#long and ranty

[letthesunshinein]

I’ve been musing on adam’s sexuality and I know some folks feel like he’s been bi the whole time but having just done a deep pynch-focused dive through the books, I actually think adam hadn’t realized that he was into ronan Like That until they kissed. like he obviously knew ronan was into him (and actually, knew ronan was gay since like, the beginning of trb probably), but he had sort of convinced himself that the reason he enjoyed it was vanity/attention. and right before and after the kiss we get the line “adam didn’t understand anything” which feels to me like he hadn’t even comprehended this was a thing he wanted until he was doing it.

and that’s actually a very common queer experience, especially for folks who are interested in multiple genders, especially when they’re young.

so adam, despite wanting to know everything and being the perceptive one, has these increasingly big moments of “I feel like I’m missing some data here” but the data he needed was the actual experience of kissing ronan/making the conscious decision to kiss ronan again and THEN he has his eureka moment. And he can look back at the moments where he found his Latin teacher hot, or when he put a picture of an attractive man in his glove box and realize he was bi the whole time.

[14dayswithyou]

💖 Day 3.5 is now available! 💖

For the last couple of months, only Server Boosters had access to the 3.5 update... Buuuuut now it's available for everyone to play in the 14DWY Discord — and soon itch.io once I'm happy with the QA and state of the game — so please don't feel pressured to join unless you want to!!

The full devlog + even more screenshots are under the cut ^^

What's been added to the 3.5 version?

📺 Streamer Mode!

I've been told that it's difficult to stream and monetise age-restricted videos on YouTube and Twitch, so I added an option to remove the sexual content and strong language used in the demo.

Now y'all can invite Ren into your bed for cuddles without putting your streamer career on the line /silly /lh

This won't affect the 18+ rating or dark themes/elements of the game, however! Although Streamer Mode will prevent you from seeing any "gruesome" CGs in the future, most of the core elements of the game will still be tied to the choices and decisions you make. So you won't miss out on the overall experience by using streamer mode!!

⚙️ Custom Pronouns!

It only took me one entire year to get around to it, but you can finally choose your own preferred pronouns (or use a set of pronouns instead)... At the cost of being able to change them mid-game ^^;

Since the original pronoun screen wouldn't update until a new scene was displayed, I temporarily disabled the feature. But once I find a workaround, I'll bring it back!

💗 Choose how others perceive you!

You can now choose how the cast and narration perceive you! Originally, the narration was kept strictly gender-neutral (outside of pronouns and genitalia picked by the player), but this will soon change in future updates.

For more clarity: you don't get to choose the words specifically, but you can choose between masculine, feminine, and androgynous terms!

📋 Separate top and bottom genitalia!

You can now choose your tatas and pps separately! >:3

Alongside that, you can also choose your preferred body type!

I removed the "both" genitalia option because a few players still assumed it was an obscure version of "intersex". That wasn't my intention and I don't want to mislead anyone, so I took it out for now ^^;

I also didn't want to include a screenshot of the new genitalia choices in action (because it's NSFW), so y'all get the same character menu screen for the nth time instead lmao

📱 Relationship Screen Overhaul!

You can now change your own status for more immersion, and long-term Server Boosters will eventually be able to submit and use their own icon within the game as well!

Stalking finding your friends has now become easier by using "Buddy Maps"; a new app that allows you to see the location of all the cast members!

I want to offer players more incentive to check the relationship screen since they tend to miss the status updates, so hopefully this might help ;v;

It also says it "updates every few hours" so folks don't go overboard and check every 5 seconds to see where Ren is gdsghf (also keep in mind that he's a hacker lol)

🖤 Additional Scenes Update!

Day 2 received a brand new CG!!!!! Originally, I planned on only adding a few CGs sporadically throughout the game, but it didn't feel right to leave Day 2 so... empty... so I added a brand new CG to (hopefully) make things feel more balanced and natural!

If you decline Teo's offer on Day 3, Leon will now call and try to convince you to reconsider. However, players are still allowed to decline, and if they do, they'll reach a dead end.

After listening to feedback on itch, I changed some of the dialogue during Days 1-3 to make it seem more consistent! They're only small changes though, so it's honestly not worth looking for sdgjssga

🎶 Updated BGM and SFX!

I wanted to try out a different style of music to see if it fits the vibe of 14DWY more! The BGM features more acoustics to suit the "beachy" theme of Corland Bay, though I made a conscious effort to include piano elements as well to stay true to the original!!

I figured it'd be better to give players a live example before I make a poll (to see if they prefer the change or not) and publish it to Itch.

Some new SFX have also been added, though it's very minimal and honestly not that noticeable.

How to download and play the update?

(warning: clicking on the following links will open Discord!!) To download the Day 3.5 update, simply join the 14DWY Discord server, verify your age, and visit the "14dwy-updates" channel!

Alternatively, you can also wait until the update is publicly released on Itch to play it as well!! (It normally gets released shortly after a round of QA testing/getting feedback from the server, though I may release it earlier if I feel like it hehe ^^)

Enjoy!!

[potofsoup]

i love your fourth of july comics every year but this years feels extremely optimistic about biden’s abilities in the face of him letting roe get overturned and funding a gen*cide at worst or letting it happen at best by taking the bare minimum of regulatory action… i mean can he really be trusted at all anymore to do the right thing or act in line with the people’s demands? and how do we know the people behind project 2025 won’t just rig the election again to get in under false pretenses?

Hihi! Thank you for reading and enjoying my July 4th comics every year! I am in a non-US airport en route to a month-long trip in a place with sketchy internet, so sorry in advance for sloppiness in my response (and potentially going radio silent).

But:

I don't think he "let" Roe get overturned, since that was the Supreme Court's overwhelming conservative majority, which really started with Mitch McConnell refusing to approve Obama's appointee and forcing it into a 2016 election issue. The fact that Trump got to appoint 3 Supreme Court Justices is what got us here.

Re: Biden and the Israel/Hamas war ... on the one hand, there's definitely more that he could have done, but on the other hand, they are a whole other country over there. It's Hamas that initiated the Oct 7 attacks and took the hostages. It's Netanyahu and his right-wing government who decided to retaliate to such extreme extent. Biden can talk about how he would really like Netanyahu to stop fighting and step down, but at the end of the day that's not his call, any more than he can stop the Sudan fighting that is near-genocidal either.

So, to come to your question #1: "Can he really be trusted at all anymore to do the right thing or act in line with the people’s demands"?

For me, it's a resounding YES. Guyz, he has passed so much good domestic policies. My spouse works in green energy and the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act halved his anxiety and gave him legitimate hope. The tumblr post I linked to in my comic has links to many of the other great things that Biden has done. Tbh I voted for him in 2020 because "a moldy onion is still better than Trump", and I've been pleasantly surprised. Like how he tried to cancel student loans, the Supreme Court overturned it, and then he came back 6 months later with a different way to do it that didn't lead to a court challenge.

Is he perfect? Hell no. There's tons of stuff that I wish he did more about, or he went further on, but also he's just one guy heading one branch of government who is heading into an election year. (Just like FDR promising not joining WWII, while behind the scenes doing all the Lend-Lease Act stuff). And "the people" have lots of demands, many of them conflicting.

I'd also like to push at the unspoken part of your question... "Can he really be trusted to do the right thing..." compared to whom? Because right now the answer is "compared to Trump." And compared to Trump... I don't even trust Trump to respect the results of a legitimate election. Heck, he might just take his favorite state secrets, sell them to the highest bidder (or just show them off to someone for funzies), and then claim Presidential immunity. A decent Democrat who got stuff done vs someone who probably wants to pardon himself and all his friends and do Project 2025 stuff is not even on the same level. (Do I wish that there was a viable Democratic alternative to Biden? Sure! But who?) Heck, at this point -- imagine if it's Kamala Harris vs. Trump. Who would you vote for?

As for your question #2: "How do we know the people behind project 2025 won’t just rig the election again to get in under false pretenses?"

We don't. But also what can we do besides showing up to vote?

Actually, I need bullet points for this:

The 2022 midterm elections brought in fewer-than-expected election-deniers into crucial electoral offices at the state level, which means that hopefully most state electoral boards will continue to have integrity

Yes, voting is harder but at least we can still vote. So it's about getting out there and getting your vote counted. For some states, it involves waiting in 8 hour lines. For some states, it involves bringing 2 forms of ID. Document. Track. Make sure it's dropped off in a real ballot box and not a fake one. Don't believe messaging that the voting is happening on a different day or location, etc.

A 50.1% majority is easily challenged. A 55% majority, less so. Which means getting people out to vote.

The more people know about and think about the reality of a second Trump term (versus being disappointed by a Biden term), the more they will be motivated to vote against Trump.

Finally, let's be real here: I'm braced for a 2nd Trump term. That said:

I'm still going to go and vote for Biden, because the only way to prevent a 2nd Trump term is to vote.

A Trump term where either the House or Senate is controlled by the Democrats will be *very* different from a clean Republican sweep.

Even with a clean Republican sweep on the federal level, States have so much more power now, and voting the state level stuff will help shore up Democratic goals for the future. States get to draw voting districts however they want. States get to decide on abortion policies. If you live in a deep Red state, there still might be things to vote for that make it easier to live in now, and turn it purple a few elections down the line.

So at the end of the day, it's "Vote AND". Vote and keep living your best life. Vote and tell others about Project 2025. Vote and have hope. Even if Trump wins, at least you'll have voted against him. Vote and stay to build up a progressive wave for the next election.

[whatisgoingoninmyhead]

there's something to be said about how public unawareness about aspec identities contributes to the infighting within the aspec communities.

for example, I've seen a lot of "don't say ace people don't have sex because that's harmful to the sex favourable aces" and the opposite: "don't say ace people can have sex because what about the sex repulsed/averse?"

and they're both valid points, but because of it, aspec posts have to cater to the entire spectrum or risk starting arguments over this. Ideally, people could look at an aspec post and accept that it's for a different part of the aro/ace spectrum to where they are, but that's where the public unawareness comes in

because outside of the aspec communities, there's so little understanding of what the terms mean, that people within the community have to make every post generic so that the unaware won't see one post and make an assumption for the entire community based on it.

I see where every side is coming from, but infighting doesn't really solve any of the issues. The only thing that can start to solve it is more expansive aspec media representation, and spreading the "aro/ace identities are a spectrum" posts as much as possible to reach outside of the community, rather than trying to make specific posts fit that generic message.

[bookinit02]

genuinely i am going to say this once only because it’s the middle of the night but the level of tiktok hating i’ve seen on this app pisses me off so so so badly. you are not better than anyone else for not having tiktok downloaded, you are not smarter, you are not “more evolved.” tiktok is used by such a wide variety of people and of course there is low intelligence and empathy present on there, there is low intelligence and empathy EVERYWHERE. including here. there are also some of the kindest, most intelligent, most hopeful people i’ve ever seen. i do experience extremely low lows and high highs while scrolling tiktok because it is an insane range of content—it shows you pretty much everything you could ever imagine out of the range of human experience. i’ve seen a man who spent his life savings to buy out land and provide free housing for people. i’ve seen a woman document her journey to learn english and receive nothing but unconditional support and positivity. i’ve seen dogs learn how to “speak” and new mothers speaking openly about their depression and women encouraging each other to leave their abusive spouses. i have learned SO much in the last few years that i never learned in school. i guess really what i’m saying is that i don’t love the app itself so much as the power of human community, and it’s genuinely really upsetting and disheartening to see people continually shit on a platform that has done so much good for so many. it really does connect a lot of us to the world in a way that’s not comparably possible on any other app (yes, including this one), and i personally will be extremely upset if it really does get banned. not to mention how nobody should be championing government banning of any app, regardless of if you like it or not. just genuinely. can we cool it with the pretentiousness for a day or two. that is all i fucking want

[legofemme]

I mean this as nicely as possible but if youre so afraid of insects that you cannot handle looking at a cartoon bug dragon then that is on You and Not the people who like them

[existence-is-a-liminal-space]

rant time

This is so disappointing, and the worst part is I have no one to blame but myself. I've always sorta seen the writing on the wall. Hori has always had a really weird track record with his writing; dropping plot points, being purposefully cagy and noncommittal to certain themes etc. However I do think there is a difference between something being an objectively poorly written story and just a story that, while well done, might no be something I personally enjoy (or even a overall fine story with a few flaws). For awhile I thought, like many people that mha was going to be a scathing critique on hero society and Deku & Co. would have to reccon with their places in it: how the hero-villain dichotomy does not help anyone, scapegoats those deemed undesirable, allows heroes to get aways with murder, and perpetuates the complicity of the masses leading them bring about some sort of systemic change with the help of the antagonists . When I realized it wouldn't be that I thought "OK" then it is a story about saving the have-nots and proving why they are going about things the wrong way and offering another solutions while working within society–a bit sanctimonious but sure–they become the greatest heroes because of their compassion and willingness to save. And then when the villains bring up their issues with society their continuously told to shut up or that their wrong with no further elaboration, better yet that they just dealt with what happened to them the wrong way as if was somehow their fault for reacting badly to being treated badly and given no real recourse. And then the All For One reveal happened. And god. the last minute reveal (right before he's 'killed') that all of Shigaraki's family issues and quirk were the direct result of AFO? It's a really nice way to further invalidate all the criticisms he's ever made now that nearly everything bad that's ever happened in his life was because of some really bad guy, doubling down on making everything an individual problem rather then a social one–because that way you don't have to challenge your characters core ideologies right? or think of actual solutions? And that's where I feel like MHA crosses into being an objectively poorly written story overall; to establish all these issues and themes and back out on them at the last minute for a simple solution.

I have to ask: What the fuck is going to change? Stories set in a fantastical world usually have something to actually fucking comment on in that world. We are shown explicit issues in the world of mha What has been deconstructed about the world of MHA? After all of this, what have any of these so called greatest heroes done to make an actual, tangible difference in the world they live in? The end of MHA is shaping up to be just a continuation of the same cycle it the begins with, all of it's issues going unaddressed or swept under the rug. People want to say that MHA doesn't need to address those things, that it's just a story about hope and redemption, where is the hope and redemption in killing off the people shown to be the most victimized by society? If it is a story about true heroism being intrinsically linked to saving then what does it say that some people just can't be saved, that are 'too far gone' that have to be fucking mercy killed.

In conclusion, the LOV deserved to be in a story which actually lived up to what it promised.

[normieauaskblog]

Autistic meltdown

Yeah this is the post this week lol

Just a shitty doodle

Its just edd having an autistic meltdown because err hashtag relatable

[higuchisora]

Y'all might hate me for this, but the more and more I think about it, the more I think it was incredibly short-sighted of them and weird as fuck to cast a black man for the role of "World's #1 deadbeat dad with so many unpaid child support checks that they had to bar him from having kids." Yes I'm talking about Zeus. Yes I know they probably didn't mean it that way. No I don't think that intention really matters when you've got an entire team of professionals working on the project with the expectation that millions will watch it.

Like did we forget that we didn't like Zeus. He was never really a villain but NO ONE in the fandom liked Zeus. Hell, the CHARACTERS didn't like Zeus. He might as well have been a villain, with what he does and how they regard him. Why the fuck did they cast him like this.

It's especially weird when you consider the way Rick initially wrote about the gods' appearances as basically caricatures/physical cues for what they're supposed to represent. Battle-hungry god of war Ares being a "scary biker guy", and goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite oscillating between "all the supermodels in the world"/whoever you're in love with, for example, make total sense for obvious reasons. Hence it made sense to me for Zeus to be a white man in a suit in the first book, seeing as being the "king of the gods" and general self-centered prick, his whole thing is being more powerful than anyone else (and an asshole about it). So it made sense that he would look like an alpha male Podcaster's wet dream. It made sense that he'd look like the face of capitalism and patriarchy incarnate. Unfortunately, a white, rich businessman kind of IS the face of power in America. Making him black feels like a weird confirmation for those Ben Shapiro fucks who think white people are being oppressed or replaced.

"Appearances don't matter" vs the importance of visual storytelling, fight!

[squeezetheduck]

Here’s the thing with people shipping Alastor, I could not care less about who people ship Alastor with or whether they ship him at all, what I do care about though is people making him allo.

This is one of the few cannon ace (possibly aro) characters out there and he can 100% be shipped in verity of ways without ignoring he is ace or aroace.

Make him aroace but still platonicly obsessed with Lucifer or Vox.

Make him sex repulsed or indifferent it doesn’t really matter (I could 100% see him having sex with someone for entertainment purposes just like I can see him being sex repulsed).

Even make him Demi/grey-ace if you must show him reciprocating sexual attraction.

Bonus points if he’s aro and you play around with platonic relationships/QPRs.

I know at the end of the day he is a fictional character and people will do what they want, but please listen to aro/ace fans when we ask you not completely ignore his sexuality when there are so many ways you can still play around with his characterization without disrespecting one of the few cannon ace characters to exist in TV.

[catsandgoodbooks]

So. Punz and George. They're both very much defined by their relationships with Dream, probably more than anyone else on the server. It's hard to talk about Punz without bringing up Dream, and it's hard to talk about George without referencing him either. They have lives, of course, but Dream is always at the forefront of their minds. Punz spent a whole year of their life just waiting for Dream's escape; George dreams away the days even after the jailbreak in a fantasy world of his imagination where everything is perfect and he can be with Dream.

But they don't really have a relationship. They don't talk, especially not about Dream, because that would show that they cared, and George is trying to deny that to himself after the dethronement and Punz cannot allow anyone to consider even for a moment that they are on Dream's side or it was all for nothing. So the relationship they do have, weak and distant as it is, is based on bitterness and perceived betrayals and envy.

George doesn't really think about Punz much. If he did, he'd had to think about Dream, and not his Dream, not the Dream that exists only in his dreams now, but the actual, real Dream. The Dream who dethroned him without a second glance. The Dream he abandoned. The Dream locked away in an obsidian prison, rotting away as George sleeps. And George doesn't want to think about Punz. Not when it pulls him out of his dreams and makes him think about Dream.

When he does think about Punz, though, he's not exactly a fan of them. They betrayed Dream; undeniably, inexcusably, they did. They had his trust, and they threw it away for a little extra bit of money. George would never do something like that. Dream left first, after all. Dethroned George first and told him he didn't care what happened to him. Dream never did that to Punz.

And that's important. Dream never turned against Punz; they were the one who chose to betray him. Dream never quite trusted George the same way he did with Punz, and, in the period leading up to the dethronement, he let George in on less and less of his plans, grew closer and closer to his mercenary. George told himself it was because Dream wanted to keep him safe. After the dethronement, he accepted the fact that Dream just didn't care about him anymore, and that it had been a sign of that.

George tells himself that if he had been in the situation as Punz, if Dream trusted him, he would of never done what they did.

Punz...doesn't have a great opinion of George, to tell the truth. They might of pretended to betray Dream, but George (and Sapnap, and everyone who was there and just watched it happen) is the one who actually did. George left. He left and didn't come back, didn't even show up for the arrest/execution (because that's what it really was, an execution, no use dancing around it). He didn't even go visit Dream in Pandora's Vault, even when he had every chance to, even when he didn't have a plan dictating that he absolutely could not do that. Not like Punz did.

Unreliable. Untrustworthy. Uncaring. Those are the nicest words for what George is, at least to Punz. Dream died, twice, and George was nowhere to be found. Just because Dream had been trying to keep him safe. To make sure people didn't try to target George to hurt Dream. And George just left, like that was an option in this game they were all playing, that none of them save Wilbur had chosen to play, like you could just throw up your hands and say "okay, that's it, I'm done" and leave with immunity, taking everything you've done with you. That wasn't how the world worked. And it didn't matter if George understood that or not, because it still hurt Dream, and that was what was important. Because what George did was a betrayal, and because they were already familiar enough with that to know how bitter it tasted. Because Punz had to constantly pretend and reap what they had sown and deal with this betrayal they had committed - not the one they were infamous for but the one in their heart and their brain and the way people looked at them and laughed with them and the way they had agreed to the plan and let Dream die and the sneaking suspicion they had, growing louder every day, that something had gone wrong and that they had to do something about it but that too would be a betrayal - but George didn't, just because he had been there earlier and knew some people longer. Because people trusted him more and he didn't have to prove how reliable he was and how much he hated Dream and all that.

And because George had Dream's love in a way Punz never could. Dream loved too freely, that much was true, but he flinches at every motion Punz that was a little too fast, a little too sudden, and makes sure to call everything a business arrangement, makes sure they're mercenary and client, makes sure to suppress any little trace of attachment that could get either of them hurt. And, even now, even after George has gone and left, Dream still loves George; Punz isn't too blind to reality to miss it. And they had kinder days together, back before everything went wrong; there were no kinder days for Punz, and there never had been.

Despite everything, they're two sides of the same coin: wishing for something that is no longer reachable, no longer possible, because things have changed and because people have changed. Because Dream has changed, partially due to the decisions they made, and there isn't anything they can do to go back to how it was. Not truly.

And neither of them really care about anything or anyone else. They're not here to fight for ideals or morals, they just want to keep the people they love safe and away from the people who would want to hurt them. They are willing to kill for it, but, because of who Dream is, and because that would put them in danger, they can't. They're not allowed to, explicitly in Punz's case, implicitly by Dream pushing George away. Because Dream wants to keep the people he cares about safe, and that can't happen if it looks like he cares about them or vice versa.

(It's only okay if Dream's the one getting hurt, after all)

[otgo-brooklyn]

MDZS Seven Deadly Sins!AU

[sailorsally]

Violent pro Russian hate groups just stormed the premises of Pride Festival that was supposed to close Pride Week in Tbilisi. The organizers had to be evacuated. Everyone is fine.

It's just heartbreaking to see this happen again and again. Police 'failed' to keep them out because current pro Russian government has been doing the damnest with church together to use queer people for their political games and homophobia to gain more supporters. I have been at this festival years ago and it was the most supportive and loving space I have been in, I have so many fond memories from it.

I was going to be there this year too, as were my queer friends. Now all of us are sad because once again we had to face the harsh reality that queer people aren't protected here. And worse - the government will actively orcherstrate violence like this to further separate Georgia from Europe and European human values because that is what Russia wants.

[ted-answers]

Hey Ted, were you ever like… bullied as a kid? If so, what for?

(ooc; long post and sorry for typos, I cannot be bothered to reread this for a 7th time)

Oh. Oh yes. It was for what you'd expect honestly, my family was dirt poor. Growing up I had, at most, maybe four outfits? None of them ever stayed clean long enough to be decent, as I wore them not only to school but also while doing farm work. My hair was never clean, I was always being sent around places to work on machines- I had a knack for them and if there's one thing me and my parents had in common, it was knowing when something was profitable- I wasn't ever getting homework done or sleeping because of how much work I'd be doing. I passed out in class often. My hair always had oil or grease in it. I had burns, cuts, and bruises nearly constantly, and my already filthy clothes started getting oil stains.

All of that was the perfect recipe for pre-teens with better living situations to tear me to pieces. Didn't help that while growing up I was skinny, tall, and pretty malnourished. I couldn't fight anyone off if I tried. I was a bookworm for fucks sake, I was practically a walking target. I think one of the reasons my parents pulled me out of school in my early teens, before I could even become a freshman in high school, was likely so they could avoid the responsibility of what was essentially neglect. Plus, with no homework, I could get so much more work done. yay.

Despite it all, and despite the fact I think I hated my parents, for loads of good reasons. I miss them. I can't even remember their faces. I don't remember our family name. I barely remember the farm. I can't even recall my siblings. Not to sound like a child, but I miss them, so, so much. I would give everything, anything, to say sorry for leaving them. For never giving them any of the riches I acquired. For changing both my names and pretending I had been an orphan all my life. I want my mom. I want my dad.

I haven't thought this in years, decades even, but

I want to go home.

(ooc; hot take but Ted genuinely has one of the saddest backstories because he is such a victim of circumstance. I see people going "omg he used rich women for their money" and what they don't realize is that his only other option was slaving away on a farm in South Carolina for the rest of his life. Something that had already consumed his entire childhood. He didn't even have a high school diploma. Tell me what the hell he's supposed to do for career paths without one of those. Yes, he was a genius, he was entirely self-educated from the age of 13 onwards. He dove into books to ignore his outward circumstances. He can't really get a decent job with that. Hell- He was on an entirely different continent by the time he finally had freedom. His literal only option was to be a fucking playboy. Scamming was the only constant stream of cash. I'll admit that can be mildly comedic in some scenarios but it's also sad. Justice for Ted I love him.)

[cheetahspy]

can we have the backstory of lottie?

Anon…my sweet, sweet anon, making my heart flutter with questions about my OC’s…I apologize profusely for taking literal months to answer, but please believe me when I say I genuinely appreciate your ask, and it seriously makes my day🤧 Lottie’s story is still wonky and a rough draft here and there, but I have a gist. Let’s get started! Ramble ahead-

Charlotte, aka Lottie, my self-insert for Matt Reeve’s Batverse!

She’s lived in Gotham her entire life (she dreams of escaping it, someday). She had a decent childhood, growing up in lower middle class with a younger sister and two hard working parents.

When Lottie was 13, her sister died from brain cancer, and when she was 17 her parents died in a nasty car crash (that escalated fast, lol). After a couple months of living with a family friend, she went off on her own.

The first few years of adulthood Lottie worked as a substitute teacher. She attended community college at the same time, working toward a degree in journalism. After getting her associates degree, she took a 2 year break from college to focus on work as money was getting too tight.

At 22, Lottie’s friend approached her about a new job opportunity: a receptionist at KTMJ, desperate and hiring immediately. Eh, why not? It was random, but the pay was higher and more steady than her current job. So she took up the offer.

(Yep, you know what’s next- the most cliche x reader ahh crap, but I live for self-insert cliches, OK!?)

Insert Edward Nashton! He doesn’t think twice about newcomers, he never does…why would he?? Until of course, she starts trying to make conversation. …what? Someone’s trying to talk to him? And be friendly? And ask if he’s going to the coworker hang outs, as if she wants him there? It’s probably a prank, what other explanation is there? What a jerk-

Oh, wait no she’s being genuine. But it’s born out of pity, she doesn’t actually care-

Oh…she does care, like actually, and a lot…

Okaaay you get the gist. The two grow closer over the next two years, very slowly mind you, but there’s progress nonetheless because Lottie quite likes this introverted little weirdo.

Then the two years pass, and at 24 Lottie earns her bachelor’s degree. Almost immediately, she receives an opportunity to work as an investigative journalist for Gotham News. Caught up in her excitement, she takes the job without a second thought and even moves far across the other side of the city for it! …leaving a rather upset soggy white boy behind.

Lottie feels guilty, she didn’t want to make Edward feel abandoned! But it’s not abandonment, it’s just a new job…that doesn’t mean they can’t keep in touch and still be close! Unfortunately, for Edward, that’s exactly what that means. He should’ve known this would happen, just another person leaving, as always. Lottie tries to reason with him, but in Edward’s troubled mind, the bridge is already burned. So the two lose contact for quite a while.

Fast forward about a year and a half. Lottie stumbled across her own suspicions and has begun to look into potential corruption happening within the system. On her own terms of course, her boss is an ass.

It leads her down a rabbit hole, eventually stumbling across the Riddler’s website. She gets all these oddly specific and familiar cryptic messages, riddles and clues, and- oh my gosh is this-

No, of course it isn’t who she’s thinking! Why would it be him?! This…Riddler guy is an absolute maniac, going on about this “day of judgment” plan, with all these creepy followers feeding into it. Sure, Lottie agrees with him, to a small extent; the system is rigged and nothing is getting done about it- but he’s insane, Edward would never, it can’t be him-

Well, big womp womp because Lottie does find out Edward is the Riddler! Ohh the angst and conflicting emotions-! After so long they’re face to face again, but this isn’t the same man Lottie fell for…or maybe…maybe it is…

Aaaand…that’s about where they’re at, you get the idea, I’ve rambled enough for now :)

Hopefully I answered your question, lmao, I can’t tell if I went off the rails and rambled too many unnecessary details, or if I didn’t give enough information…I did a bit more than just backstory I think.

If you made it to the end, thank you for reading and taking an interest in my self insert cringe, I appreciate you😭 Let me know what you think, and if you want more of this content :)

Oh and hey, I have character hub! None of my ocs are public on there yet, but I plan to change that soon. If you want to follow it and keep updated on my characters, click here!

[ner0w0w0]

Why is Cloud flame and its box weapon so... weird

Okay so before I talk myself into a corner, I'd like to establish my observation: the Cloud box weapons all have propagation factor, but they can only either multiply in number, or change size.

Like, with Iris, her way of using her flame was fairly basic in usage. She used her box weapon, a Cloud whip, to whip her cloud receptive slaves and propagated their muscle mass, sometimes even elongated their bone to make them bigger (in a rather unnatural way). Its straight forward, easy to understand, it's a propagation in size.

Next, Kikyo. His dinosaur box weapon was rather... normal in the large scheme of thing tbh. It made him into this... Hydra-Dinosaur-Medusa thing. His hair grew into spinosaurus heads that follows the common rule of Cloud's attribution: multiplication in number.

Honorable mention to Lal Mirch's box weapon, Cloud Centipede that could change its size and length, but not number.

However, Hibari's Cloud Hedgehog, Roll, funnily enough, could do both. And, horrifyingly enough, more.

So, Roll's usage could actually be splitted into 2 categories: how adult Hibari used it, and how baby Hibari used it. So, Roll under adult Hibari only propagated in size. It could expand, thicken, become thin layer and act a shield for Hibari, or roll forward. But never multiplied in number.

Furthermore, after being fed so much flame that its box got broken, it can do shit like this... like... how?! I don't recall any Box Weapon based on living creature can become a separate space the way Roll did.

Tbh, I have a rather... bizarre headcanon for this. It could be because of Hibari's secondary Mist Flame with its construction factor that mix in with the Cloud Flame to influence the Box Weapon (also like, the dimension thing kinda similar with what Mukuro's Vongola Gear can do yk). And only adult Hibari can do this because he has more experience with Mist Flame and more open to use it. But then Cloud Hedgehog is only for Cloud flame so it's impossible for his Mist to seep through. Unless his wave energy is already an incredible mix between Cloud and Mist, like Xanxus's Flame of Wrath, so much so that it can't be distinguish through Cloud rings, and Roll's also affected by this. And could this also be the reason that normal Cloud rings couldn't withstand his flame, thus break upon 1 use?

Also can we talk about how he had two, the same exact Cloud Hedgehog boxes? Like we're told that there only 343 designs based on living things made by Geppetto Lorenzini, and Verde team made 343 boxes based on the designs. Are you telling me at least 2 (because he clearly tried the Reverse technique once before, so at least one box had been broken to do it) of those boxes are of the same design? cus the numbers are not adding up.

Ok, moving on to baby Hibari. Now baby Hibari used Roll in the Vongola version, and X version more. But there's a snippet when we see him using the OG version, and upon being fed so much flame that it went berserk, it multiplied both in size and in number.

There's only one difference between the two Hibari: the Vongola Cloud Ring. Like adult Hibari only got one chance to put however much flame he could in the box before the ring broke, and the hedgehog would have to do bunch of stuffs with just that reserve before it went back into the box. (God adult Hibari was basically nerfed during the whole Future Arc, imagine if he got more Cloud rings or just the Vongola Cloud Ring. He'd probably solo the whole base)

Could this be the same for other Cloud boxes? That they require much much more Cloud flame for both of the factors to be used. What does it say about Hibari's flame, that afterward, when he had the Vongola version and X version, he went on and did insane shits like these? Like how strong, vast and dense his Cloud Flame has to be so that he can fight like this?

Okay, a little side track into weird flame territory since we're talking about it, let's discuss Skull. Skull is interesting in the way that his flame usage is rather similar to Iris', which is basically the propagation of human cells. But unlike Iris whose control is rather crude, as there is little to no finesse in the way those slaves' muscle grow (they grew in places that muscle shouldn't have been, pushing each other and probably crushing their own bones with their muscle mass), Skull's control on his Cloud Flame is absolute and instance. His cells grew instantly the moment he was hit, so much so that even when he got a critical hit from Squalo, he remained fine, albeit a bit hurt.

Now, human' cells have things like genetic code and more to tell them what they're and where they would be and how they would grow, so they could automatically slot into place during the propagation process. But it's the control Skull has that he could grow just enough of what he need, and not accidentally grow, idk, an extra finger or giving himself cancer, and that makes him incredibly strong and I don't think enough ppl is talking abt it (like just think about the potential)

Other than that, we have a rather fascinating OP factor of Cloud flame in general and Skull in particular. They can absorb other Flames. Other than Tsuna's Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised where his Sky Flame harmonize with other's and absorb it, no other flames is able to do this, other than Cloud. And if we went with how Hibari said it, it's sort of its default function.

And Skull? Oh he's just straight up absorb the whole flame attack from, what? four Varia. Like ez pz home boy only whine because he's hurt from Squalo's sword attack.

My working theory for this is because in nature, cloud has already been rather... versatile and can be affected by other elements (sun, lighting) to change and thus creating other phenomenon (rain, storm); also mist is like... thinner ground version of cloud anyway. And Skull's using his own body as a flame conductor, thus directly absorb other Flame types to himself. Though his flame isn't Sky, there's no harmonizing factor to neutralize the Rain, Storm, Lighting and Sun attributes. His body is probably fighting itself to stabilize, or using those attributes to stabilize each other (his Cloud can swallow the Sun since they're similar, the Rain's tranquility can block and neutralize the Storm and Lighting too) (Now it'd be funny if Skull got shot by Tsuna's X-burner, like would Skull's Cloud strong enough to absorb Tsuna's concentrated Sky Flame like I'm curious.)