#i think i can quit the internet now this is the most full circle experience to ever happen to me

[ghost-proofbaby]

i think im actually burning my existence off the internet this is the most mortifying experience i will ever have on this website.

[centrally-unplanned]

Japanese website Forest Page is shutting down ~today, a tragic loss of "Heisei otaku memories", as so many are calling it. Launched in 2003, Forest Page was a "Geocities for mobile", a site that hosted user-created websites and gave them tools to allow non-coders to make them. In practice, it became one of the premiere places for fanfiction in Japan, with the stories hosted on author-created sites.

It wasn't quite the Fanfic.net of Japan, as for one the Japanese fandom just never centralized quite the way the 2000's western one did, instead being spread out over a half dozen or so sites. But additionally, it wasn't initially popular for fanfic so much as cell phone fanfiction, because in 2000's Japan the "cell phone novel" was a specific thing. These websites were being made for flip phones, not smartphones, and not only would people read them on those phones, they would often write them. None of that was very conducive to the creation and consumption of a "traditional" novel; so starting in the 2000's Japanese writers started making stories fit for the medium, namely:

Very short

A huge focus on dialogue and inner thoughts, with no/minimal description or scene detail

Using a limited POV of a specific character

Often employing the medium-as-message, like using emojis, structuring the story as IM's or emails, etc.

Also they all had huge gaps between lines, I'm not really sure what that is about:

Probably for readability on the phone given the small screen size? But it was absolutely part of the genre. A few of these novels actually made it big, got movie adaptations, people wrote articles about the "cultural phenomenon", it was the 2000's so Hiroki Azuma had a take on it of course, and so on. It slotted neatly into the vibe of the time of technology changing culture, paralleling discourse around otaku in the same era.

In fanfic those trends met up, and anyone familiar with fanfiction probably read that list of traits of the cellphone novel and thought "oh, this is perfect for fanfiction". Skipping out on description? I don't need it, I know what they look like already. Focus on conversation and POV? Perfect for shipping fics. Short lengths? Yeah, we are shortcutting to the good stuff, that is the point. Mirroring trends in the west, Forest Page's userbase was ~95% female, and the most common content on the site was romantic or edgy-dramatic stories in the franchises you'd expect. The closure page linked above actually summarizes the site's history by year, and lists the biggest fandoms:

Which is exactly what I would expect from a female otaku fanfiction website. Congrats to Pirates of the Caribbean for making it though, freeaboo's represent.

I do think the fact that the site was a website hoster as opposed to a fic hoster did align with the way the Japanese fandom was more "creator focused" and embraced the media mix more. There were "fic circles" a la doujin circles who made their own pages, people would make fanart, fan video games, and so own to host alongside it, and all of it was centralized to the creator; it made following them-as-a-person just a little bit easier. Most websites were simple text, but others did have the full Geocities experience:

Something that was somewhat common were basic visual novel concepts where the reader could make choices, or even insert their own name so they would be the "MC" of the story:

(Dream novels are in fact their own thing in Japan) My understanding is the site was quite popular through the 2000's and into the 2010's, though over time the "cellphone novel" as a concept fizzled out. People got smartphones, more people got PCs, and the constraints didn't make sense anymore - you can read ebooks and normal websites on your phone now after all. You can probably draw a line between these kind of stories and the webfiction/light novel boom of the late 2000's/2010's, something that was equally born on the internet, that streamlines the novel to "shortcut to the good stuff" but without the need to fit on a flip phone's screen. Though I will admit my own understanding of their histories shows them more as two sides of the same "youth demand for new literature" coin.

In 2017 Forest Page launched Forest Page Plus, a new service fully optimized for the smartphone era; but it did not transfer over all the old content, starting the clock ticking on the original Forest Page. My understanding is that in June they announced Forest Page was officially closing down; and from what I have gathered from reminiscing writers on twitter, they did not provide any easy, one-touch way to save any of the content, so people are archiving Wayback Machine links or sharing tips on how screenshot-save stories (I think the rub is they gave people a way to transfer content to FP+, but most don't want to do that, as places like Twitter & Pixiv are the content kings of this era).

As of tomorrow I would bet the large majority of the content will be gone; quite sad given both the quantity of stories there and how many got sometimes millions of readers. I am sure most of the biggest stories are archived at least, but particularly the early stuff was a very ephemeral genre, one that doesn't make sense to revisit once you aren't a 16 year old teen writing and reading fics on a flip phone in between classes. Which means another legion of the ghosts of the Wired is being born today. May we pour one out for a fellow online community that lived and died!

[xprojectrpg]

Moment of Awesome - Megan Gwynn/Pixie: Sharon S.'s investigation of the mansion upon her arrival leads her to Megan. This introduction leads to the discussion of the unique characteristics of their mutations.

"I'll be your friend, if you wish. I'm Megan, though most people know me as Pixie." She leaned forward slightly, intrigued, while maintaining a respectful distance.

The change in position sent the lights scattering in different directions. The cat pounced.

"I am Sharon, though the internet knows and fears me as Catseye," she said, scrabbling with humanoid hands as she chased a splash of light across the concrete. Her tail lashed the air playfully. "We shall be friends. Enjoy meeting other heteromorphic mutants. New experience for me."

"Wonderful." Pixie's gaze drifted to Sharon's hands on the pavement, noting the worn state of her nails. "If you'd like, I could help you with a manicure. It's a small thing, but it can be a relaxing experience."

With Pixie's wings now stilled Sharon had no more lights to chase. Now she sat to regard the other girl, the lashing of her tail now concentrated to slow flicks of the very tip.

"I have experienced before," Sharon allowed, feigning casual disinterest. "But first, have some questions."

Pixie smiled at the hint of a shared experience. "Of course." Tilting her head slightly, she asked, "What do you want to know?"

Excitedly, the cat hopped forward a few paces. "Your wings," she said, craning her neck for a better view of Pixie's back. "Have met mutant with avian wings, but not insectile. Fascinated. You do not have an exoskeleton to which muscles can attach and deform torso, so means of propulsion must be direct flight, with thoracic muscle attaching directly to wing bases. Like dragonflies. Venation seems also roughly equivalent. Wings stroke out of phase also. Omnidimensional movement then? Up, down, forward, back, left, right?"

Pixie looked over her left shoulder to glance at a wing. "I don't really think about the underlying mechanics, but I can fly in all directions. And hover, which is really quite nice." She hesitated. "Do you mind if I ask where you came from? I've met a faerie cat, but I've never met a mutant with such interesting cat qualities before."

Sharon preened. "Not so exotic as faerie cat. Only a homeschool-weirdo from Manhattan. But I am very interesting." She circled the deck chair to get a full 360 view of the other girl, sniffing delicately. Sharon came to a halt beside Pixie and sat on her haunches, one clawed hand raised.

"I can touch?" she asked, eyes on the glossy membrane of the nearest wing.

Pixie eyed Sharon's clawed humanoid hands. "Yes, careful touching is fine." Despite their rough condition they looked gentle enough, and her wings were tougher than they looked. "Fascinating, to be an internet sensation and yet, a frightening enigma to others."

"Reddit trembles before me," Sharon replied gravely. Gently, flexing her fingers so her claws wouldn't scratch the gleaming membranes, Sharon ran a hand across Pixie's wing.

"Seem to be very many fold-lines, like a fan, maybe," she said. "Unusual for this sort of structure. Only familiar with basic claval and jugal folds, but my entomology is not so strong. See jugum, though, which suggests you can beat fore and hind-wings as one if necessary. Do you have sensation? Suppose some form of proprioception is necessary for flight, but curious if sensitivity differs from skin."

"It does differ. I feel temperature strongly, and pressure, but not with the same nuance as skin," Pixie explained. "Is your tail very sensitive? Might you be willing to share a bit about your abilities? Besides ruling Reddit and the internet, I mean."

"I am generous. I shall share." Sharon withdrew her hand and snaked her tail over her shoulder, twisting it into a loose spiral. "Tail is very sensitive, and prehensile. More like that of a spider monkey than a cat. Suspect a large concentration of mechanoreceptors involved, maybe. Not strong enough to manage brachiation, but I can grasp objects. Most useful for balance, especially if I must be on two legs."

"A prehensile tail, remarkable. The diversity of mutants, it's beautiful and endlessly inspiring." She paused, contemplative. "Do you ever, ah, wear clothes? I only ask because I enjoy creating clothing for people with physical mutations, who can find regular clothes shopping difficult."

[princessconsuelapark]

What do you mean by insane takes?

I don't know why I ever go on the "for you" bit of twitter, but I do occasionally and so now my algorythm has started including 1d stuff, and my god. 🙈 Most of the takes that I was baffled by had to do with privacy stuff: fans thinking they had a right to be there, to have photos and videos of it, etc. But it was really the people and outlets who called the funeral a "reunion" of any kind. Even saying "celebrity guestlist" is absolutely wild in my opinion.

What also bothers me - and I try to be cautious with judging here, because, you know, everyone grieves in their own way - is how some folks out there treat Liam's death not so much a real life event, but as if it was a chapter of a fanfiction or part of an imagine. I can't quite put my finger on it, so I'm probably not really gonna be able to explain it super well, but let me try:

As I said people cope in different ways and as long as they are not hurting anyone, all fine by me. But some people's tweets and posts regarding this, just really rub me the wrong way, feel more performative and seem constructed with maximising clout in mind, rather than wanting to share genuine feelings and experiences. There are some posts out there that kind of fetishise the grief behind it, treat his death and his funeral like it was a pinterest board and make it their entire aesthetic. People constructing narratives and seeing bookend moments, glorifying moments of anguish and pain, like this was some pre-written TV show or something. It feels disrespectful to me, even though I understand that when it comes to this band, narratives and story-telling have always been a part of it, so people are conditioned to see things this way. We've always had the tendency to watch these 5 people's life unfold as if it was a TV show, and so when we talk about it, we sound like we are talking about a TV show. It's all very well, discussing someone's grief, etc. when it's characters in some procedural drama, but these are actual people. Real life doesn't have nice full circle moments and perfectly rounded narratives, grief doesn't go away in a couple of seasons, and we certainly have no right to observe what these people are going through, get every camera angle of it. So when people out there use the same language re the boys that they also use when talking about Eddie's emotional state in 9-1-1 or whatever, it just makes me feel very... yikes. Have no proper examples - and I really don't wanna single anyone out either - so I hope you kind of get what I mean. It's just this icky feeling some people's takes give me, it's almost like they're enjoying this situation, or like they revel in the horribleness of it?

I can maybe kind of compare it to this Titanic exhibition I once saw as a child - at the start everyone would get handed a ticket with the name of a real life person who was on the Titanic printed on it, and then at the exit there was a big board with the list of survivors and the dead, and you could look for the name you had on your ticket to see if you "survived". Even as a child, I was like. What the absolute fuck. These were real life people who died???? And we're making a game out of it??? It's that kind of feeling.

Obviously this is a personal opinion and people can disagree or express their thoughts in whatever way they'd like, I'm not about to police the internet or the fetishisation of death or whatever, lmao. It's just some people's tones I've been a bit weirded out by, I guess, and you asked so here I am trying to explain, and not doing a very good job of it <3 Anyway, hope you're doing okay, lovely ❤️ Sending much love!

[gilverrwrites]

I feel like I'm left behind and everyone manage to accomplish things, I want to go to uni and accomplish goals, but I feel as if it's too late for me. I keep self sabotaging and I'm always afraid to start. I keep finding myself in a viscous circle where I'm afraid to start because it might be too late/the courses that will grand me admission to university may end/expire, the opinions of the professors thinking I'm unserious would be present (I already experienced this in the past during a dark period where I was also experiencing a burnout without realizing and the teachers thought I was joking and unserious. One of them comparing me with the class clown, saying that she didn't know which one of us was more like the clown. At the time, I was battling with suicidal thoughts, sleeping 3 hours at night and arriving late to almost every morning class thanks to the bus not stopping at my stop since it was way too full. I was never joking around and was previously one of the best students) and since I'm not starting I'm always anxious about it. How can I even stop this sabotage??? I'm always trying to start and do the work, but at the end of the day, end up with nothing done nor completed NOT even started. I don't know what to do anymore!

I also wish at some point to do a sport and eventually possibly going to competitions, but I'm also an adult and every one began in childhood.

So, I wanna start here by saying I am just a rando on the internet whose experiences and views are not universal. Take what I say with a grain of salt and seek out professionals if you are able to.

If your in the UK, I know the NHS wait list is long, but it’s better to get your foot in the door now, than to keep putting it off.

If you’re in the US or another country that doesn’t offer free health care, please look into volunteer services or even just betterhelp style apps that might help you find coping mechanisms.

From there. You are not the only person to feel like you’re playing catch-up with everybody else. I know it doesn’t seem that way, but I promise, so many people around you are experiencing similar thoughts and issues, and are putting on a brave face.

The best thing I can tell you is, just do it. If the course you’re applying for ends, then it ends, at least you tried. Theres nothing you can do. But what if it doesn’t, and the only thing that has stopped you, is you?

Trust me, I’ve been there. I spent 10 years working retail and hating it because I was always to scared to try uni. I dropped out of college once, and was scared I would do it again. Was worried about being to old, not knowing how to be a student, being behind everybody else, picking the wrong course.

It didn’t help that I too wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t talking to my friends or family. I was just stuck in rut until I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to apply, had to sleep better, had to start working out because it was that or just spend the rest of my life rotting away and hating myself.

It won’t be easy, and it won’t be fixed overnight, but please try talking to people. I’m here if you need it, but if you can, find real life people; friends, family who you can have face to face conversations with. If you’re an introvert, don’t burn yourself out forcing yourself to interact, but I promise just getting lunch, or going for a walk with someone once a week will go a long way.

Just focus on feeling better first, to start. Please drink water, quit caffeine if you’re drinking it, look into sleeping techniques, talk to people.

If you start to feel better, start trying to apply for things you want to do. Courses, sports groups, anything. If it takes 10 years (hopefully not) like I did, so be it, everybody moves at a different pace.

(I don’t know what sports you want to try but;

Unis often have sports societies that you can join, most of which will have a group for beginners.

If you don’t join a course this year, see if you local community groups offer anything?)

I', sorry you're feeling this way, I hope this helps in anyway, and I hope things start to look up for you.

[aawesomepenguin]

SONIC RANGERS, EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT IT, LINK FOR ALL SOURCES AT THE END

Ok, the time has come. I spent my entire day doing some searches on the 4chan website, picking and trying to find every nugget of information I could find that I was 100% sure it was connected to Sonic Rangers.

I’ll get this right out of the gate: I’m 95% sure the next main Sonic game will be open world, and what will follow is all my evidence towards it. It’ll be uncharted territory for the Sonic franchise, and we’ll need to see how it pays off.

Also, spoilers for Sonic Rangers, but kind of broad ones, so in my opinion, your experience wouldn’t be ruined if you read all of this. But if you’re one of those that want to go 100% blind, then I think the time to jump off this ship is now.

Here we go.

As it turns out, as I did some digging of my own, and thanks to other observant people, I can confirm that the “Sonic Rangers” name has been circulating on the Internet way, WAY before the accidental leak revealed on May 27th. I will show an entire timeline of these discoveries, and how they connect.

But okay, before we dive in, a general vision of Sonic Rangers: the game will take a brand new approach with the character, placing Sonic in an open world for him to explore. Where through his speed, he’ll do platforming challenges, do puzzles, fight against badniks, etc. When fighting against enemies, the player gains XP, that can be used to give Sonic different abilities. Spread through this world are bosses, where after you defeat them, Sonic obtains orbs, and when enough of them are gathered, Sonic can enter Special Stages, that are structured like a Sonic Generations/Sonic Unleashed boost level. When you complete them, you get a Chaos Emerald.

Ok, now let’s go to the 4chan leaks. From what I can tell, SEGA has been inviting different test groups to testplay their next main Sonic game, under a strict NDA. After it, SEGA collects feedback from the testers. I can’t exactly pinpoint when SEGA began to do these tests, but if I had to guess, it has been around as early as March 2020.

1st Occurrence

In July 2020, another fake leak claiming to be the 30th anniversary game showed up on 4chan, but then, as an answer to it, a person that has really played a test version of the next main Sonic game called the fake leaker out. The person that has put their hands on the next main Sonic game had the following to say:

“I playtested the game back in march and played it for an hour. There were no levels just an overworld. You’re full of s***.”

In another post, the person that got their hands on the testing version of the next main Sonic game, had the following to say:

“It was called Sonic Rangers when I played it.”

1st Occurrence analysis

I believe that the person that played the test version of Sonic Rangers has erroneously interpreted the open world as an overworld, which makes sense. Sonic Rangers name gets dropped for the first time.

2nd Occurrence

In August of 2020, another person that played a test version of Sonic Rangers, stated the following about the next title on the Sonic series:

“It’s not an adventure remake. I playtested it. They ARE working on something, but if they take feedback me and the other panelists gave them, SEGA might change quite a bit from what I ended up playing.

Open World

Set on a gloomy, grassy, uninhabited island dotted with ruins.

Big BOTW influence, little korok-like puzzles scattered everywhere.

Robot/alien bosses scattered throughout the island, defeat them and you get a Chaos Emerald.

Get all Chaos Emeralds and you gain entrance to the final boss area, a foggy forest you couldn’t enter before.

No major characters appeared aside from Sonic.

No story, just dumped in.

Turn Super Sonic to fight the boss, he’s a giant colossus-like entity that you climb, hit his weak points.

These could all be changed because I played a couple of months ago and there still hasn’t been any reveal, so I assume they might be reworking a lot.”

2nd Occurrence analysis

As you can see, in this version, some of the elements that were talked about in the most famous leak aren’t present, some missing elements were added later, but the basic was already present and in place. Sonic can travel through an open world, doing puzzles, defeating badniks and fighting against bosses, to then fight against a final boss as Super Sonic. 

The most interesting thing is how the person that leaked these details claimed that they played it “a couple of months ago”, meaning that this version could take place after the build shown in the first occurrence. Some things have changed since then.

Another cool thing that I wanted to point out was that this build uses placeholder from previous Sonic games. During the final boss, the theme for the first boss fight against Infinite from Sonic Forces is used.

3rd Occurrence

In January of 2021, another anonymous 4chan user talked about Sonic rangers, once again mentioning the name “Sonic Rangers.” As their version is pretty edgy, and negative because Sonic Negativism gets clicks, I’m going to present it in a unbiased manner, and be direct to the point on what they said.

Sonic Rangers, around the end of 2020, was presented once more to a select group of people, two demos were shown. The first one allows exploration of the open world under a time limit of twenty minutes, and another demo that has an apparent Final Boss battle.

Open world is filled with small enemies, puzzles, and platforming challenges.

Completing puzzles, challenges and defeating badniks gives XP to the player as a reward, that can be used to unlock abilities for Sonic.

Among the abilities that Sonic can unlock, there is the “spincycle”, where after pressing the Y button, Sonic begins to create a line behind him, and if the player creates a circle-ish shape around the enemy or a group of enemies, Sonic attacks all the enemies that were “marked” within the spincycle line.

Homing Attack that can target multiple enemies at once, from Sonic Lost World, is back.

There are lots of bosses spread through the open world, when they are defeated, Sonic gets some “orbs”.

If the player gets enough orbs, he can access the “Cyberspace”, essentially this game’s special stage.

The cyberspace levels are like the boost levels in Sonic Generations.

When beating a cyberspace level within a certain amount of time, the player obtains a Chaos Emerald.

New voice clips for Roger Craig Smith were used.

Some new music was made for this build.

In regards to the demo where the player faces the final boss:

After reuniting all the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic can go through a dense fog that the player couldn’t access before in the open world.

A Giant Tree Robot is the apparent final boss.

Fly as Super Sonic using the spincycle and other abilities that were unlocked throughout the game to help defeat the final boss.

Can’t take damage, on a timer of rings. A Ghost girl refills the player’s ring count multiple times.

Demo ended after defeating the boss.

3rd Occurrence analysis

As you can see, this version polished even further the concepts that were talked about in the second occurrence. Instead of getting Chaos Emeralds after defeating a boss, Sonic gains orbs, where after this Sonic has to go after EVEN more bosses to get more orbs. With these orbs, the player can access a Special Stage, named Cyberspace, where you’ll be able to play a more traditional like Sonic game, to get the Chaos Emeralds.

This certainly helps the game longer, which is a plus for me. We’ll probably have seven boost levels, with them being treated like a Special Stage. They also added a XP system, and the main gimmick of this game, the spincycle, was shown in the trailer for Sonic Central.

Sonic will keep building up abilities, which is something I believe the player will be able to use them as different strategies on how to beat different types of bosses.

4th Occurrence

Sonic Central takes place, with a trailer for a new Sonic game at the end. Sonic is running through a forest, and then he begins to glow blue, creating a pixel effect, with a line following him. Sonic then runs in a circle with this new ability that makes him glow blue, and then exits screen.

4th Occurrence analysis

With the context we’ve piled up from previous occurrences, you can put some pieces together. Sonic is clearly activating a spincycle, the main gimmick for this new game, just like how it was said in the January 2021 leak. And just like how the leaker said, Sonic formed a circle-ish shape with this ability in the teaser trailer. Sonic creates a blue energy, creating a line behind him, allowing him to make patterns with it, maybe creating a shape that could surround his enemies?

5th Occurrence

Dataminers and modders are able to get their hands on the 4K trailer for the new Sonic game, finding out that the name of the game is, Sonic Rangers.

5th Occurrence analysis

It perfectly fits with what was stated previously in 4chan threads, specifically, the one from July 2020 and the one from January 2021. Helping give the 4Chan leaks even more credit.

6th Occurrence

SEGA, while sending out press kits to news websites, ends up slipping out the name for their next main Sonic game, Sonic Rangers.

"Announcing new console experiences, Sonic Colors: Ultimate and Sonic Rangers, further details on Netflix's Sonic Prime, mobile news, musical events and much more!"

-SEGA

It was an accident, and SEGA stated they sent an erroneous version, and when pressed about the Sonic Rangers name, it didn’t dwell into it any further.

6th Occurrence analysis

Coming straight from SEGA’s mouth, the name for the next main Sonic game is gonna be Sonic Rangers. This fits a lot with the rumours that came from 4chan from July 2020 and January 2021, making it EVEN MORE likely that the next main Sonic game is gonna be an open world game.

Conclusion

And that’s where we’re at now in terms of Sonic Rangers news. In my opinion, I’m 95% certain that these leaks are legit. Keep in mind that after the Sonic Rangers name came to light, 1001 other rumours were created, but these I have my doubts, since they now have a sturdy base, they can make up more stuff to go along with it.

My opinion: I’m particularly excited for this next main game. Sonic Rangers deals with uncharted territory for the Sonic series, and I feel like it could be very fun. But of course, I’m a guy that’s mostly chill and cool with most Sonic media out there, so form your own opinions.

Anyway...

HYPE FOR SONIC RANGERS!

Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5 and Source 6.

[silver-tongued-bby]

You're Mine, Chapter 7

You’re the CEO of a groundbreaking drug company in Sweden with a work/life balance that’s more work than anything else. That is before you meet Loki, who turns your world on its head in the best of ways.

Set during the first Avengers movie. This work contains explicit content and BDSM.

Pairing: Dom!Loki x Sub!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, 18+!!!, BDSM, dirty talk, oral sex (M receiving), bondage, spanking, fingering, anal play

Word Count: 4,440

Chapter Summary: You cook Loki dinner and he stops going so easy on you.

Author's Note: Chapter 7 already???? I'm thinking of closing most of the fic out next chapter but keeping it around for a few more prologues (particular kinks lol). I'm sorry I was late with this one- but I hope it was worth the wait. As always, your feedback is valued and I hope you enjoy!!

...

By the time the two of you slipped out of the bath it was well after sunset. You felt fully relaxed and refreshed. You changed into a comfortable pair of shorts and sweater while Loki conjured himself an outfit.

You led him into the kitchen, sitting him down at one of the stools at your countertop.

“Do you like Thai food?” You asked, turning to open the fridge.

“Of course,” you could hear the apprehension in his voice.

You smiled at him then brought out some chicken thighs, scallions, an egg and some Chinese broccoli, placing them on the counter. Bringing your eyes back to his you found him curiously watching you. “Is something wrong?”

He chuckled. “No- it’s just I think I can count on one hand the number of times someone’s cooked for me who wasn’t being paid in some way. Thor once tried to make stew while we were hunting Bilgesnipes but it did not end with something edible.”

“Hm- not sure what a Bilgesnipe is but I can assure you this will be edible.” You smiled at him, grabbing the wok from the cupboard.

“Do you cook?” You asked, filling a pot of water on the stove for the rice noodles.

“I’ve dabbled since coming to Midgard. I do love a good plate of breakfast meats,” he sounded thoughtful.

You laughed. “Good to hear we have at least one leg up on Asgard. Here,” you pushed a cutting board with the vegetables in front of him. “Can you chop these? And slice the scallions? Here’s a knife,” you handed him your nakiri.

He moved the knife, testing the weight and balance of it with his fingers. He nodded, then gave it a flip and went to work, finishing in seconds.

“Oh,” your mouth was open as you looked at the finely prepared vegetables then back up to him. You were starting to rethink your first and only rule.

He smiled, chuckling. “Knives are kind of my thing.”

“I see that…” you trailed off, eyeing his dextrous fingers as he held the knife, picturing him in the armour he had on last night, knife in hand… You swallowed, bringing your eyes back to his you knew by his mischievous grin that he could tell exactly what you were thinking.

“Um- sorry, right okay.” You composed yourself then brought everything over to the stove and mixed the sauce. You quickly assembled the dish, tossing the ingredients together in the wok.

You dished out two servings and brought them to the counter and settled in the stool beside him. He had topped up your wine glass already.

“Ta-da! Pad See Ew,” you motioned to his dish, grinning.

He smiled at you, picking up the chopsticks to take a bite. His eyes grew wide, “this is delicious.”

“Thank you, thank you,” you bowed slightly towards him before turning to eat the noodles in front of you. Fuck- it was delicious.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” He asked, most of his bowl gone.

“The internet. I’m not going to lie to you- I only know three recipes. This one kept me alive in college.”

You soon fell into an easy conversation as you finished your meal.

“Well, I promise next time I’ll do the cooking,” he said, helping you clear up the dishes. “Though I did bring desert,” he said and pulled a plate full of petit fours out of thin air, placing it on the counter before you with a little wink.

“Impressive,” you mused, bringing the wine to the couch in the other room. The two of you settled side-by-side on the couch, looking out at the dark, frosty lake beyond.

“Do you miss New York?” Loki asked, stretching out on the couch, bringing his hand to lightly brush circles over your shoulder.

“Hmm, sometimes. Though Tony, my old boss, is around a lot so at times it feels like I’m still in New York working in his lab.” You decided then to let him in on the only thing you’d kept from him- your work for Stark Industries. It was only fair. If he could tell you about being an alien-god you could tell him about your postdoctoral experience.

“Are you two close?” His hand stopped its movement.

“In a working-friendship kind of way. He’s the primary shareholder of the company so he’s around often. He took me under his wing at Stark Industries.” You let the words sink in.

“You worked for Tony Stark,” he turned to you. “From what I’ve seen of the man he seems like quite the handful.” He gave you a grin.

You laughed, relieved. “Yes I’d have to agree with you there. Though he’s the one who pushed me to go to Elv. I hadn’t been out in ages.”

“I’ll have to give him my thanks,” he picked a langue de chat off the plate, popping it in his mouth.

“It would be fun to visit New York again, with you, someday,” you said gently, looking into his eyes.

“I’d love to,” he smiled at you.

“Speaking of Elv, you’ve told me what you’re not willing to try. Tell me älskling, what do you desire to explore?”

You licked your lips, growing nervous. You felt trapped by his stare, his eyes were daring you to answer. “Bondage,” you swallowed, “and discipline.”

“You want me to be harder on you, little one?” His hand moved from your shoulder to gently push your hair behind your ear.

You nodded, looking down at your hands.

He brought his hand under your chin, guiding your gaze back to his. His eyes were warm though there was a hint of mischief simmering beneath. “I can do that, my älskling. Is there anything else?”

An answer immediately came to you but you couldn’t bring yourself to say it out loud. You lightly shook your head.

“It is not wise to lie to me,” his expression darkened with his tone.

You bit your lip. “Anal,” you whispered.

He tilted his head, surveying you. “We’ll have to train you for that, little one. Have you done it before?” He gently brushed your cheek with his thumb.

You shook your head. “Never, Sir.”

“I’ll take my time with you, älskling.” He stood. “Now, let’s have you change into something lovely so we can get started.”

He led you to your bedroom and into your closet. You brought out a few options, laying them delicately on the island of the walk-in. Your heart raced as he considered each option, his gaze flickering back up to you before motioning to the white Lise Charmel set. Without another glance he strode out of your closet, leaving you alone.

You shakily pulled your sweater off, marvelling at how quickly he changed from Loki to your Sir. He demanded complete submission with the way he carried himself and spoke to you, dressing you down with just a gaze. You took a deep breath and slid off the rest of your clothes before slipping on the soft white lace.

You slid the garter up your thigh and took a look in the mirror. Fixing your hair you took one last deep breath before stepping out of the closet.

You were surprised to find the room empty. You turned around, puzzled, before you felt his firm form behind you, his warm hands firmly grasping your waist.

“Such a lovely little thing,” his breath tickled the shell of your ear and you shivered. “My lovely little thing,” he was closer now and pressed his lips against your neck, just below your ear. You breathed in a shaky breath, the feeling of his tongue against the sensitive spot making your head spin. He snaked his hands away from your waist and pulled away from you to circle you slowly, his eyes tracing your heated skin.

“What should I do with you, hm?” His tone was lush, velvety, and dripping with sin as he continued to move around you with his hands behind his back. You felt like his prey, tangled up in his very essence, entranced before he consumed you entirely.

He stopped in front of you, an eyebrow raised. “I asked you a question, älskling.” His jaw was pronounced as he reprimanded you, the look of his aristocratic face set in a scowl sent waves of heat to your core and your heartbeat hammering in your chest.

“I’m- I’m not sure, Sir. I’m sorry,” you stammered, feeling very much exposed in front of his fully clothed form.

He stepped back, his knuckle against his chin as he studied you. “On your knees. Hands behind your back.”

Your thighs clenched together before you bent down on shaky knees, resting yourself on your heels, your hands gingerly placed behind your lower back.

He circled you once more, his eyes on the floor. He stopped suddenly and moved his hand in an upward motion, materialising emerald green ropes on the ground beside you. His eyes met yours, his expression momentarily gentle as he nodded your way, as if to confirm his actions.

You gave him the tiniest of nods and his jaw set once more. He snapped his fingers and motioned with his hands, each finger curling upwards as the ropes followed suit, coiling themselves around your limbs.

You sharply inhaled as they moved around you, the soft feel of the shibari rope gentle across your sensitive skin. The ropes fastened themselves around your arms, winding several times before tightening so that your upper arms were held firmly together. They wound themselves around your chest, the green bright against the white lace of your bra, then your shoulders, fastening together at your back. Your legs were bound similarly to your arms, the rope finding its way between your thighs, though your legs were kept separate.

Once the movement stopped you looked up at Loki with wide eyes, your mouth open to accommodate you accelerated breathing. Your chest heaved under you, the ropes tightening against your skin, constricting your breathing in the slightest. The rope pressed up against the lace delivered the most delicious burn.

He continued to circle you, his eyes darkening as they traced the curvature of your skin against the cords, accented by the white of your lingerie. “I’ll ask you again. What should I do with you?”

“I don’t know, Sir.” You said, both the fabric and the ropes between your legs dampening as you trembled.

“Wrong answer, älskling.” Suddenly he gripped your arm roughly to pull you up and threw you on the bed, face down. Your legs dangled off the edge and you lost track of his position within the room, disoriented by the movement. You stayed there for a few moments, listening to the sound of your breath, straining to hear something that’d give way to his position.

After a few moments of silence you felt the glide of his fingers against your bottom, gently caressing the skin. You let out a breath, feeling your muscles relax into his open palm as he laid it against you.

Suddenly he lifted his palm and struck it against you, a sharp slap ringing out in the silence of the room. Your muscles clenched at the sensation, naturally pulling away from the strike as a whimper left your lips. His hand was in your hair, gently tugging at your roots and you felt him over you.

“Two more,” he said against your ear, forcing a shudder through you. He bit the skin of your earlobe and you cried out, your hips pushing against him.

He ran his tongue over the spot before tugging more sharply on your hair. “And don’t you fucking move.”

Your slick was hot between your thighs and your arms flexed against the soft rope as you tried to focus on your breath, willing your body to stay still.

Pulling back he ran his hand gently over the skin of your other cheek before delivering a sharp slap. Your muscles clenched ever so slightly in response, your heart falling as you realised you’d failed to obey his simple command.

He was back against you, his strong hand gripping your bound wrist. He sharply bit on the skin by your pulse and you cried out loudly, the pleasure and pain overwhelming.

“Good girls listen, don’t they?” You could feel the depth of his voice vibrating against your back as he spoke the words.

“Yes- I’m sorry, Sir.” You got out, your voice sounding small.

He bit the spot again, this time sucking against it harshly between his lips. You cried out pitifully, the ache between your legs almost painful.

“You’re still at two more,” he licked the spot. “No moving this time, älskling. Be my good girl.”

You nodded. “Yes Sir.”

He moved back off of you and quickly brought his hand down. You held your breath, willing yourself to stay still. You let out the breath slowly and felt the slick between your legs dampening more and more of the lace and rope.

“There we go. So much easier when you listen, isn’t it?” His voice was sweet in your ear, making your heart swell with pride.

“Yes Sir.”

He ran his fingers between your legs, against your wet heat. You inhaled sharply, unsure if you were allowed to move. “Poor thing,” his velvety voice was above you still.

“So wet for me. One more, älskling.” He brought his hand back over your cheek, squeezing the flesh. “Then I’ll you’ll feel so much better.”

You shivered though just your teeth knocked together, the rest of your body holding still. His hand came down to give you the hardest spank yet, the skin aching in immediate protest. You swallowed the pain but welcomed the pleasure, coming in warm waves through your core.

“Now before I turn you around,” his hand gently ran along the ties binding your arms. “Take a deep breath älskling.”

You obeyed, filling your lungs with air before gently releasing the breath. He must have dematerialised your panties since you could feel his fingers tracing the skin of your backside. His touch left you momentarily, only to come back with some sort of cool slick covering them. He moved them along your tight hole and you relaxed into his touch.

“Good girl. This may feel cold,” he replaced his fingers with a small chilly object, running it against the sensitive skin of your anus. You whimpered at the sensation, both excited and nervous at the idea of what would happen next.

As he traced the object against your backside his lips came to press kisses against your shoulder, giving you a little nip with his teeth now and then. You were drunk with lust, your breaths slow and laboured.

“Breathe out and relax,” he commanded as his warm hand came to rest on your lower back. You did as you were told, your muscles releasing with his touch. He pushed the thing within you, and it stretched your hole momentarily before your muscles took it in, the top of it stopping on the outside of your body.

“There’s my älskling.” He tapped the end of the object and you whined, the sensation shooting waves of pleasure through you. You didn’t feel uncomfortably full yet you could feel something within you, warming up as it was exposed to the heat of your body.

He kissed the shell of your ear. “So tight yet you hold that so well. My lovely girl.” He gripped your hips and helped you up before spinning you around and throwing you down on the bed, facing him as he stood at the end of the bed. He moved to climb atop of you, his body caging you in as he brought himself over you.

His eyes searched yours for a moment before he bent his head, capturing your lips with his own. He licked along your bottom lip before dipping into your mouth. You moaned as you brought your lips around his tongue. He pulled back and bit your bottom lip between his teeth, marring the flesh slightly before letting you go. He smoothed his tongue over your lip then came away to study you once more.

He slipped his hand down towards your heat, taking his time to gently brush against your skin, the rope and the lace along the way. He ran the tips of his fingers along your slit and you gasped as your muscles clenched, the thing within you moving ever so slightly.

He dipped his fingers against your folds, the wetness of your skin allowing him to easily glide his digits against you. Your back arched against him on the bed, the ropes straining against your muscles with the movement. His eyes slid down from yours, watching the swell of your breast taut against the rope.

“Does my pretty thing want to cum? Poor älskling,” he dipped to kiss you, “I can feel how much your body craves me.”

“Y-yes please Sir. Please touch me,” you panted, his teasing almost too much.

He gave you a filthy grin and dipped a finger within you, then moved to bring in another. You could feel your walls clench around him, the toy in your backside pressing ever so slightly against his knuckles when he curved them to press the spot deep within you. The sensation caused you to cry out, and you pressed your nails into your palm to hold your orgasm at bay.

“Are you going to cum, älskling?” He spoke as his hungry eyes flickered from your face to your heaving chest, the white lace covering your flesh constricting against the ropes.

“Yes Sir- I’m about to,“ you were cut off when he slipped his fingers from you. Your eyes pleaded with his as you swallowed, your arms shaking as they propped you up against the bed.

“Only good girls get to cum,” he spoke firmly. “And you have not been a good girl today.” His jaw was pronounced as he hovered over you before moving off of you, leaving you to fall back against your bound arms on the bed.

You felt like crying, or screaming, or both but settled for a deep breath to compose yourself as you stared up at the ceiling.

He chuckled. “My pretty girl, so upset.”

You smiled pitifully, biting your lip hard as you shook your head. “I’m sorry Sir.”

He grabbed you by the ropes binding your chest, pulling you up to sit on the edge of the mattress. He brought his hand to your cheek, gently brushing his thumb against your heated skin. “What am I to do with you, hm?”

You looked up at him, your eyes wide. “May I show you how sorry I am Sir?” You licked your lips while your eyes traced the outline of his erection in his dark pants.

He kept brushing your cheek as he came closer, and you gently kissed his clothed thigh, your eyes never leaving his. His eyes were warm pools of blue-green, though once you kissed directly over his clothed member his expression darkened. You proceeded to give open-mouthed kisses over his hardened length, running your tongue against the fabric.

His eyes were heavy-lidded as he watched you before he gently brought you away from his thigh, unzipping his trousers and freeing himself. You marvelled at his member, the smooth skin of it making your mouth water. You bent to press a very delicate kiss against the tip of him, the skin ever so slightly red in its current state.

You kissed him again, this time swiping your tongue across the very tip of him and he inhaled sharply. You brought your eyes back up to his then opened and took him all in, his breath hitching as you did so. His skin felt divine against your tongue, salty with the smallest hint of juniper. You kept your lips pouted as you bobbed and ran your tongue along him, moaning ever so slightly when he was farther in.

You kept your throat relaxed and took even breaths through your nose as you moved over him with your mouth. Your eyes were wide, innocent, as you observed him, willing him to grab your head and use you as he pleased. His chest was heaving while he watched you, his hand coming around to the back of your head.

You moaned and pushed back against his hand. He took the hint and brought both hands to either side of your face and began moving you over his cock. You hummed, your core dripping wet over your thighs while he took his pleasure from you.

“Do you like being used, little one?” He rasped, his pace steady. You nodded, your head moving against his movements. He clenched his jaw as he looked down at you, a thick muscle in his neck visible from your angle. “Do you like it when I fuck your mouth, älskling?”

You moaned around him in response, your eyes watering as he continued to hit a particular spot in your throat. He pulled his length from your mouth, giving you a moment to collect yourself. You quickly dipped your head and bent forward, bringing one of his testicles in your mouth and gently sucking. You wished you had a recording of the surprised, strangled groan he made in response, you were pretty sure it was the first time you’d truly caught him off guard and it had you dripping with wet. You could feel it beginning to pool around the edge of the toy still within you.

You continued to lap and suck at his testicles, chancing a look up at him you were struck with his dark, hungry gaze. His hand came to your shoulder, swiftly pushing you away from him and pulling you up before turning you around and bringing you down onto the bed so your face was against the comforter. He brought a pillow under your hips so your backside was raised off of the bed.

You felt the bed dip between your legs then the hot heat of his length against your slit as he rubbed his tip against you, gathering wetness. He tsked, “not much of a punishment when you’re this wet, is it älskling?”

You whined in response but held yourself still, praying he’d realise you were being a good girl and would let you cum this time. Your thoughts were interrupted when he slowly pressed himself within you, the toy and his length hitting similar angles and spaces within you.

He bottomed out and pulled you up against him, the new angle of his cock within you pressing up against the toy in your backside. Now it was your turn to release a strangled moan at the sensation, the feeling of it all completely overwhelming you. With one arm across your ribs, under your breasts and the other against your throat he set a steady pace as he thrust into you. His hand roughly pushed the cup of the bra down and his finger moved to your nipple. He rolled it in-between his fingers, forcing a throaty moan from your lips.

“Please Sir,” you managed to get out between thrusts, “may I cum?”

His breath was hot against your neck as he kept moving within you. “Not yet, älskling. I can feel that you’re close, your cunt is gripping me so tightly. I can feel the toy I put in you against me, within your tight little hole. Does it feel good, älskling? Do you like being filled?”

You shuddered at the sound of his velvety voice in your ear. “Yes Sir, it feels so good- I feel so… So full,” your head was spinning with the combined sensations.

“Good. Do you want to cum on this cock for your Sir, little one?” His fingers were still playing with your nipple, while the others that remained wrapped around your neck were tightening slightly.

“Yes, Sir! Please- please let me cum for you,” you begged, your fingers growing numb behind you.

“Good girl. All right my älskling, you may cum,” he pinched your nipple hard, “now.” He sucked on the spot behind your ear and you came instantly, crying out as the combined feeling of it all overpowering you. You could feel yourself moving against him as wave after wave of pleasure came, intensified when he licked and bit the same spot on your neck.

“Good girl, ride it out. There’s my good girl,” he murmured against your skin, his pace unrelenting. You came down from your high and he pulled himself from you. The ties around your arms were suddenly gone and he turned you back around, laying you on the bed so you faced him, your back propped on the same pillow as before.

He settled himself on his knees between your legs and fisted his member, his eyes taking in your form. “Touch yourself for me, älskling.” He commanded, his eyes heavy lidded as he did the same.

You licked your lips, “yes Sir,” then moved your hand down to your folds, gently playing with your clit as you watched him. You moved your hand to your uncovered nipple and rolled it between your fingers as you continued to play with yourself, the sound of your breathing filling the room.

“Do you want me to cum on your chest?” He asked, his expression sinful.

“Yes Sir, please- please cum on me. Please cover me in your cum,” you squirmed at your words, you could feel another orgasm building quickly.

“Are you going to cum again, little one? Are you going to make yourself cum with me?” He rasped, you could tell he was close and that thought excited you even more.

“Yes Sir- fuck! I’m going to cum!” You whined, your pace even with his strokes.

“Good girl. Cum now- with me,” his voice was strained as he met his finish, thick ropes of cum shooting across your chest. Upon feeling the warmth of his release against your skin, marking you, you let go, your back arching off the bed slightly as your muscles constricted.

You both panted, fully spent, slowly coming back to yourselves. You smiled at him then looked down at your chest- the green rope still tied beautifully, with thick lines of cum across the green cords, white lace, and your skin. You lay back against the pillow and brought your eyes back to his. “I think this is the prettiest I’ve ever looked.”

He nodded. “Absolutely lovely,” he gently ran his fingers along your cheekbone. His eyes fell to your chest and darkened slightly. “And all mine.”

Chapter 8 here.

End Note: Happy Loki eve!!! When you rethink on your "first and only rule" it's the no knife play from Chapter 1. Stay tuned for Chapter 8- not sure if it'll be out Saturday as I'm hoping to update Summer Wine this week too and 3 chapters is a lot for me to get through. Love you all and thank you for reading!!

Taglist (open!):

@fuck-is-going-on

@thehornytitty

[moons-and-stars-and-shit]

hey again. sooo i couldn't think of any hcs and such, but out of no where i thought about one. this one deals with some... angst ig??? i understand if you don't feel comfortable writing this :). anyway, how do you think haikyuu boys would react to you having a panic attack? you could do any haikyuu boys you like but it will be awesome if bokuto or/and tendou were in it. tysm!

𝐻𝑄 𝐵𝑜𝑦𝑠 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑜 𝐴 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘 🖤🤍

𝔸/ℕ- 𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕘𝕦𝕪𝕤! 𝕊𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 👀

ℝ𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 @g0th-k1tty

𝔽𝕥- 𝔹𝕠𝕜𝕦𝕥𝕠, 𝕋𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕦, 𝕀𝕨𝕒𝕚𝕫𝕦𝕞𝕚, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕂𝕖𝕟𝕞𝕒

Ok so a LONG time ago I posted HC on what dating Bokuto would be like

I HC Bokuto as actually being very emotionally aware

Since he deals/used to deal with emo modes quite often

So for starters, I think he would be very aware of what causes your panic attacks and do his best to keep you away

But on the occasion, you do start having a panic attack

I think he would start to catch on to the fact that your starting to have one quite early

Now this could go two ways from here

1: He's able to prevent it from happening because he knows your emotions so well and knows how to handle these situations before they start

Or 2: He himself panics a little and doesn't help you in time to prevent the attack from happening

Assuming the second option happened and you go into full-on panic mode

He will quickly snap out of his initial panic and go to help you

Since he is a very physically affectionate person he would try to solve it by doing things like holding you and rubbing circles into your back

After getting you to calm down a little bit he would take you to the bedroom and proceed to wrap you into a blanket burrito

Then he'll slip out and grab you some water and a snack

After you finished your water and snack hell most likely just climb into bed with you and just hold you until you fall asleep

Ok so Tendou is experienced in the world of panic attacks because he has had a couple himself

Sad but true

Like Bokuto he will try his best to keep you away from triggering things

But he can't always protect you

I think his solutions to panic attacks would be very by the book

Like some things he's learned that helped either through experience or therapy

So he would do things like sitting and do some breathing with you

Or he would do some meditation or imagery with you

And I think he would have all of your self-soothing resources on hand

So he would have things like fidgets, lotions, blankets, and stuff

So after he's calmed you down from your initial panic he would give you things to soothe you and try his best to take your mind off of it

I feel like he would definitely ask what caused your panic attack once you've completely calmed down

Just so he knows what to look out for so that this doesn't happen often

Also if you were taking medications to help with your panic attacks he will definitely make sure you take them

So I don't think he would know how to handle your panic attacks at first

You had one once and he was honestly just lost on what to do, leaving you to have to solve it on your own

He felt really bad because he knew he could've helped you more

You assured him that it was ok and that you would be fine

Nonetheless, it really freaked him out not knowing how to help you

So he did some research to find out how he can better support and help you

Because of this, I think his solutions to your attacks will be very similar to Tendou's

He would use very by the book tactics to calm you down

Breathing, Distraction, Meditation, etc

But then I think he would be like Bokuto and be very affectionate

However, I think he would show his love more through words rather than physical affection

I HC that his love language is words of affirmation soooo

but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't keep you close to him

So he would whisper I love you's and other sweet things to you while he's holding you in his arms

Another boy who didn't really know how to handle this situation

So he too would do his fair share of research on how he can help

But I think he would make an effort to tailor his solutions to you specifically

So instead of turning to the internet he would go straight to you and ask you what would help you in these situations

And depending on your answer, he will act accordingly

Your a very touchy person who just needs physical comfort?

Kenma's got a spot on the couch just for you

You prefer not to be touched when having an attack?

No problem, he'll work on trying to calm you down first

And him being the observant person he is would most likely be able to detect situations or actions that could cause an attack

And if he somehow misses one he'll be able to catch on to when your starting to have one and act accordingly

I feel like he would have a kind of plan for wherever you have an attack

Like if it's in public his first priority is to get you somewhere more reserved

Then he'll try and help you

If it's at home then he'll just soothe you in any way he knows how

[golbrocklovely]

since i haven't finished writing anything just yet...

here are some of colby's tweets from 2018.

i don’t have proof that these are his tweets, but believe me, they are his.

if it’s bold and italicized, it’s someone’s tweet to him (or… tweets for context to what he was responding to).

if it’s in (), that’s just me commenting lol

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jan. 2 - SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS

So very thankful for all my beautiful fans and amazing friends. Love you all

Jan. 5 - It’s okay to take time to find yourself, and become the person you want to be. Never too late

Jan. 7 - Find someone who’s in love with your soul, not the way you look

(damn i really miss when colby would tweet mushy gushy stuff :/)

Jan. 8 - ~ You’re almost gone, and I’m okay ~

Jan. 11 - I am a natural introvert who has learned to cope/adapt with social situations and surroundings. Don’t think that you have to be born an extrovert to have outer confidence

Jan. 13 - Life is too short to be superficial and fake

Jan. 15 - I feel like Social Media can be a place full of judgement, which goes hand and hand with feelings of insecurity. The internet is a new world of communication, something our generation is FIRST to experience .. Put your phone away for a bit if you start having these feelings

Constantly subconsciously comparing yourselves to others by seeing where they are in life, their likes, how they look etc. is so unhealthy. If you’re on your phone 24/7 , that can definitely take a toll on you mentally. Take the breaks you need!

Jan. 17 - Spontaneous trip to paradise sounds quite nice right about now

Jan. 20 - Damn, LA really makes me feel like I’m going crazy sometimes

Jan. 22 - It’s Now or Never baby

Jan. 25 - YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE SO HAVE AS MUCH FUN AS YOU CAN WHILE YOU CAN. LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST

Jan. 27 - My inner emo shows more and more everyday

Jan. 29 - Rather be respected by few than adored by many

The key is being different from others, but holding a certain confidence about who you naturally are

Jan. 30 - Just wanna see what’s going on in that special mind of yours.

Jan. 31 - People don’t think I get any sleep when in reality I probably sleep too much MY DARK EYE CIRCLES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE OKAY!?

Feb. 2 - Even though I may not be able to talk to every single one of you personally, I just want you to know that I’ll always be here for you. You mean so much.

Feb. 5 - You ever just wake up and feel like going back to sleep for the rest of eternity cause same

Feb. 6 - You gotta focus on yourself in order to be the most successful you can be

Feb. 11 - Waste the day away with me

Feb. 12 - Being alone with your thoughts for too long can be dangerous

Feb. 14 - 🌹🌹🌹 Here’s some roses if you didn’t get any this Valentine’s Day. #cheesy

Feb. 17 - You can’t miss what you forget

(fun fact he tweeted this same thing last year too... is he okay?)

Feb. 18 - @/KyleeCarterrr : i love you.. just in case someone hasn’t told you today

@/KyleeCarterrr Thank you. I love you too 🌹

Feb. 20 - I believe everyone has a purpose. Why else would you be alive ?

Feb. 22 - Single doesn’t mean I’m looking for somebody 🤷🏻‍♀️

Feb. 25 - A deep mind is so much more attractive than a pretty face

Feb. 27 -Life’s too short to wait for the perfect moment. If you wanna do something, do it. If you wanna talk to that special him/her, do it. If you wanna pursue a crazy dream.. DO IT. Don’t miss out on YOUR only time here on earth.

One day you're gunna find that one special person who loves all the weird things you do

I think my problem was that I was caught up in the idea of you, not the reality

(oooof, i felt this one lol)

March 1 - I love it when people say “You’ve changed” cause it reminds me that I’m human and always experiencing new things.

March 5 - Never settle for anything YOU DONT DESERVE.

March 6 - there’s so many nostalgic memories in music

March 7 - you’re not a stranger if you’re always on my mind

March 10 - You are your WORST critic.. Sometimes I gotta remind myself not to be so hard on myself, it’s not worth it. People don’t pick apart things about you like you might

March 12 - Getting past security to get into abandoned places is becoming second nature

March 18 - I think I’ve realized that I’m a living meme

March 24 - Crazy how things change. People come and go so fast. Feels like you’re living multiple new lives, meeting someone so important one year and moving on to others the next

March 29 - I just wanna sleep. All the time

sometimes the silence means everything

[aro-culture-is]

im starting to think I might be aro but I'm not sure... was wondering if you and your followers can give me some advice? i currently identify as genderfluid & queer. im 25 y/o and have never had a single partner, never been in love, never kissed anyone, ever. I've had many opportunities to, its just that i never felt romantically attracted to any of the people who have liked me (a few cis guys, a lesbian, and a trans guy). I definitely have had sexual desire for others, though. I did had a few romantic crushes on girls through my life but I think I might have forced myself to have them, if that's possible? The idea of romantic love has always fascinated me and I'm a sucker for cheesy romantic stories and stuff with lots of angsty longing and like, I WANT to feel that too. So bad. But I'm starting to think I literally can't? Does this sound like I could be aro? Or can I not really know until I've at least tried to have a romantic relationship with someone? Right now I just kind of feel like I'm broken because I want one but it just feels impossible.

[empty paragraph in case tumblr eats it]

hi!

so right off the bat i’m going to say: i am an internet stranger and I cannot decide your identity for you. that said, you definitely sound like you’re aro.

"never been in love", "i never felt romantically attracted to any of the people who have liked me", “I did had a few romantic crushes on girls through my life but I think I might have forced myself to have them, if that's possible?”, “Right now I just kind of feel like I'm broken because I want one but it just feels impossible”

everything i’ve quoted there is a STRONG sign that alone would make me suspect that you’re aro, but especially the first and last one. a lot of aro ppl “choose” a crush or try to force themselves to feel like they have a crush, and if you think you might have, that’s very much possible.

On a much sadder and more serious note, while I don’t see it quite as strongly with current teens, myself and a lot of a-spec people identified as broken before we knew there was a term and that we were allowed to use it and even feel pride in that. It’s so very easy to listen to society telling us that it’s normal to have crushes and decide not having them must be a problem with us. I knew in 7th grade that I didn’t seem attracted to boys or girls (and knew no nonbinary people aside from myself) and just as deeply “knew” that I must be broken. I’d strongly recommend following aro blogs - seeing representation helps most, in my experience.

that said, here’s some bonus comments which I think are relevant:

I definitely have had sexual desire for others

Strongly recommend that you should look into the term “allo aro” (a shortening of allosexual aro”

The idea of romantic love has always fascinated me and I'm a sucker for cheesy romantic stories and stuff with lots of angsty longing and like, I WANT to feel that too. So bad. / Right now I just kind of feel like I'm broken because I want one but it just feels impossible

a LOT of aros who have submitted to this blog have felt or do feel this way, I suspect. I personally never felt this way so I don’t feel super comfortable providing details on it, but I do notice a common theme of this being a comment from questioning / newly discovered aros who are still coming to terms with things.

That said, there are also some aro folks who do still chose to date/”partner”, both in the traditional romantic sense and in other ways, like in queerplatonic relationships (qprs) and other arrangements, and those can be long-term committed relationships. iirc at least one person has commented before on being a happily married aro person. If you still want a relationship even as an aro, there is a precedent. You won’t be alone even then.

can I not really know until I've at least tried to have a romantic relationship with someone?

there will be people who will tell you this. the venn diagram between those people and the people who will tell you that you cannot be aro because you have dated is a circle. (they never intend to believe you - just to find any excuse not to.)

if it gives you reassurance, you can enter a relationship where your identity as questioning aro is a known factor - but there is NO obligation to do so and i at least would consider it a bad idea to enter a relationship where this isn’t known. I would also caution about “curers” who take that as a challenge and may not express such, and who will take you being in a relationship with them / staying in that relationship for some arbitrary amount of time only known to them as a sign that they’ve “cured” you of being aromantic / aro-spec. In full disclosure, I have no idea how common that is but it is also my only dating experience and a very 0/10 one at that.

I hope that this (wall of text oops) helps! If you’re still not sure, I’d recommend looking through my “am i aro” tag, as on this post, to see me answering similar questions.

- mod kee

[0tterp0p]

Okay so i followed you because your art slaps but like, what...*is* The Untamed. It looks gay I want in.

1. THANK YOU OH MY GOSH 2. I saw this, and I want you to know that I audibly cackled. Had to lean back in my chair and rub my hands together like a goddamn Bond villain. It was embarrassing, but only my dog saw, (she got up from the couch and left the room she was so done with me) and I guess whoever is reading this now OOPS SORRY. Anyway, I would be very happy to say, and I’m tickled you asked. 

Short Version: The Untamed a 50-episode Chinese drama set in ancient/fantasy times where there are different sects of people who can cultivate a golden core in pursuit of immortality. Within that, it is about the story of Wei Wuxian, the greatest villain that the cultivation world has ever known, who murdered thousands before dying himself at his lowest. It is his story and it follows him from his teenage years to his death and after. It’s also about Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian’s actual goddamn soulmate, although on the outside they seem very different at first. It’s based on the danmei novel Mo Dao Zu Shi, or The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation/The Founder of Diabolism. Yes, it is very gay, and it’s gay On Purpose. I say that because I think I’m used to being a little bit baited, and this is no bait. There is no reading into things. The romantic content on screen is loudly and obviously meant to be read as romantic, and it’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It also has a happy ending, despite everything I just said and I just feel it’s important to know that going in and I hope that doesn’t spoil anything for you!! 

Feelings Version: I’m not kidding when I say that the Untamed and mdzs as a partnered whole is the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen or read. I think it hit the core of what romance really IS for me: the soul-deep understanding of another person, of knowing them and seeing them for who they are and for loving that person deeply and entirely. For loving all of someone. For sharing a core belief and seeing it’s perfect mirror in the person you love. There’s misunderstanding here, there’s pining, but through that, there is the learning of another person’s heart slowly and on a long journey, and how to handle it gently. 

The Untamed is about kindness, and circles of it. This widening pool of how you can offer kindness to anyone at any moment and about how much that means to the person receiving it. 

It’s about rumor, and the fickleness of public opinion. 

It’s about mistakes, and how to move on from them, or handle them, or make amends for them. It’s about intentions and the expected and unexpected outcomes of them. It’s complicated and it’s messy and there are no easy answers.

It’s about justice and what that actually means. 

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are also just, like, incredibly lovable characters separately from each other and together. They’re VERY different from each other and they are both so freakin great, I just. *clenches fist* THEM. Really, the entire cast of characters is fantastic, and I really can’t think of a single character I actually hate (except maybe Sect Leader Yao), because they’re all interesting and varied and represent different sides of a very complicated equation. 

It’s wildly sad but also wildly happy and like not to be more dramatique (tm) than I already have been, but I cried both from sadness and happiness SO MANY TIMES in its 50-episode run. Then I cried again when I read the book, which is quite different in many ways but no less delightful.

Anyway, this is why I recommend the Untamed and mdzs and any version of the story, really - there have been a lot of really fantastic posts by my betters out there that I’ll try and find again and reblog about what about it is so great, but this is my messy feelings-ridden version, ha! This content is like endlessly engaging and there’s SO MUCH STUFF you can discuss with it and it just keeps going and going - IT’S GREAT and the fandom for it is WILDLY creative and active and overall kind and chill and interesting and it’s been an overall lovely place and a lovely experience. So yeah. Um. I guess I would recommend it, heh [scuffs dirt sheepishly].

You can watch the Untamed on Netflix now (I thiiiiink it’s available in most countries?) or if not there, then Viki is where I originally watched it. You can watch for free with ads. 

The novel I read through Exiled Rebels Scanlations - that’s a full translation, but there are also several very good incomplete translations on the internet as well.

The ongoing donghua (Mo Dao Zu Shi) and chibi (MDZSQ) version are on YouTube and are also excellent. 

THANK U FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK I’LL SHUT UP NOW THANK YOU KINDLY 

Except for one more thing, the single gif that knocked me over from “considering watching the Untamed” to “embracing my full and mortal destruction”:

[justanotherblonde23]

When Marcus Met the Doctor

Author’s Note: Hey there Internet friends! So my buddy @autumnleaves1991-blog had asked me for a follow up on my original Marcus Moreno story. She was wondering how Marcus met the future Dr. Moreno. It was in an ask, but I can’t find it to save my life. I’m posting this on my iPad because my laptop isn’t playing nicely today, so I apologize if the format seems a little odd. I’m still learning! I gave the reader a last name and a nickname so I didn’t have to use y/n but I didn’t give any descriptions about physical appearance, so I hope you’ll be able to see yourself here. Please let me know what you think, I hope you enjoy - Kat

Warnings: swearing, single parenthood

Tags: @autumnleaves1991-blog @madness-roses @bisexual-space-slut @dindjarindiaries @frannyzooey @zeldasayer @cinewhore @revolution-starter @mrschiltoncat @softpedropascal @paniclana @jollyrancher87 @hdlynnslibrary @maybege @corrupt-fvcker @cyaredindjarin @scribbledghost @woakiees

Marcus was at his wit’s end. He’d been a single dad for all of three weeks after his wife decided that she wasn’t invested in being a mother or having a spouse that occasionally saved the world. What was he supposed to do with a kid that just turned 7, a two-month-old baby who started showing signs of powers, and a full-time job as one of the Heroics? He’d been up all night with the baby, Jules, because every time she woke up, she’d inadvertently started throwing things around the room...with her mind.

He had been around children with powers before, sure, but he had never encountered a child this young having powers begin to develop. Hell, his oldest, Missy, hadn’t even had her powers show up yet. He knew that each child was different, but this was way out of his league. He knew how to handle children; he loved children, especially his children. A powerful infant was not in his job description. He needed outside assistance, and he needed it yesterday.

It was a blustery Saturday, so he bundled himself and the kids up, making his way to Heroics HQ. There had to be someone there that could help. Walking into HQ was like walking into a completely different world. Uniquely powered individuals in multicolored hero outfits, scientists in lab coats, executives in suits, and a myriad of others all spent their time hustling and bustling through the gigantic building. In the middle of all this was Marcus, a dad in jeans, a grey V-neck, converse, and a leather jacket holding a bundled up super powered baby in the crook of his arm, with his hand gripping the small hand of his inquisitive little girl. He sighed, making his way to the building’s science and medical wing, trying to find the proper hallway and office number.

Finally, he found it, office 22A, the person who hopefully had the answers he needed for baby Jules. He knocked; he felt awkward just rushing in even though technically had an appointment. He hadn’t expected the door to be opened by the most beautiful woman that he’d ever laid eyes on. She smiled kindly, gesturing for him to enter. He couldn’t help but take in her appearance as he guided himself and Missy into the office. She was dressed professionally, wearing a pencil skirt, blouse, and heels topped with a lab coat, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her eyes shone with both care and enthusiasm; a soft smile graced her lips. He watched as she grabbed Missy’s hand, setting her up with toys in a corner filled with all sorts of things children loved. She was so gentle with the little girl, giving all of her attention to the child. Once Missy was situated and happily playing quietly, the woman turned her attention back to Marcus and Jules. She said something to him, but Marcus just stood there, blinking, a mixture of exhaustion and admiration rendering him speechless.

“Mr. Moreno?” a gentle voice inquired, her hand on his bicep snapping him out of his reverie.

Marcus blinked, shaking his head, willing himself to be in the present. “I’m so sorry, I’m completely worn out. Between work, the baby, and Missy, I’m just barely pulling through on my own. You can call me Marcus, by the way, Mr. Moreno just seems so formal.”

The kind smile was back as she led him to a couch at the back of the office, where they both sat down and got comfortable.

“So, Marcus, I hear that you are here to see me about your little one here. My name is Dr. Johnson, but mostly everyone around here calls me Iris. Please tell me what’s going on with the baby, and I can see what I can do for you.” She sounded so confident in her ability to assist him, not even knowing what the problem was yet.

“Iris? Is that your name?” Marcus accidentally wondered aloud.

The responding light laugh that Dr. Johnson gave him sounded like a perfect melody. “No, that’s not my name, just a nickname. One of my secondary abilities is a bit of telekinesis. When I activate that or my other abilities, my eyes turn well the color of irises, and the name just stuck.”

He nodded, absorbing the information while rocking Jules in his arms. She was dozing at the moment since this would ideally be her naptime. He studied her face, looking for what, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t even know where to begin, how to ask for something he wasn’t sure there was a solution for. It hit him then how young she was. How was someone so young supposed to help him?

“I sense some hesitation in you. If you have questions or concerns, I’m happy to address them. I want to be able to help you, but to do that, you also need to trust me.”

Marcus shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. He didn’t want to be rude or demanding, but this was his baby they were talking about here. It was his job to keep Jules safe, it was just him now, and he couldn’t stand the idea of her in any type of danger simply because he couldn’t figure out what to do about her powers.

Iris put her hand on his, causing him to look back at her again.

“Yes, I’m quite young, I just turned 28 last month, but that doesn’t make me any less qualified to help you and your baby girl. My greatest ability is my mind. I have nine doctorates, working on more as we speak, which doesn’t include my medical degrees. I am a doctor of pediatric medicine, as well as a surgeon for both children and adults. I’ve worked on most of the heroically enhanced beings that work here, you included, although you were unconscious at the time. I invent most of the tech that you and your fellow Heroics use every day. Those katana blades of yours, those are my work. As a father, I know that you’re going to be hesitant to allow anyone to help your daughter, especially someone who is young, like me. I assure you, Marcus, that my young age is made up for by my vast set of experiences. I would argue that I’m the best suited for this job out of anyone. Please, let me help you so that you can take care of your children to the best of your ability. Give me a chance here; I promise you won’t regret it.”

He had been expecting her anger at his hesitance, not her understanding. He was sure that he was about to be yelled at for doubting her. Instead, she calmly explained exactly who she was and why she was his best bet. Fuck, she was brilliant and willing to help. He needed to give her a chance and let her see this through, no matter how nervous he was.

“Iris, I apologize; I shouldn’t doubt you or your abilities. I’m pretty new at this single dad thing, and I’m just trying to take care of them the best I can. I’ve been doing mostly consultant work from home, but that’s only a temporary solution. I just-,” his voice broke, tears filling his eyes.

A tear dripped down his face, but the doctor caught it with her thumb, smoothing it away. She had tears in her own eyes, threatening to overflow. She enveloped him in as firm of a hug as she could with baby Jules still in his arms, letting him lay his head on her shoulder and permitting him to feel. All his sorrow, worries, and fears flowed out of him through his tears. Fingers carded through his hair, a hand rubbed soothing circles on his back, her words of comfort whispered in his ear. Marcus, you’re not alone. There are people who want to help. It’s okay, let it all out. He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but by the time he finished crying, he felt safe and cared for, something that he hadn’t felt in a while, not since far before his ex had left.

They spent the next half hour discussing what abilities Jules had exhibited so far, what Marcus’ concerns were, and what he needed to be a functional parent. He explained how the baby started showing signs of power less than a week after she was born, how she seemed to be able to move things with her mind, but that he wasn’t quite sure because, well, Jules was a baby and he was sure that she didn’t even realize she was doing it. He was worried because as time went on, the objects kept getting larger. Last night, somehow, she had moved the crib in front of the bedroom door when she woke up in the middle of the night for her bottle. He had ended up having to take the door off its hinges to even get into the room. Hearing his baby crying and not being able to get to her had scared him shitless. He’d ended up staying in the baby’s room all night to make sure nothing else happened.

As they talked, Jules had woken up and was beginning to fuss. Iris ended up taking the baby, giving her a bottle, and watching her abilities while still listening to Marcus. She was so good with little Jules, holding her, gently stroking her hair, whispering comforting words when she would get fussy. He saw books begin to float off the shelf in his peripheral vision, he got up to try and put them back, but Iris’ hand shot out, stopping him. She smiled up at him, raising a hand and pushing them back in place with her mind.

“I think I have something that will help.”

She stood up, still holding the baby, and went to her desk, grabbing a tiny silver cuff. She pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, bringing up various holograms all around the room. Marcus almost jumped out of his skin when she began to talk to an AI, sorting through her research until she found what she was looking for.

“This is my own design, it’s basically a bracelet that will contain Jules’ powers and abilities while she wears it. It’s waterproof, tamper resistant, and will only open with either your fingerprint or my own. As she grows, we’ll change the cuff size and lessen the suppression. When this little lady is old enough, the cuff will come off altogether and she will have full access to her abilities. The suppression will not cause her any harm or pain, I’ve made sure to try it on myself long term to be certain. This allows you to keep her safe without working yourself into exhaustion. We can meet a few times a month to assess her progress. This should help you all get into the groove of things, Marcus.”

He took the cuff, studying it, rolling it over in his hands. It felt like regular metal, nothing special. He titled it to see the inside. There were tiny sensors evenly spaced throughout and something that was blinking green. This was far beyond his paygrade as far as technology went. The fact that the woman in front of him invented this and was willing to use this to help ensure his baby’s safety was not lost on him. He was grateful that she had a solution, hopefully it would help.

“It won’t hurt her, right? I just want to make sure. Has this been studied long term? Are there any side effects?” he enquired, trying not to get too excited.

Iris shook her head as she lightly rocked Jules in her arms. “I’ve used this on myself, as well as some other children that have had their abilities show up a bit too early. I haven’t seen any drawbacks or side effects of the cuff so far, but I want to have you bring Jules in at least once every few weeks so that we can keep her closely monitored. You’ll also have my number, please feel free to contact me day or night if you have any concerns or if anything goes wrong. I’m here to help and it’s my main priority to make sure that this sweet girl can learn and grow safely, without the threat of her powers going awry. This problem is one that we can solve, Marcus.”

He nodded, her words were reassuring to be sure. Since he became a single father, he hadn’t really trusted anyone with the safety and wellbeing of his little girls besides himself. It was difficult to reach out and allow someone to help solve a problem when the one person he had trusted the most had shattered him. Iris was giving him a solution, she was asking for his trust in her and her science. He could do that for his kids, he had to.

Marcus handed her back the cuff, allowing her to delicately put it on Jules’ wrist. It didn’t even phase the baby one bit. She kept on as if nothing had changed at all. He let out the breath that he didn’t even know he had been holding. She seemed absolutely fine, content to be rocked in the good doctor’s arms. She handed her back to Marcus, allowing him to cradle his little one close.

The two adults scheduled baby Jules’ followup appointment for the next week so that they could see her progress and give Iris a chance to check the data and run some tests. They spoke for a few more minutes until Missy came up to get their attention.

“Daddy, I’m hungry.”

Iris got down on Missy’s level so that she could look her in the eye. “You did so well today, Missy. Thank you so much for playing quietly while your daddy and I talked about your baby sister. I’m very proud of you.”

Missy broke out in a huge grin, throwing her arms around the doctor’s shoulders.

“Will we get to see you again? Can I come and play here more soon?”

Iris returned the hug, smiling fondly at the little girl. “Your sister has another appointment here next week and you are more than welcome to come and play in my office again. It was very nice to meet you. I think your daddy will be taking you down to the cafeteria here for some lunch, how does that sound?”

Missy nodded enthusiastically, grabbing her father’s free hand and tugging him along.

“Thank you so much, Iris, I really appreciate all the time you’ve given us today.”

“The pleasure is mine, Marcus, really. I’m here to help.”

There wasn’t much more to be said as Marcus was dragged by Missy out the door and down the hallway, chatting about what type of lunch they were going to eat. The doctor stood in the doorway, watching the little family leave, happy that she could be of assistance. She liked Marcus, he seemed to love his children a great deal and was a good man.

As they got in the elevator, Missy’s sweet voice said, “Daddy, I like that doctor lady, she’s so nice. I hope we get to see her more. She’s so pretty!”

Marcus had to agree with his daughter, he liked Iris, too. He felt a tug in his gut telling him that he should get to know her more, that she was someone truly special. He decided then and there that he would try to make that happen.

[witchyintention]

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕗𝕥?

As of late many have found themselves taking steps into the wondrous world of witchcraft. However it is a lot more than just an aesthetic. It is a lifestyle that is both beautiful and dangerous when you don't know what you're doing. Witchy Intention is to help guide you in your craft and teach you through my experiences and research. Along with many other experienced witches through interviews.

When you hear someone say witchcraft you instantly jump to satanic or devil worship but truth be told it's not. Satan is a figure in Christianity and has absolutely nothing to do with witchcraft. So what is witchcraft you ask. Witchcraft is an earth based religion or practice, and has been practiced in almost all the societies and cultures across the world. Though each craft is different according to local beliefs and traditions.

According to scholars of witchcraft, it was a belief system whose origin predates the majority of well known religions. It dates back so far many do not know the exact date, but we have seen it in many cultures such as ancient Egyptians. It also has been evolving since then and its present form is quite different from what it was thousands of years ago. And different areas practiced it differently. Even today from person to person and Coven to Coven it is practice differently. To each their own. It's a unique experience in itself. 

In the ancient times, Witchcraft was known as ‘craft of the wise’ as the wise persons were those who followed the path of nature and were in tune with its forces, had the knowledge of herbs and medicines, gave wise counsel and were held in high esteem as Shamanic healers and leaders in the village and community. They understood that nature was superior to human beings and that human beings were simply one of the many parts of nature, both seen and unseen that combine to form one whole. As Chief Seattle said, “We do not own the earth; we are a part of it.” They understood that what we take from nature or use, we must return in kind to maintain the balance and equilibrium. The modern man has, however, forgotten this and has paid the price in the form of many ecological and environmental disasters.

Unfortunately for the past several hundred years the image of the witch has been associated with the evil, heathenism and unrighteousness due to prejudices created by the Christian church. Somewhere along the line Christians accused the Pagan Horned god as the devil because these pagans didn't believe in the same god as them. So what does some Christian of high power do? Calls it devil worship. Despite the fact the bible never tells us what Lucifer looks like upon going to hell. 

However, as of late people have started understanding and practicing witchcraft as the true religion of God and Nature. There is renewed interest in witchcraft and witches profess to believe and practice the craft with a sense of pride and confidence. The believers in the New Age movement have understood witchcraft in its true perspective.

Modern witchcraft attracts believers from all walks of life and positions in society all over the world. They come together to understand the life, nature, evolution and mysteries of the universe through witchcraft. Witchcraft is the most democratic religion and practices in the world. There is no rigid dogma and no hard-line regime except for a simple premise that we should not do evil and if we do, know it will come back in multiple. Though not all witches bide by this but many of us do. Secondly, we should not misuse the generosity of nature by disturbing its balance. This is certainly something we all bide by. 

There are many forms of witchcraft like I had said earlier it differs from person to person. I will have a separate episode going into the top most popular kinds of witches but for now let's just explain a few things. A lot of other belief systems have set rules of what is good and what is bad, think the ten commandments, or Orthodox Jews are not allowed to use anything mechanical on the Sabbath, or Muslims are only allowed to eat certain parts of the animal. Witchcraft isn't like that. It's more about the big picture and how our actions contribute to that big picture. 

I would also like to clarify that being a witch doesn't mean your Wiccan or even pagan. You can very much still be Christian and practice the craft. Remember I said witchcraft was all about the mother earth along with whatever god or gods you worship. This includes the Christian god. I personally know a few Christian witches.

 However note that if you are a Christian witch you will be working with only that god. If you plan to work with other gods perhaps you need to rethink your religion's standpoint. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" is one of the Ten Commandments found in the Hebrew Bible at Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6. With that said the craft is something unique and interesting but be careful because it is real and it can be dangerous. 

When new witches find themselves wanting to get into the craft but they really have no idea where to start. Try the history. There is a lot more history than I could even hope to cover in a single session. This is nothing more than an introduction to it. When you are learning about its history you will find many different kinds of practices. 

Though it's perfectly fine to be drawn to a practice and wanting to do it. Make sure you first do research on whether the practice is a closed or open practice. Closed practices are closed for a reason and most times you have to have approval to practice it and be sworn in. So if you find yourself wanting to do a closed practice make sure you do the research on how you can do it and do go through the proper procedures. 

Some might not let you in at all. For example Voodoo. Voodoo is one of the ones you work with your ancestors, an African folk magic. Those gods (spiritual beings? I really don't know.) are not going to be very accepting of one who is of European descent because your ancestors did their ancestors wrong. 

If you are considering the craft, know this, you will spend your whole life learning about the craft. Even the most seasoned of witches are constantly learning. The craft in a sense is like a hypothesis. You will constantly be learning, writing down your findings, doing this and that, to see if it works and figuring things out as you go. But before you even think about getting a head of yourself you need to do lots of research. Don't think 'oh I read a book I can now do a spell'. Witches read a lot. Even if we have already read something on a topic we will keep on. Cross reference everything you read. There is plenty of false information. Especially on the internet, but there are some good sources too.

You need tons of training and maybe even guidance from established witches before you cast your first spell. However we know full well that you learn by doing. So go for it but start with small simple spells. Note that writing a spell or doing a spell does not require a coven, animal bones, and full moon, as fun as nights involving these can be. In fact many witches don't have covens and many do not use animal bones. 

Sometimes it’s not about forming the biggest circle under a full moon, but just having a good time with other witches. Or even yourself if you prefer to do Magic solo. It's fine and very much acceptable. But coven or not it's always fun to do with friends. Nothing's like dancing around a bonfire with your best friends.

Practicing can get expensive. I mean you're going to spend a lot of money on books. Though the internet had everything you could possibly need, nothing beats a good book on witchcraft. I mean who doesn't want a bookshelf full of witchcraft research. Then the actual items you'll need will cost you. Even if it's not aesthetically pleasing. People tend to go a cheaper route using things for the dollar store or reusing sauce jars. Which is good but you will still spend a pretty penny because you'll constantly be getting new ones. Jars break, candles melt, herbs are all used up and crystals can and will break. And no your practice might not always be aesthetically pleasing or photo worthy at all time. Truth be told it can be a bit messy, kinda like arts and crafts. Then again witchcraft is both an art and a craft so it makes sense.

Not all witches are female. Whether you are male, nonbinary, trans, genderless, or anything in between, you can be a witch. It's true that there is a beautiful history of women and witchcraft but magick is genderless. Magik does not care about your gender, sexuality, or religious beliefs. Magik is also not good nor evil, it all depends on how the protactioner is using it.

Popular belief also tells that you have to be born into a witch family or your ancestors have to be a witch for you to be one. That's not true. I have said it once and I have said it twice. Anyone can be a witch. 

Hexes, they are real. Sorry if this scares you, but hexes, cast to inflict misfortune on others, are indeed real. Some witches but not all believe Magic used with ill intent will come back three times on the caster. Some call this The Rule of Three some call it karma. Either way just know it will come back to you some way or another, even if it's by a return to sender spell.

One of the mean teachings of witchcraft by most forms is what you put into the universe is what you get out of it. If you put positivity into the world you'll get positivity back. The same could be said about negativity. But then someone will say 'Oh I have been putting positivity in the world and nothings happening.' If that's the case the negativity you've been put into the world prior to it is still trying to catch up to you. So keep up the positivity even if it's hard.

You don't have to wear all black. There isn’t a standard dress code for witches, and while it’s absolutely acceptable to wear black from head to toe, there are just as many witches who prefer a sundress and sandals as there are who like black fishnets and velvet.

Black cats are not needed either. Though there is nothing wrong with having a black cat and being a witch. Both have been misunderstood for their supposed evil intentions and connections to dark magic for centries.

Remember real magic isn't some Harry Potter mumbo jumbo either. Though let's face it, we can all still pretend that's what it's like. I do. I know the difference between real magic and what the church and Entertainment make it out to be. But I still enjoy the fiction as much as the real. But we do use wands. Though not all of us do and if anything it's to help control where our magic goes to say.

Black, Grey, White, Evil or Good Magic are terms I personally do not use. Some people use these terms, but they probably shouldn't. To start, they have racist undertones. Rituals that are mistakenly believed to be bad are labeled black magic often come from traditions such as Hoodoo, which is traditional African folk magic, that is also a closed practice. Another thing I have said before is that Magic and Witchcraft alike are not good or bad, it's all on how the protationer uses it. I personally tend to stay away from these labels simply because I do not like the negative feeling given and the story behind them. But that is just me, I would hope many follow in those footsteps but not all are going to. I fully understand that.

✩ Don't Steal Other Peoples Work ✩

Written:

May 24, 2020

By:

Reine Alicis

[vlovers19]

Is it just me, or is Jimin really looking on camera a lot while interacting with Taehyung? Wasn't Vmin officially sleeping in a bed in the soop for the same reason? Vmin are the only members of the BTS who interact the least with each other and act unnaturally, but they are "best friends". What do you think about it?

Exactly. Isn't that suspicious? Why do they act different in front of the camera and then completely change off camera. Looking at this situation, which would you take more seriously. What you get on camera (scripted, sometimes even rehearsed environment) or what you don't get on camera (freedom of expression)

During interviews or Behind the scenes, we get less than twenty minutes screen time of the boys. What happened to the rest of time we never get to see.

We judge simply by what we see. It's normal to do so because we are humans after all and we can easily forget things but then what about the moments they do have. Don't they matter at all?

They say they are best friends but hold each other's hands whenever they can. They say they are best friends but they aren't satisfied with being just that. They just have to go further and label themselves soulmates.

They say they are best friends but Taehyung wrote a whole romantic song titled 4'O clock based on a moment he spent with Jimin in a park.

If we are going to look at the on screen moments what about the Bon voyage letter? Their moment at Malta?. People really forget things.

Honestly, we can't get much on camera because everything is still going round like a circle. One moment, you will see another ship sailing, then the next second, another ship comes up and pushes yours to the back burner causing a wave of confusion that makes people talk and the Internet to go on a frenzy.

But i want to explain to you the concept of a forbidden secret relationship taking one of the greatest female vocalist of all time, Celine Dion as a case example.

As we all know, Celine Dion had quite a long secret relationship with her now late husband who was her manager but was far older than her. It was a controversial relationship. However, many don't care to know the details or what they had to go through before legally becoming husband and wife. According to Celine Dion, she hadn't prepared to fall in love with him. It happened just like that. 'One day, a good night kiss felt different'

When rumors of her relationship with her far older manager started circulating, she was advised to hide it because it didn't look good on camera and many objected to the idea of her being in a relationship with a far older man, sometimes calling her all sorts of names, opportunist being one of them especially as she was too young at the time and her career was just taking off so Celine Dion had no other choice but to hide it for her own benefit.

In an interview, she said it was the hardest thing she ever had to do. Sometimes, she just wanted to shout out loud to the whole world how she truly felt but she knew she couldn't and that made her feel stifled. The only way Celine could make people understand her feelings was through her songs. Most of her evergreen love songs we enjoy today where all inspired from her relationship with her husband.

Why do I bring up this story? It's simple. If Vmin are in a relationship, they cannot under any circumstances reveal it especially on camera until they don't have anything to loose anymore or the situation in their country changes. It was very difficult for Celine Dion who was in a healthy heterosexual relationship talk more of a gay relationship between two boys from the same group. It will never be accepted at least not in the nearest future so we are just stuck with what we are getting right now. We just have to endure all these emotional rollercoaster Big hit and BTS are throwing at us, keeping people confused.

BTS go through so much in their personal lives but when you see them on screen, they look so happy when that's truly not the case. Let's take Jin for example, the eldest member who seems so positive and energetic, acts like nothing can ruffle him on camera. He's so full of sass people wouldn't have imagined that he was actually going through such a terrible time because he's all smiles on camera. He acts funny and jokes around. But the only way Jin could express his innermost darkest thoughts and come out as someone suffering from depression was through his song Abyss.

Let's look at RM's song Zero o clock which talks about depression. Jimin who looks so positive and happy on camera praised the song and said he could relate to the lyrics. Why would he relate to a song like Zero o clock if he hasn't had a personal experience. Literally all the members relate to that song but when we see them on camera, they are smiling, laughing while we the audience are completely unaware of what is really going on in their minds. In 2018, we were so busy enjoying what we were getting on camera unaware of what was truly happening behind the scenes, completely clueless that BTS were considering disbanding. Even till this moment, we would never have known had Jin not opened up about it in 2019 while receiving their Asian best artiste award. Even their reality show burn the stage didn't show us and till now, they don't open up about what truly caused them to consider disbanding because that is a sensitive issue which isn't meant for the cameras. They showed us the struggles they passed through as Artistes but not how that affects them as their true selves. As Namjoon, Seok Jin, Hoseok, Yoongi, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook.

Now, we can't blame Big hit. They are an entertainment company who have invested a lot in BTS image. It is normal for them to be extremely careful when it comes to them so you can't expect them to show us everything.

For artistes like BTS, the only avenue they can use to truly express themselves is not through the camera lens, it's only through songs. Their songs.

I have said it before but Friends is a full compilation of everything Vmin want to say us.

One day when this cheer dies down, stay (Ayy), hey (Ayy)

You are my soulmate

For eternity, keep staying here, stay (Ayy), hey (Ayy)

Almost like they are telling each other to hang on until everything is over.

[drysauce]

for the book asks...

IV and XV

AAAA THANKS A LOT FOR THIS ASK!!!

this is gonna be long (and most likely full of grammar mistakes)

IV - where do you like to read?

in general anywhere in my room, sometimes I read while sitting or lying on the couch or while sitting on the floor or while walking in circle (yeah I sometimes do that) or while sitting in this weird way on my chair when I put my legs on one of the shelves of my bookshelf which is right next to my desk but lately I've bought myself this cool yellow armchair and now this is the only place I read I just take my book and sit on this armchair (also in a really weird way) and read

XV - favourite book?

do I have to choose only one book? I will write about my 3 most favourite ones if that's okay

1. Heaven Official's Blessing (TGCF) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

I can't even express how incredible this novel was. I also really like other mxtx's books (mdzs and svsss) but tgcf just hits different. I've read the whole book (around 2500 pages in English which is not my native language) in less than 2 weeks because I just couldn't stop reading. I hate the descriptions of tgcf that you can find on the internet because after reading them you would never imagine any of these things that actually happen in the book. It's just such an emotional roller-coaster, an amazing story about love and devotion, full of pain and suffering but also with many super funny and heartwarming moments! I've never experienced such strong emotions while reading or watching anything, in general I almost don't experience emotions at all while reading/watching things (well, it's not like while doing other things I experience emotions but it's not important) but while reading tgcf I was internally such a mess, there were moments that I was going 'awwww' and smiling like crazy, there were moments where I was almost laughing out loud, there were moments so shocking that I had to take a break from reading and just think about what the hell has just happened and there were also moments when I was on the verge of tears. The funniest thing is that I generally hate reading love stories but tgcf was just incredible because it was so well written and it was way more than a love story! Ahhhh this book has just destroyed me and I could write and write about it and it would never be enough.

2. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

I just want to say that I'm in love with the way this book is written, I mean the construction. It's basically a book about books and storytelling and it's divided into some parts and in each part you have one chapter of the story and one chapter of the book that is important in that part of the story and then another chapter of the story and so on! I don't really know how to describe it to be honest. While reading it I've felt some kind of inner peace and could just forget about the world and read and read and read this marvellous book. It's not a novel for everyone though because like I said it's quite extraordinary.

3. Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

This is my favourite YA book. Lately I almost don't read YA at all because the plot of most of them makes me too annoyed hahahh. I in general like all of the grishaverse books by Bardugo (in about a week there will be a Netflix show based on these books but I'm kinda scared of how it will look like because there will be some changes in the plot) but the SoC duology is my favourite. The worldbuilding is just a-ma-zing, the plot is incredible as well as the morally grey characters which are very complex and diverse. Clever plotting, the minds games, the plot twists! Just such an awesome book.

special mentions: Vicious and Vengeful by V.E. Shwab, The Loneliest Girl in The Universe by Lauren James (this one is nothing like it seems at first if I were told to read it after only knowing the description I would probably never do it), More Than This by Patrick Ness, Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

Soon I'm also going to read the Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang and I have a feeling that it might also become one of my favourite book series and after the Poppy War I will read the Priory of an Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller and maybe also 2ha (I don't remember the author) and I'm also really looking forward to it.

I'm very very sorry for writing so much but I just can't control myself while talking about books hahahh

[synoxshots]

The Master KOTFE Adventure

My latest project has been playing through KotFE on master mode.

Why ever would you want to do that? you may ask, and I have asked myself the same thing. In short, it was a mix of having a light sided empire toon that I didn't want the autocompletes on, and the fact that he is also the best geared character I've ever had and the discipline I've had most experience playing. And I've run through KotFE quite a few times so, freshening it up I guess? 

So this is how it went. This isn't a guide - more, a record of my experiences as I went through. As ever, some things I found easy others might find hard, and (more likely, lbr) vice versa. 

The gamer:

I play a Rage Jugg, wear Descent of the Fearless set, gear level 306 with a full set of 286 augments. So - very well geared, but not fully optimised stats wise. Experience wise for this - I'd done a few chapters on vet mode before with a Guardian (Focus) and Powertech (Pyrotech) though not always at max gear (probably in the 290s when I first gave it a go), and I like trying to solo group content like vet fps (master for Red Reaper only) because I don't love myself, I guess. A smidge of ops experience. I'm reasonably competent as a player but also prone to stupid, I don't claim to be great by any means.

Chapter I

All went smoothly, died on the last fight against the BD-148 elite skytrooper - but that was just because I forgot about heroic moments existing, given that half the chapter is spent without a companion. Used my enraged defence a few times but never really felt at risk of dying. Apart from the one time when I did, obviously. Marr goes up to 28 influence automatically. Lots of mobs can be skipped as they're already engaged in fights.

Chapter II

Quite a few mobs you can skip around. Valkorion heals you though he's not a companion so no heroic moment. Last monolith did get me close to death sometimes, so there was a bit of running away so I could heal up a bit more, and making good use of defensive abilities. But no deaths on this one!

Chapter III

I died twice on this one, both were easily preventable. The first was against the Ground Assault Walker (massive droid before the bridge) and pretty much because I hadn't raised Lana's influence yet, so I upped it to 20 before starting the fight again and cleared it very quickly. Sidenote: a while back I bought a bunch of Spiced Aric Tongue from the Jawa scrap peddlers as I didn't know what else to do with all that, Lana accepts it so it's a nice quick way to up her level (Koth likes it too, a lot, which is handy). Second death was against like, a handful of skytroopers when I was shutting down the reactor and really it was mostly because I wasn't paying attention properly, though Lana died both times at this point. There's another fight where these prototype skytroopers keep swarming and I was a bit nervous because there were kolto stations there and I couldn't entirely remember how intense it got. The answer was...not intense at all and I definitely didn't need them. The final fight on this one is the two Zakuul knights but they didn't cause me any problems. All in all I'd say the deaths I've had so far have all been my own fault.

Chapter IV

This...did not go as well. And I'm not entirely sure why, just bad play on my part I think mostly, sometimes there are days when I just play like trash *shrug*. Not timing things like enraged defence, heroic moments and so on very well which meant I died a few times to wildlife - twice the larger bosses, twice mobs of normal/strong ones. Yeah... Kept upping my companion influence so all three (Lana, Koth and HK by this point) got up to 27 but I think even higher than that may be needed as they just didn't seem to be healing well. 

Chap V

I was a bit wary heading into this one, as it was one I'd run before on vet mode and remembered having trouble with the skytrooper waves. I was less geared then though, and had less companion influence doing that, having now taken everyone up to about 32. I didn't record any deaths on this though had a near miss - but I had saved my enraged defence/heroic moment and so on and hit them at the right time. Hey, I'm playing smarter! 

Chapter VI

I found this chapter easy when I'd run it on veteran not long before, but that was not the case on master. Died the first time against Oggo, that was my own fault though, although he does have one particular ability that hits very hard. Then came the Scions. Ohhh boy. The first two you face killed me, fair enough I hadn't had a chance to raise Senya's influence yet. The second two, Venat and Berusal, caused me pain. The good thing is that when fighting the pairs and you take one down, if you die the other doesn't respawn. The other good thing is that Venat and Berusal can be pulled separately, the bad news is I found this out after a few attempts. And Berusal still killed me on his own the first time. I was not having a fun time. And then you face Heskal without a companion. It takes a bit of tactics. I tried to damage him whilst he was doing Debris Storm, though still had to avoid the red circles. Turbulence gives a lot of damage, so had to hastily get out the way/interrupt it. He also stuns you which isn't fun. Valky pops up and offers you an out after the first phase, unfortunately I decided to stay true to character and not take it. Bad times were had. I went to lunch. I asked a friend to help. My internet got switched off before that could happen. I found out I was able to summon a companion...I know I'm not supposed to story wise, and I'm not sure if you can normally (there's a lot of times when companion summon buttons are greyed out due to story restrictions) or if this was only because I'd previously logged out...but suddenly the fight became a lot easier. Funny that. Sigh. Moving on...

Chapter VII

Honestly not much to say about this one, nothing that caused me trouble. A lot of it is in the open world so regular difficulty rather than scaled to master. 

Chapter VIII

This one wasn't much trouble either, did die once when stuff was on cooldown, once in the final Arcann fight. Kiting him over and hitting the conduits there is a big help as they stun him, that is probably very obvious but I've literally never bothered with them on story or vet mode. We're halfway there!

Chapter X

This one also gave me a Time. The problem I had was when you come up against Faedral and Zaamsk. My first thought was the difficulty was because I hadn't raised Kaliyo's influence (oops, but you get her on the spot and I didn't have gifts handy...or at least the ones I thought she liked she didn't actually) (this is how I found out that agent!Kaliyo and alliance!Kaliyo have different preferences, apparently this will also apply to other - but not all - returning companions). But I raised her to 28 and still kept dying. It's a bit of a nasty fight honestly, and the guide I looked at said that juggs...aren’t ideal for it. Crowd control and interrupts are very handy. I kept getting really close to getting one of them down and dying just before I could, super annoying because it's another of those where if you take one down and die, you only have to face the other one. I took a break and read the guide more closely, watched some videos, and ultimately just decided to bring someone along to avoid the pain, or maybe share in it. I still died but we got through them. The fight against Tayvor Slen, the boss fight of the chapter, took a couple of tries with two of us - the first time I got stuck in a red circle and pretty much insta-killed. There was a bit of a close call on the second attempt but it was under control really. The achievement then comes through for chapter completion, all you have to do then is get out of the Overwatch, all things rosy right? Oh how wrong they were. A bunch of Zakuul Knights came along and literally just slaughtered us, full on, one-shotting us both - it was hilarious and extremely confusing because why?? how?? Did the bonus mission to get the prisoners to escape (look out for the glowing terminal, it says 'Overwatch Prison Logs' when you hover over it) - they one-shot a few Knights but then disappeared on us too. Who knows. But we got through it.

Chapter XI

A much nicer one though still had a handful of deaths. Where you meet up with Havoc Squad there's ambush of Skytroopers, followed by a couple of walkers - and the walkers beat me. They cast circles that I just couldn't get out of in time to save my health, even with my defensives. I'm not sure if they were the type to follow you or a sort of stamp move (I should have looked at the cast bar, come to think of it) - I suspect though it was the latter and so it wouldn't be an issue on a ranged character. The fight though does continue around you if you die so you don't lose the progress you make, just use the med probe, revive and rejoin. I only took Jorgan to level 7 because that was all the gifts I had, but most of the mobs were just regular trash, typically 3 at a time, which was no worry. When you attack the base the Knights are a bit harder - there's one round the back that does stealth strikes and that's a difficult one to face. I died - the respawn to medbay actually puts you inside the part with the forcefield you're supposed to take down, and then you can't get out of it...I maintain that I did find a way past the forcefield but it doesn't work as a cheesing method. Use your med probe, otherwise it's quick travel out and re-enter your phase. The final battle is a big droid (I forgot the name of it). It spawns a bunch of smaller droids, just ignore those and go for the boss - I didn't the first time and that's why I died - I lost Jorgan, I had two Knights chasing me whilst the droid put up shields, it didn't go well - second time I did it in less than a minute whilst using a heroic moment.

Chapter XII

This one you don't have a companion for, though it's not a big deal - for the most part my main enemy, as tends to be the case on this chapter, was the map. I think the regular mobs are scaled down a bit for playing without a companion. You can pick up an animal to help you as well, which you may as well do as things just die quicker. It runs off in caves. Valkorion does take your health down a fair chunk before he gives you his beat down but it wasn't so bad. Vaylin though took quite a few attempts. You can't interrupt her so you have to be on the ball with your defensives and timing them all, which includes the shield and medpac given in your temporary bar for the chapter. Really the medpac isn't that effective so don't count on it. There's a lot of running around as she casts red circles. Probably easier with a character with more self heals. I got through it after a few efforts, after getting close a few times, though even then I was still low on health by the end.

Chapter XIII

Yeah, this one was no trouble really, and that was with Gault at only level 4 influence. If things get hairy whack a bit more on him, there's no real mechanics to pose problems. As ever, good practice to stay out of circles on the boss fight, you have Vette there as well so a bit of extra damage going and yeah. Nothing to worry about.

Chapter XIV

Another that was nice and simple, I didn't even have any gifts to give Torian so was wandering around with him on level 1. Just a matter of timing defensives and heroic moments in that case. Lots is open world, too. Final boss fight was no problem at all.

Chapter XV

Reading guides for this put the fear of god into me, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it better than expected. The bosses were the toughest parts. The first is the Skytrooper Constructor, that one does spawn adds after a while as well. It killed me a couple of times but really I'm not sure what the best strategy was so I just went for the classic, burn it as fast as I possibly can and making use of heroic moment/defensives as well. The GEMINI droid at the end had me worried. That took 3 attempts (maybe 4, I think it was just 3 though), one of those my heroic moment was still on cooldown and Senya died quickly on it too. It was really just about managing defensives effectively as well, running away when she has the red cone in front of you, using the heroic moment for extra speedy damage. It was a close call in the end but my enraged defence came off cooldown at the perfect moment, thank you Grit Teeth. I wouldn't say this was an easy chapter by any means so quite proud of myself for getting through it on my own! The other thing I would say is watch out for the lasers - they don't do lots of damage on story mode, but on master they one-shot you if you get caught in them! The other various traps I probably got through easier than I have on the lower difficulties which may just be a testament to this being like, my fifth complete kotfe run at this stage haha.

Chapter XVI

The final chapter...and the one I was the most scared of. Took Lana up to lvl 50 in preparation...she duly died early on in the first boss anyway. KJ-931 is the first boss - I say first boss, there's still a high rank enemy immediately before that I died to a few times anyway and needed a heroic moment to beat. First attempt against KJ I actually came really close. Stay out of the aoes - there's a white circle and a yellow cone, as well as a big red laser thing where you have to rush to the corner and if you can - micromanage Lana well enough that she doesn't get caught up in them too. So I learnt that I am not good at micromanaging companions like that. Take the turrets rather than the shields, definitely - apparently the shields also have limited use, the turrets pull aggro as well as giving you damage so they're very handy. Sometimes on this fight I got one-shotted very quickly, others I managed to hold on a bit - but it was the first attempt that was my best run until I actually did it. Honestly I can't say what the trick was to finally getting it right...just a lot of blind panic and luck. Second boss is Dara Nadal - I found it easier to just go for the intense burn on her - put down the turrets, use a heroic moment, set Lana to damage as well and burn. Still took a few attempts on her but each time I was getting very close so I knew I would get there.

And then came Arcann. Ooooh boy. I'd been reading guides and watching videos in preparation but there's still a lot to keep on top of. I decided to use the Marr & Satele Special Saber rather than my usual one - having the benefit of being able to run around quickly was handy, and the other ability reflects damage from his saber attack. This took many attempts - some that went very quickly, some that got him to his final phase. Rather than going into specifics I'm going to link to this video as it probably explains what to do best (it’s handy for all the bosses). You really have to watch for the moment he gets to ~25% and stands in one spot - if you aren't able to do the shield whacky he will kill you straight up. My first time running towards him with the shield in that very last phase I died on the way up. It took me a long time and a lot on repair bills but this is another one I was very proud of for getting through on my own as there were times I didn't think I would.

General stuff:

I would say doing this is not for the light-hearted but it’s certainly possible! Apart from one chapter where I grabbed a friend I got through them all on my own

Some classes fair better in certain chapters than others. I went with my Jugg all the way through, but if you have the characters geared and you know them well enough - and you're doing this for the cheevos rather than going through the storyline - you're likely better off mixing and matching as you go. There were many occasions I wished I had range.

You will die to trash mobs. It is a fact of life. It feels embarrassing in the early chapters, you come to accept this and move on.

Companion influence helps a lot. Koth, Lana, and Senya all like delicacies (especially Koth, that man can eat) - you can grab these from the Jawa vendors in the cartel bazaar on fleet.

Med droids are also a booming industry thanks to the amount I've spent on repairs in the course of this.

There are more mechanics compared to story mode, and some that exist in story mode that you just notice more on master. But apparently the difference between vet and master is just artificial - more health and hitting harder. 

Going Commando is another good resource for their experiences playing through.