#i know i have to buy a domain lol

[pinayelf]

idk I just find personal websites to be v fun lol, it's a space you can create and customize how u want. I made a lot of them as a teen where I posted art and graphics (i used to be active on message boards). the thing that's tough rn about it is most web hosts are dedicated to making websites for portfolios and businesses (which isn't going to be the point of my site, I just wanna share art). so trying to find a way to do this in the most budget friendly way possible can be tricky

[prettyinpwn]

I know I'm gonna sound like a crazy old broken record... but hear me out. Lots of speculation as to the true purpose of the thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com thing beneath the cut.

So... does anyone else feel like the ARG website is... odd? Like it's leading to something more coming? And before anyone screams, "Well, ackshully, Hirsch said he doesn't want to do a Season 3-"

YES. I KNOW. He said no Season 3 a million times. I was there when he told us Season 2 was it for the first time. But what he didn't say, however, was, "No more Gravity Falls anything... EVER.". Hence why we've gotten Journal 3, Lost Legends, and now The Book of Bill. Hirsch is veeerrrrry comfortable making more GF stuff.

And as someone that studied programming in college, I can tell you, this website does not seem like it was easy or cheap to make. It's effectively a single screen point and click game in a browser. Looking at the code, it seems they did use a framework called Bridgetown, lacing in looped animated MP4 files with clickable assets on top that make up the interactive elements (e.g the computer), with a lot of content made for the website itself from image files and text for each prompt a user might type. Sure, it's not the most difficult thing to program, but it's a lot more complex than, say, the searchfortheblindeye site back in the day.

That, and as someone who has worked in the corporate world, I'm sorry, but you don't pour this much effort/money into something that is just "lol cool things after product for funsies". If this was just for The Book of Bill, the smart marketing decision would have been to make the lofi album and the website, tease fans with both of them, and let them lead to an announcement of the book itself to tempt them into buying it, not the other way around. Like... Disney ain't gonna do that just out of love for fans. It's Disney, come on. They do things for money.

It's possible that Hirsch paid for it himself just for the fans, but I doubt it. Wanna know why? Because of the website's security certificate and ownership. Let's take a gander at this:

There are two odd things here. One, the range of the expiration. Most security certs last 1-2 years, at least they did at one of my previous places of employment (and we had like 50+ of them). This one expires November 7th, 2024. Odd, but maybe they only want the website up for a few months? Anyways, as an aside, everyone keep an eye out for November 7th, 2024. Could be nothing, could be something.

The other weird thing is the domain holder. Looking it up on ICANN, it gives this address:

Look that up on Google Maps, and it takes you to a company called Dun and Bradstreet. Long story short, the company does a bazillion things, but the main thing we're talking about here is:

Oh gee, Sales and Marketing. And their Sales and Marketing tools? Basically, they use data to tell companies who their audience is, so that they can market to them. Now, why would Disney care about this for a fandom for a show that's been done for almost a decade, just for a book that was released before said website (so we know they're not gathering marketing data for the book)?

Well, if I were to guess... long story short, all this stuff is a tactic to gauge who the Gravity Falls audience is now. Release the book, make some dough and fans happy, tie in a secret marketing data collection gimmick (AKA the website) using D&B as a vendor to hook the data into your CRM, send fans to a website to collect marketing data, and shabam. Now you know who the target market is all this time after.

And why in the hell would a company care about that? You tell me. Why care about who a target market is if you're not planning on marketing something to them later?

It could be that Disney is planning something similar to Gravity Falls and wants to gauge if there'd still be a market for that kind of show. Or... it could mean that Disney is planning on something more substantial related to Gravity Falls or Hirsch pitched it, and they were like, "Well, wait, let's collect data on this, first, so we'd know if it'd be a good business decision.". Not sure.

I mean, maybe I'm crazy, but doesn't this seem fishy to anyone else? If anyone else has any hypotheses as to why Hirsch and Disney have a Gravity Falls website owned by D&B, let me know, but to me... this smells... very... marketing oriented. And Hirsch doesn't seem like the guy to pour his own money into hiring an outside company to gather marketing data, that seems more up Disney's alley.

[ixiot-ghostrebel]

Get ready for my ✨️Palace of Alcazarzaray✨️:🎉

So... Almighty Creator of Teyvat Reader. We all know that the original inhabitants of Teyvat are dragons, so that means, Almighty Dragon!Creator.

Almighty Dragon!Creator who has a rivalry/resentment/tense relationship when it comes to The Primordial One because of their shades.

Almighty Dragon!Creator who thinks of the original Dragon sovereigns as their children.

Almighty Dragon!Creator who stays and watches over Teyvat, slowly their resentment lessens(even if they stay bitter because their children's powers were taken by outlanders) as they watch their teyvat, their teyvat, get more lush and green and just. Their teyvat becomes full of life and wonder.

Almighty Dragon!Creator who watches Khaenri'ah's fall in solemn silence, who looks at the children of stars in pity. Yet they are not their domain, so they cannot help(or can they).

Almighty Dragon!Creator who watches the traveler's journey, who finds intrigue in the silver companion who looks oh so similar to the Primordial One.

Almighty Dragon!Creator who watches the traveller go through nations, who watches them help Their Children. Who cannot help buy beam at this outlander who helps their children(even if one is still dead(orobashi), even if one will never get his power back(dvalin), even if one has shattered in two and has lost himself(azdaha), and even if one lost theirself to madness(apep), one gets his power back(Neuvillette) and they are so happy for him.)

All I'm saying is: Almighty Dragon!Creator who gets attached to both the Traveller, but also who gets attached to Paimon because of her relation to the Primordial God in some way or another.

Oh and Neuvillette Fluff with them.

- Starboy Anon

Wowie, Starboy Anon! This is a lot of info!

Not saying it's bad (I loredump as heavy as this when it comes to my own stuff), but I certainly have too many headcanons for your headcanons to write a Sagau!Character x Creator!Reader request!

Starboy Anon you have NO IDEA how much I am of a sucker for Azhdaha and Dvalin. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW DID YOU FIND MY HIDDEN WEAKNESSES—

I care very little about the Shining Shades and the Primordial One, so apologies for skipping over them in this headcanon request!

Headcanons: Primordial Dragon Reader—All Shall Bow and Respect Thee As They...Uh...

(Warning: Might Be OOC!)

Alright, pretending that Reader had ZERO RESTRICTIONS on what they can do NOW...Allow this idiotic Ghost Rebel to demonstrate their favoritism benevolence:

Dvalin Headcanons:

Reader absolutely adores Dvalin to bits. You Cannot tell me otherwise. They will literally give this dragon the world if they could.

Reader would definitely give them a human form if Dvalin ever wished to use it to mingle with the mortals in Mondstadt—In fact, Reader would be their tour guide (I have zero references of how Dvalin's mortal form would look like, but I imagine it'd look like a playable character skin—in other words, a very cool one)

I like to imagine that Dvalin loves music so much, he digs into Monstadt's traditional music and begs Reader to have Venti (or another bard) play the tune he finds.

Reader would definitely be the overprotective parent that absolutely hates it when others try to flirt with their children. Dvalin is clueless to these flirtatious attempts, so Reader is helicopter parenting so hard rn LOL

FLOWER CROWNS OMG. I imagine Dvalin would love those! Reader is going to indulge them with so many of them! Even better if Dvalin makes friends (obviously with the Traveler, Paimon, and Venti—those guys are naturally invited)

Reader would let Dvalin try any cuisine, but if it's anything related to alcohol, Reader is definitely going to make sure they are a) not spiked, and b) Dvalin takes a very little amount of it.

Reader's the kind of parent to see their child get a scratch on their skin and freak out and treat it like it's a very bad wound. I think you know where this is going.

Oh, and you know the Abyss Order that kind of manipulated Dvalin? No, you don't—because they no longer exist :)

Would definitely fly with Dvalin in their dragon form, or in their human-dragon form. Whichever Dvalin likes, Reader will follow suit!

Azhdaha Headcanons:

MY DRAGON BOYYYY LETS GOOOO *Aggressive Truck Noises Because Ghost Rebel Can't be Biased—*

Ahem, anyways. Considering that Azhdaha has a bit of something akin to dissociative identity disorder, Reader definitely treats the guy with extra care, opting to entertain both of Azhdaha's "personalities."

Yes, Reader fixes the erosion and memory problem. Yes, Reader gave them a new dragon body that is not purely made out of rock so that it doesn't erode too quickly. Yes, they also gave their child a human form (yk in Zhongli's story quest, Azhdaha took two appearances? Forget those two merging together—just take the color palette off of Azhdaha's dragon form and make something >:) I like to imagine a part of his hair or his eyes glows a certain color depending on the element he's wielding in his human form)

Reader shows them around all of Liyue, considering Azhdaha never really had the chance to see it properly. I like to think Azhdaha would listen to every single piece of information given to them like a sponge in water. Anything that's new or interesting to this guy, he is not backing down from it.

Now, I know the million dollar question: Does Azhdaha get scammed like Zhongli? No, because Reader is always there glaring at merchants that dare try to mess with their children in any way possible. They're also there, telling their child all about commerce and the ways of the trade—something that Azhdaha is into considering mining and ores are technically also in the business industry.

You know the guy that got blessed by Azhdaha, who can now see if rocks are valuable ores or not? Yes, believe it or not, but I believe Azhdaha would 100% check up on the mortal despite being completely tsundere and in denial about it.

HIKING! I think Azhdaha would like to have the mobility to hike—after all, in his dragon form, he's kind of the hefty and large side, so he can't exactly move fast or be nimble. I think he'd really like this change of pace!

Apep Headcanons

No huma form. She refuses to be compared to or even look like mortals. That is something Reader respects.

Technically Reader's eldest child so far. Reader kind of spoils them with loads of things only they can now make for Apep—maybe like flowers, or certain foods, etc. etc.

I like to imagine Apep secretly loves private affection. Reader giving Apep so many dragon hugs, or cuddles, or head pats. Reader spoiling them with literally anything they got lol—

Unfortunately, there's not much I can write for Apep :') There isn't enough lore for me to write on for them....

Neuvillette Headcanons

Reader 100% indulges him in his hobbies of tasting every bit of water.

Fusses over him because he's the Iudex and Reader practically almost curses out Focalors for giving their child such a demanding task, but also thanks her for showing him the ways of mortals yk. Love-Hate relationship.

Reader would bring him certain foods once they figured out what kind of mortal foods he likes.

Melusines? THEY BOTH LOVE THEM, THEY ARE NOW CREATOR'S GRANDCHILDREN (if I remember the lore correctly, I'm pretty sure they are considering they were born from a dragon??)

Reader looks out for Furina whenever they can because Neuvillette is truly Furina's #1 Fan bro—but only because Reader loves Neuvillette and doesn't want him to stress himself out.

THEY WILL KEEP THE SOUP LADLE (yk from that one Lantern Rite event? Neuvillette made a soup ladle in a theme of a dragon?) Anything Neuvillette will make, Reader is KEEPING IT in their DRAGON HOARD.

And that's all I have! Hope you find this good, Starboy Anon! :)

Ghost Rebel Side Notes: It's been so long since I wrote headcanons! This was a LOT LONGER than I thought it'd be LOLL. Hope you all enjoyed it though! :)

Seeing as we're close to 1000 Followers, I might be posting a follower event very soon 👀 Hopefully I won't die immediately once I post it! (If Tumblr eats your request, I am leaving) Anyways—I'll see you all next time! >:D

✦ Check out The Ghost Rebel’s Blog Description & Info Page to See if Their Mailbox is Open! ✦

[asdfghjklmals]

MEET THE GOJOS✩༶‧˚

GENRE + T/W: sfw, fluff. mentions of injury and blood. WORD COUNT: 10.8k words. TAGS: satoru gojo x fem!oc. mutual pining. the babies are still not official yet.

SYNOPSIS: satoru asks oc gojo girlfriend to visit his clan with him during the semester break. how will meeting the gojo clan go? AUTHOR'S NOTE: made up my own gojo clan lore. fuck it, we ball lol. the hardest part is coming up with names for people. also, playful cloud belongs to the zen’nin clan, but in this au it belongs to the gojo clan because i swear i thought it did. i left a present in this fic for you guys and it starts with a 'first' and ends with 'kiss'. REMINDER: if you want to imagine yourself in oc gojo girlfriend's character descriptions instead, please do!

your first semester at tokyo jujutsu high had flown by. you've been sent on your very first mission with satoru (thanks to yaga-sensei), practiced your close combat with mei mei, sharpened up your cursed technique, refined your domain expansion, and of course, spent all of your free time with satoru gojo.

you and satoru were practically inseparable since your birthday. you don't know how it ended up this way, and everyone on campus knew that you both liked each other, but neither of you wanted to admit your feelings for each other. whenever anyone would bring it up, you'd both say that you were 'just friends'.

friends. friends that slept in each other's beds, friends that would buy each other souvenirs just because they reminded them of that person, friends that would link arms and hold hands while they walked together, friends that worried about each other when they went on missions, friends that called each other at random times of the day just to hear their voice. sure, you and satoru gojo were just 'friends'.

"(y/n), when are you and gojo just finally going to date each other?" shoko asked you out of the blue. she looked up from her medical textbook and stared at you, waiting for an answer.

you looked up from your pre-calculus notes, "i think dating satoru gojo is the least of my worries, shoko. i have a b+ in pre-calculus right now."

"being (y/n) (l/n) must be soooo hard." shoko mocked you playfully, "she's pretty, she's smart, and she has the one and only satoru gojo wrapped around her fingers."

a thought came to your head as you paused, putting down your pencil, "shoko, can i ask you something?"

"sure. go for it."

you asked that question you’ve always wondered, "have you ever liked satoru or suguru? as more than just friends?"

shoko started laughing hysterically, "never. both of them are definitely not my type. they are my best friends though, and i love them. that's why i keep pushing you to date gojo. i want to see you both end up together."

you rolled your eyes, "—and why would you want that for me? satoru's insufferable."

"i can't imagine gojo with anyone but you. you two are like yin and yang, fire and ice. you're basically geto but a girl version. you and geto are the moral compass to that guy. it's no wonder gojo likes you so much. i've never seen him act like this before. and to be honest, i never thought he'd ever be faithful to a girl."

"oh, so satoru's a flirt? i knew it." you giggled at the memory of satoru's bold faced lie. "he told me the other day he doesn't flirt with anyone."

"gojo will flirt with anything that breathes even though he doesn't mean to. he's just naturally a people person." shoko stated as-a-matter-of-factly, "but since you came to the school, i've never seen him so curious over a girl before. you should've saw the way he moped around campus when you went to visit your family for the weekend."

you pointed your pencil at shoko, "he came to see me at my clan's estate that weekend too. my brother was so suspicious of him."

shoko looked over at you again, "hey—i heard that gojo asked you to visit his clan with him for the upcoming break. the gojo clan seems to be interested in you. are you going to go?"

flashback: one week ago

the weather was starting to get colder as the climax of winter was arriving. ice clung around the cobblestone pathway, while a light layer of snow laced the school grounds. you and satoru were walking hand in hand outside sharing a small pocket hand warmer, giggling about sweet nothings and enjoying the day together.

satoru stopped in his tracks, grabbing your attention. "(y/n)."

you halted and looked back at satoru, "what? do i have something in my hair?"

"nothing's in your pretty hair, princess." he chuckled at how cute you were, "what do you think about going back to visit my clan with me next week?" satoru shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. he avoided eye contact with you, afraid of possible rejection.

"me? go back with you? to meet your family?" your eyes widened in surprise. he really wanted you to meet his family?

"yeah, my grandparents want to meet you—and to see your cursed technique. plus, i hear that our clans are actually good friends or allies, whatever you want to call it."

you remembered touya telling you that the gojo clan are allies of your clan. that was another reason why your clan elders were okay with you attending tokyo jujutsu high instead of kyoto—because satoru gojo was here.

you bit your lip. would it really be okay to go back with satoru to meet his family if you weren't officially dating? would they scold him for bringing you back to the estate? the last thing you wanted was to make a bad impression.

"are you nervous or something?" satoru asked as he stepped closer to you, invading your personal space like he always did.

you looked up at him, his blue eyes softening in your gaze, "do you think it would be weird? me going to meet your family?"

"i don't see why not—" satoru shrugged, "i mean, we spend almost every day together. you're pretty much my gir—"

satoru stopped himself to correct his sentence, "we're pretty much always with each other." he cleared his throat, "plus, our grandparents supposedly know each other."

satoru started to feel hot like an iron was branding his cheeks, he wanted to change the subject quickly. he couldn't believe he almost called you his girlfriend. he was kicking himself for that one.

an evil chesire-grin spread across your face, "you were about to say girlfriend, weren't you?"

"no i wasn't!" satoru was mortified and caught red-handed. he looked away from you, but you ran in front of him and blocked his path.

you taunted him, "satoru, just say it!"

satoru sighed, knowing he would never win an argument against you, the queen of stubbornness. the 6'3" sorcerer leaned into your 5'3" frame, "do you wanna be my girlfriend, (y/n)?"

you gulped while meeting his gaze. you felt like he could see right through you. he always made you so nervous. your heart skipped a beat when you looked at his lips. that stupid satoru gojo and his pretty lips. with lips like that he hasn't even tried to kiss you yet? the closest thing to affection he ever showed you were half-assed hugs. you never took satoru for a 'where my hug at?' guy until now.

"no, i don't want to be your girlfriend, satoru." you looked away from him, lying through your teeth.

"aw, come on. don't be shy now, (y/n)." satoru teased you, waiting for an answer to his question.

you rolled your eyes and changed the subject, "i'll go back next week with you to meet your family."

satoru lifted his face out of your personal bubble and celebrated with a little victory dance, shimmy-ing around the courtyard as you shook your head in defeat. you smiled at the fact he wanted you to meet his family.

to you, it felt like you were being tested. to satoru, it felt like he had won the lottery.

end flashback

"we're leaving tomorrow actually. he said his clan elders have stuff they want to talk to him about before the new semester."

"—and they want to meet you." shoko added.

you brushed her off. "it's not even like that, shoko."

the library door slid open, "it's not like what?" suguru interrupted.

"oh my god, suguru, get this. (y/n) is going to meet the gojo clan tomorrow." shoko started to update him on the hot new gossip on campus.

suguru set down his books next to you and flipped open his notebook. he was trying not to laugh. "satoru's already got you meeting the family? and he hasn't even made it official with you yet?"

"right?" shoko asked her other bestie, instigating the situation.

"come on, make him work for it, (y/n)."

you rolled your eyes, "you two are ridiculous."

"again—you and satoru would be cute together." shoko sang.

satoru busted through the library door, he had his books tucked under his left arm, a can of coke in his left hand, and a box of kikufuku in his right. speak of the handsome devil. he gave shoko and suguru a head nod, and smiled when he made eye contact with you. he was late to the study party, as aways.

"are you ever going to be time?" you chastised satoru. he put his arm around you, hugging you with little effort as you leaned into his chest.

"god, you two should just get a room already." shoko incited, twirling her pencil between her fingers.

satoru winked at the amber-eyed sorcerer. you gave him a death stare, knowing that he was probably thinking about something childish or innapporiate.

"what's in the box, satoru?" suguru asked.

satoru's face lit up, excited about the sweet treats he brought, "i brought kikufuku!" he passed everyone a piece.

the next day

"god, i feel like i failed my exam." you complained to your classmates as you all walked out of the classroom.

satoru put his arm around your shoulder, nuzzling his face next to yours, "i'm sure you did fine, (y/n). even if you failed this test, you'd still pass the class."

"she's used to getting straight a's, satoru, not a barely passing grade like you." suguru expressed.

"i feel pretty good about my test," shoko admitted, "(y/n), don't worry. at least you're still pretty.

you all laughed and joked around together while walking back to the dorms. suguru and shoko would be staying behind during the semester break while you and satoru were going to be leaving campus.

"(y/n), are you ready to head out?" satoru asked, unable to hide his eagerness to leave.

you smiled at him, "yeah, let me grab my stuff."

you spent all of last night packing for your weekend trip to the gojo clan's estate. this morning before class, you and satoru went on a quick errand together to buy fruits and a small cake as a gift. you told satoru that it was a good gesture to present a small gift to his family if you were going to be meeting them for the first time. and just for that thought, he couldn't say no to you.

you rolled your suitcase outside of your dorm to meet satoru in the hallway. he looked over at you and gave you his million dollar smile that always made butterflies flutter in your stomach. he had a small backpack ready to go, throwing it over his shoulder, taking your suitcase from you.

"a whole suitcase for a two day weekend?" satoru poked fun at you. you were so high maintenance, it wasn't even funny.

"i had to make sure i have options."

"you already know you look beautiful in anything.” satoru mumbled quietly as you gave him a self-satisfied smirk.

you looped your arm over his as he clasped his palms together, teleporting you to a beautiful, large minka with a gorgeous stone walkway.

the gojo clan's estate

you and satoru jumped down from the air and started walking along the walkway to the entrance of the gojo clan's estate. satoru held your hand, guiding you through the gated area. there was a large koi pond to the left.

"that is a huge koi pond." you ran over to see the koi fish swimming around. there were lily pads and rocks all over the pond. different sizes and colors of koi fish started to swim towards you.

"want to feed them?" satoru asked.

you nodded your head in excitement as satoru walked to a wooden storage unit next to the pond to take out a bucket of fish feed.

"they'll eat out of your hand." he told you, scooping a large amount of fish feed into your hand. he watched you place your hand into the water as koi fish started to surround you.

"this pond has been here for almost 500 years. some of the fish in here are really old." satoru told you as he watched your bright green eyes admire the pond, he felt his heart melting at the sight. you were so beautiful and radiant in his six eyes. how was it that seeing you so happy and content with something so simple as feeding fish could set his heart on fire?

satoru ran the water hose for you so you could wash your hands. you looked up at him, "satoru, it's beautiful here."

"the clan tends to take pretty good care of the estate." satoru was pleased to hear that from you. you noticed that he was looking off in the distance behind you.

"oh—hey grams!" the white haired sorcerer waved to an older woman that was walking towards the both of you.

you immediately felt nervous, a pink flush filling your cheeks. you took a step behind satoru, feeling him squeeze your hand in reassurance. you had a feeling you were about to meet a member of the gojo clan.

"i felt your cursed energy as soon as you teleported here, boy." the older woman laughed and hugged satoru, "satoru, who is this?" the woman peered over at you.

"grams, this is (y/n) (l/n)." satoru stated proudly with a bright smile, "she's our guest this weekend."

"your grandfather didn't tell me that we were having any guests! my goodness, let's get you two settled in.” satoru's grandmother turned to you, "(y/n), it's a pleasure to meet you. i'm satoru's grandmother."

you admired the woman who just introduced herself to you. she had grey hair in a neat, low bun. she had beautiful purple eyes, just like an amethyst. you sensed her vast amount of cursed energy. you bowed your head and greeted her properly.

"hi, obaa-san. my name is (y/n) (l/n) of the (l/n) clan. satoru and i brought fruits and a cake for the family to enjoy."

satoru's grandmother laughed, "well, that's sweet of you. no need to bow to me, child. i know your grandparents very well, (y/n). and you can call me sobo or 'grams' like satoru does."

she lifted your chin to study your face, "you look just like your mother and your grandmother. kanae gave birth to very beautiful children, you and your brother, touya." (a/n: oc gojo girlfriend's grandma and mother's names are inspired by demon slayer characters)

you felt a warmth of familiarity and comfort wash over you. you blushed at her compliment. satoru smiled at the sight of you and his grandmother interacting, enjoying what he was hearing and seeing. during one of the many nights that you and satoru spent together, he told you that his grandmother raised him growing up. she was his favorite person in the world. and now you were meeting her.

"thank you so much, sobo." you decided to call her sobo instead of grams. maybe one day you'd end up calling her grams, but for now, sobo will do. (a/n: there are so many ways to address a grandmother in japanese, i just chose this one.)

"satoru, please bring (y/n)'s belongings to your room for now. i'll make sure to have the housekeepers prepare a room for her."

"she can just sleep in my room with me, grams." satoru said nonchalantly.

his grandmother smacked his arm, "over my dead body, boy!"

satoru ran off hysterically laughing, only for him to come back and hug her. he kissed her on the cheek and grabbed your suitcase to head the opposite way. you followed his grandmother.

"we're going to get you a fresh clean komon kimono. these ones are specially made for the gojo clan." sobo smiled warmly at you. in that moment, she reminded you of your own grandmother. her welcoming aura put you at ease.

she led you into the gojo clan's beautiful minka. you were in awe. it was truly a work of art. the floors were heated and made of the finest bamboo. white and blue porcelain vases, jade statues, and expensive paintings decorated the long corridor that led to different rooms. it was a beautiful combination of modern and old-fashioned style. the lighting was brilliant and illuminated every detail in the estate. you expected no less from the number one family in jujutsu society.

you saw a couple of housekeepers getting dinner tables ready. as you and sobo walked by, they turned to bow their heads at her and quickly resumed back to what they were doing. you could tell that she was highly respected in the household by the way everyone bowed to her and catered to her every request with no hesitation or resistance.

you and sobo turned the corner, entering a small room where two girls were washing and drying kimonos and haoris by hand. they bowed when you both entered the room.

"good evening, madam gojo. is there something we can help you with today?" one of the girls asked.

"akemi, would you please prepare a kimono for our guest? this is (y/n) (l/n).

"it's a pleasure to meet you!" you greeted akemi, bowing.

"miss (l/n), what color kimono would you like to wear?" akemi asked you with a friendly smile. she started to show you all the fabrics hanging on the clothing racks. "—we have kimonos and haoris in all colors and fabrics."

"akemi, get her the jade green one. she looks best in that color." satoru chimed in from the entrance of the wash room.

satoru flashed a smile at you. he had changed into a white t-shirt and black pants, sporting a new pair of sunglasses. akemi and the second girl immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed towards him.

"good evening, master gojo. we'll prepare the green kimono for miss (l/n)." akemi turned to her partner, "hitomi, make sure you get master gojo's orange haori with the dragonflies ready as well."

"will do." hitomi turned to satoru, "sorry for the wait, master gojo."

"oh my god," satoru groaned, "what did i tell you two about calling me master gojo? just call me satoru. master sounds weird."

you and sobo laughed at satoru's interaction with the two girls. sobo left to supervise the kitchen as akemi and hitomi quickly prepared the kimono and haori for you and satoru. you changed behind the screen as they took your school uniform from you. they mentioned that they would have your uniform washed, pressed, and returned to your room by the end of the day.

akemi helped wrap your chest with a white cotton wrap as you draped the jade green kimono over your shoulders. with assistance from akemi, she tied a beautiful bow with a darker green ribbon behind your back.

"wow! miss (l/n), you look beautiful!" akemi beamed, "would you like green ribbons to replace the blue one in your hair?"

"that would be nice, but i'll keep the blue ribbon with me. satoru got this for me as a gift when he got back from a mission!" (read 'souvenirs' here)

surprised, akemi asked, "are you a jujutsu sorcerer like master gojo?"

you nodded, "i am."

"—and she's a pretty strong one too." satoru added, moving the screen. akemi's jaw dropped at the sudden intrusion. she was surprised that satoru came over and moved the screen as you were in the midst of changing your clothes.

"my apologies, master gojo. i should've told you if miss (l/n) was finished changing or not."

"no worries, akemi. it's nothing i haven't seen before." he winked at her.

you glared at satoru, "akemi, please ignore him. he has not seen me naked." you wished you could launch an ice shard at him for that.

akemi giggled and patted your back before she left you and satoru alone in the wash room. you turned back to him, piercing him with your emerald green eyes, "why would you joke around like that around your housekeepers?"

satoru ignored you, "trust me, the whole household is just over the moon that i brought a girl back with me this time. they're setting up a whole banquet today because gramps told them to."

"are you going to tell them i'm not your girlfriend though?" you confronted satoru. he rolled his beautiful blue eyes at you, grabbing your hand to lead you out of the wash room. he would actually like to introduce you as his girlfriend, but he wasn't sure how you'd react. he would have to find the right time to do so.

"come on, let me show you around—you look beautiful by the way." satoru complimented you as you blushed, forgetting that you were in the middle of scolding him. he sure was a sweet talker.

satoru led you back to the main hallway that you and sobo were walking through earlier. you admired his orange haori. the complimentary color made his eyes look bluer than usual. you passed by more housekeepers while you walked down the hallway, letting go of satoru's hand as you walked next to him.

satoru frowned at your sudden action, "what? don't wanna hold my hand now?"

"it's not that... it's just—we're at your clan's estate. be a little more modest with the pda." you quietly reminded him.

satoru respected your feelings whenever you were too shy to show pda in public. it was only just recently that you two started holding hands at the school and knowing satoru gojo, he would hold your hand whenever he got the chance. he was always the first one to initiate any pda. physical touch was his love language next to gift giving. satoru would probably die if he couldn't be within arms reach of you.

he put his arm around you in a half hug as if he was saying 'alright, fine then' before he walked in front of you to continue leading the way down the corridor. he showed you the family portraits on the wall of the gojo clan throughout the years. you recognized him in one of the portraits as a child. he was holding up a peace sign, ruining the picture. how very satoru gojo coded.

"you looked like such a trouble maker." you joked with him before asking, "—where are your parents?"

satoru pointed at a couple in a different picture. his father had white hair and his mother had light brown hair. "my mom married into the family. as you can see, my dad is the one with white hair and purple eyes."

you glanced at his parents. you guessed that the white hair ran in the gojo clan. his mother had beautiful golden eyes, reminding you of touya.

"wait. oh my god—am i meeting your parents tonight?!" you started to panic. you weren't ready to meet satoru's parents.

"nah, my parents are out on business. they're in africa studying a cursed tool that can apparently disrupt our clan's technique." (a/n: jjk0 miguel's rope anyone?!)

you sighed in relief. satoru turned to face you with a mischievous smile, "speaking of cursed tools, let me show you the gojo clan's collection."

the gojo clan's basement

satoru led the way further down the corridor. he opened a door that led to a stone chamber, unlocking the door using a two finger hand motion and some cursed energy. the lock unlocked and floated forward, dropping on to the ground.

"all that for a lock?" you laughed at all the effort that was needed.

satoru turned to you and grinned, "cursed tools are expensive on the black market."

he opened the door and flipped the light switch on. you gasped at the sight. the gojo clan's collection of cursed tools and objects was vast and extremely organized.

"all the cursed objects are sorted in order of power from grade 4-1." satoru explained. "and this one is my favorite."

satoru took a red, three piece nunchaku off the wall and threw it at you. "this one is called playful cloud. i grew up with it. and it's only as strong as the person who uses it."

you caught it and twirled playful cloud around. it was heavy. some cursed tools felt disgusting to hold, but playful cloud felt fine. you gave it back to satoru and walked down the room, admiring the wall of knives and blades. as you and satoru were talking about the cursed objects, you heard a stern voice call his name.

"satoru."

the both of you turned around. an older man with grey hair, a grey beard, and piercing dark blue eyes appeared.

"gramps." satoru bowed. you followed his lead and bowed as well. it was his grandfather. you could sense the immensely strong cursed energy from him as well.

satoru introduced you to his grandfather, "gramps, this is (y/n) (l/n)." he smiled proudly.

"ah, this is genkei's granddaughter? it's a pleasure to meet you, (y/n)."

genkei was your grandfather. you were surprised at how far back your clan and the gojo clan went. satoru’s grandparents and your grandparents were on a first name basis.

"it's a pleasure to meet you as well, ojiisan. you have a beautiful home and an impressive collection of cursed objects."

satoru's grandfather smiled at you. "no need for honorifics, call me ojii, (y/n). are you hungry? we're going to start dinner soon. your grandfather told me that you enjoy sushi."

"—and gramps requested omakase today." satoru added with a grin.

"only because you're home for the weekend, satoru." ojii smiled back at his grandson, "come, (y/n). let me show you to the banquet hall."

his grandfather reached his hand out to you and you held onto it.

"oh, so you'll hold my gramps' hand but not mine?" satoru asked, folding his arm like a child throwing a tantrum.

you turned back to shoot a glare at him, your blazing green eyes telling him to ‘shut up’. he held his chest in fake despair while following behind you and his grandfather. you could see ojii laughing to himself as he guided you to the banquet hall.

dinner with the gojo clan

ojii hit a traditional gong to gather everyone's attention. there were multiple tables set up and everyone in the gojo clan was attending this dinner, even the housekeepers and cooks. no one was ever left behind.

"i'd like to announce satoru’s return. he just finished the semester at tokyo jujutsu high." ojii started to say. you watched as family members clapped and cheered for satoru. satoru really was the pride and joy of the gojo clan. you wondered what his childhood was like growing up surrounded by so many people who admired him.

"also, i'd like to introduce our guest tonight, (y/n) (l/n) of the (l/n) clan."

everyone clapped and stared curiously at you. you smiled nervously and waved to everyone. satoru couldn't help but gaze at you in adoration. after the introductions, everyone started to eat. the banquet hall was filled with light conversation and laughter. drinks were being poured and there were different types of fresh sashimi, nigiri, and sushi rolls presented on the dinner table in front of you.

satoru turned to you, "you okay? you're quiet. if we were at splendid sushi right now, you wouldn't have waited for me to eat."

"just taking everything in," you said softly as you were overwhelmed, "this is pretty extravagant for your return home."

"i told you, gramps is being extra just because i brought a girl home." satoru scoffed, "here—take some wasabi." he placed a small dollop of the green paste on your plate.

as you and satoru were eating, his grandparents were watching the both of you. they were happy that satoru finally brought someone home to visit with him that wasn't shoko or suguru. someone that could be his life partner.

sobo and ojii thought back to how they got married. they had an arranged marriage within the jujutsu society and were married when they turned 18. satoru's grandmother was part of a small family of jujutsu sorcerers. her family wanted to form an alliance with the gojo clan and offered her to the gojo clan as a deal. and that's how she met ojii.

"dear, don't you think satoru and (y/n) make a fine couple? satoru seems to really like her." sobo whispered to ojii as he took a bite of his nigiri.

"don't you dare reach out to kanao to try to set them up." ojii laughed at his wife. after 40 years of marriage, ojii could read sobo like a book. he knew what she was thinking.

kanao was your grandmother. currently, your grandparents, genkei and kanao, were the main decision-making elders of your clan. they were also a part of the faction of elders in the jujutsu society.

satoru's grandmother started to imagine a future for you two. "can you imagine how grand a gojo and (l/n) wedding would be? and how powerful their child would be if they were born with a cursed technique?"

"i wonder what technique their child would inherit. do you think it'd be a mix of limitless and an element?" his grandfather wondered, "unfortunately, i don't believe their child would inherit the six eyes or the water element since only one person can inherit that in a lifetime."

"they are just like the legend of that couple." sobo said excitedly, "what if they're the reincarnation of those ancestors? oh dear, let's see if we can arrange a marriage for them." she begged her husband.

ojii brushed off his wife's request, "our son and his wife aren't even home to discuss this with. let's just let the children be children, my love. i don't believe they do arranged marriages in this day and age anymore."

the grey haired couple watched as satoru used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of his favorite sushi to place on your plate. you picked it up and ate it, chewing in approval. you gave satoru a soft smile, cheeks full of food as he laughed at you. he brushed your hair out of your face and behind your ear as you continued to chew your sushi with delight. his grandparents were in awe at his behavior towards you. they've never seen anything like it. they never thought they'd live long enough to see the day where their beloved grandson would show any acts of affection towards another person.

later that night

"(y/n). i had the housekeepers set up the empty bedroom next to satoru’s for you. i hope that's okay."

"yes, that's great. thank you, sobo." you bowed towards satoru's grandmother.

"hey grams, isn't (y/n) great?" satoru asked his grandmother, "don't you think having a (l/n) in the gojo clan would be a good idea?"

she teased him, knowing damn well satoru liked you and wanted to know what she thought of you. "she is quite a remarkable young lady. maybe we should set her up with one of your cousins so she can marry into the clan."

"no way, grams!" satoru got defensive, "(y/n) is my—no one in our family is her type!" he huffed, arms folded.

you laughed at the interaction between satoru and his grandmother. sobo grinned and winked at you. she was on your side, and rooting for you and satoru too.

"(y/n), sweetheart. the bathrooms are across the hall from your room. the shower springs should be nice and warm by now. towels, a robe, and slippers are in there for you as well. take your time."

"thank you, again!"

you turned to faced satoru, "i'm going to get settled down for the night, satoru. i'll see you in the morning." you gave satoru a warm smile and wave before turning to leave for the showers.

he looked at you from under his sunglasses. he waved while watching you walk away. he was unable to contain his happiness. you were really here with him in the very home he grew up in... and you got the stamp of approval from his grandmother.

*****************************

you stepped into the guest room and your jaw dropped at the sight. the room had a queen-sized futon made with a bamboo board. the room was spotless and smelled like jasmine. a large floor to ceiling window with sheer white curtains faced the massive koi pond from outside. you saw that your school uniform was folded neatly and placed on the corner of your bed along with your suitcase that satoru brought into his room earlier.

you grabbed your toiletries and headed to the bathroom. you took your time in the shower as the hot water soothed your muscles. you were quite nervous meeting satoru's grandparents today that you didn't realize how tense your body was. you hoped that you made a good first impression on them for satoru's sake. you would hate to make him look bad for bringing you here.

once you finished showering and drying your hair, you changed into a long sleeved sweater and cotton shorts. you made your way back to your room to find satoru sitting in your bed tapping away on his phone. you could tell by his damp hair that he was also freshly showered too. how could one person look so handsome after a shower? and why did that handsome person have to be in your room?

"satoru, what are you doing here?!" you hissed.

satoru looked at you in disbelief, raising his eyebrows at you, "you're telling me that just because my grams said you can't sleep in my room, i can't be in here with you?"

"absolutely not." you stated, "what if she thinks we're up to no good?"

satoru got up from your bed and started walking towards you, "and what if we are?"

you summoned a wall of water in front of you. nervous of him coming any closer to you.

"jeez, what was that for?" satoru asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"i want to make a good impression for your grandparents, satoru. and sneaking around at night like we do at jujutsu high isn't a good look for me." you admitted.

his family's opinion of you meant a lot to you personally, especially because you liked satoru. the more time you spent with the special grade idiot, the more your feelings for him grew. and right now, you felt like your heart couldn't like him any more than you already did.

satoru reassured you, "trust me. they love you already. they wouldn't change their minds about you even if they caught me in here." he chuckled at the thought of his grams chasing him out of your room with a broomstick.

you released the wall of water that separated you from satoru. you walked over to him with a frown, reaching your arms out for a comforting embrace. he smiled at how adorable you looked with your puffed out cheeks, pouty lips, and emerald green eyes. he brought you in for a hug.

"does that mean we have to sleep in separate rooms tonight?" you laughed in his chest, "what am i going to do without my arm pillow?" (read 'sleeping with the enemy' here)

satoru groaned reluctantly, "if grams finds me in here, she might chop off a certain body part i need later in life for reproduction."

satoru looked down at you, grateful that you were in his arms. "gramps wants me to bring you back at the next semester break. what do you think about that?"

"i'll think about it," you taunted satoru, "depends on if we're still a thing by next year."

this dreaded situationship. this relationship between you and satoru that was lacking a clear definitive answer of commitment to each other. neither of you could start that conversation, neither of you had the guts. but maybe it was time to discuss it.

"don't think i'm letting you go that easily." satoru remarked. he kept his arms around your waist, squeezing you tighter as you giggled. god, he loved that laugh. it was music to his ears.

you placed your hands on his chest. his blue eyes sparkled like the tokyo bay whenever he looked at you, his perfect slender nose led your gaze to his soft pink lips.

he slowly leaned down towards you. you could feel his quiet breath against yours as you felt your heart race. you stood on the tip of your toes, moving your hands from his chest to lock your arms around his neck and shoulders instead.

you couldn't tell who kissed who first, but your lips and satoru's lips were made for each other. it was like the satisfying feeling of two puzzle pieces fitting perfectly together.

your tongues entangled, the two of you giving each other gentle kisses until you both felt like you couldn't breathe. you just couldn’t get enough of kissing satoru. you felt dizzy and out of breath, but you still wanted more.

and that was yours and satoru's first kiss.

as you pulled away from satoru to catch your breath, running your tongue across your bottom lip, still tasting his strawberry-flavored lip balm on you. you continued to hold him close. he studied your face before cracking a joke to break the awkwardness in the air.

"my virgin lips!" satoru gasped in fake shock as you laughed and kissed him again to steal his fake innocence. he couldn't believe that he finally got to kiss you. he was so infatuated with you in this very moment. if this was how it felt to kiss you, he hoped that he could do it every day for the rest of his life (along with hearing your laugh that he loved so much).

"that was really our first kiss? what took you so long?" you asked satoru in disbelief.

"it only took about 2 months." satoru dramatically sighed, "you're playing hard to get, princess. there was only so much hand holding and hugging i could take."

you scrutinized him, "it's only fair that a girl plays hard to get when it comes to satoru gojo."

"well, then. it's a good thing satoru gojo only wants one girl and her name is (y/n) (l/n)."

you continued to banter with him just how he liked, "wow, she sounds like a great girl for satoru gojo to only want her."

"she is." satoru beamed with pride, "she's the girl of my dreams." he said as he snuck another kiss.

you rolled your eyes and laughed, "you're so cheesy, babe."

satoru blinked twice, tilting his head to the right, "did you just call me babe?"

"no, sorry, i meant satoru." you quickly covered your mouth with your hands, a flush of red filling your cheeks.

satoru corrected you, "who’s satoru? i go by babe now."

"satoru."

"no! go back to calling me babe!" he whined, hoping you'd change your mind again.

you couldn't contain your laugh. you attempted to change the subject to distract him. you asked him sweetly so he couldn’t resist, "satoru, can you kiss me again?"

"don't gotta tell me twice, babe." satoru grinned, throwing back the petname towards you.

the white haired sorcerer bent down again to kiss you on your forehead, down your nose and on your lips again. you hit him on the chest.

"what was that for?!" satoru complained, "first we're kissing and then i get a smack to the chest?"

"this!" you motioned your arms around him and you, "—is why your grandmother didn't want us sleeping in the same room!"

satoru smirked at you, "i don't care. i'm staying here tonight."

you squealed as he swiftly picked you up bridal style and placed you on the bed, the both of you getting under the covers. he turned to face you as you watched him.

he kissed you on your forehead and left one last strawberry-flavored peck on your lips. he stroked your cheek with his hand and smiled at you. you turned your back to him so he could be the big spoon. he gave you an arm pillow as his free hand wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer to him.

"goodnight, satoru." you said, closing your eyes.

he called out your name before you fell asleep. "(y/n)?"

"what, satoru?" you asked, furrowing your eyebrows. this man would never let you sleep in peace. maybe you should have never invited him into your room on that one fateful day. (read 'love at first fight' here)

"can you call me babe again?"

you could feel your eyes rolling to the back of your head, "oh my god, satoru. no. go to sleep or go back to your room."

"it was worth a try." satoru grinned as he snuck a kiss to your shoulder blade. he snuggled his face into the crevice of your neck and shoulder. you could feel his soft breath against the nape of your neck as you fell asleep to the scent of jasmine and the warmth of satoru's body.

*****************************

little did you know, while you were sleeping, sobo and ojii opened the bedroom door to check on you. and to their surprise, they saw satoru in your bed too. his frosty white head of hair was still snug between your neck and shoulders, his arm curved around your waist as you both cuddled for warmth under the cool linen duvet. they smiled at each other as they saw the two of you sleeping together peacefully.

"look at them, dear... aren’t they precious?" sobo whispered to ojii as he smiled back at her. his grandparents were happy that their grandson was happy. being the satoru gojo was lonely, anyone who was willing to love their grandson for him and not for the powers he possessed was enough for them.

and you were enough for the gojo clan.

the next morning

"gramps wants to see your cursed technique, so we're heading to the sparring dojo after breakfast." satoru explained, biting into a piece of toast. you used your thumb to wipe off the crumbs that stuck to his bottom lip. you planted a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth.

you were enjoying breakfast together in the banquet hall. in front of you were small plates of bacon, sausages, eggs cooked sunny side up for you and scrambled for satoru, toast with different flavored jams, and a small stack of pancakes with a little too much syrup thanks to satoru. the head cook of the gojo clan went all out for the occasion, happy to see you enjoying the food here.

"so what cursed technique does your ojii have?" you asked satoru as you poked at a piece of sausage with your fork.

"anything i can do, he can do and more. he just doesn't have the six eyes. and he's pretty damn good with close combat. almost everyone in my family is."

you leaned into him innocently and nudged his shoulder, "maybe you can teach me sometime."

satoru laughed at your sudden bold move on him, "what? training with mei isn't good enough?"

"she kicks my ass every time." you groaned. every spar with mei mei was grueling. no wonder her and touya got along.

"i'm not gonna go easy on you, babe." satoru sipped his orange juice, "just because you're cute, don't think i'll let you win. i never lose."

"babe, huh?" you laughed, thinking about last night and how you called him that first.

satoru smiled mischievously at you, "would you rather it be sweetie pie, sweetheart, babe, honey or sweet cheeks? all of them are good to me."

you crinkled your nose in embarrassment, hitting his arm playfully. he laughed and held your tiny fist against his chest. you tried to take your hand back, but he held onto it tightly.

"excuse me, master gojo, miss (l/n)." a boy around the same age as satoru came into the banquet hall.

you glared at satoru to let go of your hand. he just continued to laugh, knowing you were embarrassed about the pda.

satoru gave the boy a head nod, "hey kaito, what's up?"

"sorry to interrupt, but grand master gojo is ready to see you and miss (l/n) in the sparring dojo."

satoru gave kaito a thumbs up, "cool, we'll be there in a sec."

you got up and started to clear the utensils and plates from breakfast. the housekeepers insisted that you leave it to them, but you continued to help by stacking up plates on the cart before leaving the banquet hall. satoru admired how helpful and thoughtful you were in that moment. you were the same way even at jujutsu high. the girl he was falling head over heels for never ceased to amaze him.

satoru grabbed your hand to lead you to the dojo, you looked at him and asked the question you were wondering for the past couple of minutes. "who was that? the guy that came to find us."

"that's kaito. he's my grandpa's assistant. he’s a good guy."

satoru cracked his knuckles, preparing himself for whatever was going to happen in the dojo.

at the sparring dojo

as you entered the dojo, you saw ojii standing in the center of room with a couple of other boys around satoru's age.

"looks like my cousins decided to show up today." satoru announced. he felt irritated knowing this. he started to stretch his arms and legs.

"why are you stretching?" you asked him curiously.

"we're gonna be sparring. anything goes in the gojo sparring dojo."

your jaw dropped, "wait. what do you mean—"

"hey satoru!" a cousin approached satoru, waving. he had greyish white hair and dark blue eyes, he looked just like satoru's grandfather.

"what's up, minato?" satoru greeted while glaring at his cousin.

"this your little girlfriend that i've been hearing about? ojii said you brought a friend home this time around." minato glanced over at you.

"minato, this is (y/n). she's from the (l/n) clan." satoru cleared his throat. "—and yes, she's my girlfriend."

this definitely wasn't the way satoru imagined he would be introducing you as his girlfriend. but in a room full of his cousins around his age, he felt the need to stake his claim on what was his.

you quickly glanced at satoru, baffled to be exact. did he really just introduce you as his girlfriend? you turned to his cousin and greeted him, "—hi, i'm (y/n). it's nice to meet you!"

"nice, a (l/n). what element do you have?" minato asked you abruptly. he really didn't care for the introductions.

you pooled a large sphere of water in your hand to show him. his cousin grinned at you.

"water? wow. you and satoru must've been destined to be together." he scoffed, turning back to satoru, "come on six eyes, let's go say hi to ojii."

satoru continued to glare at his cousin in annoyance. you noticed that he was gritting his teeth, his jaw tense. you grabbed his hand, trying comfort him. you walked with satoru to greet his grandfather.

"(y/n), satoru." ojii nodded, "did you sleep well last night?"

"yes, thank you!" you bowed, "the bed in the guest room was very comfortable."

"i'm glad satoru could keep you warm last night." his grandfather teased.

your jaw dropped as satoru, minato, and his other cousins stared laughing. you felt your cheeks turn beet red. this is exactly why you didn't want satoru to sleep in your room. first it was yaga-sensei, and now it was satoru’s own grandfather.

"it was either that or she slept in my room, gramps. and you know grams would never allow that." satoru shrugged, attempting to save you from embarrassment.

satoru's grandfather turned to you, studying your cursed energy. "(y/n), genkei mentioned that you hold the element of water. i'd love to see the extent of your powers. how is your domain expansion coming along?"

“i’ve almost perfected it.” you smiled at him.

"gramps, she's really strong." satoru explained, "she's the second fastest at laying out her domain."

"who's the first?" a cousin named ren asked.

satoru gave ren a peace sign, "i am, of course."

"well then, i'd love to see your skills." ojii reached out for your hand to help you up onto the platform he was standing on. satoru watched as you stood with his grandfather.

"do you think you can target all five of these boys with your cursed technique?" ojii asked, wondering what the limits of your cursed energy was. was your power similar to limitless with the never ending negative emotions that came with water?

you scanned the room, satoru, minato, ren, and two more cousins stood in front of you. you nodded, knowing you could probably land a hit on one of the boys.

ojii laughed in amusement, "you have free reign to do whatever you want to these punks, don't hold back."

you drew 16 ice shards. satoru scoffed as his cousins' eyes widened. satoru was very familiar with these ice shards as he probably got one thrown at him on the daily. his cousins took a defensive stance as your ice shards circled around you.

you threw all of the shards in different directions. as the five gojo boys were jumping and dodging, you casted multiple jets of water in different pressures, speeds, and sizes. you managed to land a hit on one of the gojo boys. you waved away your shards and water jets, running to the injured cousin's side.

"mako is fine." ojii stated, "don't worry."

"i'm so sorry!" you gulped, "are you okay?"

"yeah, i'm fine." mako winced as he sat up, "damn, satoru. your girlfriend sure packs a punch."

"tell me about it." satoru grinned while walking towards the both you, "(y/n), it's okay. mako's fine." he patted your shoulder to let you know it was okay. you felt horrible that mako got hurt because of you even though his grandfather said you had free reign. you and satoru helped mako up so that he could sit on the sidelines where the gojo clan's family doctor started to heal him with reversed cursed energy.

"genkei said that you can also use reversed cursed energy. is that true?" ojii asked as he saw you watching the gojo clan's doctor heal mako. he was as good as new again in just a matter of moments.

you turned back to his grandfather, "yes, i can heal people."

"can you heal satoru?”

“i healed him once, but he hasn't gotten hurt since, so i haven't been able to try it again."

"well, let's put that to the test." ojii said as he quickly shot out a small red beam, barely slicing satoru's arm enough for him to bleed, but not enough to cause any true pain to his precious grandson.

satoru winced as he grabbed his arm. blood trickling down his bicep and forearm, "what the hell, gramps? what was that for?"

"ojii really hit you with red?" minato's eyes widened, "that was a fast cast."

"he wants to see if (y/n) can heal me." satoru grunted. he walked towards you as you looked at him in shock. you couldn't believe his own grandfather hit him with a cursed technique so fast that satoru didn't even get a chance to dodge it or turn on his infinity.

you placed your hand on his arm, worried, "are you okay?"

satoru scoffed, "yeah, don't you worry your pretty little head. can you fix me up?"

"of course."

minato, mako, ren, and kyo came over to watch you heal satoru. your right hand hovered over the small cut on his arm. you focused your cursed energy as water started to surround the cut and heal his wound. his cousins were amazed to see someone outside of the family doctor heal another person, and so was his grandfather.

"does it feel better?"

"like it never happened." satoru gave you a thumbs up and a cheeky smile to go along with it. "well, gramps? what do you think?"

ojii nodded his head in approval, "impressive. i'd like to see your domain expansion now."

"wait, you want me to use my domain expansion on you?" you asked in disbelief.

"would you mind?"

you shook with uneasiness. ojii really trusted you that much to show him your domain expansion? you only ever sparred with touya and satoru when it came to your domain expansion...

"um... if you can try to stay in one place instead of swimming to the top or bottom of my domain, i'll active it for 10 seconds so you can see what it feels like."

"go ahead, (y/n). an old geezer like me can handle it." ojii laughed. satoru pushed you foward. he knew how powerful your domain was and he knew that his grandfather could handle it, he wasn't worried.

your hand signal for your domain was the buddhist hand gesture of the vitarka mudra. you connected the tip of your thumb and index fingers while keeping the other three fingers straight. you put your hand in front of you. "domain expansion: iridescent ocean." (a/n: sorry this detail wasn’t explained in love at first fight!)

a large sphere surrounded you and ojii as it started to fill with water. you could see ojii start to hold his breath as he was submerged underneath the water. he was using some type of reversed cursed technique to try to cancel out your sure hit from your domain. you saw the blinding lights at the top and felt the water pressure at the bottom, you wondered what it felt like to ojii. after ten seconds, you released your domain as water poured onto the floor of the dojo.

ojii was breathless as you, satoru, and his cousins ran towards him. "i'm fine," he waved you all off, "i wanted to see what (y/n) could do. i could barely move or breathe in that domain. i can see why water is quite dangerous and why there can only be one water user in a lifetime."

"hey! that's like satoru and his six eyes!" kyo said with a smile, putting his arm around satoru.

"your grandparents must be proud of you and the way you’ve honed in on your techniques, (y/n). i know i would be too if you were my granddaughter." ojii continued, "you must be tired using all of this cursed energy in one session. satoru, make sure she gets some rest before dinner."

satoru nodded, "understood, gramps."

"boys! clean up the dojo." his grandfather called out to the rest of his grandsons.

minato grumbled, "if bringing home a girlfriend means i don't have to clean the dojo, i'm doing that next time."

"i can hear you boy. i may be old, but i haven't lost my sense of hearing." ojii retorted.

everyone laughed as satoru and you waved and said your goodbyes until dinner. a wave of exhaustion hit you as you fell forward towards satoru.

"i got you," he caught your fall and swiped you off your feet, "you tired?"

"exhausted." you whispered. he held you in his arms, bringing you back to your room. you tried to stay awake, but fatigue overpowered you.

he placed you onto the bed as you were already fast asleep, draping a blanket over you. you must've been completely worn out just like the first day he met you. you used all your techniques, a reversed cursed technique, and a domain expansion that same day too. you were really something else…

he smiled at you before closing the door behind him. it was time for his meeting with the gojo clan elders.

in the conference room

"how are your studies going, child?" one of the elders asked.

"average." satoru bluntly admitted.

"and your jujutsu training?"

"fantastic." he said sarcastically, "i'm ranked first in close combat and cursed technique."

"although you are number one in cursed technique, you need to be able to harness the power of infinity. that must be activated at all times for your protection." another elder added.

"27/4 with infinity? that's crazy. i'll run out of cursed energy. and i get tired when i have it on for long periods of time!" satoru barked.

ojii interjected, "not necessarily, satoru. that's where limitless comes in. limitless and infinity work together, if you can make sure that you always use a reversed cursed technique in small amounts, you will not tire yourself out. that is why you got hit with red earlier. if you had infinity on at all times, that wouldn't have happened."

satoru folded his arms in frustration. his clan elders always asked so much of him. sometimes he wished he wasn't born with the six eyes. he was tired of being told what to do and how to do it.

a third clan elder joined in, "it will take time and practice to do so, make sure you work on that this semester."

"how is your training with activating red and hollow purple coming along?" the first clan elder from earlier asked.

satoru rolled his eyes and muttered, "i’m working on it."

"this is serious business, satoru." the elder lectured him, "there are only a few select members of the clan that even know of hollow purple. that is our secret weapon against the rival families and our enemies."

"i got it, i got it." satoru shrugged, "i'll work harder."

"the last thing we want to talk about it is the (l/n) girl." the last elder in the group went on to say.

satoru glared. what could they possibly want with you? "—and what about her?"

"keep her safe. the (l/n) clan and the gojo clan have a strong alliance. if anything happens to her, consider the allied ties severed."

"nothing is going to happen to her as long as i'm with her. i swear on my life." satoru said confidently, "is that all?"

the elders dismissed satoru as he stepped out of the room. he groaned, he hated having these meetings every semester. he felt like every aspect of his life was controlled. could he just chill and have fun while in high school? he walked back to your room as the elders continued their talk.

"satoru will protect her. i've seen the way he looks at her. he cares about her." ojii explained to the remaining elders.

"should we meet with the (l/n) elders and consider an arranged marriage for them then?"

ojii disagreed with anything that had to do with an arranged marriage. "no. we don't need to arrange a marriage for soulmates who were destined to find each other again in this lifetime." ojii laughed in hilarity, "another six eyes and a water cursed technique user from the (l/n) clan together after 400 years... what a sight to behold."

back to satoru's pov

as satoru walked back to your room, he dismissed what the elders had to say. they really wanted him to have infinity on 24/7? were they insane? he should be able to turn his infinity off around people he was comfortable with, right? should he really have it on at all times?

satoru knocked on your door before barging in. you opened your eyes groggily as he sat down at the foot of the bed.

"did i knock out?" you asked sheepishly.

"completely. you fell straight into my arms." satoru smiled softly at you. just the sight of you made all his problems fade away. "you feeling better?"

"yeah, just a little tired."

"ready to go back to jujutsu high tomorrow?"

"i like it here, satoru." you smiled back at him, "we should come back soon." according to satoru, he only came to see his family at the end of each semester. you hoped that you'd visit more often with him.

"didn't you want to visit your family soon?" satoru asked.

"yes, and you should officially come visit with me." you sat up in the bed. "your last visit didn't count."

satoru laughed boisterously at the memory. he missed you so much he teleported to your clan's estate without telling you. he lied to save face, "i had to make sure you were safe."

you laughed at his ridiculous statement, "safe in my own family's home?"

"it's probably time for me to formally introduce myself as your boyfriend to your brother, huh?"

"i guess you can call yourself my boyfriend... i'll allow it," you grinned at him, "—and you better hope that touya doesn't kick your ass."

satoru and you shared a laugh as he patted your head, brushing your messy bed hair down your neck and back. you grabbed his hand and placed it against your cheek as satoru leaned in for a kiss.

"ready for dinner?" he asked.

"god, yes. i'm starving."

the next morning: heading back to jujutsu high

"the both of you take care now." sobo said, "make sure to eat all your meals and train properly."

satoru hugged his grandmother and kissed her on the cheek, "thanks grams."

"(y/n), it was a pleasure having you as our guest. come back soon, we'd love to see you again." ojii said as he smiled at you.

"thank you so much for having me!" you bowed towards the both of them and gave them your million dollar smile that satoru loved so much.

"grams, gramps, (y/n) is my girlfriend.” satoru proudly stated, “so it only makes sense that she'll be coming back to visit.”

"girlfriend, huh?" you nudged satoru with your elbow as he put his arm around your shoulder.

ojii and sobo laughed. they already knew that you and satoru would love each other in this lifetime. they could sense it as soon as satoru walked through the door with you. everyone besides satoru and yourself could see that you two were meant for each other.

"i’m sure kanao and genkei would love to finally meet the gojo clan's child that stole their granddaughter's heart," sobo gushed, "(y/n), make sure satoru meets your grandparents soon. next time you're back, satoru's parents should be here for you to meet."

"i can't wait to meet them," you said excitedly, "satoru is coming home with me in a couple weeks to meet my brother and grandparents."

ojii turned to his grandson, "satoru, make sure you pay your respects when you meet genkei and kanao. and take care of (y/n)."

satoru put his arm around your shoulder, "of course, gramps! nothing's gonna happen to my girl!"

you rolled your eyes at your newly titled boyfriend as his grandparents laughed at the both of you. satoru and you said your farewells to the gojo clan. his grandparents, akemi, hitomi, and kaito saw you off before satoru teleported you both back to tokyo jujutsu high.

EXTRA:

"so what did you think?" satoru asked as you were applying moisturizer on your cheeks. you rubbed your face in circular motions, working the cream into your face.

"think of what?"

"—of my family."

you took a moment to think before answering, "everyone was so nice and welcoming. i was thinking it was going to be the exact opposite to be honest." you admitted.

you sat down on your bed, satoru sat up and scooted over to make room for you. he raised his eyebrow at you, "why would you think that?"

"hmmm, the gojo clan being the number one family in jujutsu society might be a reason."

satoru rolled his eyes, "god, my family isn't as horrible and stuck up as people make us out to be. we live a quiet life and mind our business."

satoru frowned as you tilted your head towards him. "what's on your mind?" you asked as you caressed his cheek with your hand.

"my cousins said some stuff that bugged me before we left." satoru mumbled and pouted his lips.

"oh no, satoru gojo bothered by his own family?" you sarcastically sang, "what could they have possibly said to upset you?"

"they kept talking about how hot you were." satoru complained, "as if my cousins are your type. they need to find their own girl and back off of mine."

satoru gojo was jealous. now that was something you didn't see every day.

you smirked, attempting to push satoru's buttons, "i don't know, satoru. minato was really nice to me before we left. should i ask for his number next time?"

satoru gasped, "you wouldn't."

your bright laugh filled your dorm room, satoru ears perked at the lovely sound, but still attempted to glare at you with his cerulean blue eyes.

you confessed, "you're right, babe. i wouldn't. you're the only one for me."

"oh really?" he countered, "give me a kiss to prove it then."

"fine," you muttered, "come here, you big baby."

© 2023 ASDFGHJKLMALS — ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PLEASE DO NOT COPY, TRANSLATE, OR REPOST MY WORK.

DIVIDERS PROVIDED BY @/ANLIAN-AISHANG

[rjalker]

Flatland: An Adventure in Many Dimensions, a 2024 translation into casual English, is done!

You can read and download it completely 100% for free on the Internet Archive!

When it's done loading, you will be able to read it directly online, and the Internet Archive will automatically generate audiobook versions with text to speech.

You can also download and torrent various versions as PDFs, epubs, and editable documents so you can change the font, paragraph styles, and do anything else you want with it, like give everyone neopronouns or turn them into unicorns!

I will also be making my own audiobook version at some point. but that's gonna take a while since this is around 38,000 words long. You can make your own too! And you can translate this into other languages!

Edit: The "lazy" (unedited) audiobook is now available on youtube! It is in two videos, since my computer wouldn't let me combine them lol.

“https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpFcEwm88RUsMYmhY6DBYZcIvvKv6_ZS3”

Did I mention this is public domain? Because I hate capitalism and I'm poor and I want other people to also be able to enjoy books for free.

Buy the cheapest possible print version for $7.45 (I get $2).

This version is a paperback with no illustrations, no prefaces, a greyscale cover to make it as cheap to print as possible, so that more people can afford to buy it.

Buy the regular print version for $22.17 (I get $5).

This version is a hardpack with illustrations, the preface from the original author, and one from me.

You can also download all the HD illustrations included in this story here on the Internet Archive.

If you enjoy reading it, you can also donate directly to "TinyelFlatland" on paypal!

And if I haven't made it clear yet, this is Public Domain. You are 1million% encouraged to download it, print it, share it, do literally anything you want with it. I am 100% serious.

Now you can all join me in laughing at the narrator :)

Edit: oh wait lol. I realize I wrote this post assuming only people who already know what Flatland is will see it.

Uh so people who have no clue what Flatland is, here's a quick summary:

The narrator, who hides his identity using the alias "A. Square", is a resident of a world called Flatland, a world that only exists in two dimensions, where every person is a flat geometric shape. A. Square tells us the history and culture of his world, which is rife with bigotry that he buys into without question. Until New Year's Eve, before the first day of the year 2000, when a mysterious stranger claiming to come from the third dimension appears in his living room, and starts saying things that sound absurd, and performing what seem like magic tricks.

The original Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, was published in 1884 by Edwin Abbot Abbot. It is both a scathing political satire criticizing the systems of bigotry in Victorian England, and an entertaining introduction to the concept of more than three dimensions.

Edit: Now there's an itch.io page too!

Edit again: And you can read it here on tumblr now! @flatland-a-2024-translation and on Pillowfort!

[exeggcute]

in a similar vein to the stuff I was talking about recently with google (unknowingly?) selling invalid ad placements, here's an interesting post I saw on linkedin the other day about advertisers who think they're buying ad space on one domain but are really buying ad space on another:

so, for context: the woman behind this post was one of the creators of the sleeping giants campaign, which was a (pretty successful!) attempt to choke out right-wing "news" websites and other peddlers of misinformation by drying up their advertising revenue. she went on to found the check my ads institute, which does a lot of the same stuff and more; one of the recurring themes of check my ads' messaging is that advertisers often aren't aware that they're running ads on unsavory websites (and are therefore inadvertently funding those websites via their ad budgets, even though they genuinely want to avoid doing so)... in part because advertisers frequently aren't aware of where their ads are running, period.

in this post specifically, she's not talking about individual advertisers but about one of the companies that exists to connect advertisers (brands who want to buy ad space) and publishers (websites who sell ad space)—in this case, an ad platform called unruly, although they recently got absorbed into a bigger company called nexxen.

nexxen is an all-in-one ad platform that's both a DSP (demand-side platform, which helps advertisers buy ad placements) and an SSP (supply-side platform, which helps websites sell ad placements). they make money by taking a cut of each transaction.

what's happening here is that unruly/nexxen worked with a publisher called yorogon.com who was selling inventory (i.e., ad space) through nexxen's platform. so if you're an advertiser who wants to run ads somewhere, you can go to nexxen and buy inventory from their available sellers; in other words, ad space offered by yorogon.com is one of the "products" for sale on nexxen's markplace. (most of these transactions happen in split-second auctions, though... it's not like shopping on ebay.)

the problem is that this seller who nexxen authorized as "yorogon" wasn't actually running ads on yogoron.com or any of yorogon's nonexistent clients' websites... they were running those ads on fucking breitbart lol. basically the equivalent of a supermarket agreeing to sell some new cereal on behalf of the manufacturer, but the boxes are actually full of thumbtacks.

we can pretty safely assume that breitbart did this on purpose because they know that a lot of the big advertisers with fat wallets shy away from publishers like them—for a number of reasons—which means that they have to sell their inventory to smaller, shittier advertisers with less money to spend. otoh there's no reason to believe that nexxen was deliberately taking part in the charade; for one, the information that led to this discovery is public, so anyone who gave half a shit could've figured it out (including nexxen or any of their advertisers lol). not exactly some vast conspiracy when your extremely public records give away the mismatch. and for two, the whole "promising to run an ad in a certain location but actually running it in a different location" is a massive fucking no-no even if the "different location" isn't andew breitbart's personal wank cave. from that last link I just shared, scroll down a bit and you can find this:

note that the warning code isn't "you're buying ads on a shitty website that sucks," the warning is "you're buying ads on a website that isn't what it says it is." but there is a dedicated warning code! because back to the cereal metaphor from earlier, this is like—okay, even if the cereal box is full of actual cereal instead of thumbtacks, it's still a problem if you thought you were getting honey nut cheerios and then opened the box and it was full of apple jacks instead. (and god knows I would never willingly buy apple jacks.)

whatever you're selling, it has to be accurate: if you offer ad space on golflovers.com but you actually run the ad on golfenthusiasts.com, that's still a major issue and the advertisers you work with will rightfully jump on your ass about it... assuming they ever find out, lol.

what's really interesting to me, though, isn't so much that an ad platform was selling misrepresented ad inventory—because as far as I can tell, that happens all the time—but more that we only know about this particular instance because it involves breitbart. check my ads is specifically hellbent on throttling breitbart's ad revenue, which is why someone was even poking around in these seller lists in the first place. anyone else could have; the advertisers who unknowingly bought ad space on breitbart theoretically could have, and nexxen certainly should have.

but for all the ad quality and transparency standards in place, any parties involved in the advertising supply chain still have to take action and check their records to make sure they're following said standards. if they get complacent, bad actors absolutely can and will try to slip through their defenses. and what's especially embarrassing in this case is how many safety partners unruly/nexxen was working with who claim to mitigate this exact scenario... although one of them was doubleverify and they kinda suck lol

[elspethdekarios]

BG3 Tav Backstory Bash

This is a challenge to help people flesh out their Tav’s backstory by exploring their past. It is organized into four sections with seven prompts. You can treat this as a monthly challenge or a general project. You can write headcanons, fics, or share art based on the prompts! You can interpret the prompts however you want. If you want to share use the tag #bg3backstorybash

Thank you @lolthslover for tagging me in this forever ago!! It had taken me literally a month (or more??) to write all of this, so I'm sorry it took me so long!

I have no idea who all has done this already, so sorry if you're getting tagged again lol. I tag @mumms-the-word @waterdeepwhiskey @loserwitchbitch @lewdisescariot @fantasyfictionfables @orangekittyenergy and anyone else who wants to do it <3

I didn't answer all of the prompts, so make sure you check @kelandrin's original post for all of them!!

Elspeth Dekarios (née Vaidelark)

Age: 35

High Half Elf • Cleric, Corellon Larethian, Nature Domain • Noble • Chaotic Good

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

This is long, read under the cut!

Baby:

Parents

Elspeth Vaidelark is the second and youngest child of Lord Rodorick Vaidelark and Lady Selma Vaidelark. A high elf sorcerer born to low-level nobility in idyllic Evereska, Selma always longed to live in the hustle and bustle of a city. So, when a noble family in Baldur's Gate was seeking an alliance via arranged marriage, she volunteered. Selma is a cold woman, and an even colder mother. Rodorick, a human paladin, is a touch warmer than his wife, but aloof and distant from his daughters. He is about 60 years old, and Selma is about 200. They are both more than okay with this age difference, given their marriage has never been one of love, but of convenience and rank.

Birth

Elspeth was born 5 years after her sister Ariadne. Selma's first pregnancy was a breeze--no morning sickness, no swollen feet, and the birth itself was smooth and quick... but her second was not so easy. When she was pregnant with Elspeth, she was constantly sick and absolutely exhausted. Towards the end of her pregnancy, the midwife insisted Selma needed bedrest. When it was time for the baby to come, Selma was in labor for days, in pain and sick as a dog. When Elspeth finally made her appearance, Selma wanted to feel the same motherly love she felt with Ariadne, but when she held her new daughter for the first time, she felt only resentment. She thought perhaps their bond would strengthen later, once the trauma of her pregnancy subsided, but it never did.

First word

The Vaidelark sisters had a private tutor as small children before they started attending school. Little Elspeth's favorite part of tutoring was storytime, and she'd often wobble over to the tutor with a brightly colored children's book clutched to her chest. She'd thrust the book out in front of her, silently asking the woman to read to her. After months of tutoring, Elspeth had picked up a few words, but her speech was mostly babbling sounds, until one day, she handed a story to the tutor with a word, clear as day: "book."

Tantrum

Elspeth wasn't much of a tantrum-thrower--that was Ariadne. Though she did once throw a mighty fit after tossing her favorite doll down the stairs, breaking its ceramic head in the fall. She didn't know it would break, and it was her first lesson in actions having consequences. Her parents offered to buy her a new doll, but she didn't want a new doll. She wanted that doll, unbroken as it was moments before. She screamed and wailed and cried until her red face was wet with tears and snot before eventually falling asleep.

Childhood:

Friends

Elspeth had a consistent group of childhood friends, including her best friend, Hera. They met at school in the Upper City when they were about ten years old, and have been friends ever since, even living together in adulthood. Hera is a high elf with bronze skin and deep chestnut brown hair that has always been impossible to tame. Early in this friendship, Hera chased down a group of boys who were making fun of El's upturned nose, poking their own noses up and mocking her with nasally voices. El turned away, mortified and trying to hide her tears. Hera ran after them, kicking each of them in the shins and dragging the ring leader back to El by his collar to apologize. Elspeth credits Hera with teaching her to stand up for herself.

Siblings

Ariadne is older than El by 5 years. They've never been close. Ariadne was always the golden child in their parents' eyes. She realized quickly that she could do no wrong, and used it to her advantage. Their parents wanted Ariadne and Elspeth to follow in their father's footsteps, so they were both trained to become paladins from an early age. Where Ariadne found sword fighting and shield bashing natural, Elspeth struggled. She became decent with a weapon, but it never came easy, and she would often retreat to her room bloodied, bruised, and crying. Always being compared to her sister, Elspeth grew up knowing she was second best in everyone's eyes but their housekeeper, Tessie.

Getting into trouble

El got in trouble for everything even though she tried her best to stay out of it. Eventually, she realized her parents would find a way to use her as the scapegoat for anything they possibly could, and she stopped trying--though this didn't happen until she was a teenager.

Teenager:

First love

When she was about 15, Elspeth developed a massive crush on a human boy at her school. He was tall with deeply tanned skin and tousled black hair, and he looked at her like no one had ever looked at her before. Like he wanted her. He was the first boy she ever dated. They would sneak out of their upper city homes late at night and meet in the park like some kind of forbidden, secret love story (even though it wasn't forbidden at all). They were only a couple for a short amount of time before the infatuation faded, but she did love him--as much as she knew what love was at that point in her life. It was love in the moment.

Rebellion

Once she realized that she could never do right in her parents' eyes, she stopped trying. This really came to a head as a teenager. El didn't hold her tongue anymore, and she wasn't afraid to speak up for herself any longer. She got in heated arguments with her sister regularly, she stopped her Paladin training of her own accord, and she started spending as much time as she could away from home. As she got further into her teenage years, she started partying. She spent many nights out at dance halls with her friends, indulging in whatever mind-altering substance was offered to her--alcohol, dreammist; she even tried silkroot a few times. As she neared adulthood, these habits imbued her with a bit of a party-girl-socialite reputation in the city.

Reckless behavior

This incident actually happened in adulthood, but it's the most fitting thing for "reckless behavior":

El's partying habits continued into her 20s. Despite her strained relationship with her parents, she was still nobility, and she was a bit naive to the world outside of her upper city upbringing. One night, El and her friends attended a ball in honor of a diplomat's visit. Always looking for an excuse to wear her absolute best clothes, El was dressed in an extravagant lavender gown adorned with silver vines. When she bought it, she knew exactly what necklace she needed to wear with it--the one kept in the family safe, white gold with hanging droplets of shining diamonds and alexandrite. She always loved that necklace and the way it seemed to sparkle the most in moonlight. It was an heirloom from her father's side of the family, and worth an obscene amount of money. She wore it to the ball, got compliments on it all night, and when she and her friends decided to venture to a pub afterwards, didn't think twice about the fortune of gems that she wore around her neck.

She drank far too much wine that night, and possibly indulged in some other things as well. Most of it is a blur, but she remembers ending up in a card game with a stranger--a large man with a scar on his face. She remembers being certain, absolutely certain, that he was bluffing. She remembers being so confident that she would win that instead of betting gold, she bet her family's jewels that adorned her neck. And she remembers losing.

She came clean to her father the next day when the haze of the night wore off with the morning. He sent his toughest men, with the help of the Flaming Fist, the track the man down and pay him off. The jewels were secured and back in her father's safe, but Elspeth's relationship with her family was essentially over. They granted her her inheritance and she was told to leave. She didn't speak to them for years. Painful and embarrassing as the evening was (it landed her on the front page of the Gazette), it was a wakeup call for her to get her shit together.

Adulthood:

Serious relationships

El dated and slept around a little bit during her party years, but she never really fell in love until she met Leon. He was a paladin who trained at the same academy she attended to channel her divine magic (more on that in the next couple sections). Leon was charming, funny, treated her well--she fell in love with the way his auburn hair fell loosely behind his slightly pointed ears, the freckles dotting his skin, the chiseled muscles of his body....

Leon was good for her, she told herself. He encouraged her to try to repair her relationship with her family, and to show them that she'd grown and learned from her mistakes. She was much more mature now that she was in her 30s, and she always hated that her parents still probably thought of her as an obstinate, reckless child. "Redeem yourself," Leon would tell her. "They need to see how much you've changed." So she did. Bit by bit, she began stitching together her family ties until she and Leon were biweekly dinner guests at her parents' table. There was still tension, sure, and she would never see eye to eye with her mother, but her father seemed to actually grow fond of her in those months.

While Elspeth grew closer to her family (even Ariadne was tolerable most of the time), her and Leon began to grow apart. They were both invested in their own work, and their relationship fizzled out. It was an amicable breakup, though it was hard to remain friends, so they mostly avoided each other. El wasn't really hurt by the breakup, but she did miss him. She did feel like second best again, since Leon continued spending time with her family--her father especially took a liking to him. Even though she didn't love him anymore, she still carried a fondness for him... until he proposed to Ariadne.

She was in love with Leon, but she never experienced true, soul-binding, unconditional love until being with Gale. Neither of them had. What she had with Leon pales in comparison to her relationship with Gale. She had to process the betrayal, of course, but she doesn't miss him at all.

Work

Elspeth is a healer and assistant instructor at Ambrose Academy of the Divine--a post-secondary school for clerics and paladins of Seldarine deities to hone their skills and knowledge. Being a healer is her calling (literally lol). More on the Academy in the "Leaving Home" section.

Finding your place

Since Elspeth spent a lot of time with the housekeeper, Tessie, she picked up lots of skills that nobles don't often need to learn. She learned to cook, do laundry, basic cleaning skills--but most importantly, she learned about healing. Tessie worked as a healer for years before she began working for the Vaidelarks, and she was often the person El would seek out after being injured in training with her sister. Tessie would hold her small, work-worn hands over El's bloodied skin, and El would watch in awe as a turquoise light radiated from her palms and warmed her skin as it regenerated. Tessie taught her how to soak her bruised, sore body in a warm bath of epsom salt and herbs, how to make balsam ointment for burns, and how to stop bleeding quickly with pressure and bandages. Healing spells eventually became second nature to her.

Elspeth's mother, hailing from a land of elves, was a devout worshipper of Corellon, and raised her half-elf daughters to be the same. El always found peace at the small shrine her mother had built in the courtyard, and devoted herself to her own private worship for years. One night, as Elspeth kneeled at the stone statue of the Elffather under a clear, crescent moon, she felt a presence of overwhelming peace and certainty envelop her. She was spoken to without words, but somehow knew within her body that this presence was her god, and that he, in that moment, bestowed his favor upon her. The moment felt like it lasted for hours, but it was only a few seconds. When she opened her eyes, her palms were glowing golden and small, white flowers started sprouting from the ground she kneeled upon. For the first time in her life, she knew who she wanted to be.

Leaving Home

When Elspeth told her parents about her divine experience, her mother was--possibly for the first and only time in El's life--happy for her, even if she seemed a bit jealous that the god she spent her life worshipping revealed himself to her daughter instead of her. Regardless, her parents enrolled her in Ambrose Academy of the Divine where elven and half-elven clerics and paladins develop their skills, knowledge, and faith. Ambrose consists of the school, a healing center, and dormitories for students/instructors if they choose to live at the academy. Elspeth has lived, worked, and studied at Ambrose for over a decade, and it has truly become her home. She shares a suite with her best friend Hera, also a cleric of Corellon by coincidence (they've been best friends since childhood). Working in the healing center is her favorite, but twice a tenday she serves as an instructor assistant--something she's learned to enjoy, even if she was unsure at first.

Staring a family/found family

Hera is definitely El's found family, but now, of course, her companions are found family as well. She's especially close with Karlach and Shadowheart (though they had their fair share of arguments before she turned away from Shar). She and Gale have worked tirelessly to find a solution to Karlach's infernal engine problem, and hope to one day bring her home from Avernus for good.

As for starting an actual family, I'm not sure if El and Gale want to have kids. I think if they did, it would be years down the road, and they'd only have 1. I think they would love being parents, but I see them wanting to focus solely on each other for a long time before/if that ever happens.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hello steeeeephhhh :D

yet another rant incoming - hold on! (or ignore your choice lmao)

but like-

OKAY.

idk why it took me so long to watch the rdj sherlock holmes movies but like... HAHAAHAHAHAH HOW CAN A MOVIE TRY SO DESPERATELY TO BE STRAIGHT AND END UP SO BEAUTIFULLY GAYYYYY

lmaoooo literally can't. it's just too funny!!!

i watched them both (are there really only two?) (nvm i just looked it up myself - yes there are only two)

thaha. holmes constantly trying to sabotage watson's relationship with mary and watson actually giving in to holmes' attempts to keep him company... it is hilarious!

OH aaalso... the first one was made before the bbc show right? it's funny to see the parallels between those!

(bbc did better but honestly nothing will ever be better than bbc sherlock to me...)

(jude law is an amazing watson!!! not entirely convinced of rdj as sherlock holmes. maybe i didn't buy his british accent xD (or maybe i am just too big of a sucker for benny boi xD) (who am i kidding ofc i am too big of a sucker for benefit cumbernoodle))

ANYGAYS!!! i hope youre okay and i am sending you hugs!!!

btw i am sorry for my random rants in your inbox but... i don't know i just love the way you interact with your asks... ask-people? what is that called??? idk but i hope you know what i mean!)

whoop!! reminded me of how much i love sherlock haha (not that i could ever forget i am just in desperate need of a rewatch)

(am i making too many brackets?) (i totally am) (shut up turtely it's getting awkward) OKAYYYY BYYEEE

love you take care youre wonderful and loved and beautiful and perfect just the way you are and I NEED TO STOP AND BRING THIS TO AN END NOW!!!

-🐢

Hey Turtely!!!

OMG I LOVE RDJ Holmes, and it's so BEAUTIFUL. The first one came out in 2009, and Sherlock came out in 2010, so yes, RDJ Holmes was first, and I fell in love with that one first (I got into Sherlock in 20...13? Just before season 3). The two RDJ films are still a couple of my faves, and there's been talks for YEARS for a third one (I know both RDJ and Law want to do it, but I think the problem is all the issues plaguing WB...)

AND OMG the BEST PART?? Law literally shamed a reporter for calling their relationship a bromance; I think they BOTH want the third one to be an explicit queer relationship, but I think the big hurdle is the studio interference and (BEFORE 2023) was the remaining copyrights not having expired. NOW that all the ACD canon is public domain, the big hurdle is the WB.

Anyway, I love them, SO MUCH. I ship them SO hard, and now I think I'm gonna go rewatch the movies because they're SO beautiful. I love them to bits.

Since it's been over a decade since the last one, I would LOVE SH3 to explore them older and together. I think that would be lovely.

I have a lot of fun stuff in my rdj holmes , ritchie holmes , and sherlock holmes 2009 tags you can check out!

And thank you for your kind words. I will try my best to take care of myself <3 My heart is a squishy at the praise LOL

[itwasthisorthemilitary]

April 7th, 2024

Yesterday I went into the city. First to get my packages from Chorrera and lemme tell you, it was like Christmas. I successfully got both packages and now i have a phone case and enough caffeine supplements are least for the next month. It was so successful that i could’ve been happy just going home to Los Mortales right then. But i didn’t. Instead I went to Casco Viejo with Sophie. Casio Viejo is the most touristy part of Panama City and although beautiful, kinda a waste of time. It’s so expensive and there are American tour groups everywhere, and i know I’m American…but I’m not that kind of American. But altogether, pretty successful Saturday.

Today we did a limpieza in town. A limpieza is just a town wide clean up. The idea was to organize it and hopefully community members would join to help. No one wanted to listen to me when i said that no one in their right mind would go to a limpieza at 7 am on a Sunday 🙃 but WHATEVER.

Organizing these things are hard! Where do we get trash bags? Where do we get gloves? What the fuck do we do with all the trash once it’s been collected? On top of that, Momma Bielca telling us that we need to feed the people who do show up. So now we also need to find/buy food with no budget and secure somewhere to cook it. We put very little energy into this limpieza.

All things considered, I’m stunned it turned out as well as it did. Granted it was mostly trainees, but at least 10 community members showed up to help. We filled 24 bags with trash, and another couple wheelbarrows full of glass. Absolutely gnarly, it rained so hard last night so everything was wet and muddy, starting early was good because there was less heat but “less heat” is still like 90° with 100% humidity. It was great to see the difference we made, even if only for the next 24 hours.

After the limpieza i went home and did absolutely nothing for the next 4 hours. It was phenomenal. I started a new book today and im 300 pages in already.

At 4:30, Audrey and Caitlin came over to my house while the moms played bingo. We had told them that this Sunday we would be making all of them dinner to say thank you. Initially it was going to be lasagna but when i saw that 12 oz if ricotta was going to run me $11, we changed gears and made baked ziti, salad, and chocolate chip cookies. I was so nervous because Audrey and Caitlin both told me that they would help however they could, but the ziti was my domain. Also, cooking for 17 people??? Really hard to do in an oven that I’ve never seen used. I’ve been really stressed about not knowing if i got the right quantities, or if they would all hate it. It was hard! Everything just takes so much longer to get organized. But once it was all said and done, we had plenty of ziti, enough to give everyone seconds. And more importantly, they WANTED seconds. Xavier told me i need to teach Audrey how to cook lol. We even had enough to invite some of the neighbors over (I may have overestimated). It was really exciting because other trainees have made their families dinner and

1. 1 Person found their meal hidden in a cupboard the next day

2. Olivia’s family called her dinner “sopa de gringo”

3. Sav saw her family feeding it to the dogs.

Felt really nice to cook with Audrey and Caitlin and the family was so happy.

This week I’ve noticed a very distinct change in the weather. It’s raining more, almost always cloudy, not any cooler, and somewhere more humid than before. But the wind is a lot stronger and feels amazing.

One more week in Los Mortales.

[cmyknoise]

"Not entitled to URLs" I've never anyone say that before but you are right

i'm not the only one saying it but yeah.

like. i get it sucks, especially for cc's that have a "brand" right. like of course phil is gonna want the philza/ph1lza url

and anyone would. i would of course, but here's like, the thing right.

these cc's have known about tumblr for years. some have even voiced that they're 'scared' of it.

but twitter is going down a shitty road, and i don't blame them for wanting to jump ship

but now they want their usernames that they've built their brand around. and i get it, but here's the thing.

tumblr isn't like any other platform, and it is almost entirely fandom based

having "canon" urls of characters or fandoms or people is a commodity.

some people hoard urls (which is against tos to an extent, although tumblr does allow you to have some spares, if you have too many they can be taken from you if they've been unused. to my knowledge if you post on said accounts or use them in any way or switch between urls this tos doesnt usually apply, but some people do get terminated for having like 20+ urls saved)

but others genuinely will wait until they see a url deactivate or change and snatch it up

urls are traded around. fuck if i recall a few years back some bigger companies offered money to users to buy certain urls because they wanted them.

but like, these are rightfully obtained urls by fans. they've waited and snatched them up, it's been a race. i got ones like ghostburboo because i made it within a minute of ghostbur's last name being dropped. my best friend has a fundylive account. i know people who have canon urls, they're not impersonating cc's. they enjoy them or their content and post like normal, but those urls are apart of their tumblr space/identity.

and if a cc asked someone for a url and they said 'sure man here you go' then awesome! but they're not doing that, or they've not yet done anything like that. they just go straight to tumblr or they're vocally complaining on twitter about being unable to get urls they want.

i know for phil tumblr responded to him, and i hope to fucking *everything* he does not get those urls by tumblr taking them from someone. that's bullshit and i'm sorry like- i love phil but that's some bullshit. no one should be allowed to just say "hey tumblr i want my url" and tumblr can go "okay king!" and do it, when someone else got it first. thats how all websites work, if someone got that url first they get it. you cant throw a fit if you didnt catch the worm man.

tommy made up a funny url, sneegsnag did, so have others who've joined and couldnt get their classic usernames, why anyone feels entitled to these usernames is crazy to me.

because yeah you've built your brand around it, but you're entering into a fan space.

and these people have, on twitter, admitted to "i might not use this often lol" but they still want the urls, which is once again bullshit.

they're jumping ship from twitter for very good reason, but it's not fair to the users who have been here for years using their urls and usernames to be pressured or at risk of them being taken, especially if the cc isn't even going to be using tumblr all that much.

its tumblr and it's 2022. if you can't get some canon url you mix the letters up. why do you think i have an x in my name? chekhovsgun is taken and has been for ages, so i replaced the o with an x myspace style

use numbers, do something funny. i think tommy's is very funny (and he wasnt upset about not getting tommyinnit, he seemed more sad about not getting wifehaver) sneegsnag's is very funny

these ppl are entering in an enclosed terrarium and then wanting to take the sticks and leaves from bug houses to make their own house and like, bruh you can't just do that.

besides they're not even like, they have so many options. tumblr does custom domains, so they can still have their names they'd just have to get a custom domain for it instead of it being name.tumblr

they can straight up go onto twitter or twitch or youtube and say "hey chat my tumblr is minecraftblockman69 follow me there lmao"

and then there's proof! then people know "hey that's my streamer's tumblr" and the whole risk of impersonation doesnt even matter

like. i dunno man. its extremely upsetting to see people jump ship and want things they feel entitled to have because of their brand, disrespecting that this is a fandom space, when chances are they may not even post here or stay here long.

[sugashook]

The renewasacrew thing just seems wild tbh. I don’t pretend to know what happened (apparently there was drama?) but like, within the space of a few days it’s all going to just vaporise? The .com? The social media accounts? So … anyone following the links back to those now will just get 404s?! We paid to put that branding on a fucking billboard etc. like a WEEK ago, it’s being directly mentioned in the public media for OFMD, and by the cast and creators - IT’S what’s trending everywhere, and now it’s just going to disappear? Aside from confusing anyone who doesn’t know what’s happened, it’s just going to look so fucking amateurish, like ‘oh, you gave up? After two weeks? Silly little fans. Back under your rock now’. It feels like it’ll undermine everything it might have accomplished, tbh. If I’d known this was what they’d do I’d have offered to buy the domain at least, so there’d be some sort of forward-linking continuity, or an explanation for people at least. Like…?! Sorry for getting cranky on anon but this is just super fucking frustrating.

apparently it's been explained to be that they're scared of a member(who they put on board, who genuinely hates the show, who did a drag show with dj's X'd out face in FRONT OF VICO, which btw nobody told about, they harassed max employees when izzy died etc.)

they're still keeping their name private lmao i meaaan look where that got us. it's over now.

it's a very low iq viiiiibe~ not to be rude to low iq people. ummmmm, yeah you are exactly correct. everyone is absolutely completely insane and dumb and it came to bite us??? lol

they cant even TWEET like wth you cant even T W E E T without ruining something

two whole weeks.

love you anon!!! :-) yeah ...jfc

[fantimati]

Bedtime story live blog but like all in one post lol

So like a domain maybe? At least i think time dosent pass in them?

HE"S RETUEND! YAY :DDDDDDD

straight up do not belive you but ok

OK SINNER MENTION!!! LET GO!!! MORE INFO NOW YAY!!!

:/ upset it's dialouge options and we get to choose whther they feel betrayed or not. Hoyo please stick to them being their own charcater i beg of you.

This whole sequence kind of reminds me of the interview in from the first time we meet him. I have to talk about that one day since depending on how you answer he goes "You and your sibling are the same/ diffrent" which. hmmm

Hello?!?!

HELLO?!?! Makes his situationship with the abyss sibling worse T_T

RHINE?!?!

ok him leaveing so quickly after caribert makes sense now

New fear: rhine being a giant crystal when we meet her.

WAIT RHINE DID ACTUALY REACH GOLD (like alchemy gold becoming transendent. The end all be all according to kehmia's order for alchemy.)

... did dain not sleep at all? He sounds tired

implanting memories into others.. that's weird. Haven't we heard something like that before?

It's nice travler has a lot of faith in dain but also dain seems a bit off? THe way he's speaking is diffrent? idk how to explain it other than like a bit confused and tired

ok yeah there is deffinatly something wrong with him.

I wonder when Dain found the temple of revelations ( is that the name) ? Like the obvious answer is before we foind the feild tiller but it seems this area is part of the chasam civilization? the only problem is that it's not upsidedown ig. But in that interlude dain says that was the first time he's seen it.

Oh and this place has the same flowers an enkonomiya i think. Oh and the hooded stautes are the same as well as the candles.

dain is lying i can feel it.

OH MY DAYS

DIRECT CHRACTERIZATION OF THE ABYSS SIBLING OH MY GOD

WHO THE FUCK IS THAT??? A KHEARNIEAN??

Atossa this is emberrassing.

WIAT CARIBERT????

"Farewell atossa

i apologize

for making you know me

unwillingly

still i dont wish

you to forget me"

:(

DAINSLEIF WHAT THE FU

HUGH

Not even the guy who died for the loom of fate knows what it's for. ok

:(((((

OH MY GOD

FINALY FINALI IWYFGUIWUDTW!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm going to start killing

wait i completly forgot about paimon. where did she go??? They were both asleep buy only the travler was in clothar's consioucness

ohhh i'm going to start kiling

:(((((((((((((((((

FInal thoughts: God fucking damn it

[khaire-traveler]

Hi! I follow you and you seem very close with Hermes, so I wanted to ask you a couple Qs if that's ok. I don't typically worship him, not because I don't respect him as much as any of the gods or anything like that. Actually a lot of his aspects/domains are really important to me. But his 'commerce' aspect has always sort of stopped me - Capitalism hasn't been very kind to me and I have a really bad relationship with money and so I was unsure about Hermes since that's such a big part of him. But soon I'm traveling to a new country and learning the language, as well as searching for a job there right now. So I decided to ask Hermes for help! I wrote him a devotional/prayer letter sort of explaining why I've never reached out before to him and being honest about how I felt and how much of my life I have in common with his aspects/domains. Then I burned the letter (to send it off to him) and said a quick prayer like "this letter is for you". I don't know, I guess I just wanted to ask if you have any words or tips regarding worshipping him? I'm excited to have a relationship with him and plan to start giving him regular offerings like the deity I feel close to (Apollo). Or maybe I just wanted to gush lol. Anyway. Bye!

Thank you for the ask, Nonny!

So, right off the bat, Hermes is a god of commerce. Commerce does not equal capitalism; it just means trading something (such as money) in exchange for goods. The Google definition for commerce is the activity of buying and selling, especially on a large scale, so whoever said that he is the god of capitalism (if someone told you that) is just flat-out incorrect. Out of all the gods, honestly, I feel that Hermes is not a big fan of capitalism and the way it fucks with people's well-being. In my experience, he is a VERY caring and compassionate god, often going out of his way to aid his worshippers, even if he isn't getting much in return. He likely wouldn't enjoy a system that is inherently corrupt and puts the well-being of others at-risk for money. Commerce is not capitalism.

Anyway, I'm very happy for you! I'm glad you reached out to Hermes! He is a fantastic god and has helped me many times when it comes to career and the like. My main tip is to not view him as some greedy, capitalistic jerk or a malicious entity because that's just not who he is. Hermes actually has an epithet that translates to "friend of [humanity]"; he is very willing to help and guide people where they need to go. He is even known to be a guide of human souls to The Underworld! If anything, part of his job is helping people! Like all gods, there is much more to Hermes than his single domain of commerce; I recommend doing some reading and research on him. Doing this research may also bring you some peace of mind when worshipping him. 🫂

I'm in the process of creating a basic guide to worshipping him, actually, so be on the lookout for that!

Hope this helps and reassures you! Have a wonderful day/night! 🧡☺️

[leporellian]

thoughts on broadway and/or the tonys and/or musical theater in general

fuck i never did get around to this LOL here we go

broadway... compels me in some weird way. like for every single complaint musical theatre fans lob at opera- 'it's too much about spectacle!' 'it's too elitist!' 'it's funded by rich people!' (which that last point in and of itself is. Have you ever been to europe. but the way in which opera criticism is uniquely USAcentric is a convo for another time) are all... like... right there in musical theatre on broadway.

arguably those are even more of a problem over in musicals. musicals have Brand Identity. when you think of wicked, every wicked production is specifically built to look the same, with no real difference in direction or performance besides individual casting. (and also that infernal dragon, for some reason, that they never even really actually use except for like one moment where it wiggles around a bit. a lot of my memory of seeing wicked in 9th grade is just remembering how absolutely disappointed i was that they had a big dragon animatronic and they never used it in a satisfying way! like, what the fuck! anyway, again, tangent.) even if there isn't a cohesive brand there's the matter of rights settlements, and certain creative restrictions, and on top of that there's the fact that it is incredibly hard to go watch broadway musicals if you don't have transportation and monetary access to them. (and don't get me started on whatever the fuck "bootleg trading" is. like man they're even inventing capitalism in new places. hello.)

opera meanwhile is the wild fucking west. most of the standard rep works are in the public domain. there's only 1 standard rep opera i can think of off the top of my head that has any creative restrictions in the performance license contract, and given the one creative restriction with that one is "please have black people play the black characters and don't do blackface you freaks jesus christ" i'm totally down w/ it. if you want to go watch opera, there's thousands of recordings on youtube and on specialty sites like operaonvideo.com that just act as a huge performance archive. opera is genuinely one of the most accessible art forms there is with the advent of the internet.

(man remember when hamilton had basically a free raffle for 10 dollar tickets every week or whatever that was? meanwhile the opera company in my college city literally just sells 11 dollar tickets to students and every time you buy one from them it acts like it now has a blood debt to you. crazy.)

broadway is like genuinely so capitalistic it baffles me, godbless. and i do WANT to understand musical theatre better but a lot of the time it just sort of whizzes past my head and i have no idea what to make of it. (that, and theatre kids are.... Well. Yeah)

THE TONYS are equally baffling, but instead of broadway which feels like some strange dystopian world, the tonys have a distinctly alice in fuckin wonderland shit to me. there are opera award shows but none of them are nearly on the same level as the tonys. it's cool that the trophy spins around i think. i think its very obvious the tonys largely exist as a further marketing mechanic and not as like... actual awards, but to be fair thats the point of all awards shows at this point anyway. (well, that and making a lot of people very angry.)

looking at this year's nominations for example. here are some of my thoughts: i forgot about the some like it hot musical, i genuinely have no idea who the audience of that is meant to be. CORN MUSICAL??? who the fuck made a CORN MUSICAL and WHY? &juliet terrifies me with its existence. the plays should unionize together. i dont know why i was surprised ben platt is there i thought he just kind of faded into the walls after the dear even hansen movie or something. isnt new york new york a frank sinatra song. oh shit the sweeney todd revival already premiered? (i dont keep up with broadway news) why is there a corn musical. also when i looked up the tony awards i accidentally typed in 'the toby awards' which is apparently an award show for building design. Anyway thats my analysis as someone who is genuinely so clueless about current broadway news

[rjalker]

Anyways since I already forgot I literally did publish a book:

Here's where you can buy a physical copy of my Small-Flower Pawpaw Identification and Differentiation guide!

It shows you how to tell small-flower pawpaws apart from common pawpaws, and a few other similar looking species!

Here's a map of observations of small-flower pawpaws, as of December 7th, 2022, from iNaturalist.org. As of today there's 1,703 observations :)

[ID: a cropped satelite view of North America showing an area from Texas to North Carolina to Florida. Scattered over this area are orange boxes in various densities. End Id.]

Each orange box represents an observation! And if you're within this area but don't see any near you, don't dismay, it probably just means no one uses iNaturalist in your area, so you can be the first one to start posting observations!

[ID: A link preview for Lulu.com showing a small-flower pawpaw plant, with text overlaid that reads, "Small-flower pawpaw Identification and Differentiation Guide". End ID.]

Here's the web archive page for it where you can download it in various formats for free: Link Oh! and it looks like you can read it there too? Nice!

And here's the link to the google doc which you can also download for free!

This guide is public domain because I wanted it to be available to everyone possible! :) That means you can download and share the files as many times as you want in any way you want! If you know how to bookbind (and have lots of printer ink, lol) you can even print it out and make your own physical copies!

If you live in or are visiting Atlanta, Georgia, congrats! Small-flower and common pawpaws can both be found there, so especially if you're there when the fruits are ripe, you might get extra lucky and be able to find both!

[captain-acab]

do you know if there’s a way to get blokada 5 on ios? their website only lists 6 and i dont wanna buy that lol. soz if u dont know it seemed like u did based on ur post

I don't know for certain. I don't have an iPhone, but I know Blokada is sharing the file (apk) for the Android app, and the source code for the iOS app, meaning you would have to compile it yourself. I would guess that is a nontrivial task. I also don't know if/how to sideload unofficial apps onto iphones; there's probably a way, but it's no way as easy as Android.

There may be a different iOS app for that does the same job, idk. Try googling "domain based ad blocking for iOS" and see what comes up.