#i think it was actually intended to be real

[datschaos]

i didn’t see the plot twist coming

aNd i should have seen the plot twist coming

character who;s doomed form the start but not because of tragedy or anything but because they're a woman and their writer is a misogynist

[bwv572]

The wikipedia article for dead internet theory is one of the best examples I've seen of just how retarded wikipedia has become. The entire article was created just to dismiss the concept as a conspiracy theory. This is the opening sentence:

The dead Internet theory is an online conspiracy theory that asserts, due to a coordinated and intentional effort, the Internet now consists mainly of bot activity and automatically generated content manipulated by algorithmic curation to control the population and minimize organic human activity.[1][2][3][4][5] 

And you might think to yourself, wait, there's nothing about this phenomenon that requires a conspiracy. That bots would eventually outnumber humans is the inevitable product of 30+ years of bot and AI development, helped by the fact that just one person can run 100+ bots. We all know bot farms exist and that states have their hand in AI development, but just as many bots are run by normal people, and no amount of this is actually coordinated for some larger explicitly stated end: it's actually complete chaos with no end goal, with individual actors working for fun, for research, or for whatever other benefit, with no real concern for how their botting affects other networks or "civilians".

And the talk page thought of all these points. The editors responded to the above objection with "we have reliable sources that call it a conspiracy theory. Check those citations".

The more obvious position, the one actually used by the people who came up with the term to begin with, wouldn't have ever stated itself as "not a conspiracy", because no conspiracy was even being alleged, thus no "reliable sources" can be cited with the explicit claim "the following theory is not intended to be a conspiracy theory"

The kicker is that you click the reliable sources they quote, and the first one never alleges a conspiracy to begin with, it posits that it is a "speculation about the future of the internet". The second article calls it a "conspiracy theory", but in the colloquial sense of an "out there idea", which is a usage I have always hated. For instance, people call "bigfoot" a conspiracy theory - a conspiracy is a secret coordinated plan to commit a crime - that some big humanoid animal lives in the woods is not a plan to commit a crime. The "conspiracy theory" that "the moon isn't real" isn't a plan to commit a crime. These are just memes.

But, a "reliable source" written by a millennial woman used the term as a meme and now wikipedia cites it as an actual conspiracy and you're not allowed to change that framing unless you join a wikipedia council and vote to completely overhaul the editorial framing of this article.

There are much worse instances of this, but this is a good example of how retarded this all is because you don't really need a position on the article to understand that you don't need to frame it in that way for any of the information in the article to make sense.

[inkzectz]

in your Bigger than the sky animation benrey starts out as barney? that seems so interesting lore wise? i would love to hear about what you were thinking when you animated that askdhfjlagh and the sweet voice and dreading stare? no clue what it means but curious as hell

ok im gonna go a little crazy on this because this is my biggest/favorite bc ever.

In the full vods they refer to benrey as “Barney” for the first while, it’s kind of unclear why, from Wayne’s perspective it seems he just didn’t know his name and defaulted to the character models name, and gir and Holly said they thought the joke with benrey was he was Barney but wrong, and they kept calling him the wrong name, so bipple, booper, Bentley, but eventually benrey, the name said by scorpy, stuck.

All this to say, it’s a BIG hc of mine that he was intended to be Barney (in universe) but due to being self aware was able to break off from this character he was meant to be. it’s kind of implied within the series they all have fake memories of who they are, being AI they are supposed to sort of act a certain way to maintain the immersion but at the end of the day, nothing before the game booted up really happened.

And benrey knows this, benrey knew from the beginning nothing was real, that he wasn’t human, how it ends, that no one actually dies, the works. I also headcanon that he became self aware during the AI model training stages, that the guy in charge of training his AI as Barney, broke him causing his self awareness and he was just launched into the beta game fully aware of the circumstances of his existence. I don’t think he was fully aware of how everything in game worked though.

but this to me is why he seems to constantly be changing his view of Gordon, antagonizing him one moment and then being friendly the next, his feelings about him are complex, he knows from the beginning he isn’t actually Gordon Freeman, but a guy just playing half life. Being a security guard, he’s programmed to protect Gordon with his life, but he knows this. He knows what’s compelling him to care for Gordon isn’t himself but lines of code he’s bound to, and this is why he antagonizes him. But that’s a whole different rant on its own lol

That sequence at the beginning of the bigger than the sky animatic was supposed to be a false memory, something he was supposed to think happened, but the version of Gordon he remembers isn’t real. This idea of ‘Gordon’ is a concept that only exists in these fake memories. (This is also why I think he never calls Gordon by name throughout the series, because he knows it’s not actually him (besides that one time but it doesn’t count bc it was for a bit lalala I can’t hear you))

there wasn’t much thought into the details of that part, like the coughing into the hand with the sweet voice, I really just put that bc I thought it looked dramatic and cool 😓

BUT on the topic of this big ass hc of mine, it actually is super important to a upcoming project im working on, and I realized throughout the story boarding it might need some explanation because it also has a lot of flash backs to some fake memories.

Sorry this got super rant-y I tried to keep it as short and simple as I could, I love hlvrai, I think about it literally every moment of my life and have so many hcs

[ishparpuaqib]

I feel like most people casually acquainted with prehistoric archaeology (and certainly all archaeology undergrads) ask themselves the following at least once—are Venuses real? like, does the typological category known as "Venus figurines" actually tell us anything meaningful about prehistoric art?

I believe the most honest answer is that it depends on the author. archaeology has a lot of vocabulary, but almost none of it is systematised, so there's a lot of diversity to how every term gets used in the literature. if "Venus" is taken to mean "any depiction of a human female made before the Neolithic", then no, obviously the term is meaningless—a category that includes That One Upper Palaeolithic limestone figurine of a pregnant woman from Willendorf, this ivory figurine of a prepubescent girl discovered in Laugerie-Basse (the first prehistoric figurine to be called a "Venus"), and this Early Mesolithic jet pendant from Monruz... is not a very useful one

but! if you, as I do, restrict the label "Venus" to—

figurines (i.e. excluding bas-reliefs and similar) that

are about the size of (or slightly larger than) an adult human palm (3,3"/8,4cm), and

show no signs of perforations that would suggest they could've been worn as pendants or jewellery (implying they had to be held or perhaps stuck into the ground when not stored away), that

depict pregnant or corpulent women, always with exaggerated breasts and hips and often with a defined vulva, but

no defined facial features, and seldom a head more defined than a stump (if the head is present/preserved at all)

you get a typological category that is both geographically and temporally compact: basically all known examples of prehistoric figurines that fit the above description come from continental Europe (cf. the central and eastern parts of it), and are dated to the Gravettian period of the European Upper Palaeolithic (c. 31,000 – 20,000 BCE). this is the place and time that produced both the Venus of Willendorf and the Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the two best-known and most analysed Venus figurines. the latter is interesting because Dolní Věstonice is also the site where this carved ivory head of a woman was found (speculated to represent a portrait of a woman buried near the site, a facial reconstruction of whom is available here), suggesting the lack of facial characteristics on the (contemporaneous) Venus figurine is quite deliberate

so like. What Does It All Mean? idk! I'm not convinced the Venuses represent prehistoric portraits—if they were supposed to act as portraits, why would their authors choose to leave out their subjects' faces? even if they were self-portraits, the widespread availability of natural reflective surfaces like water makes the lack of mirrors a non-issue (I'm regurgitating Michael Bisson's criticism of McDermott & LeRoy (1996) here). the size of the figurines makes me think they were used sparingly—a satisfying, if not very interesting possibility is that they were intended to serve as protective amulets during childbirth. I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea they're meant to represent deities of childbirth or fertility or what-have-you, though I'm against any further speculation on the character of these conjectural deities as a matter of principle

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

First of all, this is about an active refusal by some people to acknowledge that solas has done some really bad things, in favour of pretending he’s a good person who just made some “mistakes” (genocide), and the way that effects their ability to engage with a plot that is about the character as written, and their subsequent insistence that it must be bad writing because it doesn’t work with the version of Solas that never existed in the story. I am not, as you are saying on your blog, saying everyone else is incapable of understanding. Not only have most people got this, I’m sure those who haven’t are completely capable of doing so, if they were willing to admit that Solas isn’t a good person and was never intended to be.

This post is also directed at the people who are so insistent in their belief that this is a terrible game and Solas is a wonderful person who’s done nothing wrong except a “few mistakes” that they come into my ask box and notes calling me homophobic slurs and sending me sexually graphic hate mail for seeing solas through the lens of not being a good person (he has committed genocide) and thinking the game is well written.

If you aren’t part of one of those groups, the post isn’t directed at you.

Onto Solas, I have a couple of points. First, human morality is the only lens we can interpret this through, because spirits don’t exist. This game was written by humans and for humans, and Solas is a constructed character, not a guy who actually exists and is beholden to a spirit nature. This means that being the embodiment of egotistical pride doesn’t absolve him of his actions stemming from pride, they make him a metaphor for being consumed by egotistical pride and how that’s not great. He is not an actual guy who actually can’t help himself, he’s a character who serves a purpose.

As for him being a mirror, I don’t think it’s to the extent that his nature fundamentally changes. Regardless of how nice you are to him in either game he still: sundered the titans, murdered Felassan, was directly involved in murdering everyone at the conclave, is racist to dwarves and qunari (to dwarves for the effects of HIS crime against them), planned to kill literally everyone who currently exists, blocked Briala from her efforts to improve the lives of elves in orlais, killed a BUNCH of people in his preparations for killing everyone else, murdered Varric, used blood magic on rook to gaslight them into thinking he was still alive, trapped rook in a fade prison for the crime of literally just being in his way, and tried to manipulate rook into being complicit in his second genocide by misleading them about the veil.

All of these things are bad and they all happen regardless of your attitude or actions towards him. In fact, the only two things about him you can actually change through your actions are:

1) If you have high enough approval in inquisition he starts to realise that actually the people of thedas might be real people who’s lives have value, but that doesn’t even stop him planning to murder you all and destroy the world, and it makes his choice to isolate himself for the next decade while he continues his plans seem, if anything, more insidious because now he knows it is wrong.

2) If you get the essence of Mythal and choose to convince him he’s wrong after the final battle, he will realise that he is wrong. But that doesn’t make him not wrong throughout the rest of the games, it’s literally an admission that he was.

If he mirrors your demeanour to him it’s very surface level. You exchange niceties, and he’ll be polite as he plans the mass murder of all of your people and manipulates your mind with blood magic to make you hallucinate your friend that he murdered still being alive. He is still the embodiment of egotistical pride, regardless of how you act towards him, and he still behaves accordingly.

His overall actions do not change, and these actions are not ones that can be separated from the person doing them. It’s not that he’s had a bad day and he’s been a little rude but that doesn’t say anything about him really, he’s committed genocide. He’s committed multiple murders in addition to that. He’s planning another genocide. That makes him a person who is willing to do that. You cannot hand wave away crimes of this magnitude.

I also quite strongly believe that when someone has committed crimes of that magnitude, and has treated people with that amount of disdain and dehumanisation (I know they’re not all human because fantasy setting, but you get what I mean), people are under no obligation to be nice to them. If you want to be nice, fine. But this is a guy who, regardless of how you as a player treat him, has committed multiple atrocities, used every chance he is given to commit more, and denies personhood to those who don’t meet his personal definition and then treats those people like their lives have less value. I don’t care if being rude to him makes him rude back. People should not feel obligated to bend over backwards to pander to and be nice to a person who thinks their lives are less valuable than a minor convenience for his own people and therefore murdering them all for it is justified. And they certainly shouldn’t when the reason is “he’s a little bit less of a dick if you’re nice to him. No he doesn’t stop trying to destroy the world and kill everyone in it, but he’s a little less rude about it”. His surface level demeanour doesn’t change my opinion on the atrocities he’s committed and is planning to commit.

Solas is not a mirror in the sense that he’ll act to you as you act towards him, because no matter how nice you are to him he is still actively gaslighting you by using blood magic to alter your senses, planning to imprison you, and planning to kill you and all of your people. Which even at your absolute meanest to him you can get, you are not even approaching. The characters in this game are all reflected against each other, but to compare and contrast, not because Solas fundamentally changes based on your approach.

You mentioned coercion vs free will in your tags and I think that brings us nicely back to the point I was making in my post. Because Cyrian is being coerced by Anaris, but that doesn’t change the fact that if he goes through with Anaris’ plans, that is a horrific crime he will be responsible for. Coercion doesn’t absolve you of responsibility, and on crimes of this scale if you decide to help them you are complicit, even if being coerced.

That’s partly what this post was pointing out, that every debate you could have about Solas is played out at some other point of the game. Cyrian ultimately does not help Anaris, he chooses to stop him. Solas could have chosen this too. He didn’t, and chose of his own free will to sunder the titans, and is therefore responsible for it. Following orders does not mean you aren’t responsible for your own actions.

These themes run deeply through the game, and what this post is about is that if you refuse to acknowledge that Solas has done wrong and try to force the game through the lens of Solas being a misunderstood pookie who’s done no wrong (again, if this is not your opinion of Solas then this post isn’t directed at you. Because it’s directed at the people who are like that) then no, none of these themes will make sense and none of the game will make sense, but that’s on the person actively refusing to acknowledge that Solas has done wrong, it’s not the game not making sense.

I think a huge factor in people not being able to understand this game is that the game as a whole relies on understanding Solas’ character as written, and people are refusing to understand it

Solas is, and has been since his first appearance, an egotistical, hubristic, racist, manipulative, abusive and condescending asshole who regularly commits atrocities and pretends that being sad about them is enough penance. He is a terrible person who insists he’s actually the hero of the story. He is a liar and a manipulator, and he lies to himself as well. He uses other people like chess pieces and sacrifices them for his cause without much of a thought, and without them even knowing they are being used.

This is who he is. This is who he was always written to be. And veilguard is almost entirely about deconstructing that. Every member of the veilguard is a foil to solas. They are all who he pretends he is, and his false hero fantasy falls apart when you put them next to him.

Every single companion storyline is about that character successfully doing something that Solas is incapable of, but would be capable of if he wasn’t such a terrible person. And they all face a dark reflection of themselves and come out the other side mostly unscathed by that, aware that this dark reflection is not them because they are not actually like that.

Solas faces many of the same challenges the companions do, and fails each and every one of them, because, unlike them, he is not actually a hero. He is not a good person. He does not learn to accept that just because something is broken doesn’t mean there aren’t parts of it worth saving. He does not learn to accept the harsh truths and move forward. He does not accept that he is responsible for his own actions, even if someone else orders them. He fails every time.

Solas faces not one but two dark reflections of himself, Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain, the prideful god who always thinks he’s right no matter the consequences, and the servant and lover of another god whose atrocities are not justified by having been pushed by their lover and mistress, but does not come out the other side unscathed because it turns out he IS actually like them. His reflections are accurate, they’re real parts of himself that he pretends don’t exist, not just twisted versions of their fears like they are for the companions. At the end of the game he even admits that yes, he is very similar to Elgar’nan.

Pretty much the entirety of veilguard is a very careful and deliberate deconstruction of Solas’ character and self image. We go through, in elaborate detail, all of his crimes, all of his mistakes, all of the reasons why he is wrong, why his actions are unjustifiable, why his regret doesn’t absolve him of responsibility, how he thinks it does anyway.

We completely tear down every single aspect of the image he has constructed for himself. We destroy every single excuse with clear examples showing that that was not how things had to go. Every justification. Every insistence it’s okay because he’s sorry. Every time he insists he knows best and we should leave him to it. Every single illusion that he is a good person is shattered. By the end of it there is absolutely nothing left, and his repeated attempts to keep up the facade come off as pathetic and ridiculous. In all his banters with companions he tries to use his usual tricks, pretty excuses, belittling comments, fake niceties and every time he’s completely shut down.

He tries to imply Davrin has a biased view of him from stories about the dread wolf, Davrin responds with evidence the truth is even worse. He tries to apologise to Harding, she comes back with a list of all the terrible things he’s done that an apology can’t cover. He tries to appeal to spite, spite points out he hurt Rook so why should he trust him. He comes up with excuses for killing Varric and Neve points out that there’s no pretty excuse for using blood magic on Rook in such a cruel way afterwards. The illusion is shattered. That’s what the entire game has been building up to. And it makes his last attempt at betrayal seem embarrassing, because we now see through the facade and know that he was too obsessed with himself to even consider we’d see it coming.

But the thing is a lot of people refuse to see this. This is where his characters been heading since the beginning. This is who he’s always been. But a lot of people ignore any and every negative thing about him, and then complain the game doesn’t make sense. Of course it doesn’t make sense. You’ve ignored every single theme, plot point, and piece of characterisation to make up a version of Solas in your head and that’s not the Solas the game is about. It makes complete sense when you see Solas as he truly is, as he was written to be. It’s such a good bit of writing when you actually let yourself experience it as it is and allow yourself to be open to the idea that the guy who is trying to commit his second genocide might be a bad person.

[toskarin]

Do you have any real roguelike game recommendations?

broad spectrum somewhat rambly recommends

I generally lean towards recommending Angband and its variants (Sil-Q is really good but you should definitely be familiar with Angband first. similar is true of Hengband, the most popular Japanese variant, for other reasons) because I personally enjoy them and they're straightforward enough to learn the genre with

Ancient Domains of Mystery is a good time if you like open world rpgs and, as a nice perk for people picking it up, has a tileset graphics option

NetHack and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup would fall into the category of being good games that I don't personally enjoy that much. similar territory with The Ground Gives Way, but these are the ones I see hook people a lot, so they might be something you're interested in

Iter Vehemens ad Necem falls into similar territory, where I like it a good bit, but often think about playing it and go "ohhh but then I'd have to actually play it"

the most accessible recommendation I can give that is pretty widely accepted as a roguelike is definitely Tales of Maj'Eyal, since it's fully graphical and has really streamlined controls, followed by Caves of Qud (more just because of how approachable it is, but it has lots of streamlining as well)

for the sickos who like System Shock and robot combat, there's Cogmind. for the sickos who like to cast one spell and then strike fifty enemies two-hundred times in a row while your spell chains between them, there's Rift Wizard (1 and 2)

for the sickos who like when game mechanics involve praying to real-world spirits to ward off bears and making sheep walk over fishing nets to turn them lucky, there's UnReal World

I'm not recommending Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead because that actually feels kind of immoral even for sickos who like zombie games, but I have to mention it if I recommend Cataclysm: Bright Nights

Elona and Elin aren't really roguelikes (nor intended to be played as them), but you know how some music isn't really in a genre despite fans of that genre really liking it? they're kind of like if ADOM were more concerned with being a longterm fantasy world lifesim

[cotton-fae24]

Hello everybody! Surprised to see me post something not Seabird related? Well sometimes drawing the same things over and over again gets a little tiring, so to clear my head (and to remind myself to draw legs once in while) I’d tried to draw other owl house stuff. During this break times I’d actually end up drawing other owl house creators Au’s, and I decided to clean up these drawings together and compile them into one big illustration. Think of this post as a sorta tribute to creators that inspire me. And don’t worry, Seabird part 3 will still come out Monday.

First up, the Monster high AU by @dazeddoodles

As the title suggests, it’s an AU that combines the G1 Monster high with the Owl house series. I was a huge Monster High fan when I was younger, so this AU was a real treat. I’m really sad they decided to discontinue it, as I think this AU is really cute. I love the designs too, Raine is my favorite. I kinda just wanted to draw some cute interactions, a young Eda and Raine interacting, Gus and Willow giving Hunter “a hand’ and Amity flirting with Luz (in her own way). Drawing this AU was a lot of fun and did inspire me to rewatch some of the old Monster high specials.

Pittwins AU by @nikolutke

This AU is much darker. The idea of the story is what if Hunter and Luz weren’t resurrected at the end of the series and wandered around the Boiling Isles as ghosts. I love Nikolutke designs for Ghost Luz and Hunter, they’re both haunting and really sad. Plus the idea exploring the Owl house characters reactions towards the death of a love one is really fascinating concept. I kinda explored that idea with these drawings, in this case Eda and Darius reactions. I feel like Eda would be out of her mind with grief, as she was forced to watch Luz’s death first hand. I think she’d feel a lot of guilt too, thinking she failed to protect Luz. I also wonder if Kings Titans powers allows him to see the dead, could be possible. As for the other illustration, I think Darius would probably isolated himself and grieve quietly, contemplating what he could of done differently, and if he could have saved Hunter in time.

The Gilded Cage by @catboymoments

I’ve been fan of both their next gen au and this one, but I decided to post one about the Gilded age au. The basic idea of this AU is the classic “What if Belos found Luz instead of Eda” concept. A lot of these AUs tend to go the route of “Luz becomes Belos 2.0” as someone who loves Luz, I’m sad people just think she’d just instantly become a villain if left unguided. I’m really that this AU went into a different direction and actual kept Luz’s personality and made Luz someone who’s trying to help the Isles and wants to protect her friends from Belos wrath. The one on the left is Lilith and Luz interacting, I like to think Lilith sees a lot of Eda in Luz, and makes her think of the good times before everything got complicated. The one on the right is Luz and Hunter, with the former trying to convince the latter to question Belos control. I love in this AU that despite Belos attempts to put the, against each other, they still have each others back no matter what! Their siblings no matter what universe they’re in!

And of course the classic (pun intended) The Mythology AU by @turquoisespace35

This AU is Huntlow story set in Greek mythology. Hunter in this AU is the half human-gorgon offspring of the human Caleb and gorgon Evelyn. Willow is sent to his location to kill him but (of course) they fall in love instead. The story has a lot of twists and turns, so I suggest you check it out if you haven’t already. The left drawing is Caleb and Evelyn interacting together. I don’t know if this work but I like to think the two were able to somewhat interact with each other by Caleb looking through mirror. I of course had to draw the love birds Hunter and Willow interacting together. The one on the top right is a little bit of a spoiler but I decided to draw Lilith and Edalyns in their goddess forms, I love that Lilith plays the role of Athena and acts a caretaker to Hunter. I drew her getting a little emotional about Hunter finally being free, as any cool Aunt should.

And to those who are just hear to see the Seabird AU, here’s a preview drawing of part 3 of chapter 10. I don’t think Edas really enjoying this part though lol.

Anyway, hope you guys this more unusual post, I just wanted to draw something a little different this time and pay tribute to some of the artists that have inspired me.

[aprillikesthings]

So this is somewhat of a continuation of my "you could headcanon Catra as demisexual based on canon" post, but I wanted to write a new post for this.

So there’s a fascinating conversation to be had about why, in fics where Catra and Adora aren't together (yet), so many of us have written Adora as…not a prude per se, but far less likely to hook up with other people—and have written Catra doing that, instead. (I mean, I have an unpublished WIP that includes that; I'm not throwing stones at glass houses here.)

And I do think some of it is that Adora is awkward in that way that’s so often some combo of a sheltered upbringing/ADHD/autism; whereas Catra is in fact more openly flirtatious.

(Disclaimer: In this post I'm using "slutty" in a neutral-to-positive sense.)

But the irony is that One, plenty of people who share those qualities with Adora are in fact hella slutty*; and Two, Catra clearly doesn’t intend to follow through on all that flirting.

ANYWAY time for my actual thesis of this post:

The real reasons, IMHO, that it's easier to see Adora as less slutty than Catra:

Adora is so visibly uncomfortable in her skin, and Catra is not

Adora doesn't even realize when she's attracted to other people

Catra however is aware of when people find her attractive (and changes how she interacts with them based on that)

The tweets aren't connected; they weren't part of the same thread. But ND's made no secret of the fact that he gave Adora a bunch of his own traits**, and it was after s5 that he started coming out as trans--which isn't to say Adora is intended to be read as dysphoric. But the way Adora never thinks of herself or what she wants carried over into not thinking about her physical body as anything other than a tool, and not feeling comfortable in her body, and not feeling like she owned it. (Which....is probably related to ND's religious trauma, considering how many conservative/fundie Christians straight-up tell women and girls their body doesn't belong to them. In those words. Literally.)

And I think that's part of why Adora reads as so awkward. The idea of someone wanting her and finding her attractive is just bizarre to her to the point that she doesn't even see it.

She does clearly find other people attractive! But I don't think she realizes she's doing it--she reminds me a bit of when I was 15 and stared at women in bikinis on the beach and tripped over my own feet because I was looking at them and not where I was going lol, and had literally zero idea I was doing it until my best friend told me about it later.

Adora didn't even know she wanted to kiss Catra until just before it happened--if Glimmer had pulled Adora aside in the Crimson Waste and said "lol you want Huntara so bad," Adora would've been genuinely confused!

And that's all before you get into the whole She-Ra thing, and you could write a long-ass essay about Adora's sense of identity and the degree to which she sees She-Ra as herself or not. But the fact is that She-Ra has a different body than Adora! Taller, stronger, a lot more hair lol. And the people around her clearly value She-Ra differently than they do Adora. So that's a whole. Thing.

Meanwhile: Catra just feels comfier in her body. She does try to tamp down her cat-like qualities to some degree, especially in s4, but a lot of it was just that her ears and tail tended to give away her emotions, and she was trying to hide them. She stops suppressing that at some point after Save the Cat. (And then the Universe gave her a mood ring alien cat, lol.) Catra's got her own pile of Issues, but her body is just not one of them.

There’s a scene at the end of The Coronation (s4ep1) where Catra is in her s4 outfit for the first time, and she basically does the “I’m in charge now” thing at Hordak, and I’m sorry but it’s...not NOT sexually charged, even leaving aside that her new outfit has thigh slits and a boob window. She’s sitting in his throne and purring (loudly!) and then purrs out a "Hey, Hordak."

She basically forces him to his knees, taunts him, and then we see from his POV as she sits back in that throne and crosses her legs. If she’d done that in a scene with literally any non-male character it would be seen as ship-bait!

Is she intentionally flirting with Hordak? Lol no.

But you'll notice: She doesn't do it with Scorpia, when she's mean to Scorpia. With Scorpia she's just...biting and cruel. So she clearly has some idea what she's doing when she taunts people, enough that she knows Scorpia would take it differently. She knows Scorpia finds her attractive and is trying to push Scorpia away.

Catra also doesn't do it with Double Trouble! Double Trouble flirts with Catra, but Catra gives none of it back, and as noted in my previous post, is even visibly uncomfortable with it at times.

Which isn't to say Adora never does the "flirtatious taunting" thing:

But like, where. Where do you think she learned it from.

(this post is once again relevant)

EDIT: another example of Adora learning it from Catra, taken from a "She-Ra Crack" video:

(*Me. In my 20’s. Just remember kids, lots of neurodivergent nerds are hella slutty.) (**iirc that's how he got diagnosed with ADHD. Everyone just like "hey is Adora intentional ADHD rep" and he was like "no, I wrote her like me?? ...oh. shit.")

(Lastly: anyone reblogging this to shame people for writing/hc'ing/shipping whatever they want will get blocked. I'm not even sure I hc Catra as demi and I wrote a whole post about it lol.)

[reignpage]

hi reign!!! loved today’s posts! and I did peep the “more perv! Choso” 👀🤩

question, how would the jerk men *in Eden au not canon* react to reader faking an orgasm?

have I asked this before or do I think about it so much but it feels like it does? 😭 if I have, please ignore this reign!

much love! 💕💕

ps: who’s your bts bias??? 👀👀👀

Yes yes I have it saved in my drafts and I’m just wondering if it’s too weird in a not good way and more funny instead of sexy lol

Gojo:

Would devastate him omg he’d actually die like he’d pull out and crawl up in a corner, rocking himself back and forth butt naked

Imagine fumbling a goth princess baddie

If she’s not in a mood, he visibly relaxes, lying on the floor dick pointing up and smiles at her gummy and toothy, says that’s perfectly fine and he’s actually really hungry

If she’s playing a prank, he becomes playfully competitive, resuming the sex and challenging her to not cum as he does everything he can to make her do so

Geto:

Concerned and guilty

Maybe he pushed too hard, hurt her accidentally or something and she felt the need to end it sooner to placate him

He’ll pause the scene, get her some water, and they’ll talk about it, reassure her that he never needs to fake anything with him

If she’s just not in a mood, then he reminds her of the rules, that she has the power to stop whenever she wants

If she’s playing a prank, she gets punished, maybe with some edging, that this way she won’t be able to fake an orgasm because she can’t have one

Choso:

Confused to the max. That wasn’t her usual body movements, her moans sounded exaggerated, she didn’t clench down like usual.

He’ll stop mid stroke and ask what’s wrong, if he hurt her or did something wrong

Maybe gets a little sad and ashamed if the thinks he failed

If it’s because she isn’t in the mood, then he’ll smile and kiss her, tells her it’s okay and they can watch a movie or go paint something to relax

If it’s a prank, he pouts, gets moody with her and she has to coax him back with a reward like he gets to do whatever he wants or something

Toji:

‘The fuck?’ 🤨

Interrogates her on why she’s faking shit. Do she think he’s stupid? That he wouldn’t notice? Fuck’s all the acting for?

If it’s cause she can’t, then he’ll roll his eyes playfully, tickling her and says shoulda just said so ma, coulda watched a fucking movie or something

If it’s a prank, she gets punished with more orgasms than one person could possibly stomach in one night

‘Wanna play games, yeah? Here. Ya. Fucking. Go.’

Nanami:

Concerned

Sighs and pauses, asks her what’s wrong, why she felt the need to life, why she didn’t feel she could express her feelings to him

If it’s because she just can’t get off or she’s not in the mood, he’ll stop no matter how hard he still is, and get tucked into bed, prioritising her wellbeing before anything else

If it’s a prank, he sighs again and tells her off for stressing him out. Then they continue

Sukuna:

Doesn’t give a fuck. Knowing reader, it’s another game of hers, to make him feel like he can’t pleasure her, and well he knows he can, so he ignores her games and just takes what he needs, forcing a real orgasm out of her eventually, one way or another

If reader is genuinely not in a mood, then he’d never have a chance to lay a hand on her anyways. All she has to do is fix him a look and then he’s grumbling and sorting it out himself

If reader is indeed playing a game, then she’s in for a rough time just as she had intended the whole time

[kaboom--bitch]

People really be like "endos are ableist that's why I hate them" yet they go into endogenic system tags and spout deliberately paranoia inducing shit like "no one believes you" and "they're all laughing at you" and "they all hate you" and act like it's normal and funny.

I don't give a fuck what you think is real or not, don't put that shit in tags without warnings! People with various fucking mental health conditions are very susceptible to that shit and you're literally just being an ass even if you didn't know that. Don't say shit that is clearly intended to induce paranoia because regardless of what you think of endos, there are other people in those tags and endogenic systems with other disorders. You're literally setting out to hurt people and acting like you're fucking fixing ableism.

At best you have no clue what the gravity of your words are. But it really just reads as you not knowing what ableism even fucking is and just wanting to spout as much hate as possible while using "defending actual DID systems" as your fucking scapegoat to try and get away with it. I see through your shit. Grow the fuck up. If you actually had any good points you'd be using them, and if you gave a single fuck about disabled people you wouldn't resort to calling us delusional or trying to induce paranoia.

[pinkkop]

Best BLs of 2024

To my surprise, it appears that we've entered 2025, so before I give myself over to the new year I wanted to share my 15 favourite BLs of 2024 in no particular order. Here we go!!!

🇹🇼 The On1y One

This show came complete out of left field and absolutely blew me away! The slow burn was just so delicious which I actually think is a pretty hard thing to do but with acting this good and a great production quality, it did not ever get too slow or too boring. I just wish they would get a second season because, as I've talked about before, I'm convinced the creators intended for this to be just the first season. I'm still holding out hope for a second season but I do worry that since we haven't heard anything concrete yet that we might not get one.

🇰🇷 The Time of Fever

I already knew this was going to be good since I loved these two in Unintentional Love Story. This is actually very similar to The On1e One and did it just as well but with a slightly different approach. The yearning was palpable in the best way possible!

It's such a pity that it seems like the Korean BL market is struggling right now but this show was no disappointment. Would love a sequel to Unintentional Love Story now because I need to see these two finally get their shit together.

🇹🇼 Unknown

Taiwan does gray area stories so well and this was a perfect example. It was so delicious to witness Yuan just love and yearn for Qian and just get stronger and stronger in the conviction that he was made for loving Qian. I'm also just weak for a character who doesn't think much of themselves and don't believe they deserve to be loved like their romantic interest wants to and then for them to finally cave to the persistence of their romantic partner. Could watch a trillion of those types of pairings and this show was a really good take on the trope.

🇰🇷 Love for Love's Sake

This was an odd one but I really liked the concept. The acting, plot and production was really good and I liked how this added something fresh. It's a similar type of pairing as Unknown so again this was right up my alley. One of these days I should look at all my favourite shows and see how often this dynamic pops up because I bet it's a lot. 

🇹🇭 Cherry Magic th

Is this the same type of pairing as both Unknown and Love For Love's Sake?!  You bet it is!!!

Tay and New were just so good in this. I loved that they're both actual dorks but Karan is just better at hiding it so Ashi believed Karan was better than him. In reality they were just the same and perfect for each other. Also I just absolutely love this version of Karan because, as I said before, he' was's such a dork and hearing his inner thoughts through Ashi's powers was such a highlight of this show. Favourite scene was in the bus when Ashi leaned on Karan's shoulder and you just heard Karan's internal screaming. Such a mood!! It just made Karan so much more down to earth and I think Ashi and Karan are one of the few BL pairings where I can imagine them being together for the rest of their lives because they'd be both best friends and lovers.

I did struggle with the Pai character because she was such a good female character and representation of the struggles a lot of woman have. I so badly wanted her to stay single and happy on her own and it felt unnecessary to pair her with Rock. Even more so because her Japanese counter part was actually asexual so I would have loved for Pai to have a similar story line.

🇯🇵 25 Ji, Akasaka de

Just so much pining!!! And another character feeling unworthy of their romantic interest but I feel like this was slightly different, more in an idolizing way and Japan does that really well. 

🇨🇳 Blue Canvas of Youthful Days

This was such a raw feeling show and s big surprise coming out of China. It felt real and raw without feeling like it was low quality. I loved both pairings so much and maybe I'm a masochist but I loved having my heart broken every week.

It didn't quite stick the landing but honestly, with it being China, I'm not surprised the ending got muddled and famously I don't mind when a show doesn't stick it's landing (See my love of HIStory3: Make Our Days Count). It's still worth watching so much and I will definitely watch it again myself. 

🇹🇭 Every You, Every Me

I already enjoyed Top and Mick in their segment of My Universe so I was very excited for this one. This was also a nice surprise because I was just expecting another anthology show but the way they connected the couples was really clever. The ending was a little weak but again here, I didn't think it really hurt the show too much, it just meant this is a good show that could have been even more amazing.

I feel like Top and Mick really proved themselves in this and I really hope that we get more of them. They're a rare pairing that don't visually have a clear top/bottom dynamic while also being good enough actors to be able to both pull of playing both roles.

🇹🇭 I Saw You in My Dream

This was a cute little show and I was happily surprised that they pulled off the more ambitious concept of the prophetic dreams. Both couples were really great and I had such a good time watching along. 

🇨🇳 Meet You at the Blossom

Finally a Wuxia BL from China, by the help of Thailand and Taiwan. This was all I wanted it to be and I can't wait to see how these actors do going forward with them being Chinese and all. I hope we get more Wuxia BLs because this was soooo much fun. I loved both main and secondary characters and pairings and the plot was just the right amount of unhinged.

🇹🇭 We Are

I was worried about this show having so many couples and episodes but I loved how they intertwined and balanced the pairings and gave us a show which was engaging and interesting all the way through.

I love me some found family and all the pairings were great in their own ways. I did particularly love Peem and Phum. It's the hurt character with walls so high all over again (adds another tally to the count). To be honest PhumPeem are still rotating in my mind to this day which I think is a testament to how well this show was executed.

🇹🇭 Spare Me Your Mercy

This was such an engaging watch and it was so cool to get another BL which was really a romance second and another genre first. The crime and mystery of this show was really great and the production quality fit really well. I talked in this post about it struggling with only having 8 episodes which I wholeheartedly think is most of the reason why this show is just good and not absolutely amazing. 

🇯🇵 Takara no Vidro

Another little gem of a show with characters who are perfect for each other but don't believe they're worthy of the other person. Japan does this really well so this was a success. 

🇹🇭 Pit Babe

This was a wild ride with a wild plot and concept but it committed to the bit and made me really invested in the characters and made it easy to get on board with the ABO dynamic of this show and what it meant for the plot.  

🇰🇷 Love in the Big City

This was a top tier QL! It's one of those BLs that are really more about the realities of being queer than the romance which is when a ton of people pop out of the woodwoork to debate whether this is a BL or Queer Media™ as if the latter is inherently better than the first, which is a ridiculous sentiment. Sure, if you don't want to call this a BL because the focus is much more on the realities of being Queer in South Korea then I'm not going to burn you at the stake but don't make this out to be better than BL as a whole. BL is Queer Media and not inherently worse or better than other queer media, especially the kind that don't focus on romance. Anyways, a small tangent.

This show is great and well worth a watch. I don't know if I'll ever watch it again personally because it just left me feeling so raw and too seen. 

[mychlapci]

https://www.tumblr.com/mychlapci/771582906508460032/okay-but-i-actually-had-a-dream-about-chunky?source=share this drove me crazyy I read it before going into work and I got this beamed into my head. Typed it up on lunch break so its sloppy

"tell you what, Megatron," Optimus wraps his long legs, so much bulkier now, around Megatron's waist and pulls him closer, close enough to feel every meter of his plush thighs and soft belly pressing against megatron's plating. Such excess sets his processor ablaze for a moment with lust "give me that Allspark shard and pop out your spike, and I'll let you do exactly what you want with my fat aft."

"If you think I'll be tempted by this wanton and obscene and filthy display, Autobot, you're dead wrong," megatron growls , reveling in the flash of real fear that replaces that arrogant, smug look on that autobots soft face as megatron reaches back for a sword to stab through his miserable little overstuffed spark.

But unfortunately his spike has a mind of its own, betrays him by pressuring so hardly and so insistently it simply warps his panel out of the way, letting it rest heavily against the autobots soft, tempting belly, the tip dribbling fluid onto his soft fat rolls in a most humiliating way .

Optimus's fearful expression shifts right back to that infuriating smugness, as he laces his ankles together behind Megatron's back and moves his hips, letting—no, forcing Megatron's spike to sink into that awful and disgusting pudgy mesh, his plush lips pulled up into a smirk as he moans and pops his own panel, revealing his valve . It's just as excessive and full as the rest of him, an engorged red node peeking out between his fat, soaked valve lips. He's even got an untrimmed patch of wires covering his array, which send little zaps of excess charge through Megatron's spike as he moves his hands down to dig into those fat plush hips and ruts against him, forgetting almost everything else in the sudden overwhelming need to put a sparkling in this icon of fertility.

Optimus grins up at him, rounded cheeks flushed pink. He lets out a moan of pleasure, bringing his arms up to lace around megatrons neck, clearly intending to bring him down for a kiss—

Except he's chucking something behind Megatron's head to his teammate. Something small that glows bright blue with the essence of the Allspark ; Megatron's shard. The yellow compact doesn't even bother making a comment on what his leader and the Lord of the Decepticons are doing together, but his smug grin speaks even louder than his words would.

Megatron turns back to glower at Optimus and pull out his sword and finally stab it through his treacherous little Autobot spark, but his cheek meets a surprisingly strong fist and the punch that would usually make him laugh slams his processor out of alignment thanks to his heightened sensors. Sensors heightened due to arousal at this fat, awful little Autobot.

Optimus climbs to his pedes as megatron collapses, the sheen of Megatron's lubricant on that fat belly doing bad things to his processor and spike.

"Sorry that I didn't hold up my end of the bargain, maybe next time, Decepticon," Optimus calls out as he transforms and speeds off.

The pain is gone, the rage is still burning through Megatron's spark; he really should give chase to those filthy autobots and rip that allspark shard from their offline chassis.

But all he can do is drag a hand down his face, groan at the near-painful throbbing from his still incredibly erect spike, trying not to think about those words.

/Next time. Next time. Next time./ The autobot plans on doing this again, and he's going keep using his body as a weapon.

(tears off my shirt) HE EVEN HAS BUSH!!!!!

fat autobot pussy makes Megatron act unwise fr. and Optimus knows that. as long as he can keep giving Megatron painful boners there’s not a chance in hell the 'cons are getting their hands on the allspark :3

[kultklassickiller]

Prada You Chapter 11

Summary:

In the summer of 1998, sparks fly between Nyeya and Jey.

Nyeya is an 18-year-old around the way girl. Jey is older, paid, and fine. He is also the leader of the infamous Prada Bois alongside his twin brother Jimmy.  The two have chemistry. However, Nyeya has plans outside of her attraction. With a birthday around the corner and dreams of living a good life, Nyeya sets her sights on enjoying the perks of Jey's money and hood celebrity.

But baby girl has no clue what it takes to really be down. Nyeya is about to learn some hard life lessons at the expense of her 'Prada' priced dreams.

Pairing: Jey Uso x Nyeya (Nye) Green (OC)

Author’s Note: This story is happening in an alternative universe. It features the current and original Bloodline members along with other WWE stars. So, the characters are themselves, but some things are switched around for the stories sake. This was originally written with all original characters, but I think it could work better this way. Hope you guys enjoy it and I actually finish it...

Warning: Please be advised that this chapter contains foul/harsh language.

Disclaimer: This work of art is fictional in nature including the original characters created by me. I do not own any of the existing characters or lyrics from songs referenced in this story. All rights belong to their respective owners with the exception of my original characters. This work is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to cause harm.

Want to reading from the beginning? Click Here

Chapter 11: Reality

“Girl, he really said he’d pay for the whole party?” Kiyah asked, her eyes wide as she flopped onto my bed.

I nodded, pulling a few things out of the shopping bags sprawled across my room. “Yeah, he said it’s whatever I want. Venue, DJ, food—all of it. He’s got it.”

I had invited the girls over so we could catch up. My ass had been up under Jey, and they felt I had been neglecting them. So, I had to do what’s right.

The twins, Natasha and Nataya, exchanged excited glances before practically squealing.

“Oh, it’s about to be a movie,” Nataya grinned. “What’s the theme? You gotta have a theme. Like, remember Macy, she did that whole glitter and denim theme for her 18th birthday. It was cute.”

“Yea, it was. But like she wasn’t. She could barely walk in the heels and her ankles was ashy the whole night,” Kiyah reminded.

“Kiyah, please,” Natasha cackled. Nataya and I just looked away, shaking our heads. She just said any damn thing.

“I’m just keeping it real since y’all heifers won’t,” Kiyah shrugged.

I shrugged as well, holding up the Coach purse Jey bought me at the mall. The light caught the gold clasp, making it sparkle. “I don’t know. Something cute but not corny. I’m open to ideas. I know y’all can help me out.”

“Boo, you’re officially living the life,” Natasha said, leaning over to admire the purse. “And don’t even get me started on this bag. I saw this in one of those magazine’s Taya got at home. Jey’s really stepping up, I see.”

“He better after all that shit he did,” Kiyah chimed in, crunching on her chips. “If he’s paying for this party, it needs to be the talk of the summer. I’m talking custom invitations, a banging playlist, and outfits for all of us that shut all that shit down.”

“Okay, okay,” I laughed, kicking my feet up on the edge of my bed. “Let Kiyah tell it he gotta buy her mama an outfit too. But I’m with y’all. We gotta make it one for the books though.”

For the next few hours, we sprawled out on my floor, flipping through magazines and brainstorming ideas for the party. Kiyah had a million suggestions, most involving sequins and neon lights, and the twins were quick to second every one of them. By the time they left, I was already imagining how the night would go—the music, the lights, and me front and center, living my best life.

----

After the sun had gone down, I gathered up the weekly laundry and headed to the laundromat across the way. Mama usually did it, but I always felt the need to ease her burden when I could. There was a nice breeze as I crossed the courtyard, and I felt lighter than I had in weeks. Things were finally coming together. Jey was stepping up, and my birthday was shaping up to be unforgettable.

At the laundromat, I loaded up the machines and sat down with a magazine while they ran. The hum of the dryers and the chatter of the other patrons made it easy to zone out. I smiled to myself, still floating on air from the past few days.

When I got back to my apartment, my mood took a sharp turn. Jey was sitting on my steps, his arms crossed and his face dark. My stomach sank.

“You not answering your phone now?” he snapped as I walked up.

I froze, gripping the handle of the wagon carrying the laundry. “Baby, what you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Nyeya. I called you. Several times,” he said, standing up. “And on top of that, you out here running your mouth with Damian? At the damn corner store? When your ass was supposed to get out the car and take your ass in the house.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Hold up. First of all, the phone is in the house. And for two you mad because I had a conversation? Are you serious right now?”

Jey stepped closer, his voice low but sharp. “You think I’m fucking stupid? The phone upstairs, huh? Why you think I bought that shit for you in the first place? So, you can always have it on you. Yet, where is it?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, truly confused by his attitude. Yea, I had forgot the phone, but it had only been one night. I wasn’t use to having no damn cellphone.

“I-

“Dead that. What the hell was you talking about with Damian? What you and my uce got to talk about. Tell me, Nyeya?”

Jey was turning red at this point but I ain’t even care ‘cause who was he talking to. Apparently I needed to remind him yet again who the fuck I was and was not.

“Take that bass out your voice when you talking to me. I’m not no Prada Boi who you can bark at when you feel like it. And nothing Damian and I got going on is none of your concern. And if you want that damn phone back, I can give it back to you,” I shot back, trying to step past him. But he grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

“Don’t you ever walk away from me,” he warned, his grip firm but not painful.

“Let me go, Jey,” I said, yanking my arm free. “You’re doing too much right now.”

His laugh was bitter. “I’m doing too much? You the one out here making me look stupid, not answering the phone when I call, running around with Damian like you don't belong to me. You wanna see me act a fool, Nyeya? I will.”

The fight escalated, our voices growing louder with every exchange. Neighbors peeked out of their windows and doors, but no one stepped in. This was Jey’s territory, and everyone knew better than to get involved.

“You know what, Jey? Act a fool. Do what you gon’ do. And I’m gon’ outdo you. But that’s what you asking for,” I finally said, my voice shaking with frustration. “I’m out here trying to make things work with your crazy ass. And here you go with the drama and the bullshit. If this is what’s it’s gon’ be every other day then I’d rather be myself.”

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. He just stared at me, his jaw clenched. The silence was louder than any argument we could’ve had. Finally, he stepped back, letting me pass.

“Ain’t no way out, Nyeya,” he said quietly. “Ain’t no leaving me.”

I didn’t respond. I just climbed the steps with the wagon in tow, unlocked the door, and shut it behind me. My hands were shaking, and my chest felt tight. For all the good things Jey brought into my life, moments like this made me question if any of it was worth the trouble.

[utilitycaster]

Pertinent to ongoing C3 and Veilguard discussions but I feel like we need convenient terms a la Watsonian/Doylist but for like...concerning one's personal desires regarding a work of fiction vs. whether the work of fiction achieves what it set out to do in a well-executed way. Like, to use Campaign 3 as the example:

One personal desire is one in which Predathos is defeated or driven off and the gods remain; however, another one would be "I wish this campaign didn't have so much involvement from past parties" or "I wish this campaign were rooted in the culture and history of Marquet." Another one would be "I wish Predathos eats the gods", for that matter.

Structurally, the campaign is poorly paced and relied heavily on lore dumps from characters who then mostly disappeared from the narrative, the main characters feel aimless and lacking in investment in any particular outcome, their motivations are either deeply petty and self-centered (which is, to be fair, not inherently bad) or largely absent (which is), a lot of things intended to be important have been told and not shown and frankly not even told that well (most egregiously anything to do with the Apex War including Otohan), and the decision that is made out to be momentous and complicated feels poorly presented as such.

I find that there is a mixture of Desire and Structure complaints among those critiquing Campaign 3, including myself, but for the most part what I've seen in actual meta especially after this last episode has been Structural and most attempts to address it have been Desire-based and therefore belie a complete misunderstanding of people's issues. They also utterly fail because the only real rebuttal to a Desire-based critique is "well that's a dumb thing to want" which, to be clear, sometimes I agree with, but telling something "the thing you want is stupid" is unlikely to change their mind. I mean, I do this, but I do it not to change minds but to convey the important message that I think the person is stupid, because most people I think are stupid are also the sort of people who desperately crave validation and so this is an effective way of scaring them off. Addressing a Structural complaint actually requires describing how (in this case) the pacing is strong.

[rylem33]

Brace Yourself

Jeremy shivered as the cool air kissed her now-exposed skin. Her fingers brushed over the sleek, metallic bracelet still clasped around her delicate wrist. She’d only put it on as a joke, trying to lighten the mood during another dull hangout session with the guys. Who could have guessed it actually worked… or had this kind of power?

Her reflection in the mirror across the room was unrecognizable: wavy auburn hair falling in disarray over her shoulders, piercing eyes that smoldered with an almost magnetic pull, and a figure that screamed temptation in every curve.

Jeremy swallowed hard, fighting the alien sensations coursing through her body. She felt heat pooling in her core, a deep, insistent need that was as terrifying as it was intoxicating. She couldn’t focus. Couldn’t think.

“What… what the hell just happened?” one of the guys finally stammered, breaking the stunned silence.

Jeremy turned to face them, her lips parting as if to explain, but no words came out. Her friends’ gazes roamed over her like they couldn’t decide whether to freak out or… something else.

The longer they stared, the more Jeremy’s frustration grew. These were her friends. Or, at least, they had been. But now? They were useless. Awkward, fumbling boys who didn’t have the faintest idea what she needed.

The thought slid into her mind unbidden: A real man would know what to do.

Her cheeks flushed crimson, and she shook her head violently, trying to banish the idea. This wasn’t her. This wasn’t normal. But the warmth inside her wasn’t going away. If anything, it was growing.

Ethan took a hesitant step forward. “Jeremy? Are you… ok?”

Her laugh came out softer, breathier than she intended. “Do I look like Jeremy to you?” she shot back, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Ethan faltered, and Jeremy rolled her eyes. These were her friends, but now they just seem like useless boys. She needed to figure this out herself. Or… maybe she didn’t. Maybe she should just give in. Give in to the lust building within her.

She clenched her fists, determined to keep herself together. But deep down, a part of her was already wondering: What would it feel like to stop fighting? To just… let go?

Take it off,” Ethan said, his voice trembling as he gestured toward the bracelet. “Whatever this is, you  just need to take it off, Jeremy. Maybe it’ll stop.”

The others nodded, their eyes darting between her and the bracelet. Their nervous energy filled the room, but she felt nothing but annoyance. Why should she take it off? This body… this power… it felt so good. Why would she go back to being him?

She smirked, twirling a strand of her auburn hair between her fingers. “And what if I don’t?” she purred, enjoying the way her friends flinched. “What if I like it like this?”

“Jeremy, come on,” Ethan pleaded. “This isn’t you. Whatever you’re feeling, it’s not real. It’s the bracelet messing with your head!”

She tilted her head, considering his words. The bracelet was doing something, wasn’t it? It had changed her body, her mind, even her desires. But was that such a bad thing? The thought sent a shiver of excitement down her spine.

Without saying a word, she picked up her phone. Her friends exchanged panicked looks.

“What are you doing?” Ethan asked cautiously.

Jeremy ignored him, her perfectly manicured nails dancing across the screen as she dialed a number. The tension in the room grew heavier with each passing second.

“Who are you calling?” another friend, Max, demanded, his voice cracking.

She didn’t answer. A sly smile spread across her lips as the call connected. “Hey,” she said, her voice low and honeyed. “Yeah, it’s me. I need you to come over… right now.”

“Who the hell did you call?” Ethan asked, but she just smiled in response.  Minutes passed by as they peppered her with questions but she just toyed with her hair and ignored them.

Before anyone could react, the door slammed open with a loud bang. Standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the hallway light, was Jake Larson. His broad frame filled the space, and his trademark cruel grin was plastered across his face.

“Well, well, well,” Jake sneered, stepping into the room. “Looks like I get a late Christmas present. I get to do my two favorite things tonight: beat the crap out of you little losers… and have some fun with her.” His eyes roamed over Jeremy—no, Jessica—hungrily, and he let out a low chuckle.

The tension in the room snapped. Ethan, Max, and the third friend, Dan, exchanged a quick, panicked glance before making a break for the door. But Jake wasn’t about to let them go so easily.

“Oh no, you don’t!” he snarled, lashing out with a heavy boot as they scrambled past him. Ethan yelped as the kick landed squarely on his side, sending him stumbling into the wall. Jake managed to catch Max with a shove that sent him sprawling onto the floor, but Max scrambled to his feet and bolted after Dan, who had already slipped out the door.

“Cowards,” Jake spat, watching them flee down the hall. He turned his attention back to Ethan, who was still clutching his side and trying to crawl away. With a cruel grin, Jake delivered one last kick to Ethan’s ribs before the boy managed to stagger out of the room.

As the door slammed shut behind them, the only sounds left were Jake’s heavy breathing and the soft rustle of fabric as Jessica shifted on the bed.

Jake turned back to her, his grin widening as he finally had her all to himself. “And now for the fun part,” he said, stepping closer.

Jessica sat on the edge of the bed, her posture relaxed, her lips curled into a knowing smile. Her eyes were fire, soaking in the chaos Jake caused with glee. 

“Finally,” she purred, her voice dripping with invitation. “I was wondering when you’d stop wasting time.”

Jake froze mid-step, caught off guard by her tone. “What?” he said, his bravado faltering for a split second.

Jessica tilted her head, her smile widening. “You heard me. Close the door. Let’s make this… interesting.”

[itsmespicaa]

Could you recommend lambo twins fanfics? Specifically ones that are sunstreaker centric? Sunstreaker barely appears in media and ppl barely write about him and I neeeed sunstreaker content to consume

Oh boy...here we go *cracks knuckles* there's quite a few (not as many as other chars obviously), but I tried my best to link the ones that I really enjoyed and recommend you read too!

I'll try to sort them into categories, and I'll also tag the Sunstreaker-centric ones with * and the twins-centric one ** for easy perusal :) Sideswipe-centric will have no stars, but I still recommend you to read them anyway bc they're really good (and Sunny is there most of the times)! Starting with—

My Top 6:

Misaligned Gemini by Anonymous**

This one's a classic. Set in IDW 2019 (or IDW 2) where the twins have a completely different origin, this one takes you for such a crazy ride from start to finish and will have you holding on for dear life. I definitely cried a lot reading this lol it's that good. Easily one of the best Lambo twins-centric fics out there (and the longest one too to date).

Lifeline by Kattli (Kathrine)*

Set in the IDW-verse. One of my personal favorites as well as my fav interpretation of the twins' messy and complicated relationship in IDW. Canon-divergence in the best way possible.

Sideswipe's Secret Vacation Spot by BalloonArcade**

AU where the twins actually joined the Cons (one of my fav AUs for sure). Has by far my FAVORITE interpretation of Sunstreaker and one that definitely affected my own take of his character. The twins' dynamic here is *chef's kiss* so good. I adore them so much here.

No Rest for the Wicked by fuzipenguin*

Absolutely delectable 6k joyride with Sunstreaker pretty much murdering his way out of the enemy's base like the utterly ruthless warrior that he is <3 you love to see it!!!!

Snap, Crackle, Pop by SergeantCookie

I was so pleasantly surprised by how amazingly-written this fic was??? Like- the blend of comedy and realism feels so natural especially from Sideswipe's POV. Definitely one of my fav Sides-centric fics, and the other characters are an absolute hoot LOL it's so SO good from start to finish.

Followers by Bibliotecaria_D**

This one...completely caught me off-guard. An utterly different take of the twins' relationship in IDW (and in general, really) that I needed a whole day to digest what I just read because it was just- so raw and real and painful, but I think that's the beauty of it. Might not be everyone's cup of tea tho so here's my warning (bc the writer isn't a fan of fanon!Lambo twins), but I still recommend people (esp their fans) to read it to see a different perspective of the twins' dynamic.

Others, also really good:

and when i got to st peter's gate, i told the keeper that i'm not the one who needs to make amends by rosesscythes

IDW again, this time from Sideswipe's perspective before he died. It healed something in me to read this, so maybe it might heal you too :")

Little Brother by pipermca*

Another IDW fic, this time from Sunstreaker's POV post-canon. Another cathartic fic that feels like a balm after what happened in canon.

Poker Face by SSSSEEEEVVVVEEEENNNN*

A deep dive into Sunstreaker's psyche in the face of Smokescreen and it's so. SO good omg. You can see everything play out in real time from Sunstreaker's POV while at the same time you can tell he's so unreliable and so, so bad at social cues that it was painful to watch. But everything is from HIS view so he MUST be right...right?

Unorthodox Protection by FiftyShadesOfMetal

Another one of Sideswipe's shenanigans that...went a bit more south that he intended? Sunstreaker cameos a bit later but the true star of the show is the human inside of Sideswipe-- wait what?!

Loyalty by BalloonArcade

Prowl/Sideswipe with a substantial focus on the twins' relationship in IDW on the side. I really liked this take of the twins and what made them that way here.

Sunshine, Roses, & Other Treacherous Things by jukeboxes**

Incomplete but the first 3 chapters are so compelling that you can't help but desperately want to know how it ends.

Crack(ed) Me Up by Kattli (Kathrine)**

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are unfortunately stuck with the bots they try to kill the most...whoops. Really funny and you get to enjoy seeing their (mostly Sunny's) suffering

In the Dust by Hours_Gone_By

Msytery fic, spooky-tastic. The twins aren't the sole focus here, but the fic is so good that you'd be too invested in what's happening to notice (or if you're like me, you do notice every time they interact but it won't detract from the story itself ahaha). But they are there and I'm not one to be picky, so you really don't wanna pass this one up.

The City by Hours_Gone_By**

Spooky-fic, reaally well written (this writer has a talent with writing horror I swear), keeps you at the edge of your seat through the whole thing and wanting nothing more than for them to go--

Bayverse:

Mess With the Bull by CaptainCougar**

A classic take of Sunstreaker's arrival during the period where Cemetery Wind was hunting down all the remaining Cybertronians. Really nicely written and satisfying to read.

Solar Eclipse by SeaSpectre160**

My favorite take on Sunstreaker's arrival on Earth with all the chaos and squishy human-hating on Sunny's side. You love to see it.

Snake Eyes by snarechan

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker face a familiar foe, with a twist. I love the way they're written here.

AUs:

All The Friendly Ghosts by Anonymous**

Something's just not right about Sideswipe, and--it's not what you think it is. Really satisfying build up and payoff. I adore the writing style for it too.

Search & Rescue by sssunstreakerrr

Shattered Glass at last!!! It's sadly incomplete but the sheer quality of the available chapter and the premise makes it so so worth reading anyway.

Beneath the Vaulted Heights by Magnusoftheward**

I don't want to spoil anything bc it's best read going in blind so...just keep reading. I promise you it's worth it :D I really love the eeriness and confusion and just- the overall vibe of the fic. It's so good gah-

Abandoned by Hours_Gone_By

Horror fic, so so good. You can feel the eerieness of the place from the character's perspective. Ugh. Literally kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. Other characters are also there!

Geminus by postapocalyptic_cryptic*

Pacific Rim AU. The twins are co-pilots. Really well-written fic! :D Bring your tissues

A Flash of Gold by pipermca**

Another Pacific Rim AU with human!Sideswipe. Where's Sunstreaker you ask? Well...

Pure Silliness:

Exothermic by SergeantCookie

I cackled from start to finish, it's that good LOL. If you need a good laugh, pls go read this. Also connected to "Snap, Crackle, Pop" by the same author.

How to Save the World in 8 Minutes and 3 Seconds by BalloonArcade

Pure chaos written in such an in-character way, poor Prowl lmaooo

In Which Sideswipe was Bored with a Board by a Boar While Bored by murtlewikisam

An absolute hoot omg I couldn't stop my head from going ????? the whole time XD

Aaand that's all for now! I'm sure I've missed some, but these are some of the ones that I already have in my bookmarks :D Hope you have a good (or wonderfully painful) time reading them!! And let me know which one you like the most if you do read them hahha