#i like looking at what people think about me based on my signs and examining how i feel about it

[dandelioncasey]

@listen-to-the-inner-walrus back again with the peer-review-worthy tags

it does still make me insane specifically how many queer people lovingly embrace astrology. I went to a poetry workshop yesterday that was genuinely quite good but also included an option to disclose astrology designations during introductions and so many people broke out some variation of "I'm a [x] sum but I have a [y] placement and it SHOWS" girl no it doesn't. that's meaningless correlation you completely invented the causation

[savannahsdeath]

heyyy could u write something where like reader is about to shower but starts to get really insecure and kinda has a breakdown, BUT ellie reassures her. (pls also give reader stretch marks bc i've been so insecure abt mine lately and i have them literally everywhere. thighs, hips, even on my boobs lol) <3

ELLIE WILLIAMS X INSECURE!READER

mdni please<3

warnings: 18+!! but tbh its minors safe this time i think ??

writers note: just a reminder youre all beautiful no matter what!! beauty standards or wtv was it called are something we shouldnt base our life on but we sadly do. self love is the key to happiness and dont let other people ruin it!!🩷🩷and to our lovely anon, you dont need to worry about stretch marks. trust me, most of people dont even pay attention to them! its nothing 'special in a bad way'. i lately got some too, right before my holidays and theyre sooo visible through my summer clothes but its something you can get used to be comfortable with. please, anon, dont think less of yourself because of them nor any other insecurities. and this comes to everyone!!💞

it was already late so you were getting ready to take a shower to not waste any more time. you put your clothes on a nearby shelf. you stood in front of the mirror in your underwear only, looking for anything that could be possibly pointed out, like you didn't have enough insecurities already. feeling rather self-conscious, you were examining your reflection for any flaws or imperfections. every detail of your body was being inspected up-close, from the lines on your stomach, to the size of your thighs, to the shape of your shoulders and face. your eyes were scanning every inch of you, seeking any signs of something you could hate, even if others wouldn't notice them. you couldn't help but wonder if the things you were stressing over were even worth worrying about, or if you were just creating problems where they didn't exist.

either way, you couldn't help but hate them. and since you mostly focused on bad things and you didn't see your advantages - you hated yourself. in your eyes your whole body could change. or even should change.

the more you stared at yourself in the mirror, picking apart every little thing, the more you hated what you saw. it felt like nothing was good enough, like every little imperfection needed to be changed or worked on. you felt like you could never measure up to this impossible standard, like your entire body was inadequate. the insecurities were eating away at you, gnawing away until any confidence or self-love you might've had was gone.

that was the moment your eyes beginned to get glossy. you didn't cry though, oh, no. you hated the way you look when you cry, just like everything else, so you tried your best to hold back tears. the floodgates were beginning to open, but you held them back with everything you had. you despised the way you looked when you cried: the tears down your cheeks, your puffy eyes, all those disgusting, revolting imperfections. as much as you hated your flaws, you despised your crying face even more. you would never let anyone see you like that, never.

suddenly, your girlfriend and roommate in one, knocked on the door. "everything okay in there?"

she must notice you're taking your time instead of simply taking a shower already.

you stayed silent, knowing if you try to open your mouth you couldn't control what comes from them. you'd probably break down and the thick door won't be enough to mute your pathetic sobs.

you didn't want to answer, but then again, you knew if you stayed quiet, your girlfriend would eventually come in and check on you. you had to keep yourself together. you couldn't fall apart right in front of her like that.

you let out a shaky breath and replied, "yeah, everything's fine." you could feel your voice cracking with each word, but you were determined not to let her see you in such a sorry state.

what if she sees me the way i see myself?

your girlfriend wasn't fooled by your shaky reply. even if you denied it, she knew something was wrong. she heard the emotion in your voice and could sense the struggle to keep yourself together. without another word, she opened the door and walked in.

"what's wrong, pretty girl?" she asked when she didn't saw your glossy eyes yet.

you, on the other hand, couldn't control yourself anymore. the nickname 'pretty girl' hit you instantly, thinking you're anything but pretty.

pretty.

girl.

those two words hit you harder than a punch to the gut, evoking a strong reaction that you tried to mask. you took a deep breath to steady your voice so that you didn't break, but it was impossible to sound completely calm when you felt so much pain just from those two words.

"nothing." you muttered quietly, but your voice sounded more like a choke than a word.

she hugged you from behind, looking in the same, unlucky mirror. her hands softly touched the scretch marks on your hips as she hold onto them, gently rocking you back and forth.

you wanted nothing more than to reject this hug and flee from your own reflection in the mirror, but you were too weak to pull away.

"nothing?" she asked gently, planting little kisses from your neck to shoulders.

you felt a wave of shame and embarrassment wash over you as your girlfriend's touch revealed the marks on your hips. she immediately spotted them and caressed them with her soft hands.

it all felt too much. you were fighting so hard to hold yourself together, but when she touched you, it all came crashing down. the tears finally escaped and you began to sob, clinging onto her tightly as you broke down. "no... not nothing..."

she held you close, feeling your warmth as her arms wrapped around you and her hands comforted your pain. she rubbed your back and kissed your neck as she tried to soothe you. "shh, come here, it's okay..." she whispered gently.

she led you over to the bed and laid you down. she carefully took off her shirt, leaving on only her bra and boxers, then laid down with you, hugging you tightly. she kissed your neck, your face, brushed your hair back, caressed your body, your stretch marks, your insecurities (at least the ones she knew about), anything to try and comfort you. she whispered words of reassurance and love as she tried to fill you with the affection you felt you lacked. "i love you, my pretty girl... i love you." she repeated those words again and again, hoping you'd believe that someone could love you, and that someone was her.

ellie continued to hold you tightly as you cried into her. your tears soaked into her bra, but she didn't mind; you'd done that many times before. she rubbed your back in soothing circles as she let you let it all out, and she made small shushing noises in your ear. your sobs turned into whimpers and then into a soft murmur, and as your emotions died down, she gently wiped away the tears, replacing them with kisses.

as she noticed you calmed down she slightly pulled away to get a better look at you. "can you tell me what's wrong now?"

"i... it's just..." you started, and your voice broke as you tried to find the words. your girlfriend gave you her undivided attention, focusing on you and only you. "i- i don't feel pretty... i don't feel good enough... i don't feel... enough."

with her eyes looking deep into yours, you couldn't help but be vulnerable as you opened up to her. your insecurities and flaws, the things you tried so hard to hide, were all laid bare in front of her now.

a pang of guilt hit you in that moment.

what am i doing?

ellie was so sweet and loving, and you felt like you were just taking advantage of her kindness. like you're just an attention seeker.

but before you could say anything, she pressed a finger to your lips.

"no. shut your mouth." she said sternly, and you couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "that's not true. i don't wanna hear it, not another word." she leaned in and pressed her soft lips to yours.

you found yourself sitting on her lap, as she stroked your hair, whispering something or kissing you from time to time. you told her all about it, about what and how you feel. and she listened.

you were so lost in your emotional story you didn't even notice the way she slowly took off her rings - one by one, and placed them on a bedside shelf.

[a-d-nox]

aphrodite (1388) persona chart observations (part 2)

welcome to my mini valentine's series on the goddess of love and beauty - this month 4 observations will be released regarding the aphrodite persona chart! all observations are in reference solely to aphrodite persona charts. these observations are completely hypothetical. they are based on my (the those closest to me's) experiences with each aspect/ placement! please don't take everything i say as predestined, astrology is possible outcomes not guaranteed ones. this is just a starting place for when examining singular objects in an entire galaxy (these are not the only asteroids in affect for you). take what resonates and leave what doesn't!

paid reading options: astrology menu & cartomancy menu

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♀ venus negatively aspecting anchises (1173) people tend to not flirt well? like its always over the top or not obvious at all

♀ venus-aphrodite (1388) people are very dominant in a room - they appear to be very comfortable in their skin, wear the perfect clothes for them, and tend to be confident in their skills surrounding charming others

♀ earth and fire mars people may be dominants, while air and water mars people are submissive; switches may have the mixture of these (see degree and sign)

♀ mars positively aspecting moon may indicate liking feminine qualities in a partner or liking a partner who is sensitive towards you and your needs

♀ mars-pluto people have REALLY high sex drives.

♀ people who can destroy a reputition with drama or gossip tend to have mars-mc or mars-pluto aspects

♀ mars-nn people with positive aspects may find they hook up with a lot of people, while negative aspects do not; they could be on a life journey to learn about levels of intimacy

♀ mars negatively aspecting poseidon (4341 / h47) people could lack authority/dominance in a relationship

♀ air and water jupiters are more likely to question their self-worth; especially, if aspecting the ruler of and/or being in the 8h and/or 12h

♀ water jupiters (this includes those with water degrees or aspects to the moon) tend to be the tate langdon of the chart group: "i would never let anybody or anything hurt you... i've never felt that way about anyone..."; your loyalty and promises run very deep into your person

♀ you may have great legs if you have sagittarius (9°, 21°) or capricorn (10°, 22º) jupiter

♀ jupiter-uranus people may experience fluctuations in their weight

♀ saturn negatively aspecting the moon may indicate feeling insecure over breast size; you could have been bullied for being "flat"

♀ people with saturn negatively aspecting the moon and/or venus tend to be the first ones who are ridiculed for betraying other feminines (could be through cheating, bullying, turning their back on them, not protecting them when they see injustice (i think of those social experiments where a guy takes a picture up a girl's skirt and then everyone around her just stands there without saying anything having seen the whole thing go down OR like serena joy holding down june in handmaid's tale), etc); the positive aspects tend to be the advocates and allies for women rights and justice

♀ saturn negatively aspecting venus and/or pluto could indicate shyness or insecurity over your yoni - i feel like these people are either like olivia from sex education where they think their yoni is ugly and/or they may be the type to cry / get stressed at the gynecologist's office because they feel ashamed or vulnerable in their chair

♀ saturn with negative aspects to mars, venus, and/or pluto may be in denial of their sexual preferences especially that of who their partner is or isn't (aka their character)

♀ saturn-neptune people tend to be comfortable naked, but i feel like there is slight over-awareness of clothing like a "does this look right on me?" type moments or "damn i should have worn a bra, i feel like everyone is looking at me" type deals

♀ saturn-pluto people either aren't satisfied with their sex life or they are rather kinky... or both

♀ saturn-aphrodite (1388) people may struggle with loving themselves or finding qualities they admire about themselves

♀ uranus-mc people are mass manipulators that can "brainwash" whole societies (steve jobs had a quintile between these two planets and now everyone is compelled to own his products - donald trump also has a quintile)

♀ uranus-hestia (46) people are often traditionalists who are opposed to divorce

♀ uranus-psyche (16) people could have some really twisted relationships in which no one knows who manipulated who

♀ pluto-poseidon (4341 / h47) people tend to be extremely lustful

♀ scorpio-influenced (8°, 20º) and/or neptune-pluto people can be super seductive and possibly are in the adult film industry

♀ cancer (4°, 16°, 28º) vertex and/or moon-vertex may indicate relationships with feminines or becoming a better person when emotional intimacy occurs in your relationships

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return to nox’s guide to metaphysics

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© a-d-nox 2024 all rights reserved

[penny-anna]

podiatrist adventures

⬇️gross medical stuff down here

one of my new year's resolutions was to get rid of my corns. have had 2 of them for uhh probably several years? not really painful just unsightly. want 'em gone.

try out corn plasters for a week or so. if you've never used corn plasters before well they have acid in them. the acid is visibly burning the skin around the corns but leaving the corns themselves intact.

look into seeing a doctor about this. i can go on a months long NHS waiting list OR pay about £50 to go and see a private specialist in a week's time

fuck it i want 'em gone

go to the appointment. mention to the podiatrist that i've had corns before that were definitively caused by badly fitting shoes but i've never been sure what triggered these 2 as they're in a weird location (sole of foot). she agrees that it's unusual but says all sorts of things can cause corns.

she starts removing the corn & the acid burned skin. confirms that corn removal plasters just don't work very well on the soles of your feet bcos the acid 'splooshes out'. figures.

a good way into the procedure she comments that she's seeing 'black dots' inside the corns and will need to properly examine them once the dead skin is all off. hopefully nothing.

she finishes up & gets her microscope

'hm yeah these are verrucas'

'say what?'

'sometimes you get a corn on top of a verruca that's what's happened here'

o_o

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S A CORN ON TOP OF A VERRUCA

tells me i have three (3) options:

wait for verrucas to go away on their own (not keen as it's already been several years)

go to a pharmacist and buy her recommended product

Cryotherapy.

we can do the cryrotherapy right now today but it will be 'a bit sore'.

i have no idea what 'a bit sore' means in real people language but based on previous experiences i suspect it means 'it will hurt like a bitch'

ask if there's an extra charge for that. she confirms it's included in the £50 fee.

'you don't have to get any treatment if you don't want to & you can go away and think about it if you want.'

as ppl who've been paying attention to my blog will be aware i've had a lot of uhh pretty brutal dental procedures so im honestly not really all that fazed at the idea of it hurting. main concern is that she mentioned it'll be painful for a few days afterwards and i'd prefer to avoid that if possible.

but u know. fuck it. i want 'em gone.

sign the consent form.

'ok we're going to do 10 seconds on each one and that should kill them. we'll do 5 seconds at a time.'

starts the procedure. 'oh this hardly hurts at all this is weaksauce - OHH OK'

actually hurts worse after she stops. based on my reaction she suggests that we stop at 5 seconds on each.

no. fuck that. i want 'em gone.

wait to see how long the stinging lasts. it's about half a minute. tell her to get it over with.

its bad!!!

she gives me an information sheet about what to do if i get a Blood Blister (there is a risk of Blood Blisters) and tells me to take some paracetamol

in six weeks time i'll know if they're actually gone 👍

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

What Happens At Home: Final Part

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.3k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Summary: A new team member joins due to her traumatic past, hoping that she can give some insight before more people are killed. Meanwhile, you get the house ready for Spencer's mother on Christmas weekend.

Season Six Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them.

x

"Agent Hotchner. You should see this." Felix moves a small TV to face Hotch. It's an interrogation tape of one of the sixty-four suspects. "This guy is Frank Morris."

"I do? How do I know that?" Felix asks.

"I run the damn neighborhood watch," Frank glares.

"That means you're walking around at night."

"You said the profile could include somebody in the neighborhood watch, right?"

"That's where Agent Y/N comes in."

"I know the unsub's energy. I can match it to whoever is in the crowd."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm a psychic. I see energies. Everyone has a different base energy, and the unsub left a lot of it behind at the crime scene."

"That's not possible."

"She's the real deal, and we trust her wholeheartedly. Let us focus on scanning the crowd, you focus on bringing Frank in." Hotch doesn't give him time to question you. "We're going to try something else. Can you make some officers available to run a sign-in table at a community meeting tonight? One of the things we're going to be examining is body language in a group environment."

"Body language?"

"It's something that the unsub won't be able to control even if he were to try to."

"Right. Okay, I'll have some uniforms detailed for the meeting."

"Will you also tell Brinkman that the unsub will display something that he can't control?"

"Sure," Felix nods and leaves.

"Do you think they'll be able to keep that to themselves?"

"Let's hope not."

"Hotch, Might be able to point out the unsub but you told me that I have to have facts and evidence to back up my claim. Is this going to happen tonight or will you arrest whoever I say to?"

Hotch sighs and takes you off to the side.

"We can only hold someone for forty-eight hours without cause. If we get him now, we have a clock running. If you point him out, we can be better prepared and gather evidence before bringing him in."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Don't think I don't trust you. I do. I take everything you say into consideration."

"Thanks, Hotch," you smile.

At the most recent crime scene, Derek and Emily found a laptop owned by the latest victim. Once Derek brought it back to the model home, he hooked it up for Penelope to sift through. Aubrey was a writer so you're hoping she kept some kind of journal. Maybe she noticed someone following her or she felt weird about something. It's a stretch but you have no doubt if there is anything to find, Penelope is going to find it.

With the suspects who are left, Penelope looks to see if any of them have a tech background that would allow them to modify a remote control of a garage. It might be how the unsub is letting himself into the houses.

Marjorie's family was out of town. Jill was strangled in her laundry room while her family was camping outside. The unsub was able to get through the entire house only to find a room where someone was awake. That doesn't sound like someone just randomly checking garage doors to see if one will open. This unsub stalked his victims and reprogrammed a garage door opener to work on his victim's doors.

As soon as six rolls around, you're in the back which has a great view of the entire church. People are filtering in, but none of them are the unsub yet. Derek and Emily show up after looking at each of the crime scenes.

"We just came from the last victim's house. The unsub used the garage as access. Maybe a remote door opener made to be universal. The police are saying it's random, but how could you randomly find a woman so vulnerable? Garcia's going over backgrounds again, trying to highlight anyone with tech experience," Derek explains.

"She's also doing a full workup on Brinkman and Ruiz. They had that kind of access. Has anyone seen Ruiz?"

"I saw him a while ago," Rossi answers Hotch.

"He set up everyone filling out forms, but I haven't seen him since," Spencer says.

"We need to ask for help in a different way. Tell people that we're looking for someone who might have seensomething rather than someone who did something. No one thinks that their friends or neighbors are capable of this. We should get started."

Hotch walks to the altar to address everyone inside the church while you stay in the back. The unsub has not entered the building. You didn't even have to go inside the crime scenes to see his energy. It was pouring out of it like a disease. Hotch gives a brief overview of what's going on in a calm manner so that no one panics.

"We're hoping that someone may have seen something and not even realized it. Maybe you have a neighbor who takes his trash out late, works on his car in his garage, or anything that might put someone outside at an odd hour and allow them to see something."

"Is there anything we can help you look for?" Emily asks Ashley.

"It won't be overt. The kids probably won't be afraid of their dad."

"They won't? These guys have explosive tempers, don't they?"

Your dad did.

"Definitely. Anger wasn't normal at my house. Usually, when it happened, when he exploded, it was an anomaly. A surprise. If anything, my father was overly solicitous. Too nice. If I wanted anything like bicycles, toys, and dolls, all I had to do was ask. In groups, he always held my hand. Always. Sometimes so tight, it almost cut off the circulation. I can never remember him putting me on his lap or holding me in any way."

You look away from her as you think about your own dynamic with your dad. You had the complete opposite experience with him. He was scary when he was angry. When he punished, he punished. Afterward, he'd feel so bad about how he reacted that he'd give you anything you asked for. He was overly affectionate for you and loved to hold you as a kid. It stopped when you got too old for it, but he always loved hugging you. You never saw an issue with it. You still don't, but you're confused why dread and doubt are creeping up your back when you think back on it.

"Are you okay?" Derek asks and nudges you.

"My dad did that stuff for me."

"Your dad isn't a killer."

"Yeah, I know," you whisper.

"He'd always have these talks with me. He was terrified someone would take me," Ashley continues. "He knew what was out there. Men like him. Maybe this unsub recently bought gifts for his kids. My dad used to buy me things all the time."

"What kind of gifts?"

"Anything. Everything. I told you, there was nothing... My whole life, there's only one thing I wanted that I couldn't have."

"What was it?"

"A pet."

After Hotch is done talking to the crowd, he walks over to your group, and you shake your head at his questioning look.

"He wasn't here, Hotch. I didn't see his energy anywhere. I don't think he's here but he could have blended in. There's a lot of people here. Energies tend to mush together in large crowds.

"We're gonna start with the people who didn't show and cross-reference with families with no pets," Emily explains.

"No pets?"

"I remembered I wasn't allowed to have a dog or a pet of any kind. It was more than a rule. It was a big problem for us," Ash says.

"That could be something."

"I'm sorry I couldn't point him out."

"We don't expect you to point him out. We're hoping you can help us once we have things narrowed down. Plus, I believe Y/N. If she says he wasn't here, he's probably not here."

Spencer returns with a list in his hands. "Out of the sixty-four suspects, eighteen of them didn't show up."

"Okay. Prentiss, take Ashley back to the model home, go through the eighteen names, and add the pet information." Emily nods, and the two women leave. "Is Garcia's working on technical backgrounds?"

"Yes," Derek nods.

"Okay, get her the eighteen names. Did Ruiz ever get here?"

"No. Neither did the security chief."

"As far as I'm concerned, we have twenty no-shows."

An officer walks into the church and over to your group.

"Agent Hotchner? Detective Ruiz would like you to meet him at Main and Oak. There's been another murder."

You immediately head over to the house to see Felix talking with the distraught husband of the victim. He is sitting on the front porch steps with his head in his hands, crying his eyes out.

"I know, Mike. I'm sorry. We're doing everything we can," Felix sighs.

"The unsub's killed two nights in a row. It's a major escalation."

"We need to start over," Hotch says. "I think we go back to the beginning. Local PD gave us a list of sixty-four out of the seventy-one possible males. I think we throw that out and start with the original seventy-one."

"What about Ruiz?" Spencer asks.

"He's definitely on the list."

"He didn't do it but that doesn't mean he doesn't know who did it or isn't covering for him," you whisper.

You head back to the model home but Emily and Ashley aren't there.

"Hey, Reid, where's the list of people that didn't make the meeting?" Derek asks.

He hands the list to him. "Right here."

"We need to look at all seventy-one files. We need to eliminate suspects our way, not theirs."

The files of everyone are on the dining room table, and you grab a handful of them to look through. Spencer drums his fingers down the sides of the folders and frowns in thought.

Derek takes out his phone and dials Penelope, putting her on speakerphone.

"Garcia, are you ready?"

"Yes. What do you got?"

The front door opens and Detective Ruiz walks in. Everyone looks at him like he's the suspect, and he senses the hostility.

"What's up?"

"There are only sixty-seven files here. Where are the other four?"

"One of them is mine, and the other three are the victims' husbands."

"Why would they automatically be cleared?" Derek asks.

"Wouldn't they? I mean, if you're gonna check them, you might as well check me."

"We are," Rossi states. "Detective, where are the missing files?"

"Right over here."

Felix grabs the files and hands them over to Hotch.

"Garcia, we need you to run a few more names. Phillip Long."

"Long has no suspicions on his record, no arrests, and no technology either."

"Drew Jacobs."

"Drew had a couple of arrests for assault when he was younger. I'll give you more details on that in a second. Is this the husband of the woman whose computer I went through?"

"Yeah."

"She was really unhappy with him. She said he was distant and he left her alone at night."

"He was wandering outside," Felix says. "As a matter of fact, before his wife was killed, he was my top suspect."

"He's an IT expert who travels around the world," Penelope says.

"He's a tech. Thanks, baby girl."

Emily and the Chief of Security walk through the door just now. "What's going on?"

"There was another murder during the meeting."

"Where's Seaver?"

"I thought she was with you," you say.

"No. I left her here."

Hotch takes out his phone and calls Ashley who picks up immediately. He places her on speakerphone so everyone can hear her.

"Agent Seaver," she answers.

"Ashley, where are you?"

"Without a doubt, sir."

"Where are you?"

"Yes, sir."

A look of realization falls over Hotch's face.

"Can you get out of there?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I can't do that. Mr. Jacobs told me that his daughter was frightened, and as soon as I can make her feel better, I'll come back."

She hangs up and you look at Hotch who is worried for her.

"Jacobs has her. She has no gun. Let's go."

"Son of a bitch," Felix curses.

You rush over to Drew's house. Based on the energy you can see floating out of the house, there is a child inside. It's like Ashley's childhood all over again.

"Prentiss and Morgan, take the back. Make noise. Let him know he's caught. It may be the only chance she's got."

You go with Htoch through the front door, and you keep your gun aimed in front of you.

"FBI!"

You make your way upstairs to see a little girl with tears streaming down her face and Drew standing behind Ashley with a knife to her throat.

"Drop the knife," Hotch demands.

"Daddy!"

You walk over to the little girl and pull her into you to keep her from running to her dad.

"Drop the knife!" Rossi yells.

You turn Drew's daughter toward you so she doesn't have to see what happens next. Drew pushes Ashley to the side and lunges at Hotch with the knife. You cover the girl's eyes just as her dad is shot twice in the chest. You don't waste any time in getting the girl downstairs so that she can't see her dad's dead body lying on the ground.

Case closed.

Spencer stayed true to his word and flew to Las Vegas to pick up his mom while you went back home and got the guest room ready for her. She's been having more good days so her doctor allowed her to take Christmas weekend away from the facility. Spencer texted when they landed in Virginia and once again when they were pulling up. You open the front door and smile when you see Diana.

"Diana! I'm so happy to see you! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, dear," she smiles back.

"Why don't you two sit down and I'll make some tea for you two," Spencer offers.

You lead Diana to the living room and sit with her on the couch. You wanted to wait until Christmas morning to tell her the news but you can't contain your excitement much longer.

"We have some news, Diana."

"What is it?"

You hold out your left hand to show off the beautiful diamond ring. "Spencer and I are getting married. We're engaged." She gasps happily and grabs your hand to inspect the ring further. "We'd like you to be there."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," she grins.

"Would you like to watch some Christmas movies?" She nods and leans back in her seat. "Great. I'll be right back."

You walk into the kitchen where Spencer is and slink up to his side.

"I like how happy you make my mom."

"She makes me happy, too. Afterall, she gave birth to you."

Spencer leans down and kisses you, utterly and completely in love with you.

"Children begin by loving their parents. As they grow older they judge them, sometimes they forgive them." – Oscar Wilde

x

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[mumms-the-word]

in honor of that one post I can’t find for the life of me that’s like “not Gale with Tav but Gale with the Blackstaff librarian” please have this snippet of a thing I will never finish you’re welcome

Gale x fem!OC, no tags, just two academics being snarky with each other

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When Gale approached the library, he found his way blocked by several—no, many whispering students and annoyed-looking professors all blocking the way. They were pressed as far as possible in tight packs around an open doorway, the library visible beyond, but not a single one would go inside.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, looking at one of the students he recognized.

“Oh! Professor Dekarios, it’s the new librarian. She just arrived today and she’s not letting anyone into the library.”

“No one? That seems a bit antithetical to the point of a library, don’t you think?”

“She says she’s reorganizing,” another student broke in, looking delighted by the chaos. “She’s already thrown out anyone who crosses the threshold and is threatening to seal the doors if anyone else enters to disturb her.”

“Is that so,” Gale said, raising his eyebrows. She sounded horrible. He couldn’t help but picture a matronly old woman, set in her ways, her hair in a strict and severe bun of gunmetal gray, jowls nearly to her shoulders. “Well, allow me to have a word with her.”

His announcement, though spoken at regular volume, sent a wave of tittering and excited whispers over his students. He ignored them as he waded between them to get nearer the door. One of the other professors saw him coming and quickly arranged the students around the door to get out of his way.

“You’ll not get through to her, you know,” his colleague warned. “She’s on a rampage in there and she seems to have focused all her magical study to the art of marching people directly out of her space.”

“Then I’ll try to be diplomatic and charming,” Gale said, a spark of his old hubris coloring his smile. He stepped over the threshold and into the library.

It was utter chaos, for lack of a better word. Nearly every shelf was empty of books, completely bare, while mage hands with dusters and cloths were busy dusting and cleaning the centuries-old wood. The books themselves were arranged in stacks of no real order or sense, some just three books high but many others towering as nearly as high as the first landing of the four-story room. Solitary books flew through the air at random intervals, coming to rest on top of one stack or another. The towering busts and statues of previous Blackstaffs and other wizards of note were also being thoroughly cleaned, though their bases also served to collect all the furniture in the room, apparently, save for the tables that were all but groaning under the weight of stacks of tomes. Gale had never seen the library in such a state of disarray.

No sign of the enigmatic librarian, though. He ventured further inside, glancing here and there to try and find her, again picturing the strict, no-nonsense older woman with a face like thunder.

At last he found a younger woman floating midway up a three-story set of shelves, her open robes billowing gently as her flying spell kept her aloft, her trousers tucked into her knee-length boots. She pulled a book from the shelf and turned it to examine the title on the spine, and then opened it to the first several pages.

“Excuse me,” he said, “I’m looking for the new librarian?”

She sighed and snapped the book shut with one hand, turning to peer down at him with a frown. “Yes?”

“The new librarian. Is she about?”

She looked at him as though he were being willfully deaf. “She’s floating approximately three feet and seven inches above your head, saer. Can I help you or are you simply here to complain about my methods like everyone else that has made it past those doors today?”

Gale blinked. “You? But I thought—”

“Did you need something, Professor?” she asked, cutting him off. “I’m assuming you’re a professor and not a student, since you’re wearing the academic stole and all that. Is there a book you require?”

A quick flash of irritation passed through him at being interrupted, but he quelled it. He’d traveled with more abrasive people in the past, he reminded himself, who were also prone to interrupt.

“Not one in particular,” he said. “I’m here to discover…well whatever it is you’re doing in here.”

“Whatever it is I’m—Oghma guide me,” she muttered. She sent the book floating away with a flick of her wrist and lowered herself to stand in front of him. “I am cataloguing. What does it look like?”

Gale paused. Now that she was properly before him, he couldn’t help but notice that she was rather lovely. And young, for someone put in charge of the entire library of Blackstaff Academy. She was several inches shorter than him, but that didn’t stop her from frowning up at him behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, her dark hair swept up into a mass of tight curls at the back of her head. Little curls were escaping here and there to frame her face or trail down her neck, but she didn’t seem to notice. Behind her glasses, her eyes were a curious shade of green and gold, the color changing slightly as she shifted her weight and a soft shadow from one of the shelves fell over her. The rest of her was still bathed in the warm light of early afternoon, a shade that complimented her dark olive skin.

She looked particularly irritated now and Gale realized he had been staring, rather than answering her question.

“I, um…” He quickly tried to recall her answer, and as he did, it struck him how ludicrous it was. “Sorry. Cataloguing?”

“Yes.”

“This library was already catalogued. Thoroughly.”

“Correction,” she said, turning to pick up two books from a stack and glance at their titles. She sent them floating away in different directions. “This library was already poorly catalogued. I’m cataloguing it properly.”

She walked away, moving to another set of shelves that she hadn’t yet touched. Gale followed after her, speaking as he went.

“With all due respect, it looks as though you’re doing a great deal of unnecessary shifting around. The current system has served us well enough these past, oh I don’t know, three or four hundred years or more. There’s no reason to change a system that works.”

“So I’m to believe we should just let old systems lie rather than improve them with new ones?” she asked, tucking a few books into her arms. “Come now, saer, that goes against the very spirit of academic and magical progress. And you call yourself a professor?”

“I am a professor,” he said, irritable. “Professor Dekarios. And I have enough sense to know that Mordenkainen’s Magical Theory Across the Twin Worlds goes in the M section.” Here he grabbed a book from the shelf right before she could collect it, holding it up as if it were proof.

“In the old system, perhaps,” she said, snatching it from his hands. “But in this new system it will go under section 300, subsection 20, sub-subsection 4 point 17 for non-practical magical theory from authors located outside the realm of Toril—”

Gale’s jaw dropped. “Non-practical? How—”

“—and I’ll thank you to cease disturbing me so I can put it in its proper place,” she finished with a huff, blowing some of her curls from her forehead. She sent the book away, arcing it high over his head so he couldn’t make another grab at it.

“Now see here,” he said, struggling to remain diplomatic.

“No, Professor Dekarios, you see here,” she said, bowing up and shifting her books to one arm to poke a finger in his chest. “Blackstaff Varja has tasked me with the revitalization and re-categorization of this library, a job I take very seriously, and I won’t have pompous, big-headed wizards swanning about telling me how to do my job!”

Gale could barely get the words out. “Pompous? Big-headed? Madam, you—”

“If you require a specific tome to study, by all means, let me know so that I can locate it for you, but if your business is simply to bother and berate me then I’ll be forced to eject you from the premises.”

“Eject me? You wouldn’t dare.”

“You wouldn’t be the first, I assure you,” she said, her eyes flashing.

He shook his head, irritation warring with something like awe in the face of her ability to be unrelentingly annoying. “You are—infuriating. How will the students and faculty here get any study done if all the books—” he pulled another one from the shelf, using it to gesture, “—are in the wrong places?”

“They will learn,” she snapped, reaching for the book, but he held it high overhead, just out of her reach. She nearly crashed into him, nose-to-chest, reaching for it. She quickly stepped back with another huff. “Return The Many Multiple Uses of Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion to me at once.”

“Only if you put it back in the M section,” he said, keeping it aloft. “Where it belongs with the other Mordenkainen works.”

“But Mordenkainen didn’t write—oh for Oghma’s sake.” She slammed her armful of books down on a new stack and snapped her fingers, whispering a spell he didn’t catch. The book tugged away from his hand. Surprised, he let it go, and it flew directly into her waiting arms.

“I think that’s quite enough library time for you, Professor Dekarios,” she said sharply, hugging the book to her chest. “You are to be banned from this library for the remainder of the evening. Good day, saer.”

“You can’t—”

But apparently she could. All of a sudden he felt the back of his robes pull taught, as if an unseen hand were grabbing his robes like a tressym might grab the scruff of their kitten’s neck. The force pulled upward, nearly lifting him off his feet, and he was forced to take several awkward steps away, back toward the entrance of the library.

“I—you—unhand me!” He struggled against the hold as was about to cast something to dispel the magic when he felt something suspiciously like an invisible boot give him a kick on the arse. “Hey!”

“Good day, Professor Dekarios,” he heard her say behind him.

He was forcibly pushed out through the open doorway, nearly falling over into the waiting crowd of wide-eyed students. He adjusted his robes in a hurry, ready to march back in there and try again, but the library doors shut with a loud bang and soon the magical sigils to an arcane lock illuminated the surface.

No one would be getting inside now.

There was a hush behind him as he stared at the library doors, hot embarrassment turning his ears pink while his pride, unable to suffer total defeat, looked for ways to make light of the situation or diffuse it. After a moment, someone started to snicker and it caused the entire waiting audience to struggle to hold in their delighted snickers and giggles.

“Well,” one of his colleagues said, folding their arms, but Gale held up a hand with a sigh.

“Don’t,” he said. “The mortification speaks for itself.”

“If it makes you feel better, you’re the sixth faculty member she’s done that to today,” they said, unable to withhold a chuckle. “Though out of all of them, you’ve lasted the longest.”

“And we’re to endure her being our new librarian?” Gale asked, as other professors began to shepherd away the students, reminding them of their homework and studies. “Is it too early to consider a new teaching placement?”

His colleague just laughed and walked away. Gale was left standing in the hallway, watching the arcane lock sigils glow and glimmer against the wood of the door.

He wanted to be angry, even offended. The entire re-categorization of a library as old and complex as Blackstaff Academy’s would spell chaos and slow down every pursuit of study for months. But as he watched the sigils, as his minds eye placed him back among the stacks of books and empty shelves, his memory lingering on one dark curl resting against the curve of the librarian’s olive-toned neck, another bouncing at her temple, he realized he wasn’t exactly angry or offended.

He was intrigued.

[circle-with-me]

Legs - Jesse Cash x Reader

Pairing: Jesse Cash x Reader

Content Warning/Tags: 18+ MDNI! vaginal fingering, unprotected vaginal sex, mild possessiveness, car sex, mentions of mental illness and self-destructive behavior, hurt/comfort, and some fluff at the end.

Word Count: 2.4k

Tag list: @concretenoah @deathblacksmoke @cncohshit @foliosriot @sacredthefran

If you would like to be added to my tag list for Jesse or my other fics, please sign up here.

Author's Note: Not too long ago, @cncohshit and I were discussing how few fics there are about sweet Jesse. So, I decided I'd write up a little something. This is loosely based on Ghost Atlas' song Legs. Thank you as always to @deathblacksmoke for being my wonderful beta reader <3

dividers by @cafekitsune

The rain pours outside as you sit in your car. Heavy droplets pelt the roof of the vehicle. Even with your headlights on you couldn’t see more than two feet in front of you. The sound of the rain was so loud you could barely make out the song playing on the radio.

The World At Large - Modest Mouse, the screen read. Fitting, you think. 

You check your phone for the fourth, maybe fifth time in as many minutes. The text message you sent had been read but went unanswered. There were still no lights on in the house except for the glow of the red LED’s in his room. Maybe he wasn’t coming. Maybe he’d finally had enough.

It’s not like you could blame him.

Almost as if he read your mind, he appears in the headlights dashing towards your car. Quickly unlocking the door you let him in. He runs a hand through his damp mess of curls trying to catch his breath. He looks over at you and you forget how to breathe for a moment, his wide brown eyes staring into yours. 

“Hi, Jesse.” You say meekly. 

“You could have come inside, Y/N.” He states, giving you a quick once over. 

You shake your head, gently pushing his hand away when it comes up to examine your face. 

“It’s not a good idea, Jesse.”

Your legs twitch with need and you run your hands on top of your thighs to relax them. You can feel his gaze burning into your skin. It’s not a good idea to go inside. All of your self-restraint will go out of the window the second you step inside his home and you’re not here for that. 

You need him, but not in the way you normally do. Jesse is the only person you feel safe with. He’s the only person who can make you feel anything outside of sex. You’re a broken person. Full of spite and hatred for the world and you take it out on others. You use people to your benefit and abandon them without explanation. 

Unfortunately, Jesse has been a victim of your lies and self-destructive behavior more times than you care to admit. Every time he starts to get attached you panic and leave. For some reason, he always gives you another chance when you come crawling back to him.

Over the time you’ve known each other, you’ve come to realize that Jesse is in love with you. He has to be. No sane person would put up with your bullshit the way he does. But still, you can see the light in his eyes fading every time you leave. Even when you come back there’s an air of tension between the two of you, almost as if he’s dying to ask the question of “How long will you stay this time?”

“What have they done now, darling?” Jesse asks quietly, taking your hand in his. You lean your head against the headrest and close your eyes, knowing that if you looked at him the floodgates would open. 

He rubs the back of your hand with his thumb and squeezes it gently. It’s not a demand but a reminder that he’s there, ready and willing to listen. The gesture is so remarkably kind but you know you don’t deserve it. You feel your chest tighten and your eyes well up with tears.

“Nothing I didn't have coming to me.” You decide to leave it at that. 

You watch as Jesse studies you for a minute. It’s obvious there are a million things he wants to say but he chooses not to due to the fragility of the situation.  

“Why don’t you come inside? We’ll get you warm and dry. I can fix you something to eat.” He pauses. “Have you eaten today?” 

You shake your head. If you were being completely honest with yourself, you weren’t sure the last time you had a decent meal. Your brain and body have been running at 90 mph and food has been the last thing on your mind.

Jesse hums a sound of disapproval and pats your thigh. The entirety of your body tenses at his touch and he pulls his hand away immediately afraid he has crossed a line. The two of you stare at each other for a long time unsure of what to say before you abandon what restraint you have left and grab his hand. 

You place it on your inner thigh, much higher than it was previously. Jesse audibly gulps and squeezes the flesh experimentally. It’s endearing to you how he always gets nervous like it’s your first time together. Leaning forward, you grab his face to kiss him, parting his lips with your tongue. 

He sighs into your mouth, gathering the courage to push his hand under your dress. His index finger dips into the top of your thigh high stockings, running along the lace edge. He groans and shoves his tongue in your mouth, his free hand gripping the back of your head. 

“You know how much I love these, darling.” Jesse murmurs, kissing along your jaw. He snaps the band of the tights against your skin and goosebumps pop up, making you shiver. You feel him smile against your neck before grazing his teeth against the skin.

Jesse places his hand on your pussy, massaging you through your already damp panties. You arch into his touch and he wraps his arm around your waist. An unspoken request is made when he presses his arm into your back, guiding you towards him. 

Taking the hint, you crawl over the center console and he pulls you into his lap. His grip is bruising as he drags your hips against his hardened erection. The coarse denim of his jeans provides a satisfying friction that sends electricity through your body.

Jesse reaches down to lower the car seat a little so he can lean back. You follow him, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss. He pushes his hands up your dress, his calloused hands softly scratching your back. You hum at his soothing touch. He moves to unhook your bra but you feel his hands shake a little. 

“Are you okay?” You speak, carding your fingers through his hair. He nods but doesn’t make eye contact; the nervousness from earlier returning twice over. After you brush your fingers across his forehead he finally looks at you. 

“You’re breathtaking, Y/N.” Jesse speaks so softly the rain pounding on the roof of the car nearly drowns him out. All you can focus on are his lips as they part; the way his tongue dances behind them. When he asks you to remove your dress, you’re achingly willing. 

Jesse watches you undress before him, completely entranced by your body. Regardless of how often he’s seen your form, he pores over you as if you were the finest sculpture he has ever laid eyes on. He skims his hands across the expanse of your thighs and upwards, twisting the fabric of your panties around his fingers. 

He places gentle kisses to your collarbones, your neck, the junction between your breasts. Jesse Cash is not a man that can be rushed, and you wouldn’t dare try to anyway. Each press of his soft lips against your skin heals a part of you that has been burning alive inside of you for ages. 

He leans you back against the dash, one hand supporting your back and the other coming to your chest. Running his hand down the length of your torso, he slips his fingers through the waistband of your panties. A shuddered breath escapes him and he curses when he dips a finger inside of you, feeling how soaked you are. 

“Tell me, honey.” He coos, not wasting any time finding the sweet spongy spot inside of you. “Do the others make you this wet or is it just me?” 

The sudden flash of possessiveness in Jesse’s eyes catches you off guard. You squirm under his gaze, not because you’re uncomfortable, but because you’re wildly turned on by it.

“Only you.” You moan, grabbing onto his thigh for support. Jesse grins and adds another finger. You dig your nails into the denim of his jeans as he picks up the pace, your vision already beginning to go white. The filthy wet sounds made as he pleasures you can be heard even over the rain. 

Just as you feel yourself reaching your peak, he halts his movements, eliciting a pitiful whimper from you. He removes his fingers completely, dragging it up your slit collecting more of your juices. 

“Open up.���

Your mouth falls open so quickly it makes Jesse chuckle. He places his fingers on your tongue and you close your lips around it sucking and savoring the flavor of your own arousal. 

Jesse watches you intently; his mouth slack-jawed and eyes trained on your mouth. When you moan around his fingers, he moans back bucking his hips slightly. You feel his cock pressing into your bare pussy and you’re scrambling for his belt, desperate for him.

He helps you shove his pants down, hissing when you take his leaking cock into your hand. As hurried as you were, you sigh in relief the moment he’s inside of you. You set a slow pace, dragging your pussy up his length until you feel just the tip and sinking back down again. Jesse lays back against the car seat, his nails digging crescent shapes into your thighs.

You move like I want to. 

To see, like your eyes do.

The whispered vocals on the hauntingly beautiful track make the moment even more intimate. You pick up the pace a little to match the tempo of the song, your movements causing Jesse to arch his back, moaning loudly. He observes as you move on top of him, chest heaving from breathing so hard. Somehow, his brown eyes grow even darker 

Jesse wraps his hand around the back of your neck, gently but firmly pulling your mouth to his. He snakes his other arm around your waist, thrusting into you at a brutal pace. In this moment, you’re thankful for the deluge outside otherwise your cries of pleasure and pleas not to stop would get the two of you caught in an instant. 

You rake your fingernails through his scalp, tugging at the damp curls. Jesse grunts into your neck, grasping your waist tighter and thrusting into you harder. You slam your hand against the car window for extra support, a distorted hand print forming in the condensation. 

“Jesse, please don’t stop.” You whimper. He shakes his head fervently, refusing to leave the spot between your neck and shoulder that he’s claimed. 

“Never.”

Grasping onto his shirt and pulling it off of him, you reattach yourself to him immediately. Your skin is on fire but you’re desperate to be closer to him, to feel all of him. 

Tonight I feel like more. 

Chino’s voice bellows through the speakers. While the lyrics are nefarious in nature, the line resonates with you in a different way. 

It’s never been a question that you care deeply for the man underneath you. It’s not his fault you have a fear of abandonment. You’ve told yourself that’s all it was, but the truth is you have never felt good enough for him. His integrity and pure heart intimidates you. His ability to see through your lies and still love you anyway scares you to death.

Your orgasm builds with the swell of the music. You allow the pleasure to consume your entire body, the toe curling, stomach tightening, finger gripping sensation overwhelming you. 

The music becomes muffled in your ears when Jesse calls out your name. Opening your eyes, all you can see is him. Tunnel vision has never been more blissful than this. The moonlight illuminates his face and he stares at you with the same entranced look from earlier. It’s evident that you’re all he can see too.

The coil in your stomach snaps, sending shockwaves through your entire body. You grasp onto his knees tighter to keep yourself up right, bucking your hips on his cock chasing your high. He lets out a low groan, his stomach muscles growing taut and cock twitching inside of you. 

I feel like more. 

And you do. 

You feel more alive than you ever have. The numbness in your soul has vanished and there’s nothing but him and you want more. 

The euphoria that creeps up inside of you when you both orgasm at the same time is all-consuming and you hope he feels it too. One wave of pleasure after the other radiates through every muscle in your body, making you quiver relentlessly. You feel Jesse’s legs shaking underneath you, strangled groans erupting from him as he spills inside of you. 

Jesse opens your car door and grabs your hand, the two of you sprinting towards his house. By the time you make it to his front door, you’re both soaked and laughing uncontrollably. Once inside, he leads you to his room to find dry clothes. You peel off your soaked ones and hang them in the bathroom to dry. When Jesse comes in with new clothes, you take them graciously, shivering from the rain.

You sit on the counter towel drying your hair as you watch him change. He turns around, catching you staring and he smiles at you. You curl your finger at him, motioning for him to come to you. He stands between your legs, his hands resting on top of your thighs. 

Placing the towel on top of his head, you rub it vigorously against his hair to get the excess water out. When you pull the towel down and around his neck you can’t help but giggle at how frizzy his hair looks. He leans to the side to see what’s so funny, laughing when he sees himself. You plant a kiss on his cheek and he looks over at you, a soft smile on his lips. He kisses you, holding your chin softly between his fingers. There’s no urgency behind it. He’s simply savoring every second he has with you. 

“Stay tonight?” He mumbles against your lips.

“I’m not going anywhere, Jesse.” 

He sighs contentedly, enveloping your face in his hands.  

“Tell me you mean that, Y/N.” 

This time, more than anything, you hope you do.

[canines-alter-creation]

Hello! You're probably going to see me around here often as I have a ton of requests I want to make, but I don't want to overwhelm you by sending them all at once lol, so ill go ahead and use a sign off.

For my first request, I'd like to ask for an lvl 3 alter based on the Minecraft music disk Blocks, specifically one to help out with expanding our headspace :) 

Please and thanks,  -💿

We+ had tons of fun with this one! Especially figuring out neos and stuff!! Hope you enjoy!!

> Name(s): Blocks, The Architect, Disk, One who creates, Bell, Chime

> Pronoun(s): she/he/musi/chime/bell/disc/spin/juke/vinyl/play/build/create

> Age: ageless nonhuman entity

> Gender: genderfluid, fluctuating between masc and fem mostly, very little in between musicgender, musiccomfic, musicflux, musicstimic, minecraftgender, minecraftcomfic, mincraftalphaalbumic, codegender,

> Sexuality: I didn’t have a lot of ideas for this, maybe attracted to other object based people, regardless of gender

> Role: architect

> Source: songtive, alterblogic

> Faceclaims:

> Sign-offs: 📀, 💽, 💿, 🔲, 🎵, 🎛️, 🏗️, ⛏️

> Song theme: n/a

> Front triggers(pos/neg/neu): Likely does not have front triggers due to primarily being an internal alter, her job is to build and to add to headspace. However, may come to front to take inspiration or if it asked to front for specific ideas. (i.e. if someone saw a building they wanted added or built into headspace and asked Blocks to make it). May also come to front to take inspiration from places like pinterest, the sims and Minecraft, something to build and create buildings they want to implement.

> Likes/dislikes:

+ being left to build, having creative control, looking at pinterest

- creative block, people that are indecisive, people that are too controlling about what they want built, being bothered while in the zone

> Personality: Very blunt, especially when focused on things. Is a bit of a snob & loves discussing architecture. Can be somewhat judgemental of what people want built, especially if musi thinks it’s stupid.

> Ways they do their role: Helps build innerworld so people have places to live, places to go and things to do. Loves expanding what innerworld looks like and adding a ton of variety to it.

> Inner world occupation or behavior: May not have a home (honestly chi might’ve forgot to build one in the rush to build everything else.) but loves building, is deeply familiar with all of headspace, even areas some alters may not be. Loves to expand headspace for fun but for others enjoyment too. Takes special care with plants, gardens and outdoor areas, but doesn’t ever neglect more structural buildings.

> Possible outerworld behavior: Doesn’t front much, but when spin does, it prefers to be alone, usually building in things like minecraft, the sims and other building programs. Loves to look at buildings and examine their structure, loves looking at pinterest for inspiration. May only talk to people if it’s to talk about architecture or things that need built in innerworld.

[wromwood]

I went to NYCC this weekend for two days: Thursday and Friday. It was a fun time, and I'm so glad I went, but I thought I'd share my negative experiences from the reason why I went on Thursday, and how it could've easily become a con-ruiner if there weren't a few silver linings.

Click on the Read More if you want to hear about the Alex Hirsch signings and panel, and how NYCC made the events near-total disasters.

Warning: This story is long, but that's because its poor handling can't be condensed to a bite-sized retelling.

So, I wasn't always planning on attending NYCC on Thursday. Since all the Saturday and 4-day passes sell out before the general public even has a chance to buy them, I swooped for what I assumed was the next best day: Friday. One-day tickets are about $80 each, and once you combine those costs with both my potential cosplay and exhibit hall/artist alley shopping expenses, you can see why I wasn't originally planning to go for another day.

However, near the beginning of October, NYCC made a last minute announcement that Alex Hirsch would be at NYCC on Thursday and Friday. He would have signings on Thursday and Friday, and a panel on Thursday evening. I've never seen Alex Hirsch in person before, so this (and an NYCC-based costume contest held by Hirsch and announced only a few days after the main event announcements) was enough to make me buy an additional Thursday ticket.

Now, before I explain what happened during Hirsch's NYCC events, I want to clearly establish what information fans knew about them beforehand:

Every event involved Alex Hirsch, Joe Pitt, and Ian Worrel.

The signings were specifically for The Book of Bill. You had to have a copy of The Book of Bill to get a spot in the signing, which you could either bring yourself or purchase from the Barnes & Noble booth that would be set up nearby. You could also bring one additional item for signing.

Both signings were free and first come, first serve. They did not require any sort of prior purchase or reservation.

The panel on Thursday evening also did not require any sort of extra ticket purchase or reservation. (Reservations are only available to Empire or Main Stage panels; the Alex Hirsch panel was in one of the 400-level rooms.)

If you're thinking that this seems like too little information for something that could easily get chaotic in the wrong hands, then great! That's what I thought myself when I examined every event listing for any scrap of detail with which to prepare myself. Alex Hirsch is the creator of one of the most beloved modern Disney cartoons, and his fanbase had only increased and been given new life after the publication of his new book. And yet there was no way to reserve a spot in his two signings? I only hoped that NYCC knew what they were doing.

Thursday arrived, and so did I at the Javits Center in my Bipper cosplay. I arrived at around 11:30 AM, and the Thursday signing was at 3 PM, so I spent a couple of hours walking around the show floor, buying expensive One Piece merch, and taking pictures with the Duolingo owl. I headed down to line up for the signing at 2 PM, thinking that being there an hour in advance would be enough to secure a spot.

... No, it wasn't.

I arrived at Hall 1A to an in-progress mob of Gravity Falls cosplayers. There were Bills, Dippers, Mabels, Fords, and Grunkle Stans as far as the eye can see, and nearly everyone was holding copies of The Book of Bill. I spotted an AMAZING cosplayer who was dressed as a member of the Church of Ciphertology and holding up a huge foam puppet of Bill. The puppet had ropes connecting its arms with hers so that it looked like she was being puppeted by it. She had been standing by the wall outside the hall, but was now moving into it, and I followed her raised Bill puppet like a guiding beacon.

I was soon in the middle of a sea of costumed people. There wasn't even a semblance of a line here, at least not this far back. Fortunately, we were mostly all nice and united in our love for Gravity Falls, so I didn't experience any pushing or shoving. In fact, I even struck up a lovely conversation with the people in front of me.

Unfortunately, all of us were united in another experience: we had all been caught off-guard at how disastrous this event was turning out.

Most of us had followed the same plan that I had developed: arrive an hour early to get a spot in line. Some of us had been more careful. I later learned from the Ciphertology disciple that she had arrived closer to noon, but had been warned by security that she couldn't actually line up for this event. Lining up would only occur an hour before the signing, at 2 PM. That was why she had been next to the wall when I arrived. She had more right to be at the front than I did, and yet she was only a few feet ahead of me when we entered the mob.

While I didn't interview many other attendees, we quickly formed the hypothesis that this "no lining up before 2 PM" rule was why the mob had formed. Everyone - both the people who had arrived earlier and the newcomers who thought 1 hour was "early" - had rushed to form a line that the NYCC crew members just couldn't create.

We waited there for about 15-20 minutes. Occasionally, a crew member yelled for us to take a big step back (only some of the mob complied) and sometimes we were asked to all raise our copies of The Book of Bill in the air (for a photo? to check who was eligible for the signing? I'm still unsure).

Finally, at around 2:30 PM, we heard a crew member shout, "All right! We've run out of tickets for the signing! The rest of you have to leave!"

This was the wrong phrasing for them to use, because immediately, a number of fans started shouting things along the lines of "What do you MEAN tickets?!" "No one told us we had to have tickets!!!" "How do we get tickets?!"

Because there were only so few NYCC crew members on the floor, the announcement was mostly spread through word of mouth: a number of people at the front of the mob had been given "tickets" (wristbands?) so that they could line up for the signing. They didn't even get close to my part of the mob before they ran out of spots.

I, and so many other people, had to walk away disappointed, hoping that we could at least get into the panel later.

Before I left, I said this to three different NYCC crew members: "Hey, I know that there's another signing tomorrow, and I also have a pass for tomorrow. What should I do so that I don't miss this event?"

Every response I got was a variation on the phrase "I don't know." This is important to remember. I tried my best to learn what to do ahead of time by asking NYCC employees.

Anyway, later that evening was the Alex Hirsch panel at 6:30 PM. After the disappointment from the signing, though, I didn't want to take any chances. After spending an hour for lunch, I headed to the location for the panel at 3:30 PM, 3 hours ahead of time. I saw a NYCC crew member and asked when and where I should wait for the panel to start.

His paraphrased advice: "Listen. There's the room where the panel will be. You take a seat in there now and sit through three panels. That's how you'll have a seat later."

This may sound like cheating, and an unfair thing to do when you consider the people who may actually want to attend the panels before the one you're camping out for, but it wasn't against the rules. Only the Main and Empire stages require the rooms to be turned out for new people between panels. For the other panel rooms, you can camp out in your seat for as long as you want.

So, I followed his advice. I walked to room 406.3 in the middle of a panel about censoring non-fiction comics and found an empty seat.

I was shocked to see just how small the room was. According to the NYCC website, the room can seat about 300 people. That may sound like a lot, until you remember that 1) this is NYCC, which had 200,000 attendees last year, and 2) THIS PANEL IS FOR ALEX HIRSCH. I couldn't help but think of the mob I saw earlier, and just how many of those people wouldn't be able to fit into this room.

When I sat down during the censorship panel, the room was only about half full, and I saw two other Gravity Falls cosplayers already. After that panel, I walked to the front and took a seat in the third row (later, I even managed to move up to the second row, so I had a very good view).

An hour later (about 4:30 PM), the room was almost entirely full with a crowd that was almost entirely Gravity Falls fans. An hour after that (5:30 PM), the room was absolutely full, and we had already gotten word (and pictures) from people on the outside that there was a line of hopeful latecomers stretching around the floor.

One odd memory I have from around this point was when a woman showed up at the front of the room and addressed a bunch of us in general, saying "Hi, I'm from Disney. Are there six seats that I can have?"

All of the people near her (including myself) shot her looks and muttered replies along the lines of "Hell, no." She didn't further explain what she meant or provide any credentials, so I have no idea why she expected to get so many seats at once or what she needed them for.

I'll skip past the rest of the evening, as the panel was largely a nice time after that. I sat next to some really kind, awesome people who were great to talk to and share art with between panels, Alex Hirsch (as well as Joe Pitt and Ian Worrel, of course!) shared great stories, and I got to witness the awesome Ciphertologist cosplayer win a Bill Cipher Ouija board. It was a nice way to make up for missing the signing earlier, and I'm glad I was able to attend.

... and yet, not only did I still feel a sting of guilt about the hundreds of other fans who couldn't attend, but I couldn't stop thinking about something I discussed with the other fans I sat with: even the lucky fans who attended the panel were only able to do so because we spent hours of our con-going experience sitting through panels we wouldn't have otherwise chosen to attend. The panels were interesting in their own right, but that wasn't the point.

It's not cheap to attend NYCC. At around $80 a day (if you didn't buy a 4-day pass), time is money. There could be other panels that pertain to our interests happening during the waiting time. Guests that we might've wanted to get photos or autographs with. An entire show floor to explore. Merch to buy. Many of us only realized that we'd have to wait this long in one room earlier that day. We hadn't properly prepared for the fact that - new friendships and fun between-panel conversations aside - this time was practically wasted.

Don't get me wrong: I'm so happy I managed to attend the panel, and I'm glad I had the time to talk to such lovely people. But this wasn't fair to us as con-goers, and it especially wasn't fair to the con-goers who couldn't get in the signing OR the panel, or who were only able to get a ticket for Thursday and couldn't spend more time doing what they wanted at the convention on another day.

Speaking of the next day: I was determined to get a personalized signing from Alex Hirsch on Friday. That day, the signing started at 1:30 PM. Keeping the "no lining up before an hour ahead" rule in mind, I decided I'd arrive two hours before at 11:30 PM. Not far enough in advance to absolutely antagonize security, but hopefully far enough to scope out the scene and join other fans in making a game-plan for when and how to line up.

I arrived at Hall 1A at 11:30 only to learn that the signing tickets (which were now confirmed to be wristbands) had LONG since run out.

From what I gathered from other fans and NYCC crew members, the convention decided that the first come, first serve model would begin from the moment the convention opened that day (I think 10 AM?). Gravity Falls fans could stop by and get wrist bands for the signing until they ran out, which they did QUICKLY. Apparently, they gave out even fewer spots than on Thursday.

I definitely feel that the issue here wasn't me not thinking of getting there right as the doors opened. The fans were given one set of rules on Thursday, and just as it had been spread through word of mouth, they were changed the next day with basically no notice (apparently, some fans heard more info from staff members, but this was irregular). There was no formal announcement about the new wristband distribution, which meant there was no way for fans to know about this unless they showed up as early as possible, which was established to be a bad thing for the signing just the day before. And this is on top of me asking NYCC employees what I should do to not miss my chance at a signing! Either they changed the rules last minute, or the NYCC workers I spoke to really weren't told a thing by the convention planners.

I, and many other people, were rightfully pissed off to lose our last chance at getting a personalized autograph from Alex Hirsch.

There was one silver lining, though, that kept the day from feeling ruined. The signing was scheduled to go from 1:30-3:00. At 2:30, I decided to head to the signing just to wistfully stare at Alex Hirsch from the Barnes & Noble booth. I had a good view and stared wistfully away next to a few other fans who had hoped (in vain) that extra people could be squeezed in for the signing.

Then, after everyone with wristbands got their books signed and about 5-10 minutes before the signing was totally over, Hirsch, Pitt, and Worrel were handed a couple stacks of The Book of Bill from the Barnes & Noble booth. They quickly signed the stacks, then left.

To our delight, the employees came over to the lingering fans who weren't able to get wristbands and started passing out the copies. So I did end Friday with a signed copy of The Book of Bill! I also got a couple of sticker sheets that were being given out during the signing, which is nice. The waiting around was worth it.

Even so, that doesn't fully make up for just how disastrously the events were handled. This wasn't a case of fans not being in the know about how conventions are run. This was fully caused by NYCC either not knowing or not caring just how big of a crowd Alex Hirsch would draw. They dangled the chance of first come, first serve autographs to hundreds of people without providing the best guidelines on how to obtain them. They reserved a panel room that wasn't nearly large enough and didn't consider the implications of seat-camping. It was a nightmare.

Hopefully, you appreciated my dramatic retelling of these events. The moral of this story is: don't assume that just because NYCC is one of the biggest conventions in the country that it is guaranteed to competently run all of its events. They can mess up.

[pastafossa]

Pasta omg did they canonically confirm Matt wasnt blipped?! If that fight was post-Ronin but pre-Hawkeye it has to be during the Blip right???

My brain is gonna explode already

IT SURE AS FUCK LOOKS LIKE IT.

And if we're RIGHT, and now that we know netflix DD is canon, this scene told us a lot This is mostly me hypothesizing here BUT:

Matt, Fisk not blipped.

Good sign towards one theory that Foggy + Karen were blipped to angst Matt up, which is why they weren't called for the original script before they tossed that out to rewrite it, because there were signs that it was going to have a lot of it DURING the blip. Rewrites not withstanding, Foggy and Karen might still have been blipped even if they come back. At the very least, I'm assuming they blipped.

Matt: new red suit again, which means he did NOT keep the black suit post S3. Which is good, we don't need another Nobu fight.

FISK was out and about post blip. And if DD is canon, we know Matt had his dirt on Vanessa to keep Fisk in prison by his choice. If Vanessa was blipped (@wonderlandmind4 pointed out no wedding ring on Fisk - divorce when they came back? Something happened when she blipped back? Wasn't blipped but killed during the chaos of the blip?), it would explain why Fisk was out since Matt would have nothing to hold over him.

Fisk confirming with Maya that none of his people have every stood up against Matt, so Matt's been at least partially successful at hampering Fisk. However, Fisk's power clearly indicates Matt's fighting a losing battle, much like before. I'm thinking this will lead to him getting help (return of JJ? Frank? Spidey appearance?).

In other words I have theories based on like 90 seconds but that's what I've got and I may or may not already be examining my Blip Side Fic outline and making adjustments.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

Why Kyle Broflovski Shouldn't Be in a Relationship Just Yet.

During one my occasional musings about South Park, one question I asked myself was: why hasn't Kyle gotten a long-term relationship arc like Stan has? But then I thought about it and realized that one potential reason is that, when you really think about it, Kyle has some toxic personality traits that show he isn't actually relationship material. My explanation will be framed in the form of my opinions on three Kyle-based shippings that frequently crop up in the South Park fandom that wouldn't really work when you think about it. Those three shippings are Style, Kyndy, and Kybe.

First, I want to talk about the shipping between Kyle and Stan. My opinion on it is pretty much the same as others I've seen on here. First off, just because two people are best friends doesn't mean that they're relationship material with each other. Second, even if the two did have romantic feelings for each other, they probably wouldn't be very compatible with each other. Stan is well-meaning but reserved, preferring to listen and only provide his input when he's explicitly allowed. Kyle, on the other hand, is more extroverted but doesn't always express it in a healthy way. When you pay attention to some of Kyle's scenes, such as when he's talking about an "important" issue, he expresses his opinions so forcefully and, to be honest, condescending, that it feels like he's more interested in simply forcing his opinions onto anyone who tries to listen than actually having meaningful discussions. Not to mention, when Stan was going through his first major depressive spell, he was pretty quick to abandon his efforts to make him feel better because he "couldn't handle the negativity," which makes me feel that some toxic positivity might be included.

There also seems to be a small contingent of fans who want Wendy to leave Stan for Kyle. While it's true that they have some similarities, such as their intelligence and morality, those differences are surface level when you really examine them. As mentioned earlier, Stan is more of a listener than a conversationalist and that seems to be all Wendy is looking for. She really wants to be heard and taken seriously, and Stan is more than happy to indulge her if that's all she wants. Kyle, on the other hand, might start acting overbearing toward Wendy and refuse to take her seriously, especially if she disagrees with him on something, not to mention that if things get really heated between them, Kyle might even stoop to hitting Wendy while Stan would never do such a thing. Kyle might also get possessive of Wendy, especially when he thinks she might leave him for a different boy. Take for example the whole business with Brydon: Stan calmly told Wendy that he wouldn't stand in her way if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him, instead. Possessive? To an extent, but the way he went about it is a clear indicator that he genuinely cares about Wendy and just wants her to be happy. Kyle, on the other hand, might have become selfishly jealous and outright demanded that Wendy not talk to Brydon, which would just drive her away, anyway.

The last potential suitor of Kyle's that I want to talk about is Bebe. Ever since the episode, "Clubhouses," Bebe hasn't even expressed a passing interest in Kyle and went straight for Clyde. The way Bebe expressed her interest in Kyle, however, strongly implied to me that Bebe really only cared about the image of being in a relationship rather than the person she's dating. But if you pay attention to some of Bebe's later episodes, you'll notice some signs that Bebe wouldn't have been a good girlfriend to Kyle, anyway. The whole incident with the shoe store, in my opinion at least, is a pretty clear indicator of what Bebe's real priorities are regardless of her claims that she wants to be either a lawyer or marine biologist. Material possessions seem to be one of her primary concerns and the fact that she was willing to manipulate her "boyfriend" Clyde to get what she wanted shows that hurting other people's feelings isn't too big of a concern for her. Therefore, there's the very real possibility that if Kyle became Bebe's boyfriend, she would immediately start molding him into her little fashion accessory who only exists to give her gifts. Not to mention, the fears I expressed about Kyle's potential treatment of Wendy would also apply.

So now you might be asking, "Then who do you think Kyle would be a good match for?" To be honest, I don't think he should jump right into that. As you might have gathered from this post, Kyle, for all of his good qualities, still has too many toxic traits that will get in the way of forming a loving, committed relationship with someone. He might be smart and morally upstanding, but what he needs to work on is being respectful of other people's opinions and choices, not giving up so easily, and understanding that just because he can do something doesn't necessarily mean that he should. Once he does get those figured out, he should absolutely get his own long-term romance arc just like Stan and Wendy have.

'Nuff said.

[deviantartdramahub]

I don't think this needs any intro, but I was recently mentioned in someone's so-called exposé. Not just by name but with my shared face there again. It's my fucking face! It's not Triagonal's, it's not twonaps', it's not Michelle Obama's, it's mine, and some anon who happens to show signs of being planted there to claim to be my friend speaking on my behalf does not change that.

I have previously expressed doubts in her character, but I no longer do so to a significant degree, having been tugged into this situation. Funny thing to note too, the footage uploader claims intentions (in his opinion) don't matter when it comes to the people he accuses, such as when people accuse Mod T/Triagonal/Shinigamiookamiryuu/MozartWasARed of things they think she is guilty of and she says they are looking too much into what she is saying (he calls it her "plausible deniability tactics", which is also what Elon Musk's daughter called it when Musk ended up in a similar situation), yet is willing to defend DA's decision to use a new logo that looks like the Bahai star (the anon who brought it up which there is no immediate reason to think was her). Why? Because it wasn't their intention (by his logic, this would be considered plausible deniability to say).

This also is applicable to what she was saying about gestures and symbols (like Musk's salute and the manji) being about intent, as well as being subjective (in the sense far fewer people get upset over manjis or Napoleon's equivalent of what Musk did despite Napoleon being as bad as the other guy). The lord sure works in hypocritical ways (and so does the clique who is responsible for me having to clarify all of this).

I kind of feel sorry now for all the other people who have to constantly clarify things because of these people who are forcing my hand into clarifying my own situation. After taking time to examine their lying, I notice their way of doing so is the same way political figures do so, where they build a construct of fallacies, use it to accuse enemies of things people are passionate about, and corner the people they're deceiving into a mindset where they don't engage in critical analysis because they're caught up in the fervor (for example, the person who took my pictures presents one of his targets as being banned from Bulbagarden, with everyone not on the site completely unaware that Bulbagarden and Bulbapedia are a compound community similar to the DA forums and DA site, and that you have to be banned from both to be officially banned "from the site"). Maybe that's why people have been going around flashing a new symbol that represents neurodivergent overlordship, because neurodivergent people are seen as far less susceptible to passion.

In any case, I'm going to use this as a case study (that anyone can cite) as to why people shouldn't be open about themselves. There seem to be wild implications. Sometimes legal implications. And trust me, we live in very legal times, as shown the other day when Trump officially declared everyone a legal female (which, ironically, renders the misgendering slanderers moot; they are officially wrong about the people they downplay the genders of, for the rest of time probably, no matter who they're talking about, according to the law).

I'm wondering... if the person known as zpnn is catching all of this, can I commission a forum thread (from zpnn) based on this guy going after us (who is also the noname234252 and LiesOfT guy on DA, so he's also a ban evader), so as long as zpnn, for a while, had the same approach towards Triagonal back when she was a hot topic, and as long as zpnn might find this relatable?

Would be nice if people regularly caught on like some do.

[bluesylveon2]

I Walked with You Once Upon a Dream

Summary: Two souls find themselves in Dream World, a place with an endless sea and sky.

Note: royal au, fluff, cameos, and set after Lilia's fic. Dream World is based on Final World from KH3

Warning: not beta read, fem Yuu/reader, mini Book 7 spoiler, and possible ooc characters

Word Count: 2.2k

Masterlist: here, Series Masterlist: here

Yuu opened her eyes to find herself looking at a bright blue sky. 

"This is not my room," Yuu said as she tried to cover her eyes from the light. "What?!" She exclaimed as her fingers ran through the shallow water around her. It looked like she was not in a body of water as the water kept going as far as the eye could see. Despite being in the water, Yuu's clothes were not wet at all. 

"Hello?"

Yuu turned to find a silver star nearby. When did they get there? That star was not there earlier. 

"Who are you?" She asked, inspecting the star.  

"My name is Silver Vanrouge."

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that."

"I said my name is Silver."

Yuu shook her head, and her face turned grim. "I'm sorry I didn't get that. Your voice cut off at your name."" 

"What is your name then?"

"Yuu."

The star(?) shook side to side as if it were saying no. "I didn't get that either. I wonder why…"

The star stayed quiet while Yuu examined the bright floating star again. "You can talk?"

"Of course, I can talk. I'm a human, unlike you."

"What do you mean? You're literally a star." Yuu eyed the star suspiciously. How could something like this be a human? 

"Oh, that's what you look like to me…strange. It must be like that for everyone, then."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that other people, in people's perspectives, will look like stars. It must explain why we can't hear our names. But it seems like we are the only two people here."

Yuu looked left and right only to realize nothing living was around them. They were surrounded by the endless sea and sky. 

"Wait, does this mean we are stuck here?"

"I don't think so. It could only be a temporary thing. What were you doing before you woke up here?"

"I was sleeping."

"So was I. Maybe Father might know something about this place…" The star trailed off. Yuu stared at the star with interest. It had a crystal-like structure, and it reflected the sunlight. Yuu hesitantly reached her hand out to touch it. "Hey, what are you-" 

The moment her hand made contact with it, a bright light came out and blinded her. Yuu shielded her eyes with her arms until it was gone. 

When she opened her eyes, she was on her bed, and the sun was up. 

"Hey, you're back." the star greeted. A few days had passed since the first night, and everything looked the same as when she left. 

"It is nice to see you too. Maybe we can actually hear our names now?"

"Alright, my name is Silver Vanrouge."

"Silver," Yuu let his name roll out out her tongue. "I did not get your last name, but this is an improvement. In that case, I'm Yuu."

"Nice to meet you, Yuu." 

"Did your father ever figure out what this place is?" Yuu asked, looking around the same sky and sea as last night. 

Silver nodded. "My Father once read about it. He told me that it is a fixed place called the Dream World, meaning that the scenery cannot be changed, and only a few people can access it when they sleep."

"I see. I need to find a book about this place. I am only confused about why we are the ones here. Why is no one else here?"

"Father said it is unique to the two people who enter it. He was grinning while explaining it but did not explain why."

Yuu hummed in thought and sat down on the water. Her clothes showed no sign of being wet. "I see. So I guess if we want to reveal ourselves more, then we should start talking."

"I agree." Silver floated down next to Yuu. "We can start with telling something interesting about ourselves. My father, who adopted me as a baby, is a famous fae general."

"But aren't you a human?"

"Yes. I figured out we were different when I was a child, but we have come a long way. Now I have two parents, and they are both faces."

Yuu's mouth pressed together in a thin line. "I'm sorry if this sounds personal, but aren't you afraid of them outliving you."

"It's alright. I don't mind sharing." Silver's star had a red hue to it. "My father and I used to be worried about that. I often asked myself, how will Father handle me not being there when I go?" The star lightened up to a magenta color. "One day, he sat down with me and said, 'Silver, you cannot worry about the future. Focus on spending time with the people around you. You may not be with me one day, but you will live through memories.'"

Yuu smiled; her heart warmed up, thinking about Silver and his father. "Your father sounds like a wonderful person."

"I'm proud to be his son, now and forever." Silver's star went back to it's silver color. "So, what are your parents like?"

"My parents are human, unlike yours. I was born in Sunset Savanna but grew up in the Land of Scalding Sands."

Yuu did not know why, but she sensed that Silver was smiling. "I know someone from there. His name is Kalim."

Yuu's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, I know of him. I never met him, but his family plays an important role in Silk City. So, did you grow up in Briar Valley? I hear most fae come from there."

"I do. I live in the castle as a knight for the King."

Yuu's eyes widen in interest. Every story of Briar Valley she heard of made it sound like a mystery, where the King never stepped out of the country. However, she had heard rumors that the King once visited Silk City. "Really? What's it like?"

The King looks intimidating, but he is not. My father is his caretaker, and I see the King as a brother. He and another knight are like brothers to me." 

"That's sweet." Yuu smiled. "It looks like you have a loving family."

"I am glad to have met them." Silver nodded. "So what is the Scalding Sands like? I've been there a few times but did not see everything."

"Well, it's like-" Yuu's voice went up as she recalled her homeland with old stories and innovations. Meanwhile, Silver listened attentively, just as Yuu had done before. Yuu only wished she could see Silver's expression. "And then they have a festival called Al'ab Nariya. It uses fireworks to-" A flashing light appeared, and an invisible force was pulling at Yuu and Silver's bodies. "I never got to finish telling you everything!" Yuu exclaimed while holding her hands out to grab the star. 

"You can always tell me tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you. Yuu."

For a moment, Yuu swore she saw a smile on the star but must have been imagining it. Right?.

Yuu and Silver continued to meet in Dream World for many nights following that. The two spent hours talking about anything they desired. The more they talked, the more details were revealed of each other. First was the star, then an orb of light; now, it was a silhouette of his body. 

The two were currently sitting on the water like usual. Yuu finished retelling a story about her day while Silver was lying on her lap. Her fingers combed through his soft hair when Silver told her the news. 

"Did you know I'm going to be a big brother? My parents had told me before I went to sleep." Silver brought up one day. He had a bright smile and a sparkle in his eyes. 

Yuu turned to Silver in excitement. "Congratulations! Now you have someone to look over besides Sebek." Yuu giggled. Everything she heard of the infamous Sebek was secondhanded from Silver. Yuu was determined to meet him one day, even if he disliked humans. 

"Yes, but I don't know if I will be the best brother."

"What do you mean?"

Silver sighed and tapped his finger against the water, causing ripples around them. "I only know how to cook things that are good enough to eat, like chopped meats and vegetables."

"I see. Sadly, I'm not familiar with babies myself. I'm not much help." Yuu said, and her eyes lit up with an idea. "Why don't you ask your parents to help you cook? I'm sure they know what to feed a baby." 

"I can ask my mother. I will not ask my father." Silver said firmly, "He's really wise but a horrible cook. I recommend you don't eat his cooking if you value your life. He will find a way to jazz it up."

"Oh, can I visit Briar Valley one day?

Silver chuckled, and he looked at Yuu. "I want you to visit Briar Valley."

Yuu's mouth opened in an o, and her eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"I want you to come visit me one day. We always talk here, but we never met once in real life. I can even give you a tour when you come."

Yuu nodded. "I would love that, and I can give you a tour of the Scalding Sands if you decide to visit."

"I will, Yuu. I promise." The world around them turned bright like sunlight. The two were already familiar with what happened next. Yet, Yuu swore she saw auroral eyes staring back at her.  

Days passed.

Weeks passed.

Nothing happened. 

Yuu went to sleep and woke up like usual, like her meeting Silver was all a dream. 

It was ironic, in Yuu's opinion. 

Yuu looked everywhere for days to find anything about the Dream World. She looked through the libraries all across Silk City, only to come up empty. She was even desperate enough to go to Asim Palace to talk to Kalim, only to find out from his past retainer's sister that he was away on a trip. 

Luckily for Yuu, Najma took pity on her and helped her look through the Asim library. 

Again, they found nothing. Najma was kind enough to continue her search for her and would update her if she saw anything. 

Days had passed since then, and Yuu was thinking about Silver as she weaved through the bustling Camel Bazaar when she felt it. 

A man had casually walked past her, and it felt like the world slowed down around her; the local voices sounded like unintelligible noises, the familiar golden sands had a pink hue, and it all started when the man passed her. 

Yuu turned to find a man with silver hair and familiar auroral eyes staring at her with a mirrored expression. The silhouette of him did not do him justice. Silver was about her age, was slightly taller than her, and had lovely eyes. He looked like a prince straight out a fairytale. She felt a pull towards him that she could not describe. Despite that, the first thing that came out of her mouth was-

"Are you not sweating in that?" she pointed at the black and green leather outfit that would not help an average person in the desert heat. 

Silver shrugged with a smile on his face. "Not really, but I can change into something more appropriate if you are worried about me."

Yuu blushed. How could he say that so casually when they first met? She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the shops. "I know a place that sells quality clothes, and we can grab something to eat after."

"Oh, like a date? Father mentioned how he used to go on one like these…" Silver said innocently, unaware of Yuu turning red like the color the Sorceror of Sands wore. 

"Wait, we need to get you something before discussing that!"

Silver stopped walking, took Yuu's hands, and looked into her eyes. "Yuu, I know this is the first time we met in person, but I felt something the moment you walked by. I once felt it when I met my mother because I knew she would be important to me. It sounds silly, but trust me. Let me court you properly once we settle this."

Yuu's heart swooned, ignoring the many eyes watching Silver's declaration in public, especially the gossiping aunts who give them a few hours and Yuu's parents would hear about the news. She was too focused on Silver to care. 

"Alright." She grasped Silver's hand and walked off. "This place gets more crowded at night, and I don't want you to get lost."

Silver smiled, making him look like a prince from the fairytales. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Excerpt taken from A Book About Soulmates (previously owned by Mallenoa Draconia)

Once upon a time, two souls fell into tragedy. However, before they died, they met an angel who gave them each a wish. One wished for happiness with the other. The other wanted to meet his loved one every 1000 years. The angel granted their wishes and set their souls to meet in the Dream World. Their bond was so strong and special that they would see each other whenever they slept. The only time they stop is when they start falling in love. After that, the two are bound to love each other for a lifetime. 

A/N: I might make a sequel to this once Book 7 comes out in the EN server

Disclaimer: I do not own Twisted Wonderland and its characters. Those belong to Aniplex, Walt Disney Japan, and Yana Toboso.

©: This story belongs to bluesylveon2 2020-23. DO NOT modify, republish, or plagiarize my work.

[livelaughghoul]

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton Synastry Analysis

Everything is going under the read more tab, this ended up being close to 1,200 words, and I don't want y'all to have to scroll down my yapping if you don't want to see it.

I have no idea if this is going to make any sense to people, so if there are any questions, let me know. Hopefully, this does make sense to people though, because the sticker notes and highlighting that was done to make this happen was outrageous.

I know that a lot is going on here, and it’s kind of chaotic, and I apologize for that. I am going to try and break this down as easily as I can, but I feel like I have a corkboard with so many different colors of yarn, and I reek of cigarette smoke because I have been chain-smoking all morning (don’t smoke it’s bad or whatever, I’m not your mom, do what you want). With the chart above, I did not examine the Mean Node or the Midhaven. It’s my personal preference, but I do not look at Quincunxs, Semisquares, Sesquisqaures, or Semisextiles. I think that we cover everything we really need to cover with the main aspects. If someone really wants me to, I can look at these things, but I don’t think they are necessary. 

I have mixed feelings about this, because I think that Max has a lot of respect for Lewis, and in some ways really admires and looks up to him, but I think that there is also a lot of resentment, and jealousy that is there. I imagine that Max sees everything that Lewis has done, and almost sets challenges to himself based on the timeframe that Lewis achieved things. With the number of squares between the two of them, I think they would constantly be battling against each other over the smallest and minor things, and it would just become impossible to maintain any sort of teamwork between the two. 

Lewis placements are along the top, as a reminder here is the basic rundown of his placements: 

Sun - Capricorn 

Moon - Cancer 

Rising - Scorpio

Mercury - Sagittarius Venus - Pisces

Mars - Pisces

Jupiter - Capricorn

Saturn - Scorpio 

Uranus - Sagittarius

Neptune - Capricorn

Pluto - Scorpio 

Max placements are on the left-hand side, as a reminder here is the basic rundown of his placements: 

Sun - Libra

Moon - Virgo

Rising - Sagittarius

Mercury - Virgo Venus - Scorpio 

Mars - Sagittarius 

Jupiter - Aquarius 

Saturn - Aries

Uranus - Aquarius 

Neptune - Capricorn 

Pluto - Sagittarius 

Conjunctions (0 degrees apart, within the same degree/sign): 

Conjunctions are really strong aspects and complement each other. It is possible that with too many conjunctions there is a tendency to get overwhelmed. What stands out to me is Lewis and his Saturn placement. I go back to thinking that there is an emphasis being placed on using Lewis and his successes as a starting point like Max sees this as almost a challenge. I think there is a lot of admiration that goes both ways, but I think Lewis may struggle with this more, as he comes closer to the end of his career, there is almost a coming to terms that needs to happen. 

Here are the conjunctions that stand out to me the most: 

Max Venus and Lewis Saturn 

Max Mars and Lewis  Saturn 

Max Pluto and Lewis Saturn 

Trines (120 degrees apart):

Trines bring a lot of harmony, it’s the joining of two signs and placements and creating one. It’s a lot of harmony, but I think that people forget that when there is too much of a good thing, it can be a bad thing. I see a lot of harmony in terms of work ethic, and feeling the weight of what they need to do on them, but I think that causes a lot of conflict for them. I think that there is a disagreement in terms of how to prepare and train for things, and the general approach. To me, Lewis feels very mindful and approaches this in a levelheaded way, whereas Max may approach the sport in a more aggressive, I need to dominate it kind of way. I think that while they are both dedicated to it, it’s to very different degrees, and there would be conflict there. 

Here are the Trines that stand out to me the most: 

Max Moon and Lewis Sun 

Max Venus and Lewis Mercury 

Max Moon and Lewis Jupiter 

Max Mercury and Lewis Jupiter 

Max Saturn and Lewis Mercury 

Max Saturn and Lewis Uranus 

Oppositions (180 degrees apart): 

I think this is my toxic traits coming out, but I want there to be more opposition. Oppositions bring challenges, and that is something that I think is important to have. I think that it being Capricorn Neptune that thrives on stability and practicability opposing a Cancer Moon that loves loyalty and being protected is hilarious to me. I think that the practical force of Max’s Neptune would almost overwhelm Lewis’s emotional and protective Moon, there would be lot of minor conflicts between the two of them. 

Here is the Opposition that interested me the most: 

Max Neptune and Lewis Moon 

Squares (90 degrees apart): 

First, in this household, we do not like squares. Squares are challenging and stressful. It’s a lesson that we need to learn, and it’s a lesson that takes time to learn. The sheer level of squares between the two of them has me so fucking stressed out, like what the fuck. 

First of all the suns squaring each other tells me that there is ALWAYS going to be tension there, and I think it comes down to Lewis and Max can both learn things from each other, but they don’t want to, there is something almost blocking this from happening. I’m not joking when I say that I am overwhelmed like the two of them absolutely thrive on challenging each other with everything, but I do think that at the end of the day, there is absolutely nothing but respect. 

The Squares: 

Max Sun and Lewis Sun 

Max Saturn and Lewis Sun 

Max Saturn and Lewis Moon 

Max Moon and Lewis Mercury 

Max Mercury and Lewis Mercury 

Max Pluto and Lewis Venus 

Max Rising and Lewis Venus 

Max Rising and Lewis Mars 

Max Pluto and Lewis Mars 

Max Mars and Lewis Mars 

Max Saturn and Lewis Jupiter 

Max Moon and Lewis Uranus 

Max’s Sun and Lewis Neptune 

Max Moon and Lewis Neptune 

Max Mercury and Lewis Neptune 

Max Neptune and Lewis Pluto 

Max Uranus and Lewis Pluto 

Max Jupiter and Lewis Pluto 

Max Jupiter and Lewis Rising 

Sextiles (60 degrees apart): 

We love a Sextile, more than anything else. It’s also my favorite thing to look at when looking at the synstry between people. Sextiles bring benefits, but only if you work on something. I think that once we get past the overwhelming number of squares, I think the two of them could actually really work well together because there is so much to teach each other. 

Lewis absolutely could be a real mentor to Max, and help him maybe unlearn some of those more dangerous and unhealthy habits that come with being so dedicated to his career and position. 

Sextiles: 

Max Venus and Lewis Sun 

Max Venus and Lewis Jupiter 

Max Moon and Lewis Saturn 

Max Mercury and Lewis Saturn 

Max Neptune and Lewis Saturn 

Max Jupiter and Lewis Uranus 

[fipindustries]

first course completed!

that was arc 1 of introduction to magic.

and this is the first drawing i made of the main characters all the way back in 2019

what is this

now that the first arc is done i would like to take a chance to actually stop and properly self promote a little here. it was about time.

i am currently writing a novel called Introduction to magic, an examination of a magic system i came up with by way of following the lessons of magical apprentice Katerina Dolcevita under the aprenticeship of Maria Bellanova. the best way i have to summarize the feel and tone of it all is Fantasy AU-R63! Rick and Morty. imagine if rick and morty were both women and they were exploring magic rather than sci fi.

the first arc is intended to be a prologue of sorts, to get you up to speed with the nature of this world and the nature of the two main characters.

where this came from

i came up with the story and the concept around this world proper in 2021, while reading pale. i was looking at all the extra material that wildbow had written for its magical world and i found myself really wishing that we didnt have to just see excerpts from the magical books like famulus or 100 years lost. and it came to me that if i really want a book about magic to exist then i can just write one myself.

the magic system in this story follows a bunch of my own deeply held beliefs about life and magic. mainly that is kind of silly how we insists magic doesnt exist when we have things like computers and planes and psychodelics. it occured that if we were to live in a world where magic was real we wouldnt call it magic either, we would just think of it as the normal state of affairs. there is a post i read here, which i cant find right now, which said something about how weird conciousness is, how strange the fact that conciousness arises from the specific configuration of a brain. about how conciousness is the last, mysterious, seemingly ineffable property of reality. they concluded that we live in a fantasy world where our magic system has only one spell "summon daemon". obviously a lot of it was merely poetic and rethorical devices to see with fresh eyes of wonder something we take for granted.

and a lot of this book stems from a similar wish to want to see the mundane with eyes of wonder once again, which is why i insist that low level magic in this world is things as basic as writing and lighting a fire. is also the reason why a lot of the titles that i use for the magic specializations are normal every day professions.

the second, stronger impulse was to try to come up with a system of magic that could be broad enough to grasp all possible forms of magic humans have come up with and yet simple enough that could be understood in a few pages. the classification system i use on this book is based on all the broadest, most basic forms of magic practisce that i have seen in history and fiction. manipulating signs as drawings and writing, manipulating sound as voice and song, using tools and props, moving the body, combining and refining substances and materials, handling living creatures.

what's next

as we move forward on this story the format will switch to a more traditional narrative where we will properly follow the adventures of these two ladies. ocassionally i will dip back into textbook-like sections where i infodump about another interesting concept i thought of, but even in the narrative sections most of the chapters will be an excuse to explore some concept or idea. i gather by sheer quantity 80% of the content of this story is going to be maria explaining things to Katerina.

so yeah, if that sounds at all interesting please do read this, and please do leave a comment, i really want to see what people think of this work. i dont need money or donations or to be engaged in any algorithm, all i need to stay motivated and energized and thus continuing the story is to know that people are invested in it.

thank you so much for reading.

[ncisfranchise-source]

At 364 appearances and counting, actor Brian Dietzen has been involved in more than a third of all the episodes in NCIS’ family of shows on CBS. But in a week that welcomed the franchise's 1,000th entry, Dietzen tells Entertainment Weekly that one episode in particular stands out.

“That's one of my tops,” Dietzen says. “That's probably my favorite one.”

The hour of TV in question is “Keep Going,” the season 14 episode that finds Dietzen’s lovable medical examiner Jimmy Palmer out on a ledge — literally — trying to rescue a man threatening to jump. 

But it’s not only the Palmer focus that makes this episode memorable for the former Illinois resident; it’s also what was happening at the same time in the Midwest.

“While we were shooting that episode, I got to watch my beloved Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908,” Dietzen recalls.

The majority of Dietzen’s work in "Keep Going" takes place up against the side of a building, which made it tough for him to follow the action on the field during breaks in filming. Luckily for him, the NCIS crew is full of fellow Cubs fans who gave assists from the ground.

“Chad Erickson is one of our camera guys, and I’d look down between takes. He was like a first-base coach giving me signs on what the score was and what the count was. And then I’d rush home and try to watch the last few innings,” Dietzen says. “It was one of the best weeks.”

Of course, it didn’t hurt that the episode Dietzen was filming during the Cubs’ 2016 victory run ended up being one of the most highly rated of the long-running series, coming in at No. 3 overall with a 9.2 audience rating on IMDb.com.

“Keep Going” is a rare out-of-lab episode for Dietzen’s character, whose kindness and compassion is on full display as he tries to talk a despondent man down from the ledge.

“We’ve got a couple of those episodes over the course of the series, where either Abby or Jimmy or Ducky or Kasie — the lab-coat folks down in the basement — find their way out into the field, and those fish-out-of-water tales are always very entertaining,” Dietzen says. “It's a wonderful thing as an actor.”

The episode was written by Scott Williams, Dietzen’s future collaborator on the three episodes the pair went on to write together. 

“It really turned into just a two-man play out there on the ledge,” Dietzen says. “All the characters were there to support Jimmy, and I think people love seeing that, seeing everyone come together to save one of their own. That was a special one for me, for sure.”

However, Dietzen’s 14-year-old son, one of two children he shares with his wife, Kelly, doesn’t feel quite the same way about his father’s big episode now that he’s started watching NCIS from the beginning.

“He came up to me a couple of weeks ago, and he goes, ‘Dad, I found it, I found my favorite episode of NCIS,’” Dietzen says. “And I'm thinking it's got to be something that's, you know, centered around his dad, right? And he just goes, ‘Probie.’” But Dietzen can’t fault his son for loving the season 3 outing that focuses on Sean Murray’s character, Timothy McGee. “It’s such a good episode! And Sean is so good in it,” Dietzen says. “I was like, ‘Dude, you're right. That's a fantastic episode.’”

When he shared the news with Murray, the two had a similar thought: “Isn’t it wild that our kids now are watching the show? My son didn't exist when the show started, and neither did Sean’s kids.”

One thing that Dietzen’s L.A. born-and-bred children aren’t missing out on is the Wrigley Field experience that their dad grew up with... sort of. On one family trip to the friendly confines, Deitzen recalls a tap on the shoulder from the people in the row behind him with an offer to share the baked goods they'd brought from home.

“My daughter looked at me and my wife as we're taking the cupcakes, and she was like, ‘What are you doing?’” Dietzen says with a laugh. “It’s like, ‘Honey, this is the Midwest. It’s not Los Angeles. People just are really nice here. They'll bring cupcakes to the Cubs games.'"