#feel free to ask follow-up questions

[my-deer-friend]

Good luck on your source-finding journey friend! I am so interested in the process of tracking down sources and documents, but I've never done it before. Can you explain your process or do you have any tips?

Hi anon! Thanks for the ask. This is not a research guide, just some pointers I've found useful (as someone trained in other forms of academic research who learned how to work with archives).

First things first – forget google. Google scholar is decent for tracking down secondary academic sources (though hardly comprehensive), but with a few notable exceptions, archive databases that hold primary source materials are not indexed on normal search engines. Instead, you need to spend some time finding the repositories where your sought-after documents are likely to be, and then running your searches inside those.

The one thing google is useful for is to see if someone has already gone to the trouble of formally publishing the documents you're looking for. You'll want to search for things like "papers of...", "correspondence of...", or "writings of...". If you get a result, see if you can find that book on google books, archive.org, or at your local library (definitely don't check on libgen, because downloading a free book would be bad and awful and terrible of you 🤫).

These collected editions are not always reliable (especially older ones, since there was a lot of gratuitous editing going on). So, to be rigorous, you still want to see if you can find the actual, original source.

The easiest starting point for tracking those down is to find a secondary source that has already done most of the work for you. A reliable book or academic article will cite its primary sources, which should include which archive or collection the author found the document in.

If you are immeasurably lucky, you will find that respoitory online, and it will have a fully-digitised collection their holdings, and a reliable, searchable index based on keywords and transcripts. In that case, just type in your search term and enjoy.

(Note: the search functionality on these sites is often very wonky. Always try several versions of your search term, and play around with the filters and boolean operators.)

But those sites are rare. If you're less (but still a little bit) lucky, you'll find an academic institution or research archive that has at least published a document called a finding aid. There should be one for each grouping of documents in their holdings (for example for one historical figure's papers, or for a specific bequest) which gives a summary of the contents and is used for on-site tracking of the physical items (these will have call or accession numbers, location of the documents, etc.). Finding aids vary immensely in quality and level of detail ("miscellaneous other papers" my behated).

If you do indeed find a record for something you want to look at (and it hasn't been digitised), you need to figure out the process for requesting the document. This varies hugely depending on the institution (with differing lead times, querying methods, fees, limitations, and ensuing publication/reproduction rights) and is virtually always explained somewhere on their website. Mostly, they'll ask you to complete a form, or to send an email following a template. Don't expect a quick reply, and don't expect digital copies to be free.

Of course, this all presumes that the instituton that holds your materials 1) has a website and 2) has actually put useful things on it. Sometimes, you just need to enquire. I followed up on a footnote I saw in a hundred-year-old book that gave the location of some letters, found the local town library that was mentioned and emailed them about it. (Yes, they had them, and the librarian I corresponded with was simply delightful and very eager to help.)

Be courteous and clear when you email these folks. They will almost always want to know your name, your contact details, a clear description of what you are looking for (the more detail the better), a summary of your research project, and whether you intend to publish the documents you are requesting – so save a few back-and-forth emails by providing that information upfront. They are very happy to answer requests from independent or hobby researchers, so don't let that hold you back.

The least helpful of all, in my experience, are holders of private collections. They simply don't have any incentive to take time out of their day to help you, and usually aren't trained librarians or archivists so they don't know what they have, or where it is, or how to give you access. (I tear up sometimes when I think of all the documents that are lying in some manor house attic, because someone forgot they were there or thought no one would be interested.) Sometimes they will respond (eventually) to an email query; often it's just a black hole.

I hope that helps! In all frankness, much of this is dull, repetitive work that all-too-frequently leads to dead ends (but it's so good when you succeed). Persistence and patience are key.

[buzzingroyalty]

how to grub your karkat

or you can use this for any other plush or if you wanna make a whole new plush entirely or whatever

disclaimer im not a professional in any sense of the word and theres anything technical im doing wrong or you think you can do it better by all means dont hold back

Things you’ll need

sewing machine unless youre really dedicated but doing it by hand is gonna be an agonizing feat i promise. I just used a straight stitch for everything

Fabrics: for the main body i suggest a minky or something soft, for the inner lining something in the same color as the main body and ideally with some stretch, and anything black for the legs. Less than a yard of each will do

if youre using minky or anything furry get a lint roller. Trust me

stuffing, i used polyfil

threads that match your fabrics

good fabric scissors

sewing needle for hand sewing/fixes

karkat plush (optional)

Heres the pattern i came up with! They are numbered for your convenience and pieces with the same numbers are going to be part of the same row of segments. cut everything out on the black lines (Make sure when you’re printing to fit the image to the page size.) on the left we have the belly pieces, the right is the main body, and we have the foot in between

Im using a relatively thin minky fabric, im sure you can use whatever but something with some fluffiness kinda helps to mask any imperfections in the sewing. When drawing out your patterns keep in mind what direction your fibers settle in and try to keep it consistent

On the wrong side of the fabric measure out at least a half inch seam allowance around each piece of the pattern, i used a centimeter and that worked but had me sweatin a bit.

For the main body pieces fold your fabric in half before you cut so you can have 2 of each segment that are mirrored to each other, i also extended all of the #1 pieces an additional centimeter/half inch at the top so we can fold them over at the very end. I highly suggest numbering the insides of all the cut pieces, especially in a way where you will remember what direction they are each meant to sit

After you’ve numbered all your pieces, set them aside and start making your feet!

Each of the 6 legs is made of two pieces, but i because i only had a swatch of the black minky i made up for the rest with some random black scrap fabric from an old project. Try to keep your fabric consistent if you can lol

I didnt give these pieces any more seam allowance on the fabric but i recommend adding a centimeter or half inch to the base of it to extend the length and have some more wiggle room

like so

Instead of cutting out 12 individual pieces and struggling to stitch them all together i started with 6, then pinning each piece real tight with the right/furry side down onto my secondary fabric, and slowly stitching around the shape real close to the edges- DO NOT CLOSE THE FLAT SIDE as we are going to stuff the feet through here

Now cut the shape out of the fabric and repeat till you have 6 feet

Now flip those bad boys inside out, stuff up, and if you wanna you can match them to their best pairs

now grab a pair of feeties and your #1 pieces and line them up, in this picture my belly #1 piece is shorter bc i forgot to add the extra centimeter and i recut that once i realized. Line those sides up with the right/furry parts touching and with the feet in between, flip it around to make sure everything's sitting the way you want it

Note. i didnt realize until later but i sewed my feet in upside down. save yourself the time it takes to fix it and dont make the same mistake

Straight stitch these layers together and repeat with the next two segments our good friends #2 & #3

Repeat this for the #2 and #3 sections but NOT THE #4, that part doesnt need feet! just line those edges up right/furry sides together and sew

the secret to the squish of the suit is making this inner lining from another fabric and stuffing it! I used what i had leftover from a stretchy red fabric for a kanaya skirt. For this we need to make a new pattern for each section, making sure it follows the curve of the round edge but the piece itself is shorter, almost like youre removing the seam allowance you added. Mine is a centimeter shorter on the top and on the bottom and reaches to the middle

Make one of these for each numbered segment,you only need to make half the pattern and you can fold your fabric in half on a crease and you end up with one symmetrical piece (bars)

Now you need to pin these pieces right on top of the wrong side of your numbered furry sections and line up the straight edges like so (disclaimer for LOTS OF SCARY NEEDLES !!)

Admittedly i didnt estimate how long these pieces needed to be very accurately and overshot it a bit, if you start pinning it from the middle and continue outwards on either side thatll ensure its not too lose and you can cut off any excess after

The only exception is piece #1, if you recall we gave this #1 section extra seam allowance. This is so we can sew down that excess at the neck later and hide any of the inside that might show once its all put together. Do not connect the top edge to the inner lining! Since i added an extra centimeter earlier im gonna leave that hanging and pin + sew down the inner lining a centimeter lower than the top edge. LEAVE THE CURVED EDGES OPEN! DONT SEW THEM TOGETHER! those stay open to stuff

Straight stitch the lined up edges together

Now you have all these skinned pieces of little freak and we need to connect all these segments together making sure to sew UNDER the existing stitches so we dont see those on the outside when its all put together

Inside looks like a bit of a mess but thats fine bc its not the part that matters

Now stuff it! you might need a stick or pencil or something long and thin to get stuffing into the middle bits

Now thats its stuffed you can finally close those curved edges. Try not to sew over a thick mound of stuffing, push it in a little further to give yourself some space and you can fluff it back out after everythings closed. I cut off that excess lining fabric after sewing

Ough… they filleted my boy…

Finally, match up all the edges and lines and HAND SEW them right sides together. You will destroy your machine trying to work around that stuffing i promise. You also have an excuse to get up from your work desk and sew on a couch or smth. I used a standard backstitch for a tight finish and again, make sure you sew under any existing stitches so they arent visible on the outside!

Speaking of the outside, once you stitch everything together you can very gently flip this sucker inside out

This is @hatamonu’s cat Cocaina, aka Coco. Her perfectly square figure made it into my grub files somehow so shes essential to the tutorial

Check the fit and all thats left to do is roughly baste stitch down that excess neck fabric onto the stuffed lining and youre set! I gave the thread slight tugs as i went to tighten the opening a bit put dont tighten it too much

tadaaaaa

It fits pretty snug but starts to slip a bit with motion. Heres a bounce test

 If you do shake your baby make sure to safety pin the plush to the suit so he doesnt prematurely shed his exosekeleton

Now spread that baby fever and show your baby to the world

pics from the ALA 2025 homestuck meetup and supplied by para.dox.cos

Tysm for coming along this ride with me especially if you followed the prototype journey on twitter, much thanks to my more sewing savvy friend for the solution to my grub dilemma and for helping me design and build my dolorosa cosplay <3 much love and hopefully many more homestuck cosplays and meetups to come in the future!

[goldensunset]

What the heck happens in pokemon

in canon? definitely not half the stuff i post about

[starflungwaddledee]

💍 If they are married, did they give each other wedding rings, or do they have another way of signifying their marriage? If they aren’t married, how would they signify their marriage if they got married at some point? Would they give each other rings or do something else?

For Meta × starstruck!

>>> kirby ship ask game here જ⁀➴ ♡!

4. 💍 If they are married, did they give each other wedding rings, or do they have another way of signifying their marriage?

starstruck, and most of popstar, would have absolutely no concept of this! meta knight however, as i've said before, is an outlier to me in that i believe he understands romance to an extent.

i do this partially for the bit. i think it's sort of funny if the most lone-wolf guy is the only one capable of getting a recognisable and debilitating crush. but also because in my world-building the Celestials (meta knight's species) did have a social structure with complex relationship hierarchies, including socially binding contracts and unique role designators within those hierarchies.

i wouldn't necessarily compare this to "marriage", but in a modern context if they'd had modern feelings... maybe they could have done it that way, willingly and for emotional reasons. meta knight himself would certainly romanticise it as such!

the way Celestials entered into this sort of thing was complex, and varied depending on the roles being assigned to participating parties. while not all systems would use a visual signifier of the relationship, they certainly did use them!

wearing the symbol or the colour of a higher-ranked individual in your system was a very common practice, especially for orbiters. these could be removeable items- such as an accessory- or in some cases would be more like a mark left on the skin.

meta knight could only know about these things historically, as he's never met another Celestial. but if given the right opportunity, he wouldn't be opposed to putting them into practice. he's maybe even daydreamed about it, a lot tiny bit. for the kind of bond he'd be imagining, either a mark (which he wouldn't want to do to her), or a small accessory such as a bow in his colour would be customary.

thankfully, she already wears a bow, and she loves to play matchy-matchy!

[rad-roche]

Hi!! Could I know what emulator you’re using? I’ve been really wanting to play romhacks but have little know how on emulators. OTL I wanna play the pokemans so bad.

Thanks 🙏🏻

sure thing! i use melonDS

just as an aside, if you're interested in emulators in general, i'd recommend downloading retroarch through steam, which is free (and contains melonDS), which is how i play ps1 games. it's like a library of emulation software, with the downside being a steeper learning curve. if you just want to play pokemon with romhacks, downloading melon by itself is fine.

many emulators (including melon) will ask you to provide BIOS files, or they won't work. it's easy to set up, you just point it to one you've downloaded when prompted to. downloading them is where the problems start, because punching in something like 'ps2 BIOS' brings up a lot of shady websites. i recommend consulting the emulator wiki BIOS repository page, when you find you need them.

lastly, for patching roms, i use rompatcherjs, a browser tool. hope these help!

[thespacelizard]

So this morning before the last chapter of Obedience dropped, I was catching up on some other fics of yours I hadn't read yet and had a lot of fun with Thief of Desire and Bleed So Beautiful. Fascinated with these fucked up women. Can I ask for some more information or a little bit of background on Osinrya, Otienne and Ihrone?

i adored your comment on thief of desire earlier! they are truly some fucked up lil ladies

(for your perusal, should you wish, the wip tag is here)

so i'll take them in order:

Osinyra is the sixth of the Moon King's seven daughters. I wanted a devil-type character, so aesthetically that's what she is, with her horns and tail and claws and such. I don't have divinity specifics on how come the Moon King has daughters as-yet (idk if I will, having it Just Be is kinda fun), but they are minor divinities in and of themselves.

She lives in a palace on the moon, but is fascinated by mortals the way a human might be fascinated by a particularly interesting bug. She's a shapeshifter, in that she can alter various aspects of her appearance by using the Grand Script (the magic system of this story). She's like 7 and a half feet tall, technically immortal, and doesn't want to understand mortalkind so much as hold her magnifying glass over its anthill

Otienne is the heir to the throne of the Solar Archipelago - the capital island is Illumé. She's a conniving little bitch who loves playing politics and blackmailing people, and she's the reason Osinyra is down here playing with her and Ihrone.

Because with her royal line, the Sunblessed, she can only inherit her throne if she already has a child, an heir, so that the line is assured to continue. And Otienne, being Otienne, decided Go Big or Go Home, and got Ihrone to help her summon the Moon King to father her child. She got Osinyra instead and now they're being insane lesbians at each other.

Appearance-wise, Otienne is a pretty pretty princess. She's small and curvy with gorgeous tits and immaculate red curls. She likes expensive dresses and jewellery, and has a heart-shaped birthmark on her hip. She has golden eyes, which all the Sunblessed do; they allege it's a mark of their favour from the Sun Queen. Such favour is historically recorded, but kinda debateably Real.

Ihrone is the wet cat of the series. She's from Jheskam, the country on the mainland that the Archipelago sits off of, and an immigrant to Illumé. She wants only to study the Grand Script - and the Sunblessed Scriptorium is the BEST place to do that. Unfortunately, only born women are allowed to be there, and Ihrone is trans. Secretly. So secretly that only her parents back in Jheskam know - and Otienne, of course, who sniffs out secrets like a fucking bloodhound and uses this one to blackmail her favourite Scholar into doing whatever she wants :)

Ihrone is taller and slimmer than Otienne, darker skinned, with long, straight dark hair, like most Jhesk. Her heterochromia has her dubbed moonblessed, as you read in the fic, though i have yet to fully explore what else that might mean other than 'Osinyra Really Likes It'

She is built to be my 'no no no please don't (oh oh i like it)' character to inflict Suffering upon and so far she's doing a wonderful job <3

[daughterofhecata]

Hello Kaj!

A while back you mentioned Sabaton, and i checked out some of their songs, but then i guess i forgot about them again... but the other day i found two Sabaton CDs at the charity shop for cheap, so i bought them - kind of indirectly on your recommendation :-D

Now i want to talk to someone who also knows the band! So, i really like their music, because it fucks! I like that it's fast, the guitars are sick and the choruses go hard, especially when they have shouting or a choir! But i'm less sure what to think about the lyrics of some of their songs, some are hard to parse out what the opinion of the song is, if that makes sense? (doesn't help that english isn't my native language and a lot of references or figure of speech probably go over my head) I've tried reading about the band a bit but i find all kinds of different opinions on them, and whether they glorify nazis and/or war in general and all that...

I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on their stuff, since you've known the band for a while, and also because you have a different perspective as a german and (i really hope i remember this correctly and don't confuse you with someone else!) have interest in that history and therefore probably know a lot!

I hope this doesn't come across as rude or intrusive, i just want to talk about it and am interested in your perspective! Also i'm pretty sure you've talked about it on here before, but tumblr search refuses to let me find anything (as usual)...

And just in case this isn't obvious (this is an anon ask on tumblr after all), i don't expect you to reassure or give me permission to listen to this band! i like critically engaging with things i enjoy and don't think any media is or should be considered completely good or evil!

sorry for the very long question, i hope you have a nice day!

Hey!

Cool shit! Congrats on the CD aquisition!

Very glad about you mentioning you're not looking for permission to listen to them, because even if I wanted to, I couldn't give you a clear yes or no there. Not least because, and please do consider my entire answer under that caveat, I haven't actively followed their music since uuuh The Great War album, so 2019. Still love the older albums, just sort of fell off the train. So I can't speak for anything that may have happened or come up after that.

In general, I think Sabaton will always be followed by the accusation that they're glorifying war and the military. That just comes with the terrain, ie concept of their albums/lyrics. And one album I'm especially critical of in that regard is my beloved Carolus Rex, because, well, Sweden was a major player in that war, and they are naturally not impartial. I love the album to bits, but it's also extremely colored by, presumably, how Sweden perceives its own history.

However. I think they are by and large also aware of those tendencies in their topics. And it's the balance, that does it for me. Was Lauri Törni (Soldier of Three Armies) a hero one should look up to? Eeeh, probably not, considering he did fight with the nazis. Do I dislike Rorke's Drift for the weird imperialist/colonialist undertones? Absolutely. But on the other hand, you have songs like Inmate 4859, The Final Solution and Rise of Evil, that are very outright antifascist, and you have Stalingrad, The Great War, The End of the War to End War and - something that gives me particular chills - the cover of In the Army Now (if you haven't heard that one - go do it!) that do explicitly comment on how war is *not* glamorous and great.

As far as I'm concerned, I always got the impression that yeah, they kind of do have this obsession with war history and battles, but to me there has also always been this undercurrent of... idk, looking at humans in extreme situations and honoring them. Especially when we're talking about songs like No Bullets Fly, The Ballad of Bull, Resist and Bite (i know, i know, all of these are from Heroes but that was a formative album for me).

There are huge grey areas obviously, and like I said, haven't really followed them for a lot of years. I have no idea if/how Covid influenced them (bc lbr, quite some people went in.... interesting directions during/after that time) or if they are still working with Peter Tägtgren (he used to produce them & rumor has it, he's gone off the deep end conspiracy-wise), but in general, I think they have a certain level of awareness that they can be sort-of credibly "accused" of glorifying war and are at least partially trying not to do that.

[salt-baby]

As someone who is currently working in the healthcare field and looking at attended medical school, can you please elaborate on the ableism and doctors post you made? I’d very much like to avoid inadvertently falling into that category.

Somehow this missed my radar, my bad!

It's a difficult question to answer, although it is the right question to be asking.

You can find my other elaborations here and here, which will likely be helpful.

But to address your specific question, when I think about the ableism of practitioners, in some cases it is just bias, but in many it's just your run of the mill ignorance.

It takes experience to work well with disabled people - both because of the heterogeneity of them, and because the disabled experience is so far removed from the able bodied one.

Some people like myself call themselves disabled as an identity they're proud of, some people call themselves disabled but are uncomfortable with their condition to various degrees, and a lot of people would find it offensive for you to call them disabled because they would call themselves chronically ill or not impaired at all.

In your medical practice, "disabled" is going to be a legal term with a set definition, used to distribute benefits. You'll be taught an impairment model of disability, and your first instinct will likely be to try and fix the problem your patient is experiencing.

In a case like mine, that's not a mindset the patient is going to appreciate, as backwards as it sounds. Yes, I'm in a doctor's office to get treated, but the reality is that expert doctors have already evaluated my conditions and done all they can to help me. There's no quick fix - the fantasy of curing a difficult case is impossible with me, but it doesn't stop some young doctors from trying. My disability isn't one illness, but ten, and often what disables me is the environment around me rather than my actual illness (this is called the social model of disability, and that's where you should start studying).

I'm in a doctor's office to find relief from specific symptoms, or for a new problem (secondary to my existing conditions) that has popped up. Some residents have reviewed my entire medical file, and asked about things that weren't followed up on, and there's only so many times I can say "there's nothing we can do about it". Many premeds, when I mention the medications I'm taking, think that there must be some kind of better medication setup for me. Except there isn't, all of my meds are essential, and at this stage of illness, all medications have nasty side effects. I will never get better and will likely live the rest of my life on immunosuppressants and I'm okay with that, but that's very difficult for able bodied people, esp medical practitioners, to accept.

And in many cases, medical practitioners have put their foot in their mouth by just being ignorant. One person working at a rehab hospital asked if I slept in my orthotics - the answer is no, obviously, orthotics are painful to wear (it's also bad form to ask a disabled person about their disability just because you're curious). Someone told me it'll be okay, they used to wear wrist braces too and they're fine now - in reality, their supervisor just told me to consult surgeons, I was recommended casts, and my wrists remain permanently displaced to this day. I lost most of my ability to write. Our issues were not the same.

On another occasion, a premed picked up my orthotics and moved them away from me without asking - those are expensive (2000$ USD) and irreplaceable, and I need them to walk, I'm vulnerable without them. But to others, they wouldn't be aware that those braces are that valuable. Many disabled people, myself included, view mobility aids as an extension of their own body. For all intents and purposes, my orthotics are my "knees". I often compare it to a phone - it'd be really weird to take someone's phone and move it away from them, or even to touch it unannounced in the first place.

The reality of what a disabled life actually looks like is obscure to the vast majority of able bodied people. Let me be clear, I live a happy and satisfying life, where I enjoy my work and my friends and my family. My existence is not a tragedy, and when it's treated like one, it devalues my hard-won happiness in life and what I have to contribute to the world. But at the same time, every hour of every day is impacted by my disability. I have to change how I cook because I struggle with lifting a pot or standing on my feet for too long, my closet has to be adapted for my orthotics and nerve pain, a number of medications have to be kept basically within ten feet of me at all times, and I have to be very careful anytime I eat something I didn't prepare myself.

You may prescribe a medication which you know can cause nausea, and not realize to your patient, that side effect looks like being sick everyday, skipping meals, wearing a mask so a smell doesn't set you off, and not enjoying eating anymore. You may write a script for the test which is medically the correct option, but your patient may be sensitive to the specifics of the procedure (ie, for religious reasons, it may be difficult to strip down to a gown for some of the more involved imaging procedures). Cystometry and other urological procedures especially. I find this is where doctors sometimes inadvertently do harm. The best option for your patient isn't always the best option medically - it's what fits their priorities and improves their quality of life.

Understand that the current culture in medicine, for doctors, is often very callous and frustrated towards their patients. Recently I heard someone express that their patient needed to just accept their disability already and start being compliant with treatment - they had been disabled for three months. It took me a year to feel even remotely settled with becoming disabled, and my disability isn't nearly as severe as that patient's. Do not follow in your colleagues' footsteps.

If you spend the time trying to understand your patients (which may look like reading disability theory papers, memoirs, watching documentaries, possibly even volunteering, talking to some of your seniors with more experience, etc) then you're already miles better than most of your coworkers. Take the time to consider it from your patients point of view, and even though it's not what's in your textbook, appreciate the value of the information your patient brings to the table (their experience, their concerns, their gut feelings), and you've already done what most disabled people are desperately searching for in a practitioner.

The reality of a minority identity, is that for adults who have become accustomed to something like being disabled, it matters a lot more where your heart is than what you actually say. I don't care if someone is politically correct - I care if they're trying. Even if they're not quite there, that effort will pretty much always be seen and appreciated. I'd far rather someone call me "handicapped" but never view me as lesser, rather than someone who falls over themselves to "accommodate my limitations" and never actually intends to accommodate anything. Be sincere, and you can make mistakes, we'll know what the intention was.

Best of luck, my friend.

[pixiestickie]

⚠️CW: EMETOPHOBIA⚠️

*disguises angst by plastering memes on it* *disguises angst by plastering memes on it* *disguises angst by plastering memes on it*

[wutheringmights]

can i ask for the hot mess commentary plz?

sure

Before we crack into this, take a moment to read what I said about the neck thing. I write that up a long time ago, but it provides some important context and is a good refresher on the secret history of Spirit's bi awakening.

Also, the director's commentary for this chapter is here, in case you want to review that.

Good? Okay, let's go at it.

So.... they had sex. Yay. Insert jazz hands.

I feel like I actually have way less to talk about here than I did for the neck thing. Granted, a lot of the neck thing is behind the scenes stuff. I guess that's a good place to start.

You may recall the informal hiatus CTB went on after Spirit came back to Warriors's era. I used a lot of that time to actually work out how to end CTB and what character/plot points I would need to hit to have a satisfying conclusion.

During this time, I was listing out things about Spirit and Warriors that I need to return to. Spirit had his codependent histories with the greenhorn and Zelda, or really his strategy for offering himself up as a means of feeling more in control, that needed to be explored. I needed to do some kind of follow-up with Warriors's latent attraction.

The two topics were similar enough to make me want to tackle them at once. But the moment I did, my brain decided that they should hate fuck. (I definitely was also thinking about my old concept of Spirit's unrequited crush-- I still write the characters like that happened, even if it never actually made it into the story.)

Why hate sex? Honestly, it would be kinda funny. Plus, it's a good writing exercise to ask yourself what would happen if your characters in conflict did (not really).

I knew immediately it could only end badly for everyone involved. But I knew I needed Warriors to hit an emotional low point to motivate him to do his Castle Town plan. I knew I wanted Spirit's big speech to come at a time when he and Warriors were emotionally connecting again, and that the response to that speech needed to push him back to Time.

Shit, I thought. This might be what they do.

But, like. I love protecting my peace. I have been skirting around the edges of homo eroticism with Spirit and Warriors as much as I dared. I didn't want to invite angry anons. But then.... did I really care? I understand where people are coming from, but at the same time... this is such a minuscule non-issue. Truly, and with emotion: who even cares?

First off, we already established with the neck thing that whatever fucked up thing these two have going on does not count as shipping. And second, if it does count as shipping, then fine! It's shipping then. This is what the plot is. I've been working on this story for too long to compromise now. I'll reap the consequences, whatever they may be.

I decided to keep it on the books, half believing I would change my mind once the chapter came up.

I was feeling very confident about my choice, up until the day of posting. That was then I got slammed in the face with regret. Luckily, there hasn't been any issues. I may have overestimated as much the general populous care about CTB. If there was ever any confirmation that this story has the world's most niche audience, this is it.

And you all have been great. There's been a lot of encouragement and kind words from you the readers, after you all stopped yelling, of course.

(Though I was prepared to be an obstinate jackass to anyone who tried to complain. I found a loophole and was ready to exploit the hell out of it. I was so ready!)

Funnily enough, everyone's reactions to the past few chapters helped to reassure me the most. There was been a lot of jokes about Warriors and Spirit having the world's worst situationship (lol).

So them having sex turned into an important character and plot moment. Warriors and Spirit got built up and tore down in self-destructive ways. This experience becomes the wake-up call Warriors needed to decide that he was ready to stop being the hero and get his life back.

A lot of people expressed surprise that Warriors and Spirit would go through with it even after talking it out. To be honest, I was a little surprised too! I was half convinced that Warriors had grown enough to stop the self-destructive cycle and turn Spirit down. But when looking at the scenes leading up to them being alone-- from Twilight denounce his friendship with Warriors, Toto turning him away, and Warriors generally in an emotional rut over his intellect and lost beauty--I realized that Warriors was already in the middle of another downward spiral. He would go through with this, if only to feel valued. It was the war all over again.

Also, apparently half of you guessed that Warriors would get cigarette burns from Spirit eventually. I hope you all were happy with the results!

When I posted that snippet from the chapter, apparently all of you knew that a kiss was coming. Ooops. I'm a little glad I surprised all of you with what happened next afterward.

On to funnier things:

I meant for there to be more compare/contrasts between Warriors's nights with Icarius and Spirit. The only one I really managed to do was Link being unable to sleep next to Icarius vs Warriors falling asleep easily.

Because this chapter and the last were supposed to be one, this scene was supposed to come out around Valentine's Day. Could you imagine?

I had the silliest time trying to figure out how to get Warriors and Spirit alone in a room together. I had this grand plan about them needing to get a room in a different inn from the others, whether because they were too tired to walk home after dancing or because they were too drunk to remember the way. Then I realized that Ganondorf could just give the Chain enough money to get more rooms. I realized this way later than I should have.

If you're wondering.... they switched....

I wrote that Warriors thought that sex with Spirit felt like an argument. That is because they are both the bossiest motherfuckers in bed. They both want things done their way or else. It's combative. Unfortunately, they both like the challenge.

I did have an idea for how to end this whole matter in a funny way, both involving someone from the chain finding out.

In my first idea, Time barges into what he thinks is just Warriors's room, in the middle of some kind of rant. Then he sees both of them sitting in bed, pauses, then promptly walks out. Warriors and Spirit quickly get dress before there's a knock on the door. When Warriors opens, Time walks in casually and starts his rant again while pretending none of this had happened. He would wait until Warriors was alone to be like WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!

My other alternate scenario involves Warriors and Spirit getting a room in a different inn. In the morning, Spirit is hurriedly trying to leave when there's a knock on the door. This time, it's a few members of the chain asking if he's seen Warriors anywhere. He says no. All but one walk away. The one who stays (probably Legend) would lean and discreetly tell him that he knew the room was under Warriors's name, so if they were done, could he tell Warriors to get his ass outside? Cue Spirit burning up in embarrassment.

EDIT: I actually had a third silly scenario idea. Similar to the others, Twilight barges in to talk to Warriors about Midna (they're still friends in this scenario; this was an idea from a long time ago). Warriors is still in the bed, but luckily Spirit is in the bathroom. Warriors tries to have a normal conversation without alerting Twilight that something was amiss. And it almost works until Spirit just walks out of the bathroom, waves, and goes to put his clothes on. Cue Twilight's 404 error.

So, yeah! That's the Hot Mess. As always, it's been really fun to see everyone's reactions. Warriors and Spirit are both extremely polarizing, and I love hearing everyone's hot takes.

Does this count as toxic yaoi? Not until I see an AMV to "Numb" by Linkedin Park. Luckily, Warriors and Spirit will never do this again. Probably.

[deus-ex-mona]

i miss her…

[pepperediris]

Idk your ocs, so could you tell me which one you love the best and which one is the most important for your plot/work? If you could explain why, that’d be great too :)

my favouritest boy is angel because he is sooo fucked up and i love projecting ! hes also the one i have the most story written about so hes sort of the main character ?! but dia is a close 2nd place i just dont have much of a backstory for him

the mostt important to the storyy is probably gabriel because he caused everything i think ! he bascially was the messenger angel for heaven and got really upset when they fired him and came up with the Evil Plan to overthrow heaven and basically make himself god

hes angels adopted dad! and he hates his son!!! thats why angel is the way he is

[nighttimenothings]

Hi!! I know this is random but how do you feel about pillow princesses or inexperienced girls?

hello lovely! thank you for the ask :) i'm a huge fan of pillow princesses! personally, i'm very much more of a giver, so pillow princesses are absolutely perfect! As as inexperience goes, there's nothing wrong with being inexperienced—everyone's got to start somewhere, right? so, really, it's all about creating a safe environment that everyone can have fun and a good time in. hopefully that answers your question; thanks for popping by <3

[toffiendfee]

💃 🕺 back again with fanfic asks!

- Most recent line you've written?

- any character you find easiest to write for / about? •3•

- is there any scene or idea you've beenn really excited to get to in writing?

Thanks for the ask! I see you went for the general questions, and I'm looking forward to sharing some facts(TM). Without further ado, here's the recent line on my current wip:

"There is nothing to avenge anymore – you’ve only ever been generous to me even though I didn’t deserve it. Because of this, I ask you this once to believe me. You may execute me for what I’ve been asked to do, but I’ve come here to tell the truth."

(Dramatic, huh? 😉)

As for characters I find relatively easy to write, I think Ryousuke is one of them. Since he is (or presents himself as, depending on where the story is going) a very rational person, his reactions to situations are pretty easy for me to figure out. I also like writing dialogue for characters who are a bit pretentious 😂

My favourite character to write for in my current wip goes a bit in the opposite direction, though. It's, as everyone might have already guessed, a Tokyo Revengers fic, and I've found that I really like writing Kazutora in that setting. If you don't know that character: He's, uh, a bit unhinged - and very touchy-feely. Lots of hugs and friendly smiles and cheerful talk about killing things. I really loved writing those scenes, they're a treat.

And speaking of beloved scenes and my current wip, I'm really looking forward to writing that final scene. There will be cuddles. There will be heartfelt conversations. There will be fluff (literally, even).

But most of all, it's the final scene, and I want to finally be done with that fic so I can go back to working on those other wips I've been completely neglecting. 😅😭

[toxifoxx]

🐰🔪 and 🧸?? :3

ooh okay, both of them!! :3c ive already touched on william quite a lot so i'll give evan(cc) a little more focus here ^_^ (but theres a couple about william too! i'd say most of them contain both in some way.) putting most of it under the read more cause i ramble a lot

evan

youngest of the family

naturally a shy kid

the fredbear plushie was made for him (actually sewed) by henry!! which william then modified to have a small camera and a microphone/speaker inside…

i think he always was a bit afraid of animatronics, and michael made it a whole lot worse, but he can tell when his dad or henry are wearing the suits and is chiller around them. i think he just Knows. and this is why he likes fredbear

william wanted him to have his party at the diner because of this. and also in the hopes his son would grow more used to it. like look see isnt this fun :] ? (we all know how that went)

i think a lot of the reason michael was allowed to bully evan for so so long is because of the kind of internalized toxic masculinity william has. so evan just needed to 'toughen up a little' and 'stop being such a crybaby'. and maybe since william was an only child, he thinks its just a normal sibling thing.

he does have night terrors and struggles with sleeping but i dont think it involves the nightmare animatronics specifically (choosing to believe fnaf 4 is michael's guilt-induced nightmares)(also the nightmares ARE nightmares they are not real things. holy fucking shit i hate dittophobia)

i think its fun if elizabeth tries to stand up for him. i think they'd have a decent relationship. they can play tuoys together

basic family dynamics: scared of michael. likes lizzie. loves his dad. clings to his mom whenver his dad isn't around

speaking of his mom i think clara is a lot more willing to stand up for him too and regularly tells michael off

william

likes to read bedtime stories to evan!! and usually comforts him after his night terrors.

bro is for real peeved that his son likes fredbear more than springbonnie

he is like actually trying to be a good father but he's just. not. he's bad at it and ends up paying more attention to work and the animatronics than his kids. so he's kind of emotionally neglectful. he does have his good moments though, on occasion.

percieves himself as a much better parent than he is (of course)

definitely helicopter-parenting. look at all those damn cameras around his house and the TOWN. he needs to know whats up at all times & to keep tabs on his kids even when he's away.

i wouldn't say he's encouraging the bullying but he's not exactly discouraging it either unfortunately

i think i saw this from someone else but. he totally gives his kids merch from the diner as gifts. its just too funny to not have him do it

absolutely devastated at evan's death. sends him spiraling.

he knows it was an accident but he still blames michael because how could he not!! it was all his bullying that led to this!! his baby boy murdered by his own brother!!!

michael gets the cold shoulder from there on out.

[apocalypticdemon]

I am so beyond ready to quit this job. Wednesday cannot come fast enough.