#i highly doubt this is an original idea but oh well

[when-day-met-the-knight]

Hi I know halloween passed but I had an epiphany n couldn't move on til I drew it,,,,,

They r LITERALLY princess peach and princess daisy r u kidding me 😭😭

Also a Kunigiri/Bachisagi doodle ft Mario kunigami and Luigi isagi (save him 😭)

[cheezyharu]

Happy 1000 posts to this account lol, man that’s a lotta posts XD

Impulse designing got the better of me again… anyways here’s my interpretation of Akivili from Honkai Star Rail

Based on Pom-pom (beta + current) and Stelle and Caelus's design. More under cut, since my brainrot was pretty bad I’ll put it under there.

Weapon, thanks to @skyward-current for the idea of making smth based on a telescope. So 8 ish hours struggling later we got this thing, which is supposed to be a telescope that doubles as a blaster. This doesn't give telescope vibes but this will do for now. Yeah I suck at weapon designing man, never got used to these mfs after all these years :V

Battle poses/concept. If Akivili were to be playable, I wanna bet them to be Fire/Trailblaze, or at least Fire/Destruction if Hoyo wants to stick to the main 7 playable paths (although I HOPE they'll make them an exception) I tried to make something that fits the telescope blaster thing I tried to design, but then I still wanna keep my original idea for their battle somehow (chucking the Astral Express at the enemy) so bam that's their ult now :/

Anyways babbling time-

I highly doubt that Akivili is even dead, lost after some event sure, but something tells me they're not dead. For all we know this mf could be vibing in the Sea of Quanta or smth. I'm sure at some point in HSR plot we'll meet/become the Trailblaze at some point in the future. Definitely really later on like.. say 5.0 ish or later.

As for personality, I wanna say they're the most... Humane/moral of all Aeons due to being the one that surrounds themself with mortals the most often. Cause let's be real here: there are literal documents in HSR stating that Akivili is known to live alongside humans. This is also why my design is very human, with some small details that try to differentiate them from mortals.

Well back to personality, I feel like Akivili is very outgoing to everyone, Nameless and strangers alike, but also very reckless. Like they give off doing it despite knowing it's dangerous vibes to me, but I think that's just me associating Stelle and Caelus to the Trailblaze too often.

... Oh now that I think abt it, should I give them more bird features? I read on the wiki that Akivili could represent a word meaning "eagle" or smth ...

[smallpeniscollective]

Sending this BG3 idea to a bunch of different blogs to see what they do with it: Tav uses edging and/or orgasm denial on Raphael to get him to give her the hammer without giving him the crown. (I hope you enjoy!)

I personally feel like he doesn’t really let other people control him sexually, he’s pretty much an established control freak (like even when he bottoms for haarlep, he’s still in control of the situation)

BUT!! this did inspire me to write this itty bitty blurb for u guys, in which raphael uses your attraction to him as means to get you to sign his contract ;)

Content: pov/2nd person, afab body parts, use of Tav in place of Y/N, some fondling

*~*~*

He stalked around you, stopping somewhere outside of your peripheral view. Your heart was beating out of your chest, thunder in your ears and sedative in your veins as you stood inhumanly still.

There was no doubt that he was aware of the effect he had on you; he picked up on your telltale signs of attraction the second you laid eyes on him on that bridge near the goblin camp. Your flushed cheeks, your unsteady breaths, the way your eyes never left him when he was in the presence of your group.

Being part devil required the ability to detect weakness in potential clients; it was his duty to notice the way your thighs clenched when he spoke. Truth be told, he would add a heavier hint of gravel to his tone when speaking with you. All to his benefit, of course. Since you had declined his first attempt to strike a deal when he originally offered to remove the tadpole, he had no choice but to play into your dreadfully mortal game of hopeless romanticism.

But undeniably, this game was certainly entertaining.

And now, you stood alone with a devil in quite the romantic scene that was the Devil's Den in the Sharess' Caress, trying so hard to not give in to his offer. It was almost cute the way you so obviously denied to yourself your attraction to him.

When he finally spoke again, you gasped at his closeness, that deliciously low voice rumbling in your ear. Goosebumps raised on the delicate skin of your neck, your head tilting in an automatic movement to create some semblance of space between his lips and your ear. "Perhaps it is more than just the Hammer that you desire from me, hmm?"

"I don't want anything from you," you replied. Your attempt to sound calm and collected was futile; you spoke breathlessly, lips remaining parted as your breathing became heavier.

"Even if you refuse to admit your desire, your body gives away your secret," he murmured, letting his nose brush against the highly sensitive skin behind your ear in a calculated move to further crack your already-fragmented sense of self-control. He smirked to himself when he received his desired reaction, the faint scent of arousal blossoming from your frail, easily-overpowered human body.

"I—"

His hands on your body interrupt your train of thought, landing on your clothed waist with a teasingly gentle caress. How he wished he was in his true cambion form, to loom over you and rake his claws across your malleable skin, of which no doubt would leave his marks on you. The thought of marking you as his own brought out something possessive in him, something that started to blur the line between this carefully crafted game and his own personal desire.

Yet, his eyes remained on his well-deserved prize. He must have you contracted to give him the Crown. He must.

"Make the deal, sweet pet. And in return, you will have the Oprhic Hammer and what we both know you desire most." He spoke into the skin of your neck, his hot breath sending shivers down your spine. His hands, large and oh-so-warm hands, crept underneath the layer of your shirt, setting your nerves ablaze wherever his skin met yours.

You had so bravely battled against unimaginable foes, yet when it came to desire, your strong will was mere putty in his devilish hands.

As soon as his ascending touch brushed against the underside of your breasts, your body acted of its own volition, arching into his touch, your back finally making contact with his broad chest. Heat radiated from him, even through his clothes, even in his human façade, and the feel of it was addicting.

The way you shivered against him had his own mind beginning to reel, filling with plans upon plans on how he'd make you squirm so desperately beneath him. But with a forceful squint of his eyes, he banished those thoughts. The only thing that mattered to him now was the deal.

"Just sign the contract," he almost-whispered before laying his open mouth against your neck, gently swiping his hot tongue on your soft skin. As his mouth made work of your neck, one of his hands fully cupped your breast and swiped a thumb over your stiffened nipple, eliciting a breathy whimper from you.

"R-Raphael..."

His tool to obtain his power, his little mouse, whimpering his name so tenderly burned into his mind, almost overpowering his need for control, almost making him lose control of himself. Giving in just a little, his other hand dropped to the waistband of your trousers, tracing patterns in the heated skin above the place you craved being touched the most while the rest of his arm held you tighter against his chest.

You began to piece together his budding mutual desire for you as well when you felt a clothed growing erection against your backside.

Perhaps there was a way to get what you needed and what you wanted without signing away your soul.

[auroralwriting]

illicit affairs

chapter one

biker!bucky barnes x stark!reader (turf war au)

miss stark begins to have doubts about her "family."

chapter two | series masterlist

warnings: violence, language, small age gap (6~ years), angst, arguing, drinking, overall crime and gang stuff, sort of enemies to lovers

Back before The Fallout, as many outsiders dubbed it, The Avengers were a tight knit group of friends in New York who were founded to change the look of "gangs," as some called them. However, not long after its beginning, its end came just as fast.

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, the pivotal members, just couldn't decide on how The Avengers should be ran. So, they split up almost equally into two groups, each taking a part of the city to call their own.

The Northside Stark Syndicates (aka Queens) was now made up of James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Paul Bettany, who simply was nicknamed by everyone as "Vision," Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, and his little sister.

The Southside Avengers (Brooklyn), who kept the original name, included Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, and Bucky Barnes.

In the previous years, Tony had kept you out of the original Avengers due to your younger, more innocent age. Now, however, in your early twenties, Tony was quick to introduce you to the life you were somewhat protected from.

"I'm telling you," Clint whined, "they gave us a look."

Vision raised an eyebrow, "I highly doubt they gave us a look. I mean, were the biggest crime unit in the city." Oh, yeah, was it mentioned that nowadays the gangs were not made to change the look of gangs? "Plus, if they really gave us a look, we all would have seen it."

You sat on your chair, scrolling through you phone bored out of your mind. Honestly, who gives a shit if someone gives a look? You surely didn't care, and neither did Bruce.

"I really don'y think it matters anyways," Bruce commented. "If they do it again, we'll just beat their asses.

"I'm gonna check it out, it's worth it." Tony decided, clapping his hands. "And for the love of god, can we stop saying the bad words around the child?"

You rolled your eyes, "I'm not a kid, Tony. I take care of myself."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony waved you off. "I'm gonna go check it out. Let's go partying after."

Rhodey gave an obnoxiously loud sigh, "I don't want to party, I just want to chill and drink. We've been partying almost every night this week. Can't we just go to some bar, watch some tv, and drink?"

"All in vote of drinking at a bar?" Clint asked as everyone raised their hands. "It's settled then."

"You're all such losers," Tony moaned. "I need new friends, seriously, you're all so fuckin' lame." Tony grabbed his knife and shoved it in his pocket. "Happy told me about this new bar, Tito's. Let's try there."

Vision looked to Tony with a confused look, "Isn't that almost on the South?"

The room got tense as Tony stared blankly at Vision. "Almost. It's like, right in the middle. We'll be fine." Infamous last words.

"This place isn't so bad," Rhodey said as the group walked in. You felt eyes on you; that happened wherever you went. "It's casual, kind of relaxing."

The six of you got seats at the bar as you all ordered your drinks. "It's alright," Tony shrugged, "Not the same as a club, but not bad." His face was a little more blue than a couple of hours ago. It was clear he roughed up those guys from earlier.

"Oh my god, Tony, give up the clubbing idea." Clint grumbled.

You took a sip of your drink as the room became oddly silent. Your eyes fell to the door. Oh, shit. In walked The Avengers, whose eyes all fell on your group just as quick as it took for your friends to notice them as well. The stares were brutal as they made their way to a booth, Steve's eyes never left Tony's. Tony's never left Steve. It was an awkward tension. Soon, a quiet chatter, more quiet than before, fell upon the bar again.

"Maybe we should just leave," You muttered softly.

"I agree, I'm not liking this tension. Also, Romanoff won't stop staring at me." Clint sighed. The two of them used to be tight, almost tighter than any other duos in the old group. It was clear their tension was wild.

Tony shook his head, "No, we were here first." Your eyes fell back to the group. It only took a moment before Sam nudged Steve, who stared right back at you. The rest of the group followed suit as you felt yourself being turned around. "Stop that, don't look at them."

"But we were before," You protested.

"And that's not now, so stop." Tony replied as you gave a small sigh.

After a few minutes, it wasn't hard to hear mumbles from the table. The only words you could clearly understand were Tony, unsuitable, and fucker.

That was all it took for Tony to jump off his chair and make his way to the booth. You found Clint's eyes, who looked just as shocked as you. The rest of you scrambled to follow.

"Don't you dare talk about me," Tony sneered, grabbing hold of Steve's collar.

Steve only smirked, "Can't take the hits to your ego?"

Vision put his hand on Tony's arm, "Let's just go, man." It hadn't been long since Tony and Steve had it out last, and that left them both bloody and blue with new marks in their records. "Let's go clubbing."

"No, I want to know what this shit-face said about me." Tony snarled, "So tell me, what'd you say?"

"Let go of him, Stark." Sam warned. "We don't want any problems tonight."

Clint kept you almost hidden behind him. While you were more than capable of taking care of yourself, you were still young. The youngest of both groups, actually. You were freshly twenty-two, Wanda was only twenty-four, but she'd been in this business much longer than you had.

"Well we're gonna have some if Rogers doesn't open his mouth." Tony responded.

"You wanna add some more blue to that face of yours?" Bucky chimed in. That was enough to break the camels back. It was no secret that if there was anyone Tony hated more than Steve, it was his best bud, Bucky. Bucky used to be a part of the mafia out on the west coast. In some off handed way, he was the reason your parents got themselves killed. Even if it wasn't Bucky's hands, Tony saw it as such. Deep down, you knew that wasn't his intentions.

Tony's fist was nearly about to hit Steve's face as you jumped forward, letting it hit your palm. The pain that shot through your hand made you wince as you tried to push Tony's hand back. "Tony, stop it. We're leaving now." Tony gave one last dark look to Steve as he turned on his heel, walking away with Bruce and Rhodey close behind him.

"Stark," Clint muttered as he grabbed your hand. "Let's go wrap this up." Vision was quick to move your arm close to your chest as his arm wrapped around you, guiding you away from The Avengers.

As you three walked away, you turned your head to see them staring at you three. No, they were just staring at you.

Back at the table, Wanda's eyebrows furrowed. "Are you okay?" She asked Steve with concern.

"I'm fine," Steve muttered, unable to peel his eyes from you.

"What?" Sam asked, noticing his lingering stare as the three of you exited the bar.

Steve shook his head, "She just took a full blown punch," He muttered under his breath.

"Probably broke her hand doing so," Natasha chimed in. "Did you see the power in that punch? She had to have at least sprained it."

Wanda screwed her face, "And Tony didn't even care. Didn't even give her a second glance."

A low hum came from Steve, "Did anyone ever meet her?" A collective head shake came from the booth.

“Didn’t Stark keep her locked away like Rapunzel?” Natasha asked, her curiosity officially peaked. “I don’t even really remember him mentioning her, besides the fact that he had a sister and she was younger.”

“I think he said she lived with their parents at the time,” Sam thoughtfully answered. “Out on the west coast. She moved here after they died, I think.”

Bucky spoke up, “But why’d she do that? She had no reason to take a hit for Steve.”

“Maybe she’s the only level headed person there,” Sam chuckled.

“Not well enough to keep them out of the mafia’s eyes,” Steve replied. “Stark’s got their attention, at least for now.”

Nat clicked her tongue, “He probably wants their help to get rid of us.”

With a small nod, Steve chided, “Which he won’t succeed in.”

“Can you bend your fingers? Move your wrist?” Clint asked carefully as Vision finished wrapping your hand. It hurt like absolute hell. It had to be sprained, maybe even broken.

You gave a hesitant reply as you tried to bend your fingers. “It hurts too much,” You shook your head. “I’m just gonna let it rest for now. I’ll try again soon. Thanks,” You mused to Vision as he gave a small smile, walking away with the medical kit.

“We need to get them back.” Tony said as he entered the room. “Rogers can’t pull some shitty stunt like that.”

Clint sighed, “Why don’t we just drop it for now? I thought the plan was to get the Asgardian Mafia to help us run them out, not kill them.”

“Killing them sounds wonderful,” Tony almost sang as he sat down. After a moment, he eyed your hand. “Hey, how’s that hand?”

You rolled your eyes, “Not great, thanks to you”

Tony’s face fell, “Hey, you shouldn’t have blocked my punch!” Tony angrily responded.

“You shouldn’t have started a fight in the middle of some bar we’ve never been to!” You argued in response. “It was stupid and it was reckless.”

“I’m gonna get the Hydra boys to fuck with them a little,” Rhodey announced from his spot on the couch where he was silently observing. “Maybe let them fuck ‘em up a bit.”

The Hydra boys were no good around here. They weren’t necessarily a gang, nor mafia. Maybe at one point they were, but now they were now just asses who loved to put their noses where they didn’t belong. The south had their own, too, called Shield. They were known to be more tolerable, less willing to do whatever anyone wanted. You had to know them to get their help.

“Don’t involve Hydra. They’re no good, really. I think they do more than they say they do.” Vision called out from the bathroom where he was putting away the medical kit.

“Then I’ll call The Guardians,” Rhodey shrugged. “They’ll do anything for an extra buck.”

Tony shrugged, “Fine with me, Quill’ll fuck them up really good. Make sure they all bleed, and tell Quill to get it on photo.” You got nervous at his words. Sure, tensions had been high lately, but it had never been this bad before.

Tony’s words made you reconsider everything that had been happening. Things were getting too serious too fast. Even worse, Tony no longer listened to your warnings. He was getting angrier by the second. Deep down, you knew things needed to change, and that started with helping the other side to gain some trust.

[roseblog-rog]

She Actually Built a Shrink Ray…

(contains g/t mouthplay, g/t fearplay, and dubcon)

My best friend—Jamie—told me a while ago that she was working on a big project. After some prying from my end, she revealed it was going to be some sort of laser that would…do something with, like, atoms? And it would decrease them…I think? Maybe? When she started using science talk I kinda zoned out.

But she eventually dumbed it down for me, saying it would make whatever object it hits far smaller, which actually kinda made sense.

“So, a shrink ray? Like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids?”

“Yeah, something like that…but what the fuck are you talking about? Shrinking kids n’ shit??”

“WHAT??? YOU DON’T KNOW THAT MOVIE???? IT’S A CLASSIC!”

“Nah you made that shit up.”

For someone so smart she’s a complete dumbass. Or maybe it’s just not a popular movie…

Anyways, it’s not that I doubted her ability, per se, but I was highly skeptical about whether that was even possible. I mean sure, the idea of shit from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids being real was very intriguing…but could she do it?

That question was finally answered today when she sent me a text saying ‘HAZELLLLL COME OVER NOWWWW ITS SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT 😱😱😱’, and I arrived to her house only to be dragged to her lab where I found…well…a big laser. It really did look like something out of a movie, appearing very similar to Wayne Szalinski’s own creation.

This is where I am now: staring at the large machine, shock and some slight skepticism evident. “Is–is this…?”

“You bet your ass it is! Here lemme show you.” She ran over to a box containing several big red building blocks, taking one out and putting it on a stool where the laser was aimed. She then moved over to some sort of control panel and fiddled with some switches until the tip of the laser was glowing yellow.

I watched in awe; her genuine scientific prowess never ceases to amaze me. Still, I couldn’t help but make a remark. “Y’know, I honestly expected the beam to be red. Maybe some blue glow mixed in.” I smirk.

She glared at me playfully. “Well sooorryyyy it’s not exactly like your stupid obscure movie.”

We laughed as she finished activating the machine. She beckoned me to her side and we both watched as an actual laser was fired onto the building block, making it glow in a similar shade to the beam itself. My mouth then hung open in complete awe as I watched the once large block slowly shrink until it was about as big as a fingernail. She then turned off the machine, and we both went to look at the results. Sure enough, the block was intact, and I picked it up between my fingers to get a closer look.

Well holy fucking shit. The block was exactly the same aside from the now smaller size, and I could see Jamie grinning out of the corner of my eye.

“This is…this is, well, revolutionary.” I couldn’t believe she built this thing, still caught up in the shock of it all.

“Oh but thats not all! Put the block back on the stool.” She instructed, rushing back to the control panel. I could tell she was just as excited about this as I was, if her happy little bounces and giggles were any indication.

I placed the block back and returned to my position beside her, noticing the tip of the laser was now glowing purple instead of yellow. The process then repeated, only this time I watched the block grow back to its original size. Incredible.

“I still can’t believe you actually managed to pull this off…”

“You saying you doubted me?” She gave me another lighthearted glare. “Aaaaanyways, you ready?”

Ah. Right. Because I love and trust Jamie more than anyone, also seeing her capabilities firsthand, I volunteered to help test her machines as a human subject. Is there an ethical issue with this arrangement? Maybe, but it’s cool.

However…

While nothing bad has ever happened to me as a result of previous tests, Jamie has a tendency to…mess with me during the process. She knows her machines more than I do, therefore knowing exactly how to fuck with me. Like the time she built some sort of emotional amplifier, activating it whenever I laughed until I was quite literally pissing myself and breathless on the ground laughing. Or the time she built that stupid artificial spider drone—Jeffrey, the fucker—and kept making it crawl into my peripherals to scare the shit out of me.

I love her to death but she can be a real pain in the ass during tests, using my misery to fully test the capabilities of her machines. The sadist.

This time though…this time was different. I would be completely at her mercy, too tiny to do anything but accept whatever she does. It was…thrilling, honestly. Will it be scary? Probably. Will I get annoyed? Maybe.

But she wouldn’t hurt me.

“Yeah yeah okay whatever, let’s get this over with.” I sat down at the stool, and Jamie gave me a knowing smirk. I watched the laser—which was now pointed at me—start to glow yellow again, but despite the nerves I could never miss a joke opportunity.

“I am not missing the mall today.” I huffed and rolled my eyes, truly embodying my inner Amy. Jamie just stared at me with the most deadpan stare I’ve ever seen.

“I am so glad I finished building this so I don’t have to deal with your bullshit about this movie you’re so obsessed with.”

“Oh cmonnnnn. Youuuu loveeee meeeeee~” I taunted in my singsong voice. But at that moment she smiled and the machine was activated.

The feeling of the beam hitting me is…hard to describe. The best word I can think of is tingly. An almost soft and fuzzy sensation filled my body as I watched the world around me get bigger and bigger. It was one thing to see an object shrink, but a whole different experience to actually see the world grow while you get smaller. Tables grew taller, tools became gigantic, things that were once so close by slowly felt miles away. Even the stool I was sitting on transformed into more of an open landscape in my eyes.

After some time the world stopped warping around me, and I stood up to take in my surroundings. I was so familiar with Jamie’s lab, and yet it seemed like a completely new room from this perspective. I could notice cracks and rough edges around me with more clarity, notice particles of dust flying through beams of light. I glanced down from the stool and it felt like I was on top of a whole fucking mountain. This was absolutely insane, like h—

“Holy shit!” Jamie’s voice boomed through my ears, and I had to raise my hands to cover them from the vibrations that practically shook my whole body. My ears started ringing. A shadow now loomed over me, and looking up I could see Jamie towering above. From the look on her face, though barely legible due to the distance, she seemed to notice my more sensitive hearing.

“Oops, sorry Hazey.” Her voice fell to a calmer speaking tone, which no longer rattled my eardrums as I slowly lowered my hands. “I can’t believe that actually worked!”

I laugh, smirking. “Oh look who’s doubting herself now.”

She pauses for a moment, then speaks again. “I can barely hear you.” She chuckles. “That’s new.”

“Hey!” I pout, also noticing she’s cupped her hands. She lowers them down to the stool, and it looks like an offer to climb in. I accept, stepping onto her palm and balancing myself.

“Just don’t lift me up too—“ I feel her hands rocket up towards her face, and I fall over from the sheer force of it. Dark spots quickly faded in and out of my vision “…quickly.”

She chuckles softly. “Sorry about all this, you’d think I’d have thought about how to properly treat you with how much preparation I did.” I stood back up and met her eyes. They were huge, and I could really take in the rich shades of brown within her irises. “But speaking of you,” she left me standing on one hand while she moved the other to ruffle my hair with her pointer finger, “you are so fucking cute! You’re like a little speck on my hand!!”

I blush furiously, not used to being the short one. “Hey! I’m not that small!” Being in her hand I could see I was about the size of half her finger.

“Awwww poor wittwle thing~” She continued to coo and rub the top of my head. I hate the fact that it actually felt really good. Is this how she was gonna mess with me this time? Taunting me for being short?

“Stoppppp!” I whined through giggles, starting to melt at the contact but being unable to actually do anything about it. I already know my face is completely red. She knows me too fucking well.

Her finger starts to softly shove me around a bit, rubbing ever so often. I get a bit dizzy from the overwhelming tenderness of it all.

“Hehe! You’re such a fun little toy!”

That comment makes my mind and heart stutter, and I really start to take in just how powerless I am in this situation. I begin feeling a bit of wetness in my panties, but try to keep those thoughts at bay. As far as I know, Jamie isn’t interested in sex or anything of the sort. Besides, we’re friends. I’ll just enjoy the soft shoves and rubs and coos, that’s more than enough.

But then I notice that blush has crept onto her face as well, and she slowly smirks as her finger stops playing with me. She gently pinches the back of my shirt, lifting me up, and now I’m really helpless. I instinctively and slowly start to flail around to free myself from her grip, but to no avail.

I’m in front of her mouth now, and her lips are slightly parted. I can feel how heavy she’s breathing, warm air pushing out and brushing against my skin. Her breath smells nice, it’s honestly kind of soothing.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Sorry in advance.” With that being my only warning, she fully opens her mouth and sticks her tongue out. She’s salivating a lot, and the realization of what she’s doing dawns on me.

“Wait! Wait wait wait wait!” She drops me onto her tongue as I beg and squirm, but no matter how much I try to crawl off of her tongue I cannot get any sort of grip. I keep slipping and falling helplessly as her tongue snakes back into her mouth with me on it.

“No no no no no please! Jamie!” But it’s too late. I’m fully inside her mouth at this point, her tongue now flipping me over to hold me down against the bottom of her mouth. I try to push myself out, but she’s too strong. I feel tears start enter my eyes.

“I don’t mean to scare you. I swear I’m not like…eating you or something. I just…” She trails off, and her mouth fully closes.

I honestly never realized just how dark the mouth is when closed, because it’s open whenever I look into mine. But now I get the real experience. It’s dark. Very dark. The air around me is also very thick and humid, the warmth of her tongue and copious amounts of saliva contributing heavily. It also smells completely like Jamie’s breath in here—I mean, obviously—but overwhelmingly so. I can hear her breathe through her throat from my position under her tongue.

Her throat. Right.

Well, she said she wasn’t gonna eat me…but what the fuck is happening then? Is this just another scare prank? Is she secretly a cannibal and just lied to make me struggle less? I’m at a complete loss.

I feel her moving around now, hear her searching through drawers for something. The vibrations of her footsteps ripple through the mouth, bouncing me between her wet tongue and the floor. As scary as this is, the warmth is comfortable, and the moisture surrounding me is actually pretty arousing.

Fuck, I’m trapped in my now-giant friend’s mouth and all I can do is be a whore. Typical, honestly.

I try to move again but I’m still being held down, and suddenly I hear Jamie stop searching. A breath of relief moves up through her throat and out her lips, giving me a brief glimpse of light before it is snuffed out once again.

I’m not even scared anymore, honestly. I’m just bored. This sucks actually. If you’re gonna scare me like this at least up the stakes.

I feel her move around some more until she sits down on what is either a couch or her bed. Regardless, I felt the bounce.

“Jamieeeeee!” I try to yell out to her, hoping she hears me from in here. “What the fuck is going on?!” I need answers and if nothing else I can try to get them.

“Just—! Please let me have this.” I’ve never heard her like this before, voice so shaky and desperate. I feel some fear creep back in, but this time it’s for her rather than me. “I need you, Hazel.” I’m still confused until I hear the familiar buzz of a vibrator.

Oh.

Oh shit.

She…this…huh????? I can barely process what this actually means before I hear moans reverberating up from her throat, the pool of saliva around me starting to grow. I can feel her body start to shake with arousal, also starting to notice her tongue snaking back.

I’m able to stand up now, but it takes extra effort with how soaked I am in saliva. It’s heavy and slick, almost keeping me down. I can feel my clothes completely stuck to my body, making it very obvious that I’m hard. My heart rate and breathing are also picking up, both from shock and the resurgence of my arousal from before getting put in here.

Then her tongue leaps at me before I can react, pushing me against her gums repeatedly as I squirm to break free. It’s bigger than my entire body, each lick completely drenching me in more gooey spit. As much as I should be disgusted, this sensation is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It’s so warm and wet and comfortable, sending tingles of pleasure from my crotch throughout my entire body. Her moans pick up with each lick as well, and I truly start to realize just what she meant when saying ‘I need you.’

Her tongue quickly gets more frantic and suggestive, lapping my entire lower body from my feet up to my crotch, and I already feel incredibly sensitive and brainless as the motions continue. I can’t help but join Jamie in moaning. Instinct overtaking me, I remove my clothes as best I can while being bombarded with wet sensations. I manage to get my shirt and bra off first, and Jamie quickly notices what I’m doing as she focuses her tongue movements towards my now exposed upper body instead. This makes her moan even louder, if that’s even possible at this point.

My pants come next, and this takes some effort given how wet and sticky they are, combined with the fact that I’m still being licked mercilessly against a giant row of teeth. When the pants are lowered enough to reveal my panties, Jamie moves her tongue back down to my crotch. With one less cloth barrier, the overwhelming sensations are too much to handle, and I orgasm. I can feel my panties grow even wetter despite how soaked they already are. Jamie stops for a moment, taking in the taste of my leakage as it drips down my thighs and into the pool of saliva below me. Her tongue feeling me up as I continue to leak honestly feels so pathetic, and I can’t help but whimper.

Once Jamie finally realizes just what she’s tasting, she goes feral. Her tongue picks me up and shoves me over to her molars, placing me down carefully only to bite specifically at my pants and panties to rip them off. I’m finally completely naked. I’m then forcefully sent sliding towards her lips, pushed through so that my upper body dangles out of her mouth while my legs stay inside. She has her lips pressed tightly against my crotch, and she begins sucking on me while simultaneously licking relentlessly at my taint. It’s too much, sliding back and forth on her lips like this, grinding against such intense moisture, feeling that giant tongue absolutely lick me clean. I can’t think straight.

My vision is blurry in the light after having been in darkness for so long, but I can see Jamie vibing her clit. She’s shaky and wet, her frantic breaths pushing against my body as I rest my upper half against her lower lip.

I already feel close to a second orgasm, but then Jamie’s vibrator turns off. Her mouth opens wide, tongue licking her lips while I’m dragged along against her skin underneath. I’m then plucked up by my legs, dangling in front of her face. I am completely drenched, drop after drop of saliva falling down and hitting her body. We’re both breathing heavy, faces red. She looks at me, and from my upside down view I can see her smile before I’m sent down between her thighs.

Warm. That’s the first word that comes to mind. I’m shoved against her clit, and I immediately start humping. We’re both completely soaked so the grinding is smooth. Jamie’s moans from high above me reverberate through my ears, and I can feel her get wetter by the second. Her grip doesn’t let up, and she actually starts to rub me against her forcefully. She doesn’t need her vibrator now, she can just use me. I cum again, becoming even more slicked up as I’m slid up and down across her crotch. I can’t tell whether I’m more covered in her saliva or my cum anymore, I’m too brainless and soaked to process. She is in complete control of me; I’ve become nothing but her glorified sex toy.

She starts tensing, squeezing her thighs together tightly, and she quickly shoves me inside her hole. It’s a similar environment to the mouth but far more constrictive. Oppressive. Her walls push against me as I squirm and stimulate her, barely being able to breathe from her scent and moisture completely overpowering me.

Finally, she cums, and I hold my breath as I am once again completely drenched in her. I manage to get pushed out right in between her thighs, stuck pressed there until she unclenches. It’s all so much, so many new and euphoric sensations. I’m breathing heavier than I’ve ever breathed before, feeling like I might pass out at any moment. Yet I cannot stop myself from huffing her scent like my life depends on it, cannot slow my racing heart after everything that just happened to me.

When she unclenches, I do not go sliding down her thigh. Rather, I remain stuck there, practically webbed by the saliva and cum I’ve quickly become accustomed to being drenched in. Strings of fluid connect me to her other leg. I want more. I can get an explanation later, I just need to be back in her mouth again. Back inside her. I already feel myself start to dry up and I whine, trying to squirm out of the adhesive I’m trapped in.

I hear a breathless chuckle from above as I am carefully ripped from my prison, once again left dangling in front of Jamie’s face.

“Wow, so d-desperate for more? I g-g-guess I was right. You are a fun little toy.” She stutters and takes deep breaths as she speaks, likely just as brainless from pleasure as I am.

“P-please put me back in your mouth. I need—I need to feel your tongue again.” I blush furiously at the plea, already feeling myself ready to cum again. This is so fucked.

“Of course, Hazey. Anything for you.” And with that, Jamie opens her mouth and drops me inside once again.

Feeling the warmth of her breath and saliva is a comfort I could never take for granted. Her tongue is gentler this time, hums of approval ringing from her throat as she savors every taste of me. I let myself relax for a bit as she feels me up, catching my breath while still feeling highly aroused from the licking. Once my heart rate is under control, I slowly stand and wrap my body around her tongue as best I can. I then begin to thrust myself into it over and over again, my cock sliding against the impossibly warm and slick surface. It feels amazing.

A chuckle sounds from Jamie’s throat as I hump, and I feel her body rise as she begins to—presumably—clean up. I’ve gone from a sex toy to a simple form of stimulation for her mouth. A thing to mindlessly flick around and play with while she goes around and focuses on other tasks. The thought makes me blush ever so slightly more.

I feel myself get close to a third orgasm, but her tongue quickly goes back to overpowering me, pushing me towards her molars once again. This time, however, she bites down on me. Not enough to injure or kill me, but enough to keep me trapped with just enough pain that I still feel good. My lower body is facing her tongue, but I cannot see what it’s actually doing. From the feel of it, it doesn’t seem like she’s doing anything to me anymore. Is she just going to leave me here? Prevent me from reaching the orgasm I was so close to? My train of thought is interrupted, however, when her tongue suddenly goes to fondle my crotch and taint. The surprise of receiving such overwhelming sensations out of nowhere makes me moan loudly, feeling myself just on the edge of cumming.

But. Then she stops again. Oh you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.

She repeats this process multiple times: fondling me by surprise only to stop just before I orgasm. No matter how much I try to squirm out of her teeth, how much I try to maneuver my arms to touch myself, it’s no use. I quickly become brainless and whiny, eventually deciding to cry out pleas for her to let me cum.

After enough begging, she finally relents, licking me once again but this time without stopping. I’m still trapped under her molars, but I thrash around wildly as I’m finally able to let myself go all over her tongue. I all but scream as the feeling fills my body. I don’t care how embarrassing it may sound, all I can focus on is releasing my pent up pleasure all over her. I feel each burst of cum exit me, all of which bringing more and more pangs of overwhelming euphoria. More and more pathetic sounds. I feel elated. Wet, shaky, dizzy, and elated.

As I come down from the climax, her teeth let me go. I look at my body to see massive red teeth marks across my chest. Woah. I try to stand up, but I’m so shaky and filled with pleasure that I immediately fall over. Her tongue takes that as an opportunity to pick me up and bring me towards her lips. Her mouth opens and I am released once again, only this time her tongue slowly angles down so that I slide off into her cupped hands below.

She holds my small and soaked body tenderly as I regain my senses, raising her hands so I’m at eye level. I look at her face and am shocked to see tears falling down rapidly.

“I’m sorry Hazel! I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m s—“

“Hey hey hey! I’m okay! I don’t know what that was, but I feel fine. Good, even!” I try to comfort her, sitting up and gently rubbing her palm with my hand. “Although, I would like to ask…why? Why did you do all this?” Sue me, I wanna know.

Jamie sniffs, the tears not slowing down. “I—I—I’m in love with you, Hazel.”

I freeze, and for a moment my heart stops. I say nothing, and she continues.

“And—and I was too afraid to ask you out or admit my feelings because you’re so…” She looks closely at me now, eyes filled with stars at the sight of me. ME?? “…you. I’ve loved you for a while now; your smile, your voice, your authenticity, your laugh, your jokes, your absolute beauty, even your stupid fucking movie obsession.” I wet chuckle at that, feeling tears falling down my eyes as well. “You are the only person I ever want to love, Hazel…and I ruined it. I got too desperate. I used you. I’m so fucking sorry.”

I stand up now, and gesture for her to move me closer to her face. She complies, and once I’m close enough I rush to hug her cheek. I really start bawling now, so overwhelmed from the affection.

“I—I’ve loved every moment spent with you, Jamie! You’re so fucking smart and funny and sweet and an absolute dumbass. There isn’t a part of you I don’t want to cherish. I…I love you too.” I manage to get out through sobs, feelings I had no idea were there finally coming up to the surface. “To be honest…I didn’t think you’d ever want to be with, well, someone like me.” I step back from her cheek now, wrapping my arms around myself in a pitiful hug.

Jamie bends her head forward, pressing a giant but soft kiss onto my head as I cry. “Oh, Hazel…you know that doesn’t bother me. I mean shit, I watched by your side as you slowly become the person you’ve always wanted to be. It’s admirable! You’ve become so much happier and genuine with yourself. So much prettier. How could I not love you?”

I full on wail at that, and she presses me close to her chest as I sob. The rhythmic beats of her heart slowly calm me down, and my breathing eventually begins to level.

“Do—do you mean that, Jamie?” I clutch her shirt as I brace for the inevitable ‘Just kidding! You’re gross!’

But it never comes.

“Every word, Hazel. I want to love you for the rest of our lives.” She gently takes one of her hands to rub the back of my head as I quietly cry into her shirt.

“So do I.” I manage to get out, and I feel her heart stutter ever so slightly.

“You mean that? Even after…what I did?” Jamie sounds nervous, just as afraid of rejection as I was. But she never has to worry about that. Not with me.

“I do. I really mean it. I could never hate you or leave you. I never want to spend a moment without you in my life.” I press a kiss onto her chest. “Besides, I was into it.” I full on laugh and Jamie can’t help but laugh too.

“Oh and I’m the dumbass?” She holds me even closer to her body, seemingly never letting go any time soon. Good.

When we both stop crying after a while, Jamie is the first to speak again. “So…do you want me to grow you back to normal size?” From a nearby window, I can see it’s dark out now. I am exhausted.

“Can…can I stay like this for the night? Sleep on your chest?” It was an embarrassing request, but I knew she wouldn’t care. She would probably tease me a bit though.

“Awww! You are adorable!” Speak of the devil. “Of course you can stay small tonight…though I think I accidentally swallowed your clothes.” I chuckle at her guilty expression, and resolve to just stay naked to sleep…as long as I can dry off first.

After we both get ready, Jamie lays down in her bed, and I rest in my position next to her heart, her hand serving as a blanket for me. This was an absolutely confusing and…surprising start to our relationship, and I had no idea what the days ahead would bring, but I knew we would figure it out.

I smile as the warmth of her body and pulses of her heart lull me to sleep.

~

Shoutout to my wife @flowers-but-gay for being my smart dumbass and describing how a shrink ray would potentially work only for me to dumb it down 😭

Also shoutout to Eve @specksizedgoddess for brushing the dust off my g/t kink and getting me back into writing

[xyxofspades]

Laurence Zvhal Classpect Analysis

Hello everyone and welcome to “Xyx mashes the mythos of their first fandom with the characters of their other first fandom because they’re so normal.” Wherein I classpect the characters of MCD to better analyze them, their actions, their relations to other characters, and their individual values, as well as their place within the canon. Classpecting is a typology originating from a webcomic called Homestuck. It is a wildly complex and intriguing system and can be learned standalone, meaning you do not actually have to read Homestuck to learn how to classpect yourself. I highly encourage anyone who loves character analysis to look into the intricacies of classpecting. This is a good document to start with, giving a general overview, but some nuances and teeny tiny minute details are left out. You can find more by doing a quick Google search and there’s tons of videos on YouTube. Introductions aside, let’s get into it-

Why not start with a fanatical fan favorite? You know him. You love him.

The Casanova of Meteli, The Mage of Rage, Laurence Zvahl

In Laurence’s introduction the very first thing he ever does in the series is try and flirt with Aphmau. Confused and taken aback, Aphmau immediately screeches for him to cool his jets, after which he introduces himself properly. His flirtatiousness is a behaviour he keeps up throughout the series. However, he himself identifies it as a mask. A character he puts on rather than himself, telling Aphmau “I guess I act this way because I’m not really interested in any of them. I just don’t know how else to conduct myself.” There is a common theme within the Rage aspect of the theatre. Alongside this mask he’s created for himself, Laurence often uses flowery, performance-like language. He uses pretty words like “alas” and waxes poetic almost as if it’s a part of him rather than an extension. He is a person who lies for the greater good. When Cadenza goes missing he says, “We’ll come up with some kind of story to keep everyone safe from the wrath of a father and lover.” He even uses the word story himself as though he’d rather put on some semblance of a stage play than tell the people nothing. 

The Ragebound are defined as bringers of chaos but in Laurence’s case, I don’t think he does it on purpose. The Ragebound are known to be “bringers of confusion and doubt.” While Laurence’s first ever action was to flirt with Aphmau his first words to her were actually “Oh my.” That is such a non-specific statement but it dredges up a sort of confusion and sinking feeling deep in your stomach if a man you had never met were to start a conversation with “Oh my.” It could be a good thing, maybe you look especially nice today. Or it could be a bad thing, what if there’s something stuck in your hair you didn’t know about. It turns out to be a positive comment when Laurence then proceeds to liken Aphmau’s beauty to a pearl of Atlantis, but for a split second, you’re unsure. 

The Extended Zodiac states that the Ragebound can be “frustratingly difficult to convince otherwise when they have attached themselves to an idea”. Laurence is a shining example of this trait. He attaches himself to the idea of Aphmau to haul himself through the process of becoming a Shadow Knight. He latches on to the idea of Aphmau so hard that when forced to say he does not love her by the king of the South-Eastern Wolf Tribe, he is physically incapable of doing so, leading to the order of his execution. 

The Ragebound also deal in absolutes. The way Laurence perceives Aphmau’s love for him is an absolute. He knows she will never love him the way he loves her. The way Laurence decided it was immoral for Garroth to keep his relation to O’Khasis a secret was absolute. You either tell her or I will, which resulted in a fight. His absolute conviction to staying by Aphmau’s side. The absolute madness of The Calling and the slaughtering of the wolf tribe. All of these things are things that Laurence cannot comprehend being undefined, uncertain, or ideas that need compromise. To him they are all solid entities, not necessarily easy to define, but most certainly definable. 

There is a common idea that the Rage aspect is when you add limitations to yourself and your decisions through fear, anger, or skepticism, and are prone to paranoia. Laurence does this constantly with his thinking of “No, I can’t be around these people. I’ll hurt them.” Laurence consistently and constantly lets his status as a Shadow Knight define what he can and/or cannot do. It’s honestly frustrating to watch. He pushes everyone to a distance because he believes that he has fundamentally become a pretty bomb. The Calling ready to take him at any given moment and him fearing that he’ll let it. 

But Xyx, doesn’t Laurence have a lot of Time-bound traits? Yes, he sure does!

Following the theory of overwriting aspects (such as Rose’s Light being infected with an overcharge of Void in the Homestuck source material) it can be theorized that the Shadow Knights all suffer from an overload of Time thanks to Shad practically pouring it down their throats like motor oil into an engine. Time is just as much an aspect of… well, time, as it is an aspect of death. The steady clockwork of one's heartbeat or the decaying of a body over infinite hours. 

The Extended Zodiac defines those bound to the aspect of Time as “fighters, full stop”, and that their lives are “often marked by struggle”. While this is true for Laurence, this is true for every Shadow Knight. The Timebound are also described as relentless problem solvers at their best and ruthless, defensive, and impulsive at their worst. Sure, these are all traits that can be applied to Laurence, but these are general traits that can be applied to plenty of characters. Laurence does not have the bigger traits of a Time player. Not without Shad’s influence. Laurence does not partake in any metamorphosis or reinvention. Not without Shad’s influence on him as a Shadow Knight. Laurence does not have a hand in death and decay without the death and decay Shad gives to all his Shadow Knights. The Timebound’s need to move to their own rhythm. For nearly all of season one Laurence crafts a persona to move deliberately to other people’s rhythm. Albeit his persona is different before and after his experiences in the Nether, he still creates one based on other’s view of him. First for the women of Meteli and then later as a strong, infallible protector when in reality he’s suffering through the confusion and frustration of what’s happened to him. 

I think we can sufficiently call Laurence a Hero of Rage. But what about his class? I think Laurence would best be described as a mage.

A mage is one who understands their aspect and who understands through their aspect. As such, mages experience their aspect differently than other classes. Unlike most classes who have to learn and fiddle with their aspect, mages just know. This is my biggest reasoning for the whole ‘Laurence doesn’t use Rage on purpose” argument. He’s so intrinsically locked into it that it’s a part of him. To him, the use of Rage is perfectly natural. 

Mages often suffer tragedy at the hand of their own aspect. In an incredibly small sense this is the confusion and bewilderment he causes everytime he flirts with Aphmau. It’s the turbulence from Garroth whenever he, again, flirts with Aphmau. In a more major sense this is the distress of Ungrth’s death and the unsettling choice Aphmau is forced to make when he comes back as a Shadow Knight and Garroth insists he upkeep the Guard’s Oath, putting Laurence’s life in her hands. 

Mages are also predisposed to be selfish. Laurence continues his advances towards Aphmau not because she reacts positively towards them, but because he finds them entertaining. He pokes at Garroth in Malachi’s castle because he wants Aphmau to know what Garroth is hiding. A mage is someone who uses their aspect to their own benefit and Laurence, for all intents and purposes, did benefit from those decisions. 

Classes are all connected to archetypes. The mage is connected to the archetype of the Prophet. This is the part where I remove us from MCD and into some real world connections. I’m talking about Laurence as The Blind Prophet. The Blind Prophet is a trope that shows up in many stories, the most popular of which being Tiresias in Greek mythology. 

Most of Tiresias’s mythology revolves around his sex change, which, hey. Trans Laurence? But putting that aside, Tiresias was a prophet of Apollo, who presides over music, song, dance, and poetry. So various aspects of the theatre? 

I am very confident in calling Laurence a Mage of Rage.

There’s a missing third thing though, his lunar sway. 

Lunar sway is far easier to determine. It’s based in how you see the world. Whether you lean more pessimistic or optimistic. That’s a bit oversimplifying, but compared to what the hell is going on with everything else it’s allowed to be simple. 

Laurence is pretty easily dropped right into Prospit. He’s personable, intuitive, and incredibly trusting of those he’s close with. Extroverts are often Prospit dreamers and his default temperament is nonchalant and amiable. 

Laurence’s debut episode was posted on May 5th. We don’t have any canon birthdays so for all intents and purposes I’m going to be using their debut date as their “birthday” to determine their zodiac. 

The Extended Zodiac puts Laurence, a Ragebound Prospitian Taurus, under the label of Tauricorn, sign of the Gratified. I didn’t talk about blood castes because it doesn’t exactly translate cleanly into MCD, but for all intents and purposes I’ll relay some traits of the Bronze caste copy pasted from the web page itself. 

“Bronze Signs have a warm and generous disposition, but you might not accuse them of it the first time you meet. They have a tendency toward being withdrawn and slow to open up with new people. This can make them come off as arrogant and cold, like they think they are too good for everyone, although the reality couldn't be further from the truth.They crave stability and safety, and if they have the means, their homes will be full of beautiful things. Some might accuse them of being hedonistic; they would probably just claim to know what they like. As lovers they can be quite needy, wanting assurances that the affection they feel is reciprocated.”

While a lot of these traits apply to Laurence, I wouldn’t call him withdrawn and cold upon introduction. That guy came in hot. I wouldn’t call him arrogant either. Also I wouldn’t quite know where to place the adjective “gratified” on him. 

Personally, even though Laurence doesn’t necessarily strike me as a Libra, I would put him in the Teal caste. This would make him a Libicorn, sign of the Dismantler. Once again pasting in some teal traits from the web page;

“Teal Signs are natural charmers. Social and flirtatious, they are great at parties and public speaking events. They aren't afraid to use their many engaging qualities in both personal and business ventures. They have a strong moral sense. Right and wrong are very obvious to a Teal Sign, and it can frustrate them that others don't see the world the same way they do. They have vibrant imaginations, and enjoy fiction and roleplaying, and often those games will resemble the lives they want to be living. Unfortunately, they have a tendency to get involved with people who are very obviously wrong for them out of a desire not to be alone.”

Laurence is an incredibly natural charmer. His strong moral sense drives a lot of his decisions. The way he interacts with Aphmau like it’s a game is a mockery of a life he would love to be living. If you have an interest in LaurGene then that last statement of getting involved with the wrong people is obviously for you. Lastly, dismantler is an adjective that is very easily applied to Laurence. I bring it up a lot, but again at Malachi’s castle, dismantling Garroth’s secrecy. Dismantling what it means to be a Shadow Knight. Hell, even his current plotline is whatever rebellion he’s got going on in the Nether to quite literally dismantle it. 

Laurence is a brilliant example of “not all Rage players are evil.” This is all speculation. If anybody has a different take on classpecting Laurence please hit me up on it! I would love to hear any counter arguments. I almost called him a Rogue.

[ryn-halo26]

Rak'Xit reborn au

Meeting an Empathy daemon, from Rak'Xit's pov. You can try to read this as the video's playing, that's how i typed it anyway.

Woah there kid, way too early in the morning to be jumpscaring us like that.

Phew, at least common sense is still present in their mind. Asking the correct questions– Wha– No– Don't just ignore them! Answer the questions!- Tiny E'Laetum's kid!!

Of course they're feeling a lot! You just showed up unannounced at 8 in the morning!!

"Who cares"!? We do!!

Ugh, what "fun thing" could this cotton candy incarnate come up with to do? It can't be worse than what E'Laetum would suggest his starchildren to play, surely. Ah- Don't worry, my dear, I highly doubt he'll be as... creative as E'Laetum, in that regard.

Caelum? Interesting name, and I already knew that you were of E'Laetum.

Okay, your boredom is not our problem. Find a serenity daemon to play with, they'd be more interesting, I'm sure.

Well- true. My dear, this Empathy daemon brings up a good point. You do have a problem with wallowing away in your sorrow.

Hm, he has good advice too! You should really listen to him, haha!

Reminds me of Polaris so much, how nostalgic. Who's Polaris? Euh- anyway! Let's keep listening to what this little Empathy daemon has to say!

Hah! He's calling you out, little one!

Hahahahahahaha!!! Reminds me of when you were struggling to pronounce Z'Tinqin's name! Oh, I needed a good laugh.

I'm pretty sure this little one's brain is already very busy due to them not taking their meds. Ahem.

Does he mean serotonin? Oh, this sweet summer child.

You haven't had a hug in a while. Well, at least one that isn't from me.. How does one be good at hugging?? Sounds like something Polaris would say...

Hm, that doesn't sound healthy.. Not for an Empathy daemon as young as him.

Oh! What an interesting analogy for emotions! But it seems so... narrow. This kind of analogy feels temporary, I hope it is.

Dear... How many times have I explained Daemons to you? Oh, right, only once... alright, that's on me.

Huh? D-e-m-o-n? Since when did the spelling change? Ah, the original spelling is still kept! And it's older? Interesting. Blame E'Laetum for the spelling and pronunciation.

Ahhhh, reminds me too much of Polaris and– ahm, nevermind.

Empathy daemons could never be scary. Wait till you see a Fear daemon, they look scary. To you, they look normal to me.

Technically no daemon is evil on a basis of being a daemon, but they changed it? Did most of them remove the "a"? Did my demons remove the "a"?

Startled by all the hugging? Get used to it, Empathy daemons are very touchy. Imagining your socially anxious self willingly hugging other people on your own volition, sounds like a poor joke at a comedy club.

Ohhh, you still know to ask the right questions, I've raised you so well!

Aww, he heard your request to not be lonely! How adorable!

Oh- you have no idea, this little one moves from thought to thought quicker than it takes to rile up Tal'Ris. That's really fast alright.

Ah... yeah, poor thing. Dealing with emotions that aren't your own can be difficult..

Oh? Is that why you can't see them? They're cloaked? I can understand why, actually...

I feel like I have to play along with him, he's adorable!

Well, they are very different, you'll have to be more specific

Oh I'm very sure that's not why they can see you, they would've been able to see you from the start if that was the case. Also, I was the one to raise them, not E'Laetum.

I'm sure E'Laetum knows that. Poor guy's constantly stuck in a catch-22 for all of his existence.

He uses a lot of analogies. Likely to help understand it himself.

There is no such thing as "too many questions", you just speak to fast.

You should listen to him. Let's have a good day, as he said.

[lilli-the-bear]

i’m getting back into anime again after a break due to dying of time.

i’ve also been rlly obsessed with BNHA again, never liked the toxic fandom BUT HEAR ME OUT

ITS OC TIME

basically had an oc for forever ever since i got into the show so YEARS ago and changed her design 100000000x… i had her quirk, her backstory and everything sorted with her lore figured out with her relationships and everything, but now im doubting its uniqueness and actual capabilities and idk if its actually enjoyable for anyone but me and my silly daydreams. so my goobers please help me.

i love her and wanna make her cool as hell

🎶 either i stick with her original quick of Acoustokinesis - basically manipulating sound and having sonic screams, i use to think she would sing and scream it at people but a lil impractical- the only problem is i want to give her some capabilities outside of just haha silly scream

i know i want her quirk to be linked to her emotions for ✨LORE✨ reasons (i can expand if ppl wanna hear) maybe with misophonia having emotional triggers to sound as she is a very apathetic character at the beginning due to this factor

it would also make some sense lore wise since it is a like President Mic (can expand later on) although lacks that uniqueness in that sense unlike other ocs

OR

🩸some sort of blood quirk where she can formulate plasma into weapons (key problem with the original is i wanna give her pretty weapons BUT could just have Mei make them…since they’re gay for eachother 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩) but she’d be like tugging on ‘heart strings’ stopping people’s blood flow causing crushing pains and when hitting opponents using their blood in attacks like water benders.

this would also make some sense as in my au toga is her childhood best friend and ends up at UA with them. so something in common?? but it just feels overdone

but i need her quirk to be useful having good capabilities she also doesn’t use it to begin with being underestimated by her fellow classmates as well as a fear of hurting fellow classmates with her volatile emotions which works well with unexpected screams of raw emotion

LIL BIT OF LORE

so they’re name is Aspen Yumiyai, she had a really fucked up childhood until the age of 7, (but shes my bbg) her father being on the run ever since, yet she continues to wake up in the night the fluorescent white lights and white tiled walls flashing in her vision as she was pushed on a stretcher down the corridor REDACTED. she has two metal robotic legs with a sarcastic demeanour and a bit of a hater and judged but hey who isn’t. she’s your favourite queer persons favourite queer person. she was sent to a hero training school due to her mothers worries about her quirk where she met Himiko Toga, the two becoming very close friends very quickly. Aspen has extremely strong physical fighting style using her legs to take an offensive stance but limits herself sometimes by not using her quirk only using her physical body and upper body strength to take on opponents yet struggles against offensive and long range quirks otherwise. furthermore, they were recommended to UA by REDACTED the pro hero being highly commendable within her fighting style and overall ability as a hero especially when she uses her quirk having a full scholarship. but oh the weight it places on her, the weight of being a hero, the weight of the unknown

so please let this blow up id explode, sorry for being a little secretive about the lore but gotta keep you guessing. but id love the input so please share like and comment any ideas for her quirk or to make her any cooler <3

[its-no-biggie]

decided to open my old "yjh gets turned into a cat" wip and. yeah i was definitely onto something

honestly the characterization in this is pretty rough - i think i made yjh too much of a tsundere and kdj too..... well-adjusted? so let's play in the space shall we

light spoilers??? no in-depth discussion of any specific events but it's sort of a character study so. y'know

part of the cathyuk appeal to me is like. he already basically shows affection like a cat. he seems standoffish but he just doesn't communicate in the same way..... he doesn't know how to show affection...... and then of course the rest of the appeal is. tortured loner op protagonist trapped in a fluffy and cute and sleepy little body. not exactly dramatic and brooding with those tiny little legs huh? and toe beans, no less? and part of that is also the vulnerability of it - it's not like he can really protect himself from the kind of threats they expect to be facing. there's appeal in forcing the guy who always tries to do everything himself to take a break, but. well. that role isn't exactly filled by yjh anymore, is it?

and in fact, if we assign kdj to take care of cathyuk (which was my original plan bc i think this was before i started thinking about yoohankim 24/7. reformed joongdok shippers represent ‼️‼️) then that could be an interesting exploration of the way kdj already views yjh as someone who needs to be protected/taken care of (because of The Guilt). forcing them to confront the unbalanced nature of their relationship..... via cat transformation......

okay but. we must not forget han sooyoung. hmmm yoohan interactions are so difficult for me cause we don't really see much of them interacting together outside of 1863 or like. the epilogue. oh and that one time they scammed anna croft LOL. hmmmmm and like. on one hand. i think it's really fun if hsy understands cat body language better than anyone else and can now read yjh in ways even kdj can't. but also, as cat coded as hsy is, she doesn't seem like she would really like cats? well actually. those two ideas can coexist. and that kind of does apply to their relationship already - she understands him well enough (well, at least him as a character) but just doesn't really get along with him.

anyway. idk if this can fit together in a satisfying way or anything - i might revisit it at some point but i doubt it. having one character get turned into an animal as a catalyst for slowburn is one of my favourite highly-specific-and-yet-every-fandom-seems-to-have-it fanfic tropes (along with accidental baby acquisition and getting stuck in a small space together. put those guys in a ridiculous situation!!!!) so that's probably why i wanted to try it with jd originally. it's definitely fun but i can't really get anything to stick beyond the basic concept - sometimes you just have to imagine The Character as a disgruntled cat getting scooped up off the floor and bombarded with kissies. for your mental health. you understand

[korgbelmont]

Choices Insiders July 2024

This ended up coming in earlier than usual. I must admit when I saw the email this morning, I thought "Oh yeah, forgot about that", (I was not properly awake) but then I realised it was a day early.

Anyway, let's take a look.

I get the sense that this slasher uses a different knife for each kill and that maybe he wears a pumpkin on their head.

Until a name is revealed, I am dubbing this slasher as Pumpkin Joe.

The idea of having a festival to celebrate seems... different. I'll be interested to see what kind of character the MC is as to whether it will follow the slasher genre trope of a group of teens or if it will be adult characters.

This seems like it could be used for one or two sections. One could be a flashback as to when Joe was originally caught. The other could be set when the book will be and it is the discovery of one of the victims.

The only way I could see The Deadliest Game continuing beyond the Nick Gallant mystery is if they go down the route of having a spinoff as I don't see how a second story could bring together MC, Farah, Dante, and Jun. But that's just me, I could be wrong.

I feel like we won't see anything more for Immortal Desires this year. But the wait probably won't be as long as it was for BK2 since this time it has the greenlight from the get go.

I'll be interested to see what Crimes 3 is like. Chances are it will focus on the mystery of MCs father and what really happened.

Going by this answer, I wonder if this means they've seen the backlash to the Generic body type and have decided to drop it for future books or the phase of using it is coming to an end. Only one way to find out.

They have a load of body types for custom characters that have not been used, so they could start using them as well for MCs.

Two new titles on the calendar. The first up is Bitten which could be either Vampires or Werewolves. Or perhaps both, like Michael Corvin in the Underworld films. Just because of where I associate the background on it, I wonder if it could perhaps be a historical book.

The next is Blades 3! Really looking forward to this and curious to see how it will play out given that there is the choice of three endings in BK2.

Two books on Wide Release this month. First up is Filthy Rich which I can see being next Wednesday as Hot Shot finished yesterday. Then Hearts on Fire which I could see beginning it's release in a couple of weeks once Immortal Desires 2 has finished.

Then next month we have Rivals with Benefits. I never actually got to finishing Roommates so maybe start fresh with Rivals and see what it's like.

Really interested to see what All of Us is like.

I'm glad Plus One isn't what I suspected as I originally believed it might have been another one of the those books where MC was trying to break up the couple getting married to be with one of them. Glad to be wrong on this one.

That's it on this one. Looking forward to Terrorfest once it begins it's Wide Release. I really do think this would be a good book to bring back the Nerve system from It Lives back into, but I highly doubt that will be the case.

Keep safe everyone!

[z3llous]

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Lover 2

Part 1 / Part 2 (here) / Part 3

“You are aware Cassian is a mer, correct?” Azul asked as Jade poured a cup of tea for _.

“Thank you. Yes, I know.” _ said accepting the freshly brewed tea.

The Mostro Lounge had closed for the evening, all four of them gathered in the VIP room two days later, thirty minutes after closing, just as they had agreed upon. Well everyone except Floyd was on time, he had decide to skip the last two hours of work to go roller skating and returned ten minutes late for the meeting.

The twins were an interesting pair to them. Floyd’s “unpredictability” and Jade’s mysterious yet mischievous aura killed any potential boredom. They couldn’t wait to learn more about them.

The manager himself, Azul, somehow kept himself from being outshined by the twins which was an impressive feat in itself. He gave off a spoiled, yet had something to prove kind of energy. They had no idea what exactly he felt the need to prove, but they didn’t feel it their place to know.

“What kind of fishy is he?” Floyd asked playing with the wheels of his skates that he refused to take off, no matter how much Azul demanded.

“A greater weever.” Azul frowned adjusting his glasses.

“Oh dear, he’s got quite the venomous sting then.” Jade said amusedly as he poured himself a cup of tea.

“Yes, he sure does.” _ sighed before taking another sip of their tea.

“Physical confrontation is to be avoided at all costs. _ , do you have any idea as to why he stole your belongings and cat?” Azul said calmly looking to them as he crossed his legs and rested his head upon his intertwined hands.

“His first time on land was eight months ago, two weeks before we met. He found everything of mine to be fascinating, especially my cat, Sprinkles. I didn’t mind it all, but now I see he wanted my lifestyle more then he wanted me. I guess the wedding was the perfect opportunity to take what he wanted and make his escape.” _ said sadly placing the their cup down on the coffee table, staring deeply into the leaf water.

“That is unfortunately in character for him. Cassian stole almost everything for every achievement he ever ”earned“. Test answers, writing assignments, art projects, ideas, and just about anything you can imagine. Never an original thought in that head of his.” Azul said in a calm yet angry tone.

Even from his own partner, disgusting.

“You sure seem to know all about that weever’s wrongs, Azul. How’s that?” Floyd sat up from his previously lax position on the floor.

“I must admit I’m curious as well.” Jade stated with a smile.

“He liked to steal and copy my work the most.” Azul sighed bitterly glancing downward to the floor.

“Well, does anyone know where the bastard might have gone? It seems his karma is well overdue.” _  said, their melancholic tone turning to rage.

“Most likely, Riptide Coast south from here. That’s where most mer on land live in this area. The items and cat aren’t water friendly, so I highly doubt he went home and left everything up here. We’ll begin the search on our next meeting. How does Tuesday evening sound?” Azul said, his smile returning as straightened his posture.

“Perfect.” _ said as the two exchanged a look of mutual malicious glee.

“Can’t wait for some action! Right Jade?” Floyd laughed.

“I couldn’t agree more, Floyd.” Jade smiled.

tag: @azulashengrottospiano

Just in case it wasn't clear: Azul asking if they knew why Cassian stole from them, while knowing Cassian is a thief is intentional. He's searching for a motive for Cassian to steal from what was his partner at the time.

[dani-luminae]

Ripping off EAH is a bad idea. The makers WILL sue!!

Bold of you to assume that Mattel cares about the franchise they gave up on. It's not even a candidate for rebooting like Monster High.

Also can we stop acting like EAH was some treasured passion project of a struggling indie developer or something? It's owned by Mattel! The company that just put out the Barbie movie! The company literally could not be doing better.

Besides. “Daughter of the Queen of Hearts” and “daughter of Cinderella” aren’t copyrighted by Mattel (in fact, Darling Charming isn’t the daughter of Cinderella! The EAH Charming family specifically has no relation to Cinderella.) There’s enough established in Descendants to argue that all similarities are just coincidence. Sporty girls with swords? Done before (see: Lonnie in the second movie.) Besides, Lizzie and Darling never actually had an adventure together I think...

There's also that Ever After High isn’t the only “school for children of fairy tales” there is. There's The School for Good and Evil (a six-book series likely more well-known for an astoundingly subpar Netflix adaptation) and Regal Academy, among others. EAH vs. Descendants aside, no company *owns* the idea of “school for fairy-tale/public-domain characters kids.”

Which, yes, literally all the parents of EAH are public domain. Disney had the opportunity for using Disney trademark names like Maleficent, Lady Tremaine, etc. but their character bases are still public domain (Sleeping Beauty’s 13th fairy and Cinderella’s stepmother, respectively.) Descendants also gets to involve some Disney-specific tales like 101 Dalmatians. But EAH also got to pull in some tales that Disney never covered, like Jack and the Beanstalk (...whatever happened to that Gigantic movie?), Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Thumbelina.

Also if you expect me to believe that some EAH designs weren’t Disney ripoffs to begin with, no. Because look at this:

This is original concept art for Rosabella Beauty, daughter of Beauty and the Beast! But wanna see what she looks like in the actual cartoon?

Oh would you look at that!!! I wonder why they gave her brown hair suddenly but so clearly wanted to keep the yellow scheme! Couldn't possibly be because they wanted people to think of Disney's Belle, right?????

And also:

Purple? Check. High collar? Check. Menacing accessories? Check. Significant widow's peak with spiky crown? Double check. Also Raven's actual mother in the series looks like this:

And not actually, you know, like Raven.

EAH was also relying on a healthy handful of Disney ripoff designs to get their characters noticed. It shows. Not to mention the entirety of Epic Winter clearly banking on the Frozen craze because it didn't even get "The Snow Queen" story right.

(And sure, Descendants featured some designs that were a little bit too close to EAH, see: Mal's purple Cotillion gown vs. Raven's Thronecoming gown, evil!Audrey's entire color scheme compared to Spring Unsprung Briar, etc.)

Doesn't mean that mocking it is a classy move on Disney's part, but unless they're stupid enough to straight-up use a patented name from EAH, I highly doubt Mattel can or will do anything about it.

[ihavedonenothingright]

So thus far into TOTK (I haven't finished the game, but I got the instruction to go beat the final boss), it really does seem like TOTK and BOTW are completely separate lore-wise from most every other game in the series except for maybe Skyward Sword. Zelda travels all the way back to Hyrule's "founding," which she is fairly familiar with, and there's a comment one of the researchers makes about mentions of a "Zelda" in the ancient past confirming that perhaps the name doesn't originate from their princess. He's unaware it's the same Zelda, which means naming every princess of Hyrule "Zelda" is not a thing. This Zelda is, as far as she knows, the first (though that doesn't eliminate the chance others existed).

This (and some other stuff) leads me to believe that the founding of Hyrule in TOTK takes place after all the old games. I highly doubt that all historical records of the name Zelda would have completely disappeared between the ancient past of TOTK and TOTK's present if that space was occupied by all the other games. And that is ignoring the weird time stuff and the required presence of two Ganondorfs simultaneously. On top of that, Sonia, the only Hylian we see much of in the past, resembles Skyward Sword's Impa more than Zelda and Gaepora. We don't know for sure that that Zelda founded Hyrule, but the reincarnated spirit of Hylia is blood-related. So I'm solidly shunting aside the idea that this is the first founding of Hyrule.

Now because the name Zelda has apparently been forgotten, even by TOTK's ancient past (Rauru and Sonia don't exactly go "Oh! Zelda! That's a famous name"), and no one seems aware that Hyrule existed before, I'm going to say that pre (or post...) the arrival of the Zonai, Hyrule goes through something like a Dark Age. Their history is no longer preserved and retold like in older games, and so eventually, you end up in a place where there is no Hyrule, and no one knows about the Triforce and the cycle. But that's really odd, right? Like, scarily odd. How do you forget the Triforce exists? It's the big war-causer in Hyrule's history, this thing that grants you the power to completely remake the world. And no knowledge of Zelda or Link or Ganon? No knowledge of the epic cycle? Clearly Zelda is still inheriting the memories of her prior reincarnations since she recognizes the name "Ganondorf" in a flashback, so what gives?

It seems awfully convenient that no one knows about the Triforce, especially since there's evidence Zelda carries it. The symbol shows up when she uses her sealing powers, and it's definitely still associated with the royal family's crest. Now the second part is really weird since we're at a second founding of Hyrule and no one seems to know what it is. But just focusing on Zelda's powers: for the Triforce to be the source of them, that would have to mean it somehow ended up in Zelda's bloodline. How would it do that?

They mention that she seems to have inherited Rauru's light power and Sonia's time power (which implies they had kids, I know people are skeptical and I am too, but it seems like they did). So, does Rauru's power also derive from the Triforce? Did she get it from him?

Well if he did have it, founding a Hyrule where no one remembers the Triforce, the cycle, or old Hyrule would be much easier.

There's a lot of problems with this theory: namely, Rauru isn't technically dead (I think) until the beginning of TOTK, so wouldn't the Triforce have stayed with him that entire time if he had it? But there's also evidence in the games that the Triforce is a one-use kind of thing, so I can see him getting one shot with it and then passing it along via bloodline like a lot of Zeldas have done with the Triforce of Wisdom. Something about Rauru strikes me as very sinister, and some other people have done a really good job looking at that in more detail (check out @golvio and @betterbemeta's posts), but yeah the vibe of Rauru's inner circle and his Hyrule overall is strange. The representatives of all four races (though we never see the Sheikah in the past, so we can't verify what's going on with them at this point; they might not be Hylians yet) cover their faces with these large, clearly Zonai masks to signal their fealty to Rauru. Practically, they serve the same purpose as the champions' blue clothes, but it's so much more uncomfortable. They don't have faces! They aren't individuals! The only people in the past whose faces we see (who aren't Sonia, Rauru, Zelda, or Mineru because even the ancient Hylians in Rauru's employ wear masks) is Ganondorf and some of his Gerudo. Rauru, Sonia, and the royal line get to walk uncovered, but everyone else depicted as loyal and righteous is faceless.

So I would hazard that the reason BOTW and TOTK are so cut off from the other games lore-wise is not just distance, but because Rauru, when he came down to become king, used the Triforce to completely reforge Hyrule in his own image. It's possible he was told to do this by Hylia, and sent down by the gods as a representative of theirs, but I think it's also possible he was sent for another job (fixing the chaos that is the three way timeline split) and chose to stay and set himself up as a king. He doesn't seem to have been a particularly notable figure among the Zonai; Mineru notes how well he's done for himself on the surface which leads me to believe he had far less power where he came from. Whether or not his intentions were benevolent is a "who knows?" sort of question. Maybe they were! But I think Rauru is a good case for the idea that Ganondorf's reincarnation cycle isn't some cosmic punishment, but rather a natural reaction of balance. Rauru builds all his shrines of light, doesn't appoint a Sage of Shadow (no Sage of Shadow is weird, right? I'm not the only one), forces hegemony on Hyrule, and in the process of trying to make a completely clean society, births an opposite of chaos to his order. TOTK Ganondorf is a little obscure in terms of motive, but in his first few cutscenes in the past, he's fairly composed. He wants Hyrule to bow at his feet; he wants to humiliate Rauru. All the comments he makes towards him are pointed. This is a Ganondorf who resents the idea of becoming another faceless mask. Eventually he morphs into a being of pure chaos, perhaps in response to Rauru's more frantic attempts at control. But if the objective was balance, Hyrule does end up there: by the time of BOTW, the races that were faceless under Rauru seem to be mostly independent. Zelda doesn't exactly force the champions into their divine beasts, and their positions aren't predestined or divine in nature like the sages.

And this isn't even touching on the Sheikah (though their forced assimilation into Hylians might be completely separate from Rauru) and the idea that the Rito, Gorons, Zora, and Gerudo exist solely to aide Link and Zelda. There is a lot of stuff in this game that is absolutely fascinating (and a little frightening) from a world perspective. Most of it isn't new to Zelda either, just more explicit.

(Also I've seen some people say that the masks might've been because Nintendo was lazy with the modeling, but regardless, it's fair to analyze a work as it exists and leave the creators' intents out of the picture.)

[spite-and-waffles]

DID YOU SEE yellowcaballero's new steph focused au!!!! set in the 90s!!!! first robin stephanie brown *swoons*

SDFGGHJKKLJJLGD WHAT???

*stumbles over own feet, knocks over furniture, runs to AO3*

Edit: halfway down chapter one anud HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THIS IS THE MOST NINETIES THING I'VE FELT SINCE HOLDING A VHS IN MY HANDS I AM WEEPING

Edit 2: STEPH'S VOICE OH MY GOD. This is my original flavour no extract no additives nineties baby Stephanie Brown! My baaabbbyy 😭😭 THANK YOU ANON.

I'm still on chapter one.

Edit 3:

Batman hadn’t needed to posture before. He had to be...off-balance or something.

Off-balance. He hadn’t known any of this. He would have flapped away into the night not knowing anything weird had happened if Steph hadn’t been here. He could have died . Steph could have died too, but at least she had common sense!

Steph realized, in a moment of supreme horror, that her hero was stupid.

Hdjjdhakdgoajkdgskabs HELP 💀💀💀

Putting the rest under a cut because I HAVE to scream.

Another very terrible realization crept down Steph’s neck, like someone had cracked an egg on her head. It wasn’t an idea or a plan or a well-thought out conclusion. She just knew it, like she knew that the diner on 49th was full of roaches and to lock your doors at night. Batman was totally gonna get himself killed without her . “I do not work with anybody.” Batman didn’t so much speak as grind out his sentences, like he had dumped a bunch of rocks in a bag and shook it real hard. “I do not work with high schoolers. Go home. Do not involve yourself in this business or my business again.” Okay. Steph’s mom had taught her only around three things (the other two things were “Finish high school or you’re dead to me” and “Never vote Republican”), but the most important thing was that no rando talked to Steph like that. He had not earned the bitchiness. “Excuse me?” Steph decried, propping her hands on her hips. “What would your mom say if she heard you talking to a lady like that?” Batman twitched. “That’s a hell of a way to thank the girl who helped you, you know,” Steph continued, well on her way to working herself up to a rampage. “You could be dead if it weren’t for me. I cracked this whole case wide open and all I get is a ‘go home’? You’re practically useless without me!” “I highly doubt that.” “Well, I highly doubt you’re a polite man! Who raised you!” Batman twitched again. “Look, I know stuff you don’t know. I’m a real who’s-who of Gotham. And you’re good at punching and stuff. I can totally help you. I’m, like, morally obligated to help you. Do you have any idea how I would feel if Batman got capped on my watch? My friends would never talk to me again. I’d be totally uncool -”

STEPH AHDKAHDKAJDKABSMSAJ 🤣😭💀🤣😭🤣😭

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The NYTimes double standard on display, again

On Tuesday, the New York Times published a list of twenty-one questions that it would like Kamala Harris to answer about her policies. Ah, at last! The Times is covering substance! Good for the Times! I hurriedly scanned the Times for its twenty-one questions about policy that the Times would like Donald Trump to answer.

Of course, I searched in vain for a parallel set of questions that Times would like Trump to answer. No such list was to be found. Sad. Pathetic. Shameful.

Several readers commented on my post yesterday and urged me to stop criticizing the Times. Their reasons ranged from “Don’t give the Times more attention,” “I ignore those stories,” and “The stories aren’t as bad as the headlines.”

Here’s why the Times’ continued use of misleading headlines and unfair bias against Kamala Harris matter: The Times publishing empire is the world’s largest media outlet (combining all Times properties). What the Times emphasizes quickly spreads through social media and other mainstream media outlets. Rightly or wrongly, the Times has a disproportionate impact on the media narrative each day.

Tens (hundreds?) of millions who don’t read the Times are exposed to its headlines through secondary sources. When a guest essayist pens a bad-faith op-ed titled, “Trump can win on character,” tens of millions of people believe that the New York Times believes Trump's character is superior to Kamala Harris’s.

The fact that the Times’ misleading editorial practices do not fool some readers does not mean that millions of others are not misled by those same practices. The Times should be better—but it chooses not to be. It deserves the criticism that I and others heap upon it.

My criticisms of Tom Lowry’s article yesterday about Trump “winning on character” were mild compared to those leveled by other authors. I highly recommend Tom Nichols’ superb essay in The Atlantic, The conservatives who sold their souls for Trump.

Nichols uses Lowry’s “Trump can win on character” essay as a frame to explain how far the original “anti-Trump” conservatives have fallen. Nichols writes,

But principles are sometimes burdensome things; that’s part of what makes them principles. The behavior of the anti-anti-Trumpers continues to be an inexcusable betrayal of the values they once claimed to hold. Many of them spoke, even passionately, against Trump—and then they shuffled into line. And for what? One more federal judge? A few billion more dollars in the account of a donor?

It’s one thing to sell your soul cheaply. It’s another to keep taking out second and third mortgages on it until all that’s left is debt and shame.

I also recommend Jonathan V. Last’s brilliant essay The Bulwark, Why Did the New York Times Let Itself Be Used as a Mule?

Last writes, in part,

Lowry’s essay isn’t aimed at Times readers. He is not explaining reality. His op-ed does not add any value for the NYT audience. The piece is little more than a memo to the Trump campaign. Lowry thinks he has an insight into how Trump could attack Harris, but because no one at the campaign cares what Rich has to say, he convinced the Times op-ed page to mule his ideas directly to Trump. Why would America’s paper of record consent to be used like this by a conservative sad-sack?

So, the next time the Times gets the brilliant idea to publish twenty-one hard-hitting questions for Kamala Harris, will anyone on the newsroom or editorial staff have the self-awareness, humility, or integrity to say, “Why aren’t we subjecting Trump to the same scrutiny?” I doubt that will ever happen, but a person can dream.

Oh, and by the way, remember when the NYTimes published details of DNC emails stolen by Russian hackers? Well, the NYTimes has had possession of Trump campaign internal emails since August 11 (or thereabouts) but hasn’t published a single confidential detail. I believe that news organizations should not publish hacked or stolen materials. But wouldn’t it be nice if the NYTimes explained why it was appropriate to publish details of DNC hacked emails but not publish details from hacked emails from the Trump campaign?

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[musette22]

Hey sweetheart, how are you doing? Busy and overwhelmed, I assume, I hope you're getting enough rest though, sorry for adding even more asks to your inbox, you can answer this whenever you want/can, or not at all. I mean it.

So, this morning I wrote an entire ask and was just about to send it, when my mom called and I just tried to click "send" but I doubt it ever got sent. But if it has (I highly doubt it), then ignore this haha.

https://www.tumblr.com/musette22/757098480109043712/the-fact-that-everyone-is-talking-about-it

Oh my god, may I add something to this? (Side note: don't expect a 'point' and how it's related to the other post in this paragraph, but I'll get there I swear 😂) I have given a lot of thoughts to Seb and Chris playing a couple in something, where they're in good hands of people who just see their chemistry like we do, someone who gets it, you know? Not because they wouldn't exude sexual/romantic aura (?) through the screen in the shittiest projects, no, but this pairing deserves to be portrayed as a couple in something well written and well-produced, and again, someone who brings their chemistry to life onscreen to its full potential. Like, imagine them playing a married couple with a daughter in a black mirror or something (no I know, but hear me out😂) where they're two educated people who just want to protect their daughter and themselves from the modern society where it seems like they're the only sane ones, and everybody is so insane with this age of technology and how stupid people are getting every single day, you get the idea, classic black mirror. And I know there's nothing original about this idea, but they would absolutely nail it. Hell, I have this whole episode in my head with so much detail that it's embarrassing, just because I WANT EVANSTAN. Like I can literally see it in my head, their looks, their outfits, set design, the story, some very specific scenes, everything. Wow, it really is embarrassing. Jesus..

Anyway, I said all of that, just to say, imagine if that happened, their chemistry would make everyone go insane; I just know that so many people would be like "holy shit how did I never pay attention before?" Or just about how PERFECT of a couple they make.

I don't know, I just think about it quite often you know? The general public would have an eye-opening experience for sure and I would be sooo satisfied to see that. 😂 ugh.

Hiiiii sweetheart!! 💖💖 I'm doing well thank you, very busy like you said, but overall feeli g very good (and the boys' unexpected reunion played no small part in that, of course 😍). I hope you're doing wonderfully yourself, darling, and thank you so much for this delightful message!!!

I actually LOVE this idea so much, I love that it's a slightly different take on what we've all been saying for years, namely that Chris and Sebastian should be playing a couple in something to utilise their chemistry and make literally everyone happy by finally reuniting them properly on screen! But usually we talk about romcoms, or romantic dramas, but while that obviously holds its own appeal, there's something about the scenario you're proposing that's maybe even better?

Like, it wouldn't be quite as much of a spectacle (like a romcom certainly would be), and it would instead feel more real and more powerful, you know? An episode in an ongoing, well-written and made series, in which them being a couple is just a given, and it's them (and their daughter 😫) against the world, and it would give them the opportunity to show just how GOOD they are together, how well they work together and how easy and natural, and they'd absolutely nail the drama & intensity of a plot line like that ❤️

So yes, I can absolutely see why you're so invested in this idea, and I would LOVE it if I could just see all those images and scenes in your head because it sounds so wonderful 😍

And GOD, it would be so satisfying to see everyone losing their minds over their chemistry again, but this time like times a hundred, because it would be like EXTREMELY obvious all of a sudden, even to those whose eyes hadn't been opened to it before. I want it si bad 😭 Which deity/exec do we have to pray to to make this happen!?

Thanks again for sharing all of this with us!!! Sending lots of love and hugs, sweetheart 💖💖