing is wrong, Flittermouse," he says, watching you start putting the edges together first like Dami taught you. "You are simply...changing. Differences are not inherently wrong."

"What's inherably mean?"

"Inherently. It means instinctively, or something that is "set in stone." A rule that does not change. I am stating that change is not something that is always wrong. It's not a firm rule."

You pout and try to process all of that in your brain. It was a partial answer. Daddy says that means people might want to hide something from you.

"What's changing?" You ask him. "I got older a week ago. Is that what you mean? I'm four, now. Grandpappy says I'm getting so big and growed up. He says to not do that so fast. I dunno how, though. He's silly."

J'onn hums. His eyes look away from you as he considers what to say. You put one whole edge together before he speaks again.

"You know that I am not a human, correct?"

"Yeah, I know," you say. "I don't care. I love you. And auntie Diana. And uncle Clark. And uncle Barry. And —"

"Thank you," J'onn gently interrupts. "Do you also know that, sometimes, humans are born not entirely human? That sometimes they get special abilities?"

"Yeah, I know that," you repeat.

"I suspect that —" he cuts himself off, hesitates, then starts again. "Little one. You are showing signs of being one of those humans with special abilities."

"I am?" You ask. You perk up. "Can I fly?!"

You immediately abandon the puzzle and climb onto your chair, about to jump off of it to try and fly around, but J'onn catches you by the back of your shirt before you can hit the ground.

"You cannot."

"Aww...then I don't wanna be a megahuman," you complain, stomping your foot.

"Metahuman."

"Whatever."

"I am sorry," J'onn says, "I did not mean to upset you. I do think you are developing powers, however."

"Not fly powers?" You frown.

"No, not flight powers."

"Boring," you say, blowing raspberries. J'onn cracks a smile at your antics and you giggle. "Help me do the puzzle, please!"

"Alright," he relents, sorting more pieces for you. You're both quiet for a while, and you get the whole frame done before he speaks again.

"Little one. Do you know your father's rule about metahumans?"

"Yeah," you say, grinning, because you're a great listener. You pitch your voice down and make it scratchy. It's adorable in your four-year-old tone. "No metas in Gotham. I am Nighttime. Raaahhh."

J'onn huffs in amusement. "Right. He usually means what he says, does he not?"

"Yeah," you agree, "daddy is a bad liar. He lied and said he didn't eated the last cookie once, but he did eated it. Alfie was mad, 'cause it was for Dami, but Dami didn't care. He likes brownies more than cookies. I like brownies, too."

"I figured," J'onn says. He's not looking at you again. This time he's frowning.

"Do you want brownies?" You ask, figuring that was the issue. "I don't have any. I can ask for some when Daddy comes back. I'm good at sharing, 'cause I'm a good noodle, like Jay says."

"No, but thank you for offering to share. Jason is right, you are a good noodle."

You preen. "I know!"

J'onn drops the subject again and helps you complete the puzzle. You squint at every piece in concentration and politely ask him if he can dim the lights so you can work better. He complies, and after another hour and a half, you have a completed image on the table.

"Yay! We did it!"

The sounds of chatter and footsteps appear down the hall moments later, and you spring to your feet in delight.

"Hello!!!" You shout.

A chorus of "hello!" greets you in return from multiple heroes, and the rest of the Justice League files into the room one by one. They don't look too roughed up, so the mission wasn't very dangerous. That's good. You stand by the door and offer them hugs. Everyone complies, to your endless delight.

"Daddy!" You cheer when you see him, running and hugging Batman's legs. He scoops you into his arms and you grin and point at the table. "Uncle J'onny and I dided a whole puzzle! I didn't give up!"

"Good job, Mouse," Bruce says, reaching out to adjust the light. "You did it in the dark?"

"Yeah," you grin, kicking your feet. "Did you punch bad guys?"

"I did."

"Did you win?"

"Yes."

"Can we have ice cream?"

"Maybe after dinner." He carries you down the hall and towards his temporary quarters, the place he'll stay after a particularly tough mission when he can't make it home right away, and deposits you gently on the bed. "I have to debrief with everyone, and then we can pack up and go home."

"Okay, daddy," you say, already digging through the nightstand for a toy to play with. "I stay right here!"

"Good job," he says again, kissing the top of your head, and leaves you alone with a small wave.

--

The next time you need to be at the Watchtower, it's with Uncle Clark and Auntie Diana. The mission wasn't a super dangerous one, so they both got to stay behind and entertain you.

Today, you're a cashier at your world-famous grocery store. You have the best ingredients all over the world.

"Welcome to the groshy store, what do you want stranger?" You demand, getting into character. Clark looks mildly offended.

"Whoa, hello. That's a lot of 'tude for a paying customer," he says.

"You didn't buy nothing yet! Whataya want!"

"Uh. Some carrots please."

"All out."

Clark narrows his eyes at you. "Can you check in the back?"

You turn around. You turn back.

"All out. Whataya want!"

"You barely looked!" He insists.

"FRESH OUTTA CARROTS, BUB. WHATAYA WANT."

"Oh my goodness, now there's yelling. I think I need to speak to a manager."

"Okay!" You shuffle across the room and grab Diana's hand, leading her back to Clark. "This is the manager. Auntie, tell him all the carrots are gone. He can't have any."

Diana covers her mouth to stifle her laughter. "You heard them, stranger. There are no carrots here."

"Well, aside from the blatant nepotism, auntie, I think you're hiding the carrots from me," Clark huffs, crossing his arms. "I need them for my soup. Guess I'll go to the grocery store across town. I hear they're nicer."

"No," you gasp, "wait. Okay maybe I have one secret carrot. I go get it."

You leave their giggling forms and run over to the toy box that was set up for you on the watch tower, thrusting your hands inside to dig around. You squint your eyes, but all the bright colors are hard to distinguish properly. In the dark spaces, deeper into the box, is where you cast your focus. Instinctively, you follow the trail and close your hand around a plastic carrot. You lift your hand triumphantly.

"Okay, got it!" You cry, only to startle when you find both Clark and Diana kneeling beside your toy chest. Diana picks you up around the waist and takes several steps back, and Clark's eyes turn that funny shade of blue they do when he's using x-ray vision. "Umm, I gotted the carrot already. It's in my hand."

"Are you injured?" Diana asks you, expression deadly serious. You frown and shake your head. "You're certain? I could sense something in that box with you."

"No, I'm fine," you promise. Clark stands up and his eyes go back to normal. He shrugs, brows furrowed.

"There's nothing in there but toys."

"Yeah," you nod, "toys and dark spots."

Both heroes look at you. You squirm in Diana's hold shyly.

"Um, want to pay for the carrot?" You ask, holding it up. "It's only ten dollars. Orrr one lollipop." You whisper conspiratorially. "I can be bribed."

Diana and Clark exchange glances. Clark gingerly takes the carrot from you and puts it back in the toy box.

"Sold. Let's go to the kitchen and pick out which flavor you want."

You grin, forgetting about the game, and Diana puts you on the ground so you can follow excitedly after them. With a couple "pretty please's" and your lethal puppy dog eyes, you even manage to get two lollipops. You ask to be hoisted onto the counter so you can swing your feet as you enjoy the candy, and both heroes perch on either side of you.

It's quiet for a while. It feels like that weird, anticipatory quiet you felt with Uncle J'onny, but you don't know what for, so you wait for one of them to speak. You finish off one whole sucker and open the second one when it happens.

"Mouse?" Clark eventually asks, "can you explain what you meant about your toys? That there are dark spots in there?"

"Yeah," you say, "shadows. Dark spots. Light not touching."

"And you can...feel shadows?"

You hum, thinking it over. "Um...yes. Kind of."

Clark and Diana look at each other again. They're frowning. You frown.

"Can you tell us what you mean by that?" She asks.

"Um. I wanted the carrot, for uncle Clark," you say, "so he can buy it at my groshy store. And the dark spots showed me where it was, and I grabbed it."

"Did they also help you complete the jigsaw puzzle, when you were with J'onn?" Diana asks. "It was quite dark when we got back." You nod.

"Yeah. Easier to do in the dark. It's not cheating!" You blurt. "I didn't cheated!"

"Okay, ya' didn't cheat," Clark agrees, gently patting your back. There's a slight drawl in his words which usually shows up when he's stressed out. "We're just curious, is all, darlin'. Seems you've got a... A special talent, we can call it."

"It's a power. They're a metahuman, Kal," Diana says simply, "and you know Bruce's rule."

The rule? Which one? Always brushing your teeth before bedtime? Or maybe no sweets until you finish your dinner? Hmm, but you haven't had dinner yet. That doesn't make sense.

"No metas in Gotham. I'm very aware, Diana."

"Then you see the problem."

Oh. Now you think you know why uncle J'onny was upset that day.

"Now wait a minute," Clark says. He looks genuinely angry, which confuses you. Did they not like that you could ask the dark for help? They had superpowers, too. You figured they would be happy. "They're his kid."

You are. You're Daddy's little Flittermouse, scampering around and bringing joy. That's what everyone tells you. They love you.

"You've seen how hard he works to keep us out of Gotham," Diana says. "We can be trusted to babysit, but we can't enter the city? What does that tell you?"

"That's different. He's territorial, we all know that. He's not a monster, Diana. He would never hurt them —"

"I'm not saying he is. I'm not saying he would. But I am saying that he doesn't bend his own rules. He does not make exceptions."

Oh.

You sit almost numbly on the counter and watch Clark and Diana start to argue over your place in Gotham. Over your place at home.

You think about Daddy's rule about no metas in Gotham. You think about your new ability to interact with shadows.

Oh.

The lollipop tastes like ash on your tongue and the tips of your fingers feel like tv static. When you blink, your eyes sting as they well up with tears. You've been so good about not throwing fits, about not being a crybaby, about being as strong as your super cool daddy and brothers and grandpa.

But you can't call them that anymore, can you? They don't want metas in Gotham, and that's what you are, now. You can't live with your family anymore.

Large, fat tears roll down your cheeks and your bottom lip wobbles. You whimper and both Diana and Clark whip their heads around to look at you in shock.

"No, oh no, don't cry," Diana coos, "you don't need to worry. Your father isn't —"

You bat her hands away when she reaches for you and jump off the counter, running underneath Clark's cape. They don't catch on to what you're doing in time.

Clark practically rips it off and fans it on the floor, floating above it with wide eyes. Diana kneels next to the fabric and frantically pats it, searching for you.

But there's nothing. You've fled into the shadow Clark's body cast and allowed the darkness to swallow you.

[thepoetballerina]

¡LA LEY DE ASUNCIÓN ES LA CLAVE PARA CAMBIAR REALIDADES! ★

I ALMOST SHIFTED LAST NIGHT OMGGG

Lately I have been reading about the law of assumption being helpful in shifting.

Personally I am a firm believer in that as I have used the law of assumption on quite a few occasions and this time I said to myself: Okay, why not try it?

I convinced myself that I am capable of shifting since I have been shifting for 4 years (although I have been shifting since I was little) and the only times I have successfully shifted is by going to alternate realities.

So, considering that whenever I tried shifting I WAS VERY CLOSE TO GETTING TO MY DR or I just traveled to a reality by mistake.

That counts as an achievement doesn't it?

I mean, I haven't made it to my DR yet but I've been close and thanks to the experiences I've had with shifting I know it's real.

So that's what I did:

I was counting from 1- 100 and I remembered the Law of Assumption and that it can be used for shifting. Then I said: “At this very moment I am in my RD of Interview with the Vampire” (I said it with Conviction and I was sure it was going to work).

« I've said it many times over and over again »

AND I STARTED TO HAVE SYMPTOMS AHHHH

I started to see a light THAT WAS BLINDING ME, MY BODY STARTED TO DROP OF NOTHING, I VISUALIZED LESTAT (my s/o) AND I STARTED TO FEEL LIKE MY HEAD WAS BEING TOUCHED.

ALL THAT HAPPENED IN A MATTER OF SECONDS AJHHHHHHHHHHHH

I'm still shocked about it happened in a INSTANT!

I also noticed that the atmosphere changed and I don't know why it smelled like male cologne (in my script I said that my room was going to smell like strawberry).

I didn't shift because I couldn't fall asleep (I think I needed to relax more).

IF YOU'RE DOUBTING OF YOURSELF OR IF SHIFTING IS REAL OR NOT, LET ME TELL YOU:

SHIFTING IS REAL OMG!!! ★

And I hope that helped you if you were doubting about shifting, law of assumption or about yourself.

Also, sorry for my bad english (is not my native language).

And I hope this helped you if you were doubting about shifting, law of assumption or about yourself.

HAPPY SHIFTING TO ALL AND REMEMBER BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

BYE.

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

Absolutely! I'll also include some gems from the notes so far.

First, to expand on what I mentioned earlier, horses make a huge number of vocalizations, not just neighs. A whinny is a loud shrill greeting call usually communicating over distance, a neigh is similar to a whinny but lower in pitch and also seeks a response form herd mates, a nicker is a quieter and even lower rumbling affiliative greeting or request for interaction (or for treats).

Here is one video on horse vocalizations including lots of others such as snorts and groans and sighs and squeals.

Horses greet by touching noses and blowing air at each other to get a good sniff. They like to explore new items with their nose and lips, and their top lips are very good at manipulating objects (for horse crimes such as trying to undo a latch or steal a treat out of your pocket or a hat off your head). Also horse snoots are extremely soft and velvety and good to pet, would recommend.

Horses. Love. Scritches.

They're prey animals and take their cue from whoever is leading their herd, which as the human means you! If you're nervous when riding the horse WILL be able to tell and will be nervous themself and might dump you off. Alternatively, a horse that is relaxed and well trained will often do their very best to keep you on their back and compensate if you fuck up.

Here is a video on horse body language, and from the same creator here is a video on the basics of horse care, and here is one on riding fundamentals. Lots of good stuff on her channel.

#free research advice for this: look up endurance racing#specifically the tevis cup#that will give you an indication of how fast the fittest horses on the planet can cover 100 miles over rough terrain @teddywesworl

#fun fact endurance riders who do 100 mile races (160km) will take about 14-15 hours#that’s faster than a walk but not as fast as a canter#they’re averaging a fast trot#and those are the peak endurance horses#while they do sections at faster paces they are not galloping the race @telecommunikate

These two sets of tags make great points about what the highest level of endurance looks like for horses. The Tevis cup is a US race, here is a documentary on it.

#Also PLEASE use reference for people holding reins when drawing a comic or animation I beg of you#how can DISNEY with twenty gagillion dollars still get it wrong????#look at a PIC of a RIDER @inebubble please share additional details of whichever disney film fucked this up cause now I'm curious

There are two primary ways to use the reins to communicate to a horse, I was taught to ride western and primarily use neck reining with split reins, which uses the pressure of the reins on the side of the neck to communicate direction indirectly. The other option is direct reining, which puts very slight direct pressure on the bit (or a bitless bridle/halter) to cue directions. The difference is explained here in this short video, and there is a longer explanation of the correct way to hold and use reins when riding english here in this video. Reins are not the only option to communicate a command or cue, it's also important to communicate through pressure on their sides by gently squeezing your thighs and nudging with your knees and adjusting your seat. Spurs if used at all are ONLY used for very gentle tapping, if you dig spurs into a horse's sides you're a dick.

Both @qh and @rival-the-rose brought up gaited horses. Some breeds of horses are bred to have additional or different gaits from the standard four of walk trot canter and gallop (here is a video explaining the standard gaits).

Here is a video of an American saddlebred demonstrating a saddle rack, here is a saddlebred doing a much faster saddle rack. Here is a video about paso finos demonstrating their particular gaits used in show contexts. Here is a paso fino gait in a natural setting (with two horses trotting nearby for comparison), and here is a baby showing it off. Both these types of gaited horses provide a much smoother ride than a trot on a non-gaited horse.

@happilyeveraftereveryday shared this great tiktok about having this exact sort of experience reading a book where the author has clearly never ridden a horse.

#an author I love had a line about being easy on their horses and walking up hills and then cantering down. and it totally broke my#immersion in what I was reading @whywishesarehorses thank you for sharing this truly unfortunate writing mistake. Going at speed down an incline on horseback is super duper dangerous and and difficult and likely to harm the horse. There's a movie that's basically a western filmed in Australia called The Man From Snowy River that has a famous climactic sequence where the MC takes the huge risk to gallop his horse down a mountainside which they had to film through camera angle trickery because no one should ever actually attempt such a stunt.

Regarding the specific topic of writing horses in fantasy novels, two authors that I think do an excellent job of this are Robert Jordan and Robin McKinley. Someone in tags also mentioned Christopher Paolini being good at portraying horses, and if anyone has other examples of writers who do it right, please add them in the replies!

And I will finish this post off with some silly and fun horse videos.

Horses playing and chasing and bucking around a field and another on the same theme and one more of horses playing in snow.

A very sweet and impressive coming out video where the rider is riding liberty (bareback without a bridle/halter) carrying a pride flag and her horse is running at a dead sprint. (inline link won't work so: https://www.tiktok.com/@ that.blue.roan/video/7124394468098313477?lang=en also on tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/lgbt-tiktoks/691501197160546304?source=share)

Another incredibly skilled liberty display with a man working 6 horses in an arena at once performing groundwork tricks

This very accurate voiceover of two horses who are scared of a rabbit.

This person is a comedian and her entire shorts library features her horses engaging in shenanigans and hijinks. (also a donkey)

And finally the most important horse video on youtube: Horse kicks tree, farts on dogs, then runs away.

God I wish more fantasy writers knew how horses work.

‘After a couple hours at a solid gallop they arrived-‘ after galloping for multiple hours??? That horse is fucking dead what are you TALKING about. Have you ever tried sprinting for multiple hours at a time?????? If you are traveling long distances by horseback you are keeping at a walk with an occasional trot and an even more occasional canter, you are not galloping the poor beast the whole way there I don’t care how cool the aerial shots of galloping horses look in film.

Also they make more noises than just neighing. For the record. Since I’m on the subject.

[the-two-of-clubs]

A r/limbuscompany Reddit thread titled "Why do people refer to Dante as a boy?" had a lot of answers given that frankly depressed me, so I wrote a huge essay. And because it's huge and the Redditors are definitely not going to listen, I'm going to repost it here. For non-Limbus fans, Dante's the game's speaking protagonist of indeterminate gender.

People will just straight up say "I just don't want to use they/them pronouns, it's either he or she and I get to pick, sorry!" and be the top upvoted comment in this thread.

When I encourage you to use they/them pronouns for Dante that's not even because they're nonbinary, it's because it's what Dante is always referred to in the game they're from, and it's because it's a less clunky standin for "he or she" as well. "They" can refer to anyone, that's why it's the single best fit of any common English pronoun for an ambiguous character like Dante. They/them is the only way to refer to Dante without making up a headcanon, whether that be a fan theory that they're Ayin or Benjamin or whatever, or a self insert projection.

They/them is something you (yes you! the reader!) could be getting used to being able to use, for multiple reasons. One of which being for nonbinary people, and another reason being not constantly being forced to assume everyone's gender all the time. To smoothly be able to use language that doesn't constantly exclude women. For example, hearing someone talk about a doctor and immediately leaping to "he/him" is a microaggression, because female doctors are constantly confronted with the assumption that they're either men or nurses.

The more you use they/them pronouns for others, the more natural to you they/them pronouns will seem. And Dante could be a great starting off point for some of you to start doing that. Using they/them pronouns can make somebody's day. It would be real self improvement that matters. You probably know a trans or nonbinary person, whether you know that about them or not.

Some of you are 100% telling on yourselves that you couldn't handle being around a nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns in real life with this thread. The pronouns are so alien and unusable to you you're performing mental gymnastics specifically to get out of using them. Yes, nobody can stop you from using he/him for Dante, knock yourself out I guess. But also, what is your actual reason to do that? And not just some casual excuse that you're throwing out, like "you can't prove Dante's NOT a man" (why not use she/her then, hm? what if she's a woman? at the very least the correct pronoun for this would technically be "he or she", right?) Or "Dante is a male name" (the entire Limbus main cast has male names and you don't see people "he/him"-ing Faust. Seems like a specific issue you guys have with they/them and Dante.) Really ask yourself why. Why ARE you so convinced Dante is a man? No really I'm serious.

And when that question does get asked by OP here, people are arguing in this thread that men are the ones who play Limbus Company, and that of course everyone's calling Dante he/him because almost all gamers use he/him, with the whole self insert argument. Which is dismissal and erasure of women, who apparently don't exist and it doesn't matter if the game's self insert mascot represents them, despite showing up in this thread to tell you that they and their presumably from context also female friends play Limbus. This self insert argument will never make Dante a binary man, it would make Dante another type of nonbinary which is pangender or genderfluid, because Dante represents all players that play them or whichever specific player is playing them, and to refer to Dante as the concept, the gestalt, the infinite-mirror-worlds Dantes that exist on each of our phones, they/them still suffices in a unique way, to pay homage to other players with different genders than you and their Dantes which would match those genders, I think.

Calling Dante "he" is an active choice you're making, going against the way the game refers to Dante.

Using the pronouns that the character always gets referred to in the entire game they're from is the norm. You guys never don't do that, except in cases like this where it's so you can ignore they/them pronouns. You do have an actual reason, conscious or subconscious, to actively change which pronouns you're using. Some of the people referring to Dante as he/him here absolutely have biases that make them unwilling to refer to Dante as they/them and therefore they're going out of their way to contradict the source material, namely transphobia. That might not be you, but it's some of the people you're sharing this take that Dante uses he/him with.

I am under no illusion that Dante is necessarily intended to be nonbinary representation. However, some of your reasons for "he/him"-ing Dante are very much trans exclusionary. "Dante has a masculine frame"... People who look like men to you sometimes aren't men. Heck, sometimes they're cis women. And if this is the first you're hearing of it, yep! That's always been true and you should keep it in mind. We live in a big weird beautiful world. People who look like men to you might be nonbinary and use exclusively "they/them" pronouns for example, and being referred to as "they" rather than "he" might go a long way to their happiness and comfort because of a thing called dysphoria, which can be medically dangerous for people if they suffer too much of it from being misgendered too often. These people can't somehow get a different skeleton structure and look even more androgynous than Dante does in order for you to refer to them respectfully. Training yourself out of jumping to pronouns because of the width of someone's shoulders can do real world good just like training yourself out of jumping to pronouns because of somebody's career. It all helps you act respectfully and challenge your assumptions. And that can start right now right here. You can just refer to Dante or any nonbinary video game character you've been neglecting as they/them, sound it out in your head, nothing is stopping you.

And yes, before someone starts whining that I'm making "too big a deal of this" because I dropped the dreaded T-word that will get me downvoted, Dante isn't real and can't have their feelings hurt by the fact that people keep referring to them as he/him even if they turn out to have been a woman this whole time. I know I am aware. You should know that nonbinary people are reading the posts you're making and seeing how casually and thoughtlessly you're willing to dismiss even the concept of using they/them for a CLOCK who doesn't even have a human FACE let alone an obvious gender, and I for one know that were we to meet, you wouldn't gender me correctly either. You'd take one look at me and thoughtlessly assume you're always right.

Does referring to Dante as anything at all matter directly? No. It's fiction. However, words inspire people. Everyone is just referring to Dante as he/him because everyone else is and it's considered normal. A creative thinker, a leader rather than a follower, is someone who questions what everyone else is doing, and comes to their own conclusions. Coming to your own conclusions is what you will have to do with what I have written here.

For the Tumblr audience this is probably just an unsurprising PSA that Limbus fan Redditors are being weird about they/them pronouns and a bunch of weird arguments they're using to do so. I'm not trying to come after any queer person's he/they or she/her or any pronoun set Dante headcanons in particular here either, you can tell by the explanation of what dysphoria is that's not the target audience. If you headcanon characters having different pronouns when it's not just because you can't be assed to use they/them we're cool that's very cool of you.

[aviradasa]

Might I request something with the lost boys? (It can be together or separate- I’ve read a good bit of stuff where it’s poly, but you 100% don’t have to)

how would they react to a reader that is also a vampire, like reader is part of their coven, and when they go out to hunt reader just goes FERAL and ends up covered in the victims blood?😅

Heyy sorry this took forever this is my first oneahot for them and i was struggling to write the boys personalitys a little, so this is very short, sweet and not very detailed at the moment but once i get into this my writing will improve for them just bear with me!

Thank you for leaving your request and here is

Poly! Lost boys x Vampire! Reader

Bloodlust of a halfling

The sun is just setting across the little California town of Santa Carla. To most folks, now's the time to wind down; to the young people, it's time to party, but for a couple of select groups, it's time for something even better...

“Paul, you throw one more goddamn bottle cap at me, I'm gonna jump over this sofa and bash your fuckin balls in!” I whip around in my spot, placing both hands on the back of the sofa as I shout the threat, staring him down as he teasingly holds one up, pretending to throw another one, before Dwayne comes up behind him, snatching the cap as Paul jumps up, to chase him.

Some of us were feeling a bit crazy tonight. But that's good. The adrenaline running through our undead bodies was something we lived for - and killed for.

Well, they killed for. I was one of the few halflings of the group. One kill and I'll never have to worry again. Only a fool would be willing to pass that up. It's okay star, and Michael will come around eventually.

“Alright, boys, you know what time it is! Lets get outta here.” We all hear David tell us; he stands by the entrance, ready to go with that evil little smile he gets.

Once he speaks, the others jump up. Whooping and hollering like usual. Marko comes over to me, and as I'm about to stand, he grabs my arms and yanks me from my seat as we both laugh. Once we all make our way outside, I hop on the back of Dwayne's bike.

Star Michael and Laddie stay behind for now. They just aren't ready; that's ok, though, cause the boys have deemed tonight mine, and I'm gonna prove them right.

We speed through the darkened brush before we exit onto one of the empty beaches. The sound of all of our shouts, laughs, and Hollars, plus the revving engines mixed together, sounds like the warning calls from a pack of coyotes or something. 

Making our way onto the boardwalk, we park the bikes, and I already know what to do. Making my way towards the live show area I spot a group of douchie-looking drunk surf Nazis, our rival group

Perfect for a first kill.

You see my job was to be bait. Lure in some drunk,horny assholes away from the crowd so that we can all rush them fast without any escaping. Luckily, this was the easy part, and I have had a lot of practice at it.

I make my way over to an open spot that is easily noticeable by where they are standing. Swaying with the music as I begin to dance for a little while. Once I feel an eye on me, I twirl to face them with an inviting smile, gesturing for them to come over, almost like a witch casting a spell. At least that's what it seems like with how derpy and hypnotized these drunk fools look as they approach me.

Even their aura is crude and suffocating as they make their way over, surrounding me. There are only three, but it's still heavily uncomfortable. Lucky I need not fear. This will all be over soon.

Being bait was never a fun experience. But it's not like the boys can come out here and attract people to follow them to sketchy places.

Ok, well, they could. They just don't want to. But that's beside the point

Now that I have the attention of the group, I grab two of them by the wrists without a word, dragging them away from the crowd; the three of them follow without a thought as I lead them to the darkened beach and under the boardwalk. Letting go of them, I run a bit farther into the darkness under the dock with a laugh. 

The surf nazis start to look a bit freaked, only taking a few more steps, looking at each other paranoid, before one of them raises their finger to point at the five pairs of glowing yellow eyes that appear from the darkness. 

The surf nazis try to run, but it's already too late. The boys are on them, fast, cackling, and laughing as they take down two of them. Its up to me to kill the third,

My nerves are through the roof as I stand frozen for a moment, but then suddenly the scent of blood fills my senses and I'm on that surfer like a bat outta hell,

I fly up behind him as he begins to run, but he doesn't get far as I slam my feet into his spine; he falls face first into the rocky sand as my heels dig into his back, I'm quick to step off, though. I move to straddle his back, grabbing one of his arms and bending it backward in a way no human body should bend, He tries to scream, but before he can get anything out, I dig my claws into his throat, successfully ripping it out.

I stand up and flip his body over swiftly as I completely start tearing into his flesh. Clawing, biting, chewing, ripping, tearing, snapping. By the time I've finished, the mangled corpse is covered in blood. I sit over the body for a moment, catching my breath. I know I don't have to breathe, but it helps calm down a bit. I feel the blood clinging to my skin and clothing, making my hair stick to my face, and bloody sand and dirt cling to me like glue. It's pretty uncomfortable, but I don't care right now. The blood coursing through me is like a drug, And I feel my body getting stronger by the second. The power rushed through me.

It only lasts a moment, though, before a voice breaks me from my moment.

“ DAMN GIRL WHAT THE HELL!” I hear Paul exclaim with a cackle. My head shoots to look at him. My gaze flickers from him to the others, who now also look up from their meals with smirks, chuckles, and grins, and I can't help but just stare at them back in embarrassment for a moment before joining in on the chuckles. I don't know what exactly they find so amusing, but I might as well join in.

“ well somebody was hungry.” Marko teases as he looks from you to the body you've torn to pieces. You just roll your eyes at him as you reach behind you to grab a bit of flesh you missed the blood in 

“That's one gnarly ass first kill. Good job.” Dwayne says, admiring the whole scene for a moment before giving you a thumbs up and going back to tearing the flesh off of his guy's arm.

Luckily, the boys decide not to tease much; they remember what it's like. How the first kills can feel on the body and mind, so they keep most of the joking to themselves for now. They will get you later, though, you best believe. But for now, they are gonna let your state mellow out.

David, on the other hand, doesn't mind the idea of teasing you right now.

He doesn't say much he just glances up mid-scalping the guy who Dwayne is pulling flesh from to admire your work a bit “ could have kept him alive a little longer and had more fun, going for the throat kills them too quickly in my opinion” he critiques giving you a cocky smile before he goes back to his business.

Once he turns his back, you look over at Paul as he begins to silently mock David, which you and him share a little childish giggle about before he and Marko finish off the corpse they shared. David and Dwayne finish a few minutes later. After feeding, we all throw the body into the ocean, Knowing the rest of the remnants will be washed away by morning due to the tide. 

Then we leave. We try not to stick around too long after kills just in case someone hears the commotion or anything of the sort. 

But As you all make your way to the bikes, which had been parked nearby, the obnoxious nature of the boys carries on. After kills, they are always pretty hyped, and after how crazy your first one was, they are even more amped up. Slinging their arms over your shoulders, and giving you hugs, Marko even ends up giving you a piggyback ride the rest of the way over 

Once he lets me down, David grabs me and decides on his own accord that I'm gonna ride back with him. But hey, I'm not complaining. Once I get seated on the back of his bike, we set off, and for some reason, I'm just exhausted. I guess I wasted my energy tearing that guy up like an animal, but that's ok. I begin nodding off a bit on the ride back to the cave. I fight to try and stay awake but to no avail, so I eventually just rest my head against David's back, tightening my grip around his waist a bit so I don't fall off. The last thing I hear is his chuckle and the rumble of the bikes as I slip into a light sleep.

Finally, now that I'm truly one of them, I can rest. I was so worried before I fully turned and anxious, but now I am free. Free of the confines of a human body, and a human soul. Now I'm just me, and I'm immortal; better yet, I can be with my boys for eternity. Who could ask for more? I certainly couldn't. I've already been spoiled so.

[nakylvr]

i recently just started hrt and just thinking about the girls getting excited about the changes with you!! like once your voice deepens, there's def a voice kink thrown in there somewhere (lara or dani lbr) but they're also just so excited and happy for you :(((

first of all congratulations!! im so happy for you!! its gonna be such a fun experience 🫶

sophia is the one who is the most invested in your changes in terms of she looks it up with you before you even start and she just gets so excited for you when you say you can start. if you're doing injections for testosterone and nervous she has no hesitation to offer to do it for you if you'll let her, and she is the best at it. when your voice starts cracking and you're around the kats she will be scolding any of them who try to make fun of it, even though you all know it's nothing serious, she doesn't care

manon is the type to throw a dumb (lovingly) party for you being able to start hrt. whether or not you want people there or to know she is still buying streamers and balloons fuck honestly she'd buy a cake and for what reason? she wants you to know how happy she is for you, and that's her response if you ask her. she'd lightly tease you when your voice starts cracking but if anyone else tries to she will shut that shit down so fast the kats are just silently nodding while getting scolded

daniela literally lights up with excitement when you tell her you're starting hrt. while she already calls you every pet name under the sun, most in spanish, it just amplifies when your voice starts getting deeper. she's definitely the one most likely to develop a voice kink over it and will make it known to you. while she's normally one of the members most likely to tease others it comes to a halting stop when it deals with you. she knows better than to make a joke about something you could possibly get upset about and if one of the kats do she will be scolding them which comes as a surprise to them and you no matter how many times you say it's fine

lara gets so excited for you that it's almost like she's happier than you honestly. she'd be the one to suggest you do voice logs every month to see how your voice changes and is so happy when you do it. she's probably already bought you clothes and such depending on how long you've been with her but she is 100% dragging you to every store possible to buy you new stuff, grabbing every item you look at for a little too long without hesitation, and won't let you even think about it being too expensive. she'll stand up for you at any time, and that doesn't change once you start hrt if people who aren't familiar with you start asking questions, depending on how you feel and want her to answer determines how she goes about it

megan literally jumps up and down while clapping when you tell her you're starting hrt, it's easy to see she's just as excited for you as you are. she's asking you every week how you feel and if you notice anything, and when your voice starts deepening it stirs something in her. yes, she would also be one to grow a voice kink solely because of your voice deepening, a surprise. if you're doing t injections do not ask her for help i'm sorry but she will fuck it up somehow and will feel so bad afterwards that she won't try to again. but that doesn't mean she won't sit there beside you to give you some reassurance

[wierdgaypanda-blog]

I love this post and 100% agree. I am personally both mentally and physically disabled. I have chronic pain, hypermobility and balance issues which all combined means I fall easily and often and when I do I tend to hurt myself more easily than an able-bodied person. I sometimes have vertigo so bad I can barely even crawl let alone stand and walk. Getting a wheelchair has changed my life. I'm no longer bedridden for sometimes weeks at a time. Even when I'm at my worst I can still get up and do things around the house and even go out and do errands and make appointments. I no longer have to rely on others to do everything for me. I can actually be independent and not rely on a mother who is incredibly toxic and borderline emotionally abusive.

But because my legs work (sometimes) and I'm not paralysed people accuse me of faking. I once had a stranger see me stand up from my chair in the supermarket to grab something from the top shelf and start yelling at me for "pretending to be disabled for attention" and "taking away resources from actually disabled people." I'm also autistic so completely froze up and went nonverbal. I just stood there clutching onto the shelves as this person pulled my chair away from me and threatened to return it to the Accident and Medical clinic next door. They started wheeling it away from me with my bag with all my belongings still hanging off the back. I tried to stop them and had a fall right there in the middle of the busy supermarket.

Thank god the nice homeless lady who I stop and talk to sometimes saw the woman walking out of the store with my chair.

I don't know what she said or did to get my chair back but she came back in the store with my chair and retuned it to me. By this point I was crying and panicking on the floor. A random bystander saw me and was trying to help me up but when they picked me up I just fell over again. I cannot tell you the amount of times I've been picked up by random strangers on the street who've seen me fall. Every time it's incredibly distressing as I'm never ready to be back on my feet again. People also come up and grab my chair and try to push me to "help" and sometimes it is very helpful getting up hills and I'm very grateful but sometimes they don't let go when I tell them to and I once had a guy crash me into a bench and almost break my chair because he didn't know how to break or steer.

Anyway Gretta returned my chair and the man who was trying to help me lifted me back into it. I managed to pull myself together enough to finish the shopping and now every time I have to go to the supermarket while in my chair Gretta comes in with me and helps me with my shopping. I always grab her anything she needs while we're in there as a thank you and she's kind of half-adopted me since I'm not that much older than her grandkids.

The moral of this story is always be kind to strangers and never assume you know more about a person or their ability than they do. Whether or not someone "looks" disabled is subjective and anyone of any age or appearance could be struggling with a hidden disability. Mind your own fucking business and don't bother people if they're not bothering you.

Also be kind to unhoused people. They're people two and you don't know what struggles they are going through to put them in their situation. Most people are one disaster from ending up in similar situations. Think how you'd like to be treated if you somehow ended up without a stable place to live.

Sincerely a disabled person in their early twenties with blue hair and pronouns.

Like "Yeah I can walk, but I still need my wheelchair" is a statement that both someone who is faking AND someone who is 100% legitimately disabled could say, there's no way to tell the difference unless you're inside their heads so don't try. Even doctors will misjudge a patient's need, they do it ALL THE TIME. There's no reason to assume someone is faking, get that white knight shit out of your mind, leave disabled people alone. I'd rather 500 people use mobility or other aids they don't need in peace than have a SINGLE disabled person get harassed or be forced to go without help they desperately need because people think they're faking when they aren't. If you think someone isn't actually disabled shut the fuck up, it's literally none of your goddamn buisness.

Edit: I encourage disabled people, both mentally and physically, to add stories of times they've been hurt or harassed about faking so abled people can see how harmful this shit is. Also if any of you get mad at me for including mental disabilites/illnesses/neurodivergencies under the disability umbrella you will be getting very acquainted with my soild aluminum knee braces, idc who you are. My brain is part of my body and solidarity is the key to liberation.

[fluffydavey]

"just shut up! i'm not as good as you say i am!" for the comfort prompts 🤭

comfort prompts || accepting sorry this took so long, i have not been feeling very well recently, so i hope this is okay and worth the wait!!

"Can we ban Race from speaking at these meetings?" Jack groans, as the two finally finish up cleaning up after the rest of the newsies. "I mean he had to put his nose in that conversation between Flushing and Woodside and make things ten times worse between them."

Davey had eventually intervened, setting up a meeting with the leaders of Flushing and Woodside to talk their issues through in a more private setting, and things were able to go back on track once Spot stood up to politely tell them all to shut the fuck up, or get the fuck out.

"So what's next?" he asks excitedly, letting the buzz of their first successful meeting as joint leaders finally sink in. As much as Jack wanted to be confident that all of the newsies of New York could come together to create a voice for each and every one of them to be heard, even he had been surprised by the turnout.

"I don't know," Davey says, his head hung low as he shoves his hands in his pockets. Jack looks up at him, surprised that Davey's not as excited as he is, but Jack realises that Davey had practically left most of the talking to him the entire night. He knows Davey's not a fan of public speaking, and he was made very aware that even though Davey was agreeing to help Jack out, Jack would still be the face of the union. But truth be told, he had expected more to come from the other boy.

"Come on, there's gotta be some ideas rattling around that head of yours," he grins, bumping Davey's shoulder, who practically jumps out of his skin in response. Jack takes a step back, watching Davey very carefully.

"I don't know," Davey repeats, and Jack knows him too well to know he's holding back an eye roll.

"Hey, we both know you're the brains of this duo. You've come up with the best ideas we've had yet. Well, Katherine too, but she's not here to share the glory," he begins, trying to entice a smile from Davey.

Somehow, he gets the exact opposite reaction that he was hoping for.

"Jack, drop it, alright? I said I don't know," Davey snaps. "Why am I the ideas guy? I don't even know what I'm doing!"

"What?" he asks, dumbfounded. "Davey, you heard some of the ideas floating around from some of the kids in The Bronx. I think we both know you know what you're doing. Hell, you know more than all of us put together."

"Just shut up!" Davey shouts, taking a laboured breath. "I'm not as good as you say I am!"

"Davey - "

"No Jack, I'm not. You don't need me up there with you. I've been a newsie for what, nearly a month now? How the hell am I supposed to come up with all of these big ideas that you expect from me, when everyone else knows I don't know what the hell I'm doing up there beside you."

"And you think I know what I'm doing?" he asks, a humourless laugh falling from his lips. "Davey, none of us know what we're doing. Up until now, we've been resolving everything with fights. You were the one to think of the rally, trying to make sure every single one of us had a voice. You united us - made us want to fight the bigger guys instead. You helped us see there was more to being a newsie than putting up with the little we got. There's kids out there who are starting to dream a little bigger, and that's because of you."

Davey opens his mouth to reply, and Jack watches as he shuts it, pinching the bridge of his nose as he turns to face the stage the two had been sat on for the better half of the evening, walking over to it. "And what happens when I let you all down? I'll open my big mouth, and say the wrong thing, or somehow mess everything up."

"Then we fix it," Jack says, as he follows Davey. "Like you helped me and Katherine with the children's crusade. We're a team, and you're just as much a part of that team, no matter how long you've been a newsie. Those kids out there hang onto every word you say. Plus, you're the only person I know that Spot listens to. That's gotta count for something."

He actually manages to get a small laugh out of Davey with that, which is better than what he expected.

"Now, I'm not going to force you to do something you don't want to do, but there are so many kids that not only believe in what you say, but they believe in what you stand for, and they believe in you," he says, as he places a hand on Davey's back. "You're important to the union Davey, but you're even more important to us."

Davey turns to face Jack, a smile slowly growing on his face. "And you say you need my help to rally everyone. You do a pretty good job yourself."

"But you know we work best as a team," he grins, watching Davey try to take everything in.

"You still sure about that?" Davey asks, and Jack doesn't even need to think twice.

"Always. Newsies forever, right?" he says, and this time Davey doesn't hold back the eye roll. "Come on, we're not leaving until you say it back!"

"Shut up Jack," Davey laughs, dragging him outside the theatre. Jack laughs along, feeling that hopeful joy come back again, watching Davey's smile grow, as he finally lets himself feel proud of his own work. Jack could get used to this feeling.

[oldguardleatherdog]

OLD MACDONALD BOUGHT THE FARM: "Barking and meowing" by students is being banned in a hysterical panic by another ignorant Florida school board. How long are we gonna put up with this insidious nonsense?

I've had it. These nutcases are about to regulate onomatopoeia in elementary school. Don't laugh - it's hiding something ominous, and it's deliberate.

First: If you're in the furry fandom - as I've been for 26 years (longer than the average fur has been alive these days) - TAKE THIS SHIT SERIOUSLY.

If they're actually banning K-12 school age kids from wearing anything animal-themed (yeah, it's that broad) and restricting the sounds they can utter for Christ's sake, you can be sure that the wild-eyed crazeballs chick who runs LibsOfTikTok and singlehandedly caused the wave of library closings over the mere existence of LGBTQ+ characters in books - to the extent that the State of Missouri legislature has defunded the entire statewide public library system! - already has her sights trained on Midwest FurFest, and the lunatics who closed down Boston Children's Hospital with bomb threats are already booking flights to bring the Nazis-with-guns to every furry convention in America by the end of this year, AND IF YOU DON'T GET WITH THE PROGRAM THEY'RE GOING TO BLOW YOUR oWo uWu ASSES OFF!

Enough dicking around, my fellow furballs. You know what to do.

Here's what I posted to Reddit last night - piss-poor metrics for my posts about the Wile E. Coyote anvils over our heads, but my groaners in the r/3amjokes and r/dadjokes subs get 35,000 views. Go figure.

In the meantime, read, heed, and reblog like your life depends on it, because it does:

---

You may laugh at first glance, or shake your head at "Florida again" - but it's a stalking horse for their next milestone: banning student behavior and appearance that to the MAGAs and right-wing nut jobs carries even a *hint* of LGBTQ+, and then - say it with me -

Identifying students who are mature enough to have come out as LGBTQ+ fully or in part (friends, family); those who are known to be "questioning" and on their way to coming out; those who are beginning to identify as other than heterosexual or show "tendencies" or "predelictions", and students too young to be self-aware in those ways but are seen as suspect by teachers and administrators - and then, gradually at first, then quickly and deliberately separating, isolating, and ultimately barring them from access to public education.

Kentucky has said it out loud just this week, clearly, plainly, with no room for ambiguity: "It's time to eliminate 'transes' from our schools."

If you're still on the fence about getting involved with activism and protests to put this movement down for good before it becomes too big to stop - and we still have time to stop it and crush it - do you think they'll stop after just banning kids?

You don't need to have psychic powers or a crystal ball to see what's heading our way. Soon.

You can choose to do nothing - or you can choose to act. One or the other. Simple, plain, clear.

Joni Mitchell once sang, "it all comes down to you," and she was right, of course, but if you listened closely, her meaning was clear then, and applies now - one choice will save you, the other will not.

Only one of these choices has the potential to turn the tide, the clearly visible, quickening, rising tide that's got crazy Jesus in its eyes and a list with your name on it.

I cannot choose for you, of course. No one can.

Last time I looked, this was still a free country.

But if you do not make the right choice - *you*, Constant Stranger, she sang - no one will be able to save you, or us. And the choice is upon us, sooner than we thought, and now.

Time to choose.

[fistfuloflightning]

You’re welcome for those wiki tabs! Oh gosh your tags are lovely ☺️—hope you don’t mind me preserving them here:

#hello op I'm here to tell you I am continuing to love your brain#I feel like I need to study the technical aspects of clothing more so thank you for inspiring the wiki tabs on my phone#I like the idea of Fitzwilliam being at the border and sometimes having to return home#like this is the guy that becomes someone's pretend husband because you can just say 'oh yeah uh I'm married already. no you can't meet him#'no it's not because he's not real it's because he's at the border not because you're coming onto me & I don't like you'#that of course is a complete tangent and nothing to do with the actual story. also I just watched 100 days my prince#that's a huge tangent though. lol. anyway:#one can only hope family obligations are infrequent enough. plus she can still brag about how patriotic he is#I wANt mY NepHEWS oN tHE THrown...he's still at the border? send word post haste to return! *feeble old persona switch*#*activate queen dowager mode* where is my OTHER nephew. I will NOT see my family disposed!#actually how is georgiana turning out here? can she play the gayageum O.o??

The whole Darcy/Fitzwilliam/de Bourgh is just hilarious to me. It feels like such a literal three ring circus, with everyone running around and juuust missing each other by minutes

Fitzwilliam would definitely be down to play the ‘fake boyfriend’ for one of his besties, and somehow gets a womanizer reputation out of it even tho he’s never actually been in a relationship.

Lady Catherine would be the scheming dowager, but like just really hilariously obvious to everyone that she’s scheming. She’s got her network of eunuchs and maids running around playing spy, and some of the court officials as well (Collins 👀—who kinda blows cover when he meets Darcy and pretty much gushes about how Darcy’s set up to marry Princess Anne, no he’s not going sit in the throne itself but Darcy’s son will have the throne so that means it’ll stay in the clan in any case! And Darcy just goes cold and backs tf away 😆 )

And you bet Georgiana would play the gayageum (plus a hundred other instruments) and one of the things Darcy enjoys best is sitting outside with his little sister and listening to her practice (perhaps that’s how Wickham first seduced her, finding her practicing alone in a garden pavilion and approaching her like the smooth scumbag he is). I think Lady Catherine is also pretty protective of Georgiana and blames Darcy for not fulfilling his brotherly duties (unsure if in this au she’s aware of the Wickham situation, if thinking that since he failed to protect her Lady Catherine would do it for him and demanding Georgiana be brought to live in the palace which Darcy would ofc fight)

Ngl I think Confucian doctrine weirdly translates well to the values of Regency England as well and I think that’s what originally sold me on this au—the values don’t really change much, women’s place in their respective societies don't change much, and I just find that fascinating. Something like Mr Bennet being a Confucian scholar and teaching his first two daughters to the best of his knowledge, losing steam with Mary, and then absolutely giving up with Kitty and Lydia and just leaving their education to his wife (which is part of the reason they turn out the way they do (and was largely inspired by my favorite P&P fic Mr. Bennet Travels Through Time, read it. please.))

A few more character designs for the Pride and Prejudice Joseon AU: Mr Collins, Lady Catherine, and George Wickham

I’ve been rereading My Royal Awakening and Crush in Spring and those manhwas gave me a bit more inspo for this au. I couldn’t unsee Lady Catherine in eoyeo meori so I turned her into the queen dowager—which would make for some interesting nepotistic dynamics with her nephews if she favors her own clan in politics, and both Darcy and Fitzwilliam are probably not about that life lol.

Darcy could be a junior official at court where he wears his mask constantly as a matter of survival, or maybe even a scholar of Sungkyunkwan. Fitzwilliam is always gone to the border and only comes home when he’s forced to.

And Mr Collins… *deep sigh* Mr Collins is probably in a lesser administrative position and uses his connection with the queen dowager to crawl his way up the ladder.

[good-beanswrites]

"Prisoner @purgemarchlockdown ! Milgramblrgram has judged you guilty for your crimes! It is time to meet your judgement. As the wardens' fang, I take that responsibility upon myself!" (Aka, Esquest Bad End be upon ye 👊) TW for Amane's cult mindset.

You open your eyes. 

The temple looks the same as it always has. The thought usually comes as a relief – after a particularly difficult hero, the return to routine is a blessing. Seeing everything back in its place always fills you with a sense of peace. God once explained that all of existence is a circle. Something about eternity and cycles and perfection. You didn’t quite understand, but you enthusiastically told Him that you did. You didn’t want to appear as a clueless child. And anyway, you grew to love the loops. 

But not now. 

This time, your head whips around, looking for something that should be here. Well, it shouldn’t be here, but you expected it to be.

You pace the chamber’s echoing floor, but there’s no sign of it. Did you really expect it to be here? Did you really get your hopes high? You should not have been so naive. The hat isn’t here. How could you have been so stupid?

“What are you looking for?”

You nearly startle at the voice. God stands behind you. He does not sound pleased. 

“N-nothing!”

The word come out in a panic. Then, as you’re struck with the realization that you just lied to God, your eyes drop to the ground. “I mean… it’s nothing of importance.”

He steps closer, and you shy away from His suspicion. 

Despite the glare He shoots up at you, God’s voice is even. “Are you sure?”

“Y-yes. I thought… last time there was…” You take a moment to collect your thoughts. God pauses as you do so. He is always patient with you. He loves you, after all. You inhale. “The last hero tried to change things, but they did not. I knew they couldn’t,” you lie, “so I was just seeing the proof.”

“Yes, they failed. There is nothing to look for here.”

“Of course.”

God leaves you, then. The temple drops into silence. He is right. There is nothing to look for. You aren’t quite sure what emotion you’re left with. Your chest feels as empty as the chamber around you.

The next hero, however, finds out exactly what you were feeling. They take one step into your cell, and you tear them apart. 

It all happens in a moment. It shouldn’t be them walking through the door. You scream, accusing the flailing hero of things they never could have done. You cry, accusing yourself of things you never should have done. You let your claws tear however they please. 

Looking at the mess before you, you feel like the monster everyone feared you were. 

You don’t really care. 

That is, until God appears once more. He looks on the scene with disgust. It’s the type of face the villagers would flash your way before turning away to whisper something. It’s the look you saw from your parents, a silent warning about what was about to follow. You knew this situation was no different. 

You were monstrous, and you would be punished as one. 

“This type of behavior is not why I chose you.” God says. “I chose you to be special.”

“I understand.” 

“Come with me.” 

This was right. This was just.

Your feet remain stuck. Es...

No. You do need to do this.

These voices, they were wrong last time. Only one person had proved undoubtedly correct this whole time, and you should have listened to Him from the beginning. 

There is a reason everything is circular. The loops make sense. Routine means perfection. Change never brings anything except pain. This time, you will be good. You will be good enough. 

You follow God.

Your chin is held high. You need no saving form heroes, or voices, or anyone. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. You’re special. You may not be perfect, but that is why you must endure these lessons. God must love you so much, since he is willing to teach them again and again. How patient he must be.

He turns his face away, in time to miss one last tear that slips down your cheek. You hear the smile in his voice. 

“There’s a good girl.”

[icewindandboringhorror]

examining a seemingly normal image only to slowly realize the clear signs of AI generated art.... i know what you are... you cannot hide your true nature from me... go back where you came from... out of my sight with haste, wretched and vile husk

[adlersbitchboy]

Never apologizing for ranting. I 100% agree. I got the achievement too first try and I always play cod campaigns on recruit first so I can get most of the story and then as I play like harder difficulties I notice more little things. I love all the references to each game that timeline wise come before it.

I agree that Adler should not be allowed out in public because even in cold war when he's "more tame" he's still psychotic. I love him but he terrifies me lowkey. Also who let that man go to Iraq alone after the doctor guy? We should be glad the doctor wasn't there and he had to get Sims involved otherwise he would've just come back to the safe house like "here's the info I got... by the way I killed the doctor" and w the player would have to sit there and be like "what the fuck Adler? What if he could've helped us more?" Also I love how they made Adler the slowest character in the desert mission. I kept looking back and he would be all the way back just coming over a dune after I'm on the next one already. He's got them bad knees and back I guess. Also during my playthrough on the mission with Sims, Adler went up to one of the shotgun enemies and got blasted in the face by the Marine SP. Like straight in the face. And then looked at me like I did it. Like I didn't tell you to follow me, ya twink. (Sorry I can talk about this man for hours)

I also loved the scene with Felix cooking because it was one of many scenes that made the characters feel so much more real. It gave the player a feeling of connection and it shows the differences with how different Adler acts around people he trusts vs how he acted around Bell in Cold War... even if he did get more psychotic and paranoid.

BLACK OPS 6 SPOILERS

I finished BO6 and I was not expecting it to be THAT good. Like the final mission reminded me of BO3 BUT 10 TIMES BETTER. I mean did I hate the cliffhanger that is probably gonna make me watch warzone shit on YouTube? Yes. However I loved the gameplay and creativity the game brought to the table. I love the little touches in each characters room and Woods little cot set up by the evidence board. When i first saw the picture of Woods and Mason I almost started crying. Like that poor man has been through so much.

Also the end missions? Why did Adler just have MKUltra drugs lying around? Someone needs to like keep an eye on this psycho.

There was literally one mission where he disappeared and I started freaking out because I though Adler was off committing the most heinous war crimes ever. Like why did no one else besides Sims care about how psycho he was?

Speaking of Sims, that mission was so much fun.

I'm definitely gonna replay the fuck out of this game. I'm gonna treat it like I treated cold war and replay it til I beat it on Realism mode or whatever... which shouldn't take too long. I also have to go back and get all the achievements.

Also with the whole framing Adler thing... who really thought he wouldn't find away to fight the allegations?

[dbphantom]

Hate having adhd went to go work on my fallout modpack, got distracted while going to disable the steam overlay, ended up in the points shop, went to go edit my profile, decided to change my pfp, found a buried folder I forgot existed, found some old Veneer art I forgot existed, spent 45 minutes looking at all the old photos, STILL HAVE NOT TOGGLED ONE SIMPLE OPTION THAT SHOULD'VE TAKEN 30 SECONDS AT MOST

[hypostatic-oath]

4.2 has officially destroyed my brain in terms of lore. Farewell, everyone, I shall join my fellow mad scholars in Aaru Village, because WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH.

If you picture someone wearing a tinfoil hat screaming incoherently while wildly gesturing and waving their arms about, you can get a pretty accurate depiction of my mental state.

Featuring: me rambling in the tags. Careful for spoilers if you choose to read them - I don't go into detail but still.

[mad-hunts]

barton being awkward at first or even completely throughout a whole interaction whenever he's trying to comfort people is so in character for him TBH and let me tell y'all why because i think it's important to his character:

he can fake a lot of things. barton can fake being nice to people, he can fake being innocent, and he can even fake having a much stronger sense of morality around people if he wants to — but whenever it comes to empathizing with someone on an emotional level... barton finds himself often struggling with faking it because of the nature of it. and this is due to it being different than whenever he's trying to feign something easily comprehensible like innocence. but empathy is something that's usually viewed as innate in us as humans and has to do with love, which doesn't depend on logic. it's something that comes from within, so it doesn't have clear parameters as to how you should do it, so whenever barton tries to fake it in the event that he's trying to make someone feel better; he'll stumble. and so although barton can cognitively empathize with someone, his efforts to actually put himself in other people's shoes fall flat, as he just can't physically imagine himself being in someone else's position probably more than half the time.

so if your muse were to ever come to him seeming upset, barton would likely not know what to do / how to comfort them, at least for a bit before referencing back on how he's seen other people do it. because i hate to say it (i don't, in reality, but y'all know what i mean LOL) but barton does actively mimic behaviors that he sees people do whenever he feels the absence of a certain emotion. he especially does this whenever he's trying to appear charming to other people, but like i said, he'll also try to use what he's seen his peers do as a guide as for what he should do in regards to empathy. and sometimes he may even seem a bit flustered before he's able to do this because he knows that it is expected of him to be able to empathize with people and can identify it in other people BUT knowing how to approach faking it has always been sort of hard for him even as an adult.

but yeahhh, that's just my own two cents about how barton sometimes break character that he is quote unquote ' normal, ' though he does try to mask this around people who aren't really familiar with him as simply being social awkwardness. however, it is part of a larger thing with him as despite the fact that he can blend in with the population REALLY well and also is pretty good at manipulating others, i suppose you could say that barton is still not an expert at ' constructing empathy ' because whenever someone is visibly hurt in front of him... he is more liable to act like he isn't sure what to do, than to put on an act immediately since he is likely to feel nothing first before anything else. and i realize that that is a rather unsettling thought, but i think that he is a lot more suspectible to doing this with people he doesn't know well / who he isn't particularly close to, as he's got a lot more practice with being falsely empathetic towards friends and/or sometimes even family members.