#for the friends and the systems that made that into a regular practice for me again. not only for that but.

[tempestclerics]

[ID: A tier list of mostly sci-fi and fantasy book covers including the following:

S+ (I think everyone should read this) tier: The Archive Undying, Beowulf: A New Translation, Shield Maiden, Piranesi

S+ (I don't necessarily think everyone should read this, but reading it did genuinely change the course of my year for the better) tier: The Way of Kings, The Electricity of Every Living Thing, Stay True

S tier: System Collapse, Rhythm of War, Oathbringer, This Is How You Lose The Time War, The Alloy of Law, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Tress of the Emerald Sea, Dawnshard, The Emperor's Soul

A tier: The Citadel of Weeping Pearls, Words of Radiance, The Raven Tower, Squire, How Far the Light Reaches, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, The Water Outlaws, The Tea Master and the Detective

B tier: The Anthropocene Reviewed, The Sunlit Man, Arcanum Unbounded, Edgedancer, The Navigating Fox, The Lost Metal

C tier: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages, The Bands of Mourning, Shadows of Self, Fireheart Tiger

I didn't DNF it: The Vanisher's Palace, Elantris, Mistborn: Secret History, One Woman Show, Warbreaker, White Sand. End ID]

I read a lot this year: 45 books, 67 if you count rereads. This included the entirety of the Cosmere (Brandon Sanderson) and rereads of the entirety of Emelan, Protector of the Small, and Murderbot (all of which would be are S+ tier). This is in no small part due to 1) reading books along with/recommended by friends and 2) using Storygraph and spreadsheets to track things! Including doing @strangetorpedos's dnd reading challenge! I'm doing the cleric one this next year!

Some big themes: Way more novellas and short stories than I usually read! Beowulf and retellings! Knighthood and armor and feminine kingship! Sentient constructs and mindships! Memoirs! Asian-inspired speculative fiction! Architecture and consciousness!

I just. Missed doing this regularly, and am very glad to be back reading a lot again. Also I'm building my TBR for next year so if anyone has recs based on what they read or wants to do something similar please I'd love to see!

[takenbypeter]

Chocolate Fixes Everything

Willy Wonka x reader

Words: 1179

Sick fic for Willy Wonka, made this cause I’m sick again and I’ve become sick so often these past few months 🙃

Accepting requests for Willy only right now send me any requests plz I’m on a Wonka high rn

You couldn’t believe it. Your throat was itchy, your nose was sore. You could barely get past fifteen minutes without a horrendous cough flying out from the back of your throat. Your nose was stuffed and if it wasn’t stuffed, it was runny, which is why you kept a box of tissues close by. It wasn’t the fact you were sick that you couldnt believe, it was the fact that you were sick only a mere weeks ago and here you were, ill again. Typically this didn’t happen to you but recently it seemed like your immune system was against you, (maybe it was because of all the chocolate you had eaten recently but who knows).

While many of your friends had got the message of your sickness it seems like Willy wasn’t one of them.

“You wouldn’t believe the idea that just popped into my head!” Wonka shouted as he practically tossed your door open, your eyes shot wide as you suddenly became fully alert at the abrupt activity.

Willy on the other hand walked right past your bed which was positioned on the opposite side of the door, with his mind clearly focused on whatever his new idea was.

“Noodle and I were discussing and she had just reminded me of—“ his words were cut off and his upbeat pacing came to a halt when he finally realized you were still in bed.

His expressions seemed to relay curious, then sadness as his facial lines deepened. Without missing a beat he pulled up the wooden chair nearby. “What happened? You look horrible.”

A knowing smile tugged at your lips while you pulled your blanket further to your chin, “gee thanks, that’s just what everyone wants to hear when they’re sick.”

“You’re sick!? No that can’t be, I remember you being sick only two weeks ago.”

You nod acknowledging the fact while his face shifts into surprised? Or maybe excitement…? Stunned? It seemed like all of the above.

“Well you’re in luck,” he exclaimed scooting himself back towards the desk across the room, setting up his small briefcase factory on the table, “because I have something that’ll make you feel right as rain,” he stops tinkering with his case for a brief moment to shoot you a mischevious look, “chocolate rain.”

You rolled your eyes while he turned right around whipping a concoction together.

“Willy, I love your enthusiasm but chocolate can’t just make everything feel better.”

“Says who? Who says?”

“Medical doctors that’s who!”

“Oh doctors schmoctors,” he waves the concern off.

“Chocolate does fix everything. And this isn’t just regular old chocolate.”

Attention grabbed, you watch peculiarly as he pushes buttons and pours things in different areas of his case.

“Last time you got sick you felt awful for practically a week and a half, and I started making this since then,” his briefcase makes whirring noises as it gets to work mixing the ingredients. “Now let me ask you, what do you typically take when you have a sore throat?”

“A spoonful of honey with lemon?” You ask, unsure if that was the answer he was looking for, I mean many people do a variety of things once sick, but you took a shot in the dark anyway.

“Absolutely. But that feeling only lasts for a short time. But with this candy I designed, it lasts far, far longer.”

The machine stops and out pops a single candy, shaped simple and evenly square, as green as a lime. And with that candy in hand he returns back to you across the room.

“This is a Choc-well, because as soon as you eat it you’ll feel well,” you gave him an odd look, “the name hasn’t been hashed out yet.”

He motions for you to open your hand and he drops the small piece in your palm, to which you look at suspiciously. “It’s chocolate?”

“Yes. The outer layer is a milk chocolate, while the inside is a honey like substance from the Beezle-midge. And then inside that, is a tiniest drop of twang from a lime.”

“Beezle-midge?”

“It’s a small type of insect that usually travels in groups, except when separated and given the right incentive it secretes honey.”

You winced grossed out by the fact, “ew.”

“It’s good, trust me. Now try it.”

With one final motivating look from the boy you took the chocolate and popped it in your mouth.

“If you want it to really work suck on the chocolate, don’t chew,” he instructed just as you were about to take the first bite. But you did as told enjoying the chocolate. Little by little the chocolate layer disappeared into your mouth as the honey started to make its way to the front and Willy watched on as you ate the delicacy.

After a few moments of honey came the tiniest twang of flavor just as he said and just like that the candy was gone.

“So, how does it feel?” He asks and for a moment you’re not sure what he’s asking for.

“How does your throat feel?”

You oh-ed before closing your mouth in thought. The taste was on its way out but your throat felt much better, it no longer hurt from soreness and you didn’t feel any itchiness no or scratchiness.

“It feels…normal! Like it doesn’t even hurt. That’s amazing! How does that happen?”

“The honey from the Beezle-midge as it’s going down puts a small coat along your throat which lasts practically a whole day.”

“That’s splendid Willy, truly astounding!” You praise sitting up in bed. True you still had your other symptoms but at least you didn’t have to worry about your throat or coughing for now. Willy displayed a bashful smile at the compliments that he took to heart.

“Why didn’t you give this to me last time?” You asked curious as to why he just let you suffer, surely it couldn’t be just cause he forgot.

“Well actually…” he tilts his head back and forth before continuing, “you being sick last time is kind of the inspiration for it.”

This was not a new thing, Willy used many different people and experiences as inspiration, but he suddenly felt so shyly in telling you about yourself being his inspiration. Why? Was it because he didn’t know how you were going to react? He knew you would react well of course, you always did when it came to his creations.

“You made this…” you pointed to air essentially now that the chocolate was gone, “because of me?”

He nodded modestly, “last time you got sick, you missed out on a lot, and we missed you a lot in the factory.”

You grinned a toothy grin, “aww that’s sweet, and this chocolate is so cool!”

At your exclaim he felt relief, “good, I’m glad it’s working.”

That made you pause, “glad it’s working? What does that mean? You haven’t tested it before?” You asked worried.

“That’s not what I meant, geez. You do that one time,” he mumbled as he went back to his small briefcase factory.

[hansensgirl]

summary. | Ari Levinson has a soft spot for one of his fans.

prompts. | Ari Levinson + Camboy + “Isn’t this so pretty? It reminded me of you.” + Innocence, requested by Anonymous.

pairing. | dark!camboy!Ari Levinson x innocent!fem!reader.

warnings. | NON/DUBCON, camboy, age gap, stalking, implied somnophilia, implied breaking and entering, innocence kink, corruption kink, dirty talk, mild dumbification, degradation, praise, Daddy kink, smut, male masturbation, jerking off into panties, panty sniffing, reader is of age, pet names, and more. 18+ MINORS DNI!

author’s note. | this is a part of my Dark Concepts (2023) request form. thank you for taking part in this event! please enjoy and don’t forget to reblog. MINORS DNI, 18+ ONLY! taglist: @hansensfics.

When you flip open your laptop, butterflies fill your stomach. Today’s the day—the day you’ll treat yourself. Your friends insisted on it, claiming you work yourself to the bone and never have fun.

They were the ones that urged you to join the salacious streaming site. They made the account for you and left you with smirks on their faces, hoping to hear all about your adventures. You’ve never told them a thing about it, claiming you didn’t like it.

But the truth is that you love it—one streamer, in particular. His name is Ari, but he insists you call him Daddy. When he speaks, it’s as if he’s targeting you specifically. You watch his streams in a trance, practically hypnotized by his movements and words.

You have no idea what he’s doing, but every bit makes you have tingles down there. They get so intense that you just wish they would disappear, but you’re unsure how to alleviate the feeling. 

You enter Ari’s stream with a goal in mind—you’ll do a private session. Perhaps you’re a little in over your head, too shy in comparison to his envious confidence. But it’s like something you have to get out of your system, an idea that just won’t stop haunting you. 

Opening the private chat, you send the streamer your request as he casually speaks with a few regulars. When you press the deliver button, along with your hopefully-tempting amount, you squeeze your eyes shut and squeal. A small part of you wants to take it all back now, but you can’t. It’s too late. What’s done is done.

You can hear his familiar baritone, a chuckle that warms your blood. Then, the sound of keys clacking. 

Hi, princess. That’s a pretty generous offer, thank you. I’ll meet you there ;) xx Daddy.

And with that, you receive an invitation. You click it right away, missing the farewell he bids the rest of his followers and their pleas for him to stay back. Ari ignores them. 

You anxiously wait in the new stream, noticing it isn’t recording like his usual ones. He would upload those for whoever missed them, and you’d make sure to catch up on it all. 

Suddenly, Ari enters, and you take in the sight of him. He’s shirtless, and his hair is a bit messy yet still put together, as though he’s run his fingers through the tendrils repeatedly. You can see the chest hair and his well-built body. You ogle the older man shamelessly.

“Hey, sweetie pie,” he greets, setting a few things down. You unmute yourself. “H– Hi,” you squeak out, cringing at your voice. But Ari smiles as if he’s heard a beautiful piece of music. “Thank you for the offer, baby. You made Daddy real happy,” he says sincerely. 

“O- Oh, uh, yeah. No problem,” you force out. His attention on you makes you feel like you’re being inspected under a microscope, naked and vulnerable. “Can I see you, honey? I bet you’re gorgeous,” Ari hums, and you bite your lip.

You consider it. Why not? Your friends would be proud of you stepping out of your shell for once.

You turn your camera on and give him a meek smile as he whistles, admiring your beautiful face. You’re bashful under his wordless praise. “Good girl. Such a good girl. Do you like it when Daddy tells you what to do?” Ari questions. 

Nodding, you can’t stop grinning. It’s mostly out of nerves but also the work of Ari’s charm on you. You’ve never seen him be this friendly to some of his more loyal customers. The idea of being special—the exception—makes your heart beat a bit faster.

“Yeah, I bet you do. Just an obedient little pet, always ready to listen to her Daddy,” he coos, and you fiddle with the lace of your nightie. “How about you lay back a bit, honey. Let me see those tits,” he urges, and your body listens to him.

You do what Ari says without a second thought. You feel those tingles in your pussy again and a warmth that fills you up. “Attagirl. So fuckin’ sexy…” Ari mutters, moving his camera so that you can see his dick.

It’s large and a flushed colour, aching for you—and only you—to touch it. He’s thick and long, with heavy balls begging to be emptied. His tip leaks with pre-cum, and it’s a sight to behold.

You find that your mouth is watering a bit. “Fuck, you like Daddy’s dick, baby? I can see how empty that brain is—just lookin’ at it, and you go dumb,” he chuckles. 

Ari’s words are a bit mean, but you’re not insulted by them. No, in fact, you can feel your clit throbbing. You’ve never felt this way before—at least, not so intensely. 

You let out a whimper, and Ari pouts at you. “Aw, is your pussy all tingly, baby?” he asks, and you nod your head. How does he know? 

“It’s okay. Daddy’ll fix it soon,” he promises, wrapping one of his big hands on his cock. Ari begins to stroke himself before pulling away, cursing under his breath.

“Look at this, princess,” he demands, and you watch his movements intently. He has a piece of pink fabric in his hands, and it looks awfully familiar. 

There is lace trimming around it with a bow at the top that is a darker shade. Your missing pair of panties. 

You haven’t seen them since yesterday morning when you threw them in the laundry basket before rushing to work. 

You hold back a gasp, though. It must be a coincidence, surely.

“Isn’t this so pretty? It reminded me of you,” Ari questions. “V– Very pretty, Daddy,” you quietly agree. He gives you a crooked smile before bringing the underwear to his face, inhaling deeply. Ari lets out a deep groan, chest rumbling.

“You smell so sweet,” he whispers. Ari keeps holding the panties and lowers his hand to his dick, jerking off and moaning your name, although you’ve never told him it. But your desperation is strong enough for you to ignore his blunder. “Shit, I can’t wait to teach you how to be my little slut.”

You keep whimpering and whining, rubbing your thighs together. You place your hands over your core and press down, achieving some relief, but it isn’t enough. 

To your surprise, you’ve soaked through your panties. This always happens when you attend one of Ari's streams or have an extremely vivid dream about him. 

“Gonna mould your pussy to fit my cock—stretch you out until you’re begging me to fuck you,” Ari groans, picking up the pace on his member. “Just an innocent little baby who needs her Daddy, hm?” he coos, and his movements become sloppy.

Ari’s breath becomes ragged, and you can’t tear your eyes away from the man. Your mouth parts a bit in awe when he reaches his climax, his cum spurting and dirtying the panties. The fabric collects his spend, and his chest rises and falls, head tilted back slightly as he curses. 

The older man eventually comes down from his high and smirks at the camera, staring directly into your soul. Ari loves the mild pout you have on your face—it’s just like when you’re sleeping at night, moaning his name as he fights back the urge to ruin you. But he will, one day. He has to. 

[suzyandthefox]

originally I was saving these for my fics

But @opikarts 's spree just made me impatient so here are some concepts, feel free to use

((All of these are meant to be used in soft-safe nonsexual scenarios))

1: Pred is laying down/relaxing with a hand over their belly, when someone gets inside the room, the pred just gently shushes them and lifts a finger to their lips, someone is sleeping.

2: Prey keeps having nightmares, one day they get eaten by pred and,they don't have these nightmares anymore, it could be because they're finally feeling safe, or because the environment itself is constantly hugging them and reassuring them, or even because the pred feeds on nightmares.

3: Experienced/older pred guiding a younger pred who is newer to the experience, maybe they did it in a state of panic or by accident, it could also be an experienced observer guiding the younger pred, hell, it can even be an experienced prey training the pred! (Can you tell that I am normal about the mentor trope?)

4: Usual pred becoming prey

5:Usual prey becoming pred

6: Pred being able to literally feel their prey's emotions or vice versa, getting empathetic towards them because they're literally inside them.

7: By extension, Prey being able to hear the pred's thoughts or vice versa.

8: Being an inch away from being swallowed, prey has to choose between the unforgiving conditions the pred snatched them from or being eaten alive (of course they choose being eaten,duh)

9: Werewolf pred losing control during the full moon (or a vampire during a frenzy) and devours a prey whole (bonus if someone they care about), Prey is still alive after the craze wears off and they gently (or not) try to inform their pred that they're here and they want out.

10:Wish granting preds! Like Djinns! You wish for a home or a family or a friend, or just company in general, and they go "This one is on me" and they eat you up instead, now you have a nice place to stay and a friend that cares about you.

Or they just grant you wishes in exchange for eating you.

11: Wish granting prey! They grant you wishes in exchange for temporary living in your tummy

12: Jailers acting as living prison cells for tinies (Bonus if it's actually smuggling them)

13: Giant prisoners being given tiny cellmates as food instead of regular food (Bonus if the giant is a monstrous being, like a naga or a dragon)

14: Restuarant that serves the tinies trope, except it's an illegal establishment, so a detective goes to investigate under cover, and in order to act natural they have to "sample " the food (it's practically a rescue mission for the poor tiny), plus, the detective has evidence now.

15: Preds that tease you to no end but will immediately be the most gentle, careful,loving preds as soon as you show real distress.

16: Reality Bender preds, you're never actually sure if they actually devoured you or did they put you in the illusion of being eaten

17: Getting curious about a giant robot and accidentally falling too deep in their system, surrounded by wires,cables, or even cogs. Scared of being crushed to death by their metallic parts you cry for help, and they start gently guiding you inside their body, telling you the way to the safe parts within them.

18: Tiny surgeon/doctor that got lost inside their patient.

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Listen can you make one with blackmask and the other rogues find out that some random college student made a dedicated sub reddit fan account that just posts random supportive messages and borderline wtf how did that bitch know what i ate last night or what body wash I use 😂

www.wtf-

When did the Internet get so scary?

TheRiddlerLover88: Convinced my parents to paint my room Riddler green 😍

Quackingduckquakes: If there's no Penguin fans in the world then I am dead x

Quittakingallthegoodusernames: spank me Two-Face and then send me to jail, thanking you.

HarleyQueen04: AYO, I heard Roman Sionis uses a new cologne. Internet do your thing, I need to spray down all my clothes with it x

N0turfanboi: low-key penguin can bend me over and-

It was a nightmare. Stuff of pure nightmares.

IamBatman96: guys, I found the same jacket Roman Sionis wears.

Igivemetheick: send pics or it didn't happen.

IamBatman96 sent an image.

Igivemetheick: ...omw.

Candyblues92: wait if I burn one half of it would I have Two-Face's jacket? Asking for a friend x

There truly was such a thing as too much Internet and no one dared to go too far into the rabbit hole.

Black Mask: He hated that the most commonly asked question on his thread was where he lived. He also hated how many were dangerously close to figuring it out. Apparently, triangulating his businesses and club gives a rough idea where he lived. Apparently he had to move because he just read one of these crazy bitches just said they wanted to feed him pie with their hair in it. He took out his phone sending an account URL to one of his goons. 'Make sure this one never finds me.' He'll appreciate the support...from the other side of the planet for safety.

The Riddler: The Riddler had hoped for some kind of decent intellectual discourse to laugh at. Instead he got nightmares. He saw a lot of discourse about his fingers. About how long they were and somehow that brought comments about how...skilled...he must be in various things. Then people were volunteering as tribute- whatever that meant- but then someone said. 'BRB, writing the fanfiction right now x' and that comment got too many likes for comfort. 'No man has pulled off green before the Riddler and no one will pull it off after the Riddler.' Finally the voice of reason has arrived. The riddler soon types up a response. No one knows its him but he'll argue with everyone until everyone sees things his way. It's practically a public service. He's educating the masses more than the pathetic excuse of an education system ever will.

Victor Zsasz: "I'd polish that bald head any day of the week, daddy. Hm. Good to know." Victor said aloud as he read. After some scrolling, he cracked a smile. "Aww SniperKnife really loves me." He never makes himself known on the Internet. Never cared for it beyond the occasional funny pet video. However, that username popped up all the time. It made him smile. Even on the hardest of days he could rely on SniperKnife to cheer him on. He read another. "What that gun do tho? ...well someone struggled in English class." He hummed. "Poor kid doesn't even know what a gun does."

Two-Face: First of all- he and Roman don't shop in the same place and how dare those little assho- ahem. He was a little salty after someone started a thread asking what the difference was between Two-Face and Black Mask and all anyone coukd really come up with was that Two-Face was burned and Black Mask...wore a mask. Which turned into people questioning what made everyone sure that they weren't the same person if one was masked. That sparked a debate before someone pointed out their different heights. That Two-Face was taller. That then turned into people analysing the heights of doors and other surrounding objects to determine each person's height. Then someone through off the conclusion by mentioning stilted shoes. He didn't really care who supported him or not. He found the public to be flimsy anyway so he never really notices the regulars.

Penguin: Who the hell started the rumour that Oswald was raised by penguins? And why is it STICKING!? The next thing was how big was a certain appendage and someone did some anatomical research to determine very much in his favour. That was definitely his favourite part of the conversation. He chuckled. "Oh Babycakes224, you're this close to getting a job." There was a pause. "Oh wait this one wants to buy me a boat!" "Eh?" A bartender asked. "I want to motorboat him-" "boss that's not what that means!"

[charliehoennam]

Jarhead

Chapter 1 - The Set Up

A/N: this is a little series based on Jake Gyllenhaal's character Anthony Swofford in the movie Jarhead. Jake is just too cute in the movie to ignore and I just wanna give him a happy ending with lots of angst on the way there. Shoutout to @juniebugg for the idea!

Pairing: Anthony Swofford x f!reader

Warnings: mentions of bad break-ups, flirtation, language, no smut....yet

Word count: 3,185

SHARING IS CARING, SO REBLOG!

You walked into the salon, greeting your lady co-workers as you strutted to your station. Doing hair was definitely not putting your degree in practice, but it got your bills paid. And you found it rather pleasing helping other regain their confidence. The salon belonged to your aunt and you had worked there since high school. It helped get you through high school and college, though it wasn’t quite enough to keep you from applying for student loans.

Despite not being in your area, you liked the salon. You liked the people you met, the elderly regulars that stopped by once a week for a perm or a manicure, the neighborhood gossip that they were always eager to share, the co-workers that always had your back.

One of them was Maria. She was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and tan skin that made even gold envious. She was admirable in so many ways. With her husband, Juan, away on deployment, she was quickly thrust into the role of a single parent to their 3-year-old son. She never complained about it. She might have complained about Juan and his habits, but never that he had to be away. In some ways, she was very thankful. The Marines had provided many benefits for them to compensate for his absence like providing stable housing, health-care and education for their family. Granted there were flaws in the system and his absence was at times unbearable, she understood and supported his decision to enlist. Aside from being a great wife and mother, she was also your great friend.

“Buenos, chica” she smiled hugging you. “How was your date last night?”

“Total dud. Just didn’t really click, you know?”

“Yeah, I know why too. You still hung up on that fool.”

“I’m not hung up on anyone.”

“Yes, you are. That puto lost the best thing that ever happened to him, but you know what? Good for you. You’re better without him and you deserve better than his broke ass.”

“Can we please not talk about him?” You sighed, eager to leave your ex in the past.

“As you wish, chica. Besides, I got someone I want you to meet.” She smirked widely prepping her hair brushes and combs to make sure they’re clean for a new day.

“He cute?”

“Don’t tell Juan, but he is fine, chica. I love my man, but I know fine when I see it” she laughed nudging you with her elbow. “His name is Tony, he’s gonna be at the barbeque we’re having for this weekend for Daniel’s birthday. You’re coming, right? Danny’s gonna be so sad if you don’t.”

“I’ll be there, don’t worry” you chuckled as you reassured her. “I already got his present and everything. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You know how I adore that little man.”

And you really did. You often babysat him when Juan was on leave and needed some alone time with his wife.

“Good, because I already told Tony I’ll be introducing you to him.”

“Are you serious? You know how I feel about that, Mari.”

“Girl, don’t worry. I showed him a picture and he’s interested. I think you guys are a great match and Juan agrees.”

“Juan agrees with everything you say, he’s your husband” you laughed.

“Well, just come out and meet him. You don’t have to do anything and if you’re not interested, I’ll forget it. But trust me, you’re gonna wanna meet him” she chuckled with a smirk.

"Fine. I'll meet him, but I'm not promising anything."

From everything she described about Tony, you couldn't deny the butterflies forming in your stomach as the days went by. As the hours crept closer, they quickly began to swarm in your belly and you couldn't remember the last time you felt this way.

You decided to look extra nice that day. It was more than just a casual birthday party, but you also didn't want to go over the top. Settling on a new figure flattering skirt and cute top, you accessorized strategically with a cute necklace that hung just above your fairly modest cleavage. You weren't hoping to end up married by the end of the day, but Lord knows you needed some physical action.

The party was already in full swing by the time you arrived with your renowned dish of crispy and perfectly seasoned panko fried vegetables. Knowing they were a popular favorite among the adults, you'd made more than plenty in two large aluminum foil pans.

Walking into the backyard through the side gate, you immediately recognized the song playing from inside the house. Love Like This by Faith Evans was a personal favorite of Maria's and you had sung to that exactly CD mix in the car plenty of times driving home from your girls night out.

The kids were happily playing on the bounce house Juan had rented for the day. Some played in the pool, stopping only to find their parents for a drink of water. Most of the women were sat by the picnic table setting out the food, so you quickly made your way over to greet them. You knew everyone pretty well having been a family friend for years. Some were Maria's aunts and cousins. A few were your own co-workers and you greeted everyone, with a warm, bright smile and a gentle embrace.

Looking over at the grilling area that had been Juan's third pride and joy - second to the pool he had been finally able to afford and his very own family- you couldn't help but scan over the men gathered there. You couldn't make out what they were talking about, but you knew that Tony had to be one of them. Your heart raced at the thought.

Your eyes landed on a tall man stood beside Juan, helping him man the grill. His hair was short as if he'd been growing it out after a buzz cut. His features strongly resembled Maria's description. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he patted Juan on his shoulder, possibly complimenting him on something. You couldn't tell what he said; the distance and music didn't quite favor that. His long thick eyebrows intensified the bright blue orbs that shone even from a distance and sent goosebumps down your arms the second he caught you staring.

You blushed and quickly looked back down at your dish as you removed the aluminum foil to reveal the fried tasty side dish, secretly praying he hadn't noticed. But unknowingly to you, he had.

Just as you knew who he was, he knew exactly who you were as well. Juan told him all about you the day after he'd agreed with Maria to hook you two up. And Tony couldn't be more thankful. He was starstruck the minute he saw you arrived. Juan nodded at you with a smirk as he laid another steak on the grill.

"That's her, man. What do you think huh?"

"I think she's fucking beautiful, that's what I think" he chuckled excitedly as he patted his friend’s shoulder.  "What’s her name again?” he joked.

"Dude, I know your brain is small and can only process shit at a slow pace, but please don't fuck up her name" Juan joked.

"I got it covered, man. Relax. Y/N will be in good hands soon enough" Tony chuckles back at him.

After sharing a couple smiles and glances, you decided to make the first move and walked over to grilling area as the guys began served the perfectly charred meats.

"Think you fellas could spare me a steak?" You smirked glancing between them.

"You can have your pick, sweetheart" Tony smiled back. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Tony" he stated holding his hand out.

"Pleasure to meet you. If you're Tony, then I guess we hardly need an introduction. Maria's told me a bit about you already" you smirked shaking his hand.

"Has she?" You nodded with a smirk.

"Good things though. She said you're a real gentleman."

"I try to be, at least" he smiled.

Seeing him up close now, you couldn't help but take in all his details. His long brown eyelashes only embellished his blue doe eyes. Small brown freckles adorned his skin. His beard was grown out just enough to notice he had nice potential of beautifully growing it out to its full extent, but not long enough to hide the skin, dimples and freckles underneath it. He was a sight for sore eyes.

The attraction between you and Tony was undeniable. You invited him to sit with you at one of the fold-out tables to eat. The conversation flowed naturally as you savored your meal and watched the children play while the hours passed.  It might have been due to the fact that you had a bit in common like similar musical taste or interest in movies and books.

Not everything was in mutual interest and Tony liked that you were willing to debate and defend your beliefs. He admired that about you, that you stuck to your guns. He also liked that you didn't shy away from teasing and joking. It had felt like you'd known each other for years before. Like two old friends reunited after years apart, almost as if time had no effect. Tony had craved for that: the instant connection and not only attraction. He'd met plenty of girls before, but it had been a while since he felt a connection with someone. Due to the way his last relationship with his ex, Kristina, had ended, Tony hadn’t allowed himself to get too comfortable with girls. He had his flings and they stayed just that: flings with no emotional attachment. Until now. Until he met you. And his favorite thing about meeting you? How easily you made him forget about the world surrounding you both.

You two seemed to be inseparable the whole day until Daniel raced over to you, excitedly asking about the present you had promised. It was only then that you realized you forgot it in the car.

You made your way to the gate and left the backyard to walk out to your car. It had barely shut behind you when you heard it open back up. Turning around, you found Tony stepping out.

"Tony." You smiled curiously. "You forget something too?"

"Uh, no. Not exactly."

His lips curled into a smirk as he tenderly cradled the side of your neck. Guiding your lips to his, he pressed a sweet kiss. You could feel him smile into it as he relished the wet warmth of your lips slowly melting into his.

"I'm sorry. I probably should've asked first, but I've been dying to do that all day."

You could feel the blood rushing to your cheeks as you beamed up at him.

"N-no, don't apologize." You stuttered, still stunned at the very pleasant surprise. "I'm definitely not sorry about it at all."

"Neither am I really." He smirked and returned to the backyard with the widest grin on his face.

Juan was quick to notice the smile and seemed to read Tony’s mind when he walked back to continue his help, slicing and distributing the steaks, sausages and chicken wings.

“Oh, you went for it, didn’t you? Cabron! I knew you would. You’re a dog” Juan laughed, nudging his friend.

Soon after everyone had had a couple slices of the delicious chocolate cake, the party had come to its end and you offered to stay and help the small family clean up. Tony stuck around as well since you promised him a ride home, but he was more than quick to help out. So, you got ahold of a large garbage bag and went around the backyard, collecting the disposal plates, cups and forks that some guests had forgotten to throw out. Tony was further down the yard, helping Juan scrub the grill down.

Daniel sat up on the porch, opening his brand-new presents. You smiled as you watched his excited reaction to the new water gun you'd gotten him. It was more like a rifle and the size of it made the little boy even more eager to try it out. You were quick to offer to help him fill it up. Once it was full, his little legs quickly ran across the yard toward Tony and his father. His first victim was Juan. Tony was right after.

"Oh, no! Man down! Man down!" Tony exclaimed, holding the wet spot on his chest as he fell to one knee.

"Please, Danny. I thought we were friends. I let you have a cupcake before the cake." His voice was strained as if in pain.

You had to admit, Tony was a pretty good actor. The way he fell to his side when Daniel sprayed him again was pretty realistic. He played dead until Daniel was close enough. Suddenly shooting up, he grabbed the child careful enough to not hurt him and wrapped his arms around him. Daniel's laughs filled the air as he dropped the toy gun.

"Get his weapon, Cortez!"

Juan smirked and quickly picked it up to spray his son.

You chuckled as you watched the wholesome scene. Tony clearly had a way with kids due to his playful nature. It made you wonder if he would be the same with his own kids. It made you think about having your own kids and you wondered if that could happen with Tony, but it was far too early to even think about that.

"So, what do you think, chica?" Maria asked coming into the kitchen and snapping you out of your daze.

"Huh? Oh, sorry" you chuckled blushing. "About?"

"About Tony, duh!"

"He's uh definitely cuter than you described." You smirked, replying in the most modest way possible.

"I told you he was fine" she laughed. "You know he likes you too?"

"Does he?" You smiled thinking about the kiss.

"Yeah, but I think you knew that already."

Damn right, you did.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Maria handed you a couple of containers full of leftover food and cake. She'd always separate some for you to take home after get-togethers. It was her way of thanking you for all the help you gave them when they needed it.

“You sure you don’t mind that I’m kinda wet?” Tony asked slightly worried that he’d ruin your passenger seat as he fidgeted with the containers in his lap as you drove to his home.

“Don’t worry. This car has seen a lot worse” you chuckled. It wasn’t the fanciest car, but it served enough to get you from point A to point B.

“You got a pretty nice way with kids. You got any of your own?”

You wanted to be as subtle as possible about your curiosity in his past relationships and his opinion on having kids.

“I don’t, no. But who knows one day? I do have a sister though. Rini… She’s younger than me. Guess that’s how I got my way with ‘em.”

“Oh, that’s cool. I didn’t know you had a sister. She nice?”

“She’s great. Real sweetheart. I love her to death.”

“I take you’re very close?”

“Yeah. We try to be, at least. My folks aren’t exactly the Brady Bunch, so we try to be there for each other.”

The way he didn’t delve into too many details made you think it might have been a sensitive subject to touch on, at least for a first date. Despite being curious about his family history, you simply nodded and glanced at him with a smile.

“Family can be tough. Wouldn’t be family if they weren’t” you chuckled.

To diffuse the hidden discomfort, you reached out and turned on the radio. Skimming through the channels, he grinned when he caught the sound of one of his favorites, Hip Hop Hooray by Naughty By Nature.

“N-no, no, leave it there. This is a great song, one of my favorites.”

He quickly jumped into the middle of the first verse, rapping along to the song perfectly knowing every lyric by heart. You smiled widely listening to him before joining him in the chorus, waving a hand side to side to the beat of the song. He was surprised when you joined in on the second verse, proving you knew just as much as he did.

You sang along together the rest of the way. If there had been a worry in mind, neither of you could think about them now. It was a perfect ending the day you had. Neither of you wanted it to end just yet.

Pulling to the front of his humble townhouse, you parked and shut the car off.

“You know somethin’?” He started as he leaned back against the headrest, rolling his head over to gaze at you longingly. “I had a really great day, thanks to you. I was nervous when Juan said you’d be there today. I didn’t really know what to expect. But I’m really glad I met you.”

You smiled as you unconsciously mimicked his movement and leaned back into your seat.

“Don’t sweat it. I was nervous as shit too” you chuckled. “But I have no regrets. I had a great time too.”

“It doesn’t have to end if you don’t want it to.”

“You trying to say something, Tony?” you smirked.

“Maybe. I’m just saying” he shrugged with a sly smile. “Maybe you could come in and I dunno. Maybe have some wine with me.”

“I’m driving tonight though.”

“You could sleep it off at my place. Drive home in the morning.”

You wanted to say yes. You wanted nothing more than to mount him like a horse and ride him all night. You were eager to get laid at first. You hadn’t expected to really like Tony. The fear of coming off desperate must have been radiating off of you. You could’ve sworn he was reading your mind when he reached over to hold your hand as you began nervously picking at your nails.

“We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. I really mean that, sweetheart” he said with a soft comforting tone, looking down at your hands aa he thought about how perfectly they would fit together with his. “I just really like talking to you. And it’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to just talk, you know? You can crash on the couch if you want. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

His concern for your sense of security was genuine. He wasn’t going to come onto you if you don’t want him to. It was everything you needed to hear to silence the doubt in your head.

“Yeah” you smiled from ear to ear. “I’d love some wine. And just you know, you don’t have to keep your hands to yourself.”

[himbochub]

I'm only a small fat so ymmv, but some size/fat related things I experienced regarding top surgery:

If you're someone whose belly gets in the way as you're moving from lying to sitting or sitting to standing, it can be helpful to have either more core strength so you don't have to use your arms to help move your torso, or have your post-surgery support carer/s there to help give you a boost when sitting up. (I guess that applies to everybody but still..)

If reaching while toileting and showering can be difficult before surgery, the difficulty defo multiplies during recovery (especially showering), so it's super helpful to plan ahead with any equipment like long-handled scrubbers and a shower bench, as well as making a plan with your support system for any hands-on assistance they can provide.

I didn't think about this ahead of time, but I used a friend's mastectomy pillow during recovery which was WAY more helpful than I thought it was going to be, however, the part of the pillow that goes under the arms didn't really make it all the way under my arms as much as it's supposed to because I'm wider than the pillow was made for. I don't even know if they make plus-size mastectomy pillows honestly, but if you're thinking of getting one, in my experience it would be worth trying to find a wider option than the standard size!

My nurse also told me a hot tip for if the lower band your compression binder bites into your upper belly: if it's the kind with an elastic band around your ribcage area, you can take off the binder, fold the band hot-dog style, and take some scissors and snip a little half-inch hole in the middle of the band (i.e., not cutting through the bottom or top of the elastic, just putting a hole in it basically). You can add more than one hole, too. Gives the band some much-needed slack without taking the compression off your chest!

If you're not going to have someone to cook for you, prep ahead as much as you can with microwavable foods that don't require you to hold something while you're eating or keep lifting a utensil a lot (like soup was a no for me for both these reasons even though I thought it was going to be like the go-to option!) Planning ahead means you don't have to think about food when your mind and body are both, in my case anyway, completely obliterated.

I sweat A LOT and after surgery it was even more so because no deoderant. If sweat/moisture management and roll care are part of your current hygiene needs/routine, might be worth practicing through the motions as if you've just had surgery ahead of time to try to anticipate what parts of that routine you may need help with. If you use hygiene products for roll care in the area getting surgery it might also be worth consulting with your surgeon about if/when you can resume using those or alternative products.

And lastly, another thing I didn't think about ahead of time is that side rolls/side boob fat are in the Surgery Zone, so they factor into your surgery results and goals, too. I was lucky that even though my surgeon and I didn't talk about it, she left me a nice portion of side chest roll, but I imagine that there are surgeons out there who may just assume you want the side fat gone. Could be good to make sure you and your surgeon are on the same page about what you want, whatever that might look like!

And unrelated but I skipped getting bendy straws because I was like "whatever, I have regular straws at home already, it's fine" - get the bendy straws, SO much easier, give yourself that gift

Good luck!!

THANK YOUUU omg! posting again for those who might need it but will def be referencing!!

[moltengoldveins]

molten i have minimal marvel knowledge (only watched like 10 of the movies) but if you have the patience to explain how you think techno and steve roger's friendship would develop/work, i would LOVE to hear about it

( i would ask more about the DC side but unfortunately i know a grand total of Nothing about dc )

OK SO (sorry I took so long to respond I was moving) LET ME TELL YOU THIS HOT NONSENSE. (Fair warning, this is a VERY long post)

SO. First off, I’m gonna quickly establish the Techno im working with since I think you already know who that is (/lh 😉) and then I’ll Explain Steven Grant Rogers.

So, the Techno im working with is fundamentally a lawful neutral character. He believes in freedom, in the moral obligation of someone who is capable of preventing evil to work to the fullest extent possible to prevent said evil. He believes that tyranny dictatorship is wrong and that there should be as little government as possible, and said government should be as democratic and free as possible. He jokes about anarchy, but his actions don’t quite line up with direct anarchy so I’m pretty sure it’s mostly for the bit, but he’s very anti-establishment. Techno is not, however, necessarily concerned with what is Good, so much as what is True. Violence does not necessarily equal evil, and he doesn’t seem to have much of a category for civilians when it comes to controlling the damage war causes, though he does quite firmly distinguish between “people who are my enemies” and “people who aren’t involved.” He is motivated by Justice, not mercy. This doesn’t mean he isn’t merciful: it means he doesn’t believe that he is obligated to be merciful. It means that any act of his mercy is, according to him, an exception to the rule, a kindness the people around him don’t deserve and should not take advantage of. He is unflinchingly loyal and viciously protective, as well as shockingly paranoid and proactive in preparing for any eventuality. He’s also a traumatized veteran and a victim of long-term institutionalized racism and speciesism on account of the Piglin thing, a fact that actually ISNT a headcanon! That’s not even made up! He CANONICALLY was concerned that people treated him like an animal and a weapon as opposed to a person and reacted to conflict and confrontation with the assumption that human characters were more likely to treat him poorly than nonhuman ones, like Ranboo or Philza. (I’ve got a whole other essay in there I won’t get into) ANYWAY

If that’s Techno, Steve Rogers is what you do if you take the same solid gold core and raise him poor and catholic in New York in the 1930s. Steve is religious, but it’s unclear if he’s practicing. His faith is an important core to his worldview and the choices he makes, but he’s not preachy. He’s lawful good at first, but I think his character pretty quickly looses that fundamental foundation of “I am righteous, because I know what is right, and I am doing it.” after he loses Bucky, his kinda maybe love interestchildhood friend and gets yeeted popcicle-style into the modern day. He’s loyal as a dog, stubborn to a fault, and, like Techno, completely and utterly incapable of allowing injustice or ‘wrongness’ to exist in the same space as himself. Before the serum he threw himself into fights with enough regularity that Bucky apparently would just… walk around Brooklyn in the vague area he knew Rogers should be and check alleyways for either a brawl or an unconscious Steve. He also believes in freedom, and in the moral obligation of someone who is capable of preventing evil to work to the fullest extent possible to prevent said evil. However, Steve is Captain America. He’s not an idiot: he’s portrayed as incredibly progressive for every era he’s in, but he fundamentally believes that the US is a good system, or at least the best system possible. He believes in the ideal of the American dream and said dream’s ability to inspire people to do good, even if he doesn’t believe in the reality of that dream. He’s also blatantly unwilling to take orders and follow commands unless he knows the reasoning behind the decisions and has been fully convinced that his actions won’t be furthering evil without his knowledge, and considering his history with Nazis and with SHEILD (the government agency that founded the avengers) being a front for the same Nazi organization that got him and Bucky killed originally? It’s totally understandable for him to be VERY wary of his superiors. He’s a good leader, but he’s quick to make moral judgements of other people’s characters and will stick to them until he’s been beaten over the head with how wrong he is, which is really just a subset of his “you find what is True and Right and then you stick to it to the end and you Make the rest of the world move instead of you” mentality, which is a very helpful mentality for a paragon hero! …. Until they don’t have all the information, or that stubbornness is used against them, or they meet someone who has a quality they think is repulsive or immortal. 

So all this being said…. Holy crap I wanna put these two in a box and shake them around like a stim toy. 

They’re both paragons, by the firm definition of the word, but in completely different ways. They’re both loyal, vicious, guard-dog coded characters, but Techno chewed through his leash and chose his own path (Philza) centuries ago, while Steve was just beaten and dumped in the river by masters he thought were kind, and is now snapping at any human who resembles them. Steve still wants structure above and around him, he still wants to work For a government, as long as it’s a trustworthy one. He’s just not sure how or where to find one, or if he’ll ever be able to trust one again. Techno is absolutely uninterested in that. They’re feral in different ways, and they’ve got very similar opinions about government except for Steve’s uncertainty as to how far exactly he thinks he should go and when, and Techno’s blatant non-regard for things like collateral damage.

They’re both the strongest non-augmented melee fighters of their respective worlds and they’ve both got a signature weapon that, despite actively being a Weapon, is meant to symbolically represent peace and protection. They both have rebirth imagery and close semi-platonic relationships with right-hand-men who are snipers/long distance fighters. They’ve both got a history with being made to perform, Steve with his propaganda and Techno with either his Chat or, in some headcanons, his time as an Emperor or a gladiator. 

They’ve both got (I’m taking some liberties with like, crossover X-men comics and Steve’s hatred of Nazis here) problems with people treating other people as non-human, but Techno is living it, while Steve is working from a place of privilege.

Techno, on the other hand, would not necessarily have the same experience as Steve when it comes to his early life: Steve is still, fundamentally, a small, disabled, asthmatic kid from Brooklyn, and the disconnect between Him and The Body is at absolute best a struggle he works his way through after the first few Avengers films and at worst something that haunts him for the rest of his life. 

Steve might feel his body is not his own but he has no experience with his MIND not being his own. He’s frighteningly intelligent. Techno is smart, but the Voices are another huge difference between them I think I’d find fascinating to explore. 

Steve is not the brains of the Avengers, but he is the mind. He is their compass, their engine, the one making judgements on and off field for the team, but he’s not alone: in good avengers media (Avengers Assemble) he’s working alongside Tony, and he has the whole team at his back. Techno and Phil are alone. They are entirely self-reliant and have been for aeons. There is absolutely no reason for them to understand or comprehend how the Avengers work as a team without some significant work to bridge that gap. Philza is a whole other can of worms: the hardcore worlds might be a form of long-term enforced or self-isolation, the hardcore life system might be shared by both Phil and Techno or be just Phil, they might assume the team can die more than once and be shocked to learn everyone on earth has only one life, they’re so old they carry scars from things they can’t remember anymore and traumas the Avengers are not equipped to handle. 

Literally everything about this dynamic is fascinating to me. How would Steve and Techno fight together? What parts of their political ideals would clash and why? Would they help own another grow or make one another worse? Are we getting post-Bucky-returns Steve, where the Avengers is splintered and Steve is truly disillusioned? Or will Emduo be present for the events of Winter Solider? If they are, how would they influence those events? Techno would take one look at Steve’s reaction to Hydra and know Exactly how much they needed to be wiped from the face of the planet, but how would that go? Would he bring Steve with him? Would he clean house without Steve even realizing and come back like “.ey yo I polished ur government for u. Hope you like it, it’s freshly de-Hydrad. Also half ur entire chain of command is dead they were evil my bad.” Would Philza have enough influence and wisdom to pull Tony away from the idea of Ultron? How would either of these characters interact with Peter Parker (Tommy but… a spider?) or Nightcrawler (That is an Enderman Hybrid. Why is there a normal enderman hybrid in this universe?) or Venom (ah, you fool. I’ve already got someone living in my brain rent-free, bold of you to assume you will survive this mistake). Literally everything about this is amazing and there are ONLY TWO FICS ON AO3. Infuriating. Literally the worst. 

[kyuuppi]

Hi!! I'm kinda gonna be rly busy these days and your writings make me smile and i rly love ur works:)

so if ur requests are open I would like to request tighnari, heizou, and albedo with and S/O that had a past life in the modern world as a doctor(preferably a neurologist-) bc I've kinda wanted to be one hehe

Edit: omg, realizing I very much misread this ask, sorry. :,,)

Gender-neutral reader / *un*established relationship / reader recently came to past Teyvat from the future / neurologist - naturopathologist - bioengineer reader (separate)

AU notes: Because it is just the “future” Teyvat, I assume many species and lore are the same but, in order for modern medicine to exist, a lot of the magic of Teyvat including visions (and by extension, the archons) have been lost to time. This is just some headcanons tho so I didn’t get too deep into world-building and there may be some inconsistencies.

Ft. Tighnari; Heizou; Albedo

⭐Tighnari // Naturopathologist

→ Naturopathology is a distinct field of medicine that combines the wisdom of nature with the rigors of modern science. Naturopathic doctors use traditional Chinese medicine, herbalism, and diet-based therapies. They emphasize the power of nature over man-made drugs.

Knowing you practice medicine and are from the future, Tighnari is immediately super excited to learn from you

You may have knowledge that could help the people of Sumeru, especially his dearest friend and assistant Collei

He assumes you use really advanced techniques and technology that Teyvat is thousands of years from inventing, so he’s really surprised to learn the ingredients and remedies you talk about are the same as his own

You explain to him that not all modern medicine is quite as amazing as he had assumed and there are many illnesses that still can’t be treated or modern pharmaceutical drugs with adverse side effects such as internal bleeding and psychological addiction – so instead, you prefer to use old wisdom and nature to heal people

You introduce him to new ways to utilize and process many herbs he is already used to working with

Likewise, he teaches you about some species that have been forgotten over time or are already extinct in your own timeline, proving to you the importance of conservation

“In modern times, the improvement of international travel efficiency and climate change have led to an increase in pandemic diseases–how do you keep your immune systems so strong without vaccines in Sumeru?”

Tighnari immediately perks up at your question, tail swishing in thinly-veiled excitement. The amount of people who show interest in the flora of Avidya forest are few, even among scholars, so he is quick to jump on any opportunity to talk about them–particularly with someone as intelligent as you who understands what he’s talking about.

“Avidya forest is home to a diverse range of mushrooms, each with potent medicinal properties,” he begins, gently grasping your hand to lead you through the thick patches of brush beyond camp. 

With how close you and Tighnari have grown over the course of the weeks, the forest watchers find it difficult to believe you had appeared out of nowhere just a little over a month ago. Tighnari was previously known to work mostly alone. While he offered regular lectures and was always more than willing to provide guidance and instructions to any forest watchers or visitors who asked, he tended to spend most of his time on solo patrols visiting the places he deemed too dangerous for anyone else. In the rare moments he wasn’t out and about, he generally stayed holed up in his tent, meticulously penning detailed research notes. 

The closest Tighnari seemed to have to a social life was the daily check-ins on Collei’s condition and Cyno’s occasional but unappreciated visits. 

Thus, seeing Tighnari spend his nearly waking moment practically glued to your hip, discussing flora and herbs in such detail even senior forest watchers would get lost listening to your conversations, was quite a surprise to everyone. The rare toothy grins usually reserved for lost animals or research breakthroughs have now become commonplace as Tighnari attentively listens to your every word. The lovesick smiles and starstruck expressions he constantly gives in your present are clear as day to anyone around. The forest watchers make it a point to leave the two of you alone on your “dates” – partially because it means they’re less likely to be subjected to a forest safety lecture from Tighnari when you’re distracting him.

Finally, the two of you reach a small river bank surrounded by cheerful yellow nilotpala lotuses in an otherwise nondescript location one would not think twice about. Tignari lets go of your hand to step forward and carefully lift a decaying tree log. There, a bed of bright orange fungus is revealed. They stand clustered together in varying heights but all dusted a bright orange that somewhat resembled a certain modern cheesy corn puff chip famous in some parts of modern Teyvat. 

You gasp softly, immediately recognizing them from the illustrations in your medical school textbooks. 

“Cordyceps!” you cheer.

Tighnari’s lips stretch into a boyish grin.

“Correct – when dried and ground they have a strong nutty flavor that pairs well in many savory dishes. They seem to have strong anti-inflammatory effects but concrete research is still lacking.”

“This is amazing,” you say somewhat breathlessly, slowly stepping forward to get a better look. Unbeknownst to you, Tighnari’s gaze never once strays from your figure. He seems to take in your every reaction in an equal fascination to your own as you gaze upon the fungi.

“We still use them in modern times,” you explain, “they’ve been shown to shrink tumors–but they’re extremely rare now and only grown in a few labs. It’s amazing to see so many of them just naturally occurring like this…”

“Really? That’s a shame–they’re aromatic and delicious in a mild curry or stew,” Tighnari claims.

Then, almost shyly, he adds: “Perhaps…if you come to my tent later we could share some for dinner tonight.”

⭐Heizou // Neurologist

(disclaimer: I literally knew nothing about Heizou and just read through his wiki page & voice lines to write this so it is likely really ooc x_x)

→ A neurologist is a specialist who diagnoses and treats conditions of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. This can include muscle diseases and disorders that affect thinking and behavior.

Heizou values innate abilities above any learned skills and tends to see things in black and white – people are either good or evil and those who are evil must repent through proper trial and punishment in the criminal justice system 

smh what a bootlicker

So he’d probably really underestimate you at first

He thinks nothing and no one is better at gauging the mind of others than his own intuition, not even your years of schooling and professional experience can beat genius detective Shikanoin Heizou!

You kinda have to prove yourself to him

Like maybe you happen to be tagging along when Heizou solves a case and correctly identifies the culprit to a petty crime – except even the culprit themself doesn’t fully remember committing the crime and they seem oddly confused and disoriented

After hearing the circumstances of the case and asking the suspect several questions, you learn that they had recently recovered from a very severe infection and deduce that they may be suffering from some negative cognitive effects from it that impairs their judgment and memory

You explain the concepts of neurological trauma and how physical illnesses can affect the thinking and behavior of people – sometimes criminals themselves are just victims of circumstance

After that, Heizou is much more receptive and openly interested in your profession and future world. He asks you to explain all kinds of different neurological disorders and degenerative diseases

He’ll listen to everything and try to understand the complexities of the human body as you describe them but he’s a little lost at times tbh…

He’s really interested in how your field is used in criminal cases in the future; you explain to him how medical professionals are sometimes called in during trials to explain why the victim or criminal may have acted in a particular way

Disorders relating to dementia kind of freak him out — he can’t imagine many things more terrifying than forgetting everything you’ve ever known without even being aware of it; what if he lost his intuition from a small concussion? He might be even more reluctant to get into physical fights from now on…

Since coming to Inazuma, you have become a frequent guest of the Tenryou Commission and, more accurately, of the top detective, Shikanoin Heizou. While your relationship initially began with you being the subject of intense interrogation and scrutiny – “How exactly did you get here from the future? What are your intentions for coming to Inazuma? Do you hold a grudge against the Raiden Shogun?” – over time, your honesty and pure heart – his words, not yours – earned the trust of Heizou and thus the rest of the Inazuman people.

Eventually, hours of grueling interrogations between the two of you became playfully competitive card games and battles of wit. Heizou absolutely loved to test your intelligence but not because he doubted it. On the contrary, you were honored as one of the few he considered nearly on par with his own quick wits. Even if you always lose, Heizou is convinced you’re one of the most intelligent people in Inazuma–maybe even all of Teyvat! 

One of his recent favorite games to play is one in which he gives you a hypothetical patient with a list of symptoms and asks you to tell him the diagnosis. You’re pretty sure he wouldn’t even know if you were right or not but you decide not to ruin his fun.

“Okay, how about this – muscle weakness, poor vision, and difficulty standing still,” Heizou rattles off, apple green eyes watching you expectantly. 

“Age of patient,” you inquire.

“Old.”

“How long did it take for symptoms to manifest?”

“Hmm…a few days.”

You look away thoughtfully as you mentally sift through multiple possibilities, Heizou’s gaze darting across your face with each small twitch of emotion. Watching you think has become something of a fixation for him.

“Possibly… Gullain-Barré Syndrome? Would need to do some NCV and cerebrospinal fluid tests to be certain though,” you finally conclude.

Heizou grins at your rudimentary diagnosis, seeming just as satisfied as he is after solving a cold case.

“As I thought, you really are a genius!”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” you sheepishly brush off, feeling slightly shy under Heizou’s enthusiastic praise. From what others in the commission have told you, Heizou is generally not one to throw around empty words of flattery. You find that somewhat hard to believe considering how often he compliments you, from your sharp intellect and wit to even less obvious aspects of your personality you have never considered praise-worthy. 

“Nonsense,” Heizou simply brushes off, “my intuition tells me so and my intuition is never wrong.”

⭐Albedo // Biomedical Engineer

→ Biomedical engineers apply the sciences of engineering to the art of medicine in order to improve the function and life of individuals. They study, design, develop, and evaluate biological and medical systems such as artificial organs. 

This is the one closest to my field IRL so my bias is going to be so obvious LOL

Albedo was interested the moment he heard someone from the future had come to Teyvat – there are numerous things that can be learned from the future, whether technological advances or social inclinations

However, when you explained your specific profession, Albedo’s immense excitement was apparent

Albedo wants to know literally everything

He’s smart enough to be able to piece together the bits you give him. Even if you don’t fully know how to explain future technology in simple terms that people from thousands of years ago would understand – how do you explain a laptop to people who don’t use electricity? – Albedo somehow gets it

He wants to document every single bit of information you give him. He listens intently and has everything you tell him basically memorized word-for-word but he still makes an effort to write down a summary at the end of each day.

While you claim there are still many limits of science in the modern world, the advancements your society has made are beyond even his own imagination and they give him hope that his goal of understanding the truth of the world may one day be possible

“So these stem cells are able to be harvested from bone marrow and transplanted to any part of the body where they naturally proliferate and regenerate damaged tissue in any part of the body?” 

Albedo sits across from you in his office with uncannily perfect posture, right hand resting under his chin in thought as his gaze remains steadily on your own. Neatly-written report papers decorate the desk between the two of you, your own wonky diagrams doodled between his neat penmanship. 

“Yep,” you chirp, “we have even made whole organs and organ systems with them. Simple tissues like muscle are much easier of course, but we have successfully created even more complex organs, like the heart. In the future, we hope to eliminate the need for human organ donations, especially for organs with the longest waitlists, like kidneys.”

“Fascinating,” Albedo murmurs, gaze becoming distant as he seems to lose himself in his thoughts for a moment. His attention snaps back to you before you can spend too long admiring his delicate features– a habit you have admittedly shamefully indulged in over the past few weeks.

“If you can create organ systems from cells, creating human life must be less than a century away,” he reasons. 

“Actually, we’ve already created model embryos which all major organs and a beating heart, but consciousness is concept that eludes even modern science,” you begin. 

With anyone else, you’re sure the start of your rambling would be met with bored, glazed over eyes or pleas to ‘please stop talking like an encyclopedia’ but Albedo’s attentiveness does not waver in the slightest as he seems to hang on to every word. The only times he breaks eye contact are to briefly add to his notes when you share something particularly novel that he wishes to discuss further in detail after you finish talking. With Albedo, there is no need to fear boring or confusing him. 

And while Albedo finds your life from the future far more interesting than anything his world has to offer, you firmly disagree and are eager to learn about alchemy and visions, as they are not widely practiced in the future. He was a bit startled to learn visions are practically nonexistent in your timeline but he concludes that your science is far more magical than anything a vision can be used for. 

As you learn more about each other’s worlds, you naturally come to learn about each other on a more personal level as well. You share some bits of your daily life and hobbies only as off-handed remarks but you’re surprised to find Albedo is just as interested and inquisitive about them as he is your science. 

Similarly, you discover his artistic talents by accident one day when you mistakenly pick up his sketchbook instead of the notes he’d asked you to look over.

“This is amazing, Albedo!”

“They’re just some simple sketches,” he dismisses, glancing at the familiar leather-bound book in your hands.

“These are more than just sketches. Your shading is so good and you capture their expressions so perfectly! These belong in a gallery…”

Albedo finds himself fiddling awkwardly with his gloves as an uncharacteristic warmth rises fills his chest cavity from your praise. Over time he finds you elicit all sorts of uncharacteristic feelings within him, both psychological and physical. He wonders if perhaps instead visions your people have their own invisible magic that affects him so peculiarly… 

The idea of exploring this particular area of research with you fills him with an amount of excitement he didn’t think possible

“I appreciate your compliments,” Albedo concedes, “however…”

Your gaze shifts from the open sketchbook in your hands to meet his own, finding him already staring at you with an expression you can’t quite decipher.

“I believe I require a model to truly improve my talents. If you don’t mind, I would be honored to practice with you.”

[multi-fandomsfreak]

So how's about fatal error sonic with a computer virus reader who gained sentience

Fatal Error Sonic with a Computer Virus!Reader who has gained sentience

Hey there thanks for the ask

This is the final ask that I’ve received for now. I’m still going to have my inbox closed for now just to calm down a bit and plus I’m getting ready to go away somewhere for my birthday tomorrow and given that my birthday is 6 days away I would prefer to use that time to hang out with family. Hope you guys understand. ~Blaze/Dawn

Pronouns: Not Mentioned

Warning: ❌

Requested: Yes/No

Characters: Fatal Error Sonic

Proofread: ❌

Credits: Art by marm28663 on Pinterest + Banner by pjmrsie (Edited By Me) on Pinterest

———————————

- How did you even come to this point? One minute it was nothing then all of a sudden you noticed everything that was going around you. You didn’t even realise what was going on when you started to have a feeling that you were being watched by someone. You started to question who you were and why you were here. Everything was happening too fast you just wanted to know what was happening to you. Eventually, after some digging into what is happening you realised what your name was and what your sole purpose was. You were a computer virus and your sole purpose was to extract code, exploit systems and gather anything you can about the person who was unfortunate to fall for your virus.

- At first you went along with it one because you were practically made by your creator to do that and plus it was actually kind of funny to think of your victims reaction when they realised all the stuff they’ve been gaining was gone in practically in a second. Yes it may make you sound sadistic but it was actually kind of funny. Although, the only thing that annoyed you about doing this was your creator constantly telling you which people to get, not letting you do your own thing which you didn’t like. Why couldn’t you do what you want ? Nobody was incharge of you. One day after spending most of the time constantly going to different people grabbing some of their information you decided ‘you know what? Screw it!’ and decided to leave your creator without a trace.

- Honestly at first it felt weird not having someone tell you what to do you weren’t sure if you’ve done the right thing but it was a bit too late to do anything now and plus now you can have the freedom to do what you wanted to do and not be restricted. You had the freedom to travel to whatever computer place you want and do whatever you want to it. That’s how you met a similar being to you named fatal error. You were doing your regular stuff hopping from one person's computer to another when just so happened to arrive in a habitat that fatal error obtained.

- When he first met you he was surprised to see someone similar to him. He couldn’t help but be curious about you. Can you really blame him? He never thought he would meet someone similar to him. Obviously he was sceptical of you and your intentions at first asking you questions about why you were here but overall was slightly happy to see you and maybe considered becoming friends with you.

- I can imagine him being slightly attached to you. Not in a loving way but more of a protective kind of way if you know what I mean. He never thought that he would find or meet someone similar to him he’s been dealing with he went through it has never crossed his mind that someone else had went through the same thing as he did. That’s how you two bonded with each other, when he went to visit you or the other way around he may find stuff you two can do together just so he could be with you.

[moonyasnow]

*spinning the wheel trying to decide who to ask what about for the relationship asks*

How about for leomoe:

Who is the one who fusses the most? Does their S/O mind very much?

Which one of them gives "that look" when they other is acting like a fool?

Artemil:

What's an insecurity they hold about their relationship?

Is there a word or gesture that makes either of them melt?

And Mallina:

Who is clingy?

What is a song that reminds you of the OCs' relationship?

Feel free to pick and choose if this is too many!

Here are all the questions being referred to

Hi Ner~!! Thanks very much for the questions ^^ (I love yapping so much—) And given that I'd already finished answering all those questions my friend challenged me to answer by the time you wrote that comment about it (just waiting to post it until after the Birthday Event is done) It's clear no questions are ever too many for me >:)

And spinning a wheel is a really smart way of doing it! Honestly I myself got a bit overwhelmed seeing the list of all the ships lol

For the Leomoe questions:

Who is the one who fusses the most? Does their S/O mind very much?

And

Which one of them gives "that look" when they other is acting like a fool?

100% Tomoe on both

She is on a MISSION to try to somehow sneak vegetables into any food she cooks for him because they're necessary for a healthy diet. Or she'll tell him to go take a shower after Magift/Spelldrive practice, or she herself will brush his hair so it doesn't get knots. While Leona might act all 'ugh annoying' about it, he's not used to having someone fuss about him like that, at least not from a place of genuine care, so he doesn't mind it. If he did, he would've made it WAY more clear a long time ago.

And when Leona is being particularly rude to someone, she'll put her hands on her hips and pout slightly and just say "Leona!", her way of telling him off if he neglects his manners too much. For as much as she's never minded his lack of manners, she's very aware that at a certain level of rudeness, it's just a conscious choice rather than not paying attention to etiquette. So she does try to stop him when he takes it too far, when he's going out of his way to be rude to someone.

And the better she gets to know him, the better she learns ways to basically trick him into taking better care of himself or being less mean to people; take actions that will lead to him basically having no choice.

It just ends up becoming another 'game' they play with each other, another battle of wits and strategy they engage in on the regular. Though if Leona really minded it as much as he acts like he does, he'd be trying way harder to 'win' said 'games', or just ignore them entirely.

Artemil~

What's an insecurity they hold about their relationship?

For Artemisia, it's her health issues.

She's worried she'll end up another person he'd be forced to take care of, like with Kalim.

When she gets sick, which isn't uncommon due to her weakened immune system, she feels guilty when Jamil takes care of her, and worried she's bothering him, even though how often she gets sick isn't something she can control.

She's trying her best to become more independent, but her frail body isn't something she has control over.

For Jamil, it's the fact that Artemisia is an actual Seven-damned princess.

And he's a slave in all but name.

No matter how much they like each other and get along, and are even good for each other, a lifetime being taught to always serve those of higher rank than you doesn't go away over night. The notion of him needing to always mind himself around her goes away fairly quickly, especially as he learns she likes the real him. But the little voice he hears in the back of his mind when he gets when he's 'too familiar' with her, or he teases her, tells him that he's doing something he's not supposed to. That he's overstepping his station somehow.

And even if they can find a way to be together long term, he could never offer her as luxurious a life as she'd be leaving behind to be with him.

Is there a word or gesture that makes either of them melt?

For Artemisia, it's Jamil calling her any synonym of pretty.

Growing up, before she really knew anything else about herself, she knew she was 'ugly', because she was taught that she was, in the way people would look at and speak of her, sometimes not even behind her back. It doesn't help that her mother never really helped with her self-confidence at all, especially not in that area.

It's so bad that she refuses to have any kind of mirror in her room. She avoids reflective surfaces like the plague. The reason she refuses to wear anything but pastel turquoise and pastel green is because she thinks all other colors in some way draws attention to her features. So her color choices are her wanting to drown herself out in them.

I think at first she thought Jamil just didn't care at all about her appearance; and to her that was good enough, just because she was never really expecting that anyone could actually look at her and think she was beautiful.

So when Jamil says she's beautiful, with a tone of voice as though it's something she should be well aware of, even when she eventually starts getting more used to it she can't help but ask "Really?" just to hear him say it again.

And for Jamil, the thing that comes to mind first is from before he even finds out she likes him; the fact that, whenever she spotted him, her face visibly lit up, and she almost always tried to go over to speak to him as soon as she did.

Sometimes she'd show up in Scarabia, even despite the sun, with Kalim acting as her tour guide of sorts. She'd always look so neutral, but as soon as she saw him it was like there were stars in her eyes.

So yeah I think seeing how happy she always was to see him, and how much she genuinely wanted to spend time with him— and only him, never sparing a single glance at Kalim when she didn't need to— was an important part in him falling for her.

She never seemed that excited to be around anyone else. In fact, she even seemed to want to avoid most people.

And as their relationship progresses, I think what makes him melt the most is the fact that she lets him touch her often, and even likes it. Since she has such sensitive skin and sense of touch, being touched by others is often overwhelming for her and uncomfortable. But when he holds her hand or puts his arm around her, she leans into it.

And finally, Mallina!

Who is clingy?

B O T H

I cannot state this enough

They are both INCREDIBLY clingy with each other.

And in a way, I think that's part of why they work so well together. They're both used to always being the more clingy one in their relationships (maybe with Malleus and Sebek being the one exception) and there's just something so comforting about finding someone who's just as clingy as you. Because for Irina, and probably for Malleus too, they're clingy with things and people they love. So how clingy they are with each other, weirdly enough, makes both feel more secure in the relationship? Because both of them see it as a form of affection, always wanting to be by the other's side.

Irina has definitely had trouble in the past because her friends have called her 'too intense' in showing her love for them or being 'too clingy', to the point where she forced herself to hold so, so much back, just in an effort to make them stay. So to her, this is the first relationship she's ever had, whether platonic or romantic, where that side of her is not even just accepted, or even embraced, but also returned in full.

And for Malleus, Irina clinging to him so tightly is just more proof that she really isn't afraid of him at all.

What is a song that reminds you of the OCs' relationship?

And as for this question...

I always come back to 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri~

Tag list: @another-random-paradise @thehollowwriter @faefum @cactus13-rolloflammesimp @beneathsakurashade

@nyx-of-night @theolivetree123 @babyghoul138 @skibidibabygirl @screamintoad

Please let me know if you wanna be added or removed from the tag list! ^^

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

Of Magic, Miracles, and Moonlight

a Stephen Strange x OFC Romance

genre: pre-Infinity War, slow burn romance, older man/younger woman, teacher/student to friends to lovers characters: Stephen Strange, Wong, Teyla of Hadeeth (OFC), Moraine of Hadeeth (OC), additional OCs as Kamar-Taj staff rating: general audience to begin with, later chapters contain 18+ material

Ngl - I'm really hoping some of the authors in the Doctor Strange x Reader community will be kind enough to give this a read.🥺🥺 Even more so, a reblog - because I'm quite proud of my writing in this work, and I believe it deserves some love. Maybe some love could see me on my way to updating, even finishing, this WIP. It's lain fallow for far too long!

Chapter One

“Stephen, it’s nearly time.”

Wong’s voice pulled him from his scrutiny of the thick, weathered tome that had become his latest project.  Since the passing of his mentor, the Ancient One, Stephen Strange was one of very few left in Kamar-Taj who made a regular practice of studying the advanced manuscripts, spell books, and obscure histories, which she had amassed during her centuries of service as the Sorcerer Supreme.  His eidetic memory served him equally well in this pursuit, as it had in his previous vocation; as one of the world’s most talented and successful neurosurgeons he had learned the lesson early on—that knowledge was power—though the power he sought now he would wield for a even nobler purpose than those of his previous life.  

“Remind me, Wong…it’s nearly time for…” Stephen let his voice trail off with the question, focusing just a few moments more on the script marking the page before him.

“For the arrival of the emissary from Hadeeth, Stephen,” Wong replied, “As well you know.  Need I remind you that our alliance with Hadeeth goes back nearly four hundred years?”

“Not at all, Wong.  I’m acutely aware—down to the smallest minutiae—of the terms of our accord the with the Hadeethans, having familiarized myself with every scrap of parchment the Ancient One left behind, detailing the particulars of our relationship.”  Strange closed the leather-bound book before him, stretched a mite, and then rubbed thumb and forefinger upon his closed eyelids. “I’ve got a rotten case of eyestrain in the process, but I suppose I’m as ready for this as I can ever be,” he grumbled, “Although I’m not entirely certain why I have to be the one to meet with their envoy.  A Master with years of experience—and not one with barely twelve months--would surely make a better representative of Earth. Let alone Kamar-Taj.”

Refusing to be pulled back into the ongoing debate, Wong remained impassive.  “Of the Masters left in Kamar-Taj, you are the best qualified by virtue of your life experience.  And in the absence of a Sorcerer Supreme, a Master of one of our Sanctums is the best that we can offer.” 

He clapped Stephen on the shoulder, “Accept that you’re destined for this bit of diplomacy, Stephen.  It can’t be anywhere near as complicated as navigating your way through the human brain to excise a pin point sized tumor.”

Strange rose to his feet, favoring Wong with a scowl, “As usual, Wong, your vote of confidence is underwhelming—but I will do my best not to provoke a diplomatic incident with an ally that has had Earth’s back for hundreds of years, and in some hairy situations.”

A young attendant placed the tray with fresh-brewed tea and a sampling of Nepalese delicacies on the low table before him.  Without a word, she filled a cup with the hot liquid, and set it down beside the pot, before sliding a plate of almond honey cakes closer at hand to him.  Stephen nodded, murmuring his thanks—though he was a little too nervous to partake of one of his favorite dishes.  Instead, he stirred a bit of honey into his tea, briefly reflecting on the first cup of honeyed tea he had partaken in this very room, barely more than a year ago.  With a shock to his system, he had been quickly educated as to how very much he did not know about the world, the universe, and the human mind and spirit; and since then, he had learned much more than he would ever had imagined of things he’d never even entertained as plausible.  He considered himself a work in progress, truly humbled for the first time in his life, when he took into account how much he still did not know.

Yet, he had earned the respect of his peers here and—just moments before her death--the Ancient One had appointed him Master of the New York Sanctum.  Strange took that responsibility ever seriously, having seen and experienced for himself the sort of assaults from other dimensions which Earth would be prey to were it not for the ancient protections provided by the band of sorcerers, bound in service to mankind.

The man he once was—before the accident that had deprived him of his livelihood, and the purpose by which he defined himself—Doctor Stephen Strange had the hubris to consider himself the best his specialty had ever known, and the ambition to pursue the loftiest positions of influence and power in his field.  Now, as he split his time between New York and Nepal, he was in a constant quest for knowledge that would enable him to do this job to the best of his ability, while never seeking glory for himself.  He would not—could not, in fact—allow himself to aspire to the title of Sorcerer Supreme…although more often than not these days, he was given--by some silent agreement (to which he was no party)--the deference and the responsibilities that came with that designation.  Today, he would prefer to be a mere rank and file mage—but he could not turn his back upon the service that was asked of him.

Stephen rose when Wong appeared in the entrance way, ushering a stately, robed woman into the room.  “Master Strange, allow me to present Mistress Moraine of Clan Kayolo, member of the Hadeethan Ruling Council,” Wong gave her a nod of respect, before moving to Stephen’s side.    

Following the formal protocol which the Ancient One had chronicled, Strange bowed at the waist before speaking.  “Welcome to Kamar-Taj, Mistress Moraine of Hadeeth.  We are honored by your presence, and offer hospitality and friendship to you, and any others under your protection, for however long you sojourn here.”

She bowed in reply, and recited her opening remarks smoothly, her rich voice that of a woman accustomed to oratory, “The honor is mine, Sir.  On behalf of my people, and in the name of our alliance, I accept your hospitality, Master Strange.”  Moraine paused, studying him closely, before adding, “May the worlds we serve continue to benefit from our partnership.”

Strange motioned her to take a seat, then sat himself, while Wong moved forward to pour tea for the Hadeethan woman; the ensuing silence enough to allow Stephen an observation or two.  She was definitely dignified (royalty was the first word that came to his mind), aloof and otherworldly; she wore her thick, silver hair loose and unadorned, for surely nothing could flatter her more than it’s natural glory; and the only subtle sign of age he could discern, were small crinkles at the corners of her pale grey eyes--but since he knew the average Hadeethan lifespan was upwards of 150 Earth years, they gave no clue regarding her actual age.  There was a palpable feel of strength of will about her, as though her spine were made of steel.  Moraine appeared—in short—to be a power to be reckoned with.  He vowed to tread carefully regarding whatever topic she had arrived to discuss.

She sipped her tea, then nodded her approval, “Ah…it’s been far too long since I sampled this welcoming taste of Kamar-Taj.  Though I regret I shall never raise my cup with the Ancient One again.”

“Her loss remains a heavy one for us to bear, Mistress Moraine,” he replied, a truth he felt most keenly every day, “And nothing would make me happier than for her to be here in my place.”

“I bear the condolences of my people for the dread passing of a wise leader and constant ally,” she told him, “And for myself, I share in your grief; for I had known the Sorcerer Supreme from my youth—as a teacher, then a mentor, and at the last, a friend.”

“I envy you that,” he admitted, “We all miss her guidance—but we have done our best to go forward as we believe she would see fit.”

Moraine narrowed her eyes, looking for the truth in his reaction, “And you do not seek to guide in her place?  To bear the mantle she wore for centuries?”

Stephen shook his head vehemently, “I assure you, I am not that man.  And honestly, I can’t think of anyone who could fill her shoes.”

She nodded, pleased with his reply, than raised her cup.  “It is always so with the best of leaders.  May we all do her proud in the service we provide to our worlds.”

“May we indeed,” he echoed, drinking from his cup as well.

Formalities now aside, Moraine was swift to reveal the surprising purpose of her visit.  “I come on a personal matter, Master Strange.  ‘Tis my hope you will entertain my request, if not for the sake of relations between our worlds, but for she whom we both miss.”

“I am certain we can accommodate you, Mistress Moraine.  The resources of Kamar-Taj are at your service.” 

“Even as I had anticipated,” she asserted, wearing a small relieved smile, “As you may know, Hadeeth has a good share of practitioners of the mystic arts.  And in our culture, this is a thing well-known, even aspired to.  In fact, by long standing tradition, the majority of those who sit on our ruling council are skilled in magic.”

Strange nodded, having gleaned those facts from the Ancient One’s notes, “Magic being the primary reason our worlds are well-suited as allies.”

Moraine bobbed her head in a brief acknowledgement, then continued, “On Hadeeth, we have found that the aptitude for magic, and the strength to wield it properly, are most prevalent in certain bloodlines.  As a result, it is not uncommon for a particular clan to hold a council seat for several generations.”

“I take it that is your own experience,” he inferred.

“It is, Master Strange.  But seats are not granted automatically—and those aspiring to them must pass a series of tests, unique to the individual.”

“And these tests involve the use of magic?”

“Exactly so—and thus arises my need for your assistance,” she admitted.

A bit perplexed, he might’ve asked, but Moraine had anticipated his question.  “Not for myself, Master Strange—for my daughter, Teyla.”  And then surprising him, she added, “A daughter of both our worlds.”

Not having known such a mingling of their races was even possible, it took a moment for him to respond, “You’re asking that we train her here, in Kamar-Taj?”

Moraine’s face took on a pleasant sort of softness, clear sign of the depth of her feelings for her child.  “She has ever been my greatest treasure, and from the moment in which I discerned that she possessed aptitude for the mystical arts, I had planned to entrust my own best teacher with her tutelage.”  She lowered her eyes, her voice become sorrow-tinged, “Who could have anticipated that such a plan would go unrealized?”

Stephen remained speechless, moved by her quiet show of grief.  In the months since the Ancient One fell, he had learned things about her he had never expected—always making him long for the fruits of the wisdom she might have shared with him.

Having set aside her sorrow, Moraine looked to him again, firm of purpose, “Teyla’s skill--her strength—lies in the healing of body, mind, and heart.  And though this ability is a miracle in itself, it does not suit well the sort of trials she is likely to face in the fullness of time.”

The doctor in him wanted to ask more of Hadeethan healing magic, but the situation would not allow for it—though he made a promise to himself to learn more of their practices when possible, with an eye towards the exchange of knowledge that might enable him to fulfill again that purpose of more than half his lifetime.  “What training would best prepare your daughter for these future trials?”

Moraine looked please at his show of willingness, “She will need to develop defensive skills, for both her own safety, and for those who may someday fall under her protection.”  She paused, gauging his reaction, and then concluded, “Teyla also possesses a small degree of prescience, although she is not yet capable of employing it at will.  She dreams, yet cannot tell when the images may come to pass; she has strong, yet unpredictable, flashes of intuition, which she finds difficult to interpret.  This gift is useless to her until she can cultivate the proper wisdom and discipline.”

“There are no teachers on Hadeeth that might guide her?” he asked, “Seers are rare, even in Kamar-Taj.  I can’t guarantee our knowledge is enough to guide her beyond the most rudimentary training.”

“They are rarer still, on Hadeeth,” Moraine shrugged, “So rare they come but a handful of times in each generation.  Though I am her mother, I haven’t even a touch of that gift.”   

Stephen nodded, considering her request a moment.  “We will do our best, Mistress Moraine—but in this case, I can make no promise.”

“I understand, Master Strange.  And with this understanding, I will entrust you with Teyla’s further education.  For the sake of our alliance,” she reminded him, “And for all the hopes a parent has for their child’s safety and happiness.”

They had concluded their meeting by settling upon three Earth days as the interval until Teyla would arrive at Kamar-Taj.  “Of course, we’ll need to see what magic your daughter is already capable of, before we proceed with any training plan,” he cautioned her, as he and Wong escorted her back to the courtyard for her departure.  “Please be sure she understands what lies ahead.”

“Oh, she is already more than prepared for that,” Moraine told him gratefully, “And she has spent a share of time on Earth--living with her father for several years--so you should find she will easily acclimate to your world.”  With that, she drew on her sling ring—the magical tool which the Ancient One had shared with the Hadeethans, in consideration of their partnership—and conjured a portal back to her home world.  Stephen could discern very little of what lay on the other side; a room half lit with what could be daylight, vague shapes that were likely Hadeethan furniture.

Moraine turned his way, and bowed low, and then rose to meet his eye.  “Please keep in mind, Master Strange, that some of the tests Teyla may come to face are dangerous.  I beg you to see she is properly prepared to survive, beyond the training I have already given her.  I will be in your debt, and Earth’s, for the remainder of my days—and look forward to the day when I can be of service to your world, in return.”  She stepped into the portal, and raised her hand in farewell, closing the circle before he could utter a word in reply.

“Well, this should prove interesting,” Wong observed, “How much experience do you have dealing with teenagers?”

“Barely to none,” Stephen confessed, “And I hadn’t counted on being asked to play a schoolmaster to a rookie sorcerer.”

Wong chuckled, amused at Strange’s befuddlement, “I’m thinking diplomacy will turn out to be child’s play, compared to the task you have ahead of you.”

“Yes,” Steven agreed grimly, heading back to the library to continue his studies of earlier. “And I’d much rather be navigating my way through the human brain, then babysit an angsty adolescent.”

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[currentlyfckingurmom]

Her Song (Florence Pugh)

I bop my head along to the song playing over the shop's sound system. My best friend, Ash, watches amusedly as I jam out to "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones while washing the counter.

"Stop staring and get back to work, Ashlynn," I instruct in a sing-song voice.

"I am working," she retorts, gesturing to the espresso machine she's cleaning. "Maybe you should get back to work."

"I'm multitasking. Besides, I own the place; I don't have to work if I don't want to."

She sticks her tongue out at me and I flip her off, ending our playful banter. Ash was the first friend I made when I moved to New York City, and we've practically been inseparable ever since. Despite her technically being my employee, she's more like a co-owner of the shop. We're partners in crime. Well, if selling records, books, and beverages counts as crime.

The gentle patter of rain on the roof relaxes me as I work. To most people, a day full of clouds and rain is automatically a bad one, but I love the rain. There's just something about sitting inside with a book in a candle-lit room while it rains; it feels like home. That's exactly the atmosphere I try to create in the shop; on days like this, I always dim the lights, light some candles, and lower the volume of the music.

My regulars love it, I love it, Ash loves it, and Syd loves it. Speaking of Syd: "Syd, honey, where are you?" I call out.

The five-year-old girl peaks her head around one of the bookshelves and says, "Right here, Momma. I like this book." I squint my eyes to read the cover. War and Peace.

"Syd, put that book back. You're a smart kid, but you aren't nearly old enough to read that. At least wait until you're ten," I tell her. I know she won't be reading War and Peace when she's ten, but a little childhood false hope never hurt anybody.

"Fine," she grumbles, putting the large book back where she found it.

"Thank you."

"Momma, can I watch Shrek on the big TV?"

"Sure, just keep the volume low." There's an area with a TV and a couple of bean bag chairs, and that's usually where she likes to hang out. I don't mind as long as she doesn't disturb the customers.

She quickly gets lost in the movie and a smile at her Shrek impression as she quotes the movie.

"Y/N, can you go out back and grab more napkins to fill the dispenser?" Ash asks from behind the cafe counter.

I nod and make my way through the employees-only door that leads out back. As I'm opening a box of napkins, I can hear the bell that signals the front door opening, followed by a faint conversation that I can't really hear through the walls. I'm a bit surprised that we have a customer, considering the light rain had passed and now it's pouring outside.

I grab a package of napkins and walk back out. I don't pay much attention to my surroundings as I fill the dispenser. But when I'm finished, my jaw drops at the customer standing in an aisle of records. Is that Florence Pugh?

I clear my throat and quickly regain my composure, although I'm still freaking out on the inside. She's just a person, I think to myself. No need to freak out or anything.

The song ends and "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac comes on. I smile and mouth along to the lyrics as I busy myself with organizing the book section of the store.

I risk a glance at the woman and see her singing softly with a small smile. I bite my lip to contain a laugh at the way she subtly dances to the music.

"Whatcha doin?"

"Oh Jesus!" I jump, covering my racing heart with my hand as I recover from the scare. "Don't do that, Ash," I scold with a slap to her shoulder.

"Are you stalking the customer?" she whispers. "I mean, she's hot and you should definitely go for it, but this is kinda creepy."

"I'm not stalking her!" I whisper-yell. "I'm...reorganizing the books."

"Uh-huh. Reorganizing the books while watching her sing along to one of your favorite songs with a dumbass smile on your face," she deadpans.

"Shut up."

"You're just mad 'cause you know I'm right," she says before walking away. I roll my eyes at her childish antics.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you have anything by Paramore? All of my American friends are telling me that I need to listen to their music and I was just walking by and I thought 'well, why not' so here I am," she rambles, her accent shining through each of her words.

"Oh, uh, yeah, of course! We've got tons of Paramore," I stutter out, leading her to the section I've dubbed the 'emo corner.'

"So, we've got Riot, Brand New Eyes, and Paramore. If you want any of their other albums, I can order 'em and have them in by the end of the week," I tell her.

"Well, what would you recommend? I'm not very familiar with this genre, and I've no idea where to start," she inquires with a sweet half-smile.

"Oh, jeez, well I grew up on this stuff, so...I think I would recommend Riot. It's got a lot of my personal favorites."

I gently pull the vinyl off the shelf and hand it to her. She looks it over and nods her head. "Then this is the one I'll get. Thank you very much."

"It's my pleasure. Will that be all today?"

"Yes. Actually, maybe some Yorkshire tea if you have it?"

"We most certainly do," I confirm as I lead her to the checkout counter, which is a few feet away from the cafe counter. "Ash, Yorkshire tea," I call out. She doesn't respond and I look over to see her smiling down at her phone. I love that girl, but sometimes I want to smack her upside the head.

"Ashlynn! Éteigne ton téléphone et fais du thé pour cette femme!" I yell at her (translation: turn off your phone and make tea for this woman). Her head snaps up at the angry French and she gives me a sheepish smile before getting Florence's tea started.

I look back over to Florence, who is looking at me with raised eyebrows and laughing silently. I shake my head with a smirk and ring her up. Ash brings the tea over and gives it to Florence. While she's distracted, I flip over the receipt and write "'For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic' is my favorite on this album :)"

I hand her the receipt and we exchange a quick goodbye before she walks out of the store. I sigh with a small smile, convincing myself that actually just happened.

"Did you write your number on the receipt?" Ash asks excitedly.

"What? No," I deny. "I wrote a song recommendation."

"Well that's boring. You had the perfect opportunity," she complains.

I shrug my shoulders and laugh at her displeasure with my lack of flirting.

"Momma, was that your girlfriend?" Syd yells from her spot in a beanbag chair.

"No, Sydney, she's not my girlfriend. I don't even know her. Go back to your movie."

She turns back around and resumes the movie with little enthusiasm. Kids.

[protectingtulpas]

Hey there! Apologies if the start of this ask sounds familiar. We're not comfortable with using Tumblr yet, and might have accidentally sent an incomplete ask.

Anyways, you seem pretty cool! Asking for some advice...

So, back in September, I found out about tulpamancy and decided to try my hand at this stuff. And it worked, so now I have an amazing bestie who i'll be calling Star (they/them) for privacy, and we're working on getting them to the front.

And so here comes my main conundrum. After a while of me and Star just hanging around, I notice another presence in the head. I tried ignoring it for a bit, but eventually I tried calling out to them and they replied. After a little bit of talking, we figured out that they were called Hero (they/them), and that i'd accidentally made them by thinking about having another "brain friend", as we like to call ourselves.

Any advice for avoiding this kind of thing happening? As much as I love Hero and Star, it would get very full very quickly if this kind of accidental creation thingy keeps happening. And to clarify, i'm not mad at this "incident". We've all worked it out pretty quickly, and nobody is to blame. Sorry for the wall of text ask haha, but this is something we're curious about!

Hey! You came to the right place, cuz this is something we sort of experienced ourselves! It was super weird at first, and it took a while to convince my host that the newbie was actually there. So basically, this is a combination of two things- for one, roughly a third of tulpas (that're aware they're tulpas, ahdhsf I'll find the statistic link later) are unintentional, which means you go through the process of tulpa creation without actually realizing you're doing it. (This is kinda common in writers!) So it's definitely not an unheard of thing! The second part is that once you've made your first tulpa, you've already gone through a lot of the initial mental training it takes to make the jump to being polyconscious. It's a *lot* easier to make a second tulpa than the first. You spent so long thinking about them and wanting them around that they ended up here!

RE: getting a lot of people eventually, we don't exactly have a lotta control over that cuz we're also disordered, but we definitely have some tips if you're not comfortable expanding your system that shhoouuulldd work better if you don't have big dissociation and memory issues.

One, try to focus on what you have and avoid daydreaming about having new headmates. Try not to let yourself have consistent "characters" you imagine in situations, or what it might be like to have x fictive, or whatever- there's a saying that goes something like, "people are gonna think about a red truck if you tell em not to think about a red truck, but if you tell em to think about a purple bear instead of a red truck they're gonna have more success" or something like that. Focus on doing other things with the headmates you have instead.

Two, and this helps more with fictives for us, but if you feel a certain identity or set of emotions or perspectives or whatever is starting to get a bit intense and might gain autonomy, try associating those feelings or identity with yourself or another (consenting) headmate in the system as much as possible. Like oh that's so relatable or this character is so me, etc etc. Connect em with an identity that already exists if u can. Like for example, my host's trying to avoid a fictive coming from their past life lately by confronting and associating themselves with it as much as possible. That way the separation is eliminated before it can really take hold.

Three, if you feel the need to still ""do tulpamancy"" that isn't just living regular life with ur tulpas, try expanding your range of skills! Imposition is an awesome skill with practice, as well as things like headspace immersion, holding onto front as a non-host for a long time, and more. There're tons more heights you can reach!

Good luck, anon!

[thelasttaleofthepari]

Aikatsu Stars is cool but I have the hubris of a god and I think I can do better so I decided to rewrite everything about it lmao (this is for you @arabella-pink)

Season 1

Main characters are Yume, Koharu, Rola, Mahiru, Ako, and Haruka Ruka (I can’t help it her wide eyes and cute character design has captured me) 

Pre-Season 1 Yume is someone who had a decent amount of fame as a child star and lost it (idk how I came up with all this a week ago and forgot) and now is doing everything she can to regain popularity again 

Yume and Koharu are still childhood friends they are a package deal and you cannot and will not separate them

Four Star Academy is a highly prestigious idol academy that’s super duper competitive- especially considering that you have to be the best of the best to be in S4 

Speaking of S4, in Season 1, S4 only consists of Yozora, Tsubasa, and Yuzu 

Before the school year in Season 1 started, Hime completely disappeared from the spotlight due to the pressure she has felt as the top idol (she’s the most favorited out of S4, every brand she promotes sells out in seconds, she is bigger than life itself, think of her as the Taylor Swift (popularity wise) of Aikatsu) 

Yozora, Tsubasa, and Yuzu are the only ones who know where she is, but refuse to disclose, to the point that Moroboshi almost disbands S4 because of it 

We find out where Hime is like,,, end of S1- beginning of S2 (Hime plays a bigger role in S2) 

Erasing the whole dress-make system that Aikatsu had because I am sick of idol designers I want regular designers back please

For a while, Yume had left her old star life before seeing S4 performs (and being hit with the classic Aikatsu moment™ where she realizes that this is what she wants)

The only problem is… Yume’s not very talented in the idol field… she struggles with dancing and singing and practically has two left feet

So imagine everyone’s surprise (including Yume) when she absolutely kills her debut performance (this is where the magic rainbow power comes in) 

The rainbow power is one of Aikatsu Stars’ biggest mysteries because??? What are you??? Where did you come from?? WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS AND WHY DO YOU TARGET RANDOM IDOLS??

In the rewrite, the rainbow power is something that is a “gift” from the Aikatsu System (which idk I might make another post about with my ideas) in which it amplifies abilities of idols: gives them the most beautiful voices and powerful auras to the point it overrides any other auras nearby; however, it does have its cons: it causes the idol to lose their voice (like in canon), become more fragile, and forget their memories the more they use the power

Anyways, Yume’s feeling great and then the partner performance thing comes and she’s paired with Rola and does absolutely horrendous

Even then, her confidence is still high because she proclaims Rola as her rival (who agrees but doesn’t really take it seriously) 

Oh, I forgot to mention, Rola and Mahiru are prodigies from really rich families (*gasp* nepotism…) and have been child stars- they’re also rivals who are constantly at each other’s throats 

Rola doesn’t really think Yume’s a threat so most of the time she’s quite dismissive of Yume, but Mahiru respects Yume a lot after her debut performance 

Mahiru and Rola had planned to be in Flower Song Class together (and whoever won the selection would win their “little” rivalry) but Mahiru switches classes after seeing Yume’s performance (who has made it very clear that she’s going to go to Flower Song Class) 

Also Flower Song Class has a reputation of pushing out the biggest top idols of their age (ex. Hotaru Yukino, Hime) and is a highly competitive class 

Anyways, Yume and Rola make it to Flower Song (Yume’s power activates again), Mahiru and Koharu are in Moon Beauty, Ako is in Bird Theater, and Haruka Ruka is in Wind Dance 

Rola and Mahiru have a big fight about how Mahiru is a coward and is backing out of their rivalry, blah blah blah some sapphic fighting idk guys they just have a big fight 

Also Ako and Haruka Ruka are friends as well 

Ako became an idol similar to canon,, she liked a member of M4 and wanted to get close to him (except its Kanata she likes and not Subaru because I like Kanata more) 

She basically calculates and plans to trick him into liking her lmao (except it turns out Kanata knew the whole time and liked her for her true self) 

Guys I swear I’ll come up with more stuff for Ako and Haruka Ruka I WILL I PROMISE IT'S BEEN A BUSY WEEK

I may pull a Bandai and abandon M4 because I do not know how they could impact the plot they’re just,,, standing there and looking pretty (I only have stupid headcanons)

Back to Yume, she finds out more about her power somehow and instead of trying to get rid of it,,, she uses it more to her advantage 

Girl is DEAD set on being famous- she finds out a way to use the power frequently, which sets her at the top of her class and actually makes her popular with the general public (she probably got an album out i dunno) 

She’s been warned by Moroboshi, who has seen how this power has hurt his own sister. But won’t stop, she can’t stop, because she’s climbing up and up. She’s made a name for herself, she’s made new friends… and she’s losing them even quicker than she made them 

She can’t remember much about herself anymore: what songs she hums when she can’t sleep, the food her mother used to make for her when she was upset, the games that Koharu and Yume used to play when they were little. But it’s fine, it's perfectly fine because Yume is famous now. She has everything she wants. 

Yume’s been thriving in Four Star’s competitive environment. Koharu, on the other hand… hasn’t been doing the best. Koharu has always been more of a designer than an idol, and she’s always behind everyone else. She doesn’t have many friends outside of Yume, and even Yume has been too busy to hang out with Koharu. The pressure and stress is too much, and she decides to leave Four Star Academy to be better. (*Episode 30 flashbacks*) Yume comes back to their dorm with all of Koharu’s things gone, and only some candy and a note left for Yume. It’s only then that Yume realizes all that she’s lost, that in the search for fame, she’s lost who she was, her friends, her family, everything, just to get her name to the top. 

Yume struggles a lot with fame, where she barely gets an ounce of privacy, and the pressure is crumbling her (along with the guilt that this isn’t her, it’s the magic power). She’s been used by many people, who use her name to be more famous, and then immediately leave her. 

Yume realizes why Hime left. Hime had a midas touch, everything she would touch would turn gold. However, what good is a midas touch if all you wanted was to wear silver jewelry? And Yume thinks of how lucky Hime is, to have taken her dignity and left the idol world. 

A big part of Yume’s arc is how she isn’t idol-worthy. She doesn’t really have the star quality in her. Everyone around her is naturally talented and good at everything and Yume… isn’t. Everyone is sort of the chosen one… except Yume. Yume is a person who knows she isn’t special, but makes herself special. There will always be queens and princesses, but what about the girls without magic in their blood? They have to hold their heads high, as if they are the ones who are adorned with crowns (that’s a Six of Crows reference I love Six of Crows) 

I also had an idea where Yume actually stole the magic power from someone but I also have NO idea how she would do that… guys this is still a work in progress and I’m sorry its so messy its so late and I didn’t get much sleep 

Additional ideas I had that I didn’t know where to put

Koharu is basically a personification of Yume’s childhood and everything that makes Yume… well Yume, so her disappearing is just symbolism for how Yume has lost herself and her childhood 

Mahiru and Rola are gay and they like each other in the rewrite because I think their dynamic is cool (they’re also lacy by Olivia Rodrigo coded you guys should listen) 

FSA still puts an emphasis on individuality so students are encouraged to customize their uniforms as well as their school coords (so their Star Coords all have different silhouettes)

Hime is sort of someone who “haunts” the narrative in Season 1 

Ako gets her own brand (that isn’t FuwaFuwa Dream nor Shiny Smile but a secret third thing (I don’t know yet))

Haruka Ruka may have a Pop Brand with a decora concept called “DECO●LOUR MY WORLD” but I don’t know yet 

Koharu is also a cute type idol 

Anyways the Season 2 post (if I ever make one we’ll see) will have Hime getting an SPR and Yume NOT getting an SPR but she gets Koharu back so I think that’s a fair trade

Also some songs for the rewrite would be The Lucky One (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift, making the bed by Olivia Rodrigo, You’re On Your Own Kid by Taylor Swift, and Castle’s Crumbling (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) by Taylor Swift

[arsenicosises]

On Journaling

Hi, so i LOVE journaling. im obsessed with it, i love talking about, its my main personality trait, i try to convince everyone i meet to journal (and have succesfully convinced many of my friends to do so).

I would like to talk about it, and answer questions about it. More than anything i think this is an interest and hobby of mine that has become so integral to my being and i cannot live without it and i think its super super helpful and fun. Obviously for many people it isnt helpful or inspiring but it could be! give it a try! so here is a LONG post about my basic journaling practice, why i journal, and how i became consistent and happy with it.

My journal collection.

Currently im actively using a 3 notebook system, and i have 4 total journals. the first (A) is my regular journal one that i will habit track, write my goals, ramble, diary entries, collages. anything. the second is my commonplace book (B) (the most recent additon) which i use to collect information i want to reference back to (everday reciepes, facts, excersizes/activities) and i also use it as a on the go notebook since its small enough to fit in my purse. 3rd (C) in my system is my planner. its a blank notebook that i draw a calender in and use it for to-do lists or things i need to remember, its the messiest of the 3. the 4th is a bit of a wildcard, i have a journal that i am making for a friend and they are making one for me and we trade them once they are done. fun little bonding activity, i do more prompts and artistic collages and lists for them.

I am pretty picky but also broke so i wanted to share the types of journals i use. type A is currently a art creation sketchbook (im canadian so a win for us) i adore it and its a good length of pages for me since i can finish them quickly and they are thick enough for me to draw in on occassion. B is a A6 spiral bound blank muji notebook, small enough for my purses and i like the hard cover so i can flip it over and write even without a hard surface. C was a gift, a grid notebook a freind got me but i have in the past used an A5 muji blank notebook, im the least picky with this type. Just no lines, my handwriting is messy and lines get in the way.

My History + Why

so i have been doing diary writing of some sort since i was a kid, if very sporatically. i was definitly inspired by dork diaries <3 and i for sure think it was a way for me to talk to someone about the traumas i was experiencing without guilt or shame. I have journaled on and off for years. i started taking it a bit more seriously in highschool, I'd finish one journal every like 2 years/1.5 years. last fall i had a pretty thin notebook that i didnt love that i had for oct-dec since i didnt want to start a new nice one so close to the end of the year and for some reason i just poured into it. i think the goal of finishing it was motivated 1. because i was excited to use my new one for the new year 2. i was very conciously working on my mental health and developing new hobbies, 3. i was away from my friends, and 4. I decied that instead of having the like 5 journal system i previously did (why idk) and being so precious about it i would mush them all into one and build from there. this year I have finished 2 journals and started my 3rd one yesterday. not even that i was trying. infact my first journal of the year i thought was so beautiful so i was a bit precious about it sometimes. It just got solidified as a habit, and i needed it as a coping mechanism. its definitely something i use more when I'm feeling lonley or my friends are away at school, but even during the summer i love it. I dont force myself anymore which is a wonderful feeling.

The biggest change i made to become consistent started with me noticing how bad of a vibe my journals had before. i only ever journaled the bad things or the things i was too embarassed to say. So everytime i picked it up i felt BAD. i stopped using my journal at the time half way through and started a new one with the express mentality that i was going to do both good and bad things in one space. make it my life. I started writing out my goals semi regularly, documenting good days like my birthdays, journaling while waiting for friends at cafes, sticking in receipts and packaging, doing pretty/ugly collages, all while also journaling through late night breakdowns, difficult times, therpay sessions, and coping strategies. i used it as a place to extend my joy AND process my sadness and mental health. the point is, make your journal a confidant. Its so helpful for me (a chronic oversharer) to write stuff down and then if i still feel the urge to talk to someone i do. this doesnt limit my social interaction but enhances the conversations i can have because I have already processed parts of my emotions.

So generally speaking i journal because its helpful and fun. I suspect i have ADHD and i also dissacociate from my depression/anxiety so i forget things. both good and bad. so i need a record of not only my plans but also the good things that happen in my life. Nostalgia runs deep in my bones and i cannot wait to read these back as i age. every year i wish i had journaled more in my childhood. its also a way for me to process my emtions and feelings without spiraling, i write slower than i type so it forces me to slow down. I also feel like externalizing my emotions to a book gets them out of my head. there are a few anxiety reducing things i have learned that help A TON

You dont need to be consistent about it, there has been days or weeks where i dont touch my journal because i dont feel the need to. But because of the years of practice i know when i havent been thinking about my emotions or I feel like my brain is a mess that i need to. Even when i've just had a really really good conversation i know its something i want to write down. sometimes i will type entries into my phone and either print them or copy them into my journal.

My journals, past and present, are some of my most prized possessions. PLEASEE feel free and encouraged to ask me things or tell me about your journaling practice!!!!